Benjamin Grimm (Earth-7045)

When Reed Richards finished his experimental starship and wanted to take it on an unsanctioned test flight, his college buddy (and former USAF pilot) Benjamin "Ben" Grimm agreed to fly it. Together with Richards' girlfriend Sue Storm and her brother Johnny, Ben and Reed launched into space, where they were exposed to unprecedented levels of cosmic radiation.

The radiation triggered mutagenic changes in each of the four passengers. In Grimm's case, he became a brutish creature with orange, rocky skin. Sue's description of him as a "thing" stuck as his heroic nickname, and the Thing became a founding member of the Fantastic Four.

History
to be added

Powers & Abilities

 * Power Cosmic Radiation Enhancements:
 * Rock-like Skin
 * Superhuman Strength
 * Superhuman Stamina
 * Superhuman Durability
 * Superhuman Sensory Adaptation: Though his senses aren't superhumanly acute, his five senses can withstand greater amounts of sensory stimuli than he could when he was a normal human being, with no reduced sensitivity. This was demonstrated during the Fantastic Four's first fight with the Hulk. While the sonic boom caused by Hulk's thunderclap knocked out the rest of the group, Ben was barely phased, only sent slightly back due to the accompanying shockwaves.
 * Immortality: The Thing cannot age. The only way for him to age is by being in his human form. If he's not turned back to human or decides not to turn back to human one day a year as he's able to, The Thing would theoretically never die.

Abilities

 * Expert Pilot
 * Experienced Astronaut
 * Master Combatant
 * Indomitable Willpower

Weaknesses

 * Handicap: Ben is unable to use normal, everyday appliances due to his sheer size, weight, and strength. His powers have also robbed him of his sense of touch.

Equipment

 * Fantastic Four Uniform: The Thing's costume, and the rest of his wardrobe, is constructed of unstable molecules. The Thing's costume has a complete data processing and telemetry system woven into its fabric on a molecular level, making it like a wearable computer. The costume forms a network with the rest of the Fantastic Four, providing a constant, real time uplink of everyone’s physical condition as well as their location and current situation. The costume is capable of displaying data and has touch-pad controls on the gauntlets. Its sensors can track all of the team’s uniforms and provide a picture of their immediate vicinity. The costume has an intricate scanner system which can detect things around the wearer, from how many people are in the next room to what dimension or planet they are on.


 * Fantasti-Flare: The Thing normally carries a miniature flare pistol capable of creating a fiery “4" signal in the sky. Used as a weapon, the incendiary charge will ignite flammable materials.


 * Universal Translator

Transportation

 * Fantasti-Car

Trivia

 * Benjamin Grimm is Jewish as is his original creator Jack Kirby.
 * The Thing's favorite food is pizza, especially New York Pizza.
 * The powers of all of the Fantastic Four are based on one of the four classical elements, with Ben's element being earth.