Thing

Real Name
Benjamin Jacob Grimm

Occupation
Adventurer; former construction worker, security guard, astronaut, test pilot, college football player, student, wrestler

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
Manhattan, New York

Known Relatives
Daniel Grimm (father, deceased), Elsi Grimm (mother, deceased), Daniel Grimm Jr. (brother, deceased), Dr. Jacob Grimm (uncle and former legal guardian), Alyce Grimm (aunt, deceased), Sophie Grimm (aunt, deceased), Petunia "Penny" Grimm (aunt), unnamed maternal grandmother (deceased), Franklin Richards (godson)

Group Affiliation
Fantastic Four; formerly Avengers, Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, Thunderiders, pawns of Grandmaster, Project: PEGASUS staff, Defenders associate, NASA, U.S. military

Education
College graduate (State University), U.S. military pilot training, NASA astronaut training

Height
6'

Weight
500 lbs.

Eyes
Blue

Hair
None (formerly brown as Grimm)

Powers
The Thing's mutated physiology grants him tremendous superhuman strength and durability, the levels varying with his different forms. There have been periods where Ben could assume human form at will; however, these situations seldom last long. He also has enhanced stamina and lung capacity, and increased resistance to sensory and temperature extremes. His reflexes are above-average by human standards despite his immense mass, and he retains a reasonable level of agility and dexterity.

Abilities
Ben is an exceptionally skilled and experienced pilot, proficient with many varieties of both conventional and exotic aircraft, and was also trained as an astronaut. He is uniquely gifted in the art of hand-to-hand combat (a skill Ben honed long before he became the Thing), though his fighting style tends to be a rather loose brawling technique all his own. In his youth, Ben was a talented football player.

Other Info
When Ben Grimm went to college on a football scholarship, he roomed with Reed Richards. (Both would eventually become members of the Fantastic Four, Thing and Mister Fantastic respectively.)

As a test pilot in the military, Ben undertook dangerous assignments on occasion, notably when the Pentagon recruited him to fly government agents Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel) and Logan (Wolverine) into Russia, supposedly to test a series of radio transmitters. The trio were shot down but managed to fight their way out of Russia while Logan completed his true mission, capturing the Russian Project: Red Storm. Ben eventually moved into the astronaut training program, where his colleagues included fellow pilot John Jameson (who is the son of J. Jonah Jameson, the Daily Bugle newspaper owner in Spider-Man). (Click on the names above to learn more about each of the characters.)

In the Thing's first appearance, Jack Kirby (the original illustrator) had intended his skin to be something like dinosaur hide. Over the years his skin has evolved growing into more rocky plate like structures. The rocky exterior moves over a more viscous inner hide. This can be seen in story lines from the 1980s where Reed Richards attempted to cure the Thing. He succeeded in removing the rocky exterior but was not so successful in removing the inner hide which left the Thing looking like bumpy mush for a period of time. It is commonly accepted that the evolution of the Thing's skin is a measure of the Thing's overall physical changes and strength.

At one time, the Thing wore a helmet that concealed his face (as seen in the second to last picture posted), but after awhile he stopped wearing it. He later wore the helmet again when he was recovering from facial scars inflicted by Wolverine.

The Thing and the Hulk have been allies and enemies multiple times throughout each others' lives. In fact, the Hulk eventually becomes one of the toughest recurring opponents for the Thing.

The Fantastic Four had to undertake a time travel quest one time, and Ben found a new life in the past as the legendary Blackbeard the Pirate. He nearly abandoned his teammates to remain in the 18th century. (Who would of thought...Thing as Blackbeard the Pirate...very interesting.)

For many years Ben and Avengers butler, Edwin Jarvis, have organized a series of floating super-hero poker games, attended by players such as Nick Fury, Wolverine, Blake Tower, Doctor Strange, Beast, Human Torch, She-Hulk, Black Cat, Archangel, Spider-Man and many of the Avengers. (Click on the highlighted names to learn more about these Marvel characters. Note: the pictures for Black Cat and She-Hulk are risque, so beware! To avoid their images, try to block images before you enter their Marvel.com bio pages.)

The Thing has had many relationships and they all have seemed to fail for one reason or the other. Along with that, the Thing has had to drop out of the Fantastic Four a few times. Also, there have been multiple times where the Thing has been able to turn back into his human form. (To learn about these topics and about the life of the Thing, click on the following link, http://www.marvel.com/universe/Thing. Just know that the bio is a little longer than most other Marvel characters, but it's interesting.)