Blob (comics)
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The Blob (Frederick J. Dukes) is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an adversary of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #3 (January 1964).
A mutant, the Blob claimed to be unmovable. He possessed an extreme amount of pliable body mass, which granted him superhuman strength, and his own gravitational pull. Possessing the mindset of a bully, he mostly used his powers for petty crime and as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants and Freedom Force.
He was one of the most prominent, long-running mutants to be de-powered as a result of the "Decimation" storyline.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Fred J. Dukes was born in Lubbock, Texas. He started out as a member of a circus sideshow under the name the Blob. He was contacted by Charles Xavier, who told him that he was a mutant and asked him to join the X-Men. At the mansion, the other X-Men disliked him for his obnoxious attitude. The Blob refused Xavier's invitation, saying he was better than the other X-Men. When Xavier tried erasing his mind of what had transpired, the Blob escaped. He gathered up the other Circus members and they attacked the mansion. Xavier was able to wipe everyone's minds, and the Blob went back to the circus.[1]
The mutant Magneto sought the Blob out to recruit him into his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, restoring Blob's memory through a jarring hit to the head. The Blob would accept the invitation temporarily, but later when it was shown that Magneto had no real concern for Blob's safety, he left the brotherhood. He would later join Mystique's incarnation of the Brotherhood, remaining also when it was reformed as Freedom Force. After Freedom Force's dissolution, the Blob joined Toad's Brotherhood and later the incarnation led by Professor X, and even became leader after Xavier left. Months later, Dukes joined the new Brotherhood led once again by Mystique, alongside Toad, Sabretooth and the daughter of the original Mastermind.
When Exodus recreated the Brotherhood of Mutants, Blob offered to join, but was quickly dismissed by Exodus, who considered him useless. This was a major blow for Dukes' already weak self-esteem, for which he sought the counsel of therapist Sean Garrison. After a session, Blob attacked the Xavier Institute, though he was defeated by the combined efforts of the New Mutants and the Hellions. He was then arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D..
Due to the Scarlet Witch's depowering of 90% of Earth's mutants, the Blob was one of the thousands of mutants to lose their powers, though his skin did not shrink to compensate the loss of his bloated mass, giving him huge folds of loose skin all over his body. The depressed Blob attempted to commit suicide by cutting his wrists, though his loose skin prevented him from accomplishing a single cut.
In the last panel of Thunderbolts #103, the Blob can be seen in the background in Baron Zemo's prison for supervillains that the Thunderbolts have apprehended.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Though now depowered, the Blob's mutant physiology granted him a number of advantages. He had superhuman strength and great resistance to physical injury. The Blob's highly elastic blubbery skin had proven to be difficult to penetrate by gunfire, missiles, and even Wolverine's claws; though with sufficient force the claws could lacerate his flesh. On one occasion, a concentrated optic blast fired by Cyclops was sufficient to puncture a hole through his shoulder, much to the shock of Dukes himself. He could also alter his personal gravity field to make him virtually immovable, although an incredible force could uproot him, along with a chunk of whatever he was standing on. The only beings on record to have been able to lift the Blob against his wishes are the Incredible Hulk, Strong Guy, and Colossus (Uncanny X-Men #206). Despite his morbidly obese appearance, his agility was the same as that of a fairly athletic male of normal stature, a fact which frequently caught his opponents by surprise.
The Blob had superhuman strength which had greatly increased over the years, in a manner very similar to that of the Thing. This improvement was said to be a result of his ongoing mutation.
What few weaknesses the Blob did have mostly circumvented his physical resistance. He was able to be injured by attacks directed at his face, as his eyes, nose, mouth and ears did not have the same blubbery protection as the rest of his body. Dukes was susceptible to psionic attacks and psychic manipulation. The Blob could also be incapacitated by sensory assaults; for example, Banshee was able to render Blob unconscious solely through the use of his sonic scream. He could be incapacitated by drinking alcohol, although due to his immense body mass it would require a great deal.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] Ultimate Blob
In the Ultimate Universe, Blob is again a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. His powers work in the same manner as his Earth-616 counterpart, although he has been moved by a helicopter during the Weapon X saga, suggesting that he may be less powerful. He seems to eat constantly and is often seen browsing the internet or talking to people via instant messaging. One such incident led to Blob pretending to be a model/physics expert named Naomi and cyber seducing Beast - leading to the discovery of Magneto's survival and, eventually, to the Ultimate War saga. The Ultimate version of Blob is also a cannibal.
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
Blob appears briefly in the Age of Apocalypse as one of Beast's experiments.
[edit] In other media
- The Blob appeared in the animated pilot Pryde of the X-Men.
- He also appeared as well in the X-Men arcade game, loosely based on the aforementioned pilot, as the Stage 2 Boss, and return in the stage 7, as the first of five sub-bosses, inside of Avalon, in Asteroid M. He utters the memorable quote "Nothing moves the Blob!". This quote has been made into an internet meme by websites such as YTMND and Something Awful.
- He made occasional appearances in numerous episodes of the 1990s X-Men animated series, usually in a henchman role helping Mystique.
- The Blob has also appeared as a teenager in the X-Men Evolution (voiced by Michael Dobson) animated television series, where he was a classmate and bully of the X-Men prior to joining Mystique's Brotherhood.
- The Blob was originally supposed to appear in the first X-Men movie, but didn't make it off the concept page. A hidden easter egg on the 1st X-Men DVD (not X-Men 1.5) shows concept art of the Blob & Beast.
- In the film X2, his name appears on a list of names Mystique scrolls through on Stryker's computer while looking for Magneto's file.
- The Blob was an enemy in the game X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse.
- The Blob was a boss in the video game X-Men Legends, but like many characters of this game, he only made a brief appearance in the sequel.
- An article on latinoreview.com claiming to review a preliminary script of the movie Wolverine mentioned that Blob (and Silver Fox, Wolverine's love interest) will be in the movie. The article has since been removed.
- The Blob was unlockable and the largest playable character in X-Men: Next Dimension.
- The Blob will appear in the Hasbro Marvel Legends wave 2 as the build'em-up.
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles lacking sources from January 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Fictional characters from Texas | Fictional terrorists | Suicidal fictional characters | Marvel Comics mutants | Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength | 1964 introductions | Marvel Comics supervillains
