Fictional character biography Robert Bruce Banner's psyche was profoundly affected by his troubled childhood, in which his father,
Brian Banner, regarded him as a monster due to his seemingly unnatural intellect from a young age. These experiences caused Bruce to develop a
dissociative identity disorder and repress his negative emotions as a coping mechanism. After Brian killed Bruce's mother in a fit of rage, Bruce lived with several relatives up until his high school years, when his intelligence caught the attention of the
United States Army. Banner was recruited to develop nuclear weapons under the authority of
General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, and soon developed a relationship with the General's daughter
Betty Ross. During the experimental detonation of a gamma bomb, Banner saves teenager
Rick Jones, who was dared onto the testing field; Banner pushes Jones into a trench to save him, but is hit with the blast, absorbing massive amounts of gamma radiation. He awakens later seemingly unscathed, but he begins transforming into a powerful and destructive creature upon nightfall, which a pursuing soldier describes as a "hulk". The Hulk is a founding member of the
Avengers, but quickly leaves the group due to their distrust of him. Banner maintains the secret of his dual identity with Rick's aid, but Rick reveals his secret following his assumed death to Major
Glenn Talbot who subsequently informed his superiors, forcing Banner to become a fugitive upon returning from the future where he was actually thrown to. Psychiatrist
Doc Samson captures the Hulk and manages to physically separate Banner and the Hulk, allowing Banner to marry Betty. However, Banner and the Hulk's molecular structure destabilized and threatened to kill them, requiring Samson to reunite them with the aid of
Vision. Samson is later able to merge elements of Banner's fractured psyche to create Professor Hulk, an intelligent but egocentric variation of the Hulk. His tenure with the organization brings him into conflict with a tyrannical alternate future version of himself called the
Maestro, who rules over a world where many heroes are dead. The Professor Hulk construct ultimately proves unstable, and Banner's psyche eventually splinters once more. In "
Planet Hulk", the
Illuminati decide the Hulk is too dangerous to remain on Earth and send him away by rocket ship which crashes on the planet
Sakaar. The Hulk finds allies in the
Warbound and marries alien queen
Caiera, a relationship that bears him two sons:
Skaar and
Hiro-Kala. After the Illuminati's ship explodes and kills Caiera, the Hulk returns to Earth with the Warbound and declares war on the planet in "
World War Hulk". However, after learning that
Miek, one of the Warbound, had actually been responsible for the destruction, the Hulk allows himself to be defeated, with Banner subsequently redeeming himself as a hero as he works with and against the new Red Hulk to defeat the new supervillain team the
Intelligencia. Later, the Hulk turns to
Doctor Doom to separate himself and Banner, with Doom surgically extracting the elements of the Hulk's brain uniquely belonging to Banner and inserting them into a clone body. Banner eventually re-combines with the Hulk when his cloned body is destroyed in an attempt to recreate his original transformation. Following this, Bruce willingly joins the spy organization
S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing them to use the Hulk as a weapon in exchange for providing him with the means and funding to create a lasting legacy for himself. When Banner is shot in the head by an assassin, Tony Stark saves him with a variant of the
Extremis virus. This procedure creates a new intelligent persona named Doc Green, who concludes that the world is in danger by Gamma Mutates and thus need to be depowered. He creates a cure and removes the powers of A-Bomb (Rick Jones), Skaar, and Red Hulk. Eventually, Doc Green's intellect fades and his normal Hulk form is restored. When the vision of the Inhuman
Ulysses Cain shows a rampaging Hulk standing over the corpses of many superheroes, Banner gives
Hawkeye special arrows capable of killing him during a transformation, which Hawkeye accomplishes. The Hulk was first revived by the
Hand, then by
Hydra, and finally by the
Challenger for a contest against the
Grandmaster. When a new Hulk persona called Fractured Son acted out against Banner's treatment of the other personas, Hulk battles the Eldest, who intends to use Hulk to awaken Vinruviel. After freeing Vinruviel, Eldest separates the Hulk and Bruce Banner, then takes over Hulk's body for her own uses.
Personality Like other long-lived characters, the Hulk's character and cultural interpretations have changed with time, adding or modifying character traits. The Hulk is typically seen as an immense, green skin hulking brute with larger jaws, exaggerated brows, black hair like Bruce's (but wilder and messy), a lower voice, and intense eyes, wearing only a pair of torn pants that survive his physical transformation as the character progressed. As Bruce Banner, the character is about 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) tall and weighs 128 lbs (58.05 kg), but when transformed into the Hulk, the character stands between 7 and 8 ft (2.13 - 2.43 m) tall and weighs between 1,040 and 1,400 lbs (471.73 - 635.02 kg). The Gray Hulk stands 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall and weighs 900 lbs (408.23 kg); the Merged Hulk stands 7 ft 6 in (2.28 m) tall and weighs 1,150 lbs (521.63 kg); the Green Scar stands 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m) tall and weighs 2,400 lbs (1.08 ton). Arie Kaplan describes the character thus: "Robert Bruce Banner lives in a constant state of panic, always wary that the monster inside him will erupt, and therefore he cannot form meaningful bonds with anyone." As a child, Banner's father
Brian often got mad and physically abused both Banner and his mother, creating the
psychological complex of fear, anger, and the fear of anger and the destruction it can cause that underlies the character. Banner has been shown to be emotionally repressed, but capable of deep love for Betty Ross and solving problems posed to him. Under the writing of Paul Jenkins, Banner was shown to be a capable fugitive, applying deductive reasoning and observation to figure out the events transpiring around him. On the occasions that Banner controlled the Hulk's body, he applied principles of physics to problems and challenges and used deductive reasoning. It was shown after his ability to turn into the Hulk was taken away by the red Hulk that Banner has been extremely versatile as well as cunning when dealing with the many situations that followed. When he was briefly separated from the Hulk by Doom, Banner became criminally insane, driven by his desire to regain the power of the Hulk, but once the two recombined he came to accept that he was a better person with the Hulk to provide something for him to focus on controlling rather than allowing his intellect to run without restraint against the world.
Hulk The traditional Hulk, often called "Savage Hulk", was originally shown as gray and average in intelligence. He roamed aimlessly and became annoyed at "puny" humans who took him for a dangerous monster. Shortly after becoming the Hulk, his transformation continued turning him green, coinciding with him beginning to display primitive speech. The Hulk generally divorces his identity from Banner's, decrying Banner as "puny Banner." From his earliest stories, the Hulk has been concerned with finding sanctuary and quiet. briefly giving Banner control over the change, and the ability to maintain control of his Hulk form. Artistically and conceptually, the character has become progressively more muscular and powerful in the years since his debut.
Joe Fixit Originally, Stan Lee wanted the Hulk to be gray. Due to ink problems, Hulk's color was changed to green. This was later changed in the story to indicate that the
Gray Hulk and the Savage Hulk are separate
dissociative identities or entities fighting for control in Bruce's subconscious. The Gray Hulk incarnation can do the more unscrupulous things that Banner could not bring himself to do, with many sources comparing the Gray Hulk to the moody teenager that Banner never allowed himself to be. While the Gray Hulk still had the-madder-he-gets, the-stronger-he-gets part that is similar to the Savage Hulk, it is on a much slower rate. It is said by the Leader that the Gray Hulk is stronger on nights of the new moon and weaker on nights of the full moon. Originally, the night is when Bruce Banner became the Gray Hulk and changed back by dawn. In later comics, willpower or stress would have Banner turn into the Gray Hulk. During one storyline where he was placed under a spell to prevent him turning back into Bruce Banner and publicly presumed dead when he was teleported away from a gamma bomb explosion that destroyed an entire town, the Gray Hulk adopted a specific name as
Joe Fixit, a security expert for Las Vegas casino owner Michael Berengetti, with the Gray Hulk often being referred to as Joe after these events. Joe Fixit later gained the ability to transform into a version of
Red Hulk in the Below-Place.
Merged Hulk Convinced that unaided, the Banner, Green Hulk, and Gray Hulk identities would eventually destroy each other, Doc Samson uses hypnosis to merge the three to create a new single identity combining Banner's intelligence with the Gray Hulk's and Banner's attitudes and the Green Hulk's body. This new
Merged Hulk,
Professor Hulk, or simply
Smart Hulk, considered himself cured and began a new life, but the merger was not perfect, and the Hulk sometimes still considered Banner a separate person, and when overcome with rage the Merged Hulk would transform back into Banner's human body while still thinking himself the Hulk.
Doc Green A variation of the Merged Hulk identity takes on the name
Doc Green as the result of
Extremis fixing Hulk's brain, becoming powerful enough to destroy Tony Stark's mansion with one thunderclap. This form was also known as
Omega Hulk. It was theorized by Doc Green that this form was an earlier incarnation of his possible future form Maestro.
The Devil Hulk The
Devil Hulk, or simply the
Devil, is the result of the Hulk needing a father figure. While the character's physical appearance varies, he is always depicted as having glowing red eyes and reptilian traits. The new form of the Devil Hulk is the result of Banner and Hulk having been through different deaths and rebirths. This incarnation is articulate, smart, and cunning, and does merciless attacks on those who do harm. Unlike the other Hulk incarnations, the Devil Hulk is content with waiting inside Bruce. If Bruce is injured by sunset, the Devil Hulk will emerge with his transformation being limited to night-time. Thanks to the Devil Hulk side and Banner working together, the Devil Hulk can maintain his form in sunlight.
Other identities The
Gravage Hulk is the result of Banner using the Gamma Projector on himself, fusing his Savage Hulk and Gray Hulk identities. This form possesses the raw power of the Savage Hulk and the cunning intellect of the Gray Hulk. While he does not draw on anger to empower him, the Gravage Hulk identity draws on dimensional nexus energies to increase his strength. The
Dark Hulk identity is the result of Hulk being possessed by
Shanzar. This form has black skin and is viciously strong. The
Guilt Hulk is a malevolent representation of Banner's abusive father, Brian Banner, that manifests itself in Banner's childhood memories. Created by writer
Peter David and artist
Dale Keown, the character first appeared in
The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #377 (January 1991). The
Green Scar identity is unleashed on Sakaar and is an enraged version of the Gravage Hulk. In addition, he is an expert in armed combat like the use of swords and shields. Green Scar is also a capable leader and an expert strategist.
Kluh is a personality of Hulk who is described as the "Hulk's Hulk". This form sports a white mohawk, black skin, and red lines on him.
Titan is a more monstrous and malicious form of Hulk who stands at , has black skin, rock-like spikes on his shoulders, and possesses the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes. This personality was planted in Hulk by
D'Spayre.
Fractured Son is a form of Hulk that is annoyed with Banner's treatment of the other Hulk personas and makes Bruce's transformations painful.
Powers and abilities Bruce Banner Considered to be one of the greatest scientific minds on Earth, Banner possesses "a mind so brilliant it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test."
Norman Osborn estimates that he is the fourth most-intelligent person on Earth. Banner holds expertise in biology, chemistry, engineering, medicine, physiology, and nuclear physics. Using this knowledge, he creates advanced technology dubbed "Bannertech", which is on par with technological development from Tony Stark or Doctor Doom. These technologies include a
teleporter and a
force field that can protect him from the attacks of Hulk-level entities. After becoming a fugitive from the law, Banner is forced to go on the run and over the years learns various skills in order to both survive and remain under radar of those who are hunting him. Banner's most frequent method of travel includes hitchhiking, train hopping or simply just walking as he is unable to travel legally via planes, passenger ships or buses due to being in several travel watchlists. Banner is generally on the move and rarely ever stays in one place for very long and only does so if there's a possibility of curing himself. He will only ever stay in one place for an extended period of time if it provides him with complete solitude and privacy where the Hulk can do little to no harm. To avoid being tracked, Banner does not use cell phones, debit or credit cards and will only use payphones or cash. He will often use fake identities when staying at motels or working jobs that require identification. Having been on the run for years, Banner can normally tell when he is being followed and will generally make a run for it when he is discovered. Having traveled across the globe, Banner is able to sneak over borders without being detected and can get by, by either knowing or learning the local language. Often traveling light, Banner has little to no possessions that he carries in either a satchel or backpack. Often losing everything he owns after transforming into the Hulk, Banner avoids keeping anything of personal value to him so that he can easily replace the items and clothes that were lost or destroyed. To support himself financially, Banner will work quick part-time jobs and will only accept payments in cash. These jobs have varied from simply working in low pay diners to working as a local doctor. Banner's work ethic as well as his vast knowledge and skillset in science, medicine and engineering often help him get hired rather quickly. Unless desperate, Banner will generally avoid jobs that are high stress due to the potential danger of transforming into the Hulk. Banner has little to no memories of the Hulk's actions aside from his initial transformation which he described as being extremely painful. Banner's lack of memories often terrifies him as he has often transformed back to witness the devastating aftermath of the Hulk's battles which both saddens and encourages him to find a way to understand his condition so that he won't cause anymore destruction or harm. During his travels, Banner has developed several different techniques to help suppress or control his transformations when he becomes a little angry or upset. Among the techniques he has learned over the years include meditation and hypnotherapy. While they have helped him to better understand and suppress his transformations, none of the techniques Banner has learned have helped him to gain full control over the Hulk.
The Hulk The Hulk possesses the potential for seemingly limitless physical strength that is influenced by his emotional state, particularly his anger. This has been reflected in the repeated comment "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets." The cosmically powerful entity known as the
Beyonder once analyzed the Hulk's physiology, and claimed that the Hulk's potential strength had "no finite element inside." Writer Greg Pak described the Worldbreaker Hulk shown during
World War Hulk as having a level of physical power where "Hulk was stronger than any mortal—and most immortals—who ever walked the Earth" and depicted the character as powerful enough to completely destroy entire planets. His strength allows him to leap into lower Earth orbit or across continents, and he has displayed superhuman speed. Exposure to radiation has also been shown to make the Hulk stronger. Hulk is resistant to injury or damage, though the degree to which varies between interpretations, but he has withstood the equivalent of solar temperatures, nuclear explosions, and planet-shattering impacts. Despite his remarkable resiliency, continuous barrages of high-caliber gunfire can hinder his movement to some degree while he can be temporarily subdued by intense attacks with chemical weapons such as anesthetic gases, although any interruption of such dosages will allow him to quickly recover. He has been shown to have both regenerative and adaptive healing abilities, including growing tissues to allow him to breathe underwater, surviving unprotected in space for extended periods, and when injured, healing from most wounds within seconds, including, on one occasion, the complete destruction of most of his body mass. His future self, the "Maestro", was even eventually able to recover from being blown to pieces. As an effect, he has an extremely prolonged lifespan. He also possesses less commonly described powers, including abilities allowing him to "home in" to his place of origin in New Mexico; resist
psychic control, or
unwilling transformation; grow stronger from radiation or dark magic; punch his way between separate temporal or spatial dimensions; and to see and interact with astral forms. Some of these abilities were in later years explained as being related; his ability to home in on the New Mexico bomb site was due to his latent ability to sense astral forms and spirits, since the bomb site was also the place where the Maestro's skeleton was and the Maestro's spirit was calling out to him in order to absorb his radiation. Similar to Banner, the Hulk views himself as a separate entity from Banner and often resents Banner's efforts to contain the Hulk within himself. Unable to maintain the same level of control Banner has over the transformations, the Hulk could initially only remain in his form for only short periods of time depending on the source of Banner's aggression that caused the transformation. This changed after the Hulk was exiled into Space by the Illuminati, angering him to the point where the Hulk was able to completely suppress Banner for an extended period of time. He is also shown to have a separate memory to Bruce Banner - when Spider-Man has the knowledge of his secret identity erased during
Spider-Man: One More Day, the Hulk later asks how Peter is doing, not Spider-Man; upon questioning, he enigmatically states "Banner forgot. But I don't forget." In the first
Hulk comic series, "massive" doses of gamma rays would cause the Hulk to transform back to Banner, although this ability was written out of the character by the 1970s. ==Supporting characters==