Blob (Marvel Comics)

Background

Full Name: Frederick J. "Fred" Dukes

Powers & Abilities

• Gravity Increase: Blob's main superhuman ability was to become virtually immovable at will as long as he was in contact with the ground. He did this by bonding himself to the earth beneath him by force of will, which in effect created a mono-directional increase of gravity beneath him. This gravity field extended about 5 feet in radius from his center of balance. Thus if there were sufficient power to uproot him, it would take the ground beneath his feet in an area corresponding to the radius of the field. Through intense concentration, the Blob was able to extend the gravity field beneath him farther than five feet. It can be presumed with the onset of various manipulations to his physiology that Fred's core mutation had been restored.
  • Superhuman Durability: The Blob's body possesses a high degree of resistance to injury. The fat tissues that comprise the Blob's epidermis are able to absorb the impact of rifle bullets, cannonballs, bazooka, and even torpedoes. The fat tissue of his epidermis is resilient enough to revert to its normal shape within seconds after deformation caused by impact. It is virtually impervious to physical injury. The Blob's skin cannot be punctured or lacerated by most known materials, frostbitten, or ravaged by any skin disease, due in part to the skin's great elasticity and toughness and in part to the highly accelerated rate at which his skin cells grow and replace themselves. It is not yet known if there is an upper limit to the Blob's ability to absorb impact. He could easily survive a head-on collision with a bus traveling at a hundred miles per hour, even a highly ferrous meteorite 50 feet in diameter on top of him at terminal velocity.
  • Superhuman Strength: While he did not originally possessed superhuman strength Blob underwent further mutation multiple times in his life and gained enough physical strength to lift 5 tons. While empowered by Onslaught Blob was briefly able to lift up to 75 tons.
  • Implosion Inducement: Through a few weeks of focus and concentration Blob is able to manipulate his gravitational aura outwards in order to trigger a localized collapse of solid matter by dragging it into himself. It is a skill in which Mystique showed him while imprisoned at the U.S. Maximum Security Penitentiary.
  • Pain Immunity: The Blob's nerve endings do not relay any tactile perception to his brain, which is near the threshold of pain, which makes it so that he is unable to feel pain.
  • Trapping: Blob is able to capture anything that attacks him within his flesh, including limbs and projectiles. He is able to control how long he holds the object and releasing it with or without the recoil pressure. However, it takes the Blob’s full concentration on trapping an object or individual, and if he were to focus on something else or get distracted by an attack from another person, he would lose control of his muscles and release who or whatever he was holding with his body.
  • Projectile Redirection: After Blob's body absorbs the kinetic energy of a projectile's impact, he can expel the object back. Fired projectiles would be embedded within the Blob’s body and, by flexing the muscles where the projectile hits, he can cause the projectile to recoil with half the force of impact, reflecting it back at half speed. The Blob can also recoil a punch thrown at him and throw the opponent back a good distance.
  • Limited Shape Alteration: Through training with Onslaught and Sledge, Blob is able to manipulate his mass to mimic shape-shifting, using it to enhance the size and extension of his limbs. He can make his fists the size of a human.
    • Limb Stretching: Blob figured out he could elasticize his limbs in order to stretch & embiggen them an undetermined extent.
• Secondary Mutation: After undergoing the Mothervine enhancement process, Blob developed a secondary mutation:
  • Liquid Form: Blob possesses the ability to deliquesce his body to an undetermined extent. When he first manifested this ability, he quickly lost control and liquefied into a puddle.

• Hand-to-Hand Combatant: The Blob is a formidable hand to hand combatant. Although he possesses no formal training, his great size coupled with his strength and resistance to injury render him a highly efficient and effective street fighter. While not superhuman, the Blob has higher speed, agility, and stamina than his size would indicate, which he often uses to surprise his opponents.

Weaknesses

• Projected energy attacks, like Scott Summers' optic blasts, have been seen to penetrate his skin.
• The Blob's eyes and the interior of his ears, mouth, and nose are also vulnerable to injury.
• The Blob is vulnerable to a concussion, such as during his run-in with Daredevil during his days in Freedom Force. Daredevil had the girl Amanda, whom Blob and Pyro were ordered to capture, use her telekinetic powers to drop a large bell on Blob, which knocked Blob out after Daredevil lured him to the Bell Tower.
• The Blob has a higher alcohol tolerance than a normal human due to his size, though he can still be intoxicated if he ingests huge amounts of alcohol.
• Blob relies on Mutant Growth Hormone to maintain his powers.