Early years Born in
Lubbock, Texas, Fred J. Dukes starts out as a member of a
circus sideshow under the name "The Blob". 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.
Joining the Brotherhood The mutant
Magneto soon seeks out the Blob to recruit him into his
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, restoring his memory through a jarring blow to the head. The Blob temporarily accepts the invitation, but leaves when it is revealed that Magneto has no real concern for the Blob's safety after he is hit by explosives which were launched at the X-Men. He goes back to the Circus. He teams up with
Unus the Untouchable due to the alien
Lucifer, who soon becomes his confidant. They disguise themselves as X-Men and commit crimes. The Blob also serves as a member of
Factor Three. He briefly works as an operative for the
Secret Empire, where he fights
Beast. With the reorganized Brotherhood, the Blob fights
Professor X and the
Defenders. He is reverted to infancy by
Alpha the Ultimate Mutant. The Blob is later returned to adulthood, and fights the
Champions of Los Angeles. He later winds up in prison, but is freed by
Mystique to recruit him into her incarnation of the Brotherhood. He becomes part of the plot to assassinate
Robert Kelly, the event which leads to the apocalyptic alternate future of
Days of Future Past. He also battles the
Avengers as a member of the Brotherhood. With Unus, he battles the
Hulk. With the Brotherhood, he battles the X-Men once more. He witnesses the apparent death of Unus, then goes berserk and attacks
Spider-Man and
Black Cat. He remains with the Brotherhood, becoming a special operative of the federal government when the Brotherhood is reformed as the government-sponsored
Freedom Force. On the team's first mission, they help capture Magneto. They then battle the X-Men in San Francisco. Blob also participates in Freedom Force's capture of the Avengers for the federal government. With Freedom Force, he attempts to capture
Rusty Collins, then battles
X-Factor. With Freedom Force, he battles the X-Men in San Francisco, and later assists in the attempt to arrest the X-Men in Dallas, battling the
New Mutants in Dallas as well. With Freedom Force, he finally captures Rusty Collins and fellow New Mutant
Skids. He helps to capture
Cable, but is defeated by Cable and then by
Sunspot during an attempt to recapture Cable. 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
Onslaught later recruits Blob, vastly upgrading his powers and abilities (in his powered-up state, his mutation becomes virtually identical to that of
Phat). During this time, the Blob fights the various members of
X-Force and is soundly defeated in each encounter. Months later, a powered-down Dukes joins the new Brotherhood led once again by Mystique, alongside Toad,
Sabretooth, and the
daughter of the original
Mastermind. When
Exodus recreates the Brotherhood of Mutants, Blob offers to join but is quickly dismissed by Exodus, who considers him useless. This is a major blow to Dukes' already weak self-esteem, for which he seeks the counsel of therapist
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 who resembles the Blob is seen apprehended by the
Thunderbolts and is seen in the Folding Castle's Detention Quadrant. Blob later resurfaces as a member of X-Cell, a group of depowered mutants who blame the government for the loss of their powers, attacking
Mutant Town in defiance of the
Decimation. After mistakenly getting into a fight with
Rictor and
Multiple Man and getting in a cheap shot on Rictor, he stole a car. With fellow X-Cell member
Fatale, he attempted to flee, eventually hitting an open manhole and causing the car to crash leaving Blob hanging from the car. When both of them encounter
Marrow, Blob is 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. In the miniseries "Magneto: Not a Hero",
Joseph is resurrected under unknown circumstances and forms a new Brotherhood of Mutants with
Astra and mutated deformed versions of Blob,
Mastermind,
Quicksilver,
Scarlet Witch, and
Toad. It is soon revealed that these are actually clones created by Joseph. 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. Mystique has supplied him with Mutant Growth Hormones (MGH) extracted from
Dazzler. Blob was later seen on
Krakoa. He and
Anole become the co-owners and bartenders of the tiki bar Green Lagoon. ==Powers and abilities==