BIOGRAPHY
Frederick J. Dukes was born in Lubbock, Texas. Not much is known about his family or his childhood. Presumably a fat child who only got larger as his mutant powers developed, Fred became bitter towards society and joined a traveling carnival by the time he became an adult. Fred’s mutant power was subtle enough that even he didn’t fully understand or appreciate the extent of what his body was capable of doing. He worked as a sideshow act called “the Blob,” dazzling rubes with his ability to absorb the force of a cannonball or other punishments, and fleecing the crowd for anyone who would pay for the challenge of getting him to budge.
One day, Blob’s carnival passed within range of Professor Xavier’s mutant-detecting Cerebro system and he dispatched his students the X-Men to locate this new mutant. Scott “Cyclops” Summers found the carnival and correctly deduced that Blob was the mutant they sought. Summers was eager but awkward with his sales pitch to the Blob, who hardly seemed interested in learning more about being a mutant. Once the pretty young Jean Grey arrived, however, Fred changed his mind and accompanied the X-Men back to Westchester. Professor X tested the limits of Fred’s abilities and classified his power to become immovable by creating a gravity field that held him in place.
Xavier offered Blob membership in the X-Men, but Dukes had no interest in protecting a world that hated and feared him. His ego suitably stroked, Blob realized he had been limiting himself before now, and wanted to use his abilities for his own gain. The overconfident Xavier realized his 
mistake, as a criminally-inclined mutant now knew his X-Men’s secret identities and whereabouts. Professor X ordered the X-Men to detain the Blob so his memory could be wiped by Xavier’s telepathic powers, but the Blob bulldozed his way through the opposition. Back at the carnival, Blob intimidated his former boss and co-workers into becoming his gang and led them in a counter-strike against the X-Mansion. Eventually, however, Xavier perfected a ray to intensify his powers, and he wiped the memories of Blob and the rest of the carnival folk, sending them back into peaceful obscurity. [X-Men (1st series) #3]
Magneto eventually learned of Blob’s existence and sought him out at the carnival as a recruit for his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. He realized Dukes had a mental block imposed upon his mind but, after a brief struggle, Blob’s memory of the X-Men was shaken loose. Once he remembered his old foes, Blob was eager to join the Brotherhood and seek revenge. Magneto, Blob and the Brotherhood lured the X-Men to a munitions plant which Magneto secretly occupied. Magneto intended to cluster the X-Men together and magnetically launch the plant’s torpedoes at the teen heroes to obliterate them. The flow of battle ebbed and flowed until Magneto saw his chance when Blob fought with the X-Men, choosing to sacrifice his new recruit for the chance of destroying his enemies. Fatefully, Blob’s own bulk helped shield the X-Men from Magneto’s attack. As the Brotherhood fled without him, the betrayed Blob wasn’t interested in any further violence. He chose to peacefully return to his life at the carnival. [X-Men (1st series) #7]
One day, another act set up tent next to Blob’s carnival and started drawing away paying crowds. 
“Unus the Untouchable” was a wrestler who wagered a hundred dollars to anyone able to stay in the ring with him for more than three minutes. Blob challenged the upstart but found even his great strength couldn’t overpower Unus. He realized Unus was a mutant like him with an impenetrable force field, and Unus came to the same conclusion about the immovable Blob. The two men swapped stories after the match and became fast friends as they learned about their mutual conflicts with the X-Men. Blob and Unus decided to go into business together as bank robbers, using makeshift X-Men costumes to frame their old adversaries for the crimes. (Unbeknownst to either man, their idea was subtly planted in their heads by another foe of the X-Men, Lucifer, who wished to use them as pawns.)
Dressed as X-Men, Blob and Unus began knocking over banks, tarnishing the X-Men’s 
reputations in the process. When Cyclops showed up alone to confront the duo, they kept up the ruse for the public’s benefit and treated Cyke like a partner. Their ham acting successfully gathered a mob against Cyclops, who was forced to flee. The other X-Men arrived and had to negotiate between threats from the crowd and from Blob and Unus. Unable to continue the battle on two fronts, Cyclops blasted a hole in the street, into which Blob and Unus fell. They landed on a passing subway car and fled the city, their smear campaign more effective than their get-rich-quick scheme. [X-Men (1st series) #20]
As time passed, Blob and Unus were recruited into a new evil mutant organization known as Factor Three. Led by Mutant-Master and his assistant Changeling, they were joined by other 
former X-Men foes Mastermind and Vanisher. Together, they worked on Mutant-Master’s plot to stage a nuclear war between the human nations of America and Russia, letting a “third factor” of powerful mutants to rise on the world stage. Blob and Vanisher attempted to set an explosive which would kill high-ranking Soviet leaders, prompting war. Blob initially believed he would survive the bomb Mutant-Master gave him, but the X-Men played on his paranoia (garnered from dealings with Magneto) that the explosion might be too strong even for him. Blob fled before the blast went off, allowing the X-Men time to snatch the bomb and launch it high into the air, detonating harmlessly.
Back at Factor Three headquarters, Changeling had become suspicious of Mutant-Master, and pressed their leader into revealing he was actually an alien Sirian, intent on wiping out life on Earth for his people to colonize the planet. Blob and the evil mutants reluctantly joined forces with the X-Men to battle against Mutant-Master and his android agents. There was no love lost between the X-Men and Factor Three, though. Once Mutant-Master was defeated, Blob, Unus and the others abandoned their base and declared that, next time they met the X-Men, it would be as enemies once more. [X-Men (1st series) #37-39]
Some members of Factor Three stayed in touch and tried to maintain their alliance. Blob, Unus 
and Mastermind were caught together by the Mark II Sentinels of Larry Trask, along with many of the world’s known mutants. [X-Men (1st series) #60] Afterwards, the trio officially began calling themselves the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. However, they never truly rose to the level of seeking mutant supremacy. Instead, the trio used Mastermind’s abilities to buy out a carnival and trade in human trafficking, with a third party named Krueger. The X-Men temporarily fell into their hands, but the Brotherhood were captured by the authorities while seeking revenge. [X-Men: The Hidden Years #11-14] They escaped and tried to plan a jewelry heist for the Rahmur Diamond, but their new confederate the Beast turned against them and thoroughly trashed the group. [Amazing Adventures (2nd series) #12-13]
After being captured, again, this time by the Secret Empire, [Captain America (1st series) #174] the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was desperate for real leadership. Magneto returned and seized control of the Brotherhood, adding his Savage Land Mutate named Lorelei to the roster. Using Deviant technology he found, Magneto led the Brotherhood in crafting Alpha, the Ultimate Mutant. They were opposed by Professor X and his allies the Defenders, pitting the immovable Blob against the incredible Hulk for the first time. Unfortunately for Blob, even the dim-witted Hulk was canny enough to upset Fred’s footing, so he was off-balance for a Hulk-powered punch. Still, the Brotherhood delayed the Defenders long enough for Alpha to rise, empowered with incredible mutant energies. Magneto tried to seize control of the United Nations, but Alpha’s evolution 
continued beyond his control. Eventually, Alpha chose to determine his own path and ruled against his masters. He turned the clock back on the Brotherhood, reverting Magneto, Blob, Unus and the others into tiny children, in the hopes that they could grow up better the second time around. [Defenders (1st series) #15-16]
Professor X had the infant Brotherhood brought to the Muir Island Research Center to be studied and monitored by his associate, Dr. Moira MacTaggert. Months later, the alien spy named Eric the 
Red used his technology to restore Magneto to adulthood, using him as a diversion against their shared foes, the X-Men. [X-Men (1st series) #104] Blob and the others happened to be caught in the same restoration ray, but Eric was indifferent to them and they chose to cut their losses. Instead, Blob, Unus and Lorelei encountered Vanisher (formerly of Factor Three), who had gained control of some Mark III Sentinels. They thought to use the Sentinels in a revenge plot against Angel and Iceman, two X-Men who had gone public as heroes with the Champions. The Brotherhood pretended to be hunted by the Sentinels at first to set up an ambush, but their plan ultimately failed to cause any real harm to the heroes. [Champions (1st series) #17]
[Note: The Marvel Holiday Special 1991 showed Blob and Unus’s Brotherhood fighting the All-New, All-Different X-Men at Christmas time. Unfortunately, that story led directly into X-Men (1st series) #98, while Blob and the others remained children on Muir Island until after #104, marking the story as a continuity error.]
Blob returned to a life of crime and took advantage of an opportunity after seeing a documentary film on the Defenders. The film detailed the “non-team” reputation of the Defenders, prompting others to believe they could become members simply be declaring it so. Blob joined a group of super-villains including Sagittarius, Whirlwind, Beetle, Electro, Looter, Plant-Man, Batroc the Leaper and Porcupine in becoming the new “Defenders” and knocking over the diamond district in Manhattan. The real Defenders were dealing with their own influx of heroes announcing their 
membership and marshaled a response. However, the Defenders were so obscure that, when the local law enforcement showed up, each side claimed to be the “real” Defenders defending their good name against criminal impersonators. Inadvertently, Blob caused the defeat of his group when he tried to strangle Hellcat. Patsy Walker’s latent psychic powers flared up in defense, releasing a psychokinetic bolt which K.O’ed both sides. [Defenders (1st series) #63-65]
Blob was there for his best friend, Unus, when the man’s force field began repulsing out of his control. Unable to turn the field off, Unus couldn’t even feed himself without the food flying from his grasp. Fred took over a carnival and ran the business in order to provide for himself and Unus. His immovable mass allowed the Blob to inch forward, step-by-step, to reach Unus and feed him despite the force field, and the good friends talked about reaching out to someone to help with his problem. Blob’s attention was diverted when the Hulk crashed his carnival, forcing Fred to defend his assets. Even the Hulk’s raw strength couldn’t separate Blob from the ground, once he planted 
himself, but the ground itself gave way and was ripped up with Blob on top of it. Unus emerged from his self-pity to stand alongside his buddy, and the two mutants tried to drive off the Hulk. They failed and suffered a serious beating but, as a consolation prize, the sheer force the Hulk delivered against Unus’s force field seemed to short circuit it. Unus was able to touch his environment for the first time in weeks, and he helped his dazed friend Blob limp back to their carnival. [Marvel Fanfare (1st series) #7]