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{{Short description|Fictional character}}
{{For|the J.G. Ballard story collection|The Impossible Man}}
{{Infobox comics character <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| character_name=Impossible Man
| image=FantasticFour-176.jpg
| converted=y
| caption=The Impossible Man as depicted in ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #176 (November 1976). Art by [[George Pérez]].
| real_name=
| publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
| debut=''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #11 (February 1963)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Misiroglu |first1=Gina Renée |last2=Eury |first2=Michael |title=The Supervillain Book: The Evil Side of Comics and Hollywood |date=2006 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |isbn=9780780809772 |url=https://archive.org/details/supervillainbook0000gina/page/168/mode/2up |language=en}}</ref>
| creators=[[Stan Lee]] (writer)<br />[[Jack Kirby]] (artist)
| alliances=[[Fantastic Four]]<br> [[Lethal Legion]]
| aliases=Impy<br> Herald of Destruction<br> The Improbable Guy
| species=[[List of Marvel Comics alien races#Poppupians|Poppupian]]
| powers=*[[Shapeshifting]] 
*[[Levitation (paranormal)|Levitation]]  
*Dimensional travel
*Encyclopedic knowledge of Earth's culture
| cat=
| subcat=
| hero=
| villain=
| altcat=Marvel Comics extraterrestrial characters
| sortkey=Impossible Man
}}
The '''Impossible Man''' is a fictional character appearing in [[American comic book]]s published by [[Marvel Comics]]. He first appeared in ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #11 (February 1963), and was created by writer [[Stan Lee]] and writer/artist [[Jack Kirby]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |title=The Impossible Man |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/imposman.htm |access-date=2 April 2020 |website=[[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]}}</ref> The Impossible Man has been featured in other Marvel-endorsed products such as [[action figure]]s, arcade and [[video game]]s, [[animation|animated]] [[television series]], and merchandise such as [[trading card]]s.

The Impossible Man is a [[List of Marvel Comics alien races#Poppupians|Poppupian]] from the planet Poppup and has shape-changing abilities. The character is primarily used for comedy, as he is portrayed as a lonely, attention-seeking alien that often annoys those around him, especially the Fantastic Four. Over the years, the Impossible Man created a wife called The Impossible Woman and also had a son named Adolf Impossible.

The Impossible Man has made various appearances in Marvel animated series, such as the [[Fantastic Four (1978 TV series)|1978]] and [[Fantastic Four (1994 TV series)|1994]] ''Fantastic Four'' series as well as ''[[Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes]]''.

==Publication history==
The Impossible Man first appeared in ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #11 (February 1963), and was created by [[Stan Lee]] and [[Jack Kirby]]. According to Lee in a 1970 interview, this "was the worst-selling ''Fantastic Four'' we've ever had". In Lee's opinion, the green alien on the cover was "too unusual and too frivolous."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fingeroth |first1=Danny |last2=Thomas |first2=Roy |title=The Stan Lee Universe |date=2011 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490304 |pages=97–102}}</ref>

After a long absence, Impossible Man returned in ''Fantastic Four'' #175 (October 1976) and visited the Marvel Comics office. At the end of the story, he was adopted by the Fantastic Four. This time, the character became popular.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brevoort |first1=Tom |last2=DeFalco |first2=Tom |last3=Manning |first3=Matthew K. |last4=Sanderson |first4=Peter |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |title=Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History |date=2017 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1465455505 |page=90}}</ref> He remained a regular part of the comic until #195 (June 1978), when Sue told him that she was tired of him, and he turned into a bee and flew away.

Originally, there were no limits to Impossible Man's transforming abilities - he convincingly imitated Sue Richards in ''Fantastic Four'' #175 (October 1976) and [[Jimmy Carter]] in ''[[Marvel Two-in-One]]'' #27 (May 1977). ''[[New Mutants|The New Mutants]]'' Annual #3 (September 1987) introduced the limitation that all of his transformations share his default color scheme of green and purple.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cronin |first1=Brian |title=When The Impossible Man Got Stuck With the Colors Purple and Green! |url=https://www.cbr.com/fantastic-four-impossible-man-purple-green-stuck/ |website=CBR.com |access-date=18 January 2020 |date=June 14, 2019}}</ref>

==Fictional character biography==

=== 1960s ===
When the Impossible Man first appeared, he was different from previous guest stars in that he was not a villain. The team first meet him at the Flamingo restaurant when they are summoned there to investigate a disturbance.  Written by Lee to be a [[Practical joke|prankster]] and [[hedonist]], the Impossible Man claimed to belong to the alien race of [[List of Marvel Comics alien races#P|Poppupians]] from planet Poppup in the "Tenth Galaxy", who all share a [[collective consciousness]] and the ability to shapeshift, as their planet is so dangerous they have the ability to evolve very quickly.<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeFalco |first1=Tom |last2=Sanderson |first2=Peter |last3=Brevoort |first3=Tom |last4=Teitelbaum |first4=Michael |last5=Wallace |first5=Daniel |last6=Darling |first6=Andrew |last7=Forbeck |first7=Matt |last8=Cowsill |first8=Alan |last9=Bray |first9=Adam |title=The Marvel Encyclopedia |date=2019 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-7890-0 |page=184}}</ref> Seeking amusement, the character visits Earth for a vacation by turning himself into a spaceship, talking of a Poppup Tourist Bureau. After finding the [[superhero]] team the Fantastic Four and realizing nobody else on Earth has his power (therefore concluding he is the most powerful being on Earth), he constantly harasses them until they decide to ignore him and tell other people to do the same, forcing the Impossible Man to leave as he finds Earth so boring, and saying Earth will never get their tourist business. He gets his name after the [[Thing (comics)|Thing]] claims he is "impossible".<ref>''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #11 (February 1963)</ref>

=== 1970s ===
The character does not appear again until 1976. Acting as a ''[[deus ex machina]]'' in a storyline involving the cosmic entity and world-devourer [[Galactus]], the Impossible Man convinces him to consume Poppup instead of Earth, causing Galactus to seemingly die from 'cosmic indigestion'. Since the Poppupians were a shared consciousness they were happy to sacrifice their planet to stop Galactus, knowing that their culture would live on in the embodiment of its most adventurous member.<ref name=FF175>''Fantastic Four'' #175 (October 1976)</ref> The Impossible Man then makes a humorous appearance at the offices of Marvel Comics, where he causes havoc until Stan Lee promises to give him his own title.<ref>''Fantastic Four'' #176 (November 1976)</ref>

He offers peripheral assistance to the Fantastic Four when they are trapped in the [[Negative Zone]] by the [[Frightful Four]], a team of their enemies.<ref>''Fantastic Four'' #177-178 (December 1976-January 1977)</ref> The Impossible Man impersonates [[Jimmy Carter]] on the day of his [[Inauguration of Jimmy Carter|inauguration]]. The Impossible Man briefly takes Carter's place to foil an attempt to enslave him during an adventure with the [[Thing (comics)|Thing]] and the cyborg [[Deathlok]].<ref>''[[Marvel Two-in-One]]'' #27 (May 1977)</ref> He later saves the [[Invisible Woman]] from a fall and becomes fascinated with Earth movies.<ref>''Fantastic Four'' #183 (June 1977)</ref><ref>''Fantastic Four'' #184-185 (July - August 1977)</ref> When returning to the [[Baxter Building]], headquarters of the Fantastic Four, the Impossible Man is surprised and defeated by the villain Klaw, who, in an alliance with the [[Molecule Man]], attempts to kill the Fantastic Four.<ref name="Fantastic Four' 1977">''Fantastic Four'' #186 (September 1977)</ref> During the course of the storyline, the character recovers and, courtesy of his abilities, mimics and defeats Klaw in turn<ref name=":0">''Fantastic Four'' #187 (October 1977)</ref> and assists the Fantastic Four in stopping the Molecule Man.<ref>''Fantastic Four'' #188 (November 1977)</ref> The character continued his trend of general disruption during a visit to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] with the Invisible Girl.<ref>''Fantastic Four'' #193-195 (April–July 1978)</ref>

=== 1980s ===
After helping the Thing defeat several villains at a party, the Impossible Man observes the Thing with his partner [[Alicia Masters]] and becomes lonely. The character then decides to reproduce - here an asexual process - by splitting in two. This creates fellow Poppupian the '''Impossible Woman'''.<ref>''Marvel Two-in-One'' #60 (February 1980)</ref> The pair later attempt to recreate their race and create the Impossible Kids, with the entire "family" visiting the Thing.<ref>''Marvel Two-in-One'' #86 (April 1982)</ref> When the Impossible Woman is missing, the character hires private investigator [[Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)|Jessica Drew]] to locate her,<ref>''[[Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)|Spider-Woman]]'' #45 (August 1982)</ref> and has an encounter with the mutant [[X-Men]] after stealing artifacts from Earth to settle a supposed family dispute with the other members of his race.<ref>''[[Uncanny X-Men]]'' Annual #7 (December 1983)</ref>

More comedic adventures followed, with the Impossible Man engaging in a shapeshifting competition with [[Warlock (New Mutants)|Warlock]],<ref name="autogenerated1">''[[The New Mutants (comic book)|The New Mutants]]'' Annual #3 (January 1987)</ref> causing havoc on an alternate universe version of Earth,<ref name=":1">''[[Excalibur (comic book)|Excalibur]]'' #14 (November 1989)</ref> and trying to obtain the movie rights to the [[autobiography]] of professional sidekick [[Rick Jones (character)|Rick Jones]].<ref>''[[Avengers Spotlight]]'' #25 (November 1989)</ref>

=== 1990s ===
The Impossible Man finds and teases the cosmic being the [[Silver Surfer]] on two occasions, pleading for him to develop a sense of humor before battling the titan [[Thanos]].<ref>''[[Silver Surfer (comic book)|Silver Surfer]]'' (vol. 3) #33 (January 1990) & #36 (April 1990)</ref> The character returns to Earth and causes more mischief,<ref>''Impossible Man Summer Vacation Spectacular'' #1 & 2 (August 1990 & 1991)</ref> encounters the hero [[Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)|Daredevil]] while looking for a lost child,<ref>''[[Marvel Comics Presents]]'' #91 (December 1991)</ref> starts a bar fight,<ref>''Marvel Comics Presents'' #97 (June 1992)</ref> watches the [[Eternals (comics)|Eternal]] [[Makkari (comics)|Makkari]] win a galactic [[marathon]],<ref>''[[Quasar (Wendell Vaughn)|Quasar]]'' #58 (May 1994)</ref> and invites various otherwise un-contacted heroes and supervillains to the wedding of Rick Jones.<ref>''[[The Incredible Hulk (comic book)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' #417 (June 1994)</ref>

After a brief encounter with the young superhero team the [[New Warriors]],<ref>''Marvel Comics Presents'' #162 (September 1994)</ref> the character enlists the aid of mutant team [[X-Force]] to instill some pride in his children,<ref>''X-Force & Cable'' Annual (December 1995)</ref> and enters into a wager with the alternate universe [[imp]] [[Mister Mxyzptlk]].<ref>''Silver Surfer/Superman'' (November 1996)</ref>

=== 2000s ===
The Impossible Man and the Poppupians make a cameo appearance in [[Noh-Varr]]'s origin story.<ref>''Marvel Boy'' #5 (December 2000)</ref>

The Impossible Man returns to Earth disguised as the Silver Surfer, and after teasing the hero [[Spider-Man]] warns of an alien invasion. The Impossible Man's race are also revealed to have survived, with their consciousness stored inside the character. With the aid of the Fantastic Four, the aliens and the newly reborn Poppupians are transported off world, merging into one race on Spider-Man's suggestion.<ref>''[[Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four]]'' #1-4 (May–August 2007)</ref>

=== 2010s ===
Later during the [[Chaos War (comics)|Chaos War]], the Impossible Man confronts [[Amatsu-Mikaboshi (character)|Amatsu-Mikaboshi]], trying to humor and reason with him while shapeshifting in various forms to divert him, but the Chaos King tires of him and brutally dispatches him. Impossible Man's last words are "I thought we were just playing around..."<ref>''Chaos War: Chaos King'' one-shot (January 2011)</ref>

Impossible Man returns to Earth where he witnesses a battle between [[Hulk]], [[Thunderbolt Ross|Red Hulk]], and [[Xemnu]] and uses the Valizian Compounder to fuse the former two into the Compound Hulk. Impossible Man watches as the Compound Hulk fights Xemnu's minion Kluh, a smart version of the Gray Hulk.<ref>''Hulk'' (vol. 2) #30 (April 2011)</ref>

Impossible Man is later shown to have a son named Adolf Impossible, who has many of his father's fantastic powers and a more introverted personality. This causes Impossible Man to label Adolf as "entirely too possible" and plead with the [[Future Foundation]] to accept him and allow him to grow as a person.<ref>''FF'' (vol. 2) #11 (October 2013)</ref>

==Powers and abilities==
The Impossible Man's unique physiology enables him to take on virtually any form via molecular manipulation, an effect commonly accompanied by a "Pop!" sound. He can mimic the properties of objects or humanoid beings at will. Almost every feature the Impossible Man copies another [[superhuman]]'s appearance and their powers, such as [[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]],<ref>''Fantastic Four'' Annual #3 (October 1965)</ref> [[Klaw (character)|Klaw]],<ref name=":0" /> or even [[Wolverine (character)|Wolverine]].<ref>''Silver Surfer'' (vol. 3) #31 (April 1990)</ref> He has the ability to travel through hyperspace across different universes, psionically levitate himself, and reproduce [[Asexual reproduction|asexually]]. Additionally, he can survive in the vacuum of space by entering a low-metabolic state.<ref>''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' #5 (May 1983)</ref>

The Impossible Man possesses total knowledge of Earth's popular culture.

==Reception==
In 2014, [[ComicBook.com]] ranked Impossible Man sixth in their "Top 10 Most Filmworthy Fantastic Four Villains" list.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Fantastic Four's Top 10 Most Filmworthy Villains |url=https://comicbook.com/movies/news/the-fantastic-fours-top-10-most-filmworthy-villains/ |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=Movies |date=6 September 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

==Other versions==

===Wha...Huh?===
Impossible Man appears in the spoof comic "Wha...Huh?" in the segment titled "What If Identity Crisis Happened in the Marvel Universe".<ref>''Wha...Huh?'' #1 (January 2005)</ref>

===The Cross-Time Caper===
The Impossible Man appears in ''Excalibur'', during the Cross-Time Caper. He has populated an analogue of the Earth with multiple twisted versions of the superheroes of the Marvel Universe. Galactus destroys this planet, deeming it "too silly to be allowed to exist", but Impossible Man later effortlessly restores it.<ref name=":1" />

==In other media==
===Television===
* Impossible Man appears in a self-titled episode of ''[[The New Fantastic Four]]'', voiced by [[Frank Welker]].<ref name="btva" />
* Impossible Man appears in the ''[[Fantastic Four (1994 TV series)|Fantastic Four]]'' (1994) episode "Hopelessly Impossible", voiced by [[Jess Harnell]].<ref name="btva" />
* Impossible Man appears in ''[[Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes]]'', voiced by [[Terry Klassen]].<ref name="btva" />
* Impossible Man appears in ''[[The Super Hero Squad Show]]'', voiced again by Jess Harnell.<ref name="btva">{{cite web |title=Impossible Man Voices (Fantastic Four) |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/characters/Fantastic-Four/Impossible-Man/ |access-date=December 20, 2019 |work=Behind The Voice Actors |type=A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.}}</ref>
* Impossible Man appears in ''[[Avengers Assemble (TV series)|Avengers Assemble]]'', voiced by [[Tom Kenny]].<ref name="btva" /> This version possesses expanded transformation abilities that enable him to summon other entities and objects at will.
* Impossible Man appears in the ''[[Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.]]'' episode "Mission Impossible Man", voiced again by Tom Kenny.<ref>{{cite web |title=February 2014 premieres on Disney Channel / Disney XD |url=http://www.toonzone.net/forums/disney-pixar-forum/312163-february-2014-premieres-disney-channel-disney-xd.html#.UuFzauc8KSM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202174325/http://www.toonzone.net/forums/disney-pixar-forum/312163-february-2014-premieres-disney-channel-disney-xd.html |archive-date=February 2, 2014 |website=www.toonzone.net}}</ref><ref name="btva" /> This version possesses expanded transformation abilities that enable him to teleport as well as fuse others by teleporting them together.

===Video games===
Impossible Man appears as a mini-boss in ''[[Super Hero Squad Online]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lovett |first=Jamie |date=June 30, 2014 |title=Marvel Super Hero Squad Online Celebrates Recharged Release |url=https://comicbook.com/news/marvel-super-hero-squad-online-celebrates-recharged-release/ |access-date=September 19, 2024 |website=Comicbook.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="btva" />

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://marvel.com/characters/impossible-man Impossible Man] at Marvel.com

{{Fantastic Four}}
{{Stan Lee}}
{{Jack Kirby}}

[[Category:Characters created by Jack Kirby]]
[[Category:Characters created by Stan Lee]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1963]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Jimmy Carter]]
[[Category:Fictional characters who can duplicate themselves]]
[[Category:Fictional characters with dimensional travel abilities]]
[[Category:Fictional pranksters]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics extraterrestrial superheroes]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics extraterrestrial supervillains]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics male superheroes]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics male supervillains]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics shapeshifters]]