The Psychology of the Hulk: No one likes anyone when they’re Angry

What is it about monsters that turn good we find so appealing. Look at Vampires, once the disgusting bogyman of Victorian era London, now considered as misunderstood heartthrobs, and the wet dream of every angst ridden teenager. And I have a theory on this.

Unlike the noble prince or the heroic strong lad from a poor home, who’s moral inclination is on the side of good by default. Monsters by nature are meant to be evil. So when a monster does good it shows that the monster had to over come its natural tendencies in order to do the right thing. Which in turn requires effort and will power which we respect. 

And as for Superheroes no other character embodies the word Monster better than the Hulk. And yet despite his menacing green form and savage personality, the Hulk is considered one of the greatest heroes of all time. So let’s understand this a bit better.

Who is the Hulk?

Dr. Bruce Banner is a brilliant scientist in the field of Gamma radiations who gets exposed to said radiation when one of his experiments goes wrong. But instead of just killing him or making him grow an extra eye or something, this exposure to gamma rays gave him the very stressful superpower of turning into a giant green monster when he is angry.

Right of the bat, calling this a superpower is a stretch. Even though the Hulk possess an amazing set of skills: Super strength, invulnerability etc. the fact that he cannot control his transformation is less than ideal. Add to this the fact that Banner has no control over his body once he transforms into the Hulk makes things even more complicated.

Now as far as man and monster sharing the same body goes this is nothing new. It’s not even new for doctors. The concept has already been explored quite well in the case of Dr. Jackal and Mr.Hyde.

And not so well by Russell crow in the Mummy reboot

But while the character of Mr. Hyde is downright evil that is not the case with the Hulk.

Fear at first Site

You see this is where the Hulk’s character gets interesting, while his transformation aspect resembles Mr. Hyde. The Hulk’s personality more closely resembles Frankenstein (alright Frankenstein’s monster you pedants). That is to say someone severely misunderstood because of his large and monstrous appearance.

In fact despite the Hulks monstrous strength, his personality can be best described as ‘Childlike’ and this is exactly why it cannot be said that the Hulk personality is evil. When a child misbehaves it isn’t because of evil intent, it’s because he doesn’t know any better.

And like a child he likes playing dress up

But the problem, when a child like mind is stuck inside a walking bulldozer is that he is susceptible to some unbelievably destructive temper tantrums. 

Weaponized Rage

The Hulk’s power is directly in relation to his emotions that is to say, the angrier he gets the stronger he gets. This makes his potential power level near infinite, as anyone who has ever had a pissed of girlfriend can tell you a person can always get angrier.

This also has a near berserker like effect which works in the Hulk’s favour. Unlike most combatants who get weaker as the battle progresses Hulk’s unique condition means that he gets stronger as the battle goes on, which makes him extremely broken in any battle situation.

And if left unchecked can even break worlds

Hulk fights, if he wins great. But if he’s losing he gets stronger, and eventually gets strong enough to win. The best counter for the hulk is to end the battle as quickly as possible.