# Where does the Hulks bulk come from?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647>\
**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:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/41 "2010-07-26T15:02:28Z")

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> [@digs](#):
>
> > [@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!

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.

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-hulks-bulk-come-from/547647/42 "2010-07-26T15:11:48Z")

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> [@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.

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.

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