Current Hulk persona

[Loestal]

It seems that Hulk is currently in his "prof. hulk" persona, or merged Hulk persona or whatever it's called. But he seems a little different than I remember from the merged Hulk from back in David's day. Is this a new Hulk persona? or is it a merger of one of the 3 or what? Obviously it's not Gray or Savage Hulk, and the merged Hulk is the only one I remember to stay as Hulk for so long.

Second part to my question: How did this current version of Hulk come about. Last I remember keeping up on Hulk was back in Heroes Reborn when the mindless/souless hulk in 616 was merged with the Savage Hulk/Banner from the Reborn universe. And really, I don't even remember what version of the Hulk came about after that merger. If anyone could break down the current status of Hulk's many persona's I would appreciate it, if not...no biggy, Planet Hulk is still very good.

[Kevinroc]

The Hulk appearing in "Planet Hulk" appears to be the "Gravage" Hulk. The personality of the gray Hulk (or Joe Fixit) in the body of the green Hulk. This Hulk personality first appeared in #2 of the very first Hulk series.

Major Hulk personas.

1: Bruce Banner. The scientist that transforms into the Hulk. Genuis. Has the physical strength of a weak human.

2: Savage. Green Hulk that speaks in child-like form. "HULK SMASH!" Savage has sometimes taken over Bruce Banner's body (and is quite a funny sight to see).

3: Gray Hulk. Smarter than the Savage Hulk but starts off physically weaker (can become stronger as well).

4: Professor. Banner's intellect with The Savage's body and The Gray Hulk's cleverness.

5: Gravage. Gray Hulk personality in Savage Hulk's body.

6: Mindless Hulk. Totally mindless and destructive. Does not speak.

Those are the main Hulks. There are a few more personalities (Devil Hulk, Guilt Hulk) but are rarely seen.

[Albert]

Those are the main Hulks. There are a few more personalities (Devil Hulk, Guilt Hulk) but are rarely seen.

Thanks for clearing that up-- I wasn't sure which persona was in place myself. Would the Child-like Hulk we saw in the original Defenders be the Guilt Hulk you mentioned.. or is that another facet of his personality?

[Kevinroc]

Thanks for clearing that up-- I wasn't sure which persona was in place myself. Would the Child-like Hulk we saw in the original Defenders be the Guilt Hulk you mentioned.. or is that another facet of his personality?

No, the Guilt Hulk is a rather huge monster that towers over pretty much every other creature around it. It's the personification of all the guilt Banner has ever felt. It's the monster form we saw in Hulk #377 (birth of The Professor).

[Mike Smash!]

The current Hulk (Grayvage) is the one that you saw co-found the Avengers and made a reappearance again during the 90s.

[Albert]

Ah, I see. There are so many splinters of Banner's personality you really do need a scorecard. So, is the childlike Hulk I mentioned yet another persona, or is that just an unprovoked state of the Savage Hulk? He seemed to be acting quite differently in those older Defenders books than the typical Savage persona depicted elsewhere.. what with his befriending fauns and whales and such.

[Mike Smash!]

Ah, I see. There are so many splinters of Banner's personality you really do need a scorecard. So, is the childlike Hulk I mentioned yet another persona, or is that just an unprovoked state of the Savage Hulk? He seemed to be acting quite differently in those older Defenders books than the typical Savage persona depicted elsewhere.. what with his befriending fauns and whales and such.

Childlike Hulk is the Savage Hulk. The one that talks in third person and wants to be left alone.

Savage Hulk was basically a seven foot tall three year old, who could be both kind and destructive. He liked puppies and children, but would lash out if people hounded him or were caught trying to trick him.

[Albert]

Thanks for the demystification Mike and Kev... that makes perfect sense now, describing him as mentally being about three years old.

[NightMage]

It seems that Hulk is currently in his "prof. hulk" persona, or merged Hulk persona or whatever it's called. But he seems a little different than I remember from the merged Hulk from back in David's day. Is this a new Hulk persona? or is it a merger of one of the 3 or what? Obviously it's not Gray or Savage Hulk, and the merged Hulk is the only one I remember to stay as Hulk for so long.

I thought I read somewhere that Banner was suffering from the beginning effects of ALS (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's Disease) and made a "deal" with his other personalities in order to counter the effects.

[steve2275]

id say the one from the original secret war

[Kevinroc]

I thought I read somewhere that Banner was suffering from the beginning effects of ALS (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's Disease) and made a "deal" with his other personalities in order to counter the effects.

Yeah, that happened. Bruce was going to die but made a deal with the Hulks and said they could all share the body for a certain length of time after he died. But thanks to The Leader sharing his notes, Reed Richards and some other super heroes were able to cure Banner of ALS.

At the end of the comic, Banner states that (I'm paraphrasing) "this is a work of fiction and there currently is no cure to ALS. Please donate."

[Scavenger]

id say the one from the original secret war

That was Banner's mind in the Hulk's body. Not quite "Professor" hulk, as that's the actually merged, fully integrated personalites, whereas Banner Hulk still has Bruce Banner's emotional disfunctions (which led to the Hulk).

There's also the Savage Banner, which is the Savage Hulk's mind in Banner's body, who the madder he gets, the weaker he gets.