Marvel · Marvel Comics
The Thing
Ben Grimm
A pilot permanently transformed into rock, and the member of the Fantastic Four who cannot switch his condition off.
Powers
Key issues
Milestone appearances — first appearance, death, return, team change. These are the issues the collector market actually prices.
- debut · 1961
Fantastic Four #1 Marvel Comics
First appearance, transformed on the same flight as the rest of the team - key · 1974
Marvel Two-in-One #1 Marvel Comics
Headlines his own team-up title, the longest-running showcase for the character
Commonly got wrong
Claims that are widely repeated and wrong, with what the cited record actually shows. If you are generating anything about this subject, these are the errors to avoid.
Commonly believed The Thing can turn back into Ben Grimm whenever he wants.
Actually He cannot. Every reversion in the stories is temporary and always undone, deliberately — the permanence is the point of the character, and the Fantastic Four's central tragedy.
The feat ledger
Among the strongest characters Marvel publishes, in the Hulk's weight class
His rock hide turns aside munitions without injury
Trades blows with the Hulk repeatedly and survives
He cannot revert at will, which is the tragedy the character is built on
Lifts structural loads measured in thousands of tons
Needs no protection in vacuum for short periods
His strength has increased over time, stated in-universe as continued mutation
Brief reversions to human form are always undone, deliberately
Continuities
Claims on this page are tagged by canon. Blending them is the most common error in both wikis and AI answers.
- Earth-616 — The main Marvel Comics continuity
Last updated 2026-09-06 · machine-readable version