10 Most Tragic Moments In The History Of The Fantastic Four
4. Thing Dies - Fantastic Four #508 (2004)
After Doctor Doom was trapped in Hell, the Fantastic Four hoped the maniacal monarch was gone for good.
However, Reed Richards knew his nemesis was too resourceful and would inevitably find a way out.
To avoid his return to Earth, Reed teleported Doom to a limbo-like dimension called Mobius. Since no one inside Mobius can access any dimension, Reed believed Doom would never escape. Just to be safe, Reed trapped himself in Mobius to keep an eye on him.
When Sue learned what Reed had done, she opened a portal to Mobius to rescue her husband. Unfortunately, this gave Doom the opportunity to perform a spell where he mind-swapped into Sue's body. As the Fantastic Four tried to stop their arch-rival, Doom kept jumping from body to body to evade the superheroes.
When he jumped into Thing's body, Thing wrestled control of his mind and begged Reed to kill him, believing it was the only way to defeat Doom. Reed used a laser gun to shoot a hole through Thing, dispersing Doom's essence into the atmosphere.
Sadly, the blast cracked open Thing's torso, leaving him fatally wounded. He told Reed how much he loved his children before passing away.