Bruce Banner’sHulkhas always straddled the line between superhero and monster, surrounding himself with allies and enemies who redefine the limits of physical might. We’velooked at Hulk’s strongest enemies, relatives and allies of all time, but what about the characters that surround Bruce Bannerright now?
Here are the 10 most powerful characters currently active in Hulk lore - while all Marvel characters exist in a shared universe, we’re looking at those with specific links to or origins inHulklore, andconsidering both physical strength and superhuman abilities.
10Charlie Tidwell
Hulk’s Doomed Sidekick
Hulk’s current sidekick inIncredible Hulk volume 4, from Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein, Charlie is a runaway who found a kindred spirit in the Green Goliath. As part of their adventures, Charlie wore the skin of the wolf god Lycana, gaining incredible powers.Charlie is now able to turn into a superstrong werewolfwith large, eagle-like wings. She can also shapeshift, though seemingly only into those she’s consumed while in wolf form.
Sadly for Charlie, her new powers come at a high price, and the wolf god is able to take control of her body whenever she’s asleep, turning her into a ticking time bomb.
9Betty Ross, aka Red Harpy
The Love of Hulk’s Life
Hulk’s classic love interest, Betty Ross has had several gamma forms, but none as intimidating as the Red Harpy. Withacidic vomit, terrifying talons, and enough superstrength to crush a human body into a ball, Red Harpy is the embodiment of all Betty’s frustration and rage at how she’s been sidelined by the men in her life. Soon to return inIncredible Hulk, theRed Harpy loves Hulkbut hates Bruce Banner, setting up a dark reunion.
8Amadeus Cho, aka Brawn
Hulk’s Ally in His New Imperial Role
A kid genius who stole Bruce Banner’s gamma energy, Amadeus spent some time as the Totally Awesome Hulk before eventually purging most of his gamma and taking the name Brawn. Amadeusrecently accompanied Hulk to spacein Jonathan Hickman, Federico Vicentini, Iban Coello, Cory Petit and Federico Blee’sImperial #1.
Brawn is currentlybacking up Hulk in his waragainst the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, getting a gladiatorial makeover in the process. While superstrong,Amadeus is also a genius with a special talent for calculating likely trajectories in real-time, with his counsel making Hulk even more effective as a warrior (e.g. working out a sniper’s position inImperial #1.)
7Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk
Hulk’s Regent on the World of Sakaar En Nevo
Like Brawn, Hulk’s cousin She-Hulk has accompanied Bruce to space forImperial. While Hulk is off investigating the assassination of his son, he’s asked She-Hulk to ensure peace on the warlike world of Sakaar En Nevo, where Hulk is the nominal emperor. This has plunged She-Hulk into a brewing war between various aristocratic family - one that she’ll need all her gamma-born strength and legal genius to stop consuming the entire planet.
6Thaddeus Ross, aka the Red Hulk
Hulk’s Nemesis-Turned-Solo-Hero
Currently starring in his ownRed Hulkseries from Benjamin Percy and Geoff Shaw,Red Hulk was recently captured by Doctor Doom, who wanted to use his tactical expertise to plan his takeover of Earth. Red Hulk has been usinghis incredible strength and ability to exude explosive heatto fight back, freeing new allies Machine Man and Deathlok in the process. Fighting a literal army of Doombots has made Red Hulk’s strength, invulnerability and tactical insight more apparent than ever.
5Lycana
The God of Werewolves
The god of werewolves and skinwalkers, Lycana is the current source of Charlie Tidwell’s power, trying to trap Hulk and his sidekick in its hellish dimension. Lycana has informed Hulk thatallwerewolves come to its dimension when they die, suffering forever as its eternal prey. Hulk and Charlie barely managed to escape Lycana’s lair, and have been dogged by the god’s servants ever since, with Hulk swearing to do everything he can to free Charlie from Lycana’s grasp.
4Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk
The Jade Giant Himself
Hulk is currently split between two main series (soon to be three, as he joinsNew Avengers), with very different depictions of the Jade Giant. InIncredible Hulk, the long-haired Hulk is fighting off eldritch monsters sent after him by the demonic god known as the Eldest. In this form, Hulk has been able to exile Bruce Banner deep within his mind, leaving him with a callous, cunning outlook that served him well ina recent rematch against Thanos.
Seemingly set after the events ofIncredible Hulk,Imperialsees Hulk taking over rulership of the alien world Sakaar En Nevo after the assassination of his estranged son Hiro-Kala. Hulk knows that Hiro-Kala died hating him, filling him with a terrifying level of rage that isseemingly making him as strong as ever before. According to the culture of Sakaar En Nevo, Hulk has started wearing gladiatorial armor reminiscent of when he led the original Sakaar back inPlanet Hulk.
3Tammuz, aka Enkidu, aka the First Hulk
The First Gamma Mutate Is Ready to Return
Introduced in 2021’sImmortal Hulk: Time of Monsters #1,Enkidu is the first Hulk, transformed by the gamma energy of the demonic One Below All. As Bruce Banner’s Hulk battles demons sent after him by the Eldest,fans are learning about Enkidu’s ancient battles against various mystical foes, including Lycana. Enkidu possesses monstrous strength similar to Hulk, but is even more barbaric in its application, with lethal claws and horns, and a long, long history of killing monsters.
2Eldest
A Demonic God Who Wants Hulk’s Blood
The main antagonist ofIncredible Hulk volume 4, Eldest is the first child of the Mother of Horrors and the mother of Lycana. Eldest is currently on a quest to unleash the Mother of Horrors from her extra-dimensional prison, but needs Hulk’s body to do it.
Eldest is a powerful magical being, capable of shapeshifting, pyrokinesis, possession, and healing seemingly any injury.She is also able to channel the influence of the Mother of Horrors to exert control over almost any being considered a monster by humanity. Eldest was previously defeated by Enkidu, but has finally returned to full power in the modern day. Eldest exists outside reality, expressing herself in a lesser form in the material world.
1The Mother of Horrors
A Multiversal God Who Has Reshaped Hulk Lore
TheMother of Horrors is an ancient godof the multiverse, andthe only creature not created by Marvel’s supreme god, the One Above All. When the One Above All discovered that the Mother of Horrors had sired a child (Udru), the supreme being manifested its own eldritch opposite, the One Below All, who maimed Udru and banished the Mother of Horrors outside reality. Despite this, the Mother of Horrors' bloodline has continued, linking her to every different species of monstrosity in Marvel lore.
Fans have yet to see the Mother of Horrors in her true form, though she appears to be near-omnipotent when not actively counteracted by the One Above All. Currently, the Mother of Horrors is exiled outside reality, but Eldest can still wield elements of her power, allowing her to command all monsters. It’s currently unknown how the Mother of Horrors came to be if she was not created by the One Above All.
Those are the most powerful characters currently active inHulklore - let us know below who else belongs on this list, as well as which characters should be higher or lower in our ranking.
