fireproof Inhuman

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human variant/"Hidden race" (Inhumans)

Occupation: Warrior

Group Membership: Inhumans

Affiliations: Inhuman Royal Family (Black Bolt/Blackagar Boltagon, Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Gorgon, Karnak, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Triton);
    pressured into aiding Zemu against the Fantastic Four

Enemies: At least formerly, the Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Medusa/Medusalith Amaquelin, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Guy" (as called by Thing; see comments)

Base of Operations: Attilan, at least in its Himalayan location

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#159 (June, 1975)

Powers/Abilities: He is large and strong (his strength is difficult to quantify, as he knocked out the Torch with two punches, but he wasn't shown doing anything to fully demonstrate his strength) and he is an experienced brawler. 

    Notably, he is sufficiently resistant to flames to shrug off a fireball and then repeatedly punch the ablaze Human Torch without injury.

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 6'6"-7' tall)
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 220-350 lbs. if human density)
Eyes: Unrevealed (perhaps gray)
Hair: None

History:
(Fantastic Four I #158 (fb) - BTS) - Nothing has been revealed of this Inhuman, but most likely his abilities were the result of Terrigenesis (Terrigen Mist mutation). At some point in the past, he had apparently encountered the Thing under unrevealed circumstances (see comments).

(Fantastic Four I#158 (fb)) - After Earth-6212/"Fifth Dimension" tyrant Zemu escaped imprisonment, he rallied his troops to overthrow Phineas' rule, and retook the position of ruler for himself. Renewing his plans to take over Earth-616, Zemu led a contingent of his army into Attilan, the home of the Inhumans, and succeeded in overpowering and capturing the Royal Family, thus taking control of the entire city. Zemu wished to force Black Bolt to power his Thunder Horn in order to use its devastating power to facilitate the surrender of Earth's governments to him. Black Bolt refused, but Zemu, using Crystal as a hostage, sent Quicksilver to bring back Medusa, Black Bolt's lover, from New York, where she was serving as a member of the Fantastic Four.

(Fantastic Four I#158 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Zemu coerced this fireproof Inhuman to work for him.

(Fantastic Four I #158) - Initially attacked after penetrating the Fantastic Four's defenses, Quicksilver revealed Zemu's activities to the Fantastic Four, who accompanied him back to Attilan.

(Fantastic Four I#159) - Upon the Fantastic Four's arrival in Attilan, they were confronted by the fireproof Inhuman. The Torch nailed him with a fireball, but the Inhuman shrugged it off and punched the Torch out of the air, then knocked him flat with a second punch.

   After Reed noted that their assailant seemed to be made of some asbestos-like material, Ben advised him to stop analyzing before the guy beat the Torch to a pulp. As he got close, the Thing paused, noting that he recognized the assailant as one of the Inhumans, and asked him why he had turned against them. When the Inhuman remained silent, Ben prepared to see if a punch would loosen up his gums, but he was then blasted from behind by Zemu and collapsed soon after. With the Inhumans under Zemu's control, Reed, Medusa, and Quicksilver surrendered to him, and they were all imprisoned alongside Phineas and Valeria. 

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler, and Joe Sinnott.

    And that's that. We see the fireball in the last panel on pg. 2, and then the Inhuman is involved in the 5 panels on pg. 3 (two of which only show his hand or arm, and one of which shows only the Thing's face). After nearly 50 years, this character has not been seen again or even referenced anywhere. The Official Marvel Index to Fantastic Four#9 entry on Fantastic Four I#159 identifies him only as a "fireproof" Inhuman.

    I'm ready for this guy's backstory!

    The fact that only the Thing recognized him--while Reed and Johnny didn't--implies to me that only Ben met him in a minor behind-the-scenes encounter during one of the FF's previous visits to Attilan; maybe the Thing went to the Inhuman equivalent of a neighborhood tavern, and this guy challenged him to a friendly arm-wrestling match, but never formally introduced himself.--Ron Fredricks

New and bigger images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The "fireproof Inhuman" should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#159, p3, pan1 (punching down Torch);
Fantastic Four I#159, p3, pan3 (standing over Torch)
Fantastic Four I#159, p3, pan4 (Thing recognizes fireproof Inhuman)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#159 (June, 1975) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Rich Bucker (penciler), Joe Sinnott (inker)

First posted: 03/26/2022
Last updated: 07/31/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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