Does anyone remember the Atlas Comics series "The Brute"?  It was about their version of the Hulk, a weirdly-colored, unfrozen caveman, if I recall.  Well, the Brute was a mindless animal who did kill anyone, good or bad, that got in his way.  And you know what?  It really didn't work because it made the Brute impossible to empathize or sympathize with.

You can make an evil character appealing, but when character is just an indifferent killer or a "force of nature" then it's really not a character.  It's just a plot device and you run into the same problems writers and audiences have always had with the Man-Thing, for example.

Mike

Sorry - didn't mean to start a controversy. I did read the thread, although I admit that I may not have committed every post to memory. 

I apologize if my reaction to the notion of the Hulk being a killer was the same as any other poster's. But from here on out, I'll refrain from posting until I've cross-checked it against each of the 297,787 entries here at the JBF.

Bruce, no controversy at all. Though your offer to commit all future posts to memory is an intriguing one, I wouldn't expect you to do so. I was thrown by the fact that your response is nearly identical, word-for-word, to mine.

I may have been a bit prickly when I typed out the additional statement about reading the posts, but it has happened to me twice in the past week.Obviously, our response wasn't overly complicated, it simply struck me odd that such a response would pop up twice in a fairly small thread.... now start memorizin', bub.

Thanks, Matt.

I'm not familiar with the Brute, but I can see why that character wouldn't work. The Hulk's appeal always has been that he's a gentle, kind being at heart who only fights when provoked. We sympathize with him when Thunderbolt Ross won't leave him alone, for example.

Make him a killer - even an accidental one - and he instantly loses that appeal. Then, Ross & Co. are in the right, since they are protecting society from a legitimate menace, rather than hounding an innocent being who just wants to be left alone.  

I agree.  This discussion gives me an idea what others members are thinking and what they believe in a particular character like The Incredible Hulk.  And please lets get back on topic.  Yes it's sad--poo hoo, and yes we have the right to express it.  Phew! 

Does anyone believe the multiple personality angle for the Hulk has given reason to all these beliefs?