We recently published an article about characters who could easily defeat the Hulk and, somewhat predictably, the pro-Hulk brigade simply weren’t having any of it.

That’s fair enough – fans have every right to defend their favourite characters but, in the case of the Hulk, it’s in the face of clearly opposing facts.

The big green hero is still seen by many as being invincible, unkillable, the strongest there is and capable of overcoming any foe – regardless of the blatantly obvious advantages that countless numbers of characters have over him.

This is nonsense, however, as he has been beaten in many ways – and indeed completely stomped and humiliated – on literally hundreds of occasions in the past.

The only way to prove that is the case, it would seem, is to run through some on-panel instances that categorically prove that Hulk isn’t as powerful and unbeatable as some people seem to think he is.

With that in mind, this article is going to highlight the Hulk’s weaknesses and display – in absolutely no uncertain terms – on-panel proof of his vulnerabilities.

Let’s discuss why the Hulk isn’t as invincible as many people seem to think he is…

He Can Be And Has Been Mind-Controlled

Hulk can and has been mind-controlled. On several occasions, in fact.

Fans of the character will often say that he can’t be controlled and that he is immune to telepathy and such, but the on-panel evidence says otherwise.

Hulk has a high level of resistance to being controlled, but he is by no means completely immune.

Characters who have controlled the Hulk in various ways (telepathy, magic etc) include the likes of Thanos, Mentallo, Abyss, Enchantress and Doctor Strange (in Doctor Strange’s case, it was Bruce Banner that he controlled, but Hulk didn’t take over and intervene, as some people would argue he categorically would).

The two instances pictured are when Thanos made him attack his fellow Avengers and when Doctor Strange had him diffuse a bomb.

He’s Too Slow To Compete With Speedsters

Any super-strong speedster worth his salt should be knocking the Hulk out before a neuron even fires in his brain, let alone before he’s able to physically retaliate.

If someone who, for example, can move at the speed of light and can lift 100 tonnes ever goes punch-for-punch with the green hero in a fight, that’s simply bad writing and makes the speedster look like an idiot.

With any kind of common sense, a super-fast hero should be knocking the Hulk out with ease.

The fact is that even street-level characters like Daredevil and mid-range characters like Spider-Man have managed to evade Hulk fairly casually for lengthy periods of time – so the debate about who would win between someone like Superman (who is infinitely faster than the likes of Daredevil and Spider-Man and could punch Hulk millions of time before a neuron fired in his brain) should really be a no-brainer.

Every now and again Hulk does tag much faster characters (usually with a thunderclap), but the fact is that he just isn’t that fast (sure, he’s a lot faster than the average human, but he’s not super-fast in comic book terms).

He’s NOT The Strongest There Is

Hulk’s greatest strength is his… well… strength – and there’s absolutely no doubting that he is exceptionally strong. However, the often-used description of him as “the strongest there is” is simply wrong.

Sometimes, Hulk’s strength just isn’t on a par with his opponents and while many will argue that he can become infinitely strong and that his strength is potentially unlimited, the fact is that on-panel evidences suggests there is a point where he caps out.

He has failed on numerous occasions to escape the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak (although, admittedly, with a lot of effort he has escaped them once as well), whereas other characters have muscled their way out of them easily – Sentry, for example, tore through them like a hot knife through butter. Therefore, direct comparisons can be made with characters who are clearly stronger.

Mother Hera specifically stated to Hulk that “among mortals, you may be the strongest there is… but Father Zeus could vaporize you with a thought” (which was followed by him being beaten in a straight-up physical tussle against the god).

Hulk has also been out-muscled in basic physical combat – and in absolutely no uncertain terms, nonetheless – by the likes of Thanos, Apocalypse, the Void, Superman and the Silver Surfer.

You don’t actually have to be physically stronger than the Hulk to defeat him, as there are many other ways to do it, but the fact is there are characters who are physically stronger than him.

He CAN Be Physically Beaten Down

Hulk is undoubtedly extremely durable, can take a lot of punishment, is hard to hurt in the first place and has a rapid regenerative healing factor that often overcomes any damage he does take – but he’s definitely not completely immune to being crudely beaten down in the most basic fashion.

The two most emphatic examples come in the form of the aforementioned fight with Zeus and an encounter with Sentry’s dark persona the Void.

When Hulk tried to challenge Zeus – who has hundreds of ways to easily dispose of the Hulk – the god wanted to prove he could beat him in a basic hand-to-hand fight and proceeded to do exactly that.

He hit Hulk so hard that he vomited, was left in a heap and didn’t heal for days (to the extent that vultures were able to feed on his wounds).

In the case of the Void, the powerful villain casually restrained the Hulk and proceeded to break every single bone in his body.

Moreover, the Hulk has even been knocked out by characters as docile as the Wrecker – emphasising that he absolutely isn’t invulnverable.

He Was Choked Out By A Snake

What more do we need to say for this particular point? If Hulk is deprived of air, he passes out like anybody else – and on one occasion, a snake was enough to make this happen.

It happened in Incredible Hulk #470 and you can see it happening in the picture above, as well as the aftermath in the picture below.

Granted, this was incredibly bad writing, but you can easily say the same thing when Hulk wins against people he should have no right to win against. It works both ways.

He Lacks Versatility

The fact is, Hulk is just a super-strong brute. A very, very, very super-strong brute, but a super-strong brute nonetheless. He has to get in relatively close and use physical force to defeat any given opponent – and that’s a major weakness.

Countless characters can defeat him from afar without even needing to touch him, while others have various other ways to beat him with their versatile powers.

He can be mind-controlled, transmuted, dimension-dumped, time-dumped, contained, reality-warped, put to sleep and defeated in many other ways.

Essentially, putting Hulk against anyone with powers as versatile as the likes of the Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Thor, Thanos, Doctor Doom or X-Man is like having a baseball bat, while your opponent has a Swiss army knife full of various high-tech gadgets and weapons – if the Swiss army knife guy uses his gadgets properly, Mr. Baseball Bat has no chance.

Obviously, these are just a handful of Hulk’s feats – there are plenty of others both good and bad – but the point here was to highlight that he can and has been beaten (and, in many cases, quite easily).

Just bear that in mind next time you insist that he can beat someone with much more in their arsenal than him.

What do you think? Still think Hulk is unbeatable? By all means try to prove it somehow. Have your say below.