Red Hulk

As a young man, Thaddeus Ross enlisted in the military and received his nickname from his troops because he "struck like a thunderbolt" when leading them into action. Now he has become the very thing he hated most in life. He is the Red Hulk.

General Thaddeus E. Ross was born into a family with a proud tradition of military service. Both his father and his grandfather served heroically in past American wars. As a boy Thaddeus immersed himself in military history, and he learned how to fly by barnstorming at country fairs.

When he came of age Ross enlisted in the military, graduating first in his class at West Point. He married Karen Lee, the daughter of his commanding officer at the time. Ross rapidly rose in rank to captain and then major while serving in his first war. Ross made a great reputation as a leader in combat, but after the war, he was stationed at the nuclear research facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico. There he met nuclear physicist Brian Banner, the father of Robert Bruce Banner.

Ross had risen to the rank of colonel by the time he was sent to his next war, during which he became a general in the U.S. Air Force (Ross never rose beyond three-star general). As he gloried in combat, he was dissatisfied with the "desk jobs" he was given before and after the war.

Ross's wife, Karen, bore him only one child, his daughter Betty. Karen died when Betty was in her early teens. General Ross came to command Desert Base, New Mexico - a missile base and nuclear research site. He resented the fact that Bruce Banner, a civilian, was appointed supervisor of the gamma bomb project. Moreover, the general had contempt for the scrawny, intellectual Banner for failing to live up to Ross's own vision of true manhood. Making matters worse was the growing attraction between Banner and Betty, whom Ross hoped would marry a military officer.

The assassination of the Abomination in his homeland of Russia led to an investigation conducted by Ironman, Commander Maria Hill, of S.H.I.E.L.D, General Ross, Doc Samson and the She Hulk. One conclusion was of the majority; the person responsible was the Hulk. There were only two problems with this theory. The first was the Abomination was ultimately killed by gunfire – from a missing gun – and the second was Bruce Banner was locked away at Gamma Base in Nevada. However, the massive amounts of residual radiation at the scene seemed to give credence to the hypothesis even though there was speculation as to why the massive footprint, supposedly belonging to the Hulk, had turned the sand underneath it into glass. Upon returning to Gamma Base, General Ross and Samson turned to the one man that could help them in their search for their gamma-powered mystery: Bruce Banner. It wouldn’t be long before the assassin revealed himself.

A Red Hulk was on the loose, and there seemed to be no way to stop him. He defeated every challenger in his path – both gods and monsters. Still, it was his confidence that ultimately led to his defeat. Despite besting both Hulk and Thor in their initial meetings, both opponents came back for round two. Again, Hulk found himself on the losing end until Thor returned ready to teach the monster a lesson. Thor fought the Red Hulk to a stand-still, and just as he was about to deliver the final blow, Hulk snatched victory from Thor's grasp. Hulk needed to win this battle, and A-Bomb convinced Thor of this as well. Hulk uncovered Red Hulk's condition of the angrier he gets, the hotter he gets, and guessed it could be a weakness. Hulk let his opponent strike him repeatedly until the heat became too intense for the Red Hulk. He became unbalanced, and Hulk was able to finish him off quickly. Satisfied, the Hulk left as A-Bomb transformed back to Rick, and before Rick could yell out the true identity of the red beast, he was shot in the back by Doc Samson. Samson dragged Rick away as General Ross berated the defeated Red Hulk; telling him how he was given the means to destroy the Hulk and he blew it.