The Hulk family has some of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. The Hulk family isn’t a literal familial relationship, although some of them are related to Bruce Banner. Instead, it includes everyone who shares Banner’s gamma lineage or condition, and it has exploded into a large, dysfunctional family. Hulk was the first, although his father, Brian Banner, had a lot to do with not only his condition but also his mental health issues. Since Bruce, everyone from his cousin to his own worst enemy has become a member of the Hulk family and has turned into monsters on their own.
From a gamma-radiated character who can break the entire planet to a genius who can outthink the rage that made him, here are the most powerful members of the Hulk family.
Brawn was a sidekick before he became a member of the Hulk family. He was a sidekick on occasion for the Hulk, but he made his name as Hercules’s sidekick. Amadeus Cho debuted in Amazing Fantasy #15 (2005) by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa. His origin is tragic, with him entering a contest where he proved to be the seventh-smartest person in the world. This caused paranoid ex-prodigy Pythagoras Dupree, who created the contest, to kill Cho’s parents in an attempt to kill Cho.
Unlike most members of the Hulk family, Cho became Hulk by choice when he built nanites to siphon the lethal gamma energy out of a dying Bruce Banner and into himself to both save Banner and keep the Hulk from exploding and killing countless people. However, while intelligent enough to keep the rage under control, he began to deal with mental health problems and finally used a second set of nanites to shrink him into a smaller Hulk, while retaining all his intelligence, ensuring he remained the smartest Hulk.
She-Hulk is Jennifer Walters, Bruce Banner’s cousin. She was a successful attorney, and while Bruce was visiting her, a mob hit was placed on her to get her off a case. Shot and dying, Jennifer received an emergency blood transfusion from Bruce, and this gave her his powers, but she maintained her intelligence. It was later shown that Hulk’s rage was based on childhood trauma, and Jennifer didn’t have those same problems. She-Hulk also had a twist, as John Byrne’s run on her title gave her the fourth-wall-breaking gimmick years before Deadpool ever existed.
Her power levels are massive. Her power was shown at its greatest in She-Hulk #7 and She-Hulk #8 (2004). The cosmically powered Champion of the Universe humiliated her in a fight. Jennifer trained with Gamora and returned to soundly defeat him in a rematch by outsmarting the seemingly unbeatable Elder of the Universe. This was a benchmark showing her strength scales with training, not just rage. She is the only Hulk-family member to have been a long-standing member of both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.
Skaar is Hulk’s son, and he has more than just gamma powering him. He was introduced to the main Marvel Universe in World War Hulk #5 (2008) and was conceived by Greg Pak and John Romita Jr. He is the son of the Hulk and Caiera the Oldstrong, born on the planet Sakaar after “Planet Hulk.” His mother died when one of Hulk’s own allies planted a bomb because he wanted to keep the Hulk in a state of rage, believing the Hulk was a warrior and a destroyer rather than a peacemaker.
Caiera was pregnant during the explosion, so Hulk believed his unborn child died. However, Skaar survived and aged rapidly. Because of his mother, he also wields Sakaar’s Old Power, an artificial imitation of the Power Cosmic engineered by the planet’s Shadow Priests. This power is said to hold enough energy to sate Galactus for a hundred thousand years. With it, he wounded the Silver Surfer and cut his own father, the Hulk, with a sword. Add in the gamma strength, and he outmatches most members of the Hulk family.
Red Hulk is General Thunderbolt Ross, a former military leader whose only goal in life was to hunt down Hulk and end his threat. He debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, as he was there when the explosion happened, and Bruce Banner became the Hulk, although he didn’t know Banner was the Hulk until years later. Ross was one of Hulk’s greatest enemies, even though he saw himself as a hero protecting the world from a monster. That made his becoming a monster ironic.
Ross debuted as Red Hulk in Hulk #1 (2008) by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness when he killed the Abomination, although his identity as Ross was kept a mystery for a long time. Red Hulk’s identity wasn’t revealed as Thunderbolt Ross until the “World War Hulks” storyline. He has one weakness: the angrier he gets, the hotter he grows, and this eventually causes him to burn out. His biggest feat of power had him absorb the Silver Surfer’s Power Cosmic, kill a herald of Galactus, and kill the Grandmaster before Galactus stripped the power.
The most powerful member of the Hulk family is still the original. He debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The origin story had Bruce Banner conducting a gamma bomb test when he noticed a teenager had entered the test area. When Banner tried to save Rick Jones, he succeeded but was caught in the explosion. Instead of killing him, it turned him into the Hulk, a creature who would change when Banner grew angry or agitated.
What makes Hulk so powerful is that he has a split personality from Banner, caused by childhood trauma from Banner’s own father, Brian Banner. However, Hulk’s powers have no ceiling, and the angrier he gets, the stronger he becomes. Abomination is stronger on a base level than Hulk, but since Hulk gets more powerful the more he rages, he has no limit and can theoretically break the entire planet if he loses control. Marvel has shown that Hulk will one day be the last survivor on Earth.
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