The Hulkembodies physical strength so wholeheartedly that he's practically synonymous with it. As the Jade Giant well be happy to tell you himself, he's the strongest one there is. The ins and outs to Hulk's powers go a whole lot deeper than just sheer strength and the result is a downright strange physiology you'd need a pile of research just to understand.

Here's a breakdown of the five weirdest things about Hulk's body.

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One major question about Hulk's powers and their physicality is where all his extra mass comes from. In order for him to go from the 5'9" 128 lb Bruce Banner to the 7'8" 1,400 lb Hulk, heneeds to pull all that extra mass fromsomewhere. As always, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe holds the answer.

The gamma radiation infused in Banner's body gives him access to an alternate dimension where the excess mass is stored between transformations. The Handbook leaves it a mystery just which dimension that could be, but mentions the Kosmos dimension that's generally accessible via Pym Particles as one possibility. The comics rarely -- if ever --bring up such an explanation, but an alternate dimension makes sense.

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The green-skinned behemoth most are familiar with is not the only form Hulk has taken over the years. In fact, it was not even his original hue!Bruce Banner originally transformed into a gray-skinned monster every night (rather than in times of emotional distress), but after he became trapped in a space shuttle that exposed him to a belt of cosmic radiation, his powers changed even further.

Marvel has provided various explanations and retcons over the yearsr, but to really understand Hulk's body, it's important to know he doesn't always have the same exact body. Just like Banner and Hulk have two different bodies, the Gray Hulk or Professor Hulk are different forms entirely. Hulk is most often his signature green, but his color has been known to change with these shifts. Speaking of different personalities...

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Bruce Banner has possibly one of the most messed up psyches in the Marvel Universe -- and that's saying something. With its roots tied into childhood trauma inflicted by his abusive father, the Hulk's personality actually predates the gamma bomb that first physically transformed Banner. That's because Banner has several different split personalities created as a coping mechanism for his trauma, so each of the different Hulk forms mentioned above represent a different aspect of his mind.

At one point it, Banner's nightly transformation was explained as an unconscious representation of his shame. Sunlight even burned his skin.

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Though he seems like an unstoppable juggernaut of power, the Hulk is still a living organism who requires sustenance. The only problem for villains who try exploiting that is that he's immensely hardy, capable of holding his breath for hours and converting most any matter around him into consumable nutrition. Hulk's need to breathe has left him exposed to oxygen deprivation and poisoning in the past, so even if it's not easy to defeat him this way, Hulk isn't without his limits.

One ability seldom shown in the film and television adaptations of the character is Hulk's ability to regenerate, but it's one of his most valuable powers. Armed with one of the most powerful healing factors in the Marvel Universe, the Hulk is capable of regenerating from any kind of physical damage in a matter of moments. TheOfficial Handbook of the Marvel Universe evennotes he can recover his organs in a matter of seconds -- this goes a long way toward explaining why he's so hard to put down.

Regeneration is currently a major feature of the character in The Immortal Hulkongoing series.. Even when Hulk's head, organs and limbs are all separated from one another in hermetically sealed jars, he remains conscious. The total annihilation of his body has zero effect on stopping him permanently. Perhaps the same extradimensional source of matter from which he transforms in the first place serves as the unending source for Hulk's regeneration, but no matterthe explanation,there's no doubt this is an anatomy that pushes the realm of understanding beyond its limits.

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