Reader Matthew C. writes in to ask, “Who would win: The Hulk vs. The Thing?”
First of all, great question, Matthew. I never get tired of this game, especially when it deals with superheroes. Let’s take a look at the two Marvel characters:
THE HULK
Real Name
Robert Bruce Banner
Aliases
Annihilator, Captain Universe, Joe Fixit, Mr. Fixit, Mechano, Professor, War, Bruce Bancroft, David Banner, David Bixby, Bob Danner, Bruce Jones, Bruce Roberts, David Blaine, the Green Scar, Green Goliath, Jade Giant, Bob, World-breaker, Sakaarson
Abilities
Bruce Banner transforms into the Hulk when emotionally stressed, or angered. The Hulk has potential for limitless physical strength, depending solely on his emotional state — particularly his anger. “The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets.” His strength allows him to leap into lower Earth orbit or across continents, and he has even shown superhuman speed.
His durability, regeneration, and endurance can also increase in relation to his anger. Hulk is resistant to injury or damage and has even withstood solar temperatures and nuclear explosions. He has both regenerative healing abilities that allow him to grow new tissue, breathe underwater, survive in space and heal from most wounds within seconds.
THE THING
Real Name
Benjamin Jacob Grimm
Aliases
Bashful Benjy, Uncle Benjy, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing, Idol of Millions (self-proclaimed), Grim Ben, Dr. Josiah Verpoorteen, Blackbeard the Pirate
Abilities
After being exposed to radiation Ben Grimm’s skin is transformed into acovered with an orange, flexible, rock-like hide. The Thing possesses high levels of superhuman strength, stamina and resistance to physical injury. With the help of mutation and exercise, his strength has continued to increase over the years.
He is capable of surviving impacts of great strength and force without sustaining injury. He is also able to withstand gunfire from high caliber weapons as well as armor piercing rounds. It is possible to breach his exterior, but he does bleed as a result. The Thing also has superhuman levels of stamina. When in his Thing form, he has only three fingers and a thumb on each hand. The loss of one digit on each hand, and the increase in volume of the remainder, does not affect his manual dexterity.
Aside from his physical attributes, the Thing’s senses can withstand greater levels of sensory stimulation than an ordinary human, with the exception of his sense of touch. His lungs possess greater efficiency and volume than those of an ordinary human. As a result, the Thing is capable of holding his breath for much greater periods of time.
Interestingly, when in his Thing form, he suffers no change in personality nor his level of intelligence. And his agility and reflexes remain at the same level they had been prior to his transformation.
He is also a formidable and relentless hand-to-hand combatant. His fighting style incorporates elements of boxing, wrestling, judo, jujutsu, and street-fighting techniques, as well as hand-to-hand combat training from the military.
Who Wins?
I say Hulk wins, and fairly easily. Why?
Lucky for us, these two beasts have fought plenty of times in the Marvel universe. And in almost every case The Hulk Wins. It’s a simple matter of strength. The Hulk will continue to get stronger as he gets madder. So even if he loses for a while, he will always comes back to win due to his anger. Even without his growing rage, The Hulk starts off stronger than The Thing. So strength and endurance and athleticism would all go to The Hulk.
The Thing’s best chance for winning would be outsmarting The Hulk. Since Hulk loses some of his intelligence when transformed, he may be susceptible to The Thing, who loses no intelligence. But even so, The Hulk would likely be only angered more.
I would actually go so far as to say The Hulk would be able to withstand any humanly attack. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to think of a character that could beat the Hulk, strictly in a match of strength. Hulk is likely the strongest character in the Marvel universe. That said, magic, and other alien powers can beat him, so he is by no means unbeatable.
Here’s a quick clip from a fight the two had in the 1990s Fantastic Four animated TV series.
Thoughts? Have another opinion on this one?
As always post your thoughts in the comments section below, and feel free to submit your own, Who Wins battle. Go to the homepage, headsup.boyslife.org and enter it into the box on the right side. You may just see it posted on Heads Up soon.
