Top 10 Red Hulk Shocking Facts Hey guys!
Welcome back to Top 10 Nerd, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
If you’re a fan of The Hulk, chances are you’re well versed in the story of General
Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross.
He was a constant antagonist to Bruce Banner and The Hulk, and later went on to become
the very thing he hated when he became the Red Hulk.
But some people don’t know nearly enough about this awesome dude, so I’m here to
help with that!
So grab your radiation suit, because it’s time for the Top 10 Shocking Facts about Red
Hulk!
Number 10: Red Hulk is pretty obsessed with Bruce Banner.
Thaddeus Ross has been around in the comics as long as Bruce Banner.
While Ross has spent significantly less time with Hulk powers than Banner, their characters
were introduced at the same time, in The Incredibly Hulk #1, before the Hulk was even green!
As the years went by, Ross began hating Banner more and more, both seeing the Hulk as his
worst enemy, and angry that his daughter Betty would choose Bruce over her father.
After the apparent death of his daughter at the hands of the Hulk, his anger towards Banner
reached a new height, and he only came to forgive Banner when he learned that Bruce
had been framed by the Abomination.
Number 9: Red Hulk is a super soldier.
Unlike Bruce Banner, who gained his powers accidentally, Thaddeus Ross was given his
intentionally as part of the super soldier program, combined with gamma radiation.
This procedure was performed by Doc Samson and the think tank Intelligencia, overseen
by M.O.D.O.K.
This brought about the red hulk transformation, with a similar appearance and power set, but
with certain significant differences.
What differences?
Why, I’m glad you asked…
Number 8: Red Hulk is stronger than Green Hulk.
This one might come as a surprise to some people, but as a general rule Red Hulk, or
Rulk as some call him, is more powerful than our green giant.
There are exceptions, of course; Ross wouldn’t have much of a chance against World War Hulk,
but at their baselines Rulk is quite a bit more dangerous than Banner.
However, as the two become angrier, the edge slowly slides in OG Hulk’s favour.
Which brings me to my next point… Number 7: Red Hulk’s powers work differently
from OG Hulk.
While many people assume that the two would have the same powers just different colours,
it turned out that this was not the case.
While Banner gains strength the angrier he gets, Red Hulk’s strength increases as he
receives more radiation.
This makes him easier to deal with sometimes, and other times can make him an absolute monster
if he has access to enough radiation.
This power difference was very important, because it helped Banner to exploit a weakness
of the Red Hulk.
Speaking of which…
Number 6: The angrier red hulk gets, the hotter he gets.
No I don’t mean he gets sexier, although hey, if it floats your boat I’m not judging.
I’m talking about physical heat.
This sounds like it could be a strength, since heat could be useful in combat, but he has
the potential to overheat, as Bruce Banner deduced in their first fight.
After Red Hulk thrashed both The Hulk and Thor, Bruce hypothesized that he could cause
Red Hulk to overheat by allowing the beast to strike him repeatedly, which eventually
worked and caused Red Hulk to become disoriented, and defeated.
That said, this wouldn’t be a great strategy for most people, because without the Hulk’s
strength and resilience, you’d become a pile of goo long before Red Hulk overheated.
Number 5: Thaddeus had control of Zzzax for a time.
Before he became Red Hulk, the General tried to power himself another way to beat the Hulk.
But failed.
With the help of Clay Quartermain, Ross went through a procedure that was supposed to give
him the power of Zzzax, a sentient energy-based being.
However, the procedure went wrong, and instead Thaddeus was put in control of Zzzax.
He used this power to fight Hulk, but eventually realized that he had become a monster, and
sacrificed himself to destroy the mind-controlling mutant Nevermind.
But don’t worry, he didn’t stay dead, which reminds me of another point!
Number 4: He faked his own death.
In Fall of the Hulks: Gamma, we were told that Red Hulk had killed General Ross, but
we found out in World War Hulks that this was not the case.
Turns out that the Ross we saw killed by Red Hulk was actually a life model decoy, and
Thunderbolt Ross himself was Red Hulk.
This blew some people’s minds, and confirmed the suspicions of others, but it was pretty
damn fitting to have the long-standing thorn in Bruce Banner’s side turn out to be his
greatest foe.
Number 3: There’s a Red She-Hulk.
And it’s Betty Ross!
Following her time as Harpy, Betty Ross joined the ranks of the Hulks as Red She-Hulk.
First appearing on the cover of 2008’s Hulk #14, Red She-Hulk has similar powers to her
male counterpart (her father), with incredible strength, regeneration, and energy absorption.
She tends to be more on the side of good than her father, although she does tend to transgress,
particularly when Thaddeus or MODOK are involved.
Number 2: Red Hulk has wielded Mjolnir!
So this means that Red Hulk is worthy, right?
Well, no.
In Hulk #5, Red Hulk was fighting Thor, and used the hammer, while still attached to Thor,
to drag the pair of them into space.
Then, since space has no gravity, he was able to use Mjolnir against Thor.
It was a really cool development that shocked fans, especially since it was uncertain as
to whether it really was the lack of gravity at work or Red Hulk was actually worthy.
However, it was actually confirmed by editor Tom Brevoort that it was, in fact, the case.
So keep that in mind next time you’re, I dunno, fighting Thor?
I guess?
Number 1: There’s a new Red Hulk in town!
In U.S. Avengers #1, we were introduced to a new Red Hulk, with General Robert L. Maverick
stepping up to the plate.
Yep, I guess Red Hulk is popular amongst generals.
He’s now fighting with the newest Avengers team, including Iron Patriot and Squirrel
Girl, and he’s pretty sick.
Improved with the Hulk Plugin, Maverick was actually chosen because he was such a great
genetic match for the plugin itself (and because he was so successful in the military).
This version is significantly different from previous as he has way more control; he uses
a device on his wrist to hulk out for 1 hour, but then can’t use it again for 37 hours.
It adds a significant amount of strategy to his role, and I think it’s pretty darn neat.
That’s it for today!
Hope you guys enjoyed, if you did please smack that sexy thumbs up button and subscribe to
Top 10 Nerd for more videos!
Let me know in the comments what other Hulk videos you’d like to see!
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Top 10 Nerd.
Later nerds!
Thaddeus Ross died and was revived, becoming the redeemer.
Ross changes his mind a lot.
Although Ross has long hated Banner and the Hulk, he often changes his mind and ends up
helping him.
First he helps Ryker capture Hulk, then he goes “crap never mind” and helps Hulk
escape.
Then he tries to get Kinda like me watching house of cards.
Oh man I love Underwood so much I hate Underwood so much I love him so much I hate him so much
I love him I hate him oh my god he’s awfully close to those train tracks…
We didn’t know who the hell Red Hulk was for a while.
While there were a number of theories and hypotheses on who could be behind Red Hulk,
He made his own version of the Defenders, called the Offenders.
When The Collector asked Red Hulk to assemble a team to fight for him, he created a villainous
counterpart to The Defenders called the Offenders.
See what he did there?
Hulk was replaced with Red Hulk, Namor with Tiger Shark, Doctor Strange with Baron Mordo,
and Silver Surfer with Terrax.
And it was pretty cool.
They went up against The Defenders and wiped the floor, then Red Hulk went ahead and killed
his own team, and used the power cosmic he got from Silver Surfer to take out frickin
Dormammu.
He’s a scary dude.
New Thunderbolts.