A huge green giant lifts a tank over his head in the desert at sunset as a lone scientist watches.

Original artwork, not a still

Hulk

Hulk is the strongest one there is!

— The Incredible Hulk  ·  1962

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

It is a boast and a threat that doubles as a rule of the character: the Hulk is not just strong, he is the top of the scale, and nobody can argue otherwise. Written in third-person caveman speech, it carries the joy and menace of a force of nature. Fans repeat it as a comic brag, and it has even been used by astronomers to describe gamma-ray bursts.

Context reviewed

In context

Spoilers for The Incredible HulkShow the scene

The Hulk, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962): scientist Bruce Banner is caught in a gamma-bomb test and changes into a hulking, enraged creature. As the series goes on, the Hulk becomes a crude, third-person speaker whose boast that he is "the strongest one there is" is one of his stock claims, tied to the idea that the angrier he gets, the stronger he gets. He says it mid-fight against whatever opponent has just stood up to him. The line has no single scene; it is a repeated catchphrase of the character, now collected among his quotes on Wikiquote.

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