# Where does the Hulks bulk come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647 "2010-07-22T22:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/21 "2010-07-23T10:09:33Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > …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. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/22 "2010-07-23T10:40:53Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > 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). ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/23 "2010-07-23T12:54:21Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/24 "2010-07-23T13:02:27Z")
Ink, they use ink. ---
**Author:** ![Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Levolor_the_Blind)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/25 "2010-07-24T06:08:46Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > … 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) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/26 "2010-07-24T06:32:57Z")
And what color are the Hulk’s pants? I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/27 "2010-07-24T06:37:03Z")
Speaking of that, I always wondered why he hulks out of everything but his pants. Curious, that. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/28 "2010-07-24T07:14:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/29 "2010-07-24T08:01:43Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/30 "2010-07-24T08:26:50Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/31 "2010-07-24T09:13:03Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/32 "2010-07-24T12:02:31Z")
Oh damn. Nurse! Some brain bleach here, stat! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/33 "2010-07-24T13:29:53Z")
Reed Richards’ stretching raises the same issues of added mass. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/34 "2010-07-24T13:49:52Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/35 "2010-07-24T13:53:26Z")
He is a carbon sink. That explains the green. It is all photosynthesis. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/36 "2010-07-24T14:41:55Z")
**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… ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/37 "2010-07-24T14:44:06Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Reed Richards’ stretching raises the same issues of added mass. Doesn’t a rubberband keep the same mass when it’s stretched? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/38 "2010-07-25T19:18:13Z")
> [@rolandgunslinger](#): > > > [@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. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/39 "2010-07-25T21:21:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/40 "2010-07-26T05:34:58Z")
> [@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. 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! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647.md?page=3)