# Why wasn't The Hulk Nude The First Time He Transformed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [March 13, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548 "2025-03-13T23:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/61 "2025-03-14T18:38:16Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > That would explain a reticence to jump but, if he needed to, he’d still be able to do it. In which case, there’d be no point in asking someone else to throw him. IMHO (and it’s more fanfic than anything else) it leaves out that when Hulk jumps, there’s normally substantial damage to his jump sites, though FAR less than there should be in our universe’s physics. Thing, and the FF in general, normally hold themselves accountable for the damage done to their surroundings, and IIRC, they were sued (repeatedly) by the Baxter Building (their landlords for a while) for direct and indirect damages caused. So, yeah, Thing is canonically about 80% as strong (different iterations, and different circumstances) as the “default” Hulk, and and likely _can_ accomplish similar jumps, but he’s a lot less confident in getting _away_ with the resulting damages. Not giving a damn is one of the Hulk’s unspoken, un-super powers! ---
**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:** [March 14, 2025, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/62 "2025-03-14T19:36:34Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > So, yeah, Thing is canonically about 80% as strong (different iterations, and different circumstances) as the “default” Hulk, and and likely _can_ accomplish similar jumps, but he’s a lot less confident in getting _away_ with the resulting damages. But then why outsource? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/63 "2025-03-14T19:41:13Z")
Reed slingshots don’t seem to transfer energy to even the extremely limited elements that jumps do. Because for some reason, rubber/stretching powers are given even less efforts to adhere to physics than extradimensional mass. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/64 "2025-03-14T19:49:34Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > So, yeah, Thing is canonically about 80% as strong (different iterations, and different circumstances) as the “default” Hulk That is approximately 80% of a normal Hulk…but the madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets, and fighting the Hulk tends to really piss him off. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/65 "2025-03-14T19:56:35Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > That sounds great. However, I don’t see why any of that requires or warrants changing it from ‘gamma radiation gave him weird powers’ to ‘there is a hell dimension involved’. It’s not _that_ much of a change; the Hulk has long had mysterious supernatural aspects like being able to see astral forms and a mysterious draw towards his place of origin. And gamma rays being so intense that they also affect the supernatural domain and can punch into other realms was established at least as far ago as it turning out to be why Sasquatch’s gamma ray based powers turned him orange instead of green; he’d accidentally opened a portal into an _entirely different_ “hell dimension” and linked himself to a “Great Beast”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/66 "2025-03-14T20:24:26Z")
SCP-294 has another take on the “borrowing mass” principle: [SCP-294 - SCP Foundation](https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-294) It’s a vending machine that can dispense essentially _any_ liquid. However, the mass comes from somewhere: > **Document SCP-294a (regarding incident 294-01):** On August 21, 2005, Agent Joseph ██████ attempted to use Item SCP-294 to obtain coffee during his allotted break time at 9:30 AM. At the request of Agent █████ █████████ “to see what it would do”, ██████ requested “a cup of Joe” from the item. Moments after confirming the selection, Agent Joseph ██████ began to sweat profusely and complained of dizziness before collapsing. After moving the unconscious agent to the infirmary, the medical team recovered the contents of the cup dispensed by Item SCP-294: a combination of blood, tissue, and other bodily fluids. Testing revealed the DNA sequence of the biological material dispensed by SCP-294 matched that of Agent ██████. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/67 "2025-03-14T21:20:13Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > He wasn’t really that big the first time he changed: Interestingly that would make it more like the TV Lou Ferrigno concept. > [@BigT](#): > > As spelled out by his cousin in Sensational She-Hulk #4 In another series Jen _does_ lose her pants (tastefully executed) for a couple of panels but that’s as a result of getting them burned off by rocket exhaust. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/68 "2025-03-15T14:02:38Z")
Personally, I’ve always felt that the Hulk was somewhat supernatural. He’s a metaphysical manifestation of the emotion of anger. He may have gotten that way as a result of gamma radiation, but what he is is fantastic, not scientific. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/69 "2025-03-15T14:34:10Z")
That reminds me of a writing prompt in college: “Is _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ Science Fiction or Horror?” and you weren’t allowed to argue “both”. I don’t remember which side I came down on. Probably Horror. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/70 "2025-03-15T14:36:50Z")
That’s like asking “Is the flag of France red, white, and blue, or is it a rectangle, and you’re not allowed to argue ‘both’.”. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/71 "2025-03-15T15:51:24Z")
You may raise some French eyebrows if you call their flag “red, white, and blue.” They prefer “blue, white, and red” (left to right). So, it’s a blue, white, and red rectangle. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/72 "2025-03-15T16:53:55Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > SCP-294 has another take on the “borrowing mass” principle: > [SCP-294 - SCP Foundation](https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-294) For a really large scale example of “borrowing” mass, in the novel _Starplex_ it turns out that the majority of mass in the universe was actually sent back in time by ultra-advanced civilizations in the distant future of the universe, to extend its lifespan by slowing its expansion. The reason the universe seems so closely balanced between “collapse” and “expand forever” is because they’ve put in a great deal of effort _to_ balance it that way. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/73 "2025-03-15T16:56:27Z")
Thank you, ultra-advanced civilization! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/74 "2025-03-15T19:25:39Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > That reminds me of a writing prompt in college: “Is _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ Science Fiction or Horror?” and you weren’t allowed to argue “both”. I don’t remember which side I came down on. Probably Horror. Well, if I go by a favorite Moffat miniseries, [Jekyll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jekyll_(TV_series)), I’d say it’s clearly horror, with sci-fi trappings. But just going by the original story, I still feel it’s horror. The issue isn’t the _mechanism_ of the change, but more like the classic Chaney “The Wolf Man” quote: > “Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the moon is full and bright…” Your goodness, even your godliness, do not protect you from evil. That’s horror IMHO. Sure, there’s plenty of other elements, including hubris, the meddling in “God’s Domain” by trying to change human nature, all of which fall into more modern sci-fi- tropes, but I still think it’s horror at the base. Back to the Hulk and why I like Maestro. The periods in the Marvel universe where Banner/The Hulk has been allowed to be happy is miniscule. OF course, because that’s not often an interesting _story_. And the various writers take a near(?)-sadistic glee in holding up some degree of happiness and violently ripping it away (Lucy and the football style) like in a major previous arc, Planet Hulk. I couldn’t go through 1/1000 (feel free to add zeros) of Banner’s drama without _my_ personality crumbling. And that’s one reason I love Maestro - given enough time (a given with Hulk’s toughness, healing, and arguably slow aging) , it seems _inevitable_ that Maestro is the future. Winking back to the OP though - I wouldn’t be surprised if Maestro wanders without pants, because he knew it would discomfort his enemies! And he was quite happy to have a harem in his original timeline… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/75 "2025-03-16T13:33:15Z")
Does the size of Hulk go along with how angry he is? I thought at one point, he got bigger and bigger based on his rage. I’m not sure if he was ever stronger than Superman(wrong company I guess), but can he be the strongest superhero pretty much? Was/Is that a thing? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/76 "2025-03-16T14:40:39Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Was/Is that a thing? Mostly in the letters pages. It has always been a rather flimsy (no-prize) way to explain .away the inconsistency of Hulk’s size from one artist to the next. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/77 "2025-03-16T16:34:49Z")
Hulk is strongest one there is! Canonically, in Marvel comics, a sufficiently-angry Hulk is stronger than any other character. Though this is muddled a bit by cosmic-level entities for whom it doesn’t even make sense to talk about a “strength” score. I think the heaviest weight he’s ever been seen to lift was a mountain, which puts him well below Silver Age Superman, who could juggle planets. But most depictions of Superman would, I think, put him below most depictions of Hulk. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/78 "2025-03-16T17:00:21Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Does the size of Hulk go along with how angry he is? I thought at one point, he got bigger and bigger based on his rage. I’m not sure if he was ever stronger than Superman(wrong company I guess), but can he be the strongest superhero pretty much? > > Was/Is that a thing? Stronger, absolutely. Bigger may have been depicted a few times, but it wasn’t a standard thing with the character, as noted by @Elmer_J.Fudd . ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548/79 "2025-03-17T12:07:05Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > One of my favorite Order of the Stick strips is #387 (link below). But for a long time I couldn’t figure out why Thog says “how thog’s pants turn purple?” in panel 21. Eventually it dawned on me. Ah, thank you - I remembered the line but not which OotS comic it was from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-hulk-nude-the-first-time-he-transformed/1015548.md?page=3)