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Ben Grimm became the Thing after cosmic rays transformed him during an unauthorized flight in Reed Richards’s experimental rocket. In Marvel’s main Fantastic Four comics, he is the team’s rocky, super-strong member—but his form and his ability to change it have shifted in specific storylines. His history is also inseparable from the bonds he formed with Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Alicia Masters.
Who is the Thing?
The Thing is Ben Grimm, an original member of the Fantastic Four. His familiar appearance is a massive body covered in rocky plates, and his principal team role is the group’s strongman. He is not a separate being who replaced Ben: the Thing is Ben after the transformation that followed the team’s exposure to cosmic rays.
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This account follows Marvel’s main Fantastic Four comics history. Comics continuity has changed over time, and particular stories have altered Ben’s body or his control over it; those developments should not be taken as one permanent rule that applies identically in every story or adaptation.
How Ben Grimm became the Thing
The unauthorized flight
Ben, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and Johnny Storm break into a facility and launch Reed’s experimental rocket without authorization. Cosmic rays strike the crew during the flight, changing each of them. Marvel identifies Ben’s first transformation as taking place in Fantastic Four (1961) #1, where he pilots the rocket through a storm of cosmic rays.
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From Ben Grimm to the team’s public strongman
When the group makes its public debut, Ben takes the name the Thing. His rocky appearance makes his transformation especially visible, while the other three become Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl (later known as the Invisible Woman), and the Human Torch. The group’s origin is therefore both a shared accident and the beginning of a team built through their adventures together.
The Grand Comics Database records Ben Grimm’s first appearance as the Thing in Fantastic Four #1, published in November 1961. That date is the comic’s publication history, not the date of an event in the characters’ lives.
What are the Thing’s powers?
Strength and a rocky body
Ben’s defining abilities are extraordinary physical strength and a durable, rocky form. Marvel character material describes him as the Fantastic Four’s strongman. The reviewed material does not establish a precise strength ceiling or a reliable numerical ranking against other characters, so claims that assign him a fixed maximum or definitive place in a power hierarchy go beyond what it supports.
Transformation is not always under his control
Ben’s usual rocky state has often been a condition he cannot simply switch off. Marvel’s guide, “The Thing’s Transformations,” puts it this way: “Unlike the other members of the Fantastic Four, Ben ‘The Thing’ Grimm cannot turn off his super-power—but that doesn’t mean he never changed over the years.” The qualification matters: his control has developed differently in particular stories, rather than following one unchanging rule.
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How Ben’s form and control have changed
The following are story-specific changes in Marvel’s guide, not a single continuous set of powers that Ben can use at will in every era.
| Story or issue | What changes for Ben |
|---|---|
| Fantastic Four (1961) #51 | Ricardo Jones steals Ben’s powers, temporarily restoring his human form. |
| Fantastic Four (1961) #167 | The Hulk drains Ben’s powers. |
| Fantastic Four (1961) #238 | Reed’s experiments briefly leave Ben between human and rocky forms. |
| Secret Wars (1984) #1 | Ben discovers that he can transform at will. The secret later becomes a source of conflict with Reed. |
| Fantastic Four (1961) #309 | A second cosmic-ray exposure gives Ben a more jagged appearance. |
| Fantastic Four (1961) #326 | Ben makes a consequential choice involving Sharon Ventura, his girlfriend at that time. |
| Fear Itself #1 | Dark magic transforms Ben into Angrir. |
| One World Under Doom (2025) #2 | Marvel’s guide describes Doctor Doom bestowing a form of “mercy” on Ben; the guide summary does not specify the resulting status in enough detail to characterize it further. |
A separate later development gives Ben a limited reprieve through a Future Foundation cure: he can become human for one week each year. Together, these stories show why it is misleading to describe the Thing’s transformation as either absolutely irreversible or freely controlled at all times.
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Ben Grimm’s relationships
The Fantastic Four
Ben is one of the four original members, alongside Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and Johnny Storm. Their connection is rooted in a shared history that began before they became the Fantastic Four and continued through their joint adventures. Ben’s role in the team is not only physical: his longstanding ties to its other members shape how the group handles the consequences of his transformation.
Reed Richards
Ben and Reed’s relationship predates the rocket flight. Reed is also closely tied to Ben’s changing body: he tries to restore Ben’s human appearance, later discovers Ben can change forms, and becomes the focus of conflict when Ben learns Reed kept that discovery from him. Their history joins friendship and scientific responsibility with the question of how much control Ben should have over his own life.
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Johnny Storm
Marvel’s Human Torch profile describes Ben as Johnny’s closest friend. Their familiar friction sits alongside that loyalty; the friendship is a central personal bond, not merely a side effect of working on the same team.
Alicia Masters
Alicia Masters debuts in Fantastic Four #8 and becomes an important part of the Fantastic Four’s lives as her relationship with Ben develops. Marvel has also referred to their “wedded bliss.” Because relationship status can vary by continuity and story period, those references should not be treated as a definitive statement about their status in every version or at every point in the comics.
Sharon Ventura
Sharon Ventura belongs to a particular period of Ben’s history: Marvel’s guide identifies her as his then-girlfriend in its summaries of Fantastic Four #309 and #326. She is relevant to those transformation developments, but the cited material does not establish her as his present partner.
Where to start reading
For Ben’s origin, start with Fantastic Four (1961) #1. For the later changes to his body and control, Marvel’s transformation guide highlights this selective issue trail:
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- Fantastic Four (1961) #51, #167, #238, #245, #309, and #326
- Secret Wars (1984) #1
- Thing (1983) #23
- Fantastic Four (1998) #584
- Fear Itself #1
- One World Under Doom (2025) #2
This is a selected path based on Marvel’s guide, not a complete bibliography of Ben Grimm’s appearances. Check the specific edition and its availability when choosing a collected version.
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