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''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' was a reimagining of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the classic superhero team]] for Creator/MarvelComics ComicBook/UltimateMarvel line. It saw Reed Richards, Sue and her brother Johnny, as well as Ben Grimm, reimagined as young adults housed in the Baxter Building after an experiment in Inter-Dimensional Teleportation gives them all special abilities. Reed Richards is a young scientist, part of a government think-tank, charged with creating new technologies for the spy agency ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}. An unsuccessful attempt at teleportation transforms the physical forms of himself, the children of the think tank director, his best friend Benn Grimm, as well as his colleague Victor Van Damme, into beings that are no longer human.

Now a team of superheroes, the ComicBook/FantasticFour spend their days fighting off intergalactic and inter-dimensional threats, many of which come about due to Reed's experiments, while they're hidden from the public eye, forced to live out their days in the Baxter Building under the eye of Dr. Franklin Storm.

The series lasted for sixty issues, from February, 2004 to April, 2009. After ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'', the series was cancelled and the Four broke up: Sue continued her research at the Baxter Building, Ben became a test pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D., Johnny moved in with [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Spider-Man]], and Reed moved back in with his family. In the "Ultimate Doomsday" trilogy of miniseries, it was discovered that Reed had become disgruntled, turning villainous, wanting to change the world by force. Meanwhile, Ben has shed his stone skin, becoming physically human again but having unknown energy powers. Johnny later became a member of the [[ComicBook/UltimateXMen2001 Ultimate X-Men]].

A new volume was launched in 2014, following the ''[[Comicbook/CataclysmTheUltimatesLastStand Cataclysm]]'' crossover. Dubbed ''ComicBook/UltimateFF'' (as in Future Foundation, not Fantastic Four), the new series starred the Invisible Woman, Comicbook/IronMan, ComicBook/TheFalcon, Machine Man, Phil Coulson and [[FirstEpisodeTwist Doctor Doom]]. After the disappointing sales of the first two issues, Marvel cancelled the book, effectively turning it into a 6 part mini-series.

''Very'' loosely adapted into ''Film/FantasticFour2015''.

-----
!!''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' provides examples of the following tropes:

%% * AbbeyRoadCrossing
%% * AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Reed gets chased through one of these by an Alternate Human Torch.
* AbusiveParents:
** Gary Richards. It's no wonder Reed turned out so [[SarcasmMode mentally stable]] with a dad [[BlatantLies as loving and supportive as this guy]]. Gary is from the first issue shown to be verbally and emotionally (if not physically) abusive toward Reed, having no interest or tolerance for Reed's tinkering, yelling at him from turning the phone into a device, then throwing it at Reed's dinner. A later issue suggests Gary was physically abusive as well. Thanos manages to torture Reed by conjuring an image of Gary prepared to beat him.
** Mary Storm. She's the reason for much of Susan's volatility and trust issues. She abandoned her husband and two children, Susan and Johnny, before faking her death via car accident in order to pursue her career. She eventually came back to her family's lives due to her long sought discovery of Atlantis which required their aid in excavation. She outright stated to Sue she only came back to see her family because she needed their expertise and did not regret her decision after Sue called her out on her fake pleas of parental affection.
** Thanos to his three children. He physically abused Ronan to make him subservient, and removed all the skin from his daughter's arm, just for talking back. Hearing Atrea trail off describing his parenting style causes Ben to remark that he sounds like Reed's father.
%% * AcademyOfAdventure: The Baxter Building, before the accident that empowered the Four. (Though Reed pointed out that "it wasn't [[Franchise/HarryPotter Hogwarts]]", as the military was there in case people had to be protected from the students.) Afterward, the other kids were sent to another facility.
* AdaptationNameChange:
** Reed's father went from Nathaniel to Gary.
** Doctor Doom's last name was changed from "Von Doom" to "Van Damme".
** Mole Man's name is changed from "Hervey Elder" to "Arthur Molekovic".
** Norrin Radd is called "The Silver Searcher", not "The ComicBook/SilverSurfer".
* AdaptationOriginConnection: The event that gave the Four their powers is changed from a space flight into a teleportation experiment and merges it with Doctor Doom's origin story (in which a dimensional portal experiment blew up in his face because he refused to take Reed's advice, leading to him adopting his trademark metal mask). Here, Doom tinkers with the settings on Reed's teleporter experiment because he believes he knows better, causing it to blow up in their faces and transform the five of them into superpowered beings.
* AdaptationalDumbass: Reed's father was a fellow scientist in the mainstream comics. Here, he's a JerkJock who frowns upon brains.
* AdaptationalSuperpowerChange:
** Ben Grimm eventually gains the ability to change between forms, unlike his [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse 616]] counterpart, who is stuck in the Rock form.
** Victor Von Doom gains ghastly scars on his face in [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse the original continuity]] from an experiment backfiring on him, to hide these scars he wears a heavy armor. Here, Victor Van Damme's entire body turns to metal and he gains cloven feet like a demon, corrosive acid breath and the ability to fire off metallic skin-shards in the same accident that gave the Four their powers.
* AgeLift: ''All'' of the titular four are teenagers, as opposed to just Johnny Storm being a teenager.
%% * AGodAmI: Thanos in possession of the Cube.
%% * AlienInvasion: To obtain the Cube.
* AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome:
** In When Ben goes back in time to avoid being turned into the Thing, he changes time such that Reed and the Skrulls modernize the world even more and give everyone superpowers. It does not end well, but only because of the BatmanGambit of the [[TokenEvilTeammate Token Evil Diplomat]].
** Reed works for a government think-tank, but eventually gets so frustrated at not being able to change the world for the better in this position that he decides to [[WellIntentionedExtremist MAKE things change]]. [[FaceHeelTurn By force.]] [[spoiler:He's since conquered most of Europe, destroyed Washington, D.C., killed nearly all the Asgardians, and now rules a nation notably more powerful than the United States. Until he was stopped by Tony Stark's sentient tumor]].
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Averted during the ''Ultimatum'' storyline. [[spoiler:Reed Richards chooses to confront Doctor Doom and save the world at large, abandoning his dying girlfriend, Sue. Eventually, she calls him out for it and breaks up with him. He explains that he made the "logical" choice, as saving the world would ultimately mean saving her as well. Sue remarks that she always felt that their love ''defied'' logic, and leaves him]].
%% * AnotherDimension: The N-Zone.
%% * AntiVillain: Alternate Magneto. Yes, he's a Mutant supremacist, but he lives in a ZombieApocalypse world.
%% * ApocalypseHow: Diablo nearly causes either a Class 6 or a Class X.
* ArsonMurderAndLifesaving: A variation of this occurred with General Ross and Reed Richards.
-->'''Ross:''' "I agree to One. Simple. Test. And you trash a shuttle, wreck Vegas and reveal yourselves to the public in a way we cannot hide or go back from... and for what? For what, Mr. Richards?"
--> '''Reed Richards:''' "That's a hand-held death ray, General. Pretty easy to reverse-engineer and produce."
-->'''Ross:''' "...I love you, boy."
%% * {{Atlantis}}
%% * BalkanizeMe: Van Damme turns a part of Denmark into this.
%% * BallsOfSteel: In regards to Ben. "He's got big ones, that kid."
* BambooTechnology: When he and the rest of the Frightful Four ([[ZombieApocalypse Zombie]] ComicBook/FantasticFour) were locked in a vault so the Fantastic Four could save the day, Zombie Reed Richards bragged to the guards that using highly improbable materials ("Did you know you can make a keyboard out of hair?"), he and the rest of the Frightful Four had now built a functional teleporter ''out of a pen'', and would be leaving now for Central Park where they'd gobble up whoever they came across, thank you very much and goodbye. The Frightful Four joins hands and disappears, the [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy guards rush in]]... and then Zombie Reed Richards tells Zombie Sue Storm she can turn off their invisibility.
* BaitAndSwitch: "Crossover" starts with Ultimate Reed trying to build an interdimensional gate to what appears to be the Classic Marvel Universe, being helped by his Earth-616 counterpart through some form of interdimensional communicator. At the end of the issue it is revealed to [[spoiler: be a ruse from the Zombieverse Reed Richards.]]
%% * BatmanGambit
%% ** An Alternate Reed Richards (who is later revealed to be [[spoiler:zombie Reed]]) pulls this on the Ultimate Reed.
%% ** [[ActuallyADoombot "Doom"]] ''tries'' to pull one on Magneto, causing Ultimatum.
%% ** [[spoiler:Mrs. Storm]] pulls one on ''everybody''.
%% * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Thanos.
%% * BeneathTheEarth: Where Molevic and his [[PunnyName mold]] creatures live.
* BenevolentAlienInvasion: The Skrulls shared technological secrets with the human race, gave Reed the means for everybody to achieve superpowers, and wanted to enlighten the human race to join them in the stars. [[spoiler:Subverted, it was all a charade]].
* ABirthdayNotABreak: Victor Van Damme, aged 11, had his father drop his entire family history on him, and then leaves him alone in the parlor. Several hours later, Victor realizes that it's his birthday.
* BodyHorror
** Ben has stone skin, and it's apparently a miracle that he can even breath.
** Reed’s transformation removed most, if not all, of his internal organs.
** Johnny has to hibernate occasionally so that the layers of his skin that have been over-exposed to flames can flake off.
** In the beginning, Sue had trouble staying completely visible or invisible, so while her skin disappeared her nervous system, her skeleton or her muscles were still visible.
** Doctor Doom has become a being of [[ChromeChampion living metal]] with a frankly demon-like appearance (including goat legs and a reptilian tail). Also, his organs are ''rotting into a noxious slime inside his body'' because he doesn't need them anymore; he can [[BreathWeapon blast opponents with this slime or the fumes from it]] if he pleases.
** Rhona Burchill augmented her intelligence by ''literally placing some of her brother's brain matter in her own brain'', causing her head to become hideously disfigured in the process.
%% ** Red Ghost
%% ** ''Everybody'' in [[spoiler:"President Thor" who took the Skrull pills]].
* BreatherEpisode: "God War" is an arc filled with CastOfSnowflakes aliens, disjunction, weird trajectories, TimeyWimeyBall, and several [[BigBadDuumvirate bad guys]] all wanting a non-descript MacGuffin that doesn't exist yet with a rushed ending. It's followed by the fairly straightforward "Devils" which involves Diablo kidnapping the Four's loved ones, and them going into the past and beating him up.
* TheBroCode: In '"Ultimate Enemy", Ben confesses to Sue that he's fallen for her, but had refused to act on or acknowledge those feelings because she was with Reed. After some consideration, Sue realizes that [[LoveEpiphany she felt the same way]]. Though we never get to see how this might have affected Ben's friendship with Reed, since [[spoiler:the team had already dissolved]] by the time Ben confessed, and by the time Sue and Ben [[spoiler:got together, Reed was trapped in the N-Zone, apparently presumed dead. Reed has since become aware of their relationship and regards it with a mixture of ambivalence and malice.]]
* BroughtDownToBadAss: After the Fantastic Four alter history so that their accident never happened, Ben Grimm is naturally no longer a giant rocky monster... but he's still badass enough to beat the crap out of [[spoiler:the Skrull leader]].
%% * BuffySpeak: Victor having sent the four "little stabby things".
* TheCallPutMeOnHold: Inverted in an arc, where an alternate Ben Grimm puts himself on hold. The gist is that TimeTravel creates an alternate timeline where an alien pill grants everyone on Earth super-powers... except for Ben Grimm, who decides not to take it because he's happy with himself just as he is. Various characters remark that he's the most well-adjusted person they know, which makes his current situation as the suicidally depressed Thing even ''more'' tragic. [[spoiler:In that timeline, the pill ends up killing everyone who had taken it, leaving Ben to apply some more time travel to clean up the pieces. For bonus angst, the way the situation's set up means that he accidentally causes himself to get eaten by the local ClockRoaches and then die hundreds of years ago in an ancient Mayan Temple]]. On the bright side, when the [[spoiler:Skrull]] leader comes to Earth with the ability to copy the power of any superhuman within a huge radius, [[spoiler:Ben points out that if the only human left on Earth has no powers, than neither does the Skrull leader. Ben then proceeds to kick the now powerless Skrull's ass. Epically]].
* ClockRoaches: The spider-shaped Argiopes, who would eat any time travel-created doubles to avoid paradoxes.
%% * ClothesMakeTheSuperman: The Skrull Anti-Assassination suit.
* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: When he was stranded in the zombie universe, Reed was rescued by Magneto. Let's remember that Ultimate Magneto, the one that this Reed is familiar with, was the highest BigBad of the Ultimate Universe, the leader of an anti-human terrorist group, with none of the shades of grey of the Magneto from the mainstream universe.
%% * ComplexityAddiction: Doctor Doom as soon as he's set up shop in Latvaria.
* CompositeCharacter:
** The Maker/[[spoiler:Reed Richards]] shares many elements with Doctor Doom. He's also likened to be the counterpart of Avengers foe, Kang the Conqueror.
** Kang is a FutureBadass version of [[spoiler:Sue Storm]] instead of Iron Lad of the ComicBook/YoungAvengers.
* ContinuitySnarl: In ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' and ''Comicbook/TheUltimates'' the Fantastic Four are referenced and Reed Richards is a notable enough scientist to have a building at ESU named after him, but very early on in ''Ultimate Fantastic Four'', before the team comes together, there are references to The Ultimates. This is because of a change in plans. Originally, the Fantastic Four we were seeing in ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' and ''The Ultimates'' were going to be adults, while ''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' would take place a decade or so in the rest of the line's past, establishing the FF as the first super heroes and cornerstones of heroic society in the ComicBook/{{Ultimate|Marvel}} Universe. The plan got muddled and changed, but it's very apparent when Sue Storm, 16-ish here, shows up during ''Ultimate Spider-Man'''s "ComicBook/TheCloneSaga" and is clearly in her late 20s/early 30s.
* CoolKidAndLoserFriendship: Ben Grimm had this relationship with Reed Richards in school, with Reed being an unpopular nerd regularly tormented by bullies, while Ben was the popular athlete respected by his peers who would pummel anyone who messed with Reed.
* DeadlyGas: The N-Zone's atmosphere is acidic.
%% * DeathWorld
%% ** The N-Zone is an ''dimension'' of this.
%% ** Alternate world Marvel is a lesser variant of this trope.
* DecompositeCharacter:
** Phineas Mason (based on Phineas Mason[=/=]The Tinkerer of the classic Franchise/MarvelUniverse) appeared in ''Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #2''. However another character, Elijah Stern, had already taken the Tinkerer identity in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan''.
** The Silver Searcher is based on the Comicbook/SilverSurfer from the main Franchise/MarvelUniverse being Norrin Radd from the planet Zenn-La. However previously ''Ultimate Extinction'' had already introduced Gah Lak Tus’s heralds as silvery beings also based on the Silver Surfer.
* DefectorFromParadise: In the First Annual Issue, Crystal decided to run away from Attilan, that's described by herself as a flawless super-society without crime or disobedience and essentially a Heaven on Earth, because she did not want to go through with her prearranged marriage to Black Bolt's brother, [[EffeminateMisogynisticGuy Maximus]]. The prospect of her living in a "boring perfect kingdom" while spending the rest of her life married to Maximus caused her to immediately defect.
%% * DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Dr. Molevic]]
%% * DownerEnding: The four don't get a happy end.
%% * DragonWithAnAgenda: [[spoiler:Mrs. Storm to Doctor Doom]].
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Early issues of ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' seemed to imply that the Fantastic Four were already around and well-established as heroes before the Ultimates were even formed. Here this is contradicted by showing that the team's origin took place long after the formation of the Ultimates, with the Four themselves reimagined as a group of inexperienced teenagers.
* EasilyForgiven: Ross is '''furious'''. He has authorized a test. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Just! A! Test!]] And now the FF have totaled a space shuttle, cause grave devastation in Las Vegas, unleashed an alien invasion, revealed themselves to the public in a manner that can not be concealed or refused... and then Reed hands him a souvenir from the alternate universe. A hand weapon with a death ray, easy to reverse-engineer and produce in high numbers. All was suddenly forgiven.
%% * EatenAlive: [[spoiler:Alternate Reed by MAGGOTS]].
%% * EatingTheEyeCandy: Sue to Namor.
%% * EldritchAbomination: A baby one from Lovecraft nestles itself in Johnny's abdomen.
* ElementalPowers
** Like the original versions, the Four's powers are said to correspond to the four elements, though comparing Reed to water is kind of [[{{Pun}} a stretch]].
** The same thing applies to Doctor Doom, who has been likened to the elemental of [[ExtraOreDinary Metal]].
** Namor seems to have a dash of MakingASplash powers alongside his FlyingBrick set.
* EveryoneIsASuper: In one storyline, Reed went back in time and prevented the teleportation experiment by fixing the calibration of the teleporter so that Ben Grimm wouldn't have to be [[CursedWithAwesome The Thing]]. The result was an alternate world where humanity achieves first contact with the Skrulls, who provide them with special pills that turn everyone on Earth into a superhuman, with Grimm being the only one on Earth who doesn't take them and quite happy about it. [[spoiler:Until it turned out to be the aliens' way of killing the entire human race, and Ben had to fix it]].
%% * EvilCostumeSwitch: The people directly under the MindControl of Thanos.
* EvilMakesYouUgly:
** Happened to Victor Van Damme early on, transforming from surly pretty boy into a metallic Satyr.
** This is also the ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Reed Richards, when it's revealed he has been behind everything in the [[{{Crossover}} ''Ultimate Doomsday Trilogy'']]. Crosses over into FridgeBrilliance when you realize that he has in effect become Ultimate Doctor Doom]].
* {{Expy}}
** Reed Richards become one [[spoiler:of Doctor Doom, after he turns evil. His FaceHeelTurn mimics the 616-incarnation of Doom, even resulting in a scarred face that he hides behind a metallic helmet]].
%% ** After the events of ''Ultimate Enemy'', it looks as though Ben has [[spoiler:evolved into [[ComicBook/WonderMan Ultimate Wonder Man]].]]
* EyeScream: Sue needs to use a needle with Ben, but all his body is indestructible, except for...
%% * FailedASpotCheck: Professor Storm really missed what Reed was going to do with [[StuffBlowingUp 50 tons of C4]].
* FakeoutEscape: There's a sequence (imported from [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the original comics]]) where Sue turns invisible when government officials come to check on her, then runs out the doorway during their confusion.
* FalseInnocenceTrick: [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] is found in the ruins of Atlantis and he tells the Four that he was its ruler long ago, in a nod to the mainstream version. [[spoiler:Things go south when Reed translates the warnings on the building Namor was found in and realizes that Namor was being held in a ''prison''. For good reason, since he's the kind of evil jerk who would threaten to flood New York unless Sue gave him a kiss]].
* FantasticRacism: The [[ComicBook/TheUltimates Chitauri]] are apparently an outcast caste of Skrull. Calling a Skrull Chitauri is insulting seeing as they're different.
%% * FantasticVoyagePlot: JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF AN INVISIBLE WOMAN.
* FirstContactMath: When Reed makes contact with some residents of the N-Zone, their first few exchanges are conducted in binary. After Reed sends them Pi and the human symbol for 'hydrogen', their computer takes over and downloads the first contact package he prepared.
* FreakyFridayFlip: [[spoiler:Doctor Doom blackmails Reed into switching bodies with him during the "Frightful" arc. Reed turns it around by attempting to pull a HeroicSacrifice, and revealing the truth just before doing so: Doom reverses the switch rather than let Reed take the credit]].
* FreudianExcuse:
** In ''Ultimate Fantastic Four #7'', it is explained that on Victor Van Damme's tenth birthday he was presented with his family history dating back to Vlad Tepes Dracula and the blueprint for his villainous mindset, and from that day on at dinner he was required to recite said family history from memory, receiving beatings when he got it wrong and being forced to start over until he got it right. The last page of the flashback shows 10-year-old Victor sitting in the chair where he received the original lecture and instruction in five panels depicting it slowly getting darker. In the last one, he says "It's my birthday."
** Played straight with the Maker as well; [[spoiler: Reed Richards]]. Abused by his father, not respected by his peers, bullied in high school, and the world didn't change the way he wanted it to.
%% * FullNameUltimatum: [[AbusiveParents Reed]].
%% * GaiasVengeance: Red Ghost even refers to her crusade as "Gaia's judgment".
%% * GiantFlyer: Nihil's ship.
* GiantSpider: The ClockRoaches in this reality are big black and yellow spiders, the size of a Volkswagen truck.
* GiverOfLameNames:
** In one comic, Ben, Sue, and Johnny all complain that Reed can't name things (the example they give being "The Fantasti-car"). Dr. Storm then says they should let Johnny name the shuttle Reed's reinventing. He names it the "Awesome". Reed is not amused.
** And later, just before the title got cancelled, Ben is on his own and helps set up a shuttle to save Sue. He comments that "I finally got to name one of these doohickeys myself" while we see that the shuttle sports the name "Awesome II".
%% * GodwinsLaw: Invoked by Dr. Molevic in regards to Sue's father.
* GroundedForever: Dr. Storm threatens Sue with this.
-->'''Dr. Storm:''' You're grounded 'till you're thirty!
%% * GrossUpCloseUp: Of Dr. Molevic' disgusting moles. Repeatedly.
%% * TheGrotesque: How the Inhumans refer to Ben.
%% * HannibalLecture: Alternate Reed.
%% * HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Alternate Magneto]].
%% * HiddenElfVillage: Atillan.
%% * HiveMind: Red Ghost's BodyHorror.
* HonorBeforeReason: Victor would rather die than have ''Reed'' [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]] himself for his sake.
%% * HourglassPlot: A flashback shows that when they were younger, Ben was "in charge" of the friendship and had to explain sports to Reed repeatedly using simple words.
* HumanOutsideAlienInside: This is used to [[RequiredSecondaryPowers explain some of the team's powers]]. Reed, for instance, looks like a normal human being but no longer has internal organs, merely possessing a "bacterial stack" in its place. Oh, and he no longer craps.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Namor refused to return to the ocean and stop destroying New York until Sue kissed him and meant it -- in front of Reed. Since Namor clearly had the upper hand and wasn't going to be removed by force, Sue is forced to go along with it.
%% * ImStandingRightHere: Thing to Johnny in the N-Zone arc, when he makes a nasty crack about him.
* InexplicableLanguageFluency:
** Downplayed. Namor demonstrates this trope after spending nine thousand years of being sealed inside a sarcophagus prison. Being from an ancient civilization of Atlantis that predates the modern English language, he initially has no idea what his new captors are saying when they find him. However, thanks to his psionic powers he proves to be a frighteningly fast learner and is able to learn English within an hour to understand modern American English and casually deliver threats and demands.
** Happens again when the Four meets the Silver Surfer who is able to understand English perfectly the instant he arrives to Earth for the first time. He justifies this by stating can decipher electromagnetic signals in the air to learn alien tongues in seconds.
* InternalHomage: The issue with the Inhumans, drawn by Jae Lee, starts with a similar image to the first issue of the Inhumans miniseries, also by Lee.
* InvisibleToNormals: The Argiopes are spider-like [[ClockRoaches creatures who attack the sources of time paradoxes]] to protect the timestream, and can only be seen by time travellers.
%% * InvisibleWall: Sue creates a slapstick moment with Reed running into one.
%% * ISurrenderSuckers: [[spoiler:Mrs. Storm to Namora]].
* ItsACostumePartyISwear: Johnny Storm pulls this on Ben Grimm in one issue. Despite the thorough humiliation of showing up at a fancy party dressed as Carmen Miranda when he's already a gigantic rock-skinned thing, Grimm hooks up with Alicia Masters shortly afterward. Before getting over the prank and meeting Alicia, he reveals that he's tried and failed to kill himself due to his invulnerability and wonders if Reed can find a way to kill him. Then they try to time travel to undo his origin story. Johnny's prank tore open a still fresh wound.
* JockDadNerdSon: Played for drama. Gary Richard's is a huge sports nut and obsessed with "manly" behavior. His son -- Reed's quiet nature and fascination with science elicits his scorn, to the point that he openly regards Ben Grimm as being the son he wanted but never had.
* KnightTemplar:
** [[spoiler:The Psycho Man mind controls a world to feel happy and content, while the Silver Seacher argues that they are merely happy slaves]].
** Dr. Doom is always working on creating his "utopia", even if it means destroying the world as we know it.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: About half of Issue 21 teases that a crossover between 616 and the Ultimate Universe was going to happen via Ultimate Reed meeting with 616 Reed...well, the end of the issue smugly says it best:
-->[[spoiler:'''Zombie!''']]'''Reed''': [[spoiler:Ever felt like you've been ''had''?]]
* LegacyVesselNaming: Johnny is given the opportunity to name the team's new shuttle. He goes with "The Awesome". Despite Reed's objections, the name sticks. Near the end of the series, Ben is making his own shuttle, and we see that he decided to name it "Awesome II".
%% * LiteralSurveillanceBug: Victor creates a swarm of these. They carry [[SpikesOfDoom spikes]] big enough to kill a man.
* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard:
** Subverted in an issue. The confined Frightful Four announce that they've made a teleporter made from a ballpoint pen, hair, paper. [[spoiler:Zombie Susan just turned them invisible. She lampshades how stupid the guards would be to fall for it. [[TooDumbToLive They do]]]].
%% ** [[spoiler:The other Think Tank members by Molevic]].
* LongList: At age 10 Victor Van Damme had to be able to recite his ancestry starting from Vladimir Tepes.
%% * LysistrataGambit: Susan uses this on Reed in order to get himself checked out.
* MacGyvering: Subverted in the "Frightful" arc, where zombie Mr. Fantastic convinces the soldiers guarding the Frightful Four's cell that he's built a teleporter out of stuff lying around the cell and they promptly disappear. Turns out Zombie Invisble Woman had just made them all invisible so that the guards would open the cell to investigate, whereupon they were eaten.
* MagicGenetics: Attempted to be {{justified|Trope}}, at least with Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch. Johnny's powers come from his nuclear fusion, using his body as an energy source. Reed is able to stretch and not crush his organs because all he has in the way of organs is a colony of symbiotic bacteria who take in food and air and give his body nutrition. Their origin is {{justified|Trope}} as well now too, as their powers are not from cosmic radiation anymore, but rather from swapping bodies with a double from another universe.
* MeanwhileInTheFuture: This happens at the beginning of a storyline (before they go back to prevent Ben's transformation to the Thing.) Reed is in contact with Sue and Johnny who are both in different time periods. Their communicators are apparently acting as a PortalToThePast for communication.
%% * MoreThanMindControl: The Surfer's master, King Revka the King with no Enemies.
%% * MyEyesAreUpHere
%% * MyGreatestFailure: Ben becoming the Thing, is Reed's. Getting [[NeverMyFault blamed]] for the experiment going awry is Doom's.
%% * NanoTechnology
%% ** Makes {{Power Tattoo}}s.
%% ** [[spoiler: Later shows up in Sue's bloodstream, part of a FantasticVoyagePlot]].
* NeverMyFault: Victor Van Damme interfered with Reed Richards' prototype teleporter. The resultant energies resulted in the creation of the Fantastic Four, and his own transformation into [[ChromeChampion a demonic-looking being of living metal]]. Doctor Doom insists that the transformation is not his fault, but rather that Reed's calculations were "so bad even [he] couldn't fix them".\\
The fact Reed lays the blame for the transformation squarely on van Damme is supposed to show that they're similar, but it kind of falls flat when we see that, in an AlternateUniverse where van Damme kept his grubby fingers to himself, ''nobody'' was transformed. [[spoiler:Of course, that universe also resulted in humanity being wiped out by the Skrulls when they appeared as benefactors and gave everyone superpowers... with deliberately flawed technology that caused them to all die afterwards... but what's that saying about omelets and eggs?]]
%% * NeverTheSelvesShallMeet: Well they can, but like in ''Film/{{Timecop}}'' or ''Series/DoctorWho'', this invokes [[ClockRoaches bad things]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Reed created the Cosmic Cube to defend Earth against Thanos... which is exactly what Thanos was manipulating him to do.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Victor changes the figures in Reed's N-Zone experiment, and winds up transforming himself and the Fantastic Four. [[spoiler:Turns out that if Victor ''hadn't'' altered the calculations, Reed would have made first contact with the Skrulls and doomed the human race to extinction]].
* NoConservationOfEnergy: Creator/WarrenEllis ''tries'' to avoid this; he still has Reed "eating" air. Invisible Woman's explanation consists of a LampshadeHanging, and Ben's power goes unmentioned. The Human Torch's bio-fusion is highly implausible but at least gives a HollywoodScience HandWave to his energy source.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: During Creator/WarrenEllis' run, the team traveled to Denmark to capture Doctor Doom and turn him over to the U.S. military. The story ended with the Danish military [[KarmaHoudini not only protecting Doom]], but then forcibly ejecting both the Fantastic Four and the American soldiers from their country. Governments don't respond well to foreign groups barging onto their property to take an affluent citizen.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: Diablo pulls this on Reed, saying they're both alchemists just looking for answers.
* OhCrap
** The Skrull leader gains his powers by copying the abilities of any other mutant/metahuman in the area. At the end of an alternate universe arc, he gloats to a powerless Ben Grimm that the last Earthling aside from himself just died and Ben is now the last man alive. Ben responds by slowly taking off his coat and cracking his knuckles. Then, the Skrull realizes how screwed he is.
%% ** Red Ghost says this as well, [[BilingualBonus probably]].
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten:
** Doctor Doom considers the experiment this, especially being blamed for it.
** A comical version is Reed being a GiverOfLameNames which gets a lot of riffing the first time, and the second time he's made something he gets asked "So what's this one called, the ''Wonderbus''?"
%% * OrderVersusChaos: Thanos is the [[TheEmpire ultimate order]].
* PaintingTheMedium: When Arthur Molevic is dictating, the font of his SpeechBubble changes to what he [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall quoted earlier. Bookman Bold, size 16]].
%% * PhlebotinumAnalogy: [[ItMakesSenseInContext Ben is an apple]].
%% * PowerCopying
%% ** Skrull tech can achieve this.
%% ** As can Red Ghost.
%% * PowerIncontinence: Leads to [[spoiler:Thanos' final]] death.
* PowerTattoo: Victor applies nanobot-laced versions these on his minions and followers, allowing him to have command over them.
* PutOnABus: Victor Van Damme is stranded in the ComicBook/MarvelZombies universe at the end of the "Frightful" arc.
* PsychicNosebleed: Sue suffers from these.
* RentAZilla: Just like their 616 counterparts, a giant lizard bursting from under the street is the first threat they face.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: A lot of emphasis is put on how the four now function after the accident.
** Reed Richards has his body transformed into an undifferentiated "bacterial stack" with no internal organs or tissues, so he has no need to worry about, for example, his stretched arms going numb because his heart had to try to pump blood the length of a football field. How he [[NoConservationOfEnergy gets energy without eating]] is [[HandWave glossed over]].
** Sue Storm {{lampshade|Hanging}}d the impossibility of her powers, pointing out that there's no conceivable reason why she should be able to see things while invisible. Luckily, she's a bio-geneticist and thinks the mystery is fascinating.
* {{Retcon}}: The "President Thor" story arc would reveal that the [[ComicBook/TheUltimates2002 Chitauri]], who were [[CanonCharacterAllAlong revealed to have been also known as Skrulls]], are a radical splinter group of the ''actual'' Skrulls who appear in this series.
* RuleOfCool: Mark Millar was explicitly told by Stan Lee to remember that the name of the book was "''Fantastic'' Four." Not "''Realistic'' Four."
* SayMyName: It's nearly a multiversal constant with Doctor Doom, isn't it? ''RICHAAAAAARDS''!!
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Sue Storm calls herself on this in the first arc, to the confusion of her teammates. "I screamed like a girl! That's so disappointing."
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers: Namor's plan is simply to walk away from confinement, visit the city and do whatever he pleases. Who is going to stop him?
* SeriesContinuityError:
** The very first story arc established Reed and Sue as 21 years old when they first became superheroes. Later issues would inexplicably claim they were no older than 18 at the present.
** [[spoiler:The Maker[=/=]Reed Richards shows to Falcon how he keeps his intellect always a few steps ahead of The Children by elongating his brain]]. That shouldn't be possible or even necessary. To elaborate: in the first run of the series, Sue ran some tests on Reed and found out that his organism was completely mutated; he became a worm-like being with just a core, no organs other than that. And later, Sue's mother remarked that Reed was getting smarter by the minute due his mutation. So [[spoiler:in the span of a thousand years Reed would be evolving his genius naturally, and there would be no brain for him to elongate]].
* ShoutOut:
** "Sue's sick! And Moley is [[Series/{{House}} Hugh Laurie]] in this situation."
** The death ray Reed picks up from the N-Zone looks suspiciously like a [[Franchise/StarWars Gaffi Stick]].
%% * SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan
%% ** Sue and Reed. [[spoiler:Or so it first seems, before their relationship ends disastrously and Reed turns out not be such a good man]].
%% ** Played straight in ''Ultimate Enemy'', [[spoiler:when Sue finds a much healthier relationship with Ben]].
%% * SpaceWhale: Several.
* StableTimeLoop: The final pages of ''Ultimate Fantastic Four #53'' show that [[spoiler:Reed sends his Cosmic Cube back in time 30,000 years to the planet Acheron, where Comicbook/{{Thanos}} finds it]], which precipitated his rise; when he lost it, [[spoiler:he influenced Reed to create it]].
%% * StayInTheKitchen: Sue does ''not'' like being told to "Stop asking questions."
* TakeThat: When dealing with a bunch of dock workers who were mutated after exposure to a parallel dimension Tony Stark was sure that they could reason with them as they were New Yorkers only to go OhCrap when Falcon told him they were in Jersey.
%% * TechnoBabble: This book has Reed Richards.
%% * TeleportersAndTransporters: What the experiment ''should'' have done.
* TheExtremistWasRight: It was lamphshaded by Nick Fury that despite his multiple acts of mass death and destruction, Reed Richards did manage to commit more good in the world in the short time he controlled the world than Nick or any of his associates have done in years. Even Sue admitted Reed was making the world into a better place while he was in control, but it was the means he undertook to get to that point that made everyone hate and attack him.
* ThereWasADoor: In the "Crossover" arc , Reed Richards finds himself trapped in the ComicBook/{{Marvel Zombie|s}} universe with Magneto and a handful of human survivors. They are found by the rest of the Fantastic Four and hurry to escape the building. Ben heroically breaks down a wall so they can get out and Reed points out that the door was right there.
--->'''Reed:''' Ever heard of a door, jackass?\\
'''Ben:''' Okay, now I feel stupid.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Said word for word by Reed as the Fantasticar gets shot down.
* TimeAbyss:
** Namor has been imprisoned over 9000 years. The worst this has done to him was cause some atrophy in his muscles, like astronauts suffer from (which is terrifying in and of itself, considering how strong he still is).
** Likewise the Super-Skrull, the oldest living Skrull is over a billion years old.
%% * TimeTravel: Alongside a bit of SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong in "President Thor".
%% * TokenHuman: Ben is this, in a weird HourglassPlot manner, in President Thor.
%% * TooDumbToLive: Some Chrono-Terrorists holding the first creature to go outside of the ocean hostage for ransom.
* UnSorcerer: The "President Thor" arc. It details a world where the Skrull have given everyone superpowers; except Ben Grimm. The superpower gift is revealed to be [[spoiler:a virus that feeds power into the Super-Skrull. It also can be activated to kill the carrier. The Skrull King activates the killer gene, but without any power source, the Super-Skrull is easily defeated by Grimm in a powersuit]].
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans
** Revka Temerlune Edifex Scyros III ("Psycho-Man"), enslaved an entire world by making them unable to feel anything but happiness, and did the same thing with the human-race after the populace of his home-world were brought out of his mind-control and their first encounter with negative emotions [[FreakOut caused them to kill themselves and each other]].
** In ''Ultimate Enemy'', [[spoiler:Reed Richards]] decides that blowing up buildings with tentacle monsters is a good way to stop people from using science for the wrong reasons.
%% * VichyEarth
%% ** [[spoiler:Skrull world.]]
%% ** [[spoiler:Reed's The City seems like this as well]].
%% * VillainousBSOD: When Van Damme's subjects are turned from him.
%% * WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: I Named the Android Bobby.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Both Strange Josie and Namor have wondered enviously why Sue is dating Reed.
%% * WhosLaughingNow
%% * WhoWantsToLiveForever
%% ** Norrin Radd finds this a punishment by the hands of the King with no Enemies.
%% ** Thanos planned to impose this onto the Universe as a whole.
* WhyAreYouNotMySon: Gary Richards very much prefers Ben Grimm to his own son, Reed. Admiring Ben’s athletic abilities, whilst finding Reed’s genius to be a nuisance.
* WrittenSoundEffect:
** One example is when [[StuffBlowingUp an explosion]] goes FWAAASH.
--->'''Sue Storm:''' Why didn't you tell me there'd be a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall FWAAASH]]?
** And later; SCHRAMMMM.
--->'''Ben:''' That's the noise I make when I rip a steel door off its hinges.\\
'''Reed:''' That's more of a KROOOOM this was more of a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall SCHRAMMMM]].
* WritersCannotDoMath: The cumulative passage of time during the first arc would make Reed Richards and Sue Storm 21 years old at the beginning their crime-fighting careers. Despite this, both heroes are explicitly stated to be no older than 18 in later issues.
%% * YouDoNotWantToKnow: Ben can still go to the bathroom, but you don't wanna know the details. It's even worse when he has gas.
%% * YoureInsane: "The Difference Is That I'm Sane!"
%% * YouWatchTooMuchX: Quipped by Reed.
%% * ZombieApocalypse: The debut of the ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' reality.

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