Robert Bruce Banner (Earth-534834)

Scientist Bruce Banner's life would change forever the day he tested his highly dangerous Gamma Reactor. When he noticed a young teen on the testing range, he ran onto the field in order to remove the boy. Initially thinking the reactor countdown had been delayed, he was betrayed by one of the other scientists and Banner's body was bombarded with an immense amount of gamma rays.

The gamma radiation altered Bruce's DNA, causing him to become The Hulk, an unstoppable brute with no apparent limit to his strength whenever he became angry or stressed. The creature's mind exists separate from Banner's, with Bruce having no control over it and remembering nothing of his time during the metamorphosis.

Realising that The Hulk is a threat to everyone around him, Banner began desperately working on a cure for his condition, whilst General Ross believed Banner to be a threat, causing Banner to run and act as a fugitive whilst he worked on his cure.

The man who originally sabotaged Banner's gamma reactor experiment, Samuel Sterns, ironically also became a victim of the radiation itself, whilst on the clean up crew; he fell into a puddle of gamma waste. This gave him increased intelligence and a thirst for power. Believing The Hulk was his creation, Sterns, now calling himself The Leader, kidnapped Banner, and planned to steal The Hulk's strength for himself, giving Banner yet another reason to look over his shoulder.

After several failed attempts to cure himself, Banner's girlfriend, Betty Ross and comrade Doc Samson created a nutrient bath, hoping to separate Banner and The Hulk completely. After the test was interrupted by Major Talbot, the operation left both Hulk and Banner as vegetables. Eventually waking up, The Hulk, now a mindless beast began destroying everything in site, whilst Banner was bombarded by guilt. After attempting to finally defeat Hulk, Banner got him angrier than ever before, and they both collapsed. Tests showed that the two simply could not survive without each other. Samson and Betty attempted to reverse the Nutrient Bath, but an intervention from the insane General Ross caused Rick to fall into the Bath, leaving him as The Hulk. The stress caused another startling transformation in Banner; he turned into a Grey Hulk, with a personality completely different to both Banner himself and the savage green Hulk.

The insane Ross attempted to defeat the new Hulk, but their battle left Ross in a coma. The Leader than promised Grey Hulk he would remove Banner permanently, if Hulk could capture Rick Jones. After capturing the confused teenager, The Leader tricked Hulk and tried to steal his powers. The experiment was a failure and Jones' Hulk strength was transferred into Grey Hulk. This left Banner with three different personalities. Banner himself, the savage Green Hulk and the arrogant Grey Hulk.

After hanging out with his cousin She Hulk for a while, Banner reconciled his differences with General Ross.