Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.
He’s the original chonky mutant: Blob
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Appearances in Heroclix: X-Men: Rise and Fall, X-Men Animated: Dark Phoenix Saga, X-Men – Days of Future Past, Giant-Size X-Men, Clobberin Time
First Appearance: The X-Men #3 (Jan. 1964)
Team Affiliations: Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, X-Corps, Freedom Force, Defenders
Powers: Superhuman strength, endurance, durability and resilience; Personal gravity field; Near impenetrable skin
Created by: Jack Kirby and Stan Lee
Fred J. Dukes is fairly normal young boy born in Lubbock, Texas. Until his mutant powers manifest, that is, and he is forced to join a circus sideshow under the name “The Blob.” His show is essentially being an immovable object. It is during his time with the circus that X-man Cyclops sees him and alerts the Professor to the existence of a mutant. Xavier invites the Blob to join the X-Men and have a safe place to live. Dukes journeys to the X-Mansion in order to see if it’s a good fit.
After years of being treated like a freak, however, Dukes has adopted some very obnoxious habits. The other X-Men take a quick disliking to the man with Iceman even freezing Blob’s feet in a block of ice. Blob rejects the invitation, convinced that he is better than the other X-Men, and is able to escape into the sewer before Xavier can erase his memories of the trip.
Upon returning to the Circus, Blob takes over and unites the workers in an assault on the Xavier School. He plans on taking the advanced technology Xavier has and using it to take over the world. The circus army is able to defeat the X-Men only to confront Xavier with a new device that allows him to erase all of their memories. Stupefied, the circus performers, including Blob, are easily marched back to the Circus and their normal lives.
Some time later, Magneto learns of the Blob and recruits him to his Brotherhood. First, though, he restores Blob’s memory with a stunning blow to the head. Blob joins Magneto to gain revenge against the X-Men but soon returns to the circus after realizing that Magneto does not care about him. After this point, the Blob has several partnerships and short lived teams as his powers are in demand. He partners with Unus the Untouchable for a time, framing the X-Men for crimes. He is a member of Factor Three and briefly works for the Secret Empire, battling Beast. He again joins the Brotherhood for a time until he is turned into a baby.
After being returned to his proper age, he battles the Champions before being recruited by Mystique for her Brotherhood. He is a key part of the plot to assassinate Senator Kelly and goes on to battle the Avengers, Hulk, X-Men, Spider-Man and Black Cat.
When Mystique’s Brotherhood becomes legitimate and is re-branded Freedom Force, Blob remains with them and helps capture Magneto on their first mission. He is loyal to Freedom Force for quite some time which brings him into conflict with the X-Men again, the Avengers, X-Factor and even Daredevil.
After Freedom Force is disbanded, Blob returns to other versions of the Brotherhood and even leads one of them. He serves Onslaught and receives a temporary power increase. When his powers return to normal, he joins Mystique’s Brotherhood again. He attempts to join Exodus’ Brotherhood but is dismissed out of hand. This leads to him attacking the Xavier Institute to prove his worth only to be defeated and arrested by SHIELD.
After M-Day, Blob is among those depowered mutants left in a horrifying state. While his powers are gone, along with his fat, all the excess skin remains. Depressed at feeling like a true freak for the first time in his life, he attempts to commit suicide. However, the folds and folds of skin prevent all attempts from succeeding.
Blob returns as a member of X-Cell, a group of depowered mutants that blame the government for M-Day. He is among the attack on Mutant Town the group carries out. This leads to another turn of humiliating events for Blob. This possibly leads to Blob turning his life around and removing the excess skin. Calling himself Freddie Dukes, he becomes a weight loss guru in Japan.
Some time later, Blob appears to have regained his powers and is helping Mystique, who is supplying him with Mutant Growth Hormone. After the establishing of the Krakoan nation, Blob is among those mutants that accept asylum. He begins operating a beach side bar.
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