Marvel Comics: Breaking down 8 of the Incredible Hulk’s personalities
By Mark Lynch
Hulk is Hulk
This is the Hulk that everyone knows. The one who smashes everything, talks in the third person and is difficult to control. This is the version that’s been around the longest. When the Avengers debuted in 1963, this was the Hulk we saw. One thing that people may not get is that he’s not dumb.
Sure, this Hulk isn’t winning any intelligence awards, but he’s not a dunce. If he was just a dumb brute, he wouldn’t win as many fights as he does. A perfect example of this was when he beat Red Hulk – he found out that the madder Red Hulk got, the hotter he got and he ultimately used this strategy to get a win. Moreover, when going up against faster fighters, Hulk finds their pattern and catches them off-guard. Villains may call him dumb, but they always regret it later.
Bruce Banner/Smart Hulk
We saw a glimpse of Smart Hulk in Avengers: Endgame. Bruce Banner keeps his intelligence and the Hulk’s strength – the perfect combination of brains and brawn. With these combinations, however, comes a disadvantage: Bruce Banner isn’t a fighter. He’s a scientist. Because of this, Bruce will lose fights the Hulk normally wouldn’t. He also doesn’t get the extra boost from getting stronger when he’s angry.
Bruce is calmer than his green counterpart. Sometimes he also overanalyzes situations instead of just fighting. Of all the people on this list, Smart Hulk is the last one you want in a fight. He just doesn’t have that killer instinct.