The HulkFan

Hulk Powers and abilities

This section is about the Hulk's powers and abilities.

About Hulk Powers

The Hulk possesses the potential for limitless physical strength depending directly on his emotional state, particularly his anger. This has been reflected in the repeated comment "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets." His durability, healing, and endurance increase in relation to his temper. The Hulk is also extremely resistant to most forms of injury or damage, including physical, psychic, environmental extremes, and is immune to disease and poisons. His powerful legs allow him to leap into lower Earth orbit or across continents. He also has less commonly described powers, including abilities allowing him to "home in" to his place of origin in New Mexico, and to see and interact with astral forms. He has been shown to have both regenerative and adaptive healing abilities, including growing tissues to allow him to breathe underwater, surviving unprotected in space, and when injured, healing from almost any wound within seconds, including regenerating lost mass.

As Bruce Banner (and the Merged/Professor Hulk), he is considered one of the greatest minds on Earth. He has developed expertise in the fields of biology, chemistry, engineering, and physiology, and holds a Ph.D. in nuclear physics. He possesses "a mind so brilliant it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test".

In The Science of Superheroes, Lois Grest and Robert Weinberg examined Hulk's powers, explaining the scientific flaws in them. Most notably, they point out that the level of gamma radiation Banner is exposed to at the initial blast would induce radiation sickness and kill him, or if not, create significant cancer risks for Banner. The authors note that hard radiation strips cells of their ability to function, and does not turn a person into a raging green hero. They go on to offer up an alternate origin, in which a Hulk might be created by biological experimentation with adrenal glands and GFP.

Strength

The Hulk possesses the potential for incredible levels of superhuman strength, growing directly proportional to his emotional state, particularly his anger, spawning the famous quotes: "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets," and "Hulk is the strongest one there is." His original enraged strength, at a usual level, made him a match in combat with beings such as Thor and Hercules.

Durability

The Hulk is depicted with extremely high levels of superhuman stamina and resistance to physical injury. His muscles are resistant to fatigue poisons, which allows him to function at peak performance for extremely long periods without tiring. He's been shown enduring the impact of high-caliber artillery shells, falls from orbital heights, or extremely powerful energy blasts without sustaining injury, and resisting poisons and diseases with no ill effect. The Hulk has been shown capable of withstanding a ground zero nuclear explosion, as well as the 1,000,000-degree Fahrenheit "nova-burst" of the Human Torch, in one case combined with a full-power lightning strike by Storm.

Resistance to psionics

The Hulk has also demonstrated great resistance from psychic control such as assaults from Xemnu the Titan, Cable, and Professor Xavier. In his earliest days, he proved vulnerable to the pre-Phoenix Jean Grey.

Healing factor

Despite his body's high resistance to damage, it is possible to injure the Hulk. He has been hurt numerous times by opponents wielding weapons composed of adamantium. However, he can regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue with far greater efficiency than an ordinary human. He has proven capable of regenerating his eyes, skin, and most of his muscle tissue, within moments of having it flayed from his body by Vector. His future "Maestro" incarnation proved capable of eventually reconstructing himself after being blown to powder.

Speed and reflexes

Marvel Comics executive editor Tom Brevoort officially listed the Hulk as possessing super speed comparable with Thor or Spider-Man. The Hulk has sufficiently fast reflexes and reaction time to match the Sentry in physical combat.