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I don't know much about the Marvel Universe, but I do know that there is/has-been more than one Hulk.

I've heard of the Red Hulk and She-Hulk. Are there others?

How many Hulks are there?

Möoz
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3 Answers3

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It depends on how you count.

There are four separate characters called "Hulk". However, there have been several very different incarnations of The Hulk (Bruce Banner); there are also a few other gamma-powered characters that aren't called Hulk but have similar powers.

The Original

The original Hulk is, of course, Bruce Banner. His most popular, familiar, and longest-running persona is as the green-skinned Hulk. This version is usually called the "Savage" Hulk, because once Banner turns into this version, he is out of control.

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However, Banner has gone through a few other iterations of the Hulk. For a period of time, he was the Grey Hulk, using the alias Mr. Fixit, where he was in full control of his mind even as Hulk. He also, on a few occasions, has "merged" his various personas together, such as his Doc Green persona (the Savage Hulk with Bruce Banner's mind).

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The Red Hulk

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This is General Thaddeus Ross, who allowed himself to be turned into a Hulk to get revenge on the Savage Hulk. Red Hulk get stronger as he absorbs energy, but he also gets hotter and can "overheat".

This Hulk no longer exists; the Doc Green version of the Hulk "cured" him of his gamma powers.

She-Hulk

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A lawyer named Jennifer Walters, who is a cousin of Bruce Banners. At one point, she received a transfusion of his blood, and it also transferred his gamma poisoning to her.

Unlike Banner, Walters has control over her transformation, and maintains her mind in her Hulk form. She tends to maintain the Hulk form most of the time. Because she seemed to have control over her Hulk, Doc Green allowed her to keep her powers.

Red She-Hulk

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Bruce Banner's ex-girlfriend, and Thaddeus Ross's daughter, Betty Ross was turned into Red She-Hulk (at the request of her father), but secretly brainwashed her to kill her father. She eventually regains control over her mind, but never really comes to grip with her Hulk persona.

Doc Green took her powers away as part of his quest to be the only gamma-powered person on Earth.

Gamma-Powered Non-Hulks

Several other characters have powers similar to The Hulk, but aren't called that. Some of the more notable:

Abomination

Abomination: Emil Blonsky, a frequent enemy of The Hulk. Retained his human intelligence but cannot change his body back. Still alive, AFAIK. (Also notable for being the bad-guy in The Incredible Hulk.)

Doc Samson

Doc Samson: Leonard Samson, on on-again/off-again Hulk enemy. Originally a colleague of Banners, he exposed himself to gamma radiation siphoned from Hulk and became a bulked up, though not "Hulked-out", version of himself. Currently still dead.

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Skaar: Hulk's son. Depowered by Doc Green.

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A-Bomb: One of the personae of Rick Jones. Depowered by Doc Green.

Alternate-Universe Hulks

All of the above are from the main Marvel (Earth-616) continuity. There are other variants of The Hulk that have appeared in alternate universes, including Zombie Hulk, Maestro Hulk, and Ultimate Hulk.

There are also a few variants of the other Hulks; particularly notable is Lyra, an alternate universe She-Hulk that is currently trapped on Earth-616:

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KutuluMike
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  • Excellent answer! I knew there was more than one, but daayyuumm! – Möoz Aug 31 '15 at 10:13
  • By Depowered, do u mean they are no longer Hulks? – Ingu Shama Aug 31 '15 at 10:47
  • Yes. The "merged" Doc Green persona (Savage Hulk but with Banner's mind) created a cure for the gamma poisoning, and went around forcibly curing every other gamma mutate, stopping only when he got to She-Hulk. I believe they are the only two left with powers. – KutuluMike Aug 31 '15 at 10:50
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    dark hulk , but i think he only appears in tv series – Ankit Sharma Aug 31 '15 at 10:59
  • So I take it Hulkling is completely unrelated? Just a name similarity? – David K Aug 31 '15 at 12:41
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    Hulkling is named after the Hulk but he's not human, and his powers don't come from gamma radiation. He's actually a shapeshifter. He basically "mimics" the Hulk. – KutuluMike Aug 31 '15 at 13:15
  • That's interesting. Someone told me about some encyclopedia that said that the Hulk gets "more dense" (or more indestructible?) the angrier he gets. By that notion, wouldn't the Red Hulk be weaker than Savage Hulk... always? Because he wouldn't overheat, but Red Hulk does. – Wayne Werner Aug 31 '15 at 14:34
  • I STILL wanna know why Ross doesn't have a mustache in Hulk form. I get the out-of-universe reason, but in-universe it makes no sense. Banner retains facial hair in hulk form. – Omegacron Aug 31 '15 at 14:44
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    At one point (very long ago, so it may have changed) Stan Lee explained that the form they take as their Hulk is influenced by their subconscious image of what the 'perfect strong man/woman' is like. She-Hulk looks Amazonian, Hulk looks like a bodybuilder, etc. I guess Ross doesn't like his moustache :) – KutuluMike Aug 31 '15 at 14:52
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    @Omegacron You take issue with Ross' mustache but not Banner's pants? – Ixrec Aug 31 '15 at 16:54
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    "Currently still dead" Loved it! – System Down Aug 31 '15 at 17:16
  • @Ixrec modern-day Banner's pants are made of unstable molecules like Reed Richard's suit. – KutuluMike Aug 31 '15 at 18:28
  • Sorry, I may have misread (excellent answer by the way), who brainwashed Betty? – Liath Sep 01 '15 at 08:16
  • it's a bit of a long story (took a long time for it all to come out) but: General Ross asked Leader resurrect her but he double-crossed Ross, and he and Doc Samson secretly brainwashed her to kill her dad. – KutuluMike Sep 01 '15 at 11:11
  • There was another "hulk" in The Incredible Hulk (Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno live-action TV series). He was an enemy and I think he survived but lost his powers, but I can't remember exactly or find the episode quickly. Probably not considered canon by most, but certainly an influential Hulk storyline for people of a certain age. – Todd Wilcox Sep 01 '15 at 13:04
  • Confirmed, there was another hulk in the episode "The First: Part 2". Looks like Banner could not save or cure the other hulk and I dimly remember the other hulk possibly dying in the collapse of a building at the end. – Todd Wilcox Sep 01 '15 at 13:15
  • @ToddWilcox that would come under the alternate-universe Hulks, which I didn't go into much detail. The TV show was Earth-400005. – KutuluMike Sep 01 '15 at 14:28
  • I hope I didn't come across sounding like I thought your answer was incomplete. The original question mentions "The Marvel Universe" and I wouldn't argue with anyone thinking the 70s TV does not qualify. I just wanted to throw in another "hulk" I knew about for posterity. – Todd Wilcox Sep 01 '15 at 14:38
  • It's interesting that all of the females in all of those pictures are wearing what could be generously described as beach-wear. Gotta love the comic-books. – Valorum Apr 18 '16 at 16:58
  • @Valorum Most of the men are wearing less clothing than the women. – DCShannon Oct 06 '16 at 20:33
  • @DCShannon - And while that's true, the main difference is that the men are depicted in poses of action and manliness whereas the women are invariably depicted as sexual objects - https://i.embed.ly/1/display/resize?key=1e6a1a1efdb011df84894040444cdc60&url=http%3A%2F%2F33.media.tumblr.com%2Fb3317f17888f23970803a7d94f87e373%2Ftumblr_mmfyjqDngb1so0hvpo1_500.jpg&width=810 – Valorum Oct 06 '16 at 20:47
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Incredible Hulk/Savage Hulk

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She Hulk

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Savage She Hulk

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Grey Hulk/Joe Fixit

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Maestro Hulk

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Skarr, Son of Hulk

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Professor Hulk

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Rick Jones

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Red Hulk

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Red She Hulk

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Zombie Hulk

enter image description here enter image description here Hulked Out Heroes

Wad Cheber
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    The last one (Hulked Out Heroes) both scares me and excites me! – Möoz Aug 31 '15 at 04:02
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    Also, The Inevitable Zombie-Hulkocalypse! – Möoz Aug 31 '15 at 04:03
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    In that last one, Marvel missed an opportunity to say "Huklamania Runs Wild". – Liesmith Aug 31 '15 at 11:39
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    There was the Hulk that was created when Banner and Hulk travelled back in time to the Gamma Bomb explosion and Hulk was exposed to the explosion and even further Hulked out. He had spikes and all sorts of crazy stuff. This was fairly recently during Mark Waid's run. – Splitting Adam Aug 31 '15 at 14:54
  • @Liesmith Isn'r there an extra "a" in "Hulk-A-mania", wouldn't "HulkMania" be better? Probably some kinda copyright issue with the real life comic character Hulkster. – Xen2050 Apr 19 '16 at 17:38
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In addition to the number of Hulks already mentioned, it it worth noting that Bruce Banner has a somewhat-infinite number of hulks within his subconscious that could emerge, each a metaphor for a different aspect of his personality. It just so happens that Savage Hulk and Joe-Fixit are the strongest entities of his subconscious and thus always "win" to be released into the world. A couple other noteworthy manifestations that have not been (or very rarely) released are 'Devil Hulk' and 'Guilt Hulk'. This 'subconscious' story-line came about in the early 90s during Peter David's run, I believe. There is a great panel explaining this all in 'Hulk: The Incredible Guide', though I cannot find a picture online.

sandro
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