∇
troperville

∇
tools

∇
toys

Must be Monday. New podcast! Just click on the fancy logo below.

SubpagesComicBook
Headscratchers
Main
YMMV

main index

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories

random

Subpages:

Comic Book: Red Hulk

"I've trashed my military career, I'm constantly being attacked by my supposed allies, my family won't talk to me... and the only place I can be human is on a secret base with the one man I can't stand.
I'm doing great."

— General Ross

General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross was overseeing the testing of the gamma bomb when Bruce Banner raced out onto the testing grounds to save teenager Rick Jones. For Banner's pains, he was blasted with gamma radiation, turning him into the Hulk.

Ross became the Hulk's most persistent enemy, initially because of the Hulk's attacks against the U.S. Army; as time passed, it developed into something more personal, an obsession. Even as Ross sought to bring the Hulk down, he envied and coveted the power the Hulk possessed.

In the end, the death of Ross' daughter Betty at the hands of the Abomination, the Hulk's betrayal by the Illuminati, and the assassination of Captain America plunged Ross into the depths of despair, where the Intelligencia, a cabal of Mad Scientist supervillains, found him. They made Ross an offer: the power to "rescue" America, and the chance to have Betty brought back from the dead. He accepted, and by combining cosmic energy with gamma radiation siphoned off from the Hulk, the Intelligencia transformed him into the Red Hulk.

The Red Hulk persona first appeared in Hulk vol. 3 #1 (March, 2008), created by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. The Red Hulk's first mission was killing the Abomination, and from there he proceeded to run amok across the MU, kicking a lot of dogs and getting on the bad side of a lot of major players - culminating in his stripping Banner of the Hulk.

There was at least some method behind the rampage: the Red Hulk was working with the Intelligencia on a coup to overthrow the United States government in the hope of making a better world. Finally, his treatment at the Intelligencia's hands led him to break ranks with them, teaming with the Hulkless Bruce Banner to bring them down in Fall of The Hulks.

In the end, believing he'd been let down by both sides, the Red Hulk made his own bid for power - only to be stopped by a re-Hulkified Banner. Now, even after joining the ranks of The Avengers, Ross is discovering that when you become a Hulk, there are certain consequences...

The Red Hulk's powers are somewhat different from the original's:

Voluntary Shapeshifting - typically has full control over his transformation, though he sometimes reverts when he sleeps.
Super Strength, though he can't reach the levels Banner can.
Healing Factor - when he sleeps or transforms.
Energy Absorption and Super Senses - able to see various forms of energy, including gamma radiation and cosmic energy, and absorb them to boost his strength. He's even able to use this on living beings, allowing him to permanently rob gamma mutates of their powers. However, doing so runs the risk of burning him out, forcing him into Shapeshifter Mode Lock.

Unlike Banner, getting angry causes the Red Hulk to overheat and collapse. He also lacks Banner's Split Personality, retaining his identity in both forms.

Had his own title, officially taking over the Hulk series while Incredible Hulk was focused on Banner's story, up until issue 58, where the title is renamed and taken over by Red She-Hulk. The Red Hulk announced to be moving into a relaunched volume of the Thunderbolts.

Ross has made frequent appearances in other Hulk-related media. The Red Hulk made his cross-media debut in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and is set to be part of the main cast in the forthcoming Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.. The Red Hulk is also available as an alternate skin for the Hulk in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and as his own playable character in Marvel Avengers Alliance.

This comicbook character provides examples of:

Alien Blood: Following his initial transformation, Ross now has glowing yellow blood in both forms.
Always Someone Better: The Green Hulk of course.
Anti-Hero: Type IV
Anti-Villain: Type III
Artistic License - History: Word Of God from Jeff Parker, supported later in the comic, is that the Army Air Force being currently active was intentional (in Real Life, it was abolished in 1947).
Back from the Dead: Twice, both before he ever became the Red Hulk.
- Came Back Wrong: When Ross was brought back the first time, the Leader hadn't quite perfected the requisite technology... (originally he came back as a Soulless Shell, which was later retconned as And I Must Scream).
Badass Grandpa: He was in his fifties at least when he began Hulk-hunting, and that was over a decade ago in Comic Book Time.
Badass Mustache: As Ross. It disappears when he takes his Red Hulk form.
- Oddly, the mustache just instantly grows back when he becomes human.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Ross always wanted to be the Hulk. Then he got Mode Lock.
Bond Villain Stupidity: New MODOK is looking to completely avert this. He knows not to underestimate anyone and is very pragmatic. He even thanks Black Fog for beating him down, reminding him to never think oneself invincible.
Bullying a Dragon: He never could get it into his head that if he just left the Hulk alone, there'd be far less collateral damage.
- Provoking Galactus did not end well for him either.
Butt Monkey: Jeff Parker did his best to give Rulk what was coming to him for all the Villain Sue behavior of the early issues - effectively dropping Ross' Karma Houdini Warranty. Unfortunately, this is not good news for anyone around Rulk...
Create Your Own Villain/Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Bad idea disconnecting the scientist trying to stop the Synthegraft subjects before she was done, Ross; now she's been transformed into supervillain Zero/One.
Darkest Hour: During Bill Mantlo's run on Incredible Hulk, Ross was faced with either owning up to releasing the Abomination against the Hulk in defiance of a Presidential pardon and being charged with treason, or committing suicide. He opted to own up. The full implications of this were overlooked by later writers, as he eventually returned to military service.
- Jeph Loeb eventually explained Ross' return to service by revealing the charges had been dropped as part of the Intelligencia's schemes.
Dating What Daddy Hates: Ross has never been happy with Betty's relationship with Banner.
Daydream Surprise: The beginning of Hulk #32.
Determinator: Say what else you like about him, but Ross doesn't give up till the bitter end.
Disproportionate Retribution: In Age of Ultron, he brutally kills Taskmaster for attempting to escape with the parts of the Ultron drones the group acquired. It gets even worse when you realize that Taskmaster didn't have any means of fighting the Ultron drones, was shaken after witnessing Black Panther's sudden death, and the fact that his job was to escape with the Ultron parts!
Distaff Counterpart: Much to Ross' dismay, when the Intelligencia resurrected Betty, they turned her into the Red She-Hulk.
Dramatic Irony: General Fortean believes the Red Hulk killed Ross, and wants him dead. As such, he's unaware that the Red Hulk is Ross, or the extent to which he's following in Ross's footsteps. Ross, on the other hand, is all too aware of the irony.
Empowered Badass Normal: Quite apart from the Red Hulk, there was the time Ross took over the body of energy being Zzzax. Or the time he was given the Redeemer armor.
Enemy Mine: Banner and Ross have teamed up on occasion.
Evil Counterpart: To the Hulk, initially.
Faking the Dead: As far as most of the world's concerned, Thunderbolt Ross is dead (in truth, it was a Life Model Decoy).
Fan Nickname: Rulk, which achieved Ascended Fanon status.
Faustian Rebellion: Against the Intelligencia.
Four Star Badass: Ross himself. General Fortean also counts, although he's only two-star.
General Ripper: Depending on the writer, went between this and Inspector Javert.
Hammerspace: Mark Waid has put forth the suggestion that Ross' mustache goes into the Negative Zone when he transforms. It has its own adventures there.
Heel Face Turn: He's an Avenger now.
Henshin Hero: Well, Anti-Hero.
Heroic Red Ring Of Death: The angrier Red Hulk gets, the hotter he gets, until he overheats.
He Who Fights Monsters
Home Base: Where Banner has a number of hidden bases, Ross has only one so far: Gamma Base.
Hot Blooded: Literally.
Hulking Out: He normally chooses when to change and keeps his own mind, but when the general is poisoned it causes him to immediately hulk out and go on an unstoppable rampage.
I Love Nuclear Power: Gamma radiation + cosmic energy = Red Hulk.
In Another Man's Shoes: In Jeff Parker's run. Transformed into a Hulk, hunted by the U.S. Army, unable to convince them of his good intentions... Ross is finally finding out what Banner was going through when Ross was leading the hunt. Whether he's actually figured that out yet is another matter - seeing the other person's perspective has never been one of his strong suits.
In a Single Bound
In-Series Nickname: Ross was nicknamed 'Thunderbolt' by his troops because he 'struck like a thunderbolt' against their enemies.
Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: Black Fog is an Indian cyborg serial killer ninja... and an all too serious threat.
Interrupted Cooldown Hug: Was often the reason for this. Doesn't apply to him, though, since his anger usually shorts him out.
I Wish It Were Real: Played for Drama. Zero/One, being unable to distinguish between the 'real' Black Fog, and the tall stories that sprang up around him, 'upgrades' him into the creature of her childhood nightmares.
Jack Kirby: Ross' co-creator, with Stan Lee.
Jeph Loeb: Creator and initial writer of Red Hulk.
Jerkass
Lampshade Hanging: Hulk #30.1, "The Whale", points out Ross and Fortean's similarities to Captain Ahab, and to each other. Ross is aware of the parallels; Fortean isn't.
Laser-Guided Karma: For decades, he has ruined Bruce's/Hulk's life. And after becoming the Red Hulk, it was Bruce who gave him a taste of his own medicine by making the public believe Ross had died as a hero. Because of this, Rulk can't ever be Ross again in public and live a normal life, or he would (like Hulk said it) hang for treason for his crimes as Rulk.
Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Ross and Banner, following the Compound Hulk incident.
Mad Scientist: Zero/One presents herself as rational and efficient - but to outside observers, she's a mad scientist with no sense of ethics who's unable to distinguish fiction from reality.
Magic Pants: Although Ross' are black, rather than purple.
Military Brat: Ross' family has been in the military at least since the American Civil War.
Muggle Best Friend: Jacob's an unusual variant of this: he's the MBF for Zero/One, a villain. He's not exactly thrilled about it.
- Jacob is incredibly afraid of Zero/One. So much so that he refused her offer for synthetic skin graft transplants on his horrifically burned body.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: At once, he was possessed by the symbiote and the spirit of vengance turning him into a gamma-mutated symbiotic red colored General of vengeance. It looks◊ every bit as awesome as it sounds.
- He then manages to combine all three voice tics into one epic line.
Venom Rulk Rider "Wwe am smassh for venggeance!"
Not So Different: Subverted with Ross and Fortean. Ross attempts to point this out to warn Fortean off his mission to kill Red Hulk but, well, the Hulks have never been known for their good fortune...
Not So Stoic: When it comes to his family.
Old Soldier: A rare officer version.
Papa Wolf: For all Ross' faults, he's fiercely protective of his daughter Betty. One of the reasons he hunted the Hulk so obsessively is because he felt Betty's relationship with Banner would endanger her... and he was arguably right. Not to mention that right after becoming the Red Hulk, he tracked down the Abomination, who had killed her, and murdered him.
Playing with Fire: When he starts to overheat, it's quite literal, as his body puts out a extreme amount of heat hot enough to melt some of the sand in a desert he was in.
Pride: Probably Ross's defining feature, for better and worse.
Psycho Rangers: Headed up the Offenders, an Evil Counterpart team to the Defenders.
Reluctant Retiree: All Ross has known has been military service. Now he's unable to go back, he's at a loss for what to do with himself.
Remember the New Guy: General Fortean, who used to be one of Ross' subordinates in his Hulk-hunting days.
Revenge: Ross has been on both sides of this, but perhaps the most impressive example is Uatu the Watcher retaliating for Ross punching him in the face by launching what may be the most passive-aggressive revenge schemes ever, courtesy of the Alien Non-Interference Clause.
Revenge Before Reason: Ross' desire to take down the Hulk took him down some very dark paths in the past.
Ridiculously Human Robots: The Life Model Decoys at Gamma Base, who are aware of their nature, and serve as Ross's supporting cast.
Secret Identity: If Ross ever tries pulling a Back from the Dead, Banner will publicly reveal he's the Red Hulk... and given that he tore up the White House, that isn't going to go down well.
Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Red Hulk's Energy Absorption abilities are set to force this sooner or later. General Fortean implanted him with nano-mines set to go off when he turned human, but he managed to get them deactivated.
Shockwave Clap: Comes with the Hulk territory.
Shooting Superman: When it came to the Hulk, this was generally his Plan A.
Smug Super
Stan Lee: Ross' co-creator, with Jack Kirby.
Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious: Vampires love snacking on his blood.
The Dragon: Black Fog was this to Zero/One's Evil Genius, before being released from her control. He considers his 'debt' to her - for freeing him, and for the pain she inflicted on him - paid.
The Insomniac: Type D, superpowered. Red Hulk is able to go for long stretches without sleep... but even he needs to sleep eventually.
- Which was very bad news when Fortean infected him with nanites that would kill him if he turned human. Which he does whenever he sleeps. Ironically, this prevented Ross from taking the opportunity to show Fortean that Rulk and Ross are one and the same.
The Stoic: Ross allows himself few displays of emotion beyond anger. The Red Hulk's a different matter.
Two Beings One Body: The Compound Hulk in Hulk #30.
Two First Names
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Ross has always been one of these.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: On the one hand, Ross is rather uncomfortable with the Life Model Decoys' nature; on the other, they're human enough he often acts as he would around flesh-and-blood humans.
- Then it turns out these LMDs dissolve when they're destroyed; they can't be repaired. Like humans, they only have one life.
  - Ross eventually enters a relationship with Annie.