Benjamin "Ben" GrimmThe Thing

Top o’ the World, Aunt Petunia!

Orphan Benjamin J. Grimm grew up on the sordid sidewalks of New York’s Yancy Street and grew up to be a gruff but kindhearted young man whose only escape lay in a college football scholarship. While attending Empire State he earned the eternal friendship of genius Reed Richards and promised to pilot the starship Richards intended to design and build. Grimm took on military service after college to fulfill his dream of becoming a flyboy and gained experience in the astronaut program that would serve him well in his future.

Reconnecting with Reed Richards, Grimm agreed to take his friend and siblings Sue and Johnny Storm on an illicit test flight of Richards’ new spacecraft, but warned him of his misgivings over its shielding. While in space, the four found themselves bombarded by cosmic rays and Grimm managed to bring the ship in for a crash-landing back on Earth. Upon emerging from the wreckage, the crew was subject to incredible changes from the radiation, and the pilot himself lucklessly transformed into a hulking, boulder-skinned monstrosity quickly dubbed the Thing. From then on, Grimm and his fellow travelers would operate as team—and a family—known as the Fantastic Four.

Like a Rock

The Thing stands as one of the most powerful individuals on the planet, perhaps second only to the Hulk. His unique physique enables him to lift nearly one-hundred tons, withstand extreme temperatures, and survive intense bombardments of energy and explosive detonations. In all, his rock-like skin has only been known to be pierced by extraterrestrial weaponry or sorcerous means, and while uncomfortable-looking is actually supple and allows him a wealth of movement. That said, he finds his thick three fingers and opposable thumb difficult to operate controls and machinery not specifically designed for his use.

Ben Grimm’s outward form has mutated over his years as the Thing, changing from a lumpy hide to what appears to be individual rocks linked together, and at one time he possessed the ability to regain his human form at will. This ability is no longer available to him, but after much time living with his deformity, he’s gained a level of complacency with it.

As a pilot, Grimm ranks alongside the world’s best and his natural leadership qualities, honed as a gangleader on Yancy Street and his later military experience, makes him a person others wish to follow, despite his sometimes cantankerous moods. The Thing is a loyal friend, though, and has earned the respect of most of his fellow champions around the globe.
 

A Foundation of Friends

Ben Grimm looks upon the Fantastic Four as his true family, and counts Reed Richards as his best friend. The two formed a bond during their college days, and while tested upon many occasions has withstood the challenges presented it through their years adventuring. The Thing once saw Sue Storm Richards as a romantic interest, but she instead became one of the few individuals to be able to see the heart of the man beneath his rocky skin. In addition, while Grimm and Johnny Storm seem to exist to bedevil each other, the two would lay down their lives for each other.

The love of the Thing’s life, Alicia Masters, captured his heart early in the Fantastic Four’s existence. Grimm was attracted to her calm demeanor and her ability to see into people’s souls despite her blindness, and though their relationship has also met with many challenges over time, they always found each other and rekindled their romance. Recently, Grimm proposed to Masters and the two were finally wed as husband and wife.

Most all super heroes on Earth see Ben Grimm as a staunch ally and strong partner, a status he values and never tries to exploit. The Thing’s grown closest to such luminaries as longtime Fantastic Four friend Spider-Man, the mutant Wolverine, patriot Captain America, and street-smart Luke Cage. In addition, Grimm’s unusual attraction to members of the female persuasion both amuses and baffles, mostly due to his strange appearance.
 

A Revolting Development of Enemies

As a founder of the Fantastic Four, the Thing’s long list of foes exceeds that of most other heroes. Possibly his arch-enemy could be said to be Doctor Doom, whom Grimm met in college as Victor von Doom, Latverian monarch and scientific genius. In nearly every encounter between the two, Grimm has sought personal battle with Doom, while the despot himself most always underestimates his rocky foe’s resilience and stamina.

A similar sort of enmity exists between the Thing and Namor the Sub-Mariner, perhaps grounded in Namor’s interest in Sue Richards and his intense dislike for her husband Reed, Grimm’s best friend. On a more basic level, The Thing’s become the target for every subsequent iteration of the Yancy Street Gang of local toughs due to the legacy of his leaving the group at an early age to go off to school.

Overall, some have noted that the truest, real enemy in Ben Grimm’s rogue’s gallery stands as himself.

Clobberin’ Time!

As the Fantastic Four began to develop into a working team led by Mr. Fantastic Reed Richards, the Thing lumbered out into the world to find his place in it as a “monster.” As that transpired he sought conflicts with the powerful Hulk, teamed with the Human Torch for adventures, and navigated continuous changes to his appearance and strength. These changes also impacted his personality and mood, bring bouts of anger that inspired him to quit the team with little provocation and even attempt to exile himself in other time periods and other remote locations.

Reed Richards sought a cure for his friend’s condition in these early years, at times concocting temporary antidotes to the cosmic radiation, but the only real balm to Grimm’s soul came in the form of lovely, blind sculptress Alicia Masters.

Following troubles and turmoil with the Fantastic Four and its almost-constant conflicts with menaces bother terrestrial and extraterrestrial, Grimm took on positions outside the team such as head of security for the government’s Pegasus Project. At one point, he seemed to finally change back to his original human body permanently, but when he chafed at being sidelined during his team’s adventures, Richards created a Thing exoskeleton suit of armor for him to wear. During this time, Richards also began to form a theory that his friend possessed the ability to change at will, but withheld his surmise from Grimm.

Having changed again back into the Thing, Grimm reluctantly joined his fellow heroes on the alien planet called Battleworld to clash with villains brought in by the all-powerful Beyonder. The Thing, then able to change at will as Richards’ posited, stayed on the planet after the other heroes returned to Earth and for a while adventured there before he too came back to his birthworld. Once there, he found himself unable to regain his human form and lapsed a funk over what he saw as Mr. Fantastic’s disloyalty and Alicia’s betrayal of their relationship with Johnny Storm.

Separated from the Fantastic Four once more, the Thing met the statuesque Sharon Ventura and together they entered the exciting world of Unlimited Class Wrestling, as well as briefly associating with the West Coast Avengers. After another mutation of his rocky skin, Grimm rejoined the Fantastic Four and became its leader when Reed and Sue Richards retired for a short while. Ventura, now transformed into a “She-Thing,” struck up a romance with Grimm and also fought alongside his team until Mr. Fantastic’s and the Invisible Woman’s eventual return. Later, the She-Thing grew mentally unstable and clashed with Grimm and the team.

Doctor Doom instituted an even deadlier campaign against his enemies and possessed Grimm’s body to battle them. The Thing seemed to die following that event and Richards and the others sought the path of his soul, tracing it all the way to “Heaven” and an audience with a being known simply as the Creator. Grimm’s late brother convinced him to reclaim his life on Earth and the Fantastic Four experienced another reunion and restrengthening of their bond as a family. Unfortunately, once back to work, they discovered their resources drained by the U.S. government and were forced to operate with low funds and at menial jobs to make ends meet.

Grimm then came into a sizable fortune from investments not seized by the government and ode a rollercoaster of breezy spending and subsequent charity donations. Though unhappy with the institution of the Superhuman Registration Act, the Thing agreed to work with official forces to capture heroes who rebelled against it. This brought him into conflict with Sue Richards and Johnny Storm, and in the wake of Captain America’s surrender to law enforcement, he went into a self-imposed exile to clear his head after the “civil war” between two factions of his heroic friends.

Once back with the Fantastic Four, Grimm lead the team again yet that time with the Black Panther and the X-Men’s Storm as replacements for Reed and Sue Richards. Around this time, the team rescued the real Alicia Masters from the alien Skrulls and Grimm kindled a serious romance with schoolteacher Debbie Green after learning that Masters wished to remain just friends with him. Luke Cage then asked the Thing to split his time between a newly reformed Avengers and the Fantastic Four, and Grimm spent a tense time as Angrir, Breaker of Souls, when he became possessed by a mystical hammer during a world-wide battle between Earth’s heroes and the insidious Serpent.

Once cleared of being accused of murdering Alicia Masters’ step-father the Puppet Master, the Thing joined the underground resistance movement against Captain America’s Hydra regime and briefly joined both the outer space Guardians of the Galaxy and the earthbound S.H.I.E.L.D. When Doctor Doom took advantage of the destruction of the multiverse and built a patchwork Battleworld of his own, Grimm found himself a living wall called the Shield on the strange planet and later aided Reed Richards’ victory over the god-like Doom.

With Doom’s former power, Richards reconstituted the prime universe, but chose to remain behind the scenes with Sue Richards and their children to rebuild other realities. Grimm and Johnny Storm searched for them through multiple universes with a device built by Mr. Fantastic called the Multisect, and were finally reunited with them to once more inaugurate a bold new era of the Fantastic Four.