Hulk vs Gilgamesh: Who Would Win?

Today’s comparison is going to focus on two of Marvel’s superheroes whose primary power is their strength. They have a plethora of other powers, but they are primarily known as being the powerhouses of their groups and/or series. The first superhero is Hulk, the Green Goliath and one of Marvel’s best-known and most popular characters. The second one is Gilgamesh, also known as Hero and the Forgotten One, an Eternal who is certainly going to become more popular after the Eternals join the MCU. Who would win in a fight between these two? Let us see!

Gilgamesh might be a more sophisticated fighter, but the Hulk’s brute force, once he gets angry, is something even the Eternal could not defeat, which is why we think that the Hulk would ultimately win in this clash.

Our comparison is going to be divided into three sections. The first is going to bring an overview of the two characters, after which we are going to compare their powers. Finally, we’re going to bring you a detailed analysis of the two heroes to determine which one would win in a direct clash.

Why is Hulk so powerful?

The Hulk is a fictional superhero appearing in stories published by Marvel Comics. Hulk is the alter ego of physicist Bruce Banner, who is a regular human, without any superhuman abilities. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the characters debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) and is today regarded as one of Marvel’s strongest characters.

Dr. Robert Bruce Banner is a genius physicist, but a physically weak, socially withdrawn, and emotionally reserved human. During the experimental detonation of a gamma bomb, Banner saves teenager Rick Jones who has driven onto the testing field; Banner pushes Jones into a trench to save him, but is hit with the blast, absorbing massive amounts of gamma radiation. He awakens later seemingly unharmed by the incident, but that night transforms into a lumbering grey (yes, he was initially grey before having been recoloured) form. A pursuing soldier named the creature a “hulk”. 

Originally, it was believed that Banner’s transformations into the Hulk were caused by sunset and undone at sunrise, but later, it was discovered to be caused by anger. Banner was, interestingly enough, cured in The Incredible Hulk #4, but chose to restore Hulk’s powers with Banner’s intelligence. He later became one of the founding members of the Avengers.

The Hulk is a green-skinned, hulking and muscular humanoid possessing a vast degree of physical strength. The two exist as separate dissociative personalities in the same body, and (generally) resent each other. The Hulk’s level of strength is normally conveyed as proportionate to his level of anger. Commonly portrayed as a raging savage, the Hulk has been represented with other personalities based on Banner’s fractured psyche, from a mindless, destructive force, to a brilliant warrior, or genius scientist in his own right.

The Hulk is one of Marvel’s most popular characters and has appeared in a lot of derivative materials, including animated films and TV shows, video games and live-action movies. In the live-action movies, he was portrayed by Eric Bana, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffallo, with the latter two portraying the characters within the MCU.

Who is Gilgamesh in the Marvel Universe?

The Forgotten One, also known as Hero and Gilgamesh, is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in The Eternals #13 (1977) and was created by Jack Kirby. He is a member of the near-immortal race known as the Eternals. He was also a member of the Avengers.

Gilgamesh was a warrior of the race of Eternals. He roamed the Earth during Antiquity, helping villagers eliminate dangerous beasts, bandits, and tyrants. He is therefore often confused with the legendary Hercules, or even Samson. This is why he was given the nickname Hero by his followers.

Zuras, the leader of the Eternals, decided to punish the Hero, who was showing himself too proud and too human, by confining him to a district of the city of Olympia. Gilgamesh was therefore banished for centuries, remaining alone in his isolation, forgotten by everyone (hence the name the Forgotten One).

Centuries later, as the Deviants threatened to start a war with the Celestials, the young Sprite set out to seek the warrior’s help, with the aid of the Celestials. Gilgamesh reappeared on Earth, but he was now blind (although this was somewhat remedied after a while). It is believed that his blindness was a warning from the Celestials to the Eternals, not to act against them.

To thank him, Zuras accepted his return and named him Hero. At the request of the Celestials, he left to help Kro, the new leader of the Deviants, at their city of Lemuria. He later traveled to New York and protected the city from a demonic invasion. He joined the Avengers and stayed with them, calling himself Gilgamesh.

He was killed by a ruse of Immortus (aka Kang). However, later he was found alive. When Sprite used the Heavenly Dreamer to make the Eternals amnesiac and rewrite their lives, Gilgamesh became a strongman in a circus in Mexico. It was Ajak who woke him up and manipulated him to make him face the Eternals Makkari and Ikaris.

Comparing the powers of Hulk and Gilgamesh

Our second section will contain a comparison of the two characters’ powers. It won’t be a direct comparison as much as a listing of their powers abilities, which is going to serve as a basis for our analysis in section three of our article. Now, let us begin.

What about the Hulk? Being exceptionally strong, the Hulk is known for becoming stronger the angrier he gets. It is even speculated that there are no known limits to Hulk’s powers and he has truly demonstrated his enormous strength on several occasions. Banner’s subconscious influence limits his powers to a certain degree, but without him – his strength is practically limitless and is one of the strongest beings in the universe.

Along with that, the Hulk also has exceptional durability, regeneration, and endurance. He is practically invulnerable and although he can be killed, the degree of these powers varies between interpretations. It is known that he has endured solar temperatures, nuclear explosions, and planet-shattering impacts. He also has an exceptional healing factor that certainly makes him someone you wouldn’t want to face in combat.

Gilgamesh, on the other hand, is a member of the race of the Eternals, and possesses a number of superhuman abilities common to the Eternals, but has trained some of them much more than normal. Although his exact limits are unknown, his immense superhuman strength makes him the strongest Eternal known, except for Thanos. His strength has been seen to rival that of Thor and Hercules.

Like all other Eternals, Gilgamesh is practically immortal. He has not aged since he reached adulthood and is immune to all known diseases. In addition, its body is highly durable and resistant to physical damage. He is capable of withstanding large-caliber bullets, drops from great heights, powerful shocks, and extreme temperatures without being injured.

That said, it is possible to permanently or fatally injure him by disrupting the mental discipline he maintains over his body, which normally allows him to control each of his molecules and thus regenerate any damaged or destroyed tissue. Other abilities he has in common with most other Eternals include the power to levitate and fly at high speed, project rays of shocking force or heat with his eyes and hands, and manipulate matter.

It is not known to what degree these powers have developed compared to other Eternals, but the first two mentioned are believed to be within average. Being blind has made him develop the rest of his senses enormously, which makes him an excellent hunter and tracker.

Gilgamesh is one of the Eternals’ most skilled melee combatants. He possesses an extraordinary ability to fight hand, and knows most of the martial arts created by the ancient civilizations of Earth. He sometimes wears combat armor of unknown composition, and is usually armed with simple hand weapons such as an ax, a spear or a mace.

Now, let us see how the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z (2010) compares the two characters:

Hulk vs Gilgamesh: Who would win and why?

And now for the most important and interesting section of our article – the analysis. Here, we are going to use what we have found out about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Hulk and Gilgamesh are similar characters in a lot of ways and it’s certainly going to be fun comparing them, since the layers of their powers are really going to count here.

The comparison of their powers, as well as the Official Handbook, shows that Hulk and Gilgamesh are in many ways equals. In terms of sheer power, they are on the same level. The same goes for their durability. Gilgamesh is a tad faster and he also has better energy projection skills, while the Hulk can get more intelligent. Gilgamesh is also an Eternal and is biologically superior to the Hulk, who is a mutation, but essentially a human being. Gilgamesh is also more skilled with weapons than the Hulk, although they are on the same level as far as their fighting skills are concerned.

If Gilgamesh, thus, fought a normal-level Hulk, a Hulk that has no enhancements and is not very angry, he would win. He has several small but important elements on his side and under normal conditions that would be more than enough to beat the Hulk. Gilgamesh is just naturally superior to the Green Goliath, but there is, of course, a catch.

The catch is Hulk’s nature. Namely, we all know that the Hulk is, like Gilgamesh, practically immortal and that he has an excellent healing factor. On top of that, the Hulk gets stronger as he gets angrier and facing a tough opponent such as Gilgamesh would certainly make the Hulk angrier. So, while Gilgamesh is naturally powerful, he has a limit he cannot surpass. His powers peak at one point and they cannot become any higher.

The Hulk, on the other hand, is nigh limitless when his powers are concerned. And this is just your regular old household brand, we’re not talking about World-Breaker Hulk or some other overpowered iterations. These guys would crush Gilgamesh like a bug. So, taking this into account, we can quite calmly conclude that the Hulk could ultimately defeat Gilgamesh. It would take him some time, surely, but he would be able to defeat the Eternal in a fight.

And that’s it for today. We hope you had fun reading this and that we helped solve this dilemma for you. See you next time and don’t forget to follow us!