Fred Dukes

* Biography
* Threat Assessment
* Trivia and Notes
* Gallery

## The Blob

### Childhood: 1979 - 1990

Fred is the son of Evelyn Dukes and an unknown father. After the birth of her son, Evelyn married Dean Crawford, a mechanic from Lubbock, Texas. The couple would later have a daughter of their own, Ashley. The birth of Ashley came with complications and Evelyn did not survive.

Fred was always a rather large boy with a hearty appetite and incredible strength. When he was eleven, his appetite grew to almost insatiable depths. This greatly upset Dean and he began to beat Fred in an attempt to stop him from eating. When Dean overheard the kids at Fred's school calling him "The Blob," he felt he had to put locks on the refrigerator and kitchen cupboards to stop Fred from eating so much.

Being denied the food he so craved, Fred felt as though he was wasting away and one night his stomach rumbled to such a painful degree that he went to the kitchen in the middle of the night and looked for any food left out--even resorting to licking the plates in the sink clean. But it was not enough and while he tested the lock on the refrigerator door, he accidentally snapped it off with strength he was not aware he had. With the lock already broken, Fred knew he would be beaten but with the door open, he could not stop himself. Fred gorged himself.

This act of gluttony caused quite the commotion and Fred's stepfather came downstairs to investigate. When he saw Fred with a mouthful of raw beef, Dean grabbed a broom and swung it at Fred. The blow hit Fred in the gut and to the surprise of both Fred and Dean, Fred was not only unharmed, but his belly shifted to grab hold of the broom upon impact. Fred's body then pulled the broom handle into his mass, causing Fred to let out a belch when the broom was completely gone.

Frightened, Dean told his stepson that the children at his school were right to call him a Blob. In response, Fred struck Dean in anger. The blow sent Dean through the kitchen wall and into the front room with several broken bones. Fred then retracted the broken broom from his mass and threatened to beat Dean but as he prepared to swing, the sound of his little sister crying caused his anger to subside.

Realizing what he had done, Fred ran out.

### Sideshow Freak: 1990 - 1993

Due to his size, Fred was able to convince people that he was an adult and was employed by a number of carnivals, sideshows, and other such venues as he continued to move further from Texas. He eventually found his way to Coney Island and decided that he had gone far enough. He called home at that point, but when Dean caught Ashley speaking to her brother, he took the phone and warned Fred to never call again.

Not one to pay attention to Dean's threats, Fred tried to call once more months later, but found the number disconnected. When he called a boy from school to ask him about finding Ashley to get their new number, Fred was told his family had moved somewhere north.

Fred felt truly alone. He tried throwing himself into his work at Coney Island, but there was a limit to the amount he could tolerate being called a freak, even if there was a steady paycheck in it.

According to Jason Wyngarde, Fred was at his lowest point when Jason found him. He was contemplating jumping into the sea and just sinking. But that's when Jason told him of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

### Gifted Youngster: 1993 - 1995

At the school Fred found a family. Not only was the school populated with mutants who welcomed Fred as one of their kind, but he found out he had a cousin at the school. Fred and St. John became fast friends due to being on the same Squad and were almost inseparable.

## Analysis

* **Mutant Level:** Fred is a Gamma-Level Mutant with Beta-Class projected potential.
* **Mutation - Massive:** Fred's body possesses a high degree of resistance to injury. His fat tissue which comprises his epidermis are able to absorb almost any source of kinetic energy. The fat tissue of his epidermis is resilient enough to revert to its normal shape within seconds after deformation caused by impact. As such, Fred is virtually impervious to physical injury. His skin simply cannot be punctured or lacerated by most known materials. His skin is also highly resistant to other types of damage, including thermal extremes or electrical burns. It is not yet known if there is an upper limit to Fred's ability to absorb impact. He could likely survive a head-on collision with a bus traveling at a hundred miles per hour. Fred's eyes and the interior of his ears, mouth and nose are vulnerable to injury.
	+ ***Pain Immunity:*** Fred's nerve endings can cease transmission of tactile perceptions to his brain, which makes Fred impervious to pain.
	+ ***Transmutation:*** Much of Fred's belly is actually a massive growth of his peculiar skin. With practice and concentration, Fred can shift his mass to cover other parts of his body for added protection but when he relaxes, most of this mass appears to return to the abdominal pocket. When gathered together in a single location, this large mass is able to capture anything that touches it, including others' limbs, projectiles, weapons, or even the majority of an entire person. Fred is able to control how long he holds the object and whether he wishes to release it with or without the recoil pressure. The strength of the hold of Fred's mass is just as strong as he is, but keeping hold of trapped persons or objects requires Fred to concentrate on that and limits his ability to do much else. If he were to lose focus or become distracted by an attack from another person, the muscles would relax and release whatever he was holding with his body. When Fred's body absorbs the kinetic energy of a projectile's impact, he can expel the object(s) back. Fred projectiles would be embedded within Fred's body and, by flexing muscles where the projectile hits, he can cause the projectile to recoil with half the force of impact, thus reflecting it back at half-speed. Fred can also recoil a punch thrown at him and throw the opponent back a good distance instead of ensnaring his opponent's fist. Finally, using a portion of his mass to coat his hands or feet, Fred can give his blows more heft.
	+ ***Augmented Strength:*** Fred can lift four tons with full effort.
	+ ***Gravity Amplification:*** Fred's mass has the ability to amplify its own gravity by tapping into Earth's gravitational field while he is in contact with the ground. The resulting effect allows Fred to become almost completely immovable by external forces if he chooses to be.
* **Expertise - Wrestler:** Fred loves wrestling. The jury is still out on whether or not he realizes it is staged. Despite his massive size, Fred is actually quite agile and fast, with a remarkable athletic ability. Combining these together, Fred likes to turn the outrageous moves he sees on the television and adapting them for his own use in his own peculiar combat style.
* **Learning Disorder:** Aside from physical vulnerabilities, Fred does not like to learn. I suspect this is possibly tied to the abuse he suffered at school or at home.
* **Rapid Growth:** In the last two years alone, Fred has put on nearly 450 pounds (204 kg) and grown an additional foot (30 cm) in height. He may never stop.

### Threat Assessment

* **Might:** 4 - Superhuman
* **Acumen:** 1 - Below-Average
* **Speed:** 2 - Normal
* **Tactical:** 3 - Professional Training
* **Energy:** 3 - Moderate Ability
* **Resilience:** 6 - Superhuman
	+ **TOTAL:** 40
	+ **RANKING:** Exceptional

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* Fred was recruited on September 4th, 1993 at the age of 14.
* He is currently a Freshman and will graduate with the Class of '98.
* His best subjects are Culinary Arts and Physical Education.

### Notes

* Fred Dukes resides in Subsidiary-Reality M, within Murum Locus.
* The Blob is a character originating from *Marvel Comics*.
* His appearance is inspired by his depiction in the *X-Men: Evolution* animated series.
* Fred's family has nods to many characters from the comics:
	+ Fred's relation to Liz Allan is a nod to his Earth-1610 (Ultimate Marvel) iteration, where an adult Fred was in fact Liz's father.
	+ In the comics, Ashley Crawford was the superheroine Big Bertha, who had a similar set of powers as Blob, albeit with control over the mass and shape of her body.

## Gallery

Fred Dukes (1993).jpgFred DukesComing Soon - Male.pngBlob
## Cerebro Files

Cerebro Files Fred Dukes.jpgCerebro Files: Fred Dukes

## Links and References

* Appearances of Fred Dukes

1. ↑ Cerebro Files: Fred Dukes