History Characters / TheThing

** In Hickman's run, he's given a serum that makes him human again. An unforeseen side-effect is that it will apparently slow his aging so that he only ages while human. And therefore he'll outlive all his friends and family (save [[spoiler:Franklin]]) by thousands of years.

* 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 {{Stereotype}} 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.

* ExcellentJudgeofCharacter: She might not be able to see him, but she nails The Things' character.
-->'''Alicia:''' "His face feels strong & powerful! And yet, I can sense a gentleness to him--there is something tragic--something sensitive!"

* BreakoutCharacter: Even though Johnny was the first one to get a series (likely catapulting off his Golden Age counterpart), Ben is both the most popular member and the one who shows up most consistently in other books, including multiple stints on the Avengers, several solo series, and ''Marvel Two-in-One'', [[TeamUpSeries a series that was essentially 100 issues of other heroes getting to team up with him]].

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Marvel Two-In-One'' #54 (August, 1979)

A quintessential tough guy and AcePilot, Ben Grimm was part of an outer space expedition led by [[Characters/FantasticFourTheFantasticFour 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.

* ButtMonkey: [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks More so in the early years]], but it's not uncommon for him to be put in embarrassing situations for the sake of comedy, or be mocked and feared because of his appearance, though the latter bothered him less once he [[CharacterDevelopment mellowed out]] on his transformation.

* SeriesMascot:[[invoked]] 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.

* 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. Sometimes he'd even attack or outright try to ''kill'' the others (Johnny in particular). Lee's original notes explicitly describe him as someone where the reader should always suspect he might go rogue.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Downplayed in the sense that he talks and acts like a brawler who came up in the rough part of the Lower East Side because he ''is'' one... but if people forget he is a test pilot with multiple post-graduate degrees and can least catch the gist of things when Reed lapses into [[TechnoBabble Highest Academic]], it often suits his purposes.

** Ditto for Ben's Aunt Petunia, though she finally made her first appearance in the 80's.

* CantCatchUp: His win/loss record against the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] 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.

Idol o' Millions, one fourth of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Marvel's First Family]], the ever-lovin' blue eyed ''Thing'',

A quintessential tough guy and AcePilot, Ben was part of an outer space expedition led by [[Characters/FantasticFourTheFantasticFour 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.

Idol o' Millions, the ever-lovin' blue eyed Thing, one fourth of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Marvel's First Family]].

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

* GeniusBruiser: Although his smarts (Master's Degrees in Engineering, Aviation, and Chemistry plus whatever he's picked up over the years) 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.