Banner, Robert (person)

Dr. R. Bruce Banner, Ph.D. is an American theoretical physicist, famed for his work into the studies of nuclear physics and gamma radiation. He was recruited by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and the US Army to develop the first Gamma Bomb. During its first live test he was bombarded with a massive dose of gamma rays while saving Rick Jones, a kid who was out on the test site. He was mutated into a green behemoth, the living personification of rage, fueled by pure physical strength and would come to be known as the near mindless "Incredible Hulk". Fearful of the damage that Hulk could inflict, as well as fleeing from the military, he went on the run. He later found a home among the Avengers, "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", for a short time albeit for a short time.

## Robert Bruce Banner

### Aliases

Bruce Banner. Dr. Bruce Banner, Big Green, Big Guy (Rick Jones), Dr. Banner, The Hulk (alternate personality), Mr. Fixit (alternate personality)

### Relatives

Brian Banner (father), Rebecca Banner (mother), Bruce Banner I (paternal grandfather), Unnamed paternal grandmother, Susan Banner (paternal aunt), Elaine Banner-Walters (paternal aunt, dead), Morris Walters (uncle by marriage), Jen Walters (cousin), Samuel Sterns I (ancestor, dead), Beatrice Banner-Sterns and child (ancestors, dead)

### Affiliation

Military of the United States of America (formerly), The Avengers

## Physical description

### Height

5′10″ (1.78 m) (Bruce Banner),7′ (2.13 m) (Hulk in his current incarnation at his lowest limit),8′ (2.44 m) (Hulk in his current incarnation at his highest limit),7′ (2.13 m) (Hulk in his Savage incarnation at his lowest limit),8′ (2.44 m) (Hulk in his Savage incarnation at his highest limit),6′6″ (1.98 m) (Gray Hulk),7′6″ (2.29 m) (Merged Hulk)

### Weight

128 lbs (58.06 kg) (Bruce Banner),1150 lbs (521.63 kg) (Hulk in his current incarnation at his lowest limit),1400 lbs (635.03 kg) (Hulk in his current incarnation at his highest limit),1040 lbs (471.74 kg) (Hulk in his Savage incarnation at his lowest limit),1400 lbs (635.03 kg) (Hulk in his Savage incarnation at his highest limit),900 lbs (408.23 kg) (Gray Hulk),1150 lbs (521.63 kg) (Merged Hulk)

### Eye color

Brown (Banner), Grey (Joe Fixit / Gray Hulk), Green (Green Hulk)

## History

### Early Years

**Robert Bruce Banner** is the son of Dr. Brian Banner, an atomic physicist, and his wife Rebecca. Although Rebecca deeply loved Bruce, who returned her affection, Brian hated their child and was driven by an insane jealousy of Bruce for being an object of Rebecca's love. Further, Brian believed that his radiation work had altered his DNA and given him a mutant son. These factors led to Brian abusing Bruce physically. One of the people who helped Bruce cope with Brian's tantrums was his paternal cousin Jennifer Walters, with whom Bruce used to spend summers in the public library reading for hours, losing themselves to books.

Bruce's life reached a turning point when Brian murdered Rebecca, and he was placed in a mental hospital. After that, Bruce was raised by his aunt and father's sister, Susan Banner, who understood his great pain and rage over his childhood sufferings. Susan raised Bruce with love and care, as if he were her own child. Susan never wanted to deal with her brother after what he had done to Bruce and Rebecca. Bruce, grew up as a highly withdrawn, intellectually gifted youth, in fact, a child prodigy. His father's abuse caused Bruce to start to develop dissociative identity disorder which would go undiagnosed for years, partly due to the fact his D.I.D. was suppressed.

The first sign that Bruce was developing mental problems due to his childhood abuse manifested when Bruce began talking to an imaginary friend he called the "Hulk". He had even begun to mutter to himself in conversation with his imaginary friend. Concerned, his aunt Susan took him to mental health professionals who assured her that these were merely coping mechanisms and they would eventually go away. Unfortunately for the world, they never did and the Hulk endured as Banner's imaginary friend for years. Bruce also began secretly working on explosives in an abandoned warehouse as the Hulk suggested that they blow up the school as a means of venting his frustrations. Bruce, however, changed his mind and refused to blow up the school, which did not sit well with the Hulk. Over the next few nights, unknown to Bruce, when he slept, the Hulk took control of his body and planted a bomb in the school set to go off in the morning. When Bruce realized what had happened he rushed to the school to try and disarm it but found that nobody would listen to his warnings. Crashing into the boiler room, Bruce managed to get down into the basement in just enough time to disarm it. Caught down in the boiler by some of his fellow students, they immediately figured out what Bruce had done and jumped him. The principal then closed the school for the day and locked Bruce down in the boiler room where he was beaten until the authorities arrived. After Bruce was released from the hospital, Bruce's aunt moved him and her out of town in order for Bruce to avoid jail time. Unknown to Bruce, his aunt was approached by Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross, a representative of the military who pointed out to her that the bomb, while sophisticated, was not constructed properly, but the work impressed the military who informed Susan Banner that they would invest in his education in the hopes that he could become a great weapons designer who could work for the military.

After fifteen years of confinement, the doctors believed that Brian was ready to rejoin society. Despite his reluctance, Bruce let his father temporarily stay with him. During this time, Brian began acting strange, causing tensions to escalate between the two. After Brian lashed out at his son, blaming him for his insanity, Bruce left to visit his mother's grave since it was the anniversary of her death. Brian followed him and started harassing Bruce, calling him a mutant and a monster. The confrontation quickly became physical, and Brian knocked Bruce down. While on the ground, Bruce pushed him back with his foot. Brian stumbled back and the impact of his head on Rebecca's gravestone killed him. Bruce blocked the memories of Brian's stay with him and his subsequent death, making himself believe that, as the two of them fought at Rebecca's grave, Brian had simply beat him and left, later being killed by muggers.

### Education

After graduating from Science High School, Bruce studied nuclear physics in Navapo, New Mexico, at Desert State University as the star student of Professor Herbert Josiah Weller. He also studied for a time at Harvard University. He later transferred to Pennsylvania State University where he briefly worked with Canadian student Walter Langkowski finding a similar interest in gamma radiation. He also worked with Peter Corbeau, and Raoul Stoddard. It was during his time at Penn State that Banner found inspiration from noted scientist Albert Einstein and like the famous scientist, bought a wardrobe consisting entirely of purple suits.

As a young student, Bruce first met another student with a brilliant mind, Tony Stark. Ever since, they both attended Dr. Derenik Zadian's "Forward Thought Conference" at Oxford University. This would lead to a life-long scientific rivalry between the two. They also became best friends. They eventually teamed up and joined the Avengers.

Bruce obtained his doctorate in nuclear physics at Caltech, alongside Philip Sterns, who later became Madman. Eventually, as an adult and a genius in nuclear physics, Banner wished to pursue philanthropic brands of science, but couldn't receive any financial funding for his projects, and thus in lack of other options, went to work at a United States Defense Department nuclear research facility at Desert Base, New Mexico. There Banner met General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross, the Air Force officer in command of the base, and his daughter Betty Ross. Banner and Betty eventually fell in love with each other. Banner designed and oversaw construction of the "Gamma Bomb" or "G-bomb," a nuclear weapon possessing a high gamma radiation output.

### Birth of the Hulk

Banner was present in the instrumentation bunker at the test site for the first underground test detonation of the Gamma Bomb. Observing that a civilian had breached security and entered the restricted test area, Banner told his colleague Igor Starsky to delay the countdown while he tried to escort the civilian to safety. Starsky, secretly a Soviet agent, did nothing, confident that Banner would die in the explosion, bringing the project to a halt. Reaching the civilian, a teenager named Rick Jones, Banner threw him into a protective trench.

Before Banner could get himself to safety, the Gamma Bomb detonated, and intense waves of radiation reached the surface. Banner was irradiated with highly charged radioactive particles. Bruce died, but the Gamma Bomb had created a metaphysical barrier called the Green Door that connected Earth with the Below-Place, the bottom layer of the Multiverse. The Green Door brought Bruce back to life, but the time span between his death and resurrection was so short, his death went unnoticed. The Gamma Bomb also caused Bruce to alter his body, causing him to frequently transform into the vastly powerful, grey-skinned, humanoid monster whom General Ross named "the Hulk."

At first Banner changed into the Hulk at sunset and reverted to human form at dawn. However, Banner's body eventually changed so that his transformations into the Hulk were triggered by the release of adrenaline when he became intensely excited or angry, no matter what time of day or night it was.

Usually, the Hulk possessed little of Banner's memory and intelligence and was easily enraged. While the military attempted to contain the Hulk, he thwarted their every attempt, with Rick Jones, feeling responsible for Banner becoming the Hulk, trying to help keep him away from the military. The Hulk ultimately thwarted an attempt to destroy America by the Gargoyle, another being mutated by gamma radiation. The Hulk changed back into Banner and help cure the Gargoyle, who helped Banner escape back to the U.S., where, with the help of Rick Jones, he maintained his identity as the Hulk a secret and attempted to keep the Hulk contained at night.

## Attributes

### Powers

**Gamma Mutate Physiology:** Due to Bruce Banner being exposed to the Gamma Bomb's radiation, culminating in his transformation into a powerful monster, the gamma radiation mutated the Hulk's body and fortified his cellular structure, adding over 800 lbs of bone marrow and muscle tissues to his body. In addition, during times of stress the Incredible Hulk's adrenaline level escalates, causing a corresponding escalation of brute strength. Thus, the madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets. Echoing Marvel's understanding, the Spider-Man once created a hierarchical system regarding physical power in which the Hulk occupies the first place, surpassing Thor and Hercules. Amadeus Cho, who is renowned for his ability to compute data flows, stated that even a team comprised of Hercules would be worthless against an enraged Hulk. A configuration of heroes including Thor, held as inferior in sheer power to the raging Hulk, didn't dare to directly engage him in battle. A totally animalistic Hulk, while weakening, was stated and demonstrated as an even match for an ensemble of Avengers composed of powerful heroes, such as Hercules, Wonder Man and Iron Man. The Incredible Hulk was for several times described as one of the physically most powerful beings in the entire Marvel Universe, and as one of the most powerful beings to ever walk on the planet Earth, with the potential for limitless levels of strength and durability (since it scales directly with his strength). The Hulk, in the full exercise of his potential, was described as the most powerful mortal entity in entire existence, and his maximum known strength level ranges beyond the limits of virtually any other known humanoid being. The Hulk's vast physical might has even been described as powerful enough to ravage entire worlds. Moreover, the Hulk was also stated to be an Omega Level Threat by both the Initiative and Mister Fantastic, and even "the **Original** Omega Level Threat" by Gyrich. At some point, the Hulk was stated to be the strongest hero in the world. Additionally, Hulk was referred as the strongest member of an Avengers team featuring Hercules. Doctor Strange has even referenced the Hulk as one of the most powerful beings in the whole existence.

When he was a nexus being, Apocalypse declared the energy provided by the Hulk could be employed to prevail over the Celestials. Upon performing experiments and measuring the power level of numerous individuals, They Who Wield Power concluded that the Hulk is more powerful than Thor and Hercules. According to Kang the Conqueror, the Hulk is the strongest Avenger, and the gamma irradiated heart of an alternate Hulk endows a robot based on the Hulk with raw force to overpower the classic formation of the Avengers. In a canonical scaling, the Hulk's potential was established as superior to the collective power of four of the most powerful Avengers. Furthermore, Umar the Unrelenting has insinuated that the rampaging Worldbreaker Hulk was a potential threat to the Universe's plane of existence, presumably referring to galaxies being increasingly destroyed. Nick Fury's intel also classified him as Power Level 10+, the highest level in their scale of measurement, and as the Merged Hulk he was described as member of the **Omega-class entities** by Doctor Octopus.

* **Transformation:** The process by which Banner usually transforms into the Hulk is presumably the result of the chemical catalyst, adrenaline (a.k.a. epinephrine). As in normal human beings, Banner's adrenal medulla secretes large amounts of adrenaline in time of fear, rage, or stress, which hormonally stimulates the heart rate, increases blood-sugar levels, and inhibits sensations of fatigue. Whereas the secretion heightens normal physical abilities in normal human beings, in Banner's case it triggers the complex chemical-extra-physical process that transforms him into the Hulk. The total time of transformation falls anywhere from twenty-five seconds to five minutes, depending on the initial adrenaline surge, which will be determined by the original stimulus. Soon after the transformation, the amount of adrenaline in the Hulk will return to more normal, reduced levels. However, there have been instances in which Banner became the Hulk without any discernible increase in heart rate or adrenal levels, suggesting that the true trigger mechanism into the Hulk is far more psychological than physical. When the Hulk transforms back into Banner, the excess muscle mass and energy is lost, presumably to the same place he derives it. As the Hulk's transformation is mostly a stress reaction, it is virtually impossible to attack, wound or sedate him in his human form without the Hulk erupting almost instantaneously in self-defense. As gamma mutates and their appearance/abilities are affected by their minds to become "metaphor people"; Banner's Hulk form, and to an extent his abilities, change depending on which Hulk/alter is in control. Joe Fixit is weaker but more intelligent and cunning while only coming out at night, the Green Scar is full of wrathful fury while being able to erupt with gamma energy, and the Devil Hulk is more attuned with the mystical nature of gamma allowing him to perform impossible feats like overloading Vibranium, being alive and able to move while dismembered, or smelling lies and seeing into people's souls.
* **Unlimited Strength:** The Hulk possesses the capacity for essentially limitless physical strength. In proportion to his rage, it grows geometrically and gradually towards infinity, though never reaches it. Jack Kirby has revealed that since the conception of the character he intended the Hulk to have unlimited strength. In actuality, though the highest hierarchical challenges mentally imposed by Banner to the Hulk may not reflect the real characters' power level, it was implied that the Hulk's ultimate potential truly has no limits. Banner has sometimes cogitated about the Hulk's incalculable strength. In effect, upon actually estimating the Hulk's raw potential, the virtually omniscient cosmic entity Beyonder stated outright that the Hulk's strength is intrinsically limitless. The Hulk's uttermost potential is indeed infinite, with no finite element inside. This statement has been endorsed by the cosmic entity Stranger, who deduced that Hulk's capacity for strength is, for all practical purposes, unlimited. The knowledgeable Doctor Samson has also postulated that the Hulk can increase his strength ad infinitum, and the genius Leader has regularly confessed the Hulk's endless strength. The Hulk's boundless strength was further supported by the Mad Thinker's inability to calculate its limits, several experts have effectively failed to determine the precise magnitude of the Hulk's brute power, and Hulk's power has been consistently described as immeasurable. Hulk's rage, the foundation of his unfathomable strength, is also described as unlimited. The Hulk's reputation extends beyond Earth, with Skrulls proclaiming him as the strongest mortal on Earth, the alien leader known as Kurrgo exclaiming that he is the strongest of the Earth's creatures, the cosmic wanderer Silver Surfer recognizing him as the strongest mortal he ever confronted, and the supreme Skyfather Odin reflecting that he is the strongest mortal Thor has ever faced. However, each of the primary Hulk's personalities possess a base strength level. While functionally calm, the Gray Hulk persona is the weakest whereas the incarnation commonly referred to as the "Green Scar" is the physically strongest of all primary Hulk's incarnations. After being exposed to the energies from the exploding core of the ship that originally brought the Hulk to Sakaar, the Green Scar's base strength level was dramatically increased. The persona known as the Immortal Hulk is also substantially stronger than most incarnations and presumably rivals the Green Scar, being able to effortlessly outclass the combined might of an Avengers team consisting of powerful heroes. However, while in an enraged state, adrenaline surges through the Hulk's body, magnifying his extraordinary physical strength drastically beyond his standard levels. The Hulk's exponential strength is directly proportional to his level of rage, excitement, and of stress. The Hulk also grows stronger the more radiation and the more dark magic he catalyzes. Finally, as Amadeus Cho theorizes, Bruce Banner subconsciously restrains the Hulk's maximum potential because he quantifies and calculates the external variables so that the Hulk could never hurt innocents. Cho corroborates this thesis with a logical analysis of all the Hulk's historical conflicts. However, if the suppression of Banner's restrictions occurs, the Hulk can neutralize this limitation, such as when he becomes the Worldbreaker. The Hulk has also performed impressive feats of strength in his career.
	+ **Superhuman Leaping:** The Hulk is able to use his highly developed leg muscles to leap great distances. As the Hulk becomes enraged, his strength increases considerably, which means he can jump farther than usual. The Hulk has transposed about 1,000 miles with a single leap, and in a single leap he jumped on top of the Mount Olympus from ground level. On more than one occasion, the Hulk has nearly jumped into the Earth's orbit. The Hulk even managed to reach Mars' orbit with a single bound. The Hulk also shows incredible precision with his ability to aim his jumps and landings. He grabbed missiles on multiple occasions and landed on islands barely visible from the height that he fell from. While calm, the Hulk's leap has been measured to reach 473 mph.
	+ **Superhuman Strength Utilizations:** The Hulk can inhale great quantities of air for several effects. For example, he can expel the air at enormous speeds to knock down forests and armed troops. This resource also enables the Hulk to defeat several superhuman opponents, such as the Mister Fantastic. The Hulk can slam his hands together to create a tremendously powerful sonic vibration that propagates through the air and has been compared to the strongest hurricane in history. This thunderclap has been powerful enough to disperse Sandman's attacks, snuff out Johnny Storm's flame ability, and severely debilitate the Red Hulk. The Hulk can also hit the ground with his hands or legs to create violent tremors that thwart opponents and destroy structures, being able to produce destructive shockwaves by stomping his foot. He could also create shockwaves with enough power to shatter glass jars by simply snapping his fingers while possessed by the One Below All.

* **Superhuman Stamina:** The Hulk's body counteracts fatigue poisons that build up in his muscles during physical activity. In fact, the Hulk was capable to leap endlessly during an entire day without showing any signs of fatigue. In an enraged state, the Hulk is capable of exerting himself at peak physical capacity for several weeks before fatigue begins to really affect him. However, just like his vast physical strength, the Hulk's stamina does increase as he becomes angrier. In an enraged state, the Hulk was able to successfully stalemate the warrior's madness Thor, a state which temporarily enhances Thor's strength and stamina to 10 times that of his normal state in exchange for adversely affecting his intelligence. A giant robotic Sentinel has calculated the Hulk's stamina as almost unlimited. The Hulk, while in his Nul persona, also fought Thor until Thor collapsed exhausted on the ground.
* **Dynamic Durability:** In addition to immense strength, the Hulk's body possesses a high degree of resistance to physical injury. The gamma radiation that served as the catalyst for his current state fortified his cellular structure, endowing him with high degree of resistance to injury, pain, and disease. The Hulk has survived tremendous amount of punishment throughout his career. The Hulk's skin is impervious to conventional blades, Adamantium and Vibranium being strictly the few known metals that can effectively pierce and penetrate his skin. The Hulk was even able to remove Adhesive X from his body without any injury. This invulnerability extends to the optic system since bullets, grenade shrapnel, Hawkeye's arrows, and even the Valkyrie's enchanted blade Dragonfang did not penetrate nor damage it. The Hulk is capable of withstanding high caliber bullets, powerful energy blasts, pressures extremes, falls from orbital heights, maximized heat without blistering, maximized cold without freezing, and also massive impacts. The Hulk has withstood several times the impact of ground zero nuclear explosions, the Human Torch's Nova Blast, with a maximum temperature of one million degrees Fahrenheit, and also the crushing pressures of 100Gs without suffering damage or harm. In fact, when the Maestro's Dog O' War, a robot claimed to be able to crush Adamantium in its jaws in 7.3 seconds, had Hulk's exposed neck in its jaws, it was unable to even lacerate his skin before being ripped apart. In another monumental example of his durability, the Hulk even withstood being subjected to a mechanism capable to easily soften and manipulate Adamantium. The Hulk was also able to withstand a planet-devastating impact, a planet-shattering impact at point blank range, the Galaxy Master's planet-destroying strongest attacks, even when their potency was later amplified ten times, a colossal blow from a Phoenix's empowered Cyclops, phenomenally powerful blows from the extremely powerful Zom-empowered Doctor Strange, and a mighty blast from a somewhat hungry Galactus. The Hulk even withstood exposure to magical energy calculated as over 100 times more powerful than Hercules' strongest blows, and also the overwhelming pressure and kinetic energy of a literal supernova bursting on his body. Upon being drained by Iron Man, while wearing the most recent Celestial armor crafted by himself, Hulk withstood extraordinarily powerful blasts with potency of one hundred thousand supernovas. In addition, Hulk withstood Sentry's vastly powerful attacks, equal to one million supernovas. The Hulk even withstood a few of the incredibly powerful blows from Zeus when relatively calm. The full force of the Cyclops's optic blasts, estimated by himself to be powerful enough to rip a small planet in half, only caused minor damage, while previously his ultimate blast was completely ineffective against Hulk and only retarded him. The Hulk has also withstood multiple blows from beings such as the Mighty Thor and the Abomination on a regular basis. The Hulk's durability, much like his physical strength, is fueled by rushes of adrenaline while angry. This was also exemplified when Wolverine stated during World War Hulk that the Hulk's skin was harder to damage, when the Hulk withstood a two times more powerful blast from the Captain Marvel than a blast that had previously damaged him, and when during a battle against Colossus he stated that the harder he hits the Hulk, the less it seems to hurt him. This was further exemplified when Wolverine's and Black Panther's claws failed to hurt the Hulk.
* **Self-Regeneration Manipulation:** As a Gamma Mutate with a connection to the Below-Place, Bruce Banner/Hulk learned he possessed an autonoetic commandeering of his own recovery rate and extremital prehensility of his individual biomass, as had others in the past. Once having been pulled apart and put in a collective of several different jars only to compel his body to come back together by sheer force of will.
	+ **Regenerative Healing Factor:** Despite the Hulk's high resistance to physical harm, it is possible to cause the Hulk injury. However, the Hulk is capable of regenerating damaged or destroyed areas of his entire body with much greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. In fact, the Hulk was able to systematically regenerate his internal organs and tissues in an alternate reality. He was also able to literally rip off a large fraction of his head allowing it to completely regrow. In a notorious episode, the Maestro persona molecularly rebuilt his body after being atomized. The Hulk also demonstrated his exceptional healing capacity when, during a battle with Vector, all of his skin and most of his muscle mass were extracted from his body. The Hulk regained his mass and healed within only seconds. Even the Omega-Level biokinetic Elixir's death touch could only retard him temporarily. Most extreme depictions of his healing factor also include reintegrating members isolated from his body. The Hulk's regenerative healing factor also enables him to resist to physical transmutations. Additionally, the Hulk heals faster and more extensively the madder he gets. For example, Scorpion (Carmilla Black) once injected into Hulk's body a chemical substance that counteracts his healing factor. Amadeus Cho then caused the Hulk to get enraged enough for his immune system to repel the substance. Combined with the Hulk's superhuman durability, it makes him exceedingly difficult to defeat or incapacitate, as noted by Wolverine during their second battle.
		- **Disease Immunity:** The Hulk is completely invulnerable to all known Earth-based diseases and viruses, including AIDS. He can operate under intense conditions for prolonged periods of time due to his body not developing fatigue toxins quickly.
		- **Decelerated Aging:** For all intents and purposes; the Hulk lives indefinitely. Because of an enhanced healing factor, derived from the properties of gamma energy that empowers him, the Hulk has a prolonged lifespan. A possible future persona, the Maestro, was in his physical prime despite being over one hundred years old. In another alternate future it is implied that the Hulk's body effectively lasts forever, further proven when both that worlds Bruce Banner and Mister Immortal were seen as the only two left alive to witness the end of the universe.
	+ **Body Part Autonomy:** In spite of his nervous system being badly dissociated, Banner/Hulk can willingly control each of his individual body parts as if they were still part of his uniformly whole physiology. Being able to operate his appendages and command his internal organs to move and act according to his will if he so chooses.

* **Superhuman Speed:** Regardless of his size, Hulk's superhumanly strong legs allow him to run at speeds that are well beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete. In fact, the Hulk's speed is so relatively high that, while tunneling underground from Subterranea to California, the Avengers feared that the Hulk could fracture the San Andreas fault line in a matter of few hours. In an excellent display of increased velocity, the Hulk easily outperformed an aircraft while on land. Hulk's astronomical speed extends to his jumps, what allowed him to pursue and reach a space missile. The Hulk also possesses immense swimming speeds as well. He has been clocked to be swimming at 80 knots, and has even matched Namor's underwater speed, even while Namor was moving quickly enough to create a whirlpool, much to the Atlantean king's surprise. Referring to the Hulk's formidable speed, Banner pondered that the Hulk is able to run at eye-blurring speeds and swim fast enough to build propulsion. The Hulk has been fast enough to several times capture or intercept mortar shells and missiles shot at him. The Hulk has also eventually been recognized to be extremely agile proportionally to his size. In fact, his spectacular reflexes have even been described as "lightning-fast reflexes", being quick enough to enable him to snatch a speeding hoverflier from the air. More examples of Hulk's prodigious combat speed include easily catching the Captain America's shield throw, catching an arrow fired by Hawkeye, hit Quicksilver while he was running at high speeds, pursuing and touching the Silver Surfer while the Surfer was maneuvering at supersonic speeds, and while holding back tremendously against physically inferior opponents, he's hit both the Daredevil despite his heightened senses and extraordinary reaction time and Spider-Man despite Peter's remarkable reflexes. The Hulk has also easily dodged bullets and missiles shot from a short distance away, effortlessly captured a bullet in his teeth in mid-transformation, and regularly matched beings with virtually unparalleled combat speed such as Gladiator, Sentry, and the Silver Surfer. The Hulk has also hit several speedsters, who were operating in an accelerated time flow, before they could even react.
* **Reactive Adaptation:** There were several events in the past where the Hulk not only faced extended periods of time in oxygen-deprived outer space without suffocating, but he also frequently spoke in these inhospitable habitats. It was theorized by an LMD of Nick Fury that the Hulk could adapt to the environment of space as an inherent property of his mutation. He based this thesis on accumulated data about the Hulk. For example, Hulk can harmonize his biological structure with the depths of the ocean. Fury's hypothesis has been confirmed, since it was stated that the Hulk can adapt to any environment, even airless space. Therefore this evidences that the Hulk could adapt to a wide diversity of hostile habitats. It is plausible that this ability is enhanced and amplified by the Hulk's rage. Accordingly, it has also been stated that the Hulk does not always need to breathe.
	+ **Underwater Breathing:** The Hulk has been on the ocean floor a number of times. The Hulk is able to breathe due to his body developing a gland which creates an oxygenated perfluorocarbon emulsion which fills his lungs and equalizes the pressure. He is therefore able to breathe fluid and avoid decompression and nitrogen narcosis.
* **Telepathic Resistance:** In many instances the Hulk has demonstrated great psychic resistance as a side-effect of his innate rage and the multiple personalities inside his mind. When in ideal conditions it is extremely difficult to enslave the Hulk mentally. In parallel, this ability increases with his rage. This was demonstrated when Psyklop managed to enthrall the Hulk initially with his hypnotizing power but was not able to subjugate an enraged Hulk. In an example of his mental prowess, the Hulk was even able to survive using the Ultimate Machine, which contained the collective knowledge of an entire universe. While the Leader died, despite his heightened intellect, due to being unable to process the entirety of the information and having his brain overloaded, the Hulk was able to survive using it and find out that Rick Jones was in danger, after which he removed the device and leapt away. In an astounding exhibition of his telepathic immunity, the Hulk proved to be unaffected by the Xemnu's telepathic assault, which has been powerful enough to mesmerize the entire human population, put a mental block on Doctor Strange to prevent him from using his powers, or even engage the enormously powerful Moondragon in battle. The Hulk was also the only one able to remember the Sentry after Sentry had used his psionic powers to remove his memories from everyone on the planet. When highly powerful psychics, such as Professor X, could only utilize his psionic powers to find out that their memories had been radically altered and twisted. The Hulk has withstood telepathic attacks from the powerful Stranger, the Shaper of Worlds, Professor X, Selene, Doctor Strange, the Leader, Mentallo, the Ringmaster, etc.
* **Extrasensory Perception:**
	+ **Astral Form Perception:** The Hulk has the unique ability of being able to see "astral forms," or ghosts, and even physically interact with them. This power has come in handy when working with his fellow Defender, Doctor Strange, who is able to leave his body in an usually invisible, ghost-like state better known as an astral form. Bruce Banner subconsciously feared his father's ghost would come back to haunt him, and so the Hulk developed this mechanism to allow him to look out for him. More recent events have shown that the power to see astral forms may now extend to Bruce Banner. However, it was suggested the clarity of the astral forms is diminished when compared to the Hulk's ability to view them. The Hulk's ability to see astral forms may go beyond just seeing individual spirits. The Hulk once experienced a whole town in the middle of the desert that then faded away into nothing. While it is possible it was merely a mirage, it is possible the Hulk was able to see a town that did not exist in our plane of reality that no one else could see.
	+ **Homing Ability:** The Hulk also has a seemingly mystical homing ability that enables him to locate the area in New Mexico where Banner first became the Hulk. This applies even if the Hulk is in another dimension. An image of the Maestro once explained to Bruce that the reason he was able to do that was because the Maestro's spirit was there, calling to him. However, since the time Maestro was resurrected, the Hulk has continued to return to the gamma bomb site, suggesting that there is more to his ability than merely the Maestro's spirit. This homing ability has also been used to find people on rare occasions. For example, the Hulk was able to dig a tunnel underground exactly in the direction of Onslaught. While it is possible that Onslaught was mentally leading the Hulk to him, there were other instances of the Hulk demonstrating this ability. The Hulk's instincts led him to Rick Jones and Betty, and the Hulk located the Abomination with no prior knowledge of his whereabouts. The Hulk was also able to know that the Vision was approaching while inside an underground tunnel, even though he could neither hear nor see the intangible Avenger's approach.
* **Gamma Radiation/Energy Manipulation and Emission:** Not usually a power associated with the Hulk, but there is enough evidence that Hulk possesses at least a limited ability to manipulate forms of energy, particularly gamma radiation. The Hulk's body works like a "gamma battery" by constantly creating and radiating gamma energy. The Troyjan emperor Armageddon once wanted to employ the Hulk's own gamma radiation to power machines to revive his dead son again. However, the Hulk outsmarted him by consciously force feeding his energy into these machines at a rate too fast for them to handle, and they promptly overloaded and exploded. The Hulk also generated massive amounts of gamma radiation during World War Hulk, and produced considerable quantity while in the Dark Dimension. The Hulk has also shown the ability to redirect gamma rays unleashed towards him. When the Avengers used the Gammatron Bombarder device on him, the Hulk deflected the blast at the device and destroyed it. During the battle against the Galaxy Master, Hulk resisted and reflected the enemy's "gamma bombardment" attacks, and further demonstrated a beam-shaped projection of gamma energy by using the accumulated gamma energy within himself against the entity. The Hulk is also able to absorb gamma energy. As Bruce Banner, he absorbed the tremendous amount of energy stored aboard the Intelligencia's Helicarrier. As the Hulk, he has demonstrated the ability to absorb gamma radiation as he drained the second Red Hulk, Sasquatch, and Rebecca Green of their gamma energy. The Hulk even managed to absorb the gamma radiation of several nuclear bombs, which made him grow to a huge size, to the point where he became much larger than Fin Fang Foom. The exact extent to which the Hulk controls his own gamma radiation, and also extrinsic sources of gamma radiation, has yet to be established.

### Abilities

**Super-Genius Intelligence:** Doctor Bruce Banner is a super-genius in nuclear physics, possessing a mind so brilliant that it cannot be measured by any known intelligence test. Hence he is capable of extraordinary feats of intellect, such as to successfully reprogram an advanced and especially sophisticated computer system (intended to be used to rule the world) in a matter of seconds. In effect, Banner even accomplished to infect a computer system with a virus which even Tony Stark, employing his skills, was unable to counteract. Banner is regarded by Tony Stark as the most brilliant nuclear scientist (presumably on the planet), and another description corroborates Tony's statement upon indicating that Banner is the greatest nuclear scientist in the world. Banner also has expertise in several additional fields, such as biology, engineering, and even architecture. Banner was referred as the only true expert on radiation-based mutation. He was once estimated as the fourth smartest person on the planet, Doctor Doom considers him a genius unparalleled in certain fields, Nick Fury reveres his intellect as belonging to the same class of Reed Richards and Tony Stark, the High Evolutionary reputed him as the only one in the world able to help the High Evolutionary to terminate his own life, M.O.D.O.K highly esteemed him by deeming him as the greatest threat of the eight smartest persons, and even Reed Richards recognizes him as one of the most intelligent person on Earth.

**Master Combatant:** The Hulk is a skillful and capable warrior, demonstrating vast versatility and intuition in the battle, like anticipating and exploiting the weakness of Hyperion, defeating the Mister Fantastic by inhaling and expelling his malleable body after being enveloped by it, and also utilizing the Blob's immobility against Blob himself. The Hulk has consistently faced warriors with ample experience in combat, such as Thor, the Executioner, and Hercules. As the Green Scar, he has had training in multiple combat arms, including broadswords, spears, and battle shields. As Doc Green, he received martial arts training from the expert martial artist Daniel Rand.

**Indomitable Will:** The Hulk has an enduring and unbreakable willpower under extreme conditions. If his loved ones are threatened or the battle is so heated that it requires his dynamic strength to be explored further, he will strive to subdue his foes no matter how powerful they are or how uneven are the odds. In one occasion, when the Defenders were captured and imprisoned in a power-draining machinery, the Hulk was the only one capable to unearth an unfathomable hidden willpower and increase his strength sufficiently to destroy the machinery and save everyone. In a fierce battle against the Abomination, despite being initially overwhelmed by the superior might of the Abomination, once Betty was threatened his strength grew dramatically to overpower his foe. In yet another combat against the Abomination, Blonsky's strength was restored to its original levels by the terrible Galaxy Master. Despite being initially subjugated, the Hulk's strength remarkably increased ensuring his victory.

**Self-Restraint:** When Banner is the Hulk, he can influence the Hulk's behavior to a limited extent. However, several facts indicate that Banner subconsciously restrains the Hulk. For example, the Hulk asked for Jean Grey to psionically shut Bruce Banner off so that the Hulk's sheer power could be unleashed against the dread Onslaught. Moreover, the Hulk has further stated that Banner's constraints prevent Hulk from destroying Earth. In another occasion, Iron Man has also deduced that Bruce Banner exerts a moderating influence on the Hulk, and Tony even declared that Hulk normally represses and regulates the potency of all his punches. In a classical combat between Thor and the Hulk, at one point it is narrated that Banner was suppressed, though Banner's dominion over the Hulk in this issue has been unstable. Doctor Samson has also pondered that, while extensive destruction has been caused by the Hulk, he never killed a single soul confronting the army. The Immortal Hulk even recognized that Amadeus Cho's hypothesis about Banner exercising subconscious control on the Hulk is plausible, although it works only for the other classic incarnations of the Green Goliath.

In order to spare the civilians who were inside a building, Banner's subconscious influence oriented the Hulk to concentrate his battle against the Sandman outside the said building. Upon being subjected to the Nightmare's machinations, the Hulk also aroused his uncontrollable inner savagery, revealing that Banner had lost ascendancy over the Hulk, and ultimately resulting in Banner's psychic suicide. In yet another instance, the Professor X, before an imminent confrontation between the Hulk and the X-Men, scanned the Hulk's mind and discovered that Banner was in control and the Hulk posed no threat, which was soon confirmed by the team. In fact, Banner has even stimulated the Hulk to hit the time barrier with the maximum strength he ever demonstrated, suggesting that Banner had never allowed the Hulk to exert so much strength before. During a battle against Thor and Iron Man, Banner also stipulated that since Hulk thought he was in a simulation, he would not hold back, which manifests again that the Hulk usually restrains his power.

**Multilingual:** Banner learned Russian while getting his Ph.D. He also speaks Austro-Bavarian.

### Weaknesses

**Gamma Radiation Draining:** The Hulk is sometimes portrayed as vulnerable to gamma radiation draining by sufficiently powerful energy manipulators. Reverting to human form may be necessary for the Hulk to recharge his gamma energy. However, the Hulk is eventually characterized as possessing high degree of immunity to this weakness. For example, the mutant Darwin was unable to drain his gamma radiation, and Hulk deliberately transferred his energy into an entire race of absorbing entities without collapsing. Even previous to these events the Hulk has displayed this potential. For example, the hero Rom was unable to cure Banner from his condition, and the Hulk intentionally overloaded the Armageddon absorption mechanism.

**Cosmic radiation:** Cosmic radiation is the "opposite" of gamma radiation. X-Ray used this fact to weaken Hulk or even transform him back into Banner. The U-Foes once even killed the Hulk with these "anti-gamma" rays and sent him to the Below-Place, but they made the mistake of constantly feeding him cosmic rays. The cosmic rays seeped into the Below-Place, got absorbed by Joe Fixit, and turned him into a Red Hulk. The Red Hulk then smashed through the Red Door that was keeping him in the Below-Place and Hulk came back to life, empowered by cosmic rays.

**Gas Inhalation:** Great doses of gas can temporarily neutralize the Hulk. However, it is not an insurmountable obstacle, since the Hulk can dissipate the gas with a powerful thunderclap, destabilizing the opponent with the resulting shockwaves. The Hulk has also occasionally resisted that.

**Adamantium and Vibranium Blades:** They have been shown capable of piercing the Hulk's skin; Wolverine, X-23, and the Black Panther's claws can pierce it. However, as the Hulk's rage increases they become progressively less effective, reaching a stage where they are completely unable to harm him.

**Adrenaline Suppression:** Adrenaline inhibitors can be administered via syringes of Adamantium and Vibranium, aiming to revert the transformation. Amplified quantities can accomplish this purpose. However, the Hulk has also withstood substances intended to sedate him by tactile contact.

**Toxic Substances:** Once, Scorpion (Carmilla Black) injected him with a toxin especially designed to counteract the efficiency of the Hulk's healing factor. However, if the Hulk gets angry enough, he can nullify this effect, as he quickly demonstrated.

**Rage Nullification:** The Hulk's rage also can be neutralized; certain individuals can calm the Hulk down. Betty Ross and Sentry successfully calmed the Hulk down in several instances. Telepaths with vast empathy potential can theoretically emulate this effect. The Inhuman Randall Jessup's ability to siphon away negative emotions makes him a particularly effective deterrent to the Hulk's rage factor.

**Strength Increasing Factor:** The Hulk normally doesn't achieve high-end strength in the first moments after his transformation. Unless there is a substantial and significant event that breaks Banner's restraints and triggers far superior amounts of adrenaline in his circulatory system, he can theoretically be defeated in earlier stages of transformation. His strength level at any given moment may still be inferior to that of his opponents.

**Magic:** Since the Hulk is empowered by dark magic, it is not properly a weakness. However, depending upon the Hulk's emotional state, his incarnation, and the power magnitude of the magic manipulator, this could be a potential threat. However, the Hulk has also been shown to be injured more easily by enchanted weapons than regular weapons.

**Special Conditions:** The Hulk can be hurt or killed by Cosmic entities and individuals with similar extraordinary levels of power. Under some conditions, he is more susceptible to mental manipulation by exceptionally powerful telepaths. In this context, the psionic control efficiency is inversely proportional to the Hulk's rage level.

## Paraphernalia

### Equipment

**BannerTech PDA:** Banner has a mobile operating system that can hack sophisticated systems within moments and seems to be controlled mentally for the most part.

**BannerTech Shield/Gamma Dome Generator:** Banner has created a gamma and old power fueled shield that protects him from most physical harm. It has been shown to protect him from beings as strong as Skaar and the Juggernaut. Banner is able to extend this shield to cover several other people and also redirect the energy to increase his strength.

**BannerTech Satchel:** Banner has a pocket teleporter in his satchel with which he can reach into his bag and grab things from his lab.

**BannerTech Wrist-Watch Teleporter:** A pocket sized teleport device Banner can spontaneously warp himself and others across vast distances with.

A molecular repulsion field that could be used to simulate levitation.

A mini electromagnetic pulse blast.

**BannerTech Nanoparticulates:** microrobotic-particles able to hack and disable technological weapons.

**BannerTech Flyspy Cams:** A spybot with hosts of scanners that are constantly performing advanced diagnostics on everyone within 50 feet of him, he also uses them to carry out thorough bioscans of a particular set of individuals under his surveillance.

Banner used to sew a survival kit into his pants so whenever he woke up, he could survive anywhere. The kit included a needle and thread, a pack of waterproof matches, and a debit card.

After joining S.H.I.E.L.D., Banner was able to build new technologies to help mankind:

* Banner has created a purification unit that could prevent all waterborne disasters for the next five years.
* Banner has made the catalytic converter, which could save countless from smoking induced cancers.
* Banner has designed a suit of his own, but its maximum capabilities are unknown. Since, unlike the Hulk, Banner cannot breathe underwater, hence the suit enables Banner to breathe in oxygen-less environments. The suit also allows him to survive absolute zero temperatures.
* Banner also has constructed a contact lens which allows him to operate it like a computer. Using this he can monitor his vital functions.

### Weapons

**Old Power Taser:** A stun gun built combining Old Strong power in conjunction with Bruce's Gamma Rays, emits pulses that are so strong the effects are measured on the Richter Scale. At a 1.4 it was able to send Logan clear across the street and according to Banner on a 6.9, it would be able to kill him.

**BannerTech Stun Gun:** Handheld electrode discharging pistol which could be utilized to paralyze and incapacitate opponents, even affecting the likes of the Red Hulk in singular uses. According to Banner, prolonged application of said tool would have overwhelmed his durability and recovery capacity, leaving him indefinitely paralyzed.

### Transportation

When he lost his ability to turn into the Hulk, Banner reversed engineered the Leader's teleportation technology and used it as a transportation device.

## Notes

* Banner's identity is publicly known; however, the public does not know Joe Fixit was the Hulk.
* Bruce Banner is a graduate of *Desert State University* in Navapo, New Mexico. His college roommate was Peter Corbeau.
* Bruce Banner is of French descent. He had an ancestor who fought for France in World War I.
* Banner is an atheist.
* Hulk was initially gray-colored but, as the gamma radiation raged through his body, it was eventually turned green. The Hulk has reverted back to his gray skin tone a couple of times.
* Through the transformation from Banner to the Hulk, his jeans or pants are generally the only item of clothing to sustain the shear forces in a muscular explosion.
* Spider-Man once managed to "defeat" the Hulk by telling a joke which made him calm down and turn to his Bruce Banner alter-ego to laugh. Another time, after Hulk was seduced by Umar, the Hulk was so satisfied that he reverted back to Bruce Banner and wouldn't turn back into Hulk.
* The fact that Bruce has turned into the Hulk without the use of anger or increased heart rate reveals that the adrenaline that Bruce uses to turn into the Hulk may simply be a catalyst, and that his transformation may be more psychological than physical. This implies that he can transform at will.
* Because of his troubled childhood and his identity disorder, Bruce is the only Hulk that does not fully control both of his forms, unlike the Red Hulk, the She-Hulk, and other Hulk entities.
* Bruce set up a benefit corporation to administer his patents in order to collect money for victims of his rampages. By the time of his death, he had used it to give 230 million dollars to victims.
* Star-Lord briefly ran into Bruce Banner in Purgatory at the time Bruce was dead following his brief resurrection in.
* Devil Hulk remembers how Spider-Man revealed his secret identity to the world, implying he was immune to Doctor Strange's spell. Bruce Banner, on the other hand, was affected and doesn't recall his identity. How the spell affected his other personalities is unknown.
* According to him, the "Hulk loves puppies." S.H.I.E.L.D. once used a bunch of them to transform him back to Banner after a mission. Similarly, the Hulk has claimed his favorite animals are dogs.
* When asked by Iron Man why build the gamma bomb, he said he wanted gamma energy to power the world but got no funds and had to transform it into a weapon to get government funds.
* An hour of his Hulk persona being in control equals to 7.3 hours of sleep to his Bruce Banner persona.