History Comicbook / FantasticFour

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The "cosmic rays" sound like a cheap and corny excuse to give away superpowers, but [[https://www.space.com/32644-cosmic-rays.html they are a real thing]]. We are protected by the atmosphere, but it is a hazard for astronauts beyond it (yes, just like in Fantastic Four #1). However, they do not give superpowers, just cancer.

* '''ComicBook/MisterFantastic''' (Dr. Reed Richards), OmnidisciplinaryScientist who [[RubberMan can stretch and bend any part of his body at will]].
* '''The ComicBook/InvisibleWoman''' (Susan "Sue" Richards [née Storm]), who originally could only become [[VisibleInvisibility invisible]], she later developed special [[BarrierWarrior force field]] powers, as well as abilities to make invisible/visible her team-mates, objects or anything else she wishes.
* '''The ComicBook/HumanTorch''' (Jonathan "Johnny" Lowell Spencer Storm), who can [[WreathedInFlames cover his body in flames]] and [[{{Flight}} fly]], as and when he chooses to "Flame on".

* AuthorAppeal: The series was brought about, according to one version, by Stan Lee's wife Joan suggesting to him that he write something ''he'd'' like to read as opposed to his editor or the readers.

The World's Greatest Team. Creator/MarvelComics' First Family.

** Johnny and Franchise/SpiderMan have a friendly rivalry with each other; so do Ben and Franchise/{{Wolverine}}. Encounters of the two duos are common in crossovers; usually HilarityEnsues.

** Spider-Man's close relationship with the Fantastic Four has had him serve as this multiple times well before being inducted into the group proper as the Future Foundation. He would later lead a modified incarnation of the team (simply referred to as the "New Fantastic Four") comprised of himself, the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]], Franchise/{{Wolverine}} and ComicBook/GhostRider (Danny Ketch)[[labelnote:*]]Was replaced with ComicBook/IronMan in a modern-day "What If?" story.[[/labelnote]], which in turn saw some of their [[LegacyCharacter successors and counterparts]] (like X-23, Amadeus Cho, Gwen Stacy and Robbie Reyes) form their own variants for certain occasions.

** Spider-Man's close relationship with the Fantastic Four has had him serve as this multiple times well before being inducted into the group proper as the Future Foundation. He would later lead a modified incarnation of the team (simply referred to as the "New Fantastic Four") comprised of himself, ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk, Franchise/{{Wolverine}} and ComicBook/GhostRider (Danny Ketch)[[labelnote:*]]Was replaced with ComicBook/IronMan in a modern-day "What If?" story.[[/labelnote]], which in turn saw some of their [[LegacyCharacter successors and counterparts]] (like X-23, Amadeus Cho, Gwen Stacy and Robbie Reyes) form their own variants for certain occasions.

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Susan used to have only invisibility in the early stories until Lee and Kirby realized that it was next to useless compared to the male members' powers. As a result, they gave Susan her force field powers, but it was only later under John Byrne's period that she learned to really make it a kick ass power set, using it with a new aggressiveness in battle. Since then, different writers have her being considered not only the most powerful member of the team, but one of the most powerful heroes, period. To give an example, she's used those forcefields to ''knock out the [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]]''. It's further implied that if Sue didn't adhere to the rule of [[ThouShaltNotKill heroes not killing their enemies]] she could easily defeat most of her opponents by simply generating force field bubbles in their bodies and/or vital organs and making said force fields expand.

* {{Worthy Opponent}}s: Ben Grimm and Comicbook/IncredibleHulk to each other. Banner himself has said that if Hulk ever really cut loose, Ben would probably be the only hero on Earth with even a chance of slowing "ol' Jade-Jaws" down.

* LastNameBasis: The Thing seems to be on a permanent last-name basis with Bruce Banner (possibly having to do with his main rival being [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Bruce's alter-ego]], and when he gets sufficiently pissed at Reed he'll start referring to him exclusively as "Richards".

* TheNicknamer: Ben. Some of his nicknames include "Stretcho" for Reed, "Bic-head" and "Matchstick" for Johnny, "Suzie-Q" for Susan, "Jade-Jaws" for [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]], etc.

** Spider-Man's close relationship with the Fantastic Four has had him serve as this multiple times well before being inducted into the group proper as the Future Foundation. He would later lead a modified incarnation of the team (simply referred to as the "New Fantastic Four") comprised of himself, ComicBook/IncredibleHulk, Franchise/{{Wolverine}} and ComicBook/GhostRider (Danny Ketch)[[labelnote:*]]Was replaced with ComicBook/IronMan in a modern-day "What If?" story.[[/labelnote]], which in turn saw some of their [[LegacyCharacter successors and counterparts]] (like X-23, Amadeus Cho, Gwen Stacy and Robbie Reyes) form their own variants for certain occasions.

* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Reed is an expert in several fields, including biochemistry, human and alien biology, chemistry, communications, computers, electronics, energy generation, electrical, mechanical and aerospace engineering, extra-dimensional travel, holography, mutations, all levels of physics, robotics, space travel, spectral analysis, synthetic polymers, time travel, transportation. [[UpToEleven And several more]].

** Ben Grimm is overlooked, but is almost as nerdy and smart as Reed. They don't let BookDumb bruisers become test pilots and astronauts (in RealLife you have to have at least two Master's degrees or a [=PhD=] to be considered for space missions), and apparently Reed found him qualified to fly an experimental spacecraft. He also can follow Reed's {{Technobabble}} well enough to translate it into LaymansTerms,

* StrandedInvader: ** After the FF defeated a group of Skrulls, Reed gave them the option of returning to their homeworld in defeat, which would be a guaranteed death for failure, or take the form of terrestrial animals and have their memories erased so they'd forget being Skrulls. They were transformed into cows. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero This had unintended consequences later]], as the Skrull-cows intermingled with other cows, creating hybrids, and were also put in the milking line and some sent straight to the slaughterhouse, where they entered the national food supply.

** In the last issues of Hickman's run, the time-travelling future version of Franklin drops some hints of future events that he's lived through, which would only be revealed in his '' [[ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman Avengers]]'' run and ''[[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 Secret Wars]]''. First, Franklin stops the war between the Inhumans and the Kree by showing Black Bolt a glimpse of an upcoming future catastrophe, which he should focus on instead of waging war. We do not yet learn what the catastrophe is, but the words "everything dies" are dropped, their significance becoming clear in Hickman's ''New Avengers''. And in the final issue of Hickman's Fantastic Four, future Franklin encourages his present day child version to use his imagination and populate the pocket universe he had created (in the beginning of Hickman's run) with all sorts of fantastic beings, hinting that his boundless imagination together with his reality-altering powers would one day be of utmost importance.

* SacredFlames: In ''Fantastic Four #260'' Doctor Doom gets his body obliterated during a fight between Tyros The Terrible and the Silver Surfer. Doom's mind resides in the body of a bystander, who now uses "Gypsy magic" and the "Flames of Falroth" in his Latverian castle to try and reconstruct his mortal body. When these sacred flames cannot undo the disintegration, they summon The Beyonder instead. It's an awkward moment, having recently returned from the ''ComicBook/SecretWars''.

** Kristoff, Doom's protégé / heir just sort of vanished after a while. Hickman's run brought him back with the mention that Doom had sent him in to exile for whatever reason. The same with Nathaniel Richards.

** In the last issues of Hickman's run, the time-travelling future version of Franklin drops some hints of future events that he's lived through, which would only be revealed in his '' [[ComicBook/JonathanHickmansAvengers Avengers]]'' run and ''[[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 Secret Wars]]''. First, Franklin stops the war between the Inhumans and the Kree by showing Black Bolt a glimpse of an upcoming future catastrophe, which he should focus on instead of waging war. We do not yet learn what the catastrophe is, but the words "everything dies" are dropped, their significance becoming clear in Hickman's ''New Avengers''. And in the final issue of Hickman's Fantastic Four, future Franklin encourages his present day child version to use his imagination and populate the pocket universe he had created (in the beginning of Hickman's run) with all sorts of fantastic beings, hinting that his boundless imagination together with his reality-altering powers would one day be of utmost importance.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''The Fantastic Four Roast'' from February 1982 was a one-shot all-humor issue where virtually the entire Marvel universe shows up at a fete for the FF to give some good-natured ribbing to them. It was written and laid out by Fred Hembeck with finishes and inks by many of the staff. It has the splash page title "When Titans Chuckle!"