Blob (Marvel Comics)

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Blob
Blob as depicted in Generation M #3 (2006).
Art by Stuart Immonen.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe X-Men #3 (January 1964)[1][2]
Created byStan Lee (writer)
Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoFrederick J. Dukes
SpeciesHuman mutant
Team affiliationsSecret Empire
X-Cell
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
X-Corps
Factor Three
Freedom Force
Defenders
Notable aliasesFreddie Dukes
Abilities

The Blob (Frederick J. "Fred" Dukes) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary of the X-Men. A mutant originally depicted as a morbidly obese circus freak, the Blob claims to be immovable when he so desires.[3] He possesses an extreme amount of pliable body mass, which grants him superhuman strength. Possessing the demeanor of a bully, he mostly uses his powers for petty crime on his own, and as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants and Freedom Force.

The Blob appeared in the 2009 superhero film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he was played by actor Kevin Durand wearing a fat suit. Wrestler "Giant" Gustav Claude Ouimet had a cameo as Blob in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Publication history

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #3 (January 1964).[4]

Fictional character biography

Early years

Born in Lubbock, Texas, Fred J. Dukes starts out as a member of a circus sideshow under the name "The Blob".[5] His act was that he could remain stationary when others tried to move him. He is detected and contacted by Charles Xavier via Cyclops, who sees his performance and tells him that he (Dukes) is a mutant, and asks him to join the X-Men. At the X-Mansion, the other X-Men dislike Dukes for his obnoxious attitude. Iceman uses his power against Dukes to create an ice block around his foot, but the Blob easily escapes. The Blob refuses Xavier's invitation, saying he is better than the other X-Men. When Xavier tries erasing his mind of what has transpired, the Blob escapes the X-Mansion despite the efforts of the Beast and uses the sewer to get away without being followed. He tells the manager of the carnival he is taking over, then gathers up the other circus members and they attack the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, as he plans to get technology from the X-Men and take over the world. Meanwhile, Xavier works on a device which will allow him to erase the memories of many people. The carnival succeeds in defeating the X-Men despite a warning from Angel. They tie up the X-Men and leave them on the lawn. They then enter the X-Mansion to find the Professor and his technology. Xavier telepathically contacts Marvel Girl and tells her to remove her blindfold using her telekinesis, then levitate a knife from a performer's tent to cut through her bonds, after which she frees the other members. Xavier is able to wipe everyone's minds after the carnival is stopped by a wall of ice, and the Blob goes back to the circus.[6]

Joining the Brotherhood

The mutant

Alpha the Ultimate Mutant.[11] The Blob is later returned to adulthood, and fights the Champions of Los Angeles.[12]

He later winds up in prison, but is freed by

Senator Kelly, the event which leads to the apocalyptic alternate future of Days of Future Past.[14] He also battles the Avengers as a member of the Brotherhood.[15] With Unus, he battles the Hulk.[16] With the Brotherhood, he battles the X-Men once more.[17] He witnesses the apparent death of Unus, then goes berserk and attacks Spider-Man and the Black Cat.[18]

He remains with the Brotherhood, becoming a special operative of the federal government when the Brotherhood is reformed as the government-sponsored

Vault.[31]

After Freedom Force's dissolution, the Blob participates in other versions of the Brotherhood, including one led by Toad and another led by Professor X; the Blob takes over as leader of the latter when Xavier leaves.

The psychic entity

daughter of the original Mastermind
.

When

Sean Garrison. After a session, Blob attacks the Xavier Institute, though he is defeated by the combined efforts of the New Mutants and the Hellions. He is then arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Post M-Day

Due to the Scarlet Witch's depowering of 90% of Earth's mutants, the Blob is one of the thousands to lose their power, though his epidermis does not shrink to compensate for his loss of mass, leaving him with huge folds of loose skin. The depressed Blob attempts to commit suicide, but his skin folds prevent him from cutting through to any major blood vessels on his throat or wrists.

Someone that resembles the Blob is seen apprehended by the Thunderbolts and is seen in the Folding Castle's Detention Quadrant.[32]

Blob later resurfaces as a member of X-Cell, a group of depowered mutants that blames the government for the loss of their powers, attacking

Marrow
, Blob was thrown from the car.

Through unknown means, Dukes loses the excess skin and his fortunes turn in his favor. Now known as Freddie Dukes, he has become a weight-loss guru in Japan, and is to star in an upcoming movie filmed in San Francisco made by Kingo Sunen. He is also seen with Magneto and the High Evolutionary.[33]

In the miniseries "Magneto: Not a Hero",

Astra and mutated deformed versions of Blob, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad. It is soon revealed that these actually are clones created by Joseph.[34]

In Uncanny X-Men #16, Fred Dukes is working with Mystique in Genosha and is once again shown as heavily obese and appears to have his powers restored.[35] Mystique has supplied him with Mutant Growth Hormones (MGH) extracted from Dazzler.[volume & issue needed]

Blob was later seen on Krakoa. He and Anole become the co-owners and bartenders of the tiki bar called Green Lagoon.[36]

Powers and abilities

The Blob's

Arabian Knight were able to harm him.[volume & issue needed
]

He could also alter his personal mono-directional

Colossus has managed to lift Dukes by digging underground and raising the piece of earth Dukes stands on, stating this as an exception to his immovability.[20] Magneto once was able to move the Blob by lifting the ground under the Blob's feet via metal pipes.[38]
Despite his appearance, the Blob's speed and agility are those of a fairly athletic male of normal stature, a fact which frequently catches his opponents by surprise.

The Blob's superhuman strength greatly increased over the years, in a manner similar to that of the

Thing. This improvement is said to be a result of his ongoing mutation.[volume & issue needed
]

The Blob is vulnerable to attacks directed at his face, as his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears do not have the same protection as the rest of his body. Dukes is also susceptible to psionic attacks and psychic manipulation, and he can be incapacitated by sensory assaults; for example,

Banshee was able to render Blob unconscious solely through the use of his sonic scream. On another occasion, Sleepwalker defeated the Blob by using warp beams to wrap a steel girder around the villain, crushing his blubber and causing him great physical pain. The Hulk once took the opposite approach, harming the Blob by grabbing and stretching his flab. While he is all but invulnerable to direct kinetic attacks, such as punches, kicks or gunshots, he is susceptible to concussions and other harm resulting from sufficiently powerful impacts, as Daredevil knocked him out by luring him underneath a massive bell and then having it dropped on him with the aid of a young female mutant.[27]

Dukes can be incapacitated by drinking alcohol, although due to his immense mass, a large amount of alcohol is required.

Reception

  • In 2018,
    CBR.com ranked Blob 9th in their "Age Of Apocalypse: The 30 Strongest Characters In Marvel's Coolest Alternate World" list.[39]

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

Blob appears briefly in the

Apocalypse signed to keep the Human High Council occupied and at bay while he rallied his forces.[40]

McCoy considered Blob's mutation useless which enraged Blob. Dukes freed himself, and attacked his experimenter.

Havok came to McCoy's rescue, but Dukes proved to be even too much for the Prelate to handle. His pseudo freedom was fleeting because moments later the head of the pens, Havok's older brother Cyclops, showed up to deliver a searing optic blast that would put him back in his place.[41]

When the

Quicksilver attempted to fell the behemoth with multiple punches, but Dukes remained standing regardless of how many hits he got in. It was not until Rogue stepped in with a punch that had the power necessary to overtake him that the mammoth would topple over. Following the Sinister Six's defeat, Blob managed to escape.[42]

Later he's seen as a member of the Black Legion, a group of psychotic altered mutants under the supervision of a now insane

Apocalypse. He's seen in Akkaba Metropolis under the North Pole and he was the one to prevent the escape of Psylocke.[44]

In the "Final Execution Saga" story line in Uncanny X-Force, Fredrick is part of a new

Nightcrawler from the Age of Apocalypse universe betrays the team,[46] to get his revenge on Fredrick due to him eating his wife Linda. Kurt seemingly succeeds in his goal of revenge by teleporting a live shark into Fredrick's stomach during a fight with him, causing him to be devoured from within.[47]

Age of X-Man

In the alternate universe created by Nate Grey in Age of X-Man,[48] Blob is the leader of the X-Tremists. This version of Fred Dukes is a dramatic departure from previous representations; he is "soft-hearted, bookish, kind and gentle".[49] Blob has romantic feelings for his teammate Betsy Braddock. According to X-Tremists writer Leah Williams, "My hope in removing the villainy aspects of his character for X-tremists was to make people confront how they feel about fatness in general by utilizing an intriguing aspect of AoX: there is no bodily prejudice."[50]

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows

In the second volume of Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Blob is seen as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants.[51]

Cable & Deadpool

Famine, one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse.[52]

House of M

Put in an internment camp after Bolivar Trask's rise to power in the House of M reality, he was freed in Magneto's first major raid on US soil. After being freed, he first took his mutant name, "Blob" and was instrumental in the destruction of several Sentinels. He then joined Magneto's mutant group.[53] Blob is seen as a member of the Genoshan Black Ops version of the Marauders. It was later revealed that Dukes is also a member of an NYPD strike team called the Brotherhood.[54]

Marvel Noir

In the Marvel Noir reality, Eric Magnus is Chief of Detectives and Fred appears as a member of his Brotherhood, a cabal of bent policemen. He is initially partnered with rookie Detective Peter Magnus, and later with Detective Mortimer Toynbee.[55]

Marvel Zombies

Blob appears twice in the Marvel Zombies universe. He is alive when first encountered, but being pursued by several zombie versions of Marvel characters, including Pyro, Black Cat, Iron Fist, Toad and Rhino.[56] He is later seen as a zombie fighting the X-Men.[57]

Planet X

In the pages of

Apocalypse Twins skew the time lines and create a mutant utopia called "Planet X".[58]

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Blob and Toad fighting Cyclops

The

Ultimatum, the Blob is seen eating the Wasp, proving the cannibalistic claims are true.[61] However, Hank Pym grows to a gigantic size and bites the Blob's head off in return.[62]

It was revealed that Blob was

her own mutant abilities. He had impregnated Liz's mother while working for a circus sideshow.[63] It was also shown that the Blob fathered a son (Theodore "Tubby Teddy" Allan) by an unknown woman. Teddy is in high school and has his father's same bulky appearance and similar abilities, as he was shot at point blank range and merely said "It tickles".[64] He later joins Quicksilver's new Brotherhood as the new iteration of Blob.[65]

In other media

Television

Film

Kevin Durand as Frederick J. Dukes in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
  • The Blob appears in an early draft for X-Men (2000), written by Andrew Kevin Walker in 1994.[66]
  • Fred Dukes appears in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, portrayed by Kevin Durand.[67] This version is initially a muscular soldier and member of Team X before the team disbanded, leading to him developing an eating disorder, becoming overweight, and undergoing boxing training at John Wraith's suggestion. Additionally, he dislikes being called "Blob".
  • The Blob makes a cameo appearance in X-Men: Apocalypse, portrayed by wrestler "Giant" Gustav Claude Ouimet. This version is a cage fighter.[68][69]

Video games

Miscellaneous

The Blob appears in Planet X as a holodeck simulation.

Merchandise

  • The Blob received a build-a-figure and a standalone figure in the Marvel Legends line.[75]
  • The X-Men: The Animated Series incarnation of the Blob received an action figure.[76]
  • The X-Men: Evolution incarnation of the Blob received an action figure.[77]
  • The Blob received a figure in a "Deluxe Twin Pack" along with Sabretooth as part of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine tie-in toy line.[citation needed]

References

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  3. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.[1]
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  5. ISBN 978-1465455505
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  11. ^ The Defenders #15-16. Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ The Champions #17. Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ The Uncanny X-Men #140. Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ The Uncanny X-Men #141-142. Marvel Comics.
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  16. ^ a b Marvel Fanfare #7. Marvel Comics.
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  20. ^ a b The Uncanny X-Men #206. Marvel Comics.
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  22. ^ X-Factor #8-10. Marvel Comics.
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  34. ^ Magneto: Not a Hero #1-4. Marvel Comics.
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  48. ^ "Age of X-Man is an epic Marvel event about what happens when the X-Men finally win". Polygon. 30 January 2019.
  49. ^ Hassan, Chris (30 May 2019). ""Positive fan reaction sort of rearranged my whole life" – Writer Leah Williams unpacks 'Age of X-Man: X-Tremists'". AiPT!. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  50. ^ "r/comicbooks - I am Leah Williams, writer of Marvel's What If? Magik, X-Men Black: Emma Frost, and X-tremists - AMA". reddit. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
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  67. ^ SuperHeroHype (24 February 2008). "Kevin Durand as the Blob". Superherohype.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
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  69. ^ Simon Gallagher (May 26, 2016). "X-Men: Apocalypse Features A Cameo Only Hardcore Wrestling Fans Will Recognise". WhatCulture. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  70. ^ a b c d "Blob Voice - X-Men franchise | Behind The Voice Actors". behindthevoiceactors.com. December 19, 2019. Check mark indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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  73. ^ "Blob (Modern) - Marvel Puzzle Quest New Character". 4 October 2021.
  74. ^ "MARVEL SNAP - Dominate the Marvel Multiverse in High-Speed Card Battling Action". www.marvelsnap.com. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  75. ^ "Blob Build-a-Figure (BAF) Series". Toyhollywood.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  76. ^ The Blob. "The Blob". Gofigureactionfigures.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  77. ^ The Blob (Evolution). "The Blob Evolution". Gofigureactionfigures.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.

External links

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