How tough is the Thing?

[Jottma]

I know that the Thing is a great hero, that will never back down from a fight even if his opponent appears to be out of his league, because he is so incredibly pure of heart. He is great character because you simply can't crush his will, or so I have heard. This is a wonderful characteristic for the mind, but I was wondering how his body is able to handle the fights he could potentionally find himself in. Is the Thing's rocky exterior durable enough to sutsain a shot from Iron Man's standard repuslor ray? How would the Thing do against an optic blast from Cyclops when he doesn't have the visor set in the shatter mountains postion? Would the Thing survive if Thor brought down a lightening bolt on him? What would happen to the Thing if Gambit threw 5 charged cards at him? Thanks for your time.

[Loestal]

I know that the Thing is a great hero, that will never back down from a fight even if his opponent appears to be out of his league, because he is so incredibly pure of heart. He is great character because you simply can't crush his will, or so I have heard. This is a wonderful characteristic for the mind, but I was wondering how his body is able to handle the fights he could potentionally find himself in. Is the Thing's rocky exterior durable enough to sutsain a shot from Iron Man's standard repuslor ray? How would the Thing do against an optic blast from Cyclops when he doesn't have the visor set in the shatter mountains postion? Would the Thing survive if Thor brought down a lightening bolt on him? What would happen to the Thing if Gambit threw 5 charged cards at him? Thanks for your time.

Thing can go toe to toe with the Hulk for a while, so he could surely take an optic blast from Cyclopse. Thing is one of the more durable characters around.

[Shellhead]

I know that the Thing is a great hero, that will never back down from a fight even if his opponent appears to be out of his league, because he is so incredibly pure of heart. He is great character because you simply can't crush his will, or so I have heard. This is a wonderful characteristic for the mind, but I was wondering how his body is able to handle the fights he could potentionally find himself in. Is the Thing's rocky exterior durable enough to sutsain a shot from Iron Man's standard repuslor ray? How would the Thing do against an optic blast from Cyclops when he doesn't have the visor set in the shatter mountains postion? Would the Thing survive if Thor brought down a lightening bolt on him? What would happen to the Thing if Gambit threw 5 charged cards at him? Thanks for your time.

The Thing is really tough. He has taken physical abuse from Galactus and his heralds (especially the Silver Surfer), some of the most powerful entities in Marvel Comics. He can trade blows with the Hulk for a while, which is more punishment than most heroes can absorb. But the Thing is kind of a complainer, so even when he is not particularly hurt by an attack, he will still react to it, at least verbally.

In answer to your specific questions, both Iron Man's repulsor rays and Scott's optic blasts seem to knock things back more than they directly damage them, except when the target is unable to move and then tends to get wrecked, like a wall or a door. So I assume that their attacks would knock the Thing around, but not be sufficient to take him out. A lightning bolt from Thor would knock him flat, but since the Thing is somewhat resistant to energy attacks as well, he probably would get back up again and continue fighting. However, a direct hit in the face from Thor's hammer would probably knock the Thing out. Five cards from Gambit? I don't know, because I haven't read too many comics with Gambit in them. I would venture a guess that the Thing is similar to Collosus in terms of toughness, so that would be a reasonable benchmark that you can probably relate to.

[riotgear]

Tough enough to kick your @$$, and make your daddy feel it.

[Cthulhudrew]

FWIW, until recently, the Thing was the only hero to go toe-to-toe with Champion in a physical matchup and go the distance. Champion took out Wonder Man, the Hulk, and Colossus among others- guys who are stronger than (or in a similar class to) Ben. Grimm didn't do too much damage to him, but he took the guy's measure and wouldn't give up, to the point that Champion conceded victory to him because he admired his grit.

(Of course, the She-Hulk recently beat Champion one-on-one, and the Silver Surfer beat him, though he used the Power Cosmic and it really wasn't a fisticuffs battle.)

[Agnew420]

A truly fitting question. The Thing has a super hard rock-like exterior, but what kind of rock does his hide mostly relate to?
Would a jackhammer just chip and crack away at him until he died?
There is so little known about the Thing, and what his durability is.

[marshal99]

Well , when Wolverine slash Ben's face , it cut beyond his rocky hide to his flesh hence why he wore that bucket on his head for nearly a year till the injury healed fully.

[CyberCoyote]

Well , when Wolverine slash Ben's face , it cut beyond his rocky hide to his flesh hence why he wore that bucket on his head for nearly a year till the injury healed fully.

Yeah, but Wolverine is tougher than even Heralds, c'mon :)

Back in the day Reed would be wary of Ben even taking redundant automatic weapons fire because he feared it would chip through his exoskeleton/hide and damage the man beneath. That doesn't seem the case so much anymore.

Mind you I'm still hoping that someday (I thought JMS' rebombadment of cosmic rays might do it, but they apparently did nothing at all) it'll turn out that the rocky hide is like a cacoon and the pink lump of flesh beneath metamorphisizes (sp?) into a new dermal layer for ben. Something that'll make him the most resistent earthbound guy in the MU. Ben'll never be the strongest (seems like he's one of the weakest 'strong guys'), but he should be the most durable.

I think one oversight is Ben's hands..grip. Even if he can't press as much as She-Hulk or Wondy, his hands are HUGE, so much more muscle and tendon. He probably has the strongest crushing strength of all the class 100 guys and gals.

[Shellhead]

Another way in which Ben is often underestimated is tactics. He doesn't have any formal combat training (aside from boot camp a long time ago), but Ben has consistently been depicted as a very tactical brawler. Moreso than most of the heavy hitters, he is good at using the terrain and whatever is at hand to gain advantage. Compared to mindless brawlers like the Hulk or average guys who just happen to be extremely strong like Wonder Man, the Thing is the better fighter.

[dingo]

In one of those old fact-sheet thingies he was listed as having skin that could withstand armour peircing rounds or bazooka shells.

I would say though there have been plenty of examples of him taking more than that.

[marshal99]

Another way in which Ben is often underestimated is tactics. He doesn't have any formal combat training (aside from boot camp a long time ago), but Ben has consistently been depicted as a very tactical brawler. Moreso than most of the heavy hitters, he is good at using the terrain and whatever is at hand to gain advantage. Compared to mindless brawlers like the Hulk or average guys who just happen to be extremely strong like Wonder Man, the Thing is the better fighter.

Well , pineapple thing got totally outsmarted by grey hulk. I guess when you are the underdog in a situation , you have to think more on your feet. :)

[Jerry W. Loper]

Well , pineapple thing got totally outsmarted by grey hulk. I guess when you are the underdog in a situation , you have to think more on your feet. :)

Two Hulk vs. Thing fights were published in the same month, one in FF #320 and one in Hulk #350, with (surprise!) the Thing winning in the FF issue and Hulk winning in the Hulk issue. Although I'm a Thing fan, I'm not at all embarassed to insist that in the rematch against Hulk in Hulk #350, Ben acted stupid and out of character compared to the way he usually acts in his own series.

[riotgear]

Back in the day Reed would be wary of Ben even taking redundant automatic weapons fire because he feared it would chip through his exoskeleton/hide and damage the man beneath. That doesn't seem the case so much anymore.


Yes, but in those days, Reed was a lot more protective (and his guilt over Ben's condition was a lot more transparent) of Ben, considering Reed's culpability of Ben's condition. They've shown Reed doing test after test on Ben over the years, and so, I don't think it's as much Ben getting stronger or more durable, as Reed knowing what is capable of withstanding without injury.

Another way in which Ben is often underestimated is tactics. He doesn't have any formal combat training (aside from boot camp a long time ago), but Ben has consistently been depicted as a very tactical brawler. Moreso than most of the heavy hitters, he is good at using the terrain and whatever is at hand to gain advantage. Compared to mindless brawlers like the Hulk or average guys who just happen to be extremely strong like Wonder Man, the Thing is the better fighter.

Ben was a combat pilot after college in the Air Force before he became a test pilot. My guess is that he would've had combat and hand-to-hand training during that period.