| Guilt Hulk | |
|---|---|
 Guilt Hulk as depicted inThe Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #12 (March 2000). Art byRon Garney andMike McKone. | |
| Publication information | |
| First appearance | The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #377 (January 1991) |
| Created by | Peter David Dale Keown |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Doctor Robert Bruce Banner |
| Species | Human Gamma-Mutate |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Supporting character of | Hulk |
| Notable aliases | The Beast Brian Banner |
Guilt Hulk is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an antagonist to theHulk. Created by writerPeter David and artistDale Keown, the character first appeared inThe Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #377 (January 1991) as a malevolent representation of Bruce Banner's abusive fatherBrian Banner that manifests itself in Banner's childhood memories.
A malevolentalternate personality of Bruce Banner, the Guilt Hulk embodies all of Bruce's guilt, shame, and regrets. Existing within Bruce's mind, the entity seeks to manifest and run amok in the real world.[1]
In the 1991 storyline in which the Guilt Hulk first appears,Doc Samson employs theRingmaster's expertise with hypnosis in an attempt to unify Banner's fractured mental state. This allows Banner to experience aspects of his own mind, including childhood memories, from both an objective and participatory viewpoint. During these hypnosis sessions, Banner interacts with his warring split personalities, the Savage Hulk and Joe Fixit. The Guilt Hulk interferes with the treatment, tormenting Bruce and the Hulks by replacing Bruce's abusive fatherBrian in traumatic memories. By confronting the source of his mental illness, Banner is able to banish the Guilt Hulk, and cause the emergence of the Professor, a more stable personality initially assumed to be a fusion of Banner, the Savage Hulk, and Fixit.[2]
The Guilt Hulk, possessing a slightly altered appearance, returns years later as Banner is dying ofALS. Empowered by the guilt felt by the dying Bruce for the death ofBetty Ross, Guilt Hulk tries to overtake Banner's mind, a process made easier for it due to the other Hulks being suppressed by Banner. Using a machine created byneuroscientist Angela Lipscombe, Banner enters his own subconscious and frees Fixit and the Professor, though the two are outmatched by the Guilt Hulk until Banner seeks the aid of the Savage Hulk. Together, the three manage to overpower the Guilt Hulk.[1][3]
When Brian Banner is released from Hell during the 2010-2011 "Chaos War" storyline, he becomes a fusion of the Guilt Hulk and theDevil Hulk.[4]
While the Guilt Hulk has not manifested in the real world, in Banner's mind it was enormous in size, possessed claws and fangs, and was capable of fending off two other Hulks. In its debut, the Guilt Hulk was covered in spikes, could breathe fire, and torture Banner and the other personalities through Banner's memories.[2]
In an issue ofWhat If?, Banner's initial confrontation with the Guilt Hulk ends with him "killing" the entity himself which leads to him gradually transforming intoMaestro.[5]
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