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The Blob---real name Fred J. Dukes---is one of the longest-established X-characters, first appearing in the third issue of the original X-Men series. He has been a member of most incarnations of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in addition to Freedom Force, and as such was working towards a pardon like the rest of his old buddies. Blob's powers are so undefined and changing/retconned that I'm not sure I should even attempt to explain them. But basically he's immovable due to his ability to increase the Earth's pull of gravity under him (if he so chooses---though very strong individuals have moved him against his will, by lifting or weakening the ground beneath him), and very resilient to most forms of injury, though somewhat vulnerable to heat and burning. He can take a direct hit from a torpedo or cannon and barely even blink, though plenty of people have hurt him. On the other hand, there is a difference between hurting and harming, and he seems reasonably immune to actual harm.
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Blob was quite frankly the most troublesome of the whole team, very difficult to control, and a bad influence on some of the others. He is renowned for his belligerence, crassness and stupidity, though at times he can be surprisingly canny and used to show great kindness and camaradie towards his now long-dead friend Unus the Untouchable. Mystique fought a constant losing battle to keep Blob in line; sometimes she succeeded, but more often than not he did damage (often physical, in the form of brutalizing opponents, but sometimes also giving away sensitive government information) before she could stop him. He and Pyro were almost constantly at each other's throats during their days with the two BoEMs, though for some reason they got along reasonably well during FF---but it's worth noting that Blob was usually just as nasty to Pyro in FF, and the latter had simply mellowed a bit. Avalanche was also a favourite target for bullying. Still, Blob has always had a kind of determined loyalty to his teammates during battle, which he's demonstrated on quite a few occasions.
Blob has appeared all over the place since FF disbanded. He was left behind with Pyro in Kuwait, and after spending some time there as prisoners of war, they joined up with Toad's new Brotherhood. After that splintered, he worked on various projects, including one for Mystique, several for a man named Sledge (battling X-Force), underwent another mutation to become even larger, battled Maverick for the hell of it, and led a new Brotherhood that worked under Charles Xavier and battled Cerebro. Since his creation of the newest incarnation of the BoM (no "evil" in the name) he's worked again for Mystique, and gone back to petty crime, sometimes on his own and also scheming with his Brotherhood.
Recently, he was a part of Mystique's new Brotherhood of Mutants, and assisted in the second attempt to kill Senator Kelly. After spending some time in Genosha, he became part of Banshee's legitimate X-Corps until going rogue as part of Mystique's plans for mutant revolution. He was taken into custody after the scheme failed.
Unfortunately for Blob, he found himself de-powered by the Scarlet Witch after the House of M reality warp. In his shock and grief, he attempted suicide, but was unsuccessful. It's unclear what will happen to him from here, although he later joined a terrorist group of former mutants angry at the government (erroneously, since it was the fault of the Scarlet Witch) for their de-powerment, and is now a celebrity in Japan.
Issues which highlight his character: Marvel Fanfare 7, Uncanny X-Men 141, 142, 178, Daredevil 269, Maverick 5.
First Appearance: X-Men (v.1) 3
Most Recent Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #500
