Bruce Banner is a tortured soul. Having to share your life with an enormous green rage monster that dwells inside of you and can take over at any given moment would make anyone blame the Incredible Hulk for ruining their life. And yet, as bad as Banner’s life has been because of the Hulk, he also owes his greatest happiness to his gamma powered alter ego too.
Strange as it might seem, Betty Ross Banner – the love of Dr. Robert Bruce Banner’s life – would never have looked at him were it not for the Incredible Hulk. Even stranger, it isn’t the green Hulk Banner owes a debt to!
To understand how the Hulk aided Banner in his relationship with Betty Ross, it’s necessary to first explain what the Hulk actually is and his true connection to Banner. Although many believe the Hulk was created when Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma radiation from his own bomb, the Hulk actually existed long before Banner’s accident.
The Truth About The Incredible Hulk
The Hulk – or rather the Hulks – are several alternate personalities Bruce Banner manifested over his life. When Bruce was a child, he was abused by his father, causing him to repress his anger and compartmentalize it into a suppressed personality. This personality would eventually emerge as the Savage Green Hulk when the gamma rays mutated Banner’s body and allowed him to transform into physical representations of his multiple personalities. However, the Savage Hulk personality wasn’t the only alternate persona Bruce developed. When Bruce was in college, he wanted to become more popular and enjoy a rich social life. This resulted in him creating another personality, one that was more outgoing and aggressive, particularly with women. While Bruce usually repressed this personality too, it would occasionally manifest – notably when Bruce was making out with an attractive coed and suddenly became more forceful to the point where the girl ran out of the room.
This new personality would control the Grey Hulk, a more intelligent version of the Hulk who named himself “Joe Fixit” and took over Banner completely at one point, leading him to build his own life as a Las Vegas casino bouncer. Hedonistic in nature, “Joe” dated multiple women, notably Marlo Chandler – the woman who would eventually marry Banner’s friend Rick Jones. What’s important to realize, however, is that all of these Hulk personas existed in Banner’s mind before the gamma bomb accident helped release them. In many ways then, Banner has always lived with the Hulk inside of him.
How The Hulk Helped Bruce Banner Attract Betty Ross
So, how did the Hulk help Bruce Banner attract Betty Ross? In The Incredible Hulk #377, Banner’s psychiatrist Doc Samson uses hypnosis to help Banner revisit memories of the times his Hulk personalities manifested. Since the entire session took place in Banner’s mind, he could also see and even talk to his alternate Hulk personas as if they were standing next to him. When Banner revisited his college days, he realized that “Joe Fixit” had taken over his body during some of his dates, making Bruce act more aggressively towards women. Bruce was disgusted and told the Grey Hulk/Joe Fixit that he didn’t know how to treat women. Joe, however, simply responded, “Without help from me, you’d never get to first base even now with Betty.”
It’s a surprising admission – and one that indicates “Joe” had subtly manipulated Bruce during his early courtship with Betty Ross. Although Betty always claimed that she was attracted to Banner’s shy, bookish nature (as it was so different from her military father’s attitude), Banner had to take some initiative if he wanted any type of romantic relationship with her – and it appears that he got some help from a Hulk personality.
Of course, once the Hulks were able to physically manifest, Bruce’s life became an endless stream of chaos which put plenty of stress on his relationship with Betty. Surprisingly, however, Betty stood by Bruce for years despite all the changes in his life, and even established friendly relationships with most of his alternate personalities. At one point, Banner merged his Hulk personalities (including Joe) with his human self to become an intelligent, unrepressed version of himself (popularly called the “Professor Hulk”), and Betty found herself falling in love with him all over again.
So, while the Hulk may constantly tear Bruce’s life apart, he’s also responsible for one of the few constants in Banner’s life. Bruce may not like having to share his life with the Hulk – but he’d probably be completely lost if he didn’t have Betty.