Devil Hulk | |
Real name: | {{{real name}}} |
First Appearance: | The Incredible Hulk Vol.2 (1999) |
Created by: |
Paul Jenkins, Ron Garney, and Sal Buscema |
Team affiliations: |
none |
Abilities: |
see hulks abilities |
Portrayed by: |
none |
Background[]
"He needed a father. Or something like a father. Like a father who loved him. But he didn't know what love was."
Devil Hulk was originally created when Bruce was a young child and being abused by his father, Brian Banner. He wanted and yearned for a father figure to protect and love him. He had been reading paradise lost and saw a picture of the serpent offering Eve the apple. Later on Bruce created the Devil Hulk for comfort but due to Brian's abuse unconsciously saw any father figure as being terrifying or bad.
Years later, Devil Hulk would be freed after Bruce's exposure to the gamma bomb. For a time he would take control and force Bruce to transform at night. Not long after, Bruce locked Devil Hulk away and, due to Bruce's fear and mistrust of father figures, perceived Devil Hulk as being an evil monster, twisting what Devil Hulk would say to him in their shared mindscape. Much later, Devil Hulk would take control of Bruce's system and try to help Bruce manage his other alters. After Bruce goes through numerous deaths and resurrections before ultimately coming back to life fully, Devil Hulk would subdue the other Hulk personas and become the dominant Hulk that Bruce would turn into, only coming out at night either naturally or if Bruce had been killed or died in some fashion, becoming known primarily as the Immortal Hulk.
Personality[]
"You made a mistake. You hurt Banner. That's something I take personal."
Devil Hulk was made by Bruce to be a Protector Alter and an imaginary friend/father figure to watch over and love him. As such, Devil Hulk cares greatly about Bruce and his well being while being extremely vengeful and violent towards anyone that hurts Bruce or tries to hurt him. Devil Hulk also has a soft spot for children as he brutally punished a convenience store robber that killed a 12-year-old girl and is very protective of Savage Hulk who is the representation of the lonely hurt child that Bruce was.
Appearance[]
The Devil Hulk has many different looks and appearances. In general, to sum up his physical appearance, he is usually depicted to be several times bigger than the Savage Hulk. He has very rough and scaly skin. His skin color has varied from a dark grey, to brown, a pale purple, and even orange in one case. His eyes are usually red and glow to reinforce his dark and villainous appearance, not to mention his mouth is full to the brim with sharp, shark-like teeth, which he uses to the best of his ability when he attempts to devour the Hulk in the video game The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. He is eventually defeated by the Hulk during combat.
In a summary, his physical appearance looks similar to that of a saurian-like look and he is villainous and intimidating.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Devil Hulk is much darker and more sinister than the average Hulk incarnation; if the Savage Hulk is Banner's inner rage, Devil Hulk is Banner's inner evil. As he is an obscure image of the Hulk's true, destructive power, setting him free would possibly result in everything Bruce Banner knew and loved being annihilated or killed in the Devil Hulk's wake. His initial powers consist of everything the Hulk is capable of, which makes him a mirrored match in a fight against the Hulk, possessing incredible strength, stamina, agility and healing factor. His powers are in fact magnified, but what makes this dark entity different to the Hulk is:
- Intelligence - Not only is the Devil Hulk much bigger and even possibly stronger than Savage Hulk, but he also possesses the intelligence of Bruce Banner or even Merged Hulk. This means that the Devil Hulk is not only brawn, but brains too!
- Cunning – When Bruce finds him chained up, Devil Hulk promises Bruce that if he frees him he shall assist the other hulks and fight the Guilt Hulk for him. However, Bruce knows that if he does let him free, he shall only cause even more havoc, and so leaves the Devil Hulk imprisoned in the Ark.
- Elemental Powers – In The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, during the boss fight against him, he will sometimes try to swipe at the Hulk with a claw which would have flames coming off it, inflicting fire damage on the player if they came into contact with the attack. Devil Hulk has even been known to fire an icy blast from the palm of his hand at the Hulk, which would freeze him solid if he got caught by it. The player would then have to rapidly move the analog stick to free themselves. From the arena being surrounded by lava this may suggest that Devil Hulk can resist extremely hot temperatures (possibly due to his thick scaly skin).
- Terrakinesis – He also has the ability to manipulate terrain and rock formations, at least in Bruce Banner's mental landscape. In The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, one of Devil Hulk's attacks includes raising large, stalagmite-like rock structures in an attempt to attack the Hulk and send him flying into the air. During the battle, he sometimes crawls into a huge "waist-deep" pit, that, presumably, he must have dug himself, possibly to escape Bruce's mind. This could suggest that he can also dig or burrow, which also probably suggests why he has rather large claws to hack at tough rock formations.
- Psych – This is where the Devil Hulk's evil, frightening looks, deep voice, and cunning come into place. He has the ability to frighten opponents or intimidate them psychologically (through the mind). He can make them panic or loose concentration, which gives him the chance to lash out and attack when the opponent is put off guard. The Hulk (or Bruce Banner for that matter), being lonely, misunderstood, abused in childhood, and hated by almost everyone he has encountered, makes an excellent target to break down, mentally.
Quotes[]
- Bruce: Help me! Help me!
- Devil Hulk: It's OK kid. I've got you. I've always got you. [Immortal Hulk #20]
- Devil Hulk: Sandra Ann Brockherst. That was her name. She was twelve. [Immortal Hulk #1]
Trivia[]
- The creators of the Devil Hulk are Paul Jenkins, Ron Garney, and Sal Buscema.
- Despite his ruthlessness and his impulsive nature, it is revealed in Immortal Hulk that he really doesn't like when people try to hurt Bruce and he cares about him.
- While intimidating and scary he acts more like a father figure for Bruce in Immortal Hulk after coming to terms with him.
- In The incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, the voice actor of Devil Hulk is Richard Moll.
- In The Incredible Hulk (1996 TV Show), there is a Hulk incarnation that did appear within an episode titled "Mind Over Anti-Matter", called "Dark Hulk". Hulk became the Dark Hulk once he became possessed by an Evil Force from another dimension. Both the Dark Hulk and the Evil Force are voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. However, the Dark Hulk has purple skin with glowing yellow eyes, and wears Hulk's trademark torn trousers. What makes the Devil Hulk different to Dark Hulk is that the Devil Hulk had always been in Bruce Banner, whereas Dark Hulk had only manifested once Bruce was taken over.
- In The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, from checking through the Extras Menu, there is very little content based upon him. There is only a 3D render and one piece of unofficial concept art of him (which was much slimmer than the finalized Devil Hulk design, with blue skin and with horns on his head).
- Mr Fixit may also say "Hey, DH! Long time no see!", which is a reference to the issue when there was a fight between the different Hulk incarnations. On the end of that sentence, Mr Fixit asks him "Hows Sigmund?" It is unclear why he says this, but he may be referring to the German neurologist Sigmund Freud, a Jewish Austrian who escaped Nazi conviction around 1930/1940, who did some studies of psychology.