The characters who appear in the film Hulk and its video game and comic book sequels.

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Introduced in the film

Bruce Banner

Robert Bruce "Krenzler" Banner/The Hulk

"You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry!"

^{Click here to see Hulk}

Played By: Eric Bana, Mike Erwin (teen), Michael and David Kronenberg (young), Ang Lee (Hulk's voice)

"Even now I can feel it. Buried somewhere deep inside. Watching me, waiting. But you know what scares me the most? When I can't fight it anymore, when it takes over, when I totally lose control... I like it."

Orphaned as a young child, Bruce Banner became an intellectually gifted yet emotionally distant man. After accidentally being exposed to gamma radiation, he unlocked a hidden gene from his father.

Tropes applying to Banner

Alliterative Name: Bruce Banner.
Brought Down to Badass: In the stealth sections of the video game^note, Bruce is unable to transform into the Hulk. Despite lacking any offensive attacks, he can evade trained soldiers and sleeping gamma dogs, perform stealth takedowns to quietly incapacitate enemies, infiltrate highly secure facilities, and engineer an antidote for himself after being given a sedative.
Death Seeker: He outright tells David that he wishes he had killed him when he killed his mother.
David: I should have killed you.
Bruce: I wish you had.
Driven to Suicide: In Michael France’s script, he tries to force Talbot to shoot him and later attempts to slit his wrist with a shard of glass. Both times, he is stopped by the Hulk.
Emotionally Tongue-Tied: He has difficulties expressing emotion due to the trauma of his early childhood. It became a point of contention with Betty, who felt that he was too distant.
Hulking Out: The Trope Maker, as this is an origin film for the character who started it all.
Informed Attribute: David remarks to a pre-Hulk Bruce that he has quite the Hair-Trigger Temper, but not much is shown of this until after he first rampages. This is downplayed in early scripts and the Novelization, where it's apparent that he has difficulty keeping his anger under control even before the fateful accident.
Like Father, Unlike Son: Both he and David are brilliant researchers, but Bruce is far less callous.
Tranquil Fury: He appears coldly calm right before willingly transforming into the Hulk in the film's ending. He also displays this in the video game after being cornered by Madman and Half-Life.
Walking Techbane: In early scripts, Bruce displays the ability to unwittingly cause electronic devices to short out when he's close to Hulking out.

Tropes applying to Hulk

Anti-Hero: Averted. His seemingly senseless rampages in the labs and military bases throughout the film are all attempts to destroy the gamma research before they fall into the wrong hands; he overpowers soldiers, but never attempts to kill them.
Going to Give It More Energy: After David becomes a water being in the final battle, becomes invulnerable to Hulk's attacks and starts draining his power, Hulk defeats him by giving him all of his limitless power, which destabilizes David long enough for the military to finish him off.
Humanoid Abomination: A nearly ten foot tall, green skinned monster with superhuman strength.
It Can Think: For all of his apparent savagery, this Hulk is shown to have surprising strategy skills. At one point he bites off the explosive head of a missile and spits it at a helicopter to bring it down.
Super-Toughness: Almost nothing in the film harms him while he's Hulk, and whatever does hurt him heals almost immediately afterwards. Missiles don’t scratch him, bullets bounce off him, and bombs mildly irritate him. Only the Gamma Dogs were able to pierce Hulk's skin.
Technical Pacifist: The film makes sure to show soldiers emerging unscathed from each military vehicle that Hulk wrecks in order to keep him sympathetic.
Voice of the Legion: The Hulk's roar sounds distorted and seems to have a pitched version layered over it.

Betty Ross

Elizabeth "Betty" Ross

"Bruce, I hate them."

Played By: Jennifer Connelly, Rhiannon Leigh Wryn (young)

Voiced By: Katie Benison (video game)

Action Girl: Not in the final film, but Turman's Betty (a trained FBI agent) proves to be one in the climax.
Adaptation Name Change: In the France script, her surname is Garrett.
Adaptational Job Change:
- In John Turman's script, Betty is an FBI agent working in counter-intelligence.
- In Michael France's script, she works in a hospital.
- In the finished film, she’s a scientist.
Ambiguous Situation: In the video game, it remains unclear if she was completely cured of her gamma poisoning.
Brainy Brunette: The novel mentions that she took accelerated courses and was accepted for early admission to Berkeley.
Color-Coded Eyes: Her green eyes symbolize her role as Banner's love interest, given the latter's tendency to turn green on occasion. They can also symbolize intelligence, fitting as the film version of Betty is a scientist.
Deuteragonist: The most developed and focused on character in the movie after Bruce.
Nice Girl: It's easy to see why Bruce loves her so dearly.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: She tells David Banner in no uncertain terms that he has completely ruined his son's life.
What Happened to the Mouse?: In the video game, she disappears after the "Chemical Effect" level.

David Banner

"We're gonna have to watch that temper of yours."

Played By: Nick Nolte, Paul Kersey (young) ^{Other Languages}Alain Dorval (European French)

David Banner was a researcher who believed that humanity can exceed limits. He wanted permission from the military to use his research, but when he was denied permission to use human subjects, he chose to experiment on himself. His son Bruce inherited the altered genes from the experiments, which both horrified and fascinated David. He planned to kill Bruce out of mercy but instead killed his wife, Edith. He was sent to jail by the military for thirty years.

Abusive Parents: His Novelization counterpart was emotionally abusive to young Bruce, treating him less like a child and more like an experiment to study. After being fired by Ross, he tried to kill Bruce, blaming him for ruining his life.
Accidental Murder: Accidentally stabbed his wife in front of his son while intending to kill Bruce, resulting in him getting sent to jail.
Adaptation Name Change: Bruce Banner's father was named Brian in the comics. David was called Brian in an early script, but this was changed.
Adaptational Badass: At the time of the movie's original release, David Banner's comic counterpart was just a scumbag who abused his family before dying, and the only damage he did to the Hulk was Bruce's psychological trauma. In this movie he lived to discover his son as the Hulk, and eventually becomes a nigh-unkillable gamma monster himself.
Adaptational Dumbass: In Michael France’s script, no mention is made of David being a scientist or experimenting on himself. Instead, he tried and failed to hold a job for most of Bruce’s early childhood.
Adaptation Personality Change: In the film, David started out as a hard-working but loving father (a stark contrast to his comic book counterpart) and though he does become antagonistic, it's mostly for different reasons. His novel counterpart is closer to the comics' depiction.
Adaptational Villainy: While his Adaptation Personality Change already invoked this on him in the film, his Novelization counterpart is even worse, lacking almost all of Film!David's sympathetic qualities and being noticeably more selfish, apathetic, unfettered, and vindictive.
Alas, Poor Villain: Even after all the evil he's wrought, David's demise is shown somberly with a brief flashback to when he was a more loving father to little Bruce. The novelization also has Bruce "forgive" him as his Father drains the Hulk, finally seeing the old man as not a monster, but a pitiful, scared human who went insane from his own work.
Archnemesis Dad: To Bruce. After performing dangerous tests on himself, some of it was passed on genetically when Bruce was conceived. He attempted to murder Bruce but failed, striking down his wife in the process. Thirty years later, following his release from prison, he tracks down Bruce and attempts to rebuild their relationship while secretly plotting to drain Bruce's powers in order to rebuild his own decaying cellular structure and get his revenge on the military. A very, very bad dude, though not without his sympathetic moments, at least in the film.
Ax-Crazy: Particularly in the novelization, where he briefly contemplates beating Betty to death with a mop soon after meeting her.
Beard of Evil: He sports a big, scraggly beard in the present day after his years in prison.
Big Bad: He is responsible for destroying Bruce's life and creating the Hulk by experimenting on himself and his son out of an obsession with advancing humanity beyond its limits. He intends to drain Bruce's powers to regenerate himself and get his revenge on the military.
Body Horror: His transmutation abilities are depicted as much more disturbing and monstrous than with the comics' Absorbing Man. This reaches its peak in the climax when he siphons the Hulk's power. He painfully swells into a massive radioactive blob that concept art refers to as a "Jellyfish".
Chewing the Scenery: A figurative and literal example just before his transformation, as that page's image shows.
Cold Ham: He shifts between this and Large Ham.
Composite Character: Is based on Brian Banner, but later gains the powers of Absorbing Man before transforming into a being of pure electricity similar to Zzzax. The detail of his form being unstable and deteriorating without the Hulk's power is similar to Half-Life, also making it a case of Decomposite Character as Half-Life later appears in the video game.
Create Your Own Villain: He experimented on his dogs with his son's DNA, mutating them.
Despair Event Horizon: He crossed this when he killed Edith and set off the Gamma explosion.
Disappeared Dad: David was sent to prison after his wife's death, and Bruce did not see him again until adulthood.
Elemental Powers: Gains these every time he touches rocks, water or electricity.
Elemental Shapeshifter: His form after his mutation.
Energy Absorption: His ability after his gamma mutation. It's to the point that he freezes an entire lake solid while attempting to drain the Hulk.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: David Banner is a monster, make no mistake about it, but he genuinely loved his wife and was devastated when he accidentally killed her, and is shown treating Bruce with occasional affection as a son rather than a lab experiment. This is downplayed greatly in the novelization.
Evil Is Hammy: He likes being a ham.

The Ghost: Unlike the final version, David makes no physical appearance in Michael France’s script. However, his abuse still haunts Bruce.
Grumpy Old Man: Became this after spending thirty years in prison.
Hoist by His Own Petard: He gets exactly what he wanted so much, his son's dormant powers...too bad it's too much for him to handle, and his body becomes so unstable that he gets blown up by the military.
Hollywood Atheist: He believes that religion "infected humanity's soul".
Humanoid Abomination: After his mutation, David retains his human appearance but gains the ability to take on different forms depending on what he touches. Even his mutated forms still look somewhat humanoid.
Humans Are Bastards: He has this belief of humanity after his imprisonment.
Kill and Replace: In the novel, he murders Berkeley's janitor and takes his place to get closer to Bruce.
Large Ham: He shifts between this and Cold Ham.
Love Is a Weakness: In the novelization, he's horrified at the realization that he loves Bruce.
Love Makes You Evil: His love for his deceased wife is what caused his estranged son to be born.
Mad Scientist: His amorality is pretty apparent throughout the film, what with his willingness to use human test subjects for his experiments (including his own infant son), but it's not until near the end that the full extent of his megalomania is on display.
Material Mimicry: Becomes able to absorb anything he touches after exposing himself to gamma radiation.
Mercy Kill: He attempted this on his son, but his wife stopped him, which resulted in her accidental death. It devastated him.
Mythology Gag: His aforementioned Adaptation Name Change is probably a reference to Bruce being renamed David in the TV show.
Never My Fault: In the novel, his attempt to kill Bruce wasn't out of mercy, but instead because he blamed him for causing him to lose his job. However, he does have a brief moment where he acknowledges that Bruce's condition is his fault while shedding Tears of Remorse.
Offing the Offspring: Attempted to kill Bruce supposedly out of "a father's mercy" but failed. Thirty years later, he intends to absorb Bruce's powers to stabilize himself, arguing that he gave Bruce life in the first place and that Bruce should give it back.
Professor Guinea Pig: He experimented on himself after he was denied permission to create an army.
Psycho Electro: His first form.
Right-Hand Attack Dog: His subjects.
Sanity Slippage: After his thirty years in prison.
Shadow Archetype: To his son, Bruce. Both are very brilliant researchers and gained abilities through exposure to radiation. However, unlike Bruce, David has next to no moral fiber or concern for human life.
Tragic Villain: In the film, he regretted accidentally killing his wife in spite of his more devious actions. Averted in the novelization, where David is far more callous.
Walking Spoiler: His mutated form.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: David set off the gamma explosion all because he wanted his work to get appreciated.

Thaddeus Ross

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6ada765076382143bcd739db38a81000_4.jpg

Played By: Sam Elliott, Todd Tesen (young)

Adaptational Heroism: In the comics, Ross developed an obsessive envy of the Hulk and his seemingly infinite power. Here, he's portrayed as a more well-meaning General.
Anti-Villain: He's a concerned general who deeply loves his daughter and is just trying to stop the Hulk menace, but goes out of his way to pursue and distrust Banner because of who his father is.
Jerkass Has a Point: Even though he spends a good portion of the film provoking the Hulk, he is right to be concerned about the damage Bruce could cause should he transform in public.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As harsh as Ross can be, he does truly love his daughter Betty.
Papa Wolf: To his daughter Betty.
Pet the Dog: He has his moments.
- After having his men arrest David Banner, Ross takes his time to try and comfort a young, traumatized Bruce Banner.
- When he sees Betty tearfully embracing Bruce as he's about to be taken into custody, he shows a faint sign of regret for breaking his daughter's heart.

Glenn Talbot

Major Glenn Talbot

"So long, big boy."

Played By: Josh Lucas ^{Other Languages}Bruno Choël (European French)

Adaptational Dye-Job: Talbot is a brunet in the comics. In this film, he has Josh Lucas' natural blonde hair.
Adaptational Job Change: Downplayed. He was a military officer in the comics, but here, he's a bio-science executive who used to work in the military.
Adaptational Wimp: Talbot is a Major here, not Colonel as in the comics.
Adaptation Personality Change: Talbot is more aggressive compared to his comic book appearances.
Attack Backfire: His death in the film. He fires a Grenade Launcher only for the round to ricochet off the Hulk and embed itself in the wall behind Talbot, who barely has time for an Oh, Crap! reaction before being blown up.
Bullying a Dragon: After the army captures Bruce, Talbot decides that shocking him repeatedly with a cattle prod to provoke a transformation and get a blood sample from him is a good idea. Luckily for Talbot, this attempt fails, or he probably would've ended up in intensive care or the morgue. Unluckily for Talbot, his next effort does work and the morgue is exactly where he ends up.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: His death in the novel is far more gruesome than in the film. In the latter, he's blown up after his Grenade Launcher embeds itself in the wall behind him; in the former, he dies after being riddled in a hail of bullets that ricochet off of the Hulk's toughened skin.
Faux Affably Evil: He tries to be polite but can never fully hide his malicious intent, smugness or total lack of scruples.
Hate Sink: Compared to David Banner and General Ross, Talbot's main contribution to the story is to repeatedly bully Bruce whenever he can, and he has no sympathetic traits whatsoever.
Hoist by His Own Petard: His death.
Jerkass: He's a bullying, smarmy jerk who is deeply unpleasant to be around.
Made of Iron: After Hulk hurls him through a wall, Talbot is still conscious, and it takes a second hit for him to go down. Although he is still severely hurt, the extent of his injuries isn't specified: his arm is in a sling, and his neck and knee are in braces, but he shouldn't be in one piece, let alone alive, walking, or wielding any sort of weaponry.
Smug Snake: The man just oozes smarmy self-confidence. Just look at his smirk.
Too Dumb to Live: He seriously thought it was a good idea to provoke Bruce to transform when he was alone with him in a small bathroom.

Edith Banner

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edith_hulk_3.png

"David, I have wonderful news. I'm gonna have a baby."

Played By: Cara Buono

Adaptation Name Change: In the comics, Bruce's mother was named Rebecca.
Dies Differently in Adaptation:
- In Michael France’s script, her death was caused by a medical condition that worsened due to stress from David’s abuse.
- In the film, she's fatally stabbed by David instead of dying from head trauma like her comics counterpart. In addition, her death was an accident here, whereas in the comics it was deliberate.
Good Parents: To her son, Bruce.

Old Man

Played By: Stan Lee

An old man who works as a security guard at the Berkeley Lab.

Ambiguous Situation: Given that Spider-Man: No Way Home has established non-MCU films as part of the same multiverse, he may or may not be the same entity as The Watcher Informant.
The Cameo: Because this is Stan Lee we're talking about.
Those Two Guys: He is seen talking with a fellow security guard, who is portrayed by Lou Ferrigno, another important figure from The Incredible Hulk mythos.

Security Guard

Played By: Lou Ferrigno

A security guard of the Berkeley Lab.

The Cameo: He is portrayed by Lou Ferrigno, who is best known for having played the Hulk with Bill Bixby as Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk television show and its three Made For TV Movies.
Nice Guy: He pauses his conversation with a fellow guard to greet Bruce.
Those Two Guys: He is seen talking with a fellow security guard, who is portrayed by Stan Lee, another important figure from The Incredible Hulk mythos.

Introduced in the video game

Professor Geoffrey Crawford

Voiced By: Paul Dobson

Adaptation Dye-Job: In the comics, Crawford has brownish-gray hair as Ravage. Ravage’s depiction here has darker hair.
Evil Is Hammy: All of his lines are pretty hammy, especially after he becomes Ravage.
Evil Old Folks: An aging, wheelchair-bound professor who uses the Hulk's energy to regain his mobility and goes on a rampage simply because he can.
False Friend: To Bruce.
My God, What Have I Done?: When he transforms back to human form, he admits to Bruce that his actions have given the Leader everything he needs to create an army of gamma mutates.
That Man Is Dead: His dialogue in "One and All" indicates that he wants this to be the case with his human self.
"I’ll never give up this energy. There will be no more Crawford!"
Voice with an Internet Connection: During "Desperate Measures," he communicates with Bruce via earpiece and only makes a physical appearance at the end of the mission.

Half-Life

Voiced By: Lee Tockar

Adaptation Dye-Job: In the comics, Half-Life had green hair and skin. Here, he's pale-skinned and bald.
Energy Absorption: He can leech Hulk's health upon direct contact with him.
Evil Sounds Raspy: Has a raspy voice.

The Leader

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/samuelsterns2003.jpg

"Clumsy scientist!"

Voiced By: Michael Dobson

A mysterious individual spearheading a plot to create an army of fellow gamma mutates. Ravage, Half-Life and Madman all appear to work with/for him, and he comes into direct conflict with Bruce when he gets his hands on the Gamma Orb.

Other versions of the Leader appeared in early film scripts. John Turman's version of the character is an electrical engineer named Edward Leder, who receives his powers after he tries to steal radioactive material from the testing site. In Michael France's script, Samuel Sterns is a scientist whose origins are tied to the gammasphere accident.

Tropes applying to multiple versions

Adaptational Job Change: In the comics, Sam was a simple worker at a chemical plant before receiving his powers. Both script versions give him a different occupation:
- In Turman's script, Leder is an electrical engineer.
- In France's script, Sterns is a scientist that works with Bruce.
Body Horror: Leder and Sterns both start to look increasingly frail as their transformations progress, with their hair falling out and their heads enlarging. This also applies to how they receive their powers:
- Leder steals two vials of gammadium and puts them in his coat pocket. When the vials clink together, they start to spontaneously fission and break. Realizing this, Leder tries to take the vials out of his pocket, but ends up smearing the radioactive material all over his face. He's later described as looking "transparent, almost alien", with light green skin and milky green blood.
- Sterns' mutation is triggered by irradiated computer fluid pouring into his eyes and mouth. The increased neural activity creates visible crackles of electricity in his skull.
Super-Intelligence: All versions of the Leader have vastly increased intelligence.

Turman script version

Adaptation Name Change: His civilian identity is Edward Leder, not Samuel Sterns.
Jerkass: He pins the blame for the explosion on Bruce, just to make himself look good.
Psychic Powers: Leder possesses the ability to mind control others through sheer force of will.
You're Insane!: Is on the receiving end of this from both Betty and Bruce (with the latter even saying it verbatim). Neither affects him.

France script version

Green-Eyed Monster: Before the gammasphere accident, he appears jealous of Bruce’s intelligence.
Psychic Powers: After the gammasphere accident, Sterns discovers that he has gained psionic powers in addition to his Super-Intelligence. As he mutates, his powers evolve to include telekinesis, telepathy, and mind control.
Technopath: His telepathic abilities extend to being able to mentally perceive electric signals and control technology with his mind.

Video game version

Amazing Technicolor Population: This iteration has more blue-ish skin than the bright green he’s normally depicted with.
Bald of Evil: Sports an enlarged, bald cranium. If the player is using the Grey Hulk skin, Hulk will even comment on the size of his head.
Beard of Evil: Like his comics counterpart, he has a goatee.
Big Bad: Of Gamma Games.
Me's a Crowd: The second phase of his boss fight has him create three duplicates/mental projections. Hulk must destroy the clones to find the real Leader.
Only Known by Their Nickname: The game never refers to him by his real name.
Power Floats: He constantly hovers above the ground.
Teleport Spam: During his boss fight in "Mind Games," he teleports every so often, forcing Bruce to outrun his attacks while trying to access the Gamma Orb.
We Can Rule Together: Tells Hulk this while he’s fighting his way through the base in "Reckoning".
"Come, my gamma brother! Let us shed your human weakness, and begin a partnership that will be unstoppable."
We Will Meet Again: His last lines.
"This is not a victory! Today, we both lose!" (cue angry noises followed by an exit via teleportation)