History ComicBook / ManThing

In 2007, a [[Film/ManThing TV movie was released]] based loosely upon Gerber's plot about a thoughtless developer trying to drain Man-Thing's swamp. Outside of the authors it inspired, the series is best remembered for its larger collections, infamously titled [[AccidentalInnuendo 'Giant Size Man-Thing']]. In 2021, as the 50th anniversary of Man-Thing's creation, there was a special 3-part ''Curse of the Man-Thing'' event which ran through the Avengers, Spider-Man and the X-Men.

A biochemistry professor known as Dr. Theodore Sallis, who was working to try and recreate the lost supersoldier serum of Captain America and would end up doing so albeit GoneHorriblyWrong with Project Gladiator.

* StarCrossedLovers: One issue had a pair with obvious ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' parallels.

'''Man-Thing''' is a SwampMonster from Creator/MarvelComics. He first appeared in ''"Savage Tales''" #1 (May, 1971). The character was co-created by author Roy Thomas and his editor Creator/StanLee. His debut story was scripted by Gerry Conway and drawn by Gray Morrow. Man-Thing is not to be confused with DC's ''Comicbook/SwampThing'', which premiered within a month of Man-Thing. The two characters have many parallels, including their backstories (both partially written by Creator/LenWein), swampy homes, and being re-imagined by notable comic writers.

'''Man-Thing''' is the name of a Creator/MarvelComics character. He first appeared in ''"Savage Tales''" #1 (May, 1971). The character was co-created by author Roy Thomas and his editor Creator/StanLee. His debut story was scripted by Gerry Conway and drawn by Gray Morrow. Man-Thing is not to be confused with DC's ''Comicbook/SwampThing'', which premiered within a month of Man-Thing. The two characters have many parallels, including their backstories (both partially written by Creator/LenWein), swampy homes, and being re-imagined by notable comic writers.

Unlike Comicbook/SwampThing, Man-Thing was a mindless creature living mostly by instinct, hardly aware of his former life. An empathic creature, he often came to the aid of the weak and confronted those who expressed strong negative emotions, since, due to latent psychic empathy, strong negative emotions caused him great pain. Man-Thing has a particular loathing for fear, which comes up often throughout the series, since it is the emotion a giant swamp monster is most likely to elicit. The fact that reacting to that fear makes him secrete a deadly potent corrosive is good enough to scare knowledgeable people as well. Writing stories around a mindless, unchanging character proved difficult, but Gerber showed remarkable variance in the types of stories and characters he was able to fit into this rather limited concept. As usual, he tried to bring a sense of realism and psychological depth to the series, and fans responded.

'''Man-Thing''' is the name of a Creator/MarvelComics character. He first appeared in ''"Savage Tales''" #1 (May, 1971). The character was co-created by author Roy Thomas and his editor Creator/StanLee. His debut story was scripted by Gerry Conway and drawn by Gray Morrow. Man-Thing is not to be confused with DC's ''Comicbook/SwampThing'', which premiered within a month of Man-Thing. The two characters have many parallels, including their backstories (both partially written by LenWein), swampy homes, and being re-imagined by notable comic writers.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: As much as a monster he is, F.A. Schist has a wife and a daughter that deeply care for him. It is also what triggers Schist's wife to attempt an (unsuccessful) vendetta against Man-Thing after [[spoiler: Man-Thing kills Schist]]. Schist's daughter eventually convinces her mother that Schist likely destroyed himself, and that Man-Thing isnt responsible.

* AchillesHeel: Man-Thing's is being dried out.
* AcidAttack: His most iconic power; when driven to true aggression by the presence of fear, his body secretes a highly caustic chemical that allows him to lethally burn whatever he touches.

* AscendedMeme: In ''Thunderbolts'', a mystical transformation Man-Thing goes through, combined with the events of ''Comicbook/FearItself'', temporarily turn him into a literal "Giant Size Man-Thing"; he is even called such by Songbird. It's not the [[http://www.comicvine.com/man-thing/29-4988/all-images/108-211172/manthing1997gs/105-1900064/ first time]] the meme's ascended, either.

* BodyHorror:
** What happens to those who ''drink'' the waters of the Fountain of Youth, rather than bathing in them. Bathing in the Fountain rejuvenates a person, but, as Schist discovered, if you drink it you turn into a twisted, corpse-like wraith cursed with AgeWithoutYouth.
** The transformation that turned Sallis into Man-Thing. Not only did he lose his mind, he lost all physical form, Man-Things body isn't flesh and bone, it's just swamp muck, roots and other vegetative detritus in humanoid shape.
* CameBackWrong: Beyond a shadow of a doubt. It's made quite clear that there is ''nothing'' left of Sallis beyond a few vague and dreamy memories that are usually locked away in the depths of Man-Thing's skull, and the few occasions when Sallis' mind is restored are so traumatic that reverting Man-Thing to mindlessness is treated as the only moral thing to do so long as a physical cure remains out of reach.

* ComboPlatterPowers: The Man-Thing has quite a variety of powers after his transformation, including empathy, a HealingFactor, [[AcidAttack acidic sweat]], NighInvulnerability, CombatTentacles, {{Teleportation}} and SuperStrength. In 2021's ''Curse of the Man-Thing'' event, he can also perform SummonMagic.
* CreepyGood: Almost everyone who meets him is at the very least disturbed by Man-Things appearance and behavior, but he is firmly on the side of good, if only by chance, as his power tends to target evildoers. Man-Thing itself has little understanding of good or evil, just that evil hurts it, and that makes it ''angry!''
* {{Cthulhumanoid}}: In appearance at least, since his "face" is framed by several large root-tentacles, and a rare heroic example.

* ElementalEmbodiment: Man-Thing is the incarnate elemental spirit of the swamp he lives in.
* TheEmpath: Man-Thing's main form of interpersonal interaction is his ability to sense emotions, which triggers an instinctive response.
* EmptyShell: What Dr. Sallis becomes after his transformation into Man-Thing.

* FreakLabAccident: While working in a swamp trying to recreate ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's super-soldier serum, Dr. Ted Sallis is betrayed and injects himself in an attempt to escape, but crashes into the swamp where he is transformed...

* HealingFactor: As long as he is in the presence of moisture.

* HealingFactor: Because his "flesh" is just algae and moss draped over a flexible root-based skeleton, he can swiftly regrow any bits that get blasted away or chopped off.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: "The Prison Without Walls", an episode of the ''[[WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' cartoon penned by Creator/SteveGerber after his fallout with Marvel, features a Shambling Mound (a monster from the tabletop game derived from Man-Thing, Swamp Thing and The Heap) which has been visually redesigned to clearly reference Man-Thing hmself.
** Man-Thing frequently appears as one of the members of the Parliament of Trees in ''ComicBook/SwampThing''.

* LogicalWeakness: He burns anyone who feels fear. This of course means that if something can make Man-Thing feel even a flicker of fear than he'll be immolated by his own powers. He's actually died this way ''twice''.

* PlantPerson: Light on the 'person', but Man-Thing counts as one, if only in the sense that he's a mobile plant in a vaguely humanoid shape.
* NatureHero: By virtue of living in and defending a swamp.
* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Man-Thing frequently crosses paths with alligators, although it usually turns out badly for them. Eventually they start to avoid him like the plague.
* NighInvulnerability: Man-Thing has the HealingFactor and FeelNoPain combination; because his body-mass is all slimy plant-muck, he doesn't feel any damage when his body is struck and quickly replaces any bio-matter that's scoured away by attackers. He's been blown to pieces and regenerated fully (though that takes a bit longer).
* NominalHero: The Man-Thing doesn't really ''intend'' to do anything heroic, being a mindless and instinct-driven abomination. It's simply good fortune that its instincts and empathic nature cause it to violently lash out at anything causing/feeling fear and that evil hurts it like a burning brand in the brain, driving it to attack the truly monstrous. When not embroiled in some adventure, Man-Thing will usually just ignore the people around it, even allies. It simply lacks the capacity to form human bonds.

* PullingThemselvesTogether: Almost every Man-Thing combat seems to involve pieces coming off... and then clumping back into shape.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: For those who know fear burn at the Man-thing's touch! And there is plenty of reason to be afraid of an ugly nigh infinitely regenerating giant with super human strength and corrosive secretions who does not want you in its swamp.

* TheSpeechless: Out of necessity, seeing as how Man-Thing has no mouth.

* StevenUlyssesPerhero: See MeaningfulName above.

* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: In the 2021 ''Curse of the Man-Thing'' event, Man-Thing is as much a product of this as Salli's expertise in bio-chemistry. It turns out that he actually couldn't come up with the maths for his super-soldier serum. His calculations kept coming out wrong, so in despair he conjures up Belasco and makes a deal with him. Belasco gives him a string of calculations involving supernatural maths and this completes the serum.
* SuperStrength: Man-Thing has immense strength, well beyond that of a human being.

* TookALevelInBadass: Man-Thing's burning touch against "anyone that feels fear", has been upgraded from mundane acid sweat to being an EXTREMELY powerful supernatural ability. Man-Thing roasted a rogue Hyperion in their days with the Thunderbolts and more recently a miniature sproutling of Man-Thing's, Boy-Thing was able to harm [[ComicBook/ThePunisher Frank Castle]] the [[ComicBook/GhostRider Cosmic Ghost Rider]] who was possessing the [[CosmicEntity armour of a Prime Celestial]].
* UniversalLanguage: Is able to speak it at the end of his Thunderbolts appearances, which carries into his more recent ''Red She-Hulk'' appearances.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A pretty far example, but still noteworthy. He ended up meeting ''Curt Connors'' back when he was in the hospital for the loss of his arm and the two talked about Ted's attempts for the super-soldier serum. He was also vital for Connors' cell regeneration research, which is what would lead Connors to the path that would eventually lead him to becoming the Lizard. Given what happens to Ted after he joins Project Gladiator, both men suffer alot.
* WasOnceAMan: Until he tried to keep a recreated version of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's SuperSoldier serum away from foreign spies. Cornered and with no options left, he injected the serum into himself, moments before the spies gunned him down. The serum, combined with the mystical energies of the swamp, transformed the scientist into a shambling, mindless monstrosity.
* WeirdnessMagnet: It's not so much him as his habitat, but since Man-Thing's swamp is a Nexus Of Realities, not to mention saturated with mystical energy, weird and strange things tend to pop up there more often than not.
* WhenTreesAttack: Man-Thing fights one infected with a personification of hate.
* WipeThatSmileOffYourFace: Man-Thing's "face" can only be described as rudimentary; it has three roots forming a crude frame of a face, and two large, staring eyes, but no semblance of a mouth.

In 2007, a [[Film/ManThing TV movie was released]] based loosely upon Gerber's plot about a thoughtless developer trying to drain Man-Thing's swamp. Outside of the authors it inspired, the series is best remembered for its larger collections, infamously titled [[AccidentalInnuendo 'Giant Size Man-Thing']].

* ComboPlatterPowers: The Man-Thing has quite a variety of powers after his transformation, including empathy, a HealingFactor, [[AcidAttack acidic sweat]], NighInvulnerability and SuperStrength.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: ''Giant-Size Man-Thing.'' Six big issues of it.

* HaveAGayOldTime: ''Giant-Size Man-Thing''. Widely thought to be [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar deliberate]].

Gerber's {{Retool}} of the character helped the Man-Thing get his own series, prefiguring Creator/AlanMoore's similar reimagining of Comicbook/SwampThing; but while Moore's experimentation with the medium garnered him praise and notoriety, Gerber struggled throughout his career with censorship and creator's rights. Gerber introduced Comicbook/HowardTheDuck in the pages of Man-Thing, and was soon fighting Marvel over creative control and ownership of the character, costing Gerber his job and leading to a legal case resulting in his bankruptcy.

'''Man-Thing''' is the name of a Creator/MarvelComics character. He first appeared in ''"Savage Tales''" #1 (May, 1971). The character was co-created by author Roy Thomas and his editor Creator/StanLee. His debut story was scripted by Gerry Conway and drawn by Gray Morrow. Man-Thing is not to be confused with DC's ''Comicbook/SwampThing'', which premiered within a month of Man-Thing. The two characters have many parallels, including their backstories (both partially written by LenWein), swampy homes, and being re-imagined by notable comic writers. Both are also similar to an older horror character, TheHeap.

He was a biochemistry professor known as Dr. Theodore Sallis, who was working to try and recreate the lost supersoldier serum of Captain America and would end up doing so albeit GoneHorriblyWrong with Project Gladiator.

->''"...and whatever knows fear... burns at the Man-Thing's Touch!"''
-->--'''Creator/SteveGerber''''s signature tagline for the series

[[quoteright:242:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/manthing_2402.gif]]

* SuddenlyVoiced: Is able to speak a UniversalLanguage at the end of his Thunderbolts appearances, which carries into his more recent ''Red She-Hulk'' appearances. But he still has no mouth.

** The last issue also has Steve appearing as himself, telling us that he's just been [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis retelling stories]] told to him by Dakimh.

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: [[invoked]] In the final issue, Gerber tells us that the stories were provided to him by Dakimh the Enchanter, and that he's decided to stop writing them after being dragged into the story, himself.

* ComboPlatterPowers: The Man-Thing has quite a variety of powers after his transformation, including {{Empathy}}, a HealingFactor, [[AcidAttack acidic sweat]], NighInvulnerability and SuperStrength.

* {{Empathy}}: His main plot-driving power; the Man-Thing isn't really sapient, but has the ability to sense emotions. In general, this draws him to places where plot happens, but specifically, the sensations of fear and hatred trigger an aggressive response that causes him to attack whatever is producing such unpleasant sensations. Meanwhile, "evil" is so much stronger and more hostile than fear that it mentally ''hurts'' him and drives him wild with fury.

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: In the final issue, Gerber tells us that the stories were provided to him by Dakimh the Enchanter, and that he's decided to stop writing them after being dragged into the story, himself.

* StarCrossedLovers: One issue had a pair with obvious ''RomeoAndJuliet'' parallels.

* NighInvulnerability: Man-Thing has the HealingFactor and FeelNoPain combination; because his body-mass is all slimy plant-muck, he doesn't feel any damage when his body is struck and quickly replaces any bio-matter that's scoured away by attackers.

-->-- '''Creator/SteveGerber''''s signature tagline for the series

* BodyHorror: What happens to those who ''drink'' the waters of the Fountain Of Youth, rather than bathe in it. Bathing in it rejuvenates a person with youth, but as Schist discovered, if you drink it, you turn into twisted, corpse-like wraiths cursed with AgeWithoutYouth.

* CameBackWrong / InhumanHuman: Man-Thing, beyond a shadow of a doubt. It's made quite clear that there is ''nothing'' left of Sallis beyond a few vague and dreamy memories that are usually locked away in the depths of Man-Thing's skull, and the few occasions when Sallis' mind is restored are so traumatic that reverting Man-Thing to mindlessness is treated as the only moral thing to do so long as a physical cure remains out of reach.

* ComboPlatterPowers: The Man-Thing has quite a variety of powers after his transformation:
** {{Empathy}}: His main plot-driving power; the Man-Thing isn't really sapient, but has the ability to sense emotions. In general, this draws him to places where plot happens, but specifically, the sensations of fear and hatred trigger an aggressive response that causes him to attack whatever is producing such unpleasant sensations. Meanwhile, "evil" is so much stronger and more hostile than fear that it mentally ''hurts'' him and drives him wild with fury.
** HealingFactor: Because his "flesh" is just algae and moss draped over a flexible root-based skeleton, he can swiftly regrow any bits that get blasted away or chopped off.
** HollywoodAcid: His most iconic power; when driven to true aggression by the presence of fear, his body secretes a highly caustic chemical that allows him to lethally burn whatever he touches.
** NighInvulnerable: Man-Thing doesn't feel pain, disperses most of the force directed against him due to having such spongy "flesh", and can regenerate physical damage inflicted on him. He is very, ''very'' hard to hurt.
** SuperStrength: Man-Thing has immense strength, well beyond that of a human being.

* HollywoodAcid: Man-Thing is scary enough for the unwary as a shambling plant monster, but the fact that he secretes a deadly corrosive when he encounters fear scares the hell out of people who know about him too.

** SuddenlyVoiced: Is able to speak a UniversalLanguage at the end of his Thunderbolts appearances, which carries into his more recent ''Red She-Hulk'' appearances. But he still has no mouth.

* BadassGrandpa: A villainous example with Josefsen the Mad Viking; a literal grandfather, he was still the hardest-working longshoreman in his home town, driven and dedicated to the point that he refused to stop working even after being formally retired. When his ex-boss demanded the police remove him, Josefsen went berserk; he grabbed his former employee and threw him at the cops, then stormed off home. There, he worked himself into a rage and ultimately went on a berserk killing spree in a stereotypical viking outfit.

* IThoughtItMeant: Made worse by the occasional issue of ''Giant Size Man-Thing''.

-->-- '''SteveGerber''''s signature tagline for the series

Savage Tales was a one-shot publication, though it would be revived as a regular series in 1973. In the meantime Man-Thing gained a regular series in the {{horror}} anthology 'Adventure Into Fear'. He became an unlikely hit for writer SteveGerber, who pushed genre boundaries with the character, providing inspiration for later writers like Creator/NeilGaiman.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: "The Prison Without Walls", an episode of the ''[[WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' cartoon penned by SteveGerber after his fallout with Marvel, features a Shambling Mound (a monster from the tabletop game derived from Man-Thing, Swamp Thing and The Heap) which has been visually redesigned to clearly reference Man-Thing hmself.

* {{Hellgate}}: The 'Nexus of All Realities' in Man-Thing's swamp. Not to be confused with the ''other'' "Nexus of All Realities", the [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} M'Kraan Crystal]]...though the two are connected on some level.

* NominalHero: The Man-Thing doesn't really ''intend'' to do anything heroic, being a mindless and instinct-driven abomination. It's simply good fortune that its instincts and empathic nature cause it to violently lash out at anything causing/feeling fear and that evil hurts it like a burning brand in the brain, driving it to attack the truly monstrous.