Origin

Ben Grimm was born in New York City to Daniel and Elsie Grimm. They were a Jewish family living in poverty. Ben’s older brother Daniel Jr. was killed in a gang fight when Ben was 8 years old. Eventually his parents would die and Ben would be raised by his Uncle Jake. In high school Ben was an excellent football player and earned himself a full scholarship to Empire State University. Ben would meet Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) who he would become his best friend. When Richards shared his dreams of building a space rocket, Ben jokingly said he would fly it.

After college, Ben joined the United States Air Force and trained as a test pilot. Years later Reed finally contacted Ben again, he tells Ben that he built a space ship and reminded Ben that he promised to fly it. The American Government denied Ben’s request to fly into outer space, and Reed would decide to just do it without telling the government. Along with Sue Storm (Invisible Woman) and Johnny Storm (Human Torch), the four of them blasted off into outer space. Upon entering the upper atmosphere they were hit by a cosmic ray storm and were exposed to the radiation. After they crash landed on Earth, they began to transform. Ben’s skin grew thicker and orange. Reed proposed that they use their powers for good and Ben adopts the code name The Thing.

Life as the Thing

Ben was trapped in that hideous form and was very unhappy because of it. However, Ben was always reliable when his team needed him. Reed promised Ben that he would find a cure for his condition. Ben eventually meets Alicia Masters and quickly fell in love with her. This would cause a problem because now Ben subconsciously believes that Alicia would only love him in his rock form and it prevented all attempts of Reed to change him back to human futile. Later Ben would decide to stay on an alien planet where he could control his powers by being able to transform into human or rock form. When Ben finally returns to Earth, he discovers that Johnny and Alicia had started dating. However due to the disapproval of many fans they retconned this and the Alicia that Johnny dated was actually Lyja, a shape-shifting Skrull. The real Alicia was kept in suspended animation until the Fantastic Four rescued her.

Not too long after, the FF would find themselves at odds with the law when Johnny's powers briefly went out of control, leading to him being wanted for arson. This event would inadvertently trigger another moment of pain in Ben Grimm's life. The FF wanted to simply buy time to prove that Johnny's actions were not intentional, but while on the run they came at odds with the Defenders ironically consisting of new FF members Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk and Ghost Rider. During the battle Wolverine slipped into a berserker rage and slashed a portion of Thing's face off, but the FF escaped due to a rare intervention by Uatu, and The Thing shortly after donned a metal helmet to cover the gruesome wounds on his face.

Reed would take a leave in the Fantastic Four and Ben becomes the new leader. Later Ben discovers that he is entitled to a large sum of money from the Fantastic Four fortune. He used his new money to build a community center in his old neighborhood. The gang that his brother was the leader of thought it was named after Ben and decided to go vandalize it. They discover that it was actually named after Daniel Grimm Jr. and they would reconcile with Ben.

During Civil War, Ben was on Iron Man’s pro-registration side. When Captain America tries to rescue a captured ally the battle took place at Yancy Street, Ben’s home street. One of the civilians die there and Ben yells at both sides for not caring about the casualties. Ben leaves America and moves to France for awhile. Ben would return right before the end of the Civil War.

Powers

The Thing has immense superhuman strength. In his first appearance, he could only lift 5 tons. Over the years, he was steady at 85 tons but now can lift easily over100 tons, his strength is is enough to make him able to handle hulk. He has enhanced stamina and his body can withstand extreme environments and abuse. His skin can withstand 15 pounds of explosives. He can live in deep crashing pressures of water, he can go through space without air. Despite his size, he still has a decent amount of agility and movement. He is trained to operate a number of aircraft's, including the many inventions created by Richards. He has some training in hand-to-hand combat and is a very skilled wrestler.

Alternate Realities

Earth-1610

In the Ultimate universe Thing is a bit younger and still a member of the Fantastic Four.

Earth-982

In the MC2 universe Thing is a member of the Fantastic Five alongside Human Torch, Ms Fantastic, Franklin Richards and Big Brain. His left arm and much of the body has been replaced by cybernetic parts.

Earth-2149

In the Marvel Zombies universe the Thing has, as most of earth's heroes been turned into a zombie.

Earth-721

In this reality, also known as Earth A, (first seen in Fantastic Four #118), Only Reed Richards and Ben Grimm was aboard the spaceship and got exposed to cosmic rays. Afterwards Reed Richards got the Thing powers and Ben Grimm got the Mr. Fantastic powers. Furthermore Johnny Storm was believed to have died in Vietnam, but he became Gaard and later Vangaard. Sue Storm married Ben Grimm.

Earth-311

In the 1602 reality Benjamin Grimm got his powers from the Anomaly and became a member of The Four of the Fantastick.

Earth-58163

In the House of M reality Doctor Doom is leader of the Fanatic Four which consists of himself, Invincible Woman (Valeria Von Doom), Inhuman Torch (Kristoff Vernard) and The Thing, Here known as The It.

Earth-772

In this reality Thing is a member of Fantastic Five alongside Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Spider-Man.

Earth-917

In this reality Thing is a member of Fantastic Five alongside Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Namor.

Earth-912

In this reality Thing is a member of Fantastic Five alongside Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Silver Surfer.

Earth-4400

Thing was also a member of Fantastic Five in this reality, alongside Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Spider-Man. They were all killed by Hyperion and Weapon X.

Earth-295

In a "What if?: Age of Apocalypse", Ben is a member of the Defenders, the AoA version of the Avengers. In this reality where Legion killed both Professor X and Magneto leading to the X-Men to never be formed, The Defenders are composed of Ben, Captain Britain in Iron Man's armor, Wolverine aka Weapon X, Brother Voodoo, who is the Sorcerer Supreme in this universe, X-Man, Molecule Man, Colossus and Sauron with their leader, Captain America, in possession of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. Ben was killed by Apocalypse's son, Holocaust.

Earth-2301

In the Marvel Mangaverse, Ben is a member of the Fantastic Four, a team that battle giant monsters with their mecha power packs. The whole team was killed by The Hand, except the Human Torch.