What do you think it is ?

I always thought, his power source. ''the Madder the Hulk gets, the Stronger he gets...''

While his rivals needs some tools and different power sources ;

Thor - Mjolnir and his father Odin

Silver Surfer - Board and his master Galactus

Superman - Sun

Juggernaut - Cyttorak Gem

I agree. It is the fact that he can get infinitely stronger and the madder he gets the stronger

I forgot the Hyperion. He needs light.

@erkan12: I think you are making a mistake. Anger alone does not provide the Hulk's power. It is the catalyst. Otherwise, anyone becoming angry would get stronger. His extra mass has to come from somewhere. One theory I have heard is somehow he taps into all of the gamma energy in the universe. Also, we have seen the Hulk eat at times so I wonder how long he could go without food.

Regarding his rivals:

Thor- Odin does not provide him with power and how much Mjolnir provides is highly debatable. The power of the storm and his own physical power is within him.

Silver Surfer - Surfer does not receive any power from his board. It is an extension of him that he can control and reform at will. Galactus is not really the continuous source of Surfer's power. IIRC, starlight restores the Power Cosmic within him.

Juggernaut - This is the only one that fits your initial suggesstions. Juggernaut has no power on his own. It comes continuously from Cyttorak and can be nullified or stripped form him on a whim by Cyttorak.

I didn't said his ''anger alone'' ... It is a catalyst of course, why did you think otherwise ?

I believe if Galactus dies, SS should lose his power cosmic but it could be wrong, i am not sure. But still they are connected with Galactus thats for certain.

And about Board, yes you right he can reform with his will, but without it he can't fly either ...

Without Mjolnir, Thor is just like Hercules or Ares. He can't fly, he can't use magic, he can't control weather and thunder.

Odin can take it easily... Without Odin, i am not sure about it can keep his power or not ...

And without ''possession'' (i am not talking about hand contact) of Mjolnir, Thor can't even fly ...

@erkan12: Thor can use magic and weather manipulation without Miljonir.

Hulk - perfect Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde arch-type

Hulk is the only top tier hero who doesn't have a weapon unlike Thor, Iron Man, Silver Surfer etc, Green Lantern, Superman and so on. He also doesn't have a weakness, like at all! He is just an infinitely strong powerhouse....

You did not mention gamma radiation and only wrote the "madder hulk gets" so that gave me the impression you thought anger alone did the job.

There is no evidence of Galactus dying that the Silver Surfer would lose his Power Cosmic since it does not come from Galactus. The Surfer's energy supply does not ebb and flow with Galactus. It is independent. They are connected only in the sense that Galactus was what originally imbued Surfer with the power the same way the gamma bomb made the Hulk the Hulk. Now they are independent. Surfer can technically fly without his board by blasting energy out of his hands, but this is impractical. Anyway, I don't see why it matters. The board is for all intents and purposes as much a part of the Surfer as his own arm. Other heralds of Galactus can fly on their own like Nova and Firelord.

No, without Mjolnir Thor is not just like Hercules and Ares. Time and again he has proven he can call upon lighting without the hammer. Heck, this is a power that has been featured more in recent years. We have also seen other gods like Fandral and Heimdal open dimensional portals so while Thor does not do that I would not be surprised if he could.

Odin is a borderline nigh-omnipotent being who is as powerful as the plot demands. Yes he can take Thor's power easily. No doubt Odin could also turn the Hulk to glass easily. That is the benefit of being Odin.

Can Thor fly without Mjolnir? In theory yes by summoning winds like Storm. And even if he cannot so what? Hulk cannot fly either.

Superman does not have a weapon. How much of a weapon Surfer's board is is highly debatable. Mjolnir itself it such a part of Thor and thanks to being his symbol of power might as well be considered part of him.

And Hulk does have a weakness. It is called Banner. Put a bullet in his head and Hulk is dead. One could easily argue that his lack of ability to fly is another weakness though not a direct one like kryptonite is to Superman.

True, but Hulk has super leaping.

Wrong.

He took a ''nuke'' while he is in Banner form, but well ...

Gallery

IIRC even in avenger movie Banner talked about this ''head shot'' and said it didn't work.

@seekquaze:

Superman has heat vision, freezing breath and so on....Surfer has the power cosmic...Hulk just has his physical strength and any of his other skills like leaping into orbit or thunder claps are just a by product of his immense physical strength..

...and another thing, put a bullet into Banner's head and he doesn't die. Remember that scene from Avengers Assemble where he says "I got low, I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy woke up..." or something along those lines......yep, Banner has tried that trick and it don't work!!

I stand by my statement that Hulk has no weak areas....

I never thought of it like that.

Do does Hercules, Thor and virtually anyone else with super-strength in their legs. I only brought it up because you kept bringing it up for some reason.

And to counter that I have read Banner being koed while he was mid transformation by Ronan the Accuser and was left as Banner. Ronan didn't kill him because he was in a hurry to fight someone else. So Banner is as vulnerability for the Hulk. As for the "head shot" I have seen it discussed and a reason attributed for it not working was since Banner knew about it Hulk knew about it and transformed.

Like I stated above in those examples Banner knows about it so Hulk knows about it and Hulk does not want to die.

..well I don't think Hulk or Banner can be killed for good..,,even Maestro came back after he was disintegrated. He is a totally unique character however, even DC felt it necessary to copy him with their Doomsday Character, Hulk is a modern take on RL Stevenson's classic Jekyll and Hyde. He appeals to the part of your character where you want to really lose it and that's why I love him!

I tend to view Hulk's immortality the same way I view the immortality of virtually any other character whether it be Wolverine or Captain America. That they have shields thanks to their stories. We have seen enough What If?s and future stories where Hulk has be killed for me to think he can be killed. I do admit he is much harder to kill than nearly anyone else, but not truly immortal.

And I do think Hulk is unique just like I think Marvel's versions of Thor, Hercules, Spider-Man or numerous other characters are unique.

Actually they can't. It requires not just super-strength, also it requires super-reflexes/agility/speed like Spiderman. And Hulk's leaps are much higher than Spidey's leaps.

@erkan12:

good point and another argument against all the "Hulk is too slow to tag DC powerhouses", type detractors!!!

Yes, they can. Leaping only requires leg muscles to cross long distances. The leaping like Spider-Man or Batroc the Leaper is different from the versions guys like the Hulk use. I have never seen or heard of the hulk leaping around like Spider-Man.

Show me your proof then. You are claiming something without any proof. The reason Hulk has super leap is not just super strength. Only Beast and Spidey can do that but much more shorter version, and both of them has great agility and reflexes.

@erkan12 said:

@seekquaze said:

Yes, they can. Leaping only requires leg muscles to cross long distances. The leaping like Spider-Man or Batroc the Leaper is different from the versions guys like the Hulk use. I have never seen or heard of the hulk leaping around like Spider-Man.

Show me your proof then. You are claiming something without any proof. The reason Hulk has super leap is not just super strength. Only Beast and Spidey can do that but much more shorter version, and both of them has great agility and reflexes.

You can have great strength through great mass but speed is what's needed to leap great distances before gravity pulls you back down.

Hulk strength is the power of gamma rays. That is strength obtained by the massive speed of a mass, not the amount of mass. Hulk's strength does not come from mass. The force Hulk puts out is extremely rapid.

Mass is factor but a tiny and majorly insignificant one when it comes to the strength of the Hulk.

Agreed. Unfortunately dc supporters don't want to accept this fact ...

When Superman was originally created he did not fly. He got around by super leaping like in the film Man of Steel.

Below is an instance of Thor super-leaping:

Below is an instance of Wonder Man super-leaping:

There is your proof that characters besides Hulk can engage in super-leaping. They normally do not do it because they do not need to. Thor and Wonderman can both usually fly. But leaping great distances requires great leg strength. Hulk can leap farther than Spider-Man because his leg strength is far greater. Spider-Man and Beast can leap all over the place because of their agility, but the greater the distance the greater the strength needed.

@seekquaze:

Good scan. But i still doubt about Hercules, i made mistake about Thor, since i forgot that he has super speed/reflexes too (even without mjolnir)

*That also proves Thor can't fly without Mjolnir*

However Wonder Man can fly already, that doesn't count.

Characters such as Thing, Hercules, Colossus, Juggernaut i really doubt they can do same just because they have super strength. They still need speed, reflexes and agility for super leaping along with the super strength.

Hercules and Thor has always been portrayed as physically equal. Most people who think all of Thor's extra powers come form his hammer at worse usually admit he and Hercules are equal in a straight physical sense. Hercules has the It requires great leg strength to lift alot of the things he does besides great arm strength. Some of the handbooks state he can leap great distances.

Wonder Man could not fly in that instance. So yes it does count. When Wonder Man was first created and for decades he could not fly. It is why in older comics he is sometimes seen with a jet pack or rockets. It is also why in this case Wonder Man is leaping instead of flying. Why would he need to leap if he could fly?

Leaping great distances only needs strength. Speed, reflexes, and agility is necessary if you are going to leap off of ceiling and walls the way Spider-Man and Beast do. To my knowledge Hulk has never done that.

True, and that doesn't mean he can defeat Thor in combat. Hercules didn't showed any speed/reaction feats like Thor did. So your scans proves that Thor can't fly without mjolnir and it seems his speed and agility comes from himself, mjolnir only gives him flight.

Leaping great distances only needs strength.

Wrong again. Show me some one has no super speed/reflexes (unlike Thor and like Thing or Colossus) and he can leap great distances... It is simple, they can't do that without speed.

Look at this, even Spidey using Hulk for travel. Lol.

Hercules has dodge the Sentry and caught the Sentry's cape when the latter was attacking him. The Sentry has caught bullets and proven to have both superhuman speed and reflexes. Therefore, Hercules has superhuman speed and reflexes. Virtually all superhuman beings have this to some degree. Only it is rarely show the same way it is with speedsters. And what does any of this have to do with Hercules defeating Thor in combat?

\

Why is speed needed? Why? The all-around increase in muscles that comes from super-strength usually translates to some degree of greater speed.

And yes Spider-Man is using the Hulk for transport in that image. Spider-Man cannot leap as far as the Hulk and there are no buildings to swing on. You keep claiming I am wrong only for me to prove myself correct in every instance. You keep asking me for proof so name me one time Hulk has demonstrated the type of agility associated with Spider-Man and Beast? Name me a time he has leaped off of a wall, a ceiling, and another wall.

@seekquaze:

I know that scan, catching a ''cape'' after Sentry passed him throw, is not really impressive actually. Since he is catching him at the last moment.

This post explains why you need super speed for super leap ;

It is still a speed/reflexes feat which is what you wanted. There are different levels of speed/reflexes. There is the Quicksilver level of speed and reflexes which is usually the highest. A few characters like Spider-Man are typically portrayed as below that, but above everyone else. Others like Thor and Hercules are portrayed anywhere from barely above regular humans to being far faster. Sentry is usually portrayed more on Quicksilver's level so it is impressive. No normal speed human could accomplish that.

At best you need some form of super-speed to properly harness your muscles to move fast enough. However, there is a reason Quicksilver prefers to run places instead of leaping. He does not have the super-strength to make the same long distance leaps. Hulk's leaps rely more on his strength. When Quicksilver leaps it relies more on his speed. The way your writing reads it sounds like you think Hulk has Spider-Man or even Quicksilver level speed and agility when nothing I have ever seen or heard indicates he does.

@seekquaze:

you can look at these ;

http://www.comicvine.com/hulk/4005-2267/forums/current-hulk-is-fast-1516737/#115

http://www.comicvine.com/hulk/4005-2267/forums/current-hulk-is-fast-1516737/?page=3#115-mark

@erkan12:

I already have. I have never disputed the claim of the Hulk having super-speed. The question is how fast and what type. And as some have stated there are differences between running speed and combat speed. Characters like Hulk and Thor tend to be portrayed more all over the place then more traditional speed characters like Quicksilver or Spider-Man. Before the current run the Hulk's running speed was emphasized perhaps a couple of times. He always relied on leaping instead of running. Like other top-tier characters he has some degree of super-reflexes, but it usually comes off as less than someone like Spider-Man because are shown landing several blows before the top-tier can land a blow of their own. I have yet to hear or see of an example of Hulk displaying agility like Spider-Man or Beast.