Gamma radiation is the source of many of Marvel’s biggest and baddest monsters, including the Incredible Hulk. This incredibly hazardous radiation causes those exposed to it to undergo extreme transformations that alter their bodies and minds. Many of the Hulk’s enemies are similarly gamma-powered mutates who desire nothing less than to spread wanton destruction. Gamma mutates are among the strongest and most dangerous creatures on the planet, as their potent abilities are often paired with twisted, cruel minds. Most gamma-powered villains are just big, super-strong monsters. Still, some gamma-powered supervillains possess more unique abilities and skills that make them more serious threats to the heroes of Marvel Comics.
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This list will rank the many gamma-powered supervillains that exist within the Marvel Comics universe. The ranking will be based on how unique, memorable, and dangerous their power sets are.
11) Madman
Philip Sterns, a brilliant nuclear physicist obsessed with the Hulk, aspired to be just like him. To accomplish this, Philip subjected himself to numerous gamma radiation experiments that turned him into the red-skinned giant known as Madman. Unfortunately, the experiments drove Philip insane, hence the new moniker. Madman is incredibly strong, able to match the Hulk in battle, and smart enough to build robots to help him accomplish his evil schemes. His insanity also makes him a very unpredictable and irrational supervillain. However, while Madman is undoubtedly a dangerous foe, his abilities are relatively unremarkable compared to other gamma-powered villains in Marvel’s roster.
10) Riot Squad
When the villainous Leader detonates a gamma bomb in Middletown, Arizona, he makes some of the few survivors his enforcers for his newly established Gammatown. The Riot Squad members have dangerous abilities. Ogress is super strong; Omnibus has hyper intelligence; Jailbait can make force fields; Hotshot can fire energy blasts; Rock has a durable stone exoskeleton; and Soul Man can resurrect the dead. Serving the Leader, the Riot Squad uses their numbers and powers to catch the Hulk off guard. Still, none of them are strong enough to contend with the Hulk singlehandedly.
9) Rhino
What many Marvel fans aren’t aware of is that one of Spider-Man’s most formidable foes, Aleski Sytsevich, aka Rhino, gained his abilities in part because of gamma radiation. Aleski was exposed to high levels of gamma radiation and equipped with a suit of armor as part of a Russian government experiment. Rhino is strong enough to fight some of Marvel’s strongest heroes, like the Hulk and the Thing. With his incredible strength and deadly horn, Rhino is a brutish villain who can quickly overpower the Wall-Crawler. The main thing holding Rhino back, though, is his subpar intelligence, – a weakness that smarter opponents frequently exploit.
8) Abomination
Emil Blonsky, aka Abomination, is the Hulk’s archenemy and a dark reflection of what the Jolly Green Giant could be if he abandoned his humanity. Desperate for power, Emil purposefully exposed himself to high levels of gamma radiation that turned him into a giant reptilian monster. Abomination retains his intelligence and is considered several times stronger than the base-form Hulk. With his strength and intelligence, Abomination has nearly killed Hulk on multiple occasions and is the hero’s most frequent adversary. Unfortunately, unlike his rival, Abomination doesn’t get stronger the angrier he gets, making him a more conventional type of gamma mutate.
7) Half-Life
English Professor Anthony Masterson, aka Half-Life, became a super-powered madman after exposure to gamma radiation. Like a vampire, Half-Life can drain people of their life force, leaving them severely weakened or dead. Half-Life gets stronger the more life energy he absorbs and can even, for brief periods, replicate the abilities of the superpowered individuals he drains. Half-Life also dies every morning but comes back to life following nightfall. Additionally, he has the creepy ability to move his limbs even after they have detached from his body. With the Hulk’s overwhelming power, Half-Life sought to take the Jolly Green Giant’s power for himself but died in a massive explosion.
6) Red Hulk
General Thunderbolt Ross hated the Hulk more than anyone else because he views him as an unstable threat to America. Eventually, Ross’s hatred for Hulk became so great that he allowed himself to undergo an experiment that would turn him into a similarly gamma-powered behemoth. As the Red Hulk, Ross possesses strength equal to that of his green counterpart, while retaining his full intelligence. Ross’s most striking powers, however, are his abilities to both emit and absorb radiation. Ross can emit so much radiation that he begins to catch fire, burning everything he touches. He can also absorb radiation to make himself stronger. Ironically, in his quest to eliminate the Hulk, Ross became the very thing he had sworn to destroy.
5) Maestro
Maestro is one of the Hulk’s most intelligent and strongest adversaries because he’s a twisted version of the Jolly Green Giant from the far future. Hailing from a future ravaged by a nuclear war, this version of the Hulk destroyed his Bruce persona and became a malevolent dictator. Through prolonged exposure to the irradiated wastelands created by the atomic war, Maestro absorbed immense levels of radiation, growing even stronger than his younger counterpart. He became powerful enough to kill a future version of Hercules. Maestro also possesses Bruce’s intelligence, which, paired with his insanity, makes him one of the wastelands’ most dreaded tyrants. Few villains have the overwhelming combination of brains and brawn that Maestro wields.
4) Titan
Titan is one of the darkest and most dangerous personas lurking within Bruce Banner’s psyche, wielding a range of abilities that set him apart from the other Hulks. By manipulating Bruce and Hulk into turning against each other, Titan wrested control and took over their bodies. Towering at 30 feet tall, Titan is a massive and savage beast that destroys everything in his path. With his incredible strength and razor-sharp claws, Titan can easily mutilate weaker gamma mutates. Titan can also absorb gamma radiation from these mutates to grow stronger. At full power, his body emits destructive levels of gamma radiation, and he can fire deadly blasts of energy from his eyes, making him one of Hulk’s most versatile enemies.
3) Leader
The Hulk’s true polar opposite, Samuel Sterns, aka the Leader, is unique amongst gamma mutates because his exposure to hazardous radiation increased his intelligence rather than his raw strength. One of the most brilliant minds on the planet, Leader uses his superior intellect to conduct intricate plans and develop weapons of mass destruction. His ability to calculate and predict outcomes has often been described as bordering on clairvoyance. The Leader’s enhanced intellect also equipped him with telepathic abilities. He can read and control minds, and even fire psionic blasts of energy. With his extraordinary brain power, the Leader even managed to seize control of the Below Place, if only for a brief period.
2) Brian Banner
Thanks to gamma radiation, no one stays dead for long. Brian Banner was Bruce’s abusive father and the murderer of his mother. After Bruce killed him, Brian was resurrected by the malevolent Chaos King and transformed into a grotesque fusion of the Guilt and Devil Hulk personas originating from Bruce’s psyche. In this form, Brian grew stronger as his son’s fear of him intensified, and he could fire powerful blasts of green energy. After Brian was killed a second time, he was sent to the Below Place and merged with the One Below All. This fusion turned Brian into a gamma-powered phantom, able to possess gamma mutates and remain a constant threat to his son.
1) One Below All
The One Below All is the malevolent source of all gamma radiation in the multiverse, which it uses to spread its corrupting influence. Every gamma mutate, including the Hulk, can trace the source of their incredible strength back to this eldritch god. The One Below All is the personification of hatred and destruction and seeks to annihilate all of creation. It can warp reality and possess gamma mutates, turning them into mindless puppets. The One Below All can also conjure hordes of demonic monsters, including creatures called Qlippoths, which can take on the appearance of their victim’s loved ones to torment them. Across the entire Marvel multiverse, few entities are as powerful and deadly as the One Below All.
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