Betty Ross



The love of Bruce Banner's life, she has been one of the Hulk's greatest allies, though she is the daughter of his greatest enemy, General 'Thunderbolt' Ross. She has been transformed into the Harpy, died, and is now a Hulk herself. What's next in her life remains to be seen...

Origin
Betty Ross is the only child of General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and was the girlfriend of Bruce Banner. Her youth was spent under her father's strict army hand. Thunderbolt Ross had always hoped for a son to follow in his footsteps, and his adversity at having a daughter was reflected in the way that he raised her. Betty's mother had died when Betty was still a teenager, and she was placed in her father's care. He decided that an army base was no environment for a girl, so he sent her away to boarding school.

After graduation, she returned to her father's side on the base. By then Thunderbolt Ross was in charge of a top-secret project to create a new type of weapon involving gamma radiation. The head scientist on the project was Bruce Banner whom her father abhorred. Despite this, an attraction between Betty and Bruce began to grow. When she took an interest in Bruce, her father grew further uninterested with her. Regardless of this fact, Betty eventually married Banner.

However, Betty's constant exposure to the Hulk gave her gamma sickness. The poisoning was so strong that she nearly died. Banner was able to invent a cure using his own blood. However, the Hulk's nemesis the Abomination swapped his blood sample with his own blood before the transfusion. The untreated blood transfusion worsened Betty's condition, causing her to appear to die from the radiation and she was placed in cryogenic suspension.

At the instigation of Thunderbolt Ross, the Leader and MODOK later revived Betty and subjected her to a process that transformed her into the Red She-Hulk, granting her vast superhuman power.

History
Born in California, Betty was the only child of Air Force General Thaddeus Ross and his wife Karen Lee. Karen died when Betty was a teenager, and Ross shut Betty out of his life, claiming that a military base was no place for a young woman. Betty went off to boarding school.

She returned to Thaddeus' home after finishing school but then as for much of her life she was dominated by Thaddeus. By now Thaddeus was in charge of the top secret Gamma Bomb Project at Desert Base in New Mexico. Betty greeted the bomb's creator, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, when he arrived at the base. A strong attraction grew between Bruce and Betty. However, Thaddeus held resentment for the quiet, slender, nuclear physicist thinking him a physical and emotional weakling. Thaddeus' dislike of Bruce intensified when he realized that Betty was falling in love with him.

Exposure to intense gamma radiation caused Bruce to transform repeatedly from then on into the monstrous Hulk[1]. Although Bruce managed at first to keep his identity a secret his activities as the Hulk led to circumstances that caused Thaddeus and his security chief Major Glenn Talbot to suspect Bruce of being a traitor[2]. Glenn fell in love with Betty himself. However Betty remained devoted to Bruce through all of his trouble even when it became known that Bruce was the Hulk.

At one point Bruce's condition changed so that he could now control his changes into Hulk and could maintain his normal personality and intelligence when he was in the Hulk's form[3]. Reluctantly, Thaddeus consented to the wedding of Banner with his daughter, which was held in the house in which she had been born. However, during the ceremony, just before Bruce and Betty could be pronounced husband and wife, the Hulk's archenemy the the Leader, seeking vengeance, fired radiation that returned Bruce to his previous condition as the Savage Hulk. The Hulk tore the house apart, and hopes for the wedding to occur were no more[4].

Marrying Glenn Talbot
Betty remained in love with Bruce, but she eventually learned that Bruce also loved Jarella, a queen from the sub-atomic world of K'ai. Believing she had lost Bruce to another woman, Betty finally allowed herself to fall in love with Glenn, and they were soon married.

While Betty and Glenn were on their honeymoon, Thaddeus continued his pursuit of the Hulk, only to be captured by the Soviet scientist known as the Gremlin and sent to a Soviet prison. Glenn joined a mission to rescue Thaddeus and was successful, but Glenn himself was captured. Ross and the other Americans on the mission incorrectly believed that Talbot had been killed. When Betty learned of her husband's supposed death, she suffered a nervous breakdown.

Harpy
M.O.D.O.K., who was at the time the leader of the subversive organization called A.I.M, discovered Betty's condition and took advantage by condition using gamma radiation to transform her into the monstrous and insane Harpy because he wanted to create a creature who was powerful enough to defeat the Hulk, the Harpy broke out of a special shell and immediately wanted to know where the Hulk was so that she could kill him.

MODOK told Harpy where to find the Hulk and she flew off to find him.

After an ambush the two of them fought each other, right when the Hulk is about to hit her while she was down, she told him she was Betty. While the Hulk is shocked and confused by her statement, she blasts him and knocks him out.

General Ross saw the Harpy and Hulk fighting on TV and recognized his daughter. He made it to the battlesite as quick as he can and runs to talk to her right before she blasts and tries to kill the Hulk.

Ross tried to calm her down and told her that she's human, and that she's gentle and kind, but still under the influence of MODOK's brainwashing, she thought it's all a trick and then flew away with the Hulk in her clutches.

When the military sends out fighter jets to stop her, she shoots one out of the sky before she and the Hulk are swept up in a strange tornado from out of nowhere that sweeps them into a giant cloud mass. They soon find themselves on some strange city hidden in the clouds, as the Hulk revives they are confronted by a two-headed creature calling itself the Bi-Beast. When they grab the Harpy in interest she lashes out with Gamma ray blasts, and the Hulk, wanting to protect Betty attacks the creature as well. The Harpy is easily knocked out with a single blow, but the Hulk proves to be more of a challenge, however despite the fight the Hulk puts up, the thin air in the upper-atmosphere is what does him in and he collapses from lack of oxygen and reverts back to Bruce Banner.

When Banner revives he explains to the Bi-Beast that he is a scientist, leading the creature to believe that destiny has brought him to the floating island. The Bi-Beast explains that this island was created by the "Bird People" and the Bi-Beast was created to be a living monument of their achievements once they passed on. They explain that the machines holding the city in the air are starting to break down and they have no knowledge on how to repair them and ask that Bruce uses his skills to figure out how to fix them. They also explain that they captured the Harpy because they yearned for the company of someone that resembled their creators, and the Harpy fit that description.

Bruce, not knowing how Betty turned into the Harpy, figures he can use the advanced equipment to try and help her; he goes to find the Bi-Beast and finds him trying to talk to the Harpy, who is trapped in a cage. Bruce says he will help repair the equipment if the Bi-Beast lets him take the Harpy with him to which Bi-Beast agrees, Bruce puts some equipment together which he thinks will cure Betty. Unbeknownst to him, MODOK came about the island looking for both him and the Harpy and then tricks the Bi-Beast into thinking Bruce was going to betray him. The Bi-Beast attacks Bruce just as he hits the switch to start the equipment, a fight ensues as Bruce gets mad and turns into the Hulk and then MODOK doublecrosses the Bi-Beast and attacks him. As the Bi-Beast hits the self-destruct button, the Hulk turns back to Bruce and goes to search for Betty; he finds her in the eqiupment still as the Harpy, devestated thinking that it didn't work. Nevertheless he grabs her, becomes the Hulk, and they make a run for it as the island falls apart, when the Hulk lands them both safely, parts of a building from the island land on the Harpy as they run and when the dust clears, the Harpy has reverted back to Betty Ross.

Betty's transformation was reversed permanently, after the encounter with the Bi-Beast, and she regained both her normal form and her sanity showing that the equipment Bruce used on her did work, it just took longer for her to change back.

Return
Glenn was finally rescued, but Betty realized that she was still in love with Bruce, and the marriage of Betty and Glenn soon ended in divorce. For a time Betty lived on her own. Ultimately, she returned to Bruce. As for Glenn, he blamed his divorce on Bruce and died trying to destroy the Hulk.

Again Bruce achieved a state in which he could control his transformations and maintain his normal personality and intelligence while in the form of the Hulk. This time, however, Betty was upset because she wanted Bruce to be rid of the Hulk, not to control him. When Betty learned that Thaddeus conspired with M.O.D.O.K to kill the Hulk, Betty accused him of treason. Realizing Betty was right, Thaddeus nearly committed suicide and then disappeared.

Marrying Bruce
The Hulk disappeared from Earth for an extended period, and Betty began dating a man named Ramon. Upon learning that the Hulk had been sighted on Earth again, Betty left Ramon and returned to Gamma Base, where the Hulk was subjected to a process that split Bruce and the Hulk into separate entities. Believing himself cured, Bruce proposed to Betty, and she accepted. Thaddeus appeared at the wedding, armed with a gun and demanding that the marriage not take place before shooting Rick Jones. Courageously, Betty confronted her father, accused him of tyrannizing her throughout her life, and cowered him into surrendering the gun. Then finally, Bruce and Betty were pronounced husband and wife.

However, Bruce began dying as a result of being physically separated from the Hulk. Bruce and the Hulk were secretly merged together once more and Betty soon discovered this.

Thaddeus died before his daughter's eyes when he sacrificed his life to destroy an unnamed mutant that nearly killed both Betty and Bruce seeking a strong host to be parasitically linked to.

Betty was distraught on learning that Bruce had sometimes consciously triggered his transformation in the past and was even now willing to become the Hulk in order to deal with very menacing threats. She left Bruce and returned to Ramon, but then changed her mind and abandoned Ramon as well. She was then captured by the Leader, who set her free after learning that she was pregnant with Bruce's child. She was eventually reunited with Bruce, but soon afterward the Hulk seemingly perished in a tremendous explosion at Gammatown. Believing the Hulk dead, Betty left for New York City, where she eventually began training to become a nun. The Hulk, meanwhile, had found a way to prevent Bruce from ever surfacing again while in the sub-atomic world of Jarella. Returning to Earth, the Hulk adopted the identity of Joe Fixit, and began a romantic relationship with Marlo Chandler, although Bruce was still married to Betty. Marlo later ended the relationship, growing uncomfortable with the secrets Joe Fixit kept from her.

After many months, Bruce learned of Betty's whereabouts during the Hulk's encounter with the villain Madman, and was soon reunited with her, but not before the Savage Hulk reappeared as well, in an encounter with the hero Prometheus. Bruce and Betty searched for Rick and were similarly reunited, as was the Hulk with Rick's new girlfriend Marlo.

Soon afterwards, the various personalities of the Hulk were fused in one whole personality, and the Hulk was contacted by the enigmatic leader Agamemnon to join his clandestine hero team the Pantheon to which the Hulk served with the Pantheon for a long time. During this time, his relationship with Betty became strained. She was not comfortable with the merged persona nor did she agree to live at the Pantheon's headquarters with the Hulk. With time and effort the Hulk and Betty's relationship improved.

After many months, the Pantheon had a falling out with their former leader and in the subsequent battle the Pantheon's headquarters was destroyed and Betty was fatally wounded. The Hulk lost control over his form and the Savage Hulk reassumed control but physically in Bruce's form. Bruce came into SHIELD custody and Betty was hospitalized.

At some point, the Hulk snuck Betty out of the hospital that she was in and Betty and the Hulk began living as fugitives. Betty and the Hulk eventually settled down in Sunville, Florida under assumed identities. The Hulk managed to keep their identities secret despite several adventures in Florida and New York. Eventually however, Betty was captured by the U.S. Army's Matt Talbot who succeeded in capturing the Hulk despite the re-emergence of the Hulk's fractured personalities.

Betty was freed by the Leader's former creations, collectively known as the Headshop. Betty and the Headshop in turn freed the Hulk but in the process the Hulk still in Bruce's body jumped on a live grenade which left him with shrapnel in his brain and a subsequent penchant for turning into a physical alter ego of the Maestro. After helping the heroes save the world from Onslaught the Hulk left to begin a series of adventures ultimately leading to Leonard and the U.S. Army hunting the Hulk once more.

Death
As Bruce returned from Counter Earth and continued his life as the Hulk, Betty learned that her long association with the Hulk had left her dying from gamma radiation poisoning. The Hulk's archenemy the Abomination out of revenge for his brutal defeat by the Hulk learned of this and then somehow used a transfusion of his own gamma-irradiated blood to poison her and Betty died.

However she mysteriously reappeared with a new face and began to provide the Hulk with information under the codename of Mr. Blue. Betty did not seem to want a relationship although she felt obliged to continue helping Bruce.

However some of the mysterious events surrounding the Hulk had been revealed to have been illusions made by Nightmare. Betty washed up on the same beach where the Hulk learned of this manipulation. Nightmare seemed to have taken a particular interest in Betty, and his daughter Daydream seemed to have taken an appearance similar to hers.

Once again Betty was mysteriously resurrected and was present at her father's funeral in tears over his death [5] She was now apparently with Glenn over Bruce due to his recent marriage to Caiera on Sakaar and his subsequent attack on Manhattan though it is not known if there was any sincerity behind her motives or if it was only to help locate and help her husband.

Resurrection and Red She-Hulk
his mysterious female version of Red Hulk first appeared when the Red Hulk had gathered a team of mercenaries to hunt down Domino.

Red Hulk's team of mercenaries Code Red found Domino in a bar located in the heart of Hell's Kitchen. However Domino had been waiting for them and ambushed Code Red with X-Force. All the various team members paired off and began their individual battles with Wolverine facing Red Hulk. Wolverine slashed his claws across Red Hulk's eyes blinding him until his healing factor restored his eyesight. Wolverine was about to deliver the killing blow to Red Hulk and Red She-Hulk appeared blindsiding him. Red She-Hulk protected Red Hulk long enough in challenging Wolverine.

Red Hulk had no idea who had come to his aid and Thundra was forced to explain that it was a female counterpart who looked just like him. While Red She-Hulk and Wolverine battled she proudly boasted that she had stolen Elektra's sai and Domino's automatic firearm and clothes after killing them. Enraged Wolverine plunged his claws into a power line and electrocuted them both. Having forced Red She-Hulk away Wolverine went to search for Domino but Red She-Hulk pulled herself to her feet and lunged at Wolverine once more. When Wolverine stabbed Red She-Hulk with his claws she distracted him by spitting acid saliva on his face.

Punisher distracted Wolverine long enough for Red She-Hulk to drag Red-Hulk away from the fight. She dragged him down into the sewers to escape. Down there Red Hulk slowly followed Red She-Hulk around while Red She-Hulk evaded his questioning. There was a moment of silence after Red Hulk told the story of a blind man and an elephant and she screamed that the last person who told her that story was dead to her.

However just as Red Hulk began to trust Red She-Hulk she double crossed him and plunged Elektra's stolen sai into his neck. Code Red were gathered in the sewers and awaiting the orders of Samson. Their encounter ended with Red She-Hulk kicking Red Hulk off the Empire State Building. She was next seen capturing Hank Pym for the Intelligencia.[6] Her identity was finally revealed when she was stabbed with a sword by Skaar and reverted to her human form revealing her as Betty. Betty tells Bruce how she came back to life, and asks that Bruce leave her to die, but as soon as Doc Samson shows up, Betty's anger at his betrayal transforms her back into Red She-Hulk, healing her injuries; this time in control of her own mind Betty helps Bruce reconcile with his son Skaar. When Bruce gains the upper hand in the fight against General Ross, Betty worries for her father, which, combined with her heightened aggression while she’s the Red She-Hulk leads into conflict with the original She-Hulk, Betty fights hard as Red She-Hulk but ultimately loses. After General Ross himself is defeated as Red Hulk and locked-up, Betty still manages to convince Bruce to give her father the opportunity to redeem himself, after the Leader's attempted takeover, Betty is having a hard time to cope with being resurrected, brainwashed and turned into Red She-Hulk all at once, and while talking to Bruce, she says since they’re no longer married, and she was declared legally dead and that everyone else knows that Bruce married Caiera while he was the Green Scar Hulk, they should just go their separate ways. Even though he tries telling her otherwise it only gets her stressed and she transforms back into Red She-Hulk again.

Chaos War
As Red She-Hulk, Betty joined Hulk, Skaar, A-Bomb, and Korg in their fight against The Abomination, as well as a Zom-possessed Doctor Strange, and the forces of Amatsu-Mikaboshi.

After the Chaos War saga Betty again goes on the run, with Bruce who discovered that her gamma levels are unstable and that if she transforms just a few more times, she may be permanently stuck in her Red She-Hulk form; after finally catching up with her in Rome, he finds out that she's teamed up with his old nemesis Tyrannus to steal Pandora's box, which frames the Hulk for its theft. When Bruce confronts Betty and Tyrannus with the help of the museum curator, Dr. Sofia Di Cosmo (an expert on artefacts of antiquity) - who plans to use Pandora's box to form a new Roman empire - they are attacked by a pair of men in armour claiming to be the "Knights of Rome", who disappear with Tyrannus, Dr. Di Cosmo and Pandora's box, forcing Betty to team up with Bruce as Hulk and Red She-Hulk.

Bruce and Betty are able to track down and defeat the Knights of Rome but Tyrannus uses the opportunity to transform their magical floating fortress into a giant impregnable stone golem while keeping Dr. Di Cosmo captive. He immediately flings Hulk away, while Betty follows after him as Red She-Hulk, to Tyrannus' obvious dismay as he has feelings for her. She arrives to find the Hulk unhurt and both revert to their human forms and tells Bruce she's struggling to keep the Red She-Hulk at bay.

They return to the Colosseum, with Bruce turning back in to the Hulk but Betty still human. Tyrannus has gathered thousands of locals to witness the opening of Pandora's Box; with Amadeus Cho having disabled the mystical defences of the fortress, Hulk is able to rescue Dr. Di Cosmo and Pandora's Box. Tyrannus and Hulk fight with Tyrannus having the upper hand, prompting Dr. Di Cosmo to ask Betty to become Red She-Hulk again to help Hulk. Both Amadeus and the Hulk tell her not to - because of the risk of her being unable to become human again, instead the Hulk throws Pandora's Box to her so that she can keep it away from Tyrannus.

Tyrannus exits the golem and shoots Pandora's Box, unleashing the corrupted spirit of hope which was contained inside which takes possession of Betty. The Hulk is able to absorb and overcome it, freeing Betty from its hold while returning to human form as Bruce. Even though they're both releaved that it's over and embrace Betty realises that she and Bruce will never be able to have a normal life together and gives in to her Red She-Hulk persona, who tells Hulk she doesn't care and flees with Tyrannus.

Fear Itself and Shattered Heroes
They eventually reconcile and leap off into the distance together. The two were in Brazil when the Serpent began his invasion of Earth. They're enjoying their time together when the Hammer of Nul lands next to them. Hulk, entranced, picks it up and becomes Nul, Breaker of Worlds. Betty struggles to stop him and rescue the civilians caught in his path of rampage.

Iron Man returns from Svartalfheim with Uru weaponry. One of these items, a sword, is given to Betty. She refuses to return it afterwords.

After Hulk and Banner are split asunder, Betty and Banner leave and go to a tropical island together. When she finds out however that Bruce has been working on turning himself back into the Hulk, despite promising that he'd do nothing but spend his time with her, she turns into Red She-Hulk and remarks that after seeing him without the Hulk, she's not sure who she fell in love with, the man or the monster. She then leaves in disgust. After Hulk kills Banner by holding him point blank to a Gamma Bomb, she senses that something has happened to Banner and leaves to find whoever is responsible.

Defenders
When Nul was set loose in Midgard, the Hulk went to Doctor Strange and the Defenders. He convinced them to set off to defeat Nul, but refused to join them. Instead, he recommended Betty for the team. A bored Betty agreed to join the team. They tracked Nul to Wundagore Mountain, where they encountered Prester John.

John planned to lure Nul into attacking a Concordance Engine guarded by Prester Omega. The Defenders defeated him after Omega destroyed Nul. The energies of the Engine affected them, leaving them bound together and to the Engine, and unable to speak about it. They take the Engine and Prester Omega to Doctor Strange's home.

The Defenders find the wreckage of the Nautilus, accidentally releasing the Daughters of Pontus. They find another Concordance Engine inside. The Immortal Weapons are killed by Prince of Orphans, who has a history with the Engines, as does Iron Fist's predecessor, Orson Randall.

The Defenders journey to Wakanda on their way to Z'Gambo, home of the Prince of Orphans. After Aman breaks the ceasefire between the two nations, T'Challa is seriously wounded and the Defenders invade Z'Gambo. They are confronted by Aman, and then aided by the Black Cat, who stole the third of King Solomon's Frogs from Aman. They defeat Aman, only for him to reveal that the three Frogs are parts of another Concordance Engine, which he uses to blast the Defenders away.

They emerge in the past or an alternate reality, and decide to recruit Nick Fury to help them. HYDRA intervenes, and the Silver Surfer convinces Prester Omega to teleport them away once more.

Powers and Abilities
As herself Betty has the regular strength, speed and endurance of the average human being with normal exercise.

Harpy:
Superhuman Strength: As the Harpy, Betty had superhuman strength which was enough to take on the Hulk, but she couldn't get stronger as she got angrier. The exact limit of her strength as the Harpy was unknown.

Flight: She could also fly at high speeds with big bird-like wings on her back, which she could use to perform ariel attacks from above.

Superhuman Durability: While Betty was the Harpy she could withstand powerful impacts from both The Hulk and the Bi-Beast, and she had the stamina and endurance to back it up.

Superhuman Stamina: Harpy had an advanced muscular structure which produced less fatigue and toxins during physical activity than the muscular stature of an ordinary human. which gave her energy reserves which could keep her alert, moving and still hold her own whether she fighting or flying.

Superhuman Speed: Harpy was fast on the ground and especially in the air, which gave her the advantage during her fight with hulk, because of her great muscular strength, along with the development of her leg and wing muscles, combined with her wing span; she was capable of moving, running and flying at up to speeds that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete or jetplane.

Superhuman Agility: When Betty was Harpy, her natural agility increased ten-fold, which was especially useful when performing her ariel attacks from above on her opponets. The Harpy's agility, balance and bodily coordination were enhanced beyond that of an ordinary human, not even the worlds finest non-powered humans could match them.

Energy Blasts: Harpy could also fire powerful concussion blasts from her hands; which were so powerful that she hurt and knocked-out the Hulk when they fought.

Claws: She also had razor-sharp talons on her feet which she could use to cut through metal, rock, fight in close combat, and carry heavy objects. Red She-Hulk:

Superhuman Strength: As Red She-Hulk, she is proportionally stronger than her human form. This means that any extra strength gains as Betty Ross through intense physical training will be amplified, making her Red She-Hulk form that much stronger. Red She-Hulk's strength is likely equal to that of She-Hulk's as she has shown to have enough strength to defeat She-Hulk in direct combat. Red She-Hulk's strength is comparable to that of the Red Hulk

Superhuman Speed: Due, at least partially, to the great muscular strength and development of her leg muscles, she is capable of running and moving at speeds that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.

Superhuman Stamina: Red She-Hulk's highly advanced musculature produces considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. She can exert herself at peak capacity for about 48 hours before fatigue begins to impair her performance.

Superhuman Durability: Red She-Hulk's body is highly resistant to all forms of conventional injury. Her skin is capable of withstanding extreme pressures, temperatures as high as 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and as low as -195 degrees Fahrenheit, falls from great heights, field-artillery canon shells, and powerful energy blasts without sustaining any injury.

Superhuman Agility: Red She-Hulk's agility, balance and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.

Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite her body's extremely high resistance to injury, it is possible to injure her. However, she is capable of rapidly regenerating injuries that result in great tissue damage and blood loss within a matter of minutes. However, she is not capable of regenerating missing limbs or organs. Red She-Hulk's highly efficient metabolism renders her immune to all drugs and toxins as well as total immunity to all known Earthly diseases.

Abilities
With many of the other Hulks the Red She-Hulk's strength gives her an advantage during close quarter combat. Just like with the other members of the Hulk family Red She-Hulk has an exceptionally large physique and has been endowed with over sized muscles. Although it has yet to be established just what her maximum strength is she is visibly imbued with super strength beyond that of the average athletic body builder. In her handbook entry her strength is classified as a 7 on the power grid indicating she is able to lift in excess of 100 tons.[9]
 * As Harpy, Betty could fly and had sharp talons. As Red She-Hulk, Betty possessed Hulk powers. Betty has no powers in her human form.
 * Betty is moderately skilled in the use of small firearms.===Strength level===
 * Strength level unknown. As Harpy Betty possessed superhuman strength and as Red She-Hulk.
 * She had superhuman strength as the Harpy which made her strong enough to fight and even hurt the Hulk when they clashed; which was useful for one on one combat even though she couldn't increase her strength as she got angrier.