History Comicbook / FantasticFour

* PoweredArmor: Somewhere early 70's The Thing lost his powers, so he wound up using a PoweredArmor version of his previous body.

* ThreeAmigos: Reed, Ben and Sue. Later, during John Byrne's run, also Ben, Johnny and Alicia (carried over into the MC-2 universe with Ben, Johnny and Lyja).

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: A Marvel staple... which is actually usually averted. The Fantastic Four are one of the more beloved heroes in the Marvel universe. Though on occasion, either thanks to Skrulls, or a HatePlague, or just the average Marvel citizen, it is played straight.

* BodyHorror. [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4rflfHwEH1qzfe3g.jpg Johnny getting revived by worms, after he died in the Negative Zone.]] [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4rchrtIdp1qzizmho1_500.jpg EW!]]

The characters first appeared in ''"[[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumber1 Fantastic Four]]''" [[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumber1 vol. 1 #1]] (November, 1961), created by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby. The four were connected even before the same Main/NegativeSpaceWedgie gave them all their powers -- Reed and Sue were sweethearts and eventually got married, Johnny is Sue's younger brother, Ben is Reed's best friend since college (previously Reed's buddy from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, until ComicBookTime forced a RetCon) -- and are as much a [[TrueCompanions family]] (if occasionally a dysfunctional one) [[SuperFamilyTeam as a team]]. Reed is the World's Smartest Man, and his genius is often at least as useful as the powers he got from the accident. The royalty payments from all his inventions fund the Four's adventures, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless despite the fact that they never get implemented in the world around them]], and lets them live in high style in the time between.

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* ArcWords: Hickman's run has "solve everything" and "all hope lies in Doom"
* ArtifactOfDeath: The Ultimate Nullifier.

* BachelorAuction: Fantastic Four Volume 3, #50 backup story "In The Eye Of The Beholder".

* BarrierWarrior: Invisible Woman pretty much ''is'' the archetype.

* BeautyToBeast: Ben, and possibly Doom.

* ChestInsignia: The "4" symbol.
* ClockKing: The Mad Thinker.

* DeadpanSnarker: The Thing. Johnny likes to think he's one too.

* EgocentricTeamNaming

* FourElementEnsemble: Frequently lampshaded in discussions about the team. The Human Torch controls fire, the Thing is seemingly made of stone, Mr. Fantastic flows like water, and the Invisible Woman becomes invisible like air.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Reed is Melancholic, Susan is Phlegmatic, Ben is Choleric, and Johnny is Sanguine.
** Which don't match the traditional associations of temperaments with elements (FourElementEnsemble): melancholy goes with earth, phlegm with water, choler with fire, and sanguinity with air.

* '''ComicBook/TheThing''' (Benjamin "Ben" Jacob Grimm), who is superhumanly big and [[SuperStrength strong]], and comes with a measure of invulnerability -- but also [[ReluctantMonster remarkably monstrous]], and [[PowerUpgradingDeformation unlike the others]], ''[[{{Metamorphosis}} can't switch it off]]''.

The Fantastic Four are at heart a team of scientists and explorers, and they build vehicles, devices and portals in their penthouse dwelling atop the Baxter Building. The adventures of the Fantastic Four have taken them across the world, across time, to the far depths of space, and the bowels of the earth. The FF have investigated, explored and mapped out more dimensions and alternate universes than you can fathom. In the course of their many adventures, the Four have faced a great assortment of rogues -- the Mole Man, the Skrulls and the Kree, Dr. Victor von Doom, the Puppetmaster, the Molecule Man, the Red Ghost, the Trapster, the Frightful Four, Annihilus, among many others. Likewise, it was in the pages of the Four that the Marvel Universe and its greater world building was first fixed. The first appearances of ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' and Wakanda, ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' of Attilan, and the ''ComicBook/SilverSurfer'' were in the pages of the Four. Their number one recurring enemy ''ComicBook/DoctorDoom'' has gone on to become the great Marvel-wide villain of the entire universe. The Fantastic Four as such both literally and figuratively founded the Marvel Universe as we know it. In the wake of the success of the Four, titles like Franchise/SpiderMan, the ComicBook/XMen, ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' followed. They also [[TropeMakers created many tropes]]; the FF were the first [[SuperHero superheroes]] without a SecretIdentity, the first super-team where the members fought each other as much as the villains, and the first place that KirbyDots appeared, among others.

The flagship title continues to be ''Fantastic Four'' but recently the series spun off another book ''ComicBook/{{FF}}'', meaning ''Future Foundation''. In addition, ''ComicBook/MarvelTwoInOne'' a team-up series featuring The Thing and other heroes ran regularly in TheSeventies and even when the the core title was cancelled between 2015-2018, this team-up title was revived by Creator/ChipZdarsky as part of ''Comicbook/MarvelLegacy''. Originally a temporary replacement for the regular ''Fantastic Four'' book, the Foundation is a scientific organization working for the betterment of mankind. The book features Reed and Sue's children, Franklin and Valeria; and notably includes Franchise/SpiderMan and Doctor Doom as members. With the Comicbook/MarvelNOW relaunch the new volume of the Future Foundation stars [[ComicBook/AntMan Scott Lang]], ComicBook/SheHulk, ComicBook/{{Medusa|MarvelComics}} and Johnny Storm's current girlfriend, Darla Deering, while the main family is on an intergalactic vacation. The series ended in 2015 with issue #645. However some characters appeared in other titles separately. In the aftermath of ComicBook/SecretWars2015, Johnny Storm appeared in ''Uncanny Inhumans'' and ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers'' and the Thing joined the ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy. As for Reed and Sue Richards, they went off with their kids rebuilding TheMultiverse, which was destroyed in the lead-up to ''Secret Wars''. In 2017, Johnny and Ben reunited in ''Marvel 2-in-One'' and began searching for their missing family, leading into the team finally returning in 2018 after a three-year (real-time) absence. ''ComicBook/FutureFoundation'' continues the adventures of the titular Foundation in the multiverse without them.

* ComicBookTime: Perhaps more visibly in force here than in any other comic. Franklin was born in 1968, and had yet to reach puberty for many decades of comics despite the fact that he really ought to be older than many, many Creator/MarvelComics characters that are older than him despite having been born decades later. Best reflected in the fact that ComicBook/KittyPryde in one issue of ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' mused about offering to babysit Franklin to work off unwitting vandalism to the Fantastic Four's lab (ItMakesSenseInContext). Going by her introduction year of 1980, and her stated age at the time of 13, she's actually only one year older than Franklin (to be 13 in 1980 meant she was born in 1967). However, as of Dan Slott's run (which began in 2018), Franklin has finally grown enough to be a teenager.

* EnemyMine: Happens a lot with major antagonists for Reed such as with Doctor Doom and ComicBook/{{Galactus}}. Notable when Reed's daughter Valeria brokered a deal with Doom. [[spoiler: Doom will work with the Future Foundation to bring down a group of amoral [[EvilTwin alternate Reed Richards]]. In exchange they would heal his super-intelligence crippling [[SoapOperaDisease brain damage]]. Doom upon being restored gathers a summit of the FF's most intelligent enemies to work on strategies to kill the Reeds. At the Foundation's headquarters.]]

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

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Johnny does this to save his niece and nephew. He succeeds, but dies in the process]]]]. ([[DeathIsCheap Don't worry, kids, this is a comic book]]).

** As for the rest of the team: The Thing is likewise a very intelligent ex-fighter pilot. On his worst days, he's needy, pessimistic, and pushy; on his best, he is braver than Comicbook/CaptainAmerica. Sue is the most powerful member of her team and on her best day the TeamMom, but she's got self-esteem issues and doubts Reed's devotion to her and to the family. Most interesting of all is Reed: he's brilliant, he's rich, he's famous, he's got a great family and the name of every other superhero on his rolodex, and he's [[EvenTheGuysWantHim even easy on the eyes]], but every so often he admits his deep guilt over causing the accident that made the Fantastic Four in the first place - even guilt over what happened to Victor Von Doom, even though he didn't have a damn thing to do with it.

** Franchise/SpiderMan sometimes takes this role for Franklin. Notably when he consoled Franklin after Johnny Storm's death. In a {{Video Will|s}} he left behind, one of Johnny's reasons for asking Spider-Man to take his place in the team line-up was because he knew Franklin would be thrilled.

* 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/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce's alter-ego]], and when he gets sufficiently pissed at Reed he'll start referring to him exclusively as "Richards".

* MarryingTheMark: In a plot to destroy the Fantastic Four, the Skrulls sent Lyja to impersonate Alicia Masters. She got close to [[ComicBook/HumanTorch Johnny Storm]] and ended up [[InLoveWithTheMark falling in love with him for real]] before marrying him. This event has since become a RunningGag in the Fantastic Four books ("remember that time Johnny married a Skrull?")

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

* NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus: In one issue, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Creator/WaltDisney goes mad and believes himself a {{Messia|nicArchetype}}h. To solve the problem of overpopulation he plans to use the Human Torch to reignite the Earth's core thus expanding the landmass. He dies just as he's about to push the big button. Afterwards his assistants claim the idea would never work. Queried why they were doing it, they admit they were programmed to obey him. The point being, they know the messiah stuff is rubbish but they can only do what they're told.
** Subverted the second time Galactus attacks Earth. He is preceded by his new herald Air Walker, a very impressive-looking being who just happens to be named ''Gabriel Lan'' [[note]] Technically, it's a [[RobotMe robot duplicate]] of the real Gabriel Lan, who is deceased by then. [[/note]] and who, as a herald of Galactus, has come to announce the end of the world. Naturally, the human onlookers assume he is the Biblical Gabriel announcing Armageddon and are terrified. Air Walker is then confronted by the ComicBook/SilverSurfer, who makes it plain that he himself ''does'' believe in God, and that Air Walker cannot possibly be His agent, because Air Walker is acting like a bullying jerk.

* PalsWithJesus: All four are friends with Uatu The Watcher, one of the most powerful beings of this universe. Even better: ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, a freakin' embodiment of a cosmic force, has said that the Fantastic Four are the only beings in the Universe that he can call his friends. In fact, in one issue we see an older version of Franklin promise Galactus that he'd be with him at the end of the universe. They share a moment floating above the Earth.

** With Comicbook/MarvelNOW, in "Fantastic Four" the Richards family took an intergalactic vacation for a year, whilst in "FF" [[ComicBook/AntMan Scott Lang]], ComicBook/SheHulk, ComicBook/{{Medusa|MarvelComics}} and Johnny Storm's [[GirlOfTheWeek most recent]] girlfriend, Darla Deering, were recruited to serve as the heads of the Future Foundation & the Fantastic Four in the absence of the Richards family.

** The planet-eating ComicBook/{{Galactus}} came to Earth a few times to devour it after spending centuries feeding on other planets without much trouble.

** Volume 3 Issue #65. Using Doctor Doom's shrink ray device, Reed Richards shrinks ComicBook/TheThing down to half size so he can [[AirVentPassageway travel through the Baxter Building's ventilation ducts]] in search of intruders.

** ComicBook/BlackPanther and ComicBook/{{Storm}} took over Reed and Sue's spots on the team for a brief spell post-''Civil War'', and this was long after T'Challa formerly bankrolled some of the Four's operations in the past

** 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]], ComicBook/{{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.

** [[spoiler:Johnny dying a year before the FF's 50th anniversary.]] Yeaaaah, ''that'll'' stick. Then becomes a subversion when instead of simply coming back to life he [[spoiler: ends up in the Negative Zone leading a FiveManBand to overthrow Annihilus and gains control over the Annihilation Wave.]] TookALevelInBadass indeed.

* StoryBreakerPower: Franklin is a major case of having this, which is why he can never be allowed to permanently grow up in-story. He also keeps having his powers nerfed after doing anything sufficiently cool. This is because his full power is well beyond most characters who are considered gods; perhaps the only Earthling who compares to him is ComicBook/ScarletWitch (who ''also'' has her powers reined in by something or other most of the time.)

** The ComicBook/SilverSurfer came to Earth as a herald of his master ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, who intended to [[PlanetEater devour the planet]]. After Sue Storm convinces him to [[HeelFaceTurn change sides]], he turns against Galactus, who punishes the Surfer by making him unable to leave Earth. It took several years before this situaltion changed.

** Earlier, ComicBook/LukeCage had filled in for Ben for a few issues during a period when Ben was depowered.

** As of Issue #5 of Dan Slott's run,[[spoiler: Ben and Alicia.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: Susan, once deemed to have a [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeart next to useless power of becoming invisible]], to nowadays where she is one of the most powerful superheroes in all of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, along with the forceful personality guaranteed to mess up even Doctor Doom's day. Oh, and [[MamaBear she's got kids]]. There's a reason why she's the page image for this trope.
* TrueCompanions: Franchise/SpiderMan is one of the most trusted allies and friends of the Four. After the [[spoiler:Torch's supposed death]], Spidey temporarily became a member of the ''Future Foundation''.
* TwistingTheProphecy: When the Overmind was introduced in ''Fantastic Four issue #113'', he was fond of quoting a prophecy about himself: "From out of the heavens shall come the Overmind, and he shall crush the universe." Indeed, none of the heroes can make a dent in him, even with the TeethClenchedTeamwork of ComicBook/DoctorDoom. It took the DeusExMachina of The Stranger showing up, and summarily shrinking the Overmind to particulate size, taunting: "Now the Overmind has his universe to crush, on a nameless mote of dust."
* {{Tyrannicide}}: Issue #247 has ComicBook/DoctorDoom bring the Fantastic Four to his homeland to show them how Prince Zorba has reduced Latveria to a CrapsackWorld where its people live in misery and fear. While the Four battle war-class Doombots, Doom seeks out Zorba and confronts him about his tyranny.

* 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/TheIncredibleHulk 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 the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] 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.

The World's Greatest Heroes. The Fabulous Foursome. The Greatest Team Ever. Marvel's First Family.

The World's Greatest Heroes. The Fabulous Foursome. The Greatest Team Ever.

* FromDhameHeroism: Reed Richards explains to his daughter Valeria that he founded the FF after the space mission that gave them their powers because it was his effort to make amends after ruining their lives, that by making them heroes with public identities and fame, he might be forgiven for the damage his arrogance caused...someday.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/worldsgreatestcomicmagazine.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/worldsgreatestcomicmagazine.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300: The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clean.jpg]]

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

* TheyDo: Reed and Sue.

Creator/MarvelComics' First Family.

The World's Greatest Heroes. The Greatest Team Ever.

The World's Greatest Team.

* EliteFour: The eponymous group are four humans that made a daring venture into space, where exposure to cosmic radiation gave them superpowers. Reed Richards, "Mister Fantastic," is the team leader and also TheSmartGuy; Ben Grimm, "The Thing," is TheBigGuy; Johnny Storm, "The Human Torch," is the LovableRogue / wildcard of the group; and Susan Richards, "The Invisible Woman," used to be TheChick, until Creator/JohnByrne's run on the series promoted her to TheLancer.

* TookALevelInBadass: Susan, once TheChick with the next to useless power of become invisible, to nowadays where she is one of the most powerful superheroes in all of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, along with the forceful personality guaranteed to mess up even Doctor Doom's day. Oh, and [[MamaBear she's got kids]]. There's a reason why she's the page image for this trope.

-->'''Prince Zorba''': So long as I live, you have no claim to the throne!
-->'''Doctor Doom''': [[ImpliedDeathThreat Precisely]].

The characters first appeared in ''"[[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumber1 Fantastic Four]]''" [[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumberOne vol. 1 #1]] (November, 1961), created by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby. The four were connected even before the same Main/NegativeSpaceWedgie gave them all their powers -- Reed and Sue were sweethearts and eventually got married, Johnny is Sue's younger brother, Ben is Reed's best friend since college (previously Reed's buddy from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, until ComicBookTime forced a RetCon) -- and are as much a [[TrueCompanions family]] (if occasionally a dysfunctional one) [[SuperFamilyTeam as a team]]. Reed is the World's Smartest Man, and his genius is often at least as useful as the powers he got from the accident. The royalty payments from all his inventions fund the Four's adventures, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless despite the fact that they never get implemented in the world around them]], and lets them live in high style in the time between.

The characters first appeared in ''"[[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumberOne Fantastic Four]]''" [[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumberOne vol. 1 #1]] (November, 1961), created by Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby. The four were connected even before the same Main/NegativeSpaceWedgie gave them all their powers -- Reed and Sue were sweethearts and eventually got married, Johnny is Sue's younger brother, Ben is Reed's best friend since college (previously Reed's buddy from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, until ComicBookTime forced a RetCon) -- and are as much a [[TrueCompanions family]] (if occasionally a dysfunctional one) [[SuperFamilyTeam as a team]]. Reed is the World's Smartest Man, and his genius is often at least as useful as the powers he got from the accident. The royalty payments from all his inventions fund the Four's adventures, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless despite the fact that they never get implemented in the world around them]], and lets them live in high style in the time between.