city. Ruins In Warren Ellis' 1995 Ruins miniseries, Ben refuses to fly Reed's ship the Astraea, feeling it inadequately engineered. Victor von Doom pilots it instead. This results in the horrific mutation and subsequent deaths of all on board. Grimm avoids becoming the Thing, but is left to live with the guilt of thinking he could have prevented the tragedy. Grimm's decision to refuse Richards' offer seems to be the single moment that caused this reality to go horribly wrong, with ramifications leading to a corrupt government, concentration camps and the horrific fates of the would-be Marvels of this universe. Spider-Gwen In this reality where Gwen Stacy became Spider-Woman, Ben Grimm is an NYPD cop who never became the Thing. Noticeably out of all the Fantastic Four members in this reality, Ben is the only one who is an adult, as Johnny and Sue are child television stars and Reed is a kid genius. Ultimate Marvel In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Ben is Reed's childhood friend: Ben would protect Reed from bullies and Reed would help Ben with his homework. When Ben is invited to watch Reed's teleportation experiment, he is caught in it with Reed and the others. The resulting event gives Ben a rocky hide and enormous strength. In one storyline, the four travel through time to prevent Reed's experiment from failing. Instead, he contacts the Skrulls, and the resultant trade of information gives humanity super-powers from the aliens, rather than from the accident. While most of the Fantastic Four gain the same powers they would have in most other worlds, Ben himself opts to refuse. When the Skrulls betray humanity and the super-powered humans are all killed, Ben confronts their leader and travels back in time once more to set things "right," although he sacrifices himself in the process. Later, Ben transforms again, potentially thanks to Reed, back to a more human form, as if the rocky exterior were a cocoon. In his new form, he typically appears human, but his skin may take on a purple glow accompanying moments of strength. Other abilities include the capacity to move through Susan's force fields and others hinted at but yet unclear. At the end of the Doomsday trilogy, Ben and Susan were engaged. Counter Earth On Counter Earth, counterparts of the Fantastic Four hijack an experimental spaceship to be the first humans in space. The Man-Beast negates the