History Characters / TheThing

* BigEater: The man sure loves his food.

* {{Acrofatic}}: Ben's enormous weight and build don't impede his speed or agility at all, allowing him to match opponents in combat easily.

* AlwaysSecondBest: Ben is one of ''the'' physically strongest heroes on earth, only outdone by the company of those on the level of Thor, but he's always shown as just a bit behind where the Hulk is concerned. Hulk is just that bit stronger and faster while Ben can usually only equal him with a mixture of wit, skill, and sheer determination. This is a very big point of contention for Ben as a proud bruiser who hates losing to someone who he should be able to match.

* Acrofatic: Ben's enormous weight and build don't impede his speed or agility at all, allowing him to match opponents in combat easily.

* DeafComposer: Alicia Masters is a blind sculptress. More impressive because she makes lifelike statues based purely on description.

!! The Thing appears in:

[[AC:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' (various runs):
** vol. 1 (1961 -- 1996, 2002 -- 2012, 2015)
** vol. 2 (1996 -- 1997)
** vol. 3 (1998 -- 2003)
** vol. 4 (2013 -- 2014)
** vol. 5 (2014 -- 2015)
** [[ComicBook/FantasticFour2018 vol. 6]] (2018)
* ''ComicBook/MarvelTwoInOne'' (various runs):
** vol. 1 (1974 -- 1983)
** vol. 2 (2018 -- 2019)
* ''The Thing'' (various runs):
** vol. 1 (1983 -- 1986)
** vol. 2 (2006)
* ''ComicBook/{{FF}}'' vol. 1 (2011 -- 2012)
* ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|2015}}'' vol. 2 (2015 -- 2016)
* ''[[ComicBook/InhumansCharlesSoule Uncanny Inhumans]]'' (2015 -- 2016)
* ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers'' vol. 3 (2015 -- 2017)

[[AC:Film]]
* ''Film/TheFantasticFour'' (1994), portrayed by Michael Bailey Smith (as Ben Grimm) and Carl Ciarfalio (as The Thing)
* ''Film/{{Fantastic Four|2005}}'' (2005), portrayed by Creator/MichaelChiklis
** ''Film/FantasticFourRiseOfTheSilverSurfer'' (2007)
* ''Film/{{Fantastic Four|2015}}'' (2015), portrayed by Creator/JamieBell

[[AC:Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Fantastic Four|1967}}'' (1967), voiced by Creator/PaulFrees
* ''WesternAnimation/FredAndBarneyMeetTheThing'' (1979 -- 1980), voiced by Wayne Morton and Joe Baker
* ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFourTheAnimatedSeries'' (1994 -- 1996), voiced by Chuck [=McCann=]
* ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFourWorldsGreatestHeroes'' (2006 -- 2010), voiced by Creator/BrianDobson
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' (2009 -- 2011), voiced by Creator/DaveBoat
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' (2010 -- 2013), voiced by Creator/FredTatasciore
* ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' (2013), voiced by Creator/DaveBoat
* ''WesternAnimation/HulkAndTheAgentsOfSmash'' (2013 -- 2015), voiced by Creator/DaveBoat

[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' (2006), voiced by Creator/GreggBerger
** ''Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2'' (2009), voiced by Creator/FredTatasciore
** ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance3TheBlackOrder'' (added in 2020), voiced by Creator/DaveBoat
* ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance'' (2012)
* ''VideoGame/LEGOMarvelSuperHeroes'' (2013), voiced by Creator/DaveBoat
* ''VideoGame/MarvelPuzzleQuest'' (added in 2013)
* ''VideoGame/MarvelFutureFight'' (added in 2019)
* ''VideoGame/MarvelContestOfChampions'' (added in 2019)
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!! The Thing provides examples of:

* TokenEvilTeammate: Surprisingly, this was his approximate role before his character really solidified; he had taken his transformation very badly, still bore a doomed crush on Sue, and was consistently the nastiest, the least caring for civilian safety, and the most likely to disobey orders or abandon a mission. Lee's original notes explicitly describe him as someone where the reader should always suspect he might go rogue.

* AbusiveParents: Her dad was a sexist asshole who emotionally abused her for years.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Currently she has become able to return to her human form, and even then she has a degree of SuperStrength.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Dead mother, abusive father, a failed military career, a wrestling career that ended in gang rape, and a superhero career that ended in a psychotic break.
* DistaffCounterpart: First female version of the Thing.
* CaptureAndReplicate: One of the many heroes captured and impersonated by Skrulls during ''Secret Invasion''.
* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: Though she spent most of her career as a superhero, she has ended up on the other side a few times, most notably during a time when ComicBook/DoctorDoom promised her a cure for her condition in exchange for her help undermining the Four.
* PrimaryColorChampion: Her outfit as Miss Marvel was red, blue and yellow. As She-Thing her outfit was black.
* OneSteveLimit: The Ms. Marvel codename, which she shared with Carol Danvers and now shares with Kamala Khan.
* RapeAsBackstory: She was gang-raped early in her career.
* SuperStrength: Her original powers given to her by Karl Mallus.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Seemingly she has become able to alternate between her human and She-Thing forms.

* MyGreatestFailure: In ''ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative'', when the young recruit MVP died in the botched training; Justice was wrecked with guilt as he was responsible for recruiting him to Camp Hammond.

* TheGhost: The Yancy Street Gang was never seen on-panel for ''decades.'' We finally got to actually meet them during one of the FF's ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' tie-ins.

'''[[TropeCodifier The]]''' SuperTeam [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]]. '''''[[{{Catchphrase}} "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"]]'''''

* CatchPhrase:

* AcePilot: The reason Reed wanted him flying the rocket.

* GeniusBruiser: Although his smarts are [[CastSpeciation usually overshadowed]] by super-genius Reed, and assumptions are usually made because of his appearance, strength, and voice, he is very clever in his own right. Ben lampshades this as he assembles a cosmic ray device, musing that he's watched Reed long enough to play MadScientist himself. Furthermore, he is something of an unofficial translator for Reed whenever he goes too deep into {{Technobabble}} territory, and while he can't do a lot of what Reed does, he absolutely understands the principles behind it and can pick out the salient aspects right away. There is also the fact that Grimm was a highly qualified test pilot before he became The Thing; no mean feat brain-wise. And he's also a fully qualified aerospace engineer and founded a successful aeronautical R&D company, Grimm Aeronautics, again before becoming the Thing. The idea of The Thing being simultaneously physically strong, ugly, and smart was seen as revolutionary in comics.

A quintessential tough guy and AcePilot, Ben was part of an outer space expedition led by [[Characters/FanasticFourTheFantasticFour Dr. Reed Richards, alongside Susan Storm, and Johnny Storm]]. A classic example of the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] in science fiction, the group was hit by a wave of cosmic rays, resulting in Ben's skin mutating into a rock-like substance, granting him with superhuman levels of strength, stamina, and durability.

A quintessential tough guy and AcePilot, Ben was part of an outer space expedition led by [[ComicBook/MisterFantastic Dr. Reed Richards]], alongside [[ComicBook/InvisibleWoman Susan Storm]], and [[ComicBook/HumanTorch Johnny Storm]]. A classic example of the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] in science fiction, the group was hit by a wave of cosmic rays, resulting in Ben's skin mutating into a rock-like substance, granting him with superhuman levels of strength, stamina, and durability.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Other than possibly ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, Ben is the most beloved hero in the entire Marvel superhero community. He may be scary to look at, but every civilian in the Marvel U still loves and respect Ben for his incorruptible heroism, and every single superhero worthy of the name loves, respects and supports Ben. He may not see himself as a leader, but if Ben ever needed help fighting a threat, he has [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers Mansion]], [[ComicBook/XMen Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters]], and many a powerful superhero's numbers on speed dial, and all of them would respond IMMEDIATELY. This is perhaps best shown in ''ComicBook/XMen2019'' when, despite the X-Men having become decidedly unfriendly to most non-mutants and a tense jurisdiction stand-off between the X-Men (through Cyclops) and the Fantastic Four over the disposition of Sabretooth, Cyclops takes a moment to congratulate Ben on his recent marriage.

* BadassBaritone: In courtesy of Chuck [=McCann=].

* SeriesMascot: Maybe not as much as in the old days, but for true fans, Ben used to be second only to Spider-Man as the face of the Marvel Universe. He's so central to the mythos that when ''ComicBook/JLAAvengers'' came out (being [[AuthorsSavingThrow basically an attempt]] to redo ''ComicBook/MarvelVersusDC'' less... [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks awkwardly),]] Busiek and Perez were sure to give him a prominent cameo, even though he has never been an Avenger.

* FacialHorror: During [[ComicBook/FantasticFour1961 Tom DeFalco's run]], Wolverine mauled Ben's face and Ben wad forced to don a helmet he briefly wore early on to protect his face as it healed -- resulting in a red splotch for scar tissue until Hyperstorm undid the damage.

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''[[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumberOne The Fantastic Four]]'' [[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumberOne #1]] (November 1961)

* BadassBaritone: In courtesy of Chuck McCann.

** Interestingly Ben's concerns were once inverted when Reed speculated that he was subconsciously resisting attempts to return to his human form because he feared that Alicia would only embrace his rock-like form.

* ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFour'' (1994 -- 1996), voiced by Chuck [=McCann=]

* GentleGiant: As long as you don't make him mad.

* StrongAndSkilled: One of his main stated advantages over Marvel's other heavyweights is that while he may not be as strong as the others, he's an excellent boxer and wrestler, giving him the edge against UnskilledButStrong types.

* MistakenEthnicity: * An inversion, when a villain overhears through a conversation between Ben Grimm and a man from his neighborhood that Ben is Jewish, he asks him about it. Ben confirms that he's Jewish, while angrily asking if that was a problem for the villain. The villain quickly denies this, stating, "It's just...You don't look Jewish." Marvel Comics addressed the UnfortunateImplications of this prior to the comic being published, saying they were aware of the issues with that phrase, but that in Ben's case, the joke was that he didn't look Jewish. He '''''didn't''''' look like any ethnicity. He was a big, orange rock man. At the time, the comic was well-received for finally making Ben's Jewish status canon.

* BoxingLessonsForSuperman: He's taken a fair number of such lessons, making him an experienced boxer and wrestler. In fact, this is what let him go three rounds with the Champion of the Universe; everyone else was too weak (ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, Sasquatch), too unskilled (Doc Samson, ComicBook/WonderMan), or unable to abide by the rules ([[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], ComicBook/IncredibleHulk, ComicBook/TheMightyThor).

* CantCatchUp: His win/loss record against ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk is shaky, and while he technically managed to beat him the first time they clashed, Banner's monstrous alter ego has only gotten even more freakishly strong over the years whereas Ben has (at best) grown at a linear pace. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of their increasingly one-side rivalry, Ben is often the initial line of defense against the Green Goliath when he goes on a rampage.

* TheGhost: The Yancy Street Gang was never seen on-panel for ''decades.'' We finally got to actually meet them during one of the FF's ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' tie-ins.

* TheRival: To ComicBook/IncredibleHulk, which is an amusing case given that the Hulk is usually portrayed as vastly stronger than the Thing physically, though they were originally depicted with equal strength, and Thing usually balances the power gap out with superior fighting skills.

* SeriesMascot: Maybe not as much as in the old days, but for true fans, Ben used to be second only to Spider-Man as the face of the Marvel Universe. He's so central to the mythos that when ''Comicbook/JLAAvengers'' came out (being [[AuthorsSavingThrow basically an attempt]] to redo ''ComicBook/MarvelVersusDC'' less... [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks awkwardly),]] Busiek and Perez were sure to give him a prominent cameo, even though he has never been an Avenger.

* SuperToughness: Being transformed into the Thing sucks in a number of ways, but it does come in mighty handy when you end up fighting guys like the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk and he punches you with a blow that would reduce any ordinary human to paste.

* PoweredArmor: At one point, Ben was turned back into a human and lost his powers as the Thing. Since he still wanted to help the rest of the team out, Reed constructed an ComicBook/IronMan-like suit of armor for him that resembles his rocky Thing form. The suit allowed Ben to simulate the strength and durability he had when he was the actual Thing, albeit not quite on the same level.

* CantStayNormal: Ben has been reverted to human form many times over the years, but for one reason or another (the cure wearing off, or Ben [[HeroicSacrifice choosing to change back to help his friends]]), he always returns to being the Thing. Reed speculates that there's a cosmic reason behind this, and that he is more 'satisfying' this way.

* {{Determinator}}: [[PhysicalGod The Champion]] declared him Earth's greatest hero, because even if he's not the most powerful, he will not yield.