Bruce Banner
From Canonwars
Bruce Banner is from the Marvel Universe, specifically inhabitting the pages of The Incredible Hulk comic. He is a scientist and sometimes hero and shares his existence with his alter-ego, known as the Hulk, who has several incarnations. This other side was freed by a freak accident involving the first Gamma Bomb, ironically created by Banner himself
He is notable for the fact that he has very few limits power-wise, and that his character is infinitely malleable, as has been proven over the years in the hands of Marvel Comics writers. He was originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and is owned by Marvel Comics.
He is played in Canon Wars by Illmantrim, and his PBs(Played Bys) are Eric Bana(Bruce Banner) and Lou Ferrigno(The Hulk), and his journal can be found at purplegenius.
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Information
History
Dr. Bruce Banner was a nuclear physicist working to develop a new type of weapon called a "gamma bomb", a nuclear weapon with a high gamma radiation output, for the U.S. Government. On the day that the bomb was tested, he noticed a teenager, Rick Jones, on the test site. Banner saved the young man, but the countdown proceeded. Banner was caught in the blast and absorbed an enormous dose of gamma radiation. Rick took Banner to a hospital; it's there that he first transformed into the Hulk as the sun set.
Over the years, he has transformed again and again, the nature of the Hulk changing sometimes, from Savage and childlike, to cold and calculating, to heroic and brave. He has been hero, villain, murderer, destructive force, madman, scientist, and fugitive, and he has continued, down the years, to try to cure himself, while trying not to end up someone else's slave, or a dead man, or locked in a cage of someone else's making.
He has often spent his chances at cures in saving others, throwing away a chance at happiness to aid someone else he encounters. This is a trait that the Hulks share with the core personality. Even the most callous of them demonstrated a kind of want to help sometimes.
During recent years, he had become more and more insistent on his old claims, that he just wanted to be left alone, and yet continued to end up in situations where that wasn't possible. After the incident known as the House of M and M-Day, he finally faced this and set out to isolate himself where he could do no harm.
But to the world, it was too little, too late.
He was sought out by SHIELD, a law enforcement organization, who recruited him for a mission to save the world from a evil AI in an orbiting satellite, which, ironically, and perhaps sadly, was not the most odd adventure he ever had. He accepted, and, as the Hulk, succeeded, but when he boarded a shuttle that would supposedly bring him back to Earth, he was confronted by a recording of several so called heroes and friends, including Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, and others. They told him he caused too much damage and the world could no longer afford his presence. So they had programmed the shuttle to send him far out to another planet, where he would be alone, and live in peace until he died.
Unfortunately, he grew angry and partially wrecked the controls, sending the shuttle out of control and into a special conduit gate that sent him to a planet far away and weakened him in the process. There he was enslaved and turned into a gladiator, which he accomplished well, until he faced the Silver Surfer, who, once Hulk had freed him, in turn freed all the slaves of the planet from the control of those in charge.
He began a systematic war against them, and that war led to changes in his life that utterly altered how he looked at everything... and still Bruce had not been in control of himself this entire time, stuck within a more savage but still intelligent Hulk.
And then he returned to Earth...
Bruce comes to Purgatory shortly after these events.
Personality and behavior
The Hulk is the alter ego of Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a genius in nuclear physics. As a result of exposure to gamma radiation, Banner often becomes a large, superhumanly strong green creature. Although the Hulk is usually classified as a superhero, he and Banner share a Jekyll and Hyde-like relationship. In his most well-known incarnation, the Hulk has little intelligence nor self-control, and can cause great destruction. As a result, he has been hunted by the military and other superheroes, and as such, Banner considers the Hulk a curse.
The Hulk initially is characterized as a separate entity from Bruce Banner, a distillation of his anger that gradually develops its own personality and memories separate from Banner's.
Bruce is said to suffer from multiple personality disorder, which stems from the abuse he suffered as a child. The Hulk has many incarnations, each representing a different aspect of Banner's psyche.
-Bruce Banner
The core personality, he is an emotionally-repressed genius whose mind is so brilliant that it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test. Banner can transform into the different versions of the Hulk, whereas his alter-egos seem to be able only to transform into Bruce Banner.
-Savage Hulk
He possesses the mental capacity and temperament of a young child, and typically refers to himself in the third person. Savage Hulk often claims that he wants to be left alone, and is usually depicted as green-skinned and heavily-muscled with a loping, ape-like gait. This is possibly the most powerful incarnation as it was able to go head-to-head with the psychic being Onslaught.
-Gray Hulk/Joe Fixit
The Gray Hulk (though possibly not the original) worked for a time as a Las Vegas enforcer called Joe Fixit. He has average intelligence, although he occasionally displays knowledge and intellectual ability normally associated with Bruce Banner. He is hedonistic, cunning, arrogant, crafty, and distant with a hidden conscience. In most of his Las Vegas appearances, he appears only at night. According to the Leader, the Gray Hulk persona is strongest during the night of the new moon and weakest during the full moon; this aversion to sunlight and moonlight vanished when the Gray Hulk's night-induced transformation trigger is later removed. Although he is the smallest of the Hulks, the Gray Hulk towers over the average human. He prefers to dress in tailored suits. The Gray Hulk's base strength level is the lowest of all the "Hulk incarnations". However, this strength level can grow as he gets angry, but at a much slower pace than the other "Hulk incarnations." Despite his lower strength, Gray Hulk is able to use cunning and strategy in fights to gain the upper hand against foes expecting a savage/stupid Hulk.
-Merged Hulk
The merger of Bruce Banner and the Savage and Gray Hulks. He possessed Banner's intelligence, Joe Fixit's cunning, and the Savage Hulk's size and strength. The Merged Hulk is even prone to uttering "Hulk smash!", which is the Savage Hulk's most common catchphrase. The Merged Hulk was an associate and leader of the team of superheroes called the Pantheon. Despite his exaggerated musculature, the Merged Hulk had a relatively normal-looking face, resembling that of Bruce Banner.
-The Professor
The Professor seemed like he was the Merged Hulk, but was not, and showed signs of being a separate personality entirely, physically distinguished by having a pony tail. His intelligence makes it impossible for him to reach the rage and power level of either the Savage Hulk or Gray Hulk.
Powers
The Hulk possesses immense levels of physical strength. According to Marvel, the Hulk's "capacity for physical strength is potentially limitless due to the fact that the Hulk's strength increases proportionally with his level of great emotional stress, anger in particular" [1]The most well-known incarnation, the Savage Hulk, possesses the greatest potential for immeasurable superhuman strength, again depending on his emotional state, spawning the famous quote: "the madder Hulk gets, the stronger he gets."
During the Secret Wars limited series, he is shown supporting a 150 billion ton mountain range, although at the time he was using leverage to help support it. During combat with the psionic entity known as Onslaught, Jean Grey psionically disables Bruce Banner's persona, bringing out the true Savage Hulk. In Onslaught: Marvel #1, after trading punches with the Hulk, Onslaught angers him to a point where he was able to break through Onslaught's armor. In Marvel Comics Presents #52, the Hulk shatters an asteroid twice the size of Earth with a single punch.
The Hulk possesses highly developed leg muscles and is able to leap several miles at a time. Since the Hulk's strength increases with anger, he is able to leap distances much greater than he normally could while in a "calm" state. In Incredible Hulk vol.2 #33, for example, he is shown covering a distance of 1,000 miles in a single leap. In Incredible Hulk vol.1 #254, he is shown leaping into a low-Earth orbit. In Tales to Astonish #73, the Leader, unsuccessfully, attempts to discover the limits of the Hulk's strength using his advanced technology. Doc Samson makes a similar attempt in Incredible Hulk vol.1 #228, also without success.
The Hulk is depicted with extremely high levels of superhuman durability, stamina, and resistance to physical injury. He is shown withstanding the impact of high-caliber artillery shells, falls from orbital heights, and powerful energy blasts without sustaining injury and resisting extreme temperatures, poisons, and diseases with no ill effect. The Hulk demonstrates in Incredible Hulk vol.1 #440 that he is capable of withstanding a near-ground zero nuclear explosion. Despite his body's high resistance to injury, it is possible to injure the Hulk. However, the Hulk can regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue with far greater efficiency than an ordinary human. In Incredible Hulk vol.1 #398, for example, all of the Hulk's skin and most of his muscle tissue are flayed from his body. He fully regenerates the destroyed tissue within a few minutes.
His durability and the efficiency of his healing power, just like his physical strength, increase according to his level of anger.
In addition to his physical power and healing ability, the Hulk demonstrates the ability to "home in" on the desert base where he was empowered. He can also see and hear specters, such as the astral form of Doctor Strange.*
(Much of this shamelessly stolen from wikipedia.))
External Links
Hulk Wikipedia Entry
Bruce at the Marvel Database Project
Article about Hulk's popularity
