Does the Hulk really have unlimited strength?

Can he get so strong that he can move planets? Or surpass someone like Superman(Silver Age)?

Which is the most powerful Hulk?

@st0nnec0ld: Maybe but many SA Superman would beat him before he even got to that kind of level of strength.

No. Hell no.

He doesn't "Have" that strength so to speak. The unlimited aspect refers to his potential, because Hulks strength has not shown to have any finite limit it is said t be unlimited. That being sad Hulks powers have changed and evolved over the years. What started out as a brute with moderate levels of super strength has now reached the point of breaking worlds. So i suppose Hulk is begining to live up to his potential...

I don't know how he could have unlimited strength. Ultimately we're talking about energy and mass, and they have to come from somewhere. Superman's strength comes from the conversion of sunlight to energy, much like photosynthesis in a plant. What is the Hulk accessing to gain size and strength? And no, rage isn't a unit of energy measurement.

He has the potential to have it I guess with his anger, hes potentially the strongest there is he isn't the strongest actually. Otherwise, why would he need to have his anger increase his strength?  So his anger= gives him the potential to be the strongest there is, theres other heroes that are stronger then him but he can surpass them though really...looking at it he shouldn't(or at least he shouldn't surpass a few of them) but he can.

(Hulk) Vs. (SuperMan) "Gamma-ray bursts can release more energy in 10 seconds than the Sun will emit in its entire 10 billion-year lifetime!" Source: http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/gamma.html

surpass doesnt mean beat in a fight , so yes hulk could potentially move planets if he got that angry but i think even he has breaking point , my friend and i always debate about this , he says with hulk's rage and healing factor he is "unstoppable" i say hulk is stronger (physically) than most in marvel not counting cosmic beings , gods , grown-up molly hayes , etc

i figure he willl get to a point that he pops a blood vessel and dies lol, not hating on hulk just saying his unstoppable level to date is worldbreaker/green scar and to go past that (surviving a supernova from torch n ghost rider and to tie with his universe's superman is impressive enough) is ridiculous

His potential for strength is infinite. Its his level of rage (which is infinite as well) that depends on how strong he actually is.

He does in terms of potential, but his base strength is 100+ tons.

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

He does in terms of potential, but his base strength is 100+ tons.

Thread/

It's limited by his rage and I believe his rage is finite.

@Crash_Recovery said:

I don't know how he could have unlimited strength. Ultimately we're talking about energy and mass, and they have to come from somewhere. Superman's strength comes from the conversion of sunlight to energy, much like photosynthesis in a plant. What is the Hulk accessing to gain size and strength? And no, rage isn't a unit of energy measurement.

If memory serves Silver Surfer was analysing Hulk during one of their encounters. Even he was slighlty baffled at Hulk's energy readings/source. Surfer even went as far as to say Hulk's energy appears to be interdimensional. In other words Hulk may be accessing an unkown dimension for his "Unlimited" energy/matter which in turn gives him the additional mass and strength etc. Fact is no one is entirley sure of where Hulk accesses his energy, it remains a mystery. One which I hope will be explored in Marvel Now!

@Crash_Recovery said:

I don't know how he could have unlimited strength. Ultimately we're talking about energy and mass, and they have to come from somewhere. Superman's strength comes from the conversion of sunlight to energy, much like photosynthesis in a plant. What is the Hulk accessing to gain size and strength? And no, rage isn't a unit of energy measurement.

ink & paper trumps mass & energy

Recently It's been said that Superman can bench between 200-500 tons and Helspont can do like 800, then what does this mean about the Hulk comparisons.

@Mr_Winchester: If there's anyone interested in tackling that issue, it'd be Mark Waid. The Hulk punching through buildings and throwing tanks is one thing, I just check out when I hear about him lifting planets. No thanks, I'll take characterization instead of smashing.

@Crash_Recovery said:

I don't know how he could have unlimited strength. Ultimately we're talking about energy and mass, and they have to come from somewhere. Superman's strength comes from the conversion of sunlight to energy, much like photosynthesis in a plant. What is the Hulk accessing to gain size and strength? And no, rage isn't a unit of energy measurement.

Dude, I'm a physics and chemistry major, I get all of the stuff you are trying to say, but, its comic books. You have to let that stuff go when you read them. Thats why I stopped going to the battle sections because they always try and put real life logic to a unrealistic world.

@Wolfrazer said:

@evilvegeta74: Is the 150 billion mountain thing is greatest strength feat? Or what is? Cause if thats only it, then he is outclassed by a few heroes still until of course he surpasses them with his anger.

Within the last year I believe he has completely destroyed two planets. One on his own, and one in a fight with Red She-Hulk, IIRC.

Oh yeah, this is fine, but people are bashing the Flash and his speed feat in the other thread

@mettlekm said:

@Crash_Recovery said:

I don't know how he could have unlimited strength. Ultimately we're talking about energy and mass, and they have to come from somewhere. Superman's strength comes from the conversion of sunlight to energy, much like photosynthesis in a plant. What is the Hulk accessing to gain size and strength? And no, rage isn't a unit of energy measurement.

ink & paper trumps mass & energy

That "ink & paper" trump is quite possibly the best explanation I've ever heard for comic book physics.

================================================================================================

@Crash_Recovery said:

I don't know how he could have unlimited strength. Ultimately we're talking about energy and mass, and they have to come from somewhere. Superman's strength comes from the conversion of sunlight to energy, much like photosynthesis in a plant. What is the Hulk accessing to gain size and strength? And no, rage isn't a unit of energy measurement.

All too true, but the laws of thermodynamics (In this particular case the law of conservation of mass and energy) are thrown out the window when it comes to comic books...

Hulk - Unlimited strength? as you said, what is he assessing?

Giant Man (or whatever Hank Pym calls himself at the moment) - He's not expanding his molecules or shrinking them. He can't force the electrons to have a lower orbit closer to the nucleus... he's drawing in extra mass from "somewhere..." If he can, then why not the Hulk? BUT, the laws of physics are ignored.

Super Man - As you mentioned he converts sunlight, but if you do the math, the energy he could absorb from sunlight (especially given his limited surface area that is struck by solar radiation) couldn't account for the the amount of energy required to do the things he does... Where's the rest of the energy coming from? Where is he drawing it from?

Wolverine and Deadpool - So... You cut out a heart and a new one just grows in place... Even if you ignore the amount of energy required, where did the mass come from???

Flash - This is actually the only one with a pseudo viable explanation. The Speed Force... a source of energy the rest of us just don't know about. But they never explain how his neural impulses move faster than the speed of light when impulses travel long nerve cells and propagate much slower than the actual speed of light...

So, it comes down to this... The writers get to do what they want, and they see just how much we'll accept....

Cool responses.

I totally understand about some of these other characters. I suppose I have less issue with something explained by something unfathomable, like the Speed Force, than trying to quantify the Hulk as an accident of science.

No at all . No matter how you look at it there is a limit. No matter the rage or anger . There is no such thing as unlimited rage nor anger. There is no potential for the hulk to have unlimited strength. Last time i check gamma wave wasnt the most powerful thing in the universe. The hulk is strong but not unlimited. Nor his potential isnt unlimited . YOu have seen the character evolved over the years got angry many forms. Even future forms. There is no time you saw a hulk be universal level or a power jem level of been unlimited. This is another proven fact hulk is one of the strongest on marvel earth. He is not the strongest in the universe he will never be on his own with out an amplifier or magical help. It just not happening .

Hulk below billions of ton mountain doesnt prove anything. he is still on earth . He was struggling compare to various of characters who can easily move a planet or destroy it with a punch or variations of punches.

@evilvegeta74: 200-500 tons??? Who told you that nonsense? He just bench pressed the entire weight of the earth for five days straight!

@st0nnec0ld: This is the third time in like two or three months this topic has been posted.

http://www.comicvine.com/marvel/57-31/is-hulk-infinitely-strong/92-689696/#13

Well, as the Hulk is not God, it's technically impossible for him to have infinite strength, and anyone who says he does have infinite strength does not properly comprehend the concept of infinity.

Well, as the Hulk is not God, it's technically impossible for him to have infinite strength, and anyone who says he does have infinite strength does not properly comprehend the concept of infinity.

@Wolfrazer said:

@JSH92 said:

Well, as the Hulk is not God, it's technically impossible for him to have infinite strength, and anyone who says he does have infinite strength does not properly comprehend the concept of infinity.

Well tell that to Hercules then, cause Hulk could outclass him in strength which by all accounts should be complete BS but its there.

OK. Hercules, read my post I made.

Also, I said "God," not Hercules.

@Wolfrazer said:

@JSH92 said:

Well, as the Hulk is not God, it's technically impossible for him to have infinite strength, and anyone who says he does have infinite strength does not properly comprehend the concept of infinity.

Well tell that to Hercules then, cause Hulk could outclass him in strength which by all accounts should be complete BS but its there.

OK. Hercules, read my post I made.

Also, I said "God," not Hercules.

@ Wolfrazer : That is the limit of the Banner Hulk (Strength Class 75 +).

616 order would

Savage Banner, Grey Hulk, Banner Hulk, The Professor, Maestro, Bannerless Hulk,

Heroes Reborn Hulk, War Hulk (powerful it as WWH but not as much), WWH Hulk, Gravage Hulk (is holding planet easy. Just try to keep that Hulk), Worldbreaker, nutrient Bath Hulk / Mindless 2, Mindles 3, WBWBM Hulk ,

Nich are all but so is a rough outline of force.

@ Termiteone4ever : Hulk potential is unlimited. This is not the same as infinite strength.

Explanation: Superman absorbs solar energy. Approx. 1567 joules per secunde he spends on earth.

So that he could perform the services about 1 X10 ^ 15 joules match.

Where the impact on the environment reflects only conforms to about 1567 joules.

This seems to all Class 100 + to-be (depending on the author of this facktor is sometimes much smaller).

In Hulk it's the same with gamers radiation.

If he gets angry increases they begin to produce radiation (by mutation Nexus dimensional portals ....). as the angrier he becomes more active the cells. The generated radiation it absorbs resist. Thus it mutates and becomes stronger. The mutation may also enhance capabilities of the cells.

When worlds breaker, it is also so that it does not reflect weaker.

On his second turn up Lag its strength over the trillions of hundreds of tons. The third time his force was cosmic.

He has a defense with a punch broke the power of the Nova resists.

@Sinfulplayerx said:

(Hulk) Vs. (SuperMan) "Gamma-ray bursts can release more energy in 10 seconds than the Sun will emit in its entire 10 billion-year lifetime!" Source: http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/gamma.html

This!

The Hulk's ability to increase his strength is linked to how angry he can become so It's my belief that his strength must have a limit because his anger must have a limit.

@ PowerHerc : His strength increases but also by other things. And Worldbreaker Hulk is not reflected weaker. His last maximum strength is strength his new beginning.

The savage Hulk begint always resist with 75 tons. But Worldbreaker was the second time already far over 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.

The third time was his beats. Already more power than one explosion of the sun

One would have to say probably

the angrier

the longer angry

more often angry

and

The more energy absorbed (and he sometimes creates itself)

=

the stronger it is.

@Takao0815: Guys, we all know that any level of strength is achievable for hulk in many ways. like Takao0815 sad: radiation absorption, pain, rage....

why people who dont like Hulk are even on this topic?

The Hulk's gamma irradiated physiology allows Hulk to survive in space, bust planetoids, etc. Hulk draws upon the universes' limitless nuclear energy. Hulk/Banner's increase in gamma radiation in proportion to stress(caused by his own physical exertion/anger or other outside forces), converting it to new and stronger cellular mass (his tissues are incrediblely dense) in order to survive. As a byproduct of this Hulk has a regenerative healing, is self-sustaining, has limitless stamina and is immune to any magnitude of lethal injury.

Hulk's cellular mass growth matches the intensity of his stress so it is never overburdened(unlike Wolverine's). As it is known, Hulk's cells initially use energy to adapt for survival (and that process does occur instantly)BEFORE multiplying themselves in order to keep the body coherent instead of staying scattered. Even though Hulk's x-factor gamma strength ability keeps him from death it does not keep him from being rendered unconscious at times.

Hulk can beat any superman, and must take into account that the fights he has beaten hulk was for superman to vote and not only that but the hulk superman who fought against was the most basic and the weakest of all ... And yet superman said "I gave all of my" but rather was a feat of resisting hulk full power of superman and hulk still the weakest which the more angry weaker.

Sorry for my english

He would have to stay infinitely mad for an infinite amount of time. Which will never happen.

This was just said again but with slightly different wording. This time in Indestructible Hulk #1. "That's impossible... your strength...it's uncalculable". It's a freak'n comic book and this is the Hulks thing....so people need to stop saying that it's not. It's like saying "A God" is more powerful then anything, when not everyone beleives in God or Gods. The Hulk is the strongest one there is period.... does that mean he can or will beat everyone. No (I'm cheering him on though). Enjoy the characters for what they bring to the table and for what they are. Hulk Smash. ^^

According to one of the smartest guys on Marvel Earth:

Thats more or less a "yes" to me.

only fanboys want him to have unlimited strength, when he does not.

@TheAcidSkull said:

@THORSON said:

only fanboys want him to have unlimited strength, when he does not.

there are many instances where it is suggested that he has, so it's not fanboism ...

It's not just "suggested", it's stated outrightly.

Yeah. And if Banner had been hit by an actual gamma ray burst that would matter. lol

@fifthchild said:

According to one of the smartest guys on Marvel Earth:

Thats more or less a "yes" to me.

Sounds like a yes to me too! He is of course the strongest there is!

The Incredible Hulk's power levels adjust to his stress, physical and emotional. However, just because 'the madder he gets, the stronger he gets' does not, logically, entail that he has unlimited strength. There is a feasible limit to the amount of psychic stress a human brain can generate, and even as a personality disordered mutant and a monster I can see no reason for Banner to have an unlimited capacity for rage - try for a second to imagine what that even means, it's just two words - unlimited and rage - which we can understand apart, but really make no sense together.

Even granting that it were possible for him to express 'unlimited rage' there is no reason to think he could possibly reach those levels before his mind or body failed to be able to process it - he would go insane and kill himself with his own power.

'Silver Age' aka classic Earth One Superman has, most of the time, literally unlimited strength - barring a special problem with using his strength or achieving a grip, he can move anything he can get his hands on at unlimited speeds. This is far from consistent, but Earth One Superman was so powerful that no amount of comic book hyperbole could supplement Hulk's feats enough to make them even remotely comparable - Kal-El regularly does on-panel feats that make Reed Richards look like a college dropout and Marvel's top-tier in the Silver Age (never mind today's vastly depowered counterparts) unimpressive. The same, in fact, is true of Wonder Woman, even in the late post-Crisis/Pre-52 era. DC just, as a stylistic choice, uses vastly higher strength levels. Marvel always has a much lower level - even ignoring the bogus Strength classes they give out in the HBotMU, etc. the greatest physical strength feats in Marvel tend to be on the Helicarrier-to-Continent level; even the guys 'in a class of their own' who make Hulk look weak - such as Starlin-written Thanos - are planet busters if that.

As a matter of top-level feats DC just feels freer to allow physics-baffling levels of mechanical strength in their Universe, whereas Marvel prefers to confine their brawls to something that won't result in one-punch-orbital-launches.

I submitted a really long post that bad-WiFi ate, so I'll summarize here:

Unlimited rage is two words we can understand separately (Actually, 'unlimited' is probably nonsense) but make no sense together. Even if the Hulk's rage were capable of becoming 'infinite' the mental effects would make him insane, like a man on a gallon of PCP, and the strength effects would be suicidal (he would kill himself on accident). Even ignoring that, Pre-Crisis Earth One Superman had automatically unlimited strength and speed, barring special circumstances and inconsistent writing he easily moved galaxies at faster than light speed and could do so forever without tiring. DC - now and then - uses a much higher logorhythmic scale for the top tiers of strength than Marvel does. Marvel likes to confine their ultra-brick battles to city or at most mountain busting levels, so that characters regularly classed as much stronger than the Hulk - like Thanos - are at best planet busters. Even the New 52 Superman, who is a cripple compared to PC Earth One Superman, can move a planet's mass without any significant difficulty in his mid-20s.

DC just tends to like spacey-sci-fi more, and they feel freer to let physical battles ascend to the absolutely physics baffling. Marvel tends to like to keep things 'closer to home', in terms people can more readily understand (Helicarriers, holding up mountains) while DC likes to actually demonstrate (Rather than throw out as hyperbole) unlimited mechanical strength.

Also, I don't understand why people take in-comic statements of a character's potential seriously, given that those making the observations are clearly and frequently proven wrong. Some assclown of a supervillian overestimating his robot gimmick does not prove the Hulk has unlimited power, it only proves he's able to overcome a hyperbolically inflated robot. Objective strength feats and demonstrated failures and limits show you a character's strength, not the barely-informed subjective opinion of some scientist or scanner gadget which has all the reliability of a Star Trek holodeck.

Basically, you can't take statements of a character's power seriously in comics. With rare exceptions, like Jim Shooter's Solar, any statement of their power level will be shown wrong by several orders of magnitude in the next five issues. Hyperbole, more hyperbole, one-shot freak feats and subjective character judgments never pan out in actual story terms.

Most impressive Marvel strength feats tend to be attributable to Silver Age Thor and Wonder Man (popping the adamantium Ultron's head off like a doll's), Hulk has almost never shown to operate anywhere near that except in Planet Hulk and Secret Wars. Hulk thinks he's the strongest there is, but yet again - why does a rage-maddened childish expression of Banner's feelings of helplessness have an opinion we take seriously? Characters can, and obviously are, frequently wrong about how 'powerful' they and others are. I don't get why people think that someone saying something proves it in a comic anymore than it does in real life.

I get the feeling that marvel is trying not to break all they have built upon because the hulk is very capable of doing so. So they keep him at a regular "off the charts" level instead of what he could REALLY be. anybody else agree?