Line #74 ComicBook/WorldWarHulk


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/world_war_hulk_2007_1_textless.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: HesBack, and guess what? You're all screwed.]]
3
4	->''"Puny humans. I've come to smash."''
5
6	''World War Hulk'' is a 2007 Marvel CrisisCrossover; it occurs after the events of ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'' and takes place between ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' and ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion2008''.
7
8	Before the Civil War, the Illuminati--a group consisting of ComicBook/IronMan, [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Mr. Fantastic]], ComicBook/DoctorStrange, Prince Namor the ComicBook/SubMariner, [[ComicBook/XMen Professor Xavier]] and [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Black Bolt]]--decided that [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk The Hulk]] was a threat to the world because of his unstable and dangerous mood swings. Instead of killing him, they shot the green giant into space and towards a planet without intelligent life, hoping that he would find peace. But due to a malfunction in the spaceship, The Hulk landed on Sakaar, a harsh world where he was captured, enslaved, and turned into a gladiator. Thus began ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'', where Hulk fought for a living and eventually found friends and true love. He eventually toppled the local tyrannical ruler, effectively becoming the new king, and lived HappilyEverAfter with his allies and his new wife...
9
10	...until the ship that brought him to Sakaar blew up. The resulting explosion shattered the planet and killed many people, including Hulk's wife and unborn child. But The Hulk lived--which made him exceptionally angry. The green behemoth gathered his remaining friends and allies into a war party, then returned to Earth with the intent of making the Illuminati pay for what they did to him. At this time, Hulk was in a new form (referred to as the Green Scar) that allowed him to retain his intellect; this form's rage, at levels Hulk had never reached before, [[TranquilFury was dispassionate and icy cold]]. Earth's heroes were disorganized and estranged by the Civil War, which left them unable to meet Hulk's invasion in full force. They had also suffered an enormous loss of popular support, which only grew after Hulk revealed what the Illuminati had done to him.
11
12	In short: [[MemeticMutation Everyone was screwed when The Hulk got back]].
13
14	Hulk turned the Earth's heroes--''especially'' the Illuminati--into gladiators so they could feel the struggles and suffering he went through on Sakaar. He spared only Namor, who voted against sending Hulk into space, and Professor X, who wasn't present. (After seeing the result of ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', Hulk decided that Xavier had suffered enough.) He set the Illuminati against a monster, then forced them to take up weapons and try to kill each other. The moment is eventually interrupted by Sentry, who had overcome his SplitPersonality problem just in time to bring the battle to Hulk. The two fought each other into exhaustion, but it was enough to shake Hulk out of his rage and remember his humanity and their friendship--just [[InterruptedCooldownHug in time for one of Hulk's allies to kill Rick Jones in front of Hulk]]. That same ally had also caused the destruction of Sakaar in the first place. Hulk became enraged and slew him, then turned his attention back to his original "foes". The day was "saved" when Iron Man activated a satellite beam that subdued Hulk and turned him back into Bruce Banner. (Jones soon came BackFromTheDead once again.)
15
16	Bruce Banner was imprisoned until he could control The Hulk; [[StatusQuoIsGod he was later released]] when the mysterious ComicBook/RedHulk appeared. Meanwhile, on the planet of Sakaar, a survivor makes his presence known--for he is The Hulk's son, Skaar. But that is another story...
17
18	In the aftermath of ''World War Hulk'', the title was turned into ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules''.
19
20	A sequel was announced on December 1st, 2017, called "World War Hulk II: Smashback", which sees the ComicBook/TotallyAwesomeHulk returning to Earth after being dragged to Sakaar and having the Hulk persona finally regain control after having Amadeus Cho keep him back for so long, prompting [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]] and Alpha Flight, ComicBook/BlackPanther and ComicBook/{{Champions\|MarvelComics}} to try to stop him.
21
22	----
23
24	!! ''World War Hulk'' includes the following tropes:
25
26	* EleventhHourSuperpower: The Hulk's "Worldbreaker" form basically counts as this. Hulk's basic power is that the angrier he gets, the stronger he gets, seemingly without an upper limit. The "Worldbreaker" form is when he gets so angry that his strength is enough [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin to break a planet]].
27	* AchillesInHisTent: Sentry, one of the few who could potentially calm down or stop the Hulk, spends most of the event sitting on his couch, because he's too afraid of letting the Void loose.
28	* AlmostDeadGuy: ''The Irredeemable Ant-Man'' ties in with the opening issue, where Eric O'Grady gets involved in the fight between Hulk and Iron Man. Eric, an ordinary human with no superpowers, gets beaten all to Hell, and spends months in a coma when struck by an oblivious Hulk.
29	* AnswersToTheNameOfGod: When the Punisher first sees Mung the Inconceivable.
30	-->'''The Punisher:''' [[NotSoAboveItAll "Good. God."]]
31	-->'''Mung:''' "I have been known... from time to time... to answer to ''that name'' too. Although I am a ''god'' [[JerkassGod far removed from the concept of 'good.']]"
32	* AntiVillain: Hulk and The Warbound. Hulk for just trying to get some sort of justice (if in an insane and unhelpful method) and the Warbound... for helping Hulk or something.
33	* ArcWords: "May he who dies... die well" and "Never stop making them pay."
34	* ArmorPiercingQuestion:
35	** A near-literal version of this trope happens as Hulk is trying to break through [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Sue Storm's]] force field to get at Reed. She pleads with The Hulk to stop, so he asks her, "If I sent a bomb, killed your husband, your children, your whole world... would you '''ever''' stop?!" Sue is so taken aback by the question that she lets down her guard, which allows Hulk to shatter her force field with the next punch, incapacitate her, and beat the living hell out of her husband.
36	** Hulk delivers another one to [[DeadSidekick Jim Wilson]]'s father. When the elder Wilson accuses Hulk of Jim's death, Hulk fires back:
37	--->'''Hulk:''' [[VerySpecialEpisode Jim died of]] ''[[VerySpecialEpisode AIDS]]''. And the avian flu is not my fault either. But what ''I'm'' wondering is why Jim was living on the streets when I met him? Why he said he was an ''[[IHaveNoSon orphan]]''? Why he never once mentioned '''you?'''
38	* BadassBoast: Several.
39	-->'''Doctor Strange:''' [''to Hulk, during a (failed) attempt to talk him down''] Hear me well, Bruce... Your anger means ''nothing'' to me. I am the '''SORCERER SUPREME'''. I could snuff the feeble flame of your mortal life with the ''merest twitch of a finger''. But I am also your friend.
40	-->'''Bruce Banner[=/=]Hulk''':[''Seconds later''] Got you. [[{{Fingore}} breaks Strange's hands]]
41	-->'''Black Bolt''': [''to Hulk, very very quietly''] [[SuperScream Enough]].
42	-->'''Hulk:''' I didn't come here for a whisper. I wanna hear you '''scream'''!
43	-->'''Sentry:''' Do you hear that Bruce? It's time to play God. [[LetsGetDangerous charges up and goes to fight the Hulk]]
44	** Hulk is the only one Sentry can hit... "[[TalkToTheFist LIKE THIS.]]"
45	* BaitAndSwitch: Early in the first chapter, we see Tony Stark and Reed Richards ask for the help of ComicBook/TheSentry, whom they believe to be the only hero capable of besting the Hulk in a fight. Later, a golden ray of light is shown flying towards the city, and Spider-Man enthusiastically announces that the Sentry is coming... only for it to be revealed that it's just Iron Man in a brand new armour. The Sentry, crippled by his numerous mental disorders, refuses to join the fight until the very last chapter.
46	--> '''Spider-Man:''' Numero uno is on his way! Ladies and gentlemen, behold the blond bombshell, the golden guardian, the-- (realizes it's really Iron Man who is coming) Aw, nuts!
47	* BrawlerLock: The Hulk vs. The Juggernaut is one of these. Hulk wins it through brains.
48	* BreakThemByTalking: When Hulk has the X-Men at his mercy, Mercury shows him the Xavier School's cemetery, then tells him about all of the innocent children who had been murdered by Stryker and the Purifers in the aftermath of [[ComicBook/HouseOfM the Decimation]]. This draws a direct comparison between what the mutants have been through and Hulk's own loss, which helps convince Hulk that Xavier has already suffered enough.
49	* TheBusCameBack: General Ross returns to help fight off the Hulk.
50	* ComicBookDeath: Rick Jones gets impaled by [[spoiler:Miek]]. It doesn't take even a year for him to crop up inexplicably alive again in Jeph Loeb's ''ComicBook/{{Hulk\|2008}}''.
51	* ConvenientlyEmptyBuilding: New York is mostly leveled and a huge number of people remain despite evacuation orders. Despite this, it is specifically noted that no one was killed.
52	* CrisisCrossover: Hulk and his targets, the Illuminati, are involved, of course, but so is pretty much any active hero in New York or that can get to New York.
53	* CurbStompBattle:
54	** It is hard to describe what Hulk doesto the X-Men in any other terms. Even heavy hitters like Colossus, Juggernaut, and Wolverine are taken out of commission with little effort while Kitty Pryde's GodzillaThreshold technique of un-phasing Hulk in solid ground barely even slows him down.
55	** Ghost Rider gets one in on Hulk during his tie-in by more or less having a response to everything Hulk throws his way. Eventually, he decides that Hulk is actually in the ''[[JerkassHasAPoint right]]'' here and drives off. That results in an OhCrap moment for the Illuminati when Doctor Strange points this out.
56	** In one of the tie-ins, there is also a (probably non-canon) bit of comic relief showing Hulk's fights against weaker Marvel characters. At one point, The Hulk incapacitates one of his foes [[FingerPokeOfDoom by flicking them with a finger]].
57	%% ZeroContextExample * DarkActionGirl: Elloe, No-Name was this at first.
58	* DeliberateInjuryGambit:
59	** ComicBook/{{X 23}} lets Hulk grab her to bring her in close, then [[EyeScream puts out his eyes]] with her foot claws. This makes her one of the few people who actually manages to slow him down, however briefly. Hulk puts her through a wall for her trouble.
60	** Hulk later reverses this when he lets Wolverine try the same trick; Logan gets to blind Hulk, but Hulk still gets to kick Wolverine's ass and put him out of the fight for good.
61	%% ZeroContextExample * DuelToTheDeath: See the ArcWords above.
62	* EveryoneHasStandards:
63	** Despite his hatred for the Illuminati and the contempt he shows towards the rest of Earth's superheroes, Hulk is still saddened to hear about the demise of Captain America. His vengeance is also ''not'' ruthlessly blind: he only fights heroes that fight him rather than trying to start fights with anyone besides his targets, he spares Xavier and Namor for a variety of reasons, chief of which they ultimately held no responsibility over what had happened to him.
64	** And on the other side of things, the Illuminati try to avoid civilian casualties at every turn, including by cooperating with Hulk's occupation forces. Dr. Strange refuses to use lethal force and instead opts for more dangerous (and ultimately unsuccessful) methods. Professor Xavier surrenders himself to avoid endangering his students. Iron Man, though still the one willing to be the most ruthless, publically admits his responsibility and fights Hulk alone since he regards the consequences of his actions to be his own to bear. Even at their lowest moral point and with their own lives in the balance, they all still try to behave as heroes.
65	* EyeScream:
66	** Hulk gets his eyes put out ''twice''--first by X-23, then by Wolverine. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Good thing he can heal]]. He let Logan cut out his eyes so the X-Man would be close enough to grab.
67	** No-Name also does this to [[spoiler:Miek, after his betrayal was revealed. Worse still, in the next panel we see the jelly leak out of his eyeball as he explains himself.]]
68	* FightingFromTheInside: This is averted when Doctor Strange discovers that Banner agrees with The Hulk and is working with him.
69	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Banner tricks Doctor Strange into lowering his guard so Hulk can cripple him. This could be seen as foreshadowing for Bruce's more cold, manipulative behavior after he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] during ''ComicBook/FallOfTheHulks''.
70	* FreeFallFight: Hulk vs. Iron Man ends up like this; Hulk trashes Iron Man's Hulkbuster suit while they are in free fall, with Stark Tower collapsing around and beneath them.
71	* GenreBlind: Korg has no clue when it comes to extraterrestrial tropes. When was the last time you saw someone seriously saying "TakeMeToYourLeader"?
72	* GodzillaThreshold: The Illuminati don't even hesitate to call up the Sentry.
73	* GreyAndGrayMorality: Neither side is entirely free from blame, but neither is entirely in the right, either. The Illuminati had done some shady things and ignored evidence that didn't point to Hulk being an uncontrollable monster, but they were not guilty of the crimes leveled against them by Hulk. And while Hulk may have had a good reason to be angry, he went about getting justice in a profoundly counterproductive manner, all while ignoring any evidence that said they were not wholly evil.
74	* HeroicRROD: A variation occurred with the Hulk himself in the climax. The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets. He'd never been that mad before, and he got so strong he actually couldn't control it anymore. He actually ''asked'' the heroes to knock him down before he started, well, [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds accidentally ripping the world apart.]]
75	* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Near the conclusion of the story, Hulk declares that he'll hate The Illuminati forever, "almost as much as I hate myself."
76	* HomeRunHitter: The Hulk's response to an annoying D-lister who describes herself as "practically invulnerable"? Punting her like a football and deadpanning "Go be invulnerable in Jersey."
77	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Doctor Strange tries this tactic hoping to reach the Banner persona and have [[CooldownHug it take over]] but it's ultimately subverted; [[spoiler: according to the Hulk Banner ''is'' in there but he's just as mad at the Illuminati as the Hulk is and is fully on board with the plan for revenge.]]
78	* InterruptedCooldownHug: [[ShootTheShaggyDog This story elevates this trope to an art form.]] Hulk and Banner actually take advantage of the cooldown hug by letting Doctor Strange think his ploy has worked, all so he lowers his guard -- at which point Hulk breaks Strange's hands.
79	* {{Jerkass}}: The Hulk's Green Scar persona takes this turn.
80	* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: Doctor Strange does this in an attempt to calm The Hulk down. [[spoiler:He fails, then gets his hands broken for his trouble.]]
81	* TheJuggernaut: The most powerful characters in the MU, including Black Bolt, [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]], ComicBook/IronMan in Hulkbuster Armor, ComicBook/SheHulk, ComicBook/{{Ares\|Marvel}}, ComicBook/GhostRider, [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Thing]], ComicBook/DoctorStrange with the power of a demonic superweapon, ComicBook/TheSentry, and the ComicBook/{{Juggernaut\|MarvelComics}} himself couldn't stop him! Though Strange lost control and Ghost Rider had a [[BystanderSyndrome lack of motivation rather than ability]]. Still, Hulk defeating Sentry was thought up until then impossible, and when they thought all his energy was used up doing so, he saw who was really responsible for bombing Sakaar and Hulked Out hard enough to nearly break Earth with his ''steps'' before he was finally stopped.
82	%% green link * AssholeVictim: The Illuminati may not have been responsible for the explosion that wrecked Sakaar, but they still deserved an ass-kicking.
83	* MeditationPowerup: Hiroim watches Hulk almost kill Brood in a fit of rage while fighting a group of SpacePirates. To prevent another such incident, Hiroim teaches Hulk to focus his anger--which turns the green giant's UnstoppableRage into the TranquilFury present for the duration of the story.
84	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Strange has a moment with this when he sees that the Hulk had managed to find a happy life on Sakaar. A life that they inadvertently and unknowingly destroyed with their ship.
85	-->'''Strange''': He was ''HAPPY!!''
86	* NobleDemon: Hiroim. Hulk also qualifies as well given that he only saves his wrath for the Illuminati and those who defend them (and even then the latter are given the chance to walk away from the whole affair before punches start flying). [[NeverHurtAnInnocent Anyone who isn’t a part of either group are flat-out spared from his rampage]].
87	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The battle with Sentry is a ''mutual'' example, though Hulk insisted afterwards that he was still holding back.
88	* NominalHero: The Illuminati's mistakes are what ultimately brought on this disaster, and they are portrayed as heroic mainly just for their courage in trying to deal with it. However, Hulk himself gets shown as having been this as well, with characters as different as Rick Jones and General Ross musing on how constantly he ends up causing massive damage despite his supposed good intentions.
89	* NotSoDifferentRemark:
90	** In ''World War Hulk: Frontline'', Ben Urich attends the gladiator matches set up by The Hulk so he can report on them later. He is shocked by the bloodlust and barbarism... of his fellow humans, who are cheering on the display. He comments that Hulk's Sakaaran forces cannot be considered invaders or occupiers -- after all, how can you be invaded when the invaders are just like you?
91	** A cornerstone of Hulk's revenge on the Illuminati is giving them a taste of what it's like to be him, from letting people bring up their past misdeeds to their faces to making them fight monsters fresh from Sakaar's arena and eventually each other.
92	* OhCrap:
93	** This was the reaction from a lot of Earth's heroes after Hulk announced his return. Making things worse: Hulk did it after having beaten Black Bolt, one of the few beings on Earth considered more powerful than Hulk. Not only did The Hulk prove how much stronger he was after being sent to Sakaar, he also showed off his posse of super-strong pals, most of whom wanted a heaping helping of {{revenge}}.
94	** The Sakaarans get one when Sentry shatters their starship and busts out something approaching his full power.
95	** Hardball has one when he realizes the power-negating S.P.I.N. Tech dart that Iron Man is going to use on Hulk is an empty one--because Hardball himself had switched it out when he stole the real one for Hydra.
96	** Dr. Strange had one when he found out that Bruce Banner actually agrees with Hulk's revenge. [[ExplainExplainOhCrap Right as the Hulk was in melee range to grab his hands.]]
97	** Everyone had one of this when Ghost Rider decides that Hulk is actually in the right here and drives off.
98	* OptOut:
99	** The Ghost Rider shows up to stop Hulk--but since he is the Spirit of Vengeance, he claims that Hulk's vengeance is justified, then rides away. (Blaze wanted to talk to Hulk and Zarathos did not care, since Lucifer was on Earth. They fought only because Hulk got confused by their argument, thinking Ghost Rider had insulted him.)
100	** Hulk gives ComicBook/SheHulk a chance to walk away. She refuses. Things go pretty bad for her after that.
101	* OutOfTheInferno: Hulk does this after the X-Men crash their jet on top of him. [[ImprovisedWeaponUser He kindly returns it]].
102	* PersonOfMassDestruction: The Hulk may already qualify during normal, building-demolishing rampages but it's completely inarguable during moments like ''World War Hulk'' when he gets so unfathomably enraged just walking caused ''measurable tectonic shifts'' at every step. They were calling him the Worldbreaker for a reason.
103	* PetTheDog: Hulk gets a couple of moments to show he's still a hero, deep down.
104	** He decides to spare Xavier and the X-Men after seeing what he had been through. He says that he came to put Xavier through hell, but Xavier is already going through it.
105	** Rick Jones tells him ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is dead in the aftermath of ''ComicBook/{{Civil War\|2006}}''; Hulk is shocked and appalled to hear this.
106	** Despite his grim desire for revenge, Hulk never directly kills anyone, and charges his Warbound to do the same.
107	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After having a few people testify as to why everyone in the Illuminati sucks, Hulk delivers his own testimony:
108	-->'''Hulk:''' Don't like it, do you? It's not fair. [[ManipulativeEditing Not the whole story]]. You have excuses. Explanations. You're innocent. These people don't know what really happened. They don't know what's in your heart. Now you know how it feels.
109	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: This is the basic premise of the storyline. Hulk comes to earth for revenge against four, possibly five, people. But everyone who helps them, defends them, or gets in the way is added to the list.
110	* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: During the X-Men tie-in, Darwin - whose power is that he adapts to the situation - gets into a fight with the Green Scar. His powers "adapt" by just teleporting him out of there.
111	* ShootTheShaggyDog: All the time Doctor Strange spends trying to find the opening to get in Hulk's head and calm him down is for naught. He manages to reach and talk to Banner, who willingly lets Hulk take over.
112	* SmokeShield: This happens at least twice--once after Tony blasts Hulk with missiles, and once after Human Torch and Storm combine a lightning bolt and a fireball.
113	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike:
114	-->'''Doctor Strange:''' [to Tony Stark, referring to the Hulk] He withstood Black Bolt's voice. Do you think your machines can stop him?
115	-->'''Hulk:''' [to Tony Stark, referring to the Sentry] Stupid humans. You think your machines can stop him?
116	* SuperStrength: In ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' after he loses his family [[DespairEventHorizon and despairs]] Hulk gives nearly every Marvel Hero on Earth a beating (while still holding back [[NeverHurtanInnocent so he won't hurt civilians]]). When he turns into [[PhysicalGod Green Scar]] Hulk nearly destroyed the eastern seaboard ''[[https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-71f20ee3027caebfea1a86add2b346c6 with a couple of footsteps]]''.
117	* TakingTheBullet: Lets just say Rick finally repays his debt to Bruce.
118	* TechnicalPacifist: While trying to capture Professor X, he brutally disabled virtually every active X-man and woman one after another, taking full advantage of [[GoodThingYouCanHeal their healing factors]] and NighInvulnerability. While he didn't kill any of them, he didn't have a problem ''crippling them''.
119	* ThouShaltNotKill:
120	** Hulk insists that no one will die by either his hand or the Warbound's, just to show that they are better than the Illuminati.
121	** Doctor Strange, when given the suggestion by Echo to simply kill Hulk (which he could easily do), states "And lose my soul forever, Echo? No. There is another way."
122	* TokenEvilTeammate: Barring Hiroim and Korg, everyone from Sakaar wants to nuke Earth and kill everybody. In their defense, until the Big Reveal, it would have seemed to them as if the Illuminati had done the same thing to Sakaar, so this is kinda [[JustifiedTrope justified]]. This is later played straight with [[spoiler:Miek]], though.
123	* TranquilFury: Though Hulk is "madder than he's ever been", he is nowhere near as savage as he usually is. His time on Sakaar helped make him smarter, and his training with Hiroim helped him focus his anger into this. He then proceeded to tear through everyone available, growing so angry at some point [[PersonOfMassDestruction his very steps were causing tectonic shifts]] before he was stopped. Angriest Hulk we've seen, and calmest Hulk we've seen at the same time.
124	-->'''Hulk:''' "People of New York. [[WhamLine I have come to smash]]."
125	* UnstoppableRage: Hulk gets stronger when he gets angrier, but the birth of the Green Scar persona is implied to have happened when Hulk reached heights of anger even he had never known before. By the end of the event, his rage reaches such heights he can't keep it in check, and nearly cracks the Earth in half just by ''taking a step''. The truly frightening thing was that he had gone into TranquilFury at the same time, leaving him with enough mind to keep his head and employ strategy and trickery.
126	* VillainousValor: General Ross is a big jerk like always, showing no concern for civilian casualties when he goes after Hulk. He also ends up screaming defiance at Hulk while emptying a gun in his face. While Hulk has him in his grip. And they are in the process of falling hundreds of feet out of a helicopter. A coward the old bastard ain't.
127	* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption:
128	** Not one nonviolent attempt to stop The Hulk or talk him down from his rage succeeds. The characters who try appealing to Hulk's friendship or better nature get slapped down just as brutally as the ones who are out to kill him.
129	** This goes both ways: Hulk and the Warbound offer everyone who is not in the Illuminati a chance to walk away unscathed. No one takes them up on the offer.
130	* WhamEpisode:
131	** Issue #3 is the one where Hulk crushes Doctor Strange's hands. Up until this point, Bruce Banner had not made an appearance in the story, so the possibility of someone getting through to Banner and stopping The Hulk that way was still open. This issue settled that notion when it revealed that, perhaps for the first time, ''Hulk and Banner were in complete agreement''.
132	** The Ghost Rider tie in. Johnny forces the Rider to fight the Hulk, but in the battle, Johnny gets knocked out and the Rider takes over...and simply walks away. Because the Ghost Rider only protects the innocent, and none of the Illuminati are innocent.
133	* WhatIf: The ''ComicBook/WhatIf: Planet Hulk'' and ''What If: World War Hulk'' specials offered three versions of it:
134	** In the first version, the nuclear strike that Iron Man launched to subdue Hulk ends up wiping out most of the heroes, one of them being [[ComicBook/SecretInvasion Skrull Queen Veranke]] (under the guise of ComicBook/SpiderWoman). This causes the Skrulls to view Hulk as a kind of prophet of their upcoming invasion. When the ComicBook/SecretInvasion kicks in, even more heroes die, but Hulk wises up and joins the resistance against the Skrulls. Only it turns out that Wasp, not Hank Pym, was being impersonated by the Skrulls. She plants the human bomb serum to Hank, again, wiping out almost all heroes and humanity... except for The Hulk. When Silver Surfer visits, Hulk demands that Galactus wipe out the Skrull planet as his vengeance; after being left all alone again, Galactus promotes him as his Herald.
135	** The second version has [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor and the Asgard warriors]] join in the brawl. They are interrupted when an innocent civilian pleads with them to use their strength not to fight each other, but to help them from peril. Hulk is reminded of his old friendship with the fellow heroes, and [[spoiler:Miek]]'s treachery is discovered before it could result in a great disaster. Sentry comes too late, as eventually Thor tells the heroes to redouble their efforts to win the people's trust, and Hulk goes back to Sakaar so he can rebuild the planet and punish the traitorous [[spoiler:Miek]]. Yeah, they really ''did'' live HappilyEverAfter.
136	** The third version has both [[spoiler:Miek]] and The Hulk dying in the explosion instead of Caiera, who [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge invades and takes over Earth after killing the Illuminati]] (except possibly Namor and Xavier). She forces Earth's population to build a massive statue for The Hulk that takes twenty-one years to construct; after it is finished, she uses her powers to turn herself into stone so she can join her beloved. Because of [[spoiler:Miek]]'s death in the blast, [[spoiler:his]] treachery is never discovered, so Caiera's actions make her look like an utter monster. While she believes herself justified due to the way life on Sakaar works, she damns the human race to live as slaves for an alien race that pretty much worshipped a monster who was far too dangerous to live on Earth. She even lampshades this when she is convinced by Hiroim to spare the rest of the world after killing the Illuminati--if she killed everyone, then nobody would be left to honor The Hulk's memory. Caiera's reply to this logic? "They'll wish they were dead."
137	* WhatTheHellHero: Learning about what the Illuminati did -- combined with PlethoraOfMistakes surrounding the ''ComicBook/{{Civil War\|2006}}'' -- led many of Earth's people to root for Hulk and the Warbound.
138	* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: A fresh-from-Civil War Tony Stark does a version of this with She-Hulk. Jennifer forced Tony to use highly illegal and experimental nanites to cut off her powers; she was completely out of order, what with her getting mad at him for sending her cousin into space.
139	* TheWorfEffect:
140	** [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Black Bolt]] was considered to be one of the most broken characters in Marvel's cosmic realm. Hulk takes him down first, and almost entirely off panel, to prove how much stronger he had become on Sakaar.
141	** Another example would be when he defeated Doctor Strange, bar none ''the'' top sorcerer in the universe, while Strange was channeling a demon so powerful that Umar herself feared it. This was justified by Strange having his attention divided between fighting Hulk and the Warbound and holding Zom back from killing them all, though.
142	** Hulk also fought Sentry, who was considered the most powerful superhuman on the planet at the time but was also not entirely mentally stable, and they basically fought each other to a stalemate that ended with both powering down and no real victor. This was a rare double Worf-ing, as the point was to show that Sentry and Hulk were the only superpowered beings who could have an all-out, nothing-held-back fight without one instantly obliterating the other.
143	* WorfHadTheFlu:
144	** Doctor Strange lost to The Hulk, even though Strange would have won easily if he had been going for the kill. In Strange's defense, the last thing he wanted was to kill his friend Bruce, and his attempt at a non-lethal solution had backfired and left him too crippled for his usual sorcery. He was also struggling to hold Zom back from murdering everyone. When Strange let Zom have control, he was winning, but as soon as he saw that ordinary people were in danger, he got distracted and subsequently lost the fight.
145	** There is some back-and-forth regarding the Hulk vs Sentry fight, with later writers implying that due to Sentry's then-fragile mental state, he was not at full power, despite the fact that the dialogue in the book all but says that Sentry was meant to be stronger in this fight than he had ever been before.
146	** Come ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' it's revealed that [[spoiler: the Black Bolt Hulk beat down was actually [[ActuallyADoombot a Skrull imposter]].]]
147	* WorthyOpponent: After their brief battle, Hiroim seems to consider Iron Fist to be this, shocked that the human was able to actually hurt him.
148	-->'''Hiroim:''' I will pray for you, Iron Fist.

Context ComicBook / WorldWarHulk