Where does the Hulks bulk come from?

[rolandgunslinger]

Get your mind outta the gutter. I mean where does all the muscle come from when he transforms from Bruce to Hulk? Where does it go when he changes back to Bruce?

[Diogenes the Cynic]

I always wondered this too. It's impossible. But the whole superhero genre is a form of fantasy/magic, so I guess it doesn't matter. There may be a pseudoscience explanation, but I don't know what it is.


I remember going to see the first X-Men movie without ever having read the comic or really knowing anything about the characters. I sat there saying, "wait, WHAT...that's impossible. That's not what would happen. That's not what a mutation is. What the fuck?" Until I finally figured out it was a costumed superhero movie, and all scientific objections were irrelevant. You might as well question the power of Harry Potter's wand.

[Sage Rat]

His whole body has been mutated so theoretically he only looks like he's made out of regular carbon-based cells. But it could be that he's made out of entirely different materials, formed in entirely different ways than our own and those materials can unfold so that his total size grows as does the strength of the whole structure. Or his body sucks in massive quantities of air to fill the space, grabs matter from another dimension, etc. Who knows. There are plenty of possibilities.

[Sage Rat]

From the Wikipedia:

Charles Q. Choi from LiveScience.com further explains that unlike the Incredible Hulk, gamma rays are not green; existing as they do beyond the visible spectrum, gamma rays have no color at all that we can describe. He also explains that gamma rays are so powerful (the most powerful form of electromagnetic radiation and 10,000 times more powerful than visible light) that they can even create matter- a possible explanation for the increased mass that Bruce Banner takes on during transformations. "Just as the Incredible Hulk 'is the strongest one there is,' as he says himself, so too are gamma ray bursts the most powerful explosions known."

[hogarth]

I think the Handbook to the Marvel Universe suggests the mass comes from another dimension. I may be misremembering, though.

The other popular Marvel miracle material is "unstable molecules" which are poorly explained, I think.

[DrFidelius]

Hammerspace

[Skald the Rhymer]

His whole body has been mutated so theoretically he only looks like he's made out of regular carbon-based cells. But it could be that he's made out of entirely different materials, formed in entirely different ways than our own and those materials can unfold so that his total size grows as does the strength of the whole structure. Or his body sucks in massive quantities of air to fill the space, grabs matter from another dimension, etc. Who knows. There are plenty of possibilities.

It can't be the air explanation; people would notice the draft.

The "extradimensional space" answer is the canon one; a similar explanation obtains for, say, Cyclops' optic blasts, and the mass Wolverine uses to replace lost tissue when he's injured. I think Dr. Strange handles it all behind the scenes.

[Chronos]

I know the extra dimension explanation is the canonical one, but personally, I prefer the view that the Hulk is a primal metaphysical manifestation of anger. His bulk is literally composed of emotion. The gamma bomb may have been the origin of his powers, but it's not the source: It just opened the door, so to speak.

[pravnik]

I think Dr. Strange handles it all behind the scenes.So, a wizard did it?

[Skald the Rhymer]

I know the extra dimension explanation is the canonical one, but personally, I prefer the view that the Hulk is a primal metaphysical manifestation of anger. His bulk is literally composed of emotion. The gamma bomb may have been the origin of his powers, but it's not the source: It just opened the door, so to speak.

Well, that's as much magic as the "extra dimensional space," no?

I think your explanation is actually part of the canon one, actually. At least, the Hulk is the way he is because Bruce Banner was crazy from the get-go. Except perhaps for Spider-Man, all the Marvel radiation-changed heroes are expressions of the personalities of their pre-powered selves.

So, a wizard did it?

Well done, my good & faithful servant!

[Chronos]

Well, that's as much magic as the "extra dimensional space," no?Yes, but it's honestly magic. I don't mind magic in superhero comics, but I do mind magic that's trying to masquerade as science.

[Johnny Q]

I remember seeing a webcomic once on Kevin Smith's old Movie Poop Shoot site. It involved The Hulks origin story and Bruce Banner being reduced to radioactive ash by the Gamma Rays.

[RealityChuck]

He takes it from the Atom.

[Darth Panda]

As we say on the trading floor:

"Let the back office worry about that."

[Kamino Neko]

Get your mind outta the gutter. I mean where does all the muscle come from when he transforms from Bruce to Hulk? Where does it go when he changes back to Bruce?

The same place as Ant Man's goes to and comes from.

Hammerspace.

[Der Trihs]

The same place as Ant Man's goes to and comes from.Pretty much as far as I know; there's a specific dimension that matter gets draw/diverted into for such effects (unless they retconned it). I recall an issue where James Rhodes as Iron Man traveled there; it was sort of a grey void, size was indeterminate with overlapping huge and small versions of him.

[Larry Mudd]

Bruce Banner had an atavistic spleen.

What does this mean? Well, his spleen, does what spleens are supposed to do, which is freely convert energy into matter, and matter into energy. It's like a squishy capacitor that stores up gamma radiation and then cranks out a special sort of quark-protein that attaches itself to iron in the hemoglobin in a special quantum-mechanical "energetic" state and then snaps into the appropriate magnetic-genetic-mimetic matter state based on adjacent stem cells.

Duh.

[astro]

Apparently he's eating people these days, and we're pretty fattening.

[Sr Siete]

Where does the extra mass and energy of any superhero comes from? Cyclop's eye beams? Superman's strenght? Aunt May's immortality?

Just let it go. We could be here all week.

[cochrane]

Where does the Hulk get his bulk? That's easy.

Hostess fruit pies (http://hulkcollection.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/3308662983_25aa1e24a8_b.jpg).

[Staggerlee]

...Or his body sucks in massive quantities of air to fill the space...
Like popcorn kernels, his muscle cells inflate when exposed to gamma radiation.

[Nava]

a similar explanation obtains for, say, Cyclops' optic blasts, and the mass Wolverine uses to replace lost tissue when he's injured.

Uh? There have been relatively few times when Wolvie has lost appreciable amounts of mass when injured (and those tend to lead to things like him dying or needing to be rebuilt by the day's Being Of Immense Power), I always thought he just ate like Obelix anyway.

Cyke's rays are one of the zillion variations on bioblasts. They're the boosted-up version of fireflies. Why does Scott light up inside his eyes the whole time while his brother emits bolts from his hands and why this second one is the most common form of bioblasts would be more the question (the "can't switch it off" for Cyke has been explained by "hit his head", but that doesn't explain why he gets eyebeams).

[shiftless]

Anger. Pure anger, solidified onto the frame of Bruce Banner. The angrier you make the Hulk, the stronger he gets. Turns out anger is green just like jealousy but Jealousy Man just sits and pouts so he never go his own comic.

[Yllaria]

Ink, they use ink.

[Levolor the Blind]

... Turns out anger is green just like jealousy but Jealousy Man just sits and pouts so he never go his own comic.

Anger has shiny metallic purple armor (and jealousy has a fiery green gown).

Cite (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jimi+hendrix/bold+as+love_20071546.html)

[Chronos]

And what color are the Hulk's pants? I rest my case.

[Starving Artist]

Speaking of that, I always wondered why he hulks out of everything but his pants.

Curious, that.

[Johnny Q]

It's really very simple

As Professor Einstein told us matter is energy

As Professor Rotten told us "Anger is an energy."

As a side effect of Gamma bombardment, Doctor Banner's rage is transformed into mass and coalesces around his cells. The angrier he gets, the more energy he manifests and therefore the more mass he acquires.

If you don't believe me, conduct the experiment yourself and report your own findings.

[Bryan Ekers]

I think the Handbook to the Marvel Universe suggests the mass comes from another dimension. I may be misremembering, though.

As I recall, the standard line for characters who grow in mass is that the mass comes from "an unknown, perhaps extradimensional source".

I wanted to write a miniseries called "Spectrum" in which a Kree seeks to endear himself to Galactus by rigging up a link to the extradimensional mass/energy source and thus bypassing the need to consume planets for sustenance. He'd gather various Marvel characters who fit on the EM spectrum in some way and whose mass or energy cannot be readily explained - Hulk for gamma, Human Torch for infrared, etc.

It doesn't work, though. Galactus is laconic about it.

[Maastricht]

Speaking of that, I always wondered why he hulks out of everything but his pants. Conclusive proof that good old family values are mightier even then gamma rays.

That doesn't explain why his pants also hide his thighs, though.

[Sage Rat]

Speaking of that, I always wondered why he hulks out of everything but his pants. Conclusive proof that good old family values are mightier even then gamma rays.

That doesn't explain why his pants also hide his thighs, though.

If they were trying to target a female audience, putting the Hulk in a thong may well have been the right choice. But they aren't.

[DrFidelius]

Oh damn.

Nurse! Some brain bleach here, stat!

[Tom Tildrum]

Reed Richards' stretching raises the same issues of added mass.

[Bearflag70]

The "extradimensional space" answer is the canon one; a similar explanation obtains for, say, Cyclops' optic blasts, and the mass Wolverine uses to replace lost tissue when he's injured. I think Dr. Strange handles it all behind the scenes.

The Vision sends matter back and forth between dimensions to alter his density.

[Spoke]

He is a carbon sink. That explains the green. It is all photosynthesis. :p

[BigT]

Starving Artist wrote:
Speaking of that, I always wondered why he hulks out of everything but his pants.

Curious, that.

I don't know that one, but She-Hulk explained (http://trlkly.drivehq.com/images/myimages.html?image=she-hulk-ccc.png) her ever present clothing....

[rolandgunslinger]

Reed Richards' stretching raises the same issues of added mass.

Doesn't a rubberband keep the same mass when it's stretched?

[Tom Tildrum]

Reed Richards' stretching raises the same issues of added mass.

Doesn't a rubberband keep the same mass when it's stretched?

Sure, but Richards' limbs don't get proportionately thinner as he stretches.

[cosmosdan]

I find Hulk's extra bulk totally understandable.

It's like the anger version of horny and his whole body is a penis.
Giantman on the other hand. Pffftttt ridiculous.

[digs]

I think the Handbook to the Marvel Universe suggests the mass comes from another dimension. I may be misremembering, though.

The other popular Marvel miracle material is "unstable molecules" which are poorly explained, I think.

And purposely poorly explained, I think.

A lot of Sci-Fi (and comics) violate basic laws of physics; in this case, Conservation of Matter.

The YA series Animorphs* got around it by postulating Z-Space, another dimension where the changelings' extra bulk would go when they morphed into a mosquito.

I remembered they had a character "having trouble focusing-- I'm getting grossed out by thinking of blobs of my fat drifting around in space, in some other dimension."

*holds up as solid Sci Fi -- and it's fun!

[Skald the Rhymer]

I think the Handbook to the Marvel Universe suggests the mass comes from another dimension. I may be misremembering, though.

The other popular Marvel miracle material is "unstable molecules" which are poorly explained, I think.

And purposely poorly explained, I think.

A lot of Sci-Fi (and comics) violate basic laws of physics; in this case, Conservation of Matter.

The YA series Animorphs* got around it by postulating Z-Space, another dimension where the changelings' extra bulk would go when they morphed into a mosquito.

I remembered they had a character "having trouble focusing-- I'm getting grossed out by thinking of blobs of my fat drifting around in space, in some other dimension."

*holds up as solid Sci Fi -- and it's fun!

How is the bolded section any less a violation of the conservation of matter than what the Hulk does?

It's clear that our laws of physics don't apply to super-hero universes. The only super-hero character I can think of who comes close to obeying the laws of physics is Babs Gordon/Oracle.

[Tom Scud]

Well, that's as much magic as the "extra dimensional space," no?Yes, but it's honestly magic. I don't mind magic in superhero comics, but I do mind magic that's trying to masquerade as science.

It gets worse when people try to answer these kinds of questions - I remember there was a character in the Wild Cards universe - Elephant Girl or some such. When she turned into an elephant, it would cause massive blackouts from the energy that she converted into mass; when she turned back, there would be a big flash of light.

Both effects are nothing close to the energy that would be required to create 5,000 pounds of mass. "Leaves a smoking crater about 500 miles wide in the Earth's crust" is closer.