Green Goliath Problems

The Incredible Hulk is one of the 3 most popular superheroes of Marvel. A step above Wolverine and a step below Spider-man and the respect each character receives in the wider public is relative to one another in this order. Unfortunately the lack of respect or worse, the amount of disrespect Hulk gets here on the Vine is just sad. Long story short Hulk is just underrated and it needs to stop.

Sometimes I don't understand the hate the jolly green giant seems to be attracting. Sure he looks intimidating and reminds you of your high school bully but his morals are actually in the right place. I admit there are times in comics when Hulk is being a jerk and I do wish such moments never happened because it doesn't portray the character properly. All Hulk wants is to be left alone and live peacefully, but fear and prejudice is what gets him in trouble at times which is why he has so much stress that needs to be let out at the right time.

Complaints in the Battle Forums

Now on to the main idea of this blog. Hulk is a character that gets labeled as "overrated" on the Vine's battle forums. While that may be the case elsewhere on other sites such as YouTube, on CV it's a completely different story. After doing much research on this site, Hulk just doesn't fit that label at all. In fact it's completely the opposite, Hulk is actually underrated. Worse, the blame gets shifted to his supporters though I'll discuss this below. Here are some of the common complaints or mishaps about the Hulk that I see a lot of in the battle forums.

Hulk has Unlimited Strength

One thing people don't like to hear is the word "unlimited" or "limitless" or "infinite". Hulk fans say he has unlimited strength, others say he doesn't and the majority of users are with the "others" unfortunately. They say it's hyperbole and that Hulk has no feats to back up the statement, the supporters use consistent feats of Hulk's ongoing success rate but somehow it isn't enough. This leads to frustration, repetition and insults on both fronts. So who's right and who's wrong. Truth be told, neither is right or wrong. Hulk doesn't exactly have unlimited strength, because unlimited is impossible for a sentient being that starts off at a limit, however Hulk does have that potential for unlimited strength. His strength level is in accordance to his temper such that he becomes stronger and stronger the madder he gets which begs the question of Hulk's rage. Is it unlimited? We don't know but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Unlimited rage may seem impossible but don't forget, this is comics. If his rage is limited, Hulk still has a long way to reach that limit which is why his strength seems limitless. If Hulk did have unlimited rage I believe the rate at which his strength rises would gradually slow down but still keep going in the form of a logarithmic curve. Hulk doesn't have unlimited strength but if you were to find his absolute maximum strength level, it couldn't be done. One of the biggest misunderstandings is that when "Hulk has unlimited strength" it is automatically believed he has such strength to begin with, though he doesn't, rather than "Hulk has unlimited strength eventually". In conclusion Hulk can't have unlimited strength but he doesn't have a limit to his strength either. Hulk just has that potential for it just like a selected few characters such as Superman.

Hulk is too Slow

When people say Hulk is too slow, it's not really a fair statement. They say Hulk can't tag anyone fast though it largely depends on who Hulk's opponent is, if its the Flash, then there's no hope. If Flash is in full motion Hulk wouldn't see him let alone hit him but that doesn't mean Hulk is slow, just that Flash is too simply fast for him. One of the biggest reasons people think Hulk can't win is because of his true lack of speed and whenever he tags someone fast, it's automatically regarded as PIS. Hulk has tagged the likes of Quicksilver and even Silver Surfer all of whom are very fast in travel and whenever you like it or not it still happened in the comics. In order to defend Hulk from other fast characters such as Superman or Wonder Woman, these "PIS" showings get used and brings upon hatred for the Hulk simply because the majority on the Vine don't like it, which is sadly disappointing. People may not like it that Hulk is tagging one of the fastest comic characters but Hulk isn't slow when it comes to combat speed, in fact he's fast enough to compete with Silver Surfer who's past track record shows he can't maintain his "combat speed" for long. So whether he can tag someone like Superman or not, Hulk's showings against other fast characters aren't PIS.

Hulk is too One Dimensional

The major reason Hulk seems to suffer losses in the battle forums is his lack of superpowers. Hulk is purely a brute, with great stats, sufficient healing and decent speed to compete with most non-abstracts or so it seems. Too much have I heard people say "Hulk is non-factor" or "Hulk is useless" because he lacks versatility or is too dumb. News flash people! Hulk doesn't need versatility, just raw power. The fact Hulk lacks versatility means less time thinking of what to do and more time putting pressure on the opponent. Hulk isn't stupid either. While he is usually portrayed like that outside of comics, Hulk has demonstrated great intelligence especially with Doc Green plus the Green Goliath doesn't have a crappy win loss record despite his lack of superpowers.

Hulk is full of PIS

Most frustrating of all is that "haters" claim Hulk's feats are PIS. When Hulk does something amazing, people don't like it. When Hulk beats up a more powerful character or as better success than other characters, people just hate it. When Hulk is able to develop a new superpower, people hate the character even more, however other characters such as Silver Surfer and Thanos are allowed to safely pass through airport security without hassles. When Hulk cracks Onslaught's armor, guess what? Hulk isn't some loser that shouldn't be doing stuff he "can't" do. He does it because he has to. If Hulk had to save a civilian from a falling building he can and will do it, you don't need Thor or Hyperion to do that job. Furthermore it's disrespectful to know that "Hulk is a joke" and that losing him is humiliating. If Zeus lost a fight to Thanos, its perfectly fine but if Zeus lost a fight to Hulk, people start complaining all the nonsense they possibly can.

Where Hulk stands in a fight

Now let's get the message. Hulk isn't unbeatable, he isn't invincible, he isn't absolutely immortal. If he were to fight someone like Superman, he can and has what it takes to beat him but he'll lose more times than not, there is no stomping going on. In fact there really isn't any character who can stomp Hulk outside of abstracts. To stomp the Hulk would mean to mop the floor with him easily no matter how hard he tries, maybe ignore him completely but Hulk isn't easily ignored. Silver Surfer has had to drain Hulk to keep himself safe, Thanos has admitted to not wanting to confront the Hulk, Zeus has had to exert his lightning bolts upon Hulk to keep him down, Thor has had to cut loose to even come close to killing him. None of the scenarios mentioned have showed a stomp in favor against Hulk. None. Given the right conditions Hulk can win a majority against anyone in a fight. He isn't some joke and can give anyone including sky-fathers a run for their money. Realistically speaking I highly doubt Odin can simply sit his ass on his throne, doing nothing and letting a raging World Breaker Hulk go near him. Unless you are a character who is immune from physical force, you aren't entirely safe from Hulk.

So who is to blame?

So why the Hulk hate? It's never to do with the comics themselves is it? Worse it's the blame game on the fans of the Green Goliath. Hulk fans are known to be repeatedly attacked by other users and consequently given a bad reputation on the Vine. The so-called "fanboys ruined him" is just cliched. Sure you can blame the Hulk supporters, but other characters have "fanboys" too and they also ruin their character, take a look at Storm or Captain America. Truthfully speaking the blame game can't be applied anymore to Hulk fans. Hulk fans aren't as frequent in the battle forums and are seen hanging out more in the Hulk forums than sticking up for their favorite green buddy on the battle lines but why is that? You want to know why? It's because of the harassment they get from other people, the labeling, the numbers just intimidate them. People waiting to lash out at anyone who dares say "Hulk can physically overpower a celestial". It's just sickening.

So where does the blame go to? Other users blame "Hulk fanboys" but who do the "Hulk fanboys" blame? The biggest blames I see are aimed at "DC fanboys" but is this really fair? No. "Marvel character vs DC character" battles are always going to end up with users choosing one company over the other. "DC fanboys" choosing Superman over Hulk is to be expected. In fact Hulk gets underrated more by the Marvel side than he does the DC side. Obviously the Marvel side would favor Hulk over Superman or Wonder Woman or Darkseid but what happens between Hulk and Thor or Hulk and Gladiator or Hulk and Thanos? What happens when it becomes a "Marvel character vs Marvel character" battle? You see what I mean?

Hulk needs respect

Much research and analysis shows Hulk isn't entirely hated but he is underrated. He lacks respect on the Vine, his feats are disregarded as PIS, his theories and ideals attacked and his place in a team automatically becomes a non-factor when there are herald type characters around. Hulk's comic story shows he isn't some chump that can't beat Thanos because he can! He may lose a majority but at least Thanos knows he can't go easy on him. Hulk is truly a force to be reckoned with and he should get anyone that isn't abstract off their backside when he means business. What Hulk does may not seem realistic and impossible, but that's what he's all about. Breaking limits and achieving the impossible. After all Hulk is strongest one there is!

Hulk needs and deserves respect. Agree or disagree? Let me know with your comments below.

Thank you all for reading. Kind Regards from the Underdog Supporter :)

See my next blog on Batman