Thing (The Thing)

The Thing, also known as The Thing From Another World is a shape-changing creature who attacked Antarctic Magnetic research station 31 (Big Magnet) in 1982. It bears a resemblance to the Necromorphs.

Biology
The creature usually takes the form of a recently absorbed planetary native.

It can infect other organisms with bits of itself, a single cell being good enough to assimilate an entire organism, although the less of itself used to infect an individual, the more time it will take to fully take over the host body. It is very tolerant of cold, allowing it to place itself in cryogenic stasis, much like yeast. When changing form, it bursts open and allows a variety of strange and terrifying forms and bits of previously assimilated anatomy to form, eventually re-arranging its cellular structure to mimic its desired shape. If it is killed by fire or a powerful electric shock (which is the only way to destroy the creature available to the attacked station in the movie and the novella, respectively- as it will only play possum if shot until somebody tries to revive it, or discard the "corpse"), it loses control of its metamorphic ability, and mutates uncontrollably. Explosives can also destroy the creature, as it is made of flesh and blood.

Each part of the creature is able to detect hazards and move on its own. After the body of an assimilated individual was burned, the surviving head developed arthropod-esque legs and eyes on stalks in order to escape. When a sample of blood from one individual was touched with a hot wire, it leapt from the dish it was held in and attempted to escape. Both of these acts were performed because every cell of a Thing is selfish, and wishes only self-preservation; an individual who had become infected by the Thing in Antarctica pointed out the fleeing head to be destroyed, presumably to avert attention and suspicious of itself. Presumably, each cell acts as a module for transformation and as a neuron for data processing and memory (the station's computer likened the creature's cells to viruses, showing Dr. Blair a simulation of such), as the creature can develop parts of anatomy from any creature previously assimilated, for example a large tooth-filled maw or eyes on stalks. The creature cannot generate mass from nothing, so can only become forms allowed by the amount of material absorbed. The 'Kennel Thing', an individual produced as a dog imitation absorbed several other sled dogs, was able to project green goo at its target. This may also carry the creature's cells.

It is not known whether the Thing is a technological species, or whether the ship that it first reached Earth in was its own. It could be that the reason it crashed was because the original pilot was killed, and the creature was unable to manage the controls. However, the assimilated Blair was able to create a smaller version of the saucer, and recognised the threat posed by a detonator.

When the Thing is left alone with a suitable target, it will begin to split open and fire out tendrils, which grab the target and begin to assimilate it. This also allows the Thing to absorb the prey's genetic material, though this is not the only factor at play, as an individual was able to develop the same facial hair as the target, along with memories and habits, even disorders of the assimilated, including Norris' weak heart. However The Thing will reject any non-organic materials, such as piercings, fillings, or any other metallic object within the victims body, which was one of the few ways for the scientists at the Norwegian science team to figure out who was The Thing and who wasn't.

Behavior
The general strategy of The Thing is to incite suspicion, paranoia, panic, infiltration and separation of prey. The Thing has an unnerving ability to mimic an individual right down to their mannerism, voice, how they react around "friends" and make suggestions. However, The Thing will do subtle nudges to get its prey into a position that fits its preference for feeding, whether verbally or otherwise. When left by itself, a Thing will perform unusual behavior, such as standing or sitting still without moving and staring straight ahead for long periods of time unless it becomes aware of anyone or anything else in its vicinity, to which it will revert back to mimicking. It will usually perform this behavior when it is already in a position of its likening or has no agenda to perform as of that moment, otherwise it will move around and attempt to move into position to either cause mischief to any non-Things or some other goal that benefits itself and the other Things.

When a Thing has successfully seperated a potential victim, it will transform and attempt to smother it or pull the victim within its body and quickly albeit violently absorb and become the victim. While this is the preferred method, The Thing can also place pieces of itself within food, allowing prey to ingest and eventually turn into Thing's themselves. Another method, when not using a human form, is a simple bite, such as the Husky that had escaped the Norwegian camp and successfully infiltrated the American camp.

However when a Thing is detected through what ever means by hostile prey, it will also transform and attempt to kill the assailants, often with frightening speed and strength. This can range from simply being called out or if it senses something is amiss and realizes that it is only a matter of time before it is under attack. This occured when Greggs, who was actually a Thing, assaulted and killed Olav and causing their helicopter to crash after it noticed the helicopter was returning back, possibly assuming that someone found the site where it assimilated Greggs.

The Thing is quite intelligent, and is aware of its resiliance to cold as well as capable of performing different tactics and other advanced processes used by more intelligent animals such as dolphins, humans, and primates. In fact The Thing even went as far as to cut off power to the station in at the American station in an attempt to not only freeze itself, which would allow it to be discovered by another team, but also kill off the remaining humans, who were attempting to exterminate it. Also at both bases, The Thing sabotaged the first attempts at testing who is a Thing and who isn't, also showing that a Thing is capable of performing such acts to keep itself safe.

History
The only known survivors of encounters were by Captain Blake of the United States Military, paleontologist Kate Lloyd and helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady in Antarctica. In the winter of 1982, paleontologist Kate Lloyd is recruited by scientists Dr. Sander Halvorson and his assistant Adam Finch to join a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across a crashed extraterrestrial spaceship buried beneath the ice of Antarctica. They discover the frozen corpse of a creature that seems to have died in the crash 100,000 years ago. After the creature is transported back to base in a block of ice, Dr. Sander orders them to retrieve a tissue sample, against Kate's protests. Later, while the others celebrate, co-pilot Derek sees the Thing escape from the block of ice. The team splits up into groups to search for the alien. Olav and Henrik discover it hiding under one of the buildings. The Thing grabs Henrik and pulls him into its body. The others converge on the scene and set the creature on fire. In the chaotic aftermath, the lone dog of the team is found dead in a bloody heap in its kennel, a massive hole torn in the wire mesh. During an autopsy, Kate and Adam discover that the cells of the Thing appear to be absorbing and imitating Henrik's cells.

Meanwhile, Derek, pilot Sam Carter, Griggs and Olav prepare to leave the base in the only helicopter to send Olav for medical treatment and bring back help. Just as they prepare to take off, Kate discovers bloody, discarded metal tooth fillings and large amounts of blood in the shower. She runs outside to flag down the departing helicopter, fearing the Thing may have imitated someone on board. When Carter decides to land, Griggs transforms and kills Olav, causing the helicopter to spin wildly out of control and crash in the mountains, presumably killing all onboard. Kate later returns to the showers only to find that someone has cleaned up all the blood.

In the recreation room, Kate tells the rest her hypothesis on the nature of the creature: It is perfectly capable of imitating any life form and that it may have done so with members of their camp, but cannot imitate inorganic material such as metal, hence why it spit out the tooth fillings. Most of the team members either do not believe her or accuse her of turning them against each other out of paranoia. They decided to head for the nearest camp for help. After everyone else left the room, Juliette tells Kate that she believes her and that she saw Colin leave the shower holding a towel. Juliette tells Kate that she knows where they keep the vehicle keys, and that they can take them to prevent anyone else from leaving; however, when the two go to retrieve them, Juliette transforms and attempts to kill Kate. Kate escapes, running past Karl, who is killed by the Juliette-Thing. Lars arrives with a flamethrower and burns the Thing as it assimilates Karl.

As they burn the remains outside, Carter and Derek return, both half-frozen and barely alive. While some of the team believes they are Things and should be burned, Kate convinces them to simply lock them up until a test can be prepared. Adam and Sander are in the lab preparing a potential test, but when both leave for a short while, the lab is engulfed in flames in an apparent sabotage. Tensions rise as accusations by both the Norwegians and the Americans are made, but Kate proposes another, much simpler test to single out those who might be the Thing from those who aren't. She uses a flashlight to inspect the teeth of all the other team members to see who has fillings and who doesn't. This test singles out Adam, Dr. Sander, station commander Edvard, and Colin who either had no or porcelain fillings. Kate, and team members Lars, Peder and Jonas however all still have metal fillings in their teeth. Kate sends Lars and Jonas out to bring back Carter and Derek to do the test also but they have tunneled out the floor of the storage shed and into a neighboring building. While Lars leans in the doorway of the other building, they grab him and pull him inside.

Jonas runs back and pleads with Peder to help him rescue Lars, but Kate orders him to guard the prisoners. During the argument, Carter and Derek force their way inside, armed with Lars' flamethrower. Edvard pushes Peder to burn both of them, assuming that they are the Things and had killed Lars. When Peder takes aim, Derek shoots him, puncturing his flamethrower's tank and causing an explosion that kills Peder and knocks Edvard unconscious. While Edvard is being carried back to the recreation room, he transforms into the Thing and kills Jonas and Derek and begins assimilating Adam. Before it can finish its assimilation of Adam, the Thing flees. While Carter and Kate are searching for the Thing, the creature attacks Sander. The monster then manages to separate Carter from Kate and traps him in the kitchen. Just as it is about to kill him, Kate arrives and torches the Edvard/Adam-Thing. Kate and Carter see the Sander-Thing driving off in one of the snowcats and give chase in the remaining vehicle. They follow it out to the wreck of its ship, which has been opened up and restarted, slowly preparing to take off. Kate and Carter are separated once again and Kate encounters the Thing. The creature manages to trap Kate, but she is able to destroy it with a grenade. She and Carter escape and make it back to the snowcat. As they are preparing to leave, Kate notices that Carter is missing his left ear piercing and determines that he is one of the Things. Despite his protests, she burns him and destroys the snowcat he is in as well. Kate slowly climbs into the remaining snowcat and stares blankly into the night.

The next morning, a Norwegian helicopter pilot, Matias, arrives at the camp and finds the facility burned and deserted, as well as the charred remains of the two-faced Thing. He discovers that Colin went into the radio room and committed suicide by slitting his wrists and throat with a straight razor. Lars, who has survived hiding in the building where Derek and Carter attacked him, shoots at Matias but recognizes that he is human after checking his fillings. At that moment, the Thing in the form of Lars's dog bolts out of a ruined building and runs away. Lars fires at it, then orders Matias to take off in pursuit. They chase the Thing to an American Antarctic research station, where the Americans detect their gunfire and explosions. Through the use of an incendiary grenade, the helicopter was accidentally destroyed and its pilot killed shortly after landing. Lars, presumably desparate to kill the Thing before it assimilates another group of people, cries out in Norwegian to try to inform the Americans of the danger presented (as he is unable to speak English), and fires at the dog as it moves into the assembled collection onlookers with a rifle. However, he accidentally grazes Bennings, one of the American researchers. And because of this and the fact that the American team are completely unknowledged as to Lars' desperate state, he is subsequently shot and killed by Garry, the station commander. Not knowing what to make of the incident thanks to not being able to understand the Norwegian when he attempted to warn the Americans of the situation, the station crew adopts the dog.

Unable to contact the outside world via radio, helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady and Dr. Copper risk a flight to the Norwegian camp to find it destroyed, its personnel missing or dead. Finding evidence that the Norwegians had dug something out of the ice, the pair return to the station with the partially-burned remains of a hideous creature which bears some human features. An autopsy of the cadaver by Dr. Blair is inconclusive, save to find that the creature had what appeared to be a normal set of internal organs. At Bennings' request, the station's wrangler, Clark, kennels the stray with the rest of the station's sled dogs. Noises from the kennel later cause Clark to return, finding almost the entire sled team in the process of being messily assimilated by the stray 'dog', which has transformed into a monster. MacReady summons the rest of the crew to the kennel with the fire alarm. It was reported that MacReady fired several shotgun shells into the creature to no avail. He then ordered Childs to incinerate the creature with a flamethrower.

A subsequent autopsy by Blair reveals that the 'stray dog' was an alien organism capable of absorbing and perfectly imitating other life-forms. Realizing that any of the researchers could have been assimilated, Blair quickly becomes withdrawn and suspicious of the rest of the crew. A second helicopter expedition discovers an alien spacecraft unearthed by the Norwegian research team, revealing that the creature had awakened after being buried within the ice for many thousands of years- a flying saucer-like ship is buried under a hundred thousand years' worth of ice, where it crashed. Bennings and "Windows" quarantine the burnt remains of both the dog-creature and the Norwegian cadaver in the storage room, but in the process Bennings is left alone. Moments later, Windows discovers Bennings in the process of being assimilated. The crew burns the Bennings replica before its transformation is complete.

Determining that all life on Earth would be assimilated in just over three years if the creature were to reach another continent, Blair goes berserk, destroying the helicopter and radio equipment and killing the remaining sled dogs, thus containing further contamination. The team overpowers him and confines him in the tool shed. With all contact to the outside world cut off, the crew wonders how to determine who is still human. Paranoia quickly sets in after the first attempt to develop a test, comparing the blood of the researchers to uncontaminated blood samples stored in a refrigerator. However, when the crew goes to the refrigerator, they find the blood samples have been destroyed by an unknown saboteur.

Fuchs, attempting to continue Blair's research, goes missing shortly afterwards during a power failure. While searching for Fuchs' body, MacReady comes under suspicion and is locked outside in a severe blizzard. Somehow finding his way back to camp without a guide line, MacReady breaks into a storage room and threatens the rest of the crew with dynamite. In the course of the standoff, Norris suffers a 'heart attack'. When Dr. Copper attempts to revive him by defibrillation, Norris' body transforms and kills Copper. Norris' head detaches from his body, sprouts legs and attempts to escape as the others burn the body; however it is quickly noticed by one of the apparent-surviving humans who points it out, leading to its quick destruction. This self-serving act of the head leads MacReady to theorize that every piece of the alien is an individual animal - or in more correct terms, fauna - with its own survival instinct.

In an interval that precedes a test proposed by MacReady, Clark tries to stab MacReady with a scalpel, who shoots and kills him in self-defense. The rest of the crew complies with the test; blood samples are drawn from each member of the team and jabbed with a hot wire to see whose blood will react defensively. Palmer, the backup pilot, is soon unmasked as an imitation, and manages to kill Windows before being set alight and blown up with dynamite by MacReady. MacReady then torches Windows' body with a flamethrower as it begins to transform. Confirming that MacReady, Childs, Garry, and Nauls are still human, the surviving crew set out to administer the test to Blair, only to find that he has escaped. After they discover that Blair had been constructing a small flying craft of alien design underneath the tool shed and witness Childs inexplicably abandoning his post at the main gate, the facility loses power. Realizing that the creature now wants to freeze again so a future rescue team will find it, the remaining crew acknowledge that they will not survive and set about destroying the facility with dynamite and Molotov cocktails in hopes of killing the creature.

While setting explosives in the underground generator room, Garry is killed by the infected Blair. Nauls follows the sounds of the creature and is not seen again after the experience. Alone, MacReady prepares to detonate the charges when the creature, larger than ever, emerges from beneath the floor. It destroys the detonator, grabbing it with massive tentacles. MacReady kills it with a stick of dynamite, which sets off the rest of the charges and destroys the entire facility.

After some time, MacReady is shown wandering alone in the flaming rubble. He encounters Childs, who claims to have seen Blair and gotten lost while chasing him in the snow. With the polar climate closing in around them, they acknowledge the futility of their distrust, sharing a drink as the camp burns.

Video Game
The Thing (Video Game) is set after the film's ending, when two United States military rescue teams, Alpha and Bravo, are dispatched to investigate the loss of contact with U.S. Outpost 31. Alpha Team, headed by the unit's second-in-command, Captain Pierce, is dropped at the nearby Norwegian Outpost. Bravo Team, led by the unit's Commanding Officer, Captain Blake, is then dropped at the American research station.

The player assumes the role of Captain Blake, and must learn how to coordinate and command his Bravo Team colleagues while investigating the ruins of Outpost 31 and locating clues and messages detailing the incident for players who are unfamiliar with the film. The mission supervisor, Colonel Whitely, will offer sporadic assistance and relay objectives via radio. This section serves as an in-game tutorial and training level and offers some insight into the events which transpired following the end of the movie. Upon securing the facility, Blake is airlifted to the Norwegian research station to locate and reinforce Alpha Team after Whitely informs him that they have lost contact with the team. During the player's investigation of the ruins of the Outpost, they will find the UFO from the film. They will also find the body of Childs, one of the survivors from the movie.

The character Blake ultimately uncovers a government conspiracy, and after fighting his way through numerous black ops and creatures, fights the transformed Colonel Whitely. The player has the assistance of a helicopter pilot, revealed to be R.J. MacReady.

Trivia

 * It has been stated that not even the director himself knows precisely when each character was assimilated by The Thing.
 * Who Goes There? the short story that inspired The Thing movie was inspired by the HP Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness, in which an Antarctic reasearch team uncovers a cryogenically preserved Elder Thing, which thaws out and attacks them.

Appearances

 * Who Goes There?
 * The Thing from Another World
 * The Thing (1982)
 * The Thing (2002)
 * The Thing (2011)