Hulk (Bruce Banner)

## Childhood Trauma

Robert Bruce Banner was the son of an alcoholic who deeply hated him.
 Banner's mother showed much affection for her child, who returned her
love, but this only served to fuel his father's rage. Dr. Brian Banner
 was an atomic physicist who worked on producing clean nuclear power as
an energy source, but he was afraid his exposure to it mutated his son's
 genes. Bruce showed signs of high intelligence at an early age which
strengthened his father's belief. Brian became abusive to Bruce and when
 his mother intervened, Brian murdered her. He frightened Bruce to keep
quiet, but his own bragging landed him in a psychiatric institute.

As a child Bruce was withdrawn, possibly developing a split
personality to help deal with his pain and rage. His only happiness came
 from spending time with his cousin Jennifer Walters.
 Bruce found it hard to develop friendships and often found himself on
the receiving end of physical abuse at the hands of school bullies. One
such incident sparked him to build and plant a bomb in the basement of
his school. The bomb was a dud, and Bruce was expelled, but the military
 took notice of his genius. Eventually, Bruce earned a doctorate in
nuclear physics and started a career with them.

## Man or Monster

File:Acotilletta2--Hulk beginning 2.jpgSupervising
 the trial of an experimental gamma bomb that he designed for the U.S.
Defense Department at a nuclear research facility in New Mexico, Bruce
selflessly rushed to the rescue of an ignorant teenager who had wandered
 onto the testing field as the countdown ticked inexorably toward zero.
After shoving young Rick Jones
 to safety in a nearby ditch, Bruce was struck full-force by the bomb
blast. He survived, but was irradiated by the deadly gamma energy.

At first, Banner would transform into the brutish gray Hulk only
at sunset, and revert to human form at dawn. Eventually, his changes
into the childlike green Hulk came to be triggered by the release of
adrenaline when he was intensely excited, no matter what time of day.
The green Hulk possesses little of Banner's memory and intelligence, and
 is easily enraged; making him a menace to society.

Since Banner's initial transformation into the Hulk, military forces commanded by the implacable General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross – Bruce's one-time benefactor – have hunted him continually. Hulk continued to make more enemies within the military such as Major Glenn Talbot as he and Bruce constantly competed for the affections of Ross' daughter, Betty.

For a short time, Banner successfully treated his condition with
radiation and was able to maintain enough of his own personality when he
 became the Hulk to control himself in that form. Subsequently, he
earned the government's favor by destroying the alien Metal Master and received a presidential pardon.

## Friends and Foes

A founding member of the Avengers

Not long after Hulk was baited into a trap by the Asgardian trickster, Loki, into destroying a train trestle. This would lead to the first instance where Hulk became a team player. Beside the occasional group endeavors, Hulk has teamed-up with many others that didn't think he was so bad. Spider-Man, Power Man and Iron Fist have partnered with Hulk on several occasions. Even brutes like the Thing and scrappers like Wolverine
 identified with Hulk and have allied with him almost as many times as
they've fought against him. Not only has Hulk befriended those in the
super-hero community, but he has managed to form bonds with regular
people such as "Crackajack" Jackson and Jim Wilson.
Unfortunately for the Hulk, there are many who used his limited
intelligence against him and attempted to manipulate him for their own
selfish means. Vile menaces like the Leader, Tyrannus, and Captain Omen. When Hulk proved to be too hard to control, they sent their minions like Aquon and Mogol to confront him physically. Enemies came in all shapes and sizes, ranging in power levels. From mere humans like Devastator, to evolved beings like the Inheritor, to monstrous powerhouses like Glob,
 Hulk always found a way to prevail – even against those who masqueraded
 as friends such as his old physics professor, Geoffrey Crawford – later
 known as Ravage.

## Multiple Personality Disorder

Gamma-powered psychiatrist Leonard "Doc" Samson
 captured the Hulk and successfully separated Banner and his alter ego.
Without Banner's psyche to restrain him, the Hulk became a greater
danger than ever before. Realizing there was only one way to reign in
the Hulk, Banner agreed to merge with the monster. But the stress of the
 re-integration fractured Banner's subconscious, creating the
street-smart gray Hulk. During this time, he spent several years in Las
Vegas, sometimes operating as an enforcer calling himself Mr. Fixit (or
"Joe Fixit.") The smart-mouth Fixit was an ill-tempered, wise-cracking,
thuggish brute whose personality resembled that of his father and the
fraternity boys who surrounded him in college. It was also at this time
that Joe Fixit began his a short-lived relationship with the future wife
 of Rick Jones, Marlo Chandler.
 In this state of the Hulk, Banner again found himself changing into
the Hulk at night and into his human form in the light of the day.

Soon after, the swirling mess of persona and mentalities took
their toll on the ever-flustered mind of Dr. Banner, and a battle for
supremacy and control took place in Banner's subconscious. With
assistance by the Ringmaster
 and his hypnotic abilities, Doc Samson tapped into the subconscious of
Banner and reached his separate incarnations. Through this hypnosis,
Banner, the green Hulk, and the grey Fixit all aligned to face their
true inner demons-- Banner's unresolved issues with his abusive father
and the murderer of his mother. With this realization, Banner was able
to fuse these mentalities together, finding peace of mind. However, a
green but intelligent version of the Hulk emerged. He had the mentality
of Dr. Banner but the body and abilities of the Hulk – later nicknamed
the Professor. Although Banner had his dominant personalities merged
together, there were a number of other personas running through his mind
 including that of a "Devil-Hulk."

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/universe/Hulk\_(Bruce\_Banner)#ixzz4ct9bpkC1