How come Zeus destroyed Hulk, but Thor can't?

It seems every time Thor and Hulk fight, it's relatively even, with Hulk usually looking better. Isn't Thor the God of Thunder? I'm sure Zeus is significantly above him, but is Thor really that far below Zeus?

Zeus zapped Hulk to hell and beat the piss out of him, effortlessly. I would have thought Thor is capable of the same. But we almost never see that.

Why?

Why can't Mjlonir zap Hulk with the same result as Zeus zapping Hulk? And Thor's punches against Hulk seem like puffs of air compared to the punches Zeus landed. I don't get it.

Zeus is a skyfather and is on par with Odin, he is just objectively far more powerful than Thor.

Zeus is KING of the gods. Thor is not.

Also only a very few times has Thor actually tried to kill Hulk, and he did. lol

Oh boy

@rag_man:

But I'm still confused why Thor, even when not wanting to kill Hulk, can't absolutely pwn him like Zeus did, with just physical brute force. Zeus may be tremendously more powerful, but it seems like Marvel is selling Thor short by not having him wreck Hulk at will, even if it's not to the death.

Cause Zeus is massively more powerful than Thor?

This.

Zeus would also spank Thor, like he did Hulk.

Marvel Zeua looks pretty cool.

Because Thor and Hulk are equals in strength most times. Hulk just has the ability to increase his strength.

Thor can go warrior madness, but that's a very rare thing. Hulk always gets angrier.

Look at what Odin did to Thor in Fear Itself.

Same results if Odin battles Hulk.

You're thinking of it on a mythology basis, but the comic characters have very different tiers.

Hulk is like a bezerker, regenerates and gets stronger as he goes, to stop him you basically have to try and kill him and most heroes won't go there without good reason.

Honestly Thor and hulk is only even because Thor likes to brawl

Zeus is much stronger than Thor as stated. They've fought once or twice before, I think the fight lasted a few months, and Zeus told him that he was only humoring Thor. Then he proceeds to one shot him proving his superiority. Thor also could defeat or kill Hulk in any number of ways if he's not being dumb in the fight.

Zeus is stated multiple times to be equal to Odin. Not every god of Thunder is equal. And Thor holds back so even if he was equal to Zeus he wouldn't do so

It also implied that Zeus nerfed the hell out of Hulk's healing factor and Hulk himself said he didn't want to fight and when he did finally throw a punch he knocked Zeus back several feet.

@citizensentry: Didn't Hulk also throw the fight to save his family? Not saying Zeus would've decimated him, but I thought the intention was an audience with Zeus to save Skaar and the others. Plus, was Hulk in WWH mode? I keep hearing he can transform into that at will

Because zeus >> Thor>=hulk.

So from some of the responses I gather in this thread, it seems that World Breaker Hulk is actually on par with Marvel Zeus?

Because Hulk held back when facing Zeus, and Zeus was cheating by using his magic?

@donatellorawks: no world breaker hulk is not on any skyfathers level

Thor holds back his true power... he doesn't want to rip the mortal a new one

Actually Zeus>Hulk>Thor

so why not beat him into submission without killing him then? that answer is getting seriously old. He would rather drag on a fight and destroy the surrounding area, instead of just knocking him out? seems off

what issue, i need to read

How was Hulk getting destroyed by Zeus going to save his family? (I wasn't able to read that story)

His intention wasn't to get destroyed since his healing factor would help him out. His intentions if I can recall was to appeal to Zeus since he helped him out in Chaos War I believe. I'd have to read it again. Zeus told him although he knew of Hulks contribution and his friendship with Hercules, that his will was absolute. Thats when Hulk challenged him and lost, and was chained in a similar way to Prometheus.

Members of the Marvel family HAVE been changed back by normal weather lightning.

But did Zeus ultimately end up helping Hulk, or whatever it was?

Zeus is a tier above Thor and Thor always brawls with Hulk and holding back is part of his character. If Thor fought smartly and went all out he'd beat Hulk pretty easily.

@mrhamwallet: Yeah man. If someone like Loki had the strength to contend with Hulk coupled with his Magic, Bruce would have been vaporized years ago.

@pokeysteve: Has it been recently ?

@w0nd: Thor has fought Hulk to the point he didn't care if he killed Banner. So holding back isn't always the issue

@kgb725: Not new 52. Before Flashpoint and after COIE.

Didn't Zeus one time completely embarrass the Avengers?

zeus all out destroyed a hulk who didn't fight back