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Description
Overview: Despite their willingness to put their lives on the line for others, superheroes have not always faired particularly well when it comes to the press. Whether it be personally or politically motivated, some journalists clearly have a distaste for such things. Spider-Man's old clashes with the Daily Bugle have been the subject of several books by this point. One hero that has particularly struggled with his public image is the Incredible Hulk, the monstrous and short-tempered alter of Doctor Bruce Banner who was ironically given his name by the very news sources that slandered him. Though ultimately a kind-hearted and truly heroic being, the Hulk's struggles with the media led to him and Banner being forced to go on the run for years, though fortunately for them their acceptance into the Avengers has greatly improved their public image.

History: Though many people (including Bruce Banner himself) only became aware of the Hulk after he took the form of a big green giant, the truth is that he had been present for much of Banner's life. Bruce's early childhood was tumultuous and miserable, his vile father Brian Banner being physically abusive towards both him and his mother Rebecca. This led to Bruce developing Dissociative Identity Disorder, with the Hulk being his only known alter (and obviously only being coupled with a physical transformation after the gamma bomb). Eventually, Rebecca attempted to escape Brian’s clutches alongside Bruce only to be murdered by her husband, an act which finally landed Brian in jail where he remained until the end of his life. After his mother's death, Bruce was adopted by his uncle Morris Walters, who proved to be much more of a father to Bruce than Brian had ever been and gave the boy a safe and happy home for the remainder of his childhood. Though the Hulk would emerge for a short amount of time and only very occasionally when Bruce got particularly angry or outraged (and completely unbeknownst to Bruce, who initially had no recollection of anything the Hulk did due to dissociative amnesia), this did not hold Banner back from success, his astonishing intelligence allowing him to become a well-respected nuclear physicist when he reached adulthood. Eventually, ten months before Tony Stark escaped from the Ten Rings and became Iron Man, Bruce was summoned to consult on a project in New Mexico for the US military under General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross: the Gamma Bomb, an atomic bomb that uniquely utilised gamma radiation (a specialist subject of Bruce’s) which was hoped would serve as a deterrent to Dagan Shah and stop the war in Sharzhad before the US was forced to get involved. Banner and Ross would observe the first proper test of the Gamma Bomb from a high-tech military bunker able to resist the destructive force and deadly radiation of the new weapon. Though all went swimmingly at first, disaster soon struck when a teenager named Rick Jones, after being dared by his friends, ran onto the testing site after the Gamma Bomb had already been launched, forcing Bruce to leave the bunker to get Jones to safety before the bomb detonated. Banner was only just able to get Jones out of the Gamma Bomb’s blast radius before he was blown off his feet by the impact, and though he survived the ordeal he was quickly rushed to a hospital in the nearby town of Jericho after Rick carried Bruce back to the bunker. That night, a startling metamorphosis took place right before the eyes of the nurses who attended to Banner: the Hulk, somehow mutated by the Gamma Bomb to the point where he was able to manifest whenever Bruce got remotely angry and able to twist Banner’s body into a much more monstrous and muscular form, emerged from Banner as the scientist stewed over Ross’ failure to halt the Gamma Bomb test. Unable to control his newfound strength and scared and confused by his new form, the Hulk lashed out at the world around him and devastated Jericho, only reverting back to Bruce when he realised he was hurting the people around him. Banner, horrified by the destruction and surrounded by people attempting to stone him to death for being a monster, was forced to flee Jericho, only discovering just what exactly had happened a few hours later when watching the news at a nearby hotel. Bruce was now utterly terrified by the Hulk, and he certainly wasn’t the only one: the US government, disturbed by the Hulk’s rampage through Jericho and realising how there was no way they could possibly look good if they didn’t move to stop the monster they had accidentally created, assembled an elite division of the US army called the Hulkbusters to track the beast down. Thunderbolt Ross himself, spurred on by the anger and humiliation of almost being court-martialled for the failed Gamma Bomb test and feeling guilty for his role in the Hulk’s creation, would lead the unit. Now a wanted fugitive, Bruce spent the next few years of his life moving from place to place across the USA, using a variety of aliases such as “Robert Bixby” and “David Bradburn” and taking up nondescript jobs he was vastly underqualified for in any town or city he could find. Each time, the Hulk would inevitably emerge, and immediately after his alter manifested Banner would flee the area as the Hulkbusters inevitably rumbled in. Though Bruce never stopped searching for a cure for his condition (at one point even tracking down famous radiation therapist Doctor Jeffrey Clive and essentially begging him to get rid of the Hulk only to be turned down), his attempts always failed, and he was left a lonely man trapped in a seemingly never-ending cycle of misery by his experiences. The Hulk, however, was doing reasonably well, learning to control his power more and more each time he emerged and even going out of his way to help any people or animals who were in trouble. In fact, even during the “monster’s” rampage through Jericho, he had not taken a single life at any point during his existence. Though the media’s overly negative portrayal of the Hulk blinded Bruce to his alter’s benevolence for some time, he would finally discover the truth after arriving in New York City, when a young woman named Christa Klein (who had come to the city whilst on break from her college studies to visit some old friends) came up to Bruce at a restaurant and thanked him for what the Hulk had done for her. Klein’s family had been indebted to the Maggia but the Hulk had managed to dismantle their operations when Bruce visited Klein’s hometown of Wadsworth, Ohio, allowing Klein’s parents to pay her tuition for Virginia’s distinguished Culver Institute where she was now fulfilling her dream of studying Law. Bruce was surprised that the Hulk had had such a positive effect on someone, and, after some research, realised that his alter had been assisting others throughout his travels across the United States, from helping to prevent a cave-in near a nuclear power plant in California to saving other survivors of a plane crash in Arizona from a pack of ravenous wolves. Perhaps, Bruce thought, it was time to try cooperating and co-existing with the Hulk rather than trying to get rid of him. To that end, Bruce got in contact with the famously eccentric psychiatrist Doctor Leonard Samson, who helped Banner and the Hulk begin the process of communicating with each other which eventually led to them going into a state of co-consciousness. Though Bruce still kept a low profile during this period, he still let the Hulk emerge to deal with any crimes he stumbled across so long as the jade giant kept to the shadows, the two’s state of co-consciousness allowing Banner to bare witness to the Hulk’s kindness and heroism and thus realise that the Hulk truly could and should be a force for good. For a few months, Bruce and the Hulk were able to keep out of the media’s crosshairs, but events outside of their control would soon force them back into the spotlight…
Said events were the unleashing of Graviton and the subsequent battle against him, the Hulk being the last hero to enter the conflict and surprising (and terrifying) everyone present when he burst forth from Banner and engaged the supervillain in combat. Despite Banner and the Hulk’s desire to stay out of the limelight, they could not stand idly by whilst Graviton threatened innocent people and entered the fray with nary a second thought, and like the other heroes who had fought against the gravity-manipulating madman they were welcomed onto the Avengers. Though initially reluctant to work alongside his fellow superheroes due to fearing his presence would worsen their reputations, Bruce quickly found himself bonding with his teammates and the public image of himself and the Hulk improving due to most of the world finally baring witness to the green goliath’s more heroic actions. Conversely, the other Avengers soon warmed up to the Hulk despite his alarming appearance and reputation, with the Wasp even creating a vibrantly purple pair of pants out of unstable molecules to serve as the Hulk’s superhero costume (and which also fulfilled the purpose of preventing Bruce being left in the nude by the Hulk stretching his pants to an unusual size whenever the jolly green giant emerged). Though the world remained somewhat wary of them, Bruce and the Hulk’s time on the Avengers led to them swiftly becoming just as beloved as their teammates.

Bruce and the Hulk continue to serve on the Avengers today, with Banner serving as the Avengers’ scientific consultant whilst Hulk provides the muscle (though obviously his sheer size and strength make it impractical to bring him on certain missions). The two of them even actually live in Avengers Mansion alongside Captain America, as Tony Stark was eager to provide Bruce and the Hulk with a permanent home of their own after all they had been through. Despite the constant battles and desperate bids at world domination that Bruce and the Hulk are usually involved with, the two have finally managed to find the peace they’ve always wanted, always surrounded by friends and with the media (and the Hulkbusters, after Bruce’s cousin Jennifer Walters helped to defend him in a court case against them) finally off their backs. Not even General Ross can pursue his obsessive vendetta against the Hulk any longer: to make a long story short, he ultimately transformed into the monstrous Red Hulk, and was defeated and de-powered by the Hulk after a ferocious battle. Though both Bruce and the Hulk have endured a harsh existence since the day the Gamma Bomb went off, it’s not unreasonable to say that the two of them may have finally reached their happy ending, and the pair finally seem to be content with their lot in life.

Powers, abilities and weaknesses: When it comes to the Avengers, it’s safe to say that Hulk is the strongest one there is. Outranking even Thor in terms of raw power, the Hulk's strength is truly astonishing, with the jolly green giant being able to toss aside trucks and helicopters with terrifying ease. One of the Hulk's most impressive feats is his ability to jump great distances using his deceptively powerful legs, and even at his weakest he is capable of leaping three miles in a single bound. The Hulk's strength is made even more dangerous by his short temper: the angrier the Hulk gets, the stronger he gets, his increasing rage (and thus increasing strength) signified by his skin glowing an increasingly intense neon green. The upper limits of Hulk’s power remain unknown, though seeing as he’s capable of shattering a house in a single punch when suitably incensed it’s safe to say that most people don’t want to find out. As well as his famously immense strength, the Hulk has superb durability and a potent healing factor, with even tank blasts only barely able to scratch his thick skin and the Hulk’s regenerative abilities being fast enough to regrow entire limbs in just a few minutes if he ever is significantly harmed. Though he can still feel pain, these abilities make it extremely difficult to bring the Hulk down, and he can take just as much punishment as he can dish out on his enemies. By this point there is significant doubt amongst the general population as to whether the Hulk can actually be killed at all. On top of all this, the Hulk also wields the power to absorb Gamma radiation, an ability he has used much more rarely than the others. Though this Gamma absorption has little use in most battles, the Hulk has used it to clear heavily irradiated areas so his fellow Avengers to safely pass through and to de-power the Red Hulk. Even in these instances the practicality of this ability is rather limited, as absorbing enough Gamma radiation to revert Red Hulk back to Ross led to the Hulk almost entering a nuclear meltdown and thus he has not risked using it on other hostile Gamma mutates. All of these powers and abilities add up to make the Hulk a truly formidable and daunting opponent for any unfortunate supercriminals who happen to piss him off, and he has been the deciding factor in the Avengers gaining victory on more than one occasion.

Though the Hulk is still one of the most powerful and dangerous creatures on the planet, even an entity as strong as he is has weaknesses. Firstly, whilst the Hulk cannot be stopped, he can be slowed down, at least temporarily. Sticky foam has proven to be effective at temporarily containing the Hulk in the past, albeit it usually just succeeds in aggravating the Hulk even further and he typically quickly breaks free from such restraints. Large amounts of certain gases such as carbon dioxide and even cosmic rays have also been used to stall the Hulk, but never for very long. There is also the fact that Bruce Banner is far easier to kill than his alter: whilst Bruce is a genius scientist and has at least some knowledge on martial arts (owing to some training from Captain America), he lacks the Hulk’s strength, durability and regenerative powers, and a number of attempted assassins from HYDRA operatives to Maggia hitmen have tried to put a bullet in Banner’s head in order to kill off his alter over the years. Fortunately for Bruce, the Hulk has a habit of emerging just in the nick of time when danger is nearby, but the jade giant cannot detect every threat and there have been some very close calls. Nevertheless, the Hulk is still an incredibly dangerous adversary, and only a handful of individuals have even come remotely close to actually defeating him.

Personality: Despite being the alter of a towering behemoth of rage and strength who comes out whenever he gets angry, Bruce Banner himself is fairly relaxed these days thanks to his sessions with Doc Samson and his contentedness with his current life. People who meet Banner for the first time are often surprised by Bruce’s calmness: he frequently meditates and is generally quite placid and patient when interacting with others. Banner is also blessed with an amazing intellect, being considered one of the world’s foremost experts in nuclear physics and well-versed enough in several other scientific disciplines that he serves as the Avengers’ usual scientific consultant even if the subject at hand does not involve radiation. It’s not just science that Bruce is enlightened towards, however: his time as a fugitive has left him with an excellent knowledge of the geography of the USA, and the many occupations he took on during that period allows Bruce to more easily see the perspectives of others. The most surprising thing about Bruce, however, is his rather spiritual view of the world, particularly when it comes to the Hulk. Prior to the Gamma Bomb, Bruce scoffed at notions of the mystical and unworldly, but, after bearing witness to multiple Gamma mutates and effectively becoming one himself, he has started to believe there is much more to life than just the material plain. Due to the odd connection between the personalities and desires of Gamma mutates and the forms they take upon mutation, Bruce believes that Gamma radiation has some magical properties connected to the minds of those it mutates and which science cannot explain. Though not too knowledgeable on the art of magic itself, Bruce has been able to work with a few magic-based superheroes over the years to decipher the mystical effects of Gamma radiation, and his research on the subject has been utterly groundbreaking. Easily one of the greatest scientific minds of his generation as well as a truly peaceful and empathetic human being, Bruce Banner is just as valuable to the Avengers as his green-skinned alter.
In contrast to Banner, the Hulk is best described as a very short-tempered toddler in the body of a towering monster. This is best seen by the Hulk’s speech: he always refers to himself in the third person, avoids using any and all articles such as “a”, “an” and “the” and struggles to pronounce long and complicated words. His sense of humour is also notably childish and immature, with the Hulk being easily amused by his teammates’ pratfalls and even breaking out into raucous laughter at simple children’s cartoons and puppet shows. Despite his short fuse and liking of somewhat cruel forms of comedy, the Hulk is perhaps even more kind-hearted than Bruce is, always willing to step in if innocent people are threatened and being especially kind and gentle around animals. He is also a loyal and dependable ally, and it’s very telling that the angriest he’s ever gotten was due to the Red Hulk almost killing his fellow Avengers. Despite his frightening appearance, the Hulk is still a truly heroic and kind-hearted creature, and even in his worst moments he still always backs down if he ends up hurting an innocent person.

Relationships: The relationship between Banner and the Hulk has a long and complex history and hasn’t always been a positive one, but, to make a long story short, has now settled into a strange, almost brotherly friendship. Due to their state of co-consciousness, the two have now accepted one another and actually seem to get along quite well, with Hulk being very protective of “puny Banner” and vice versa. Whilst the Hulk emerges when Bruce is in any sort of physical danger, Banner very much cares for the big green giant’s feelings and is more than willing to chew out anyone who upsets him. Due to being two personalities in the same system, it’s safe to say that Bruce and the Hulk know each other better than anyone else, and now that their relationship is on far more pleasant terms they are always willing to look out for each other.
Apart from each other, Bruce and the Hulk’s closest relationships are easily with their fellow Avengers. They get along very well with every member of the Avengers’ main roster, most notably Iron Man (whom Bruce relates to due to their shared passion for science and dark pasts) and Thor (with whom the Hulk has a vitriolic but ultimately delightful and entertainingly competitive friendship). The Avenger the two have the closest friendship with, however, is one of the Reserves: their cousin Jennifer Walters, better known as She-Hulk. Bruce and Jen spent most of their childhoods together, and therefore seem far more like siblings than cousins, whilst Jen was absolutely delighted to finally meet the Hulk when she and Banner finally reunited following the Avengers’ formation (visiting her whilst Bruce was a fugitive was obviously far too much of a risk). The cousins have only grown closer since then due to Bruce’s role in Jen’s transformation into She-Hulk and Jen helping her cousins with getting the Hulkbusters off their backs. Outside of the Avengers, both Bruce and the Hulk have a close bond with Rick Jones, who they were able to keep contact with after all this time. Now an adult working for the Captain America Network, Rick turned his life around due to being inspired by Banner’s heroism during the Gamma Bomb test, and helped his rescuer numerous times whilst Bruce was on the run. Overall, the once lonely Bruce Banner (and his big green alter) are now surrounded by a circle of friends who are there to support both of them.

As an Avenger and a former fugitive, Bruce Banner and the Hulk both have a myriad of enemies who are simply too numerous to list here. One individual, however, stands head-and-shoulders over the rest of their rogues gallery: Thunderbolt Ross. Obsessed with the Hulk to the point where Captain Ahab would call it a bit much, Ross’ pursuit of the Hulk did not stop even after the Hulkbusters were shut down by the US government, the mad general simply leading the last willing remnants of the group himself without government supervision. Ross’ ironic transformation into the Red Hulk proved there was no depth he would not sink to if it meant finally defeating his green-skinned adversary, and it’s safe to say that a weight was lifted off of Bruce and the Hulk’s shoulders when Ross was finally defeated and hauled off to jail. It’s hoped that his time in prison will finally temper the general’s obsession with the jade giant, but only time will tell.

Though most members of the general public would still rather not encounter him on a dark night, the Hulk’s reputation has improved significantly since his days as a fugitive. The jolly green giant’s involvement with the Avengers has allowed Bruce and the Hulk to finally give their side of the story, and most news sources now report on the pair in a more positive light. Many news corporations (the Daily Bugle in particular) have made a point of retracting their most inflammatory claims about the Hulk, and one particular reporter, WHiH World News’ Jackie McGee, has even publicly apologised to Banner and his alter for her obsessive coverage of them both during their fugitive years. The US government and military have also rightfully been criticised for their actions during the Gamma Bomb test and whilst assembling the Hulkbusters, particularly General Ross’ involvement in both. Whilst a tiny minority still view the Hulk as a monster, for the most part he is now rightfully celebrated as a hero, something that both he and Bruce Banner are content with.

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References: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Hulk, the classic 616 Hulk, Green-Mamba ’s take on the Hulk from his Greater Marvel Universe project, Immortal Hulk, shirtless men and my own imagination
The Hulk belongs to Marvel
I hope I represented DID well enough in this entry and if any of you have it yourselves or know someone who does please let me know if there’s anything I should get rid of! I’m aware Hulk’s proportions probably look a little strange here, I will admit to making his legs a bit shorter than usual as I liked making him much more ape-like and top-heavy. I also must thank my proofreading friend (who I shall just be calling N in the future for the sake of convenience) for helping me write this entry’s history section once again and the friend who suggested that Peggy be assassinated whilst saving a world leader (who I’ll be calling B for now on) for suggesting Hulk’s bulging blood vessels. This easily has to be the most meaty and complex of all the MU entries so far (though I suppose the huge amount of different things going on here is quite fitting given who it’s about lmao) and I hope the others aren’t nearly as stuffed full lmao.

EDIT: Just a minor change, I switched Christa’s uni from ESU to the Culver Institute, the location where Banner gained his powers in the Incredible Hulk TV series (several references to which were already littered throughout this entry) and which was suggested by N

Description
Overview: Despite their willingness to put their lives on the line for others, superheroes have not always faired particularly well when it comes to the press. Whether it be personally or politically motivated, some journalists clearly have a distaste for such things. Spider-Man's old clashes with the Daily Bugle have been the subject of several books by this point. One hero that has particularly struggled with his public image is the Incredible Hulk, the monstrous and short-tempered alter of Doctor Bruce Banner who was ironically given his name by the very news sources that slandered him. Though ultimately a kind-hearted and truly heroic being, the Hulk's struggles with the media led to him and Banner being forced to go on the run for years, though fortunately for them their acceptance into the Avengers has greatly improved their public image.

History: Though many people (including Bruce Banner himself) only became aware of the Hulk after he took the form of a big green giant, the truth is that he had been present for much of Banner's life. Bruce's early childhood was tumultuous and miserable, his vile father Brian Banner being physically abusive towards both him and his mother Rebecca. This led to Bruce developing Dissociative Identity Disorder, with the Hulk being his only known alter (and obviously only being coupled with a physical transformation after the gamma bomb). Eventually, Rebecca attempted to escape Brian’s clutches alongside Bruce only to be murdered by her husband, an act which finally landed Brian in jail where he remained until the end of his life. After his mother's death, Bruce was adopted by his uncle Morris Walters, who proved to be much more of a father to Bruce than Brian had ever been and gave the boy a safe and happy home for the remainder of his childhood. Though the Hulk would emerge for a short amount of time and only very occasionally when Bruce got particularly angry or outraged (and completely unbeknownst to Bruce, who initially had no recollection of anything the Hulk did due to dissociative amnesia), this did not hold Banner back from success, his astonishing intelligence allowing him to become a well-respected nuclear physicist when he reached adulthood. Eventually, ten months before Tony Stark escaped from the Ten Rings and became Iron Man, Bruce was summoned to consult on a project in New Mexico for the US military under General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross: the Gamma Bomb, an atomic bomb that uniquely utilised gamma radiation (a specialist subject of Bruce’s) which was hoped would serve as a deterrent to Dagan Shah and stop the war in Sharzhad before the US was forced to get involved. Banner and Ross would observe the first proper test of the Gamma Bomb from a high-tech military bunker able to resist the destructive force and deadly radiation of the new weapon. Though all went swimmingly at first, disaster soon struck when a teenager named Rick Jones, after being dared by his friends, ran onto the testing site after the Gamma Bomb had already been launched, forcing Bruce to leave the bunker to get Jones to safety before the bomb detonated. Banner was only just able to get Jones out of the Gamma Bomb’s blast radius before he was blown off his feet by the impact, and though he survived the ordeal he was quickly rushed to a hospital in the nearby town of Jericho after Rick carried Bruce back to the bunker. That night, a startling metamorphosis took place right before the eyes of the nurses who attended to Banner: the Hulk, somehow mutated by the Gamma Bomb to the point where he was able to manifest whenever Bruce got remotely angry and able to twist Banner’s body into a much more monstrous and muscular form, emerged from Banner as the scientist stewed over Ross’ failure to halt the Gamma Bomb test. Unable to control his newfound strength and scared and confused by his new form, the Hulk lashed out at the world around him and devastated Jericho, only reverting back to Bruce when he realised he was hurting the people around him. Banner, horrified by the destruction and surrounded by people attempting to stone him to death for being a monster, was forced to flee Jericho, only discovering just what exactly had happened a few hours later when watching the news at a nearby hotel. Bruce was now utterly terrified by the Hulk, and he certainly wasn’t the only one: the US government, disturbed by the Hulk’s rampage through Jericho and realising how there was no way they could possibly look good if they didn’t move to stop the monster they had accidentally created, assembled an elite division of the US army called the Hulkbusters to track the beast down. Thunderbolt Ross himself, spurred on by the anger and humiliation of almost being court-martialled for the failed Gamma Bomb test and feeling guilty for his role in the Hulk’s creation, would lead the unit. Now a wanted fugitive, Bruce spent the next few years of his life moving from place to place across the USA, using a variety of aliases such as “Robert Bixby” and “David Bradburn” and taking up nondescript jobs he was vastly underqualified for in any town or city he could find. Each time, the Hulk would inevitably emerge, and immediately after his alter manifested Banner would flee the area as the Hulkbusters inevitably rumbled in. Though Bruce never stopped searching for a cure for his condition (at one point even tracking down famous radiation therapist Doctor Jeffrey Clive and essentially begging him to get rid of the Hulk only to be turned down), his attempts always failed, and he was left a lonely man trapped in a seemingly never-ending cycle of misery by his experiences. The Hulk, however, was doing reasonably well, learning to control his power more and more each time he emerged and even going out of his way to help any people or animals who were in trouble. In fact, even during the “monster’s” rampage through Jericho, he had not taken a single life at any point during his existence. Though the media’s overly negative portrayal of the Hulk blinded Bruce to his alter’s benevolence for some time, he would finally discover the truth after arriving in New York City, when a young woman named Christa Klein (who had come to the city whilst on break from her college studies to visit some old friends) came up to Bruce at a restaurant and thanked him for what the Hulk had done for her. Klein’s family had been indebted to the Maggia but the Hulk had managed to dismantle their operations when Bruce visited Klein’s hometown of Wadsworth, Ohio, allowing Klein’s parents to pay her tuition for Virginia’s distinguished Culver Institute where she was now fulfilling her dream of studying Law. Bruce was surprised that the Hulk had had such a positive effect on someone, and, after some research, realised that his alter had been assisting others throughout his travels across the United States, from helping to prevent a cave-in near a nuclear power plant in California to saving other survivors of a plane crash in Arizona from a pack of ravenous wolves. Perhaps, Bruce thought, it was time to try cooperating and co-existing with the Hulk rather than trying to get rid of him. To that end, Bruce got in contact with the famously eccentric psychiatrist Doctor Leonard Samson, who helped Banner and the Hulk begin the process of communicating with each other which eventually led to them going into a state of co-consciousness. Though Bruce still kept a low profile during this period, he still let the Hulk emerge to deal with any crimes he stumbled across so long as the jade giant kept to the shadows, the two’s state of co-consciousness allowing Banner to bare witness to the Hulk’s kindness and heroism and thus realise that the Hulk truly could and should be a force for good. For a few months, Bruce and the Hulk were able to keep out of the media’s crosshairs, but events outside of their control would soon force them back into the spotlight…
Said events were the unleashing of Graviton and the subsequent battle against him, the Hulk being the last hero to enter the conflict and surprising (and terrifying) everyone present when he burst forth from Banner and engaged the supervillain in combat. Despite Banner and the Hulk’s desire to stay out of the limelight, they could not stand idly by whilst Graviton threatened innocent people and entered the fray with nary a second thought, and like the other heroes who had fought against the gravity-manipulating madman they were welcomed onto the Avengers. Though initially reluctant to work alongside his fellow superheroes due to fearing his presence would worsen their reputations, Bruce quickly found himself bonding with his teammates and the public image of himself and the Hulk improving due to most of the world finally baring witness to the green goliath’s more heroic actions. Conversely, the other Avengers soon warmed up to the Hulk despite his alarming appearance and reputation, with the Wasp even creating a vibrantly purple pair of pants out of unstable molecules to serve as the Hulk’s superhero costume (and which also fulfilled the purpose of preventing Bruce being left in the nude by the Hulk stretching his pants to an unusual size whenever the jolly green giant emerged). Though the world remained somewhat wary of them, Bruce and the Hulk’s time on the Avengers led to them swiftly becoming just as beloved as their teammates.

Bruce and the Hulk continue to serve on the Avengers today, with Banner serving as the Avengers’ scientific consultant whilst Hulk provides the muscle (though obviously his sheer size and strength make it impractical to bring him on certain missions). The two of them even actually live in Avengers Mansion alongside Captain America, as Tony Stark was eager to provide Bruce and the Hulk with a permanent home of their own after all they had been through. Despite the constant battles and desperate bids at world domination that Bruce and the Hulk are usually involved with, the two have finally managed to find the peace they’ve always wanted, always surrounded by friends and with the media (and the Hulkbusters, after Bruce’s cousin Jennifer Walters helped to defend him in a court case against them) finally off their backs. Not even General Ross can pursue his obsessive vendetta against the Hulk any longer: to make a long story short, he ultimately transformed into the monstrous Red Hulk, and was defeated and de-powered by the Hulk after a ferocious battle. Though both Bruce and the Hulk have endured a harsh existence since the day the Gamma Bomb went off, it’s not unreasonable to say that the two of them may have finally reached their happy ending, and the pair finally seem to be content with their lot in life.

Powers, abilities and weaknesses: When it comes to the Avengers, it’s safe to say that Hulk is the strongest one there is. Outranking even Thor in terms of raw power, the Hulk's strength is truly astonishing, with the jolly green giant being able to toss aside trucks and helicopters with terrifying ease. One of the Hulk's most impressive feats is his ability to jump great distances using his deceptively powerful legs, and even at his weakest he is capable of leaping three miles in a single bound. The Hulk's strength is made even more dangerous by his short temper: the angrier the Hulk gets, the stronger he gets, his increasing rage (and thus increasing strength) signified by his skin glowing an increasingly intense neon green. The upper limits of Hulk’s power remain unknown, though seeing as he’s capable of shattering a house in a single punch when suitably incensed it’s safe to say that most people don’t want to find out. As well as his famously immense strength, the Hulk has superb durability and a potent healing factor, with even tank blasts only barely able to scratch his thick skin and the Hulk’s regenerative abilities being fast enough to regrow entire limbs in just a few minutes if he ever is significantly harmed. Though he can still feel pain, these abilities make it extremely difficult to bring the Hulk down, and he can take just as much punishment as he can dish out on his enemies. By this point there is significant doubt amongst the general population as to whether the Hulk can actually be killed at all. On top of all this, the Hulk also wields the power to absorb Gamma radiation, an ability he has used much more rarely than the others. Though this Gamma absorption has little use in most battles, the Hulk has used it to clear heavily irradiated areas so his fellow Avengers to safely pass through and to de-power the Red Hulk. Even in these instances the practicality of this ability is rather limited, as absorbing enough Gamma radiation to revert Red Hulk back to Ross led to the Hulk almost entering a nuclear meltdown and thus he has not risked using it on other hostile Gamma mutates. All of these powers and abilities add up to make the Hulk a truly formidable and daunting opponent for any unfortunate supercriminals who happen to piss him off, and he has been the deciding factor in the Avengers gaining victory on more than one occasion.

Though the Hulk is still one of the most powerful and dangerous creatures on the planet, even an entity as strong as he is has weaknesses. Firstly, whilst the Hulk cannot be stopped, he can be slowed down, at least temporarily. Sticky foam has proven to be effective at temporarily containing the Hulk in the past, albeit it usually just succeeds in aggravating the Hulk even further and he typically quickly breaks free from such restraints. Large amounts of certain gases such as carbon dioxide and even cosmic rays have also been used to stall the Hulk, but never for very long. There is also the fact that Bruce Banner is far easier to kill than his alter: whilst Bruce is a genius scientist and has at least some knowledge on martial arts (owing to some training from Captain America), he lacks the Hulk’s strength, durability and regenerative powers, and a number of attempted assassins from HYDRA operatives to Maggia hitmen have tried to put a bullet in Banner’s head in order to kill off his alter over the years. Fortunately for Bruce, the Hulk has a habit of emerging just in the nick of time when danger is nearby, but the jade giant cannot detect every threat and there have been some very close calls. Nevertheless, the Hulk is still an incredibly dangerous adversary, and only a handful of individuals have even come remotely close to actually defeating him.

Personality: Despite being the alter of a towering behemoth of rage and strength who comes out whenever he gets angry, Bruce Banner himself is fairly relaxed these days thanks to his sessions with Doc Samson and his contentedness with his current life. People who meet Banner for the first time are often surprised by Bruce’s calmness: he frequently meditates and is generally quite placid and patient when interacting with others. Banner is also blessed with an amazing intellect, being considered one of the world’s foremost experts in nuclear physics and well-versed enough in several other scientific disciplines that he serves as the Avengers’ usual scientific consultant even if the subject at hand does not involve radiation. It’s not just science that Bruce is enlightened towards, however: his time as a fugitive has left him with an excellent knowledge of the geography of the USA, and the many occupations he took on during that period allows Bruce to more easily see the perspectives of others. The most surprising thing about Bruce, however, is his rather spiritual view of the world, particularly when it comes to the Hulk. Prior to the Gamma Bomb, Bruce scoffed at notions of the mystical and unworldly, but, after bearing witness to multiple Gamma mutates and effectively becoming one himself, he has started to believe there is much more to life than just the material plain. Due to the odd connection between the personalities and desires of Gamma mutates and the forms they take upon mutation, Bruce believes that Gamma radiation has some magical properties connected to the minds of those it mutates and which science cannot explain. Though not too knowledgeable on the art of magic itself, Bruce has been able to work with a few magic-based superheroes over the years to decipher the mystical effects of Gamma radiation, and his research on the subject has been utterly groundbreaking. Easily one of the greatest scientific minds of his generation as well as a truly peaceful and empathetic human being, Bruce Banner is just as valuable to the Avengers as his green-skinned alter.
In contrast to Banner, the Hulk is best described as a very short-tempered toddler in the body of a towering monster. This is best seen by the Hulk’s speech: he always refers to himself in the third person, avoids using any and all articles such as “a”, “an” and “the” and struggles to pronounce long and complicated words. His sense of humour is also notably childish and immature, with the Hulk being easily amused by his teammates’ pratfalls and even breaking out into raucous laughter at simple children’s cartoons and puppet shows. Despite his short fuse and liking of somewhat cruel forms of comedy, the Hulk is perhaps even more kind-hearted than Bruce is, always willing to step in if innocent people are threatened and being especially kind and gentle around animals. He is also a loyal and dependable ally, and it’s very telling that the angriest he’s ever gotten was due to the Red Hulk almost killing his fellow Avengers. Despite his frightening appearance, the Hulk is still a truly heroic and kind-hearted creature, and even in his worst moments he still always backs down if he ends up hurting an innocent person.

Relationships: The relationship between Banner and the Hulk has a long and complex history and hasn’t always been a positive one, but, to make a long story short, has now settled into a strange, almost brotherly friendship. Due to their state of co-consciousness, the two have now accepted one another and actually seem to get along quite well, with Hulk being very protective of “puny Banner” and vice versa. Whilst the Hulk emerges when Bruce is in any sort of physical danger, Banner very much cares for the big green giant’s feelings and is more than willing to chew out anyone who upsets him. Due to being two personalities in the same system, it’s safe to say that Bruce and the Hulk know each other better than anyone else, and now that their relationship is on far more pleasant terms they are always willing to look out for each other.
Apart from each other, Bruce and the Hulk’s closest relationships are easily with their fellow Avengers. They get along very well with every member of the Avengers’ main roster, most notably Iron Man (whom Bruce relates to due to their shared passion for science and dark pasts) and Thor (with whom the Hulk has a vitriolic but ultimately delightful and entertainingly competitive friendship). The Avenger the two have the closest friendship with, however, is one of the Reserves: their cousin Jennifer Walters, better known as She-Hulk. Bruce and Jen spent most of their childhoods together, and therefore seem far more like siblings than cousins, whilst Jen was absolutely delighted to finally meet the Hulk when she and Banner finally reunited following the Avengers’ formation (visiting her whilst Bruce was a fugitive was obviously far too much of a risk). The cousins have only grown closer since then due to Bruce’s role in Jen’s transformation into She-Hulk and Jen helping her cousins with getting the Hulkbusters off their backs. Outside of the Avengers, both Bruce and the Hulk have a close bond with Rick Jones, who they were able to keep contact with after all this time. Now an adult working for the Captain America Network, Rick turned his life around due to being inspired by Banner’s heroism during the Gamma Bomb test, and helped his rescuer numerous times whilst Bruce was on the run. Overall, the once lonely Bruce Banner (and his big green alter) are now surrounded by a circle of friends who are there to support both of them.

As an Avenger and a former fugitive, Bruce Banner and the Hulk both have a myriad of enemies who are simply too numerous to list here. One individual, however, stands head-and-shoulders over the rest of their rogues gallery: Thunderbolt Ross. Obsessed with the Hulk to the point where Captain Ahab would call it a bit much, Ross’ pursuit of the Hulk did not stop even after the Hulkbusters were shut down by the US government, the mad general simply leading the last willing remnants of the group himself without government supervision. Ross’ ironic transformation into the Red Hulk proved there was no depth he would not sink to if it meant finally defeating his green-skinned adversary, and it’s safe to say that a weight was lifted off of Bruce and the Hulk’s shoulders when Ross was finally defeated and hauled off to jail. It’s hoped that his time in prison will finally temper the general’s obsession with the jade giant, but only time will tell.

Though most members of the general public would still rather not encounter him on a dark night, the Hulk’s reputation has improved significantly since his days as a fugitive. The jolly green giant’s involvement with the Avengers has allowed Bruce and the Hulk to finally give their side of the story, and most news sources now report on the pair in a more positive light. Many news corporations (the Daily Bugle in particular) have made a point of retracting their most inflammatory claims about the Hulk, and one particular reporter, WHiH World News’ Jackie McGee, has even publicly apologised to Banner and his alter for her obsessive coverage of them both during their fugitive years. The US government and military have also rightfully been criticised for their actions during the Gamma Bomb test and whilst assembling the Hulkbusters, particularly General Ross’ involvement in both. Whilst a tiny minority still view the Hulk as a monster, for the most part he is now rightfully celebrated as a hero, something that both he and Bruce Banner are content with.

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References: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Hulk, the classic 616 Hulk, Green-Mamba ’s take on the Hulk from his Greater Marvel Universe project, Immortal Hulk, shirtless men and my own imagination
The Hulk belongs to Marvel
I hope I represented DID well enough in this entry and if any of you have it yourselves or know someone who does please let me know if there’s anything I should get rid of! I’m aware Hulk’s proportions probably look a little strange here, I will admit to making his legs a bit shorter than usual as I liked making him much more ape-like and top-heavy. I also must thank my proofreading friend (who I shall just be calling N in the future for the sake of convenience) for helping me write this entry’s history section once again and the friend who suggested that Peggy be assassinated whilst saving a world leader (who I’ll be calling B for now on) for suggesting Hulk’s bulging blood vessels. This easily has to be the most meaty and complex of all the MU entries so far (though I suppose the huge amount of different things going on here is quite fitting given who it’s about lmao) and I hope the others aren’t nearly as stuffed full lmao.

EDIT: Just a minor change, I switched Christa’s uni from ESU to the Culver Institute, the location where Banner gained his powers in the Incredible Hulk TV series (several references to which were already littered throughout this entry) and which was suggested by N