Avengers Week Post #1: Incarnations Of The Hulk

Don’t make him angry.  You wouldn’t like him when he is angry.  It’s no secret that the Avengers debuts here in the United States this friday (rumor has it that we get an extra end credits scene as well as the mid credits, just for waiting).  It is probably one of the most  highly anticipated films of all time (it should be after building it up for nearly six years).  So to celebrate, sCrypt Comics will be doing a few articles relating to the characters and the Avengers.  First up, is our Green Goliath, the Incredible Hulk.

Doctor Bruce Banner has had his issues with being able to control his anger, but just how many sides of his personality are there?  Let’s take a look at the many incarnations of Hulk over the years.

Gray Hulk:  Under the alias of Joe Fixit, he worked as a Las Vegas enforcer.  The Gray Hulk has average intelligence, although he occasionally displays knowledge and intellectual ability normally associated with Banner.  He is cunning, crafty, hedonistic, arrogant, and distant, with a hidden conscience.  This persona is strongest during a new moon and weakest during a full moon. As the smallest of all the Hulk incarnations, he dresses in mob style suits and still towers over the average human.  Joe Fixit is able to lift about 70 tons in his calmest state.

Savage Hulk: This is the most common version of the Hulk.  He thinks like a young child and refers to himself in the third person.  Green-skinned and heavily-muscled with a hunched over, caveman like walk, this personality just wants to be left alone. While in a functionally calm emotional state, or at least as calm as the Hulk can be, the Savage Hulk is capable of lifting about 100 tons.

Mindless Hulk: Nightmare penetrated Bruce Banner’s mind and by doing so caused an unexpected side effect; a new personality began to develop out of Banner’s worst visions of the Hulk.  This version was based on a nightmarish imagination made of all of Banner’s worst fears and ideas of his former alter ego.   The dark incarnation to gradually rose to the surface and became its own personality after Banner made his “psychic suicide.”

Devil Hulk: The malevolent personality of Bruce Banner.  He is all of Banner’s resentment at the way he is treated by the world.  He is also one of the Hulk’s enemies, constantly threatening to escape confinement in Banner’s mind and destroy the world that has tormented and abused them.  He first appeared when Banner was dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and Banner used a machine to travel into his own mind and make a deal with the three dominant Hulks that they would gain control of his body once the disease became too much for him to bear.  Fortunately, he was contained long enough for a cure for Banner’s condition to be found.

Professor Hulk: This personality represents Banner’s ideal self.  His physically distinguishing characteristic is his pony tail. He is the largest of the three primary Hulk incarnations and he also possesses a higher base strength level. While in a calm emotional state, the Professor is capable of lifting about 100 tons. However, unlike the other Hulk incarnations, Bruce Banner subconsciously installed a type of safeguard within the Professor. When the Professor’s anger reaches a certain level, he will transform back into Bruce Banner, though with the mind and personality of the Savage Hulk. Due to this safeguard, the Professor is ultimately the weakest of the three primary Hulk incarnations despite being the physically largest.

Maestro:The Hulk of a possible future where nuclear devastation has eliminated all heroes and villains.  This highly ruthless and intelligent version rules an immense territory known as Dystopia.  The Maestro is similar in height and build to the Merged Hulk, with a bald crown, long white hair over the sides and back, and beard. With a slight hump of the shoulders from age, the Maestro also has a more muted green skin tone and numerous warts and age spots. It is unclear if this incarnation’s strength increases with rage, or what his base-level strength is, though, presumably it is equal to that of the Savage Hulk.

Beast Hulk: Known as the Guilt Hulk, he is Bruce Banner’s culmination of regret. The Guilt Hulk originally manifested itself in Banner’s mind as his father and tormented him by forcing him to relive memories of his traumatic childhood. Due to its monstrous size, the Guilt Hulk was physically very powerful. It also possessed claws and spikes all over its body. The Guilt Hulk also showed the ability to breathe fire on one occasion. He is twenty meters tall.

Australian Hulk:A combination of Gray Hulk, Savage Hulk, Bruce Banner, and the Professor Hulk all in one.

The Green Scar: The current hulk has the intelligence of banner the cunning of the gray hulk and strength of the savage hulk.  His base strength is way over 100 tons. The Hulk of World War Hulk is a cunning and more powerful version than the previous incarnations. His rage is at its most focused, due to meditation training.  This incarnation has extremely high durability, has had training in combat arms, including broadswords, spears, and battle shields, and is a capable leader and strategist.  Another source of the Green Scar’s strength is his lack of inner conflict, and alliance with Bruce Banner.  Several instances have been shown where the Hulk and Banner have worked together strategically.  Caiera, the Green Scar’s wife, understood Banner as well, and both personalities loved her equally. This is seen as the driving factor in the Banner/Hulk alliance. As a result of being caught in the explosion of the warp core of his ship which brought him to Sakaar, which destroyed the planet, Green Scar’s base level of strength was dramatically increased. He can lift well over 100 tons in a functionally calm emotional state.  This Hulk has also proven to be resistant to the psionic effects of Professor Xavier.

Blue Hulk: This is a cosmically powerful version of the Hulk who has been given the Unipower.  Captain Universe’s powers are added to the Hulk’s initial abilities, and therefore gains the following: Flight, Matter Manipulation, Time Manipulation, Reality manipulation, Invulnerability, Psychic Abilities and Energy Manipulation.

All of the above are of course Bruce Banner in the role, but there are other Hulks as well, including She Hulk, Skaar, Red Hulk (aka Rulk), Hulk 2099, and The race of Hulks in 2099.  If you can think of any others I may have missed please add to the comments below.  The Hulk pictured above is of course played by Mark Ruffalo and Voiced by Lou Ferrigno, in the Avengers movie.