Like many, many other superheroes, the Incredible Hulk is no stranger to a tumultuous love life. He’s one of Marvel’s oldest characters, so of course he’s been around the block a couple of times. Specifically, well, Hulk is a character who loves to smash in every sense of the word. Yes, we’re talking about more than property damage and fighting here. When Bruce Banner hulks out and loses control of himself, it’s not uncommon for him to be pretty darn forward about how he feels, and quite a few women have been attracted to the Strongest One There Is over the years. There’s just something about the big green guy that the ladies can’t resist. Okay, and Bruce Banner, too.
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Let’s take a look at seven people that the Hulk has definitely smashed, just not the way he smashes, well, most other people.
1) Umar
Umar is the sister of Dormamu, and like her nefarious brother, often makes it her goal to take over the various dimensions that she has access to. During Defenders volume three, the sorceress set her eyes on making the Hulk her thrall. After Dormamu transfigured the Hulk to stone, she freed the Jade Giant, and cast a spell on him to make him fall in love with her, planning to unleash him as her ultimate weapon to take over the Dark Dimension. Unfortunately for her, the plan hilariously backfired when she found out their time together calmed Bruce so much that he was physically unable to turn back into the Hulk. A bit later, the two actually entered a real, albeit brief, relationship, where Umar was the only one able to keep Hulk calm enough to not destroy the world. They fought Mindless Ones during the day and made love at night until she sent him back to Earth when she realized he still loved Betty Ross.
2) Zarda
Zarda the Power Princess is Marvel’s very own Wonder Woman equivalent, if Wonder Woman traded out her endless compassion for a killer, focused attitude. In the original Ultimate Universe, Hulk was well known to be much less controlled, and for lack of a better word, much hornier than his mainline counterpart. Ultimate Hulk Annual #1 saw the two do battle, but instead of ending in blood and chaos as the Ultimate Universe was wont to do, it saw Zarda and Hulk being surprisingly domestic. She bought Hulk some much needed pants, and they had an honestly adorable argument about breakfast. At the end, Zarda said she had to return to the Ultimates, but asked Hulk if there was anything else he wanted to do with her. His… eager smile says all it needs to about what the ultimate power couple got up to after that.
3) Nadia Blonsky
Nadia Blonsky is the wife of Emil Blonsky, better known as one of the Hulk’s greatest enemies, the Abomination. She was tasked with seducing Bruce, but wound up falling for him after seeing how patient and gentle nature even with his transformations, as opposed to her husband’s always violent tendencies. Bruce similarly developed feelings for Nadia, and the two began a torrid affair which was actually much healthier than both of them than it had any right to be. Bruce was still getting over the death of Betty Ross, but he seemed to truly move on with Nadia as they joined together. Unfortunately for them, any chance of this relationship going further was ended when Nadia died in Incredible Hulk volume two #76.
4) Monica Rappaccini
In the mainline universe, Monica is an antagonist to the Hulk, being an A.I.M. scientist who stole Bruce Banner’s work and used it to win a Nobel Prize. However, in the alternate world created by Scarlet Witch during the House of M event, Monica and Bruce were actually together. Now called Earth-58163, the Hulk became the leader of Australia, and fought in the mutant/human war with Monica at his side, both on the battlefield and in the bedroom. We’ve never seen these two get together in the main universe, but this alternate world showed that they actually have a lot of potential, with Monica managing to balance both Bruce and the Hulk’s personalities.
5) Jarella
Jarella is one of the Hulk’s greatest love interests, while also being his smallest. She was the princess of the planet K’Ai in the quantum realm, the two meeting when the Hulk was shrunk down by the villain Psyklop in Incredible Hulk #140. The two actually started a longterm romance, almost instantly clicking in a way neither Hulk nor Banner have ever done with anyone before. Hulk repeatedly shrank himself to visit her, until he eventually brought Jarella to the regular-sized world with him, where they showed a great relationship that was ended far too soon with her untimely death.
6) Caiera
Caiera Oldstrong met the Jade Giant during the Planet Hulk storyline. Although they started out as enemies, as Hulk slowly gained a following and fought to become the planet’s benevolent ruler, he earned the respect and loyalty of Caiera. Eventually, he earned her love, just as she earned his. During their first time together, she even coaxed him into revealing his true form as Bruce Banner, which he hadn’t done since arriving on the gladiator-style planet. They had a truly great love and marriage, but just like all of Hulk’s good relationships, it ended in her unfortunate death, which triggered the World War Hulk storyline. Fortunately, at least their son Skaar survived. Still, during their unfortunately brief time together Caiera brought out a calm in Bruce that very, very few people ever have, while also being strong enough to hold back the Hulk should he ever lose control. She really was the perfect partner for the Hulk, and it’d be great to see the two get back together sometime in the future.
7) Betty Ross
Obviously, this list could never be complete without the Incredible Hulk’s original love interest. I don’t think I need to tell you that Betty and Bruce have gotten down and dirty, and it’s pretty likely the two of them have done it more than any other pair on this list. Betty and Bruce have had a very back and forth relationship over the years, jumping between loving each other and fighting and back again. They’re one of those couples that goes through cycles of needing to be apart, only to realize how much they love each other and come back together. Betty has shown not just that she loves Bruce, but each of his alters as well. They’re one of Marvel’s oldest relationships, but one that no matter how many times they’re torn apart, will find a way back to each other.
So there we have seven characters that the Hulk has smashed in a way that most of his enemies would not want to be. Out of everyone on this list, who do you think Hulk should get back with, even if only for a smash-and-dash? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image courtesy of Warner
