APP;; Bruce Banner [bannered]
Name: Sammo
Journal: fribbled
Email: liberalkitten@gmail.com
AIM: recumbence
Character Name: Dr. Robert Bruce Banner
Fandom: Marvel Comics → The Incredible Hulk (2008 film)
Age: 34
Timeline: Post-film, six months after relocating to British Columbia
Appearance:
Image!Google Edward Norton and pretty much anything there minus a goatee is what you get. But if you want actual stats, Marvel.com has the goods, so we'll just copy/paste from there.
At 5'9½", 128 lbs, this guy is a stick. He's your basic rangy nerd, but as soon as he gets into his wifebeaters, you'll see he's also got a goodly amount of wiry whipcord muscle and abs to rival Jesus (riiiiiiiiiipped). His posture is absolute crap, and he's very twitchy, but damn if this boy can't run like a freaking gazelle.
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Because even though God knows (and Bruce will be the first to tell you himself) that he has screwed up but good, he's trying his best to fix his mistakes, which were made trying to help people. And he's sacrificed everything he's ever known and loved to keep something extremely dangerous out of the hands of people who would abuse it. Those are the things that makes him a hero, despite the fact that Bruce would deny that til the cows came home.
Item: That nifty little wristwatch of his that keeps track of his pulse. Only now with a slightly larger screen so as he can actually read stuff on it.
Canon History:
Bruce was born to atomic scientist Brian Banner and his wife, Rebecca. It was a happy childhood... Only not. Brian was a jealous, possessive drunk, and couldn't stand the affection his wife gave his son, whom Brian was convinced was a mutant due to extensive radiation exposure affecting his own DNA. Eventually, Brian had just a little too much to drink, and hit just a little too hard - he beat Rebecca to death right in front of eight-year-old Bruce. Brian was shipped off to a mental hospital, leaving Bruce to be raised by his maternal aunt, Susan Drake. The result of this was that Bruce internalized his feelings of anger and pain, instead blaming himself for what had happened. After all, his father had said he was a monster and that everything was his fault, so it only made sense. The end product of all this childhood trauma? An incredibly brilliant but withdrawn boy who was terribly lonely.
As he grew up, for the most part he stuck in his shell. He was that one nerd that never got a date, never qualified for sports, never had any friends, and always stayed home on Friday nights. He breezed through high school and university, garnering several degrees along the way in biology, chemistry, engineering physics, and nuclear physics (the PhD in that last earning him the title of Doctor). But it was here that he met Betty Ross, a fellow student, and he just fell head over heels for her, and she for him. Betty helped to get Bruce out of his self-imposed isolation, and they got pretty serious about each other. After they graduated, they began working at Culver University in Virginia as part-time professors and full-time researchers. At some point, Betty's father, General Thaddeus E. 'Thunderbolt' Ross, offered them a military research grant. They two were told their goal was to up soldiers' resistance to gamma radiation. Bruce and Betty accepted the project, and worked on it day and night. As two of the brightest young minds out there, they progressed rather rapidly. So quickly and so well, in fact, that Bruce felt confident enough to be the guinea pig, despite Betty's doubts. And of course, that's when things went very, very wrong.
Bruce was bombarded by radiation, enough to kill any other person, but for some reason, he survived. He transformed into a giant, green monster who proceeded to rip up the lab, the techs, Ross, and Betty before running off. A week later, Bruce reverted to his original form in a nearby park and rushed to Betty's hospital bed. But the General was determined to get some kind of silver lining out of the disaster and ordered Banner to surrender himself to the army so they could harness and duplicate the procedure. Bruce refused to do so, and started running.
Cut to five years later. Bruce has been on the run from Virginia to the Arctic to South America and, after a few failed suicide attempts, is working tirelessly to find a cure. He's currently hiding in one of the shantytowns of Rio de Janiero, Brazil, and working at a bottling plant; meanwhile, he conducts extensive sojourns into the rain forest to find various plants for his experiments. His only friend is an anonymous Internet contact, known only as Mr. Blue, who continually urges 'Mr. Green' for more data, more samples, and eventually asks Bruce to come to him in order to help. But as he's still wanted by Ross and the government, and still on the run, it's impossible. He compromises by mailing a very small vial of his blood to Mr. Blue for further testing.
Now, Bruce is careful as all get out - using an alias, working off the books - but when he's cut at work by a piece of machinery, he misses one drop of gamma-irradiated blood that gets into an open bottle of soda. Said bottle is then packaged, shipped, and sold in the U.S., and is drunk by an unassuming customer. The resultant gamma poisoning from that one bottle sends up red flags, and Ross is able to trace it back to the factory in no time. He quickly assembles a crack team of operatives, led by one Emil Blonsky, and dispatches them to obtain Banner. It's only by a scrap of luck that Bruce is able to detect their arrival and make a run for it. But that luck flies out the window when some disgruntled coworkers decide to beat the crap out of him just as Blonsky's team is closing in. Unable to control himself, the Hulk makes an appearance, throws things/people around, makes a giant mess of the factory, and runs off. He makes it all the way up to Guatemala (check a map, the distance is freaking unbelievable) before collapsing and reverting back to Banner. Left with only a badly shredded pair of pants, Bruce's only option is to go back to Culver to retrieve the original data.
He panhandles, hitchhikes, and walks his way there, and is able to grab a room and temporary job from an old friend who owns a pizzeria in town. With this cover, he's able to moon at Betty with her new boyfriend sneak back into the lab, only to find that Ross has cleaned it all out - the equipment, the samples, the data, everything. He goes back to the pizzeria, only to find Betty and her beau stepping in for a slice. Betty discovers his being there, and catches him just as he's about to skip town. Which is lucky, as she was smart enough to yoink the data before her father grabbed everything. Bruce is grateful for her help, as well as overjoyed happy to see her, but is determined to leave the next day else be found out. All would have gone according to plan, but Dr. Samson, Betty's boyfriend, unaware of the full story and only concerned for Betty's safety, called the General after speaking with Bruce. The General calls the troops and moves in to capture Banner the next day at the campus.
Bruce sees them just in time to run, but is once again cornered by Ross's forces, and once again transforms, triggered by the sight of soldiers forcibly restraining Betty. Blonsky, now enhanced with a dose of Super Soldier Serum, leads the assault, but Hulk beats the crap out of everyone and (after shielding her from 'friendly fire') runs off with Betty. After changing back, Bruce and Betty head to a motel to regroup and get Bruce some pants. They almost rekindle their romance, but can't because of what happens when Bruce gets all hot and bothered. They manage to make their way to New York to meet up with 'Mr. Blue' - in reality, cellular biologist Dr. Samuel Sterns, who has developed an untested "antidote". They purposely induce the Hulk state in order to test it, and it appears successful; however, it remains unknown whether it's a permanent cure or if it just stops the one episode. It's at this point Betty and Bruce find that Sterns has synthesized thousands of samples out of the one vial of blood Bruce sent him. They demand that Sterns destroy everything, but are rudely interrupted by Ross, Blonsky, and company. Bruce and Betty are taken into custody and Sterns is interrogated by Blonsky, who wants to get all Hulkified. Sterns, being a crazy scientist with a boner for data, ladles in some of Bruce's synthesized blood, but the adverse reaction with the S.S. serum already in him makes Blonsky transform into an abomination.
Abomination proceeds to rip NYC a new one, which is easily seen from the helicopter transporting Bruce and Betty to military custody. Realizing the one shot at stopping Abomination is the Hulk, Bruce jumps out of the copter even though it's still unknown whether or not the antidote was a permanent one, hoping the Hulk will manifest and save him from being a pancake before being useful. It does, and the two monsters go ahead and beat the holy hell out of each other and the city. Hulk comes out on top, and shares a little bit of b'aw with Betty before running off again. Ross presumably gets majorly chewed out for botching the whole thing from the beginning, which gives Bruce enough breathing room to hie himself away to the wilderness of British Columbia, where he once again starts looking for a cure. In the meantime, he tries to at least get the monster within him under better control.
Headcanon:
To be found and updated here.
Personality/Psychology:
Ever since he was born, Bruce has been guilt-ridden. His father blamed him for everything, begrudged him everything, and basically said he was a freak from the moment he could understand it. And even with his mother's unconditional love, Bruce believed that everything was his fault, and this was only compounded when his father lost it and killed his mother. Because of this deep-seated guilt, Bruce began internalizing and suppressing any anger or pain (however trivial or justified), believing that he deserved all he got. Basically, you got this shy, shut-off outcast of a kid. This abated somewhat upon meeting Betty, and for a while, Bruce came pretty close to normal. He thought he was done paying for his family's troubles - he had a great job, a great girl, he was pretty darn smart, life was good. He became a little overconfident in his abilities, which of course led to the accident that made him the Hulk.
Which brought him right back to that guilt, especially since the first episode landed Betty in intensive care. If he'd been more careful, if he hadn't been so headstrong, none of this would have happened. This has led to a kind of expansion on the guilt: Bruce is determined to fix his own mistakes, and he is very reluctant to accept help on it. It's his burden to bear, and he doesn't want to put upon anyone after all the mess he's already made. Besides, the last person he did trust with helping him was Sterns, and the way he ended up 'helping' by replicating his blood has definitely put him off the idea.
Another result of all that childhood trauma is that Bruce has absolutely no sense of self-worth. His intelligence? Nothing but memorization of a load of books and anyone could do the same if they put their mind to it. After all, it's not like it's done him any good lately. His appearance? He still sees himself as that friendless, dorky kid in high school with no friends, and certainly no girlfriends. He can't understand what Betty saw in him, given that she was simply gorgeous without even trying and he was himself. Even years into the relationship, he half-expected her to wake up one day and ditch him for someone who actually deserved her. His personality? He sees himself as a total failure, which incidentally helps reinforce his conceptions regarding his intelligence. He does his best to be friendly, but he doesn't expect anyone to count him as "friend" even if he considers them such. After all, who'd want to be friends with Bruce Banner? He's an ugly, stupid loser. ...Yeah, boy has issues.
Bruce also has a healthy dose of paranoia and suspicion now after being chased by General Ross all this time. He doesn't trust any government or military figures at all, and keeps an eye and ear open for them every waking moment. So if he seems kinda twitchy and on edge, well, he's got a good excuse.
But anyway. Yes. Ever since the Hulk's 'birth', Bruce has gone right back to the self-isolation. He doesn't trust himself or his emotions, and he is downright terrified of what would happen to people around him if/when he loses control. It's only made worse by the fact that Bruce doesn't really remember what happens when he goes green (except for brief flashes, manifesting almost as PTSD), and so he imagines the absolute worst. Should anyone try to tell him otherwise, he refuses to believe it, thinking they're only trying to soften the blow. When it comes right down to it, Bruce doesn't accept the Hulk as part of himself, in any way, shape, or form. He clings to the belief that he is still human, and that the Hulk is just some malignant, emotion-triggered tumor that can someday be cut out and killed, and then he can go back to being normal with Betty. It's this one desperate hope that keeps him going through all the failures and setbacks he's had in trying to deal with the Hulk.
Addendum for lastvoyages:
Now, even as smart a guy as Bruce is, even he's hit a wall with dealing with his little green problem. Then the Admiral appears with his offer to become a Warden - and in return, Bruce a cure for the Hulk. Even though he's pretty sure he's the last person you'd ever want for the job (look at how long he's been running to keep himself out of a cell), he took the job anyway. He'll probably be very nervous and cautious with whomever gets assigned as his Inmate (oh god, look how badly I've screwed my life up, how am I supposed to help anyone else?).
Plus now, with his Hulk side effectively neutered, and being able to feel things without worrying about getting too excited? Bruce is savoring this little sample of "normalcy". He's still going to be exceedingly careful, as he won't really believe that he's free of it for a while and it's not as if he's going to test it out, but. It's a gigantic weight off his chest. Or at least it will be until he realizes the Admiral hasn't "cured" him just yet - after all, Bruce hasn't filled his end of the bargain, so why should he get rewarded just yet? Once he figures this out, Bruce is going to go riiiight on back to that suspicion and that depression and that isolation.
Abilities/Weaknesses:
Bruce has the strength, speed, and endurance of a man his age that engages in daily, rigorous exercise. He's used to going cross-continent mostly on foot, climbing cliffs in the rain forest, and running like hell when someone's after him. He's also got some defensive martial arts training, specifically in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and so can somewhat control his pulse and heartbeat. Plus, he's just über, über, über smart.
But if he gets into an extremely agitated state (afraid, angry, aroused, etc.) he turns into the Hulk. Eight feet tall and weighing about a half-ton, the Hulk is strong enough to crush tanks and buildings alike, can shrug off napalm and artillery fire like raindrops, and can run for hours upon hours and cover thousands of miles before getting tired. In this state, he also has a speedy healing factor (assuming anything can actually make a dent) and is resistant to most psychic and magical efforts. These episodes can last as long as a few weeks or as short as a few hours - it all depends on how you deal with the Hulk. Stay calm and talk him down, you'll get Banner back sooner rather than later. Piss him off, and God help you. But when he finally does change back, Bruce is extremely exhausted and disoriented, and stays that way for the better part of a week - usually the effects are proportional to the length and intensity of the episode. He has no memory of what happens in his Hulk form, except for rare momentary flashbacks that leave him with a splitting headache.
Addendum for lastvoyages:
Now, while on the Barge, the Hulk has been effectively neutered. No matter how hyped or angry or whatever Bruce gets, Bruce won't transform. Because really, the whole atmosphere aboard the Barge is one of stress and freaking out, and as the Hulk would cause serious damage that would affect the entirety of the boat every single time it happened.
However, during ports... That's an entirely different matter.
First Person Sample:
[the video feed cuts in midsentence, and the nerdy dude speaking is obviously distressed about something and is in the middle of saying so:]
--ait, it's not a power, it's a dis- .....Or just. Cut me off in the middle of talking. Fantastic... Just perfect.
[a sigh and he runs a hand over his face before noticing the thing recording] Ah, from the short version I got, there's a, um, bunch of people here already from all over. So. [small, nervous wave] Hello to everyone. And I suppose I'm a new Warden here on the, uh. Barge. ...Nice to meet you all. Hopefully. Yes. Ahem. [some more fidgeting before finally shutting the thing off]
Third Person Sample:
Bruce could never remember what happened afterward. He would recall the incidents leading up to it, the agitation or fear or anger that just would not go away no matter how hard he breathed, and then... A red mist clouding his eyes before it all went green, then black. Black, until he slowly, achingly came back to life in some strange and foreign location with the torn clothes barely hanging on his back and more than enough guilt to consider suicide again. Because he hadn't been careful enough, hadn't been able to control himself. Because he had probably hurt someone or multiple someones. Again.
There were flashes of almost-memory though, but Bruce hated those even more than the blackouts. Those brief, singular moments of recall were terrifying and hazy, and always left him shaking and shivering like a leaf in the wind. The images that would dart through his mind - almost always of gunfire and men coming at him with fists or guns, all awash in a deep green. But it wasn't the fear of the encounters that left him breathless on the floor. It was the sheer and utter rage. It threatened to drown him all over again, and he would never be able to come back from it. The professional in him classified it as post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by stress triggers. But the child in him saw it as the bogeyman, something totally alien and utterly awful, pounding on the closet door, roaring and ready to swallow him whole.
Betty had once suggested that the Hulk held something of him, was actually a part of him. It was impossible, and Bruce could and did give several reasons of just how it was impossible, but never shared the actual reason that he fervently denied the Hulk's existence in him (as he fervently denied the reason itself). If the Hulk was part of him, however deeply buried in his psyche, then... Then he really was full of such implacable anger and bitterness, and unable to live without finding some outlet for those emotions. He simply couldn't believe that on any conscious level, else he'd be worse than a giant green monster who could shrug off artillery fire and napalm.
He would be his father.
Journal: fribbled
Email: liberalkitten@gmail.com
AIM: recumbence
Character Name: Dr. Robert Bruce Banner
Fandom: Marvel Comics → The Incredible Hulk (2008 film)
Age: 34
Timeline: Post-film, six months after relocating to British Columbia
Appearance:
Image!Google Edward Norton and pretty much anything there minus a goatee is what you get. But if you want actual stats, Marvel.com has the goods, so we'll just copy/paste from there.
At 5'9½", 128 lbs, this guy is a stick. He's your basic rangy nerd, but as soon as he gets into his wifebeaters, you'll see he's also got a goodly amount of wiry whipcord muscle and abs to rival Jesus (riiiiiiiiiipped). His posture is absolute crap, and he's very twitchy, but damn if this boy can't run like a freaking gazelle.
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Because even though God knows (and Bruce will be the first to tell you himself) that he has screwed up but good, he's trying his best to fix his mistakes, which were made trying to help people. And he's sacrificed everything he's ever known and loved to keep something extremely dangerous out of the hands of people who would abuse it. Those are the things that makes him a hero, despite the fact that Bruce would deny that til the cows came home.
Item: That nifty little wristwatch of his that keeps track of his pulse. Only now with a slightly larger screen so as he can actually read stuff on it.
Canon History:
Bruce was born to atomic scientist Brian Banner and his wife, Rebecca. It was a happy childhood... Only not. Brian was a jealous, possessive drunk, and couldn't stand the affection his wife gave his son, whom Brian was convinced was a mutant due to extensive radiation exposure affecting his own DNA. Eventually, Brian had just a little too much to drink, and hit just a little too hard - he beat Rebecca to death right in front of eight-year-old Bruce. Brian was shipped off to a mental hospital, leaving Bruce to be raised by his maternal aunt, Susan Drake. The result of this was that Bruce internalized his feelings of anger and pain, instead blaming himself for what had happened. After all, his father had said he was a monster and that everything was his fault, so it only made sense. The end product of all this childhood trauma? An incredibly brilliant but withdrawn boy who was terribly lonely.
As he grew up, for the most part he stuck in his shell. He was that one nerd that never got a date, never qualified for sports, never had any friends, and always stayed home on Friday nights. He breezed through high school and university, garnering several degrees along the way in biology, chemistry, engineering physics, and nuclear physics (the PhD in that last earning him the title of Doctor). But it was here that he met Betty Ross, a fellow student, and he just fell head over heels for her, and she for him. Betty helped to get Bruce out of his self-imposed isolation, and they got pretty serious about each other. After they graduated, they began working at Culver University in Virginia as part-time professors and full-time researchers. At some point, Betty's father, General Thaddeus E. 'Thunderbolt' Ross, offered them a military research grant. They two were told their goal was to up soldiers' resistance to gamma radiation. Bruce and Betty accepted the project, and worked on it day and night. As two of the brightest young minds out there, they progressed rather rapidly. So quickly and so well, in fact, that Bruce felt confident enough to be the guinea pig, despite Betty's doubts. And of course, that's when things went very, very wrong.
Bruce was bombarded by radiation, enough to kill any other person, but for some reason, he survived. He transformed into a giant, green monster who proceeded to rip up the lab, the techs, Ross, and Betty before running off. A week later, Bruce reverted to his original form in a nearby park and rushed to Betty's hospital bed. But the General was determined to get some kind of silver lining out of the disaster and ordered Banner to surrender himself to the army so they could harness and duplicate the procedure. Bruce refused to do so, and started running.
Cut to five years later. Bruce has been on the run from Virginia to the Arctic to South America and, after a few failed suicide attempts, is working tirelessly to find a cure. He's currently hiding in one of the shantytowns of Rio de Janiero, Brazil, and working at a bottling plant; meanwhile, he conducts extensive sojourns into the rain forest to find various plants for his experiments. His only friend is an anonymous Internet contact, known only as Mr. Blue, who continually urges 'Mr. Green' for more data, more samples, and eventually asks Bruce to come to him in order to help. But as he's still wanted by Ross and the government, and still on the run, it's impossible. He compromises by mailing a very small vial of his blood to Mr. Blue for further testing.
Now, Bruce is careful as all get out - using an alias, working off the books - but when he's cut at work by a piece of machinery, he misses one drop of gamma-irradiated blood that gets into an open bottle of soda. Said bottle is then packaged, shipped, and sold in the U.S., and is drunk by an unassuming customer. The resultant gamma poisoning from that one bottle sends up red flags, and Ross is able to trace it back to the factory in no time. He quickly assembles a crack team of operatives, led by one Emil Blonsky, and dispatches them to obtain Banner. It's only by a scrap of luck that Bruce is able to detect their arrival and make a run for it. But that luck flies out the window when some disgruntled coworkers decide to beat the crap out of him just as Blonsky's team is closing in. Unable to control himself, the Hulk makes an appearance, throws things/people around, makes a giant mess of the factory, and runs off. He makes it all the way up to Guatemala (check a map, the distance is freaking unbelievable) before collapsing and reverting back to Banner. Left with only a badly shredded pair of pants, Bruce's only option is to go back to Culver to retrieve the original data.
He panhandles, hitchhikes, and walks his way there, and is able to grab a room and temporary job from an old friend who owns a pizzeria in town. With this cover, he's able to moon at Betty with her new boyfriend sneak back into the lab, only to find that Ross has cleaned it all out - the equipment, the samples, the data, everything. He goes back to the pizzeria, only to find Betty and her beau stepping in for a slice. Betty discovers his being there, and catches him just as he's about to skip town. Which is lucky, as she was smart enough to yoink the data before her father grabbed everything. Bruce is grateful for her help, as well as overjoyed happy to see her, but is determined to leave the next day else be found out. All would have gone according to plan, but Dr. Samson, Betty's boyfriend, unaware of the full story and only concerned for Betty's safety, called the General after speaking with Bruce. The General calls the troops and moves in to capture Banner the next day at the campus.
Bruce sees them just in time to run, but is once again cornered by Ross's forces, and once again transforms, triggered by the sight of soldiers forcibly restraining Betty. Blonsky, now enhanced with a dose of Super Soldier Serum, leads the assault, but Hulk beats the crap out of everyone and (after shielding her from 'friendly fire') runs off with Betty. After changing back, Bruce and Betty head to a motel to regroup and get Bruce some pants. They almost rekindle their romance, but can't because of what happens when Bruce gets all hot and bothered. They manage to make their way to New York to meet up with 'Mr. Blue' - in reality, cellular biologist Dr. Samuel Sterns, who has developed an untested "antidote". They purposely induce the Hulk state in order to test it, and it appears successful; however, it remains unknown whether it's a permanent cure or if it just stops the one episode. It's at this point Betty and Bruce find that Sterns has synthesized thousands of samples out of the one vial of blood Bruce sent him. They demand that Sterns destroy everything, but are rudely interrupted by Ross, Blonsky, and company. Bruce and Betty are taken into custody and Sterns is interrogated by Blonsky, who wants to get all Hulkified. Sterns, being a crazy scientist with a boner for data, ladles in some of Bruce's synthesized blood, but the adverse reaction with the S.S. serum already in him makes Blonsky transform into an abomination.
Abomination proceeds to rip NYC a new one, which is easily seen from the helicopter transporting Bruce and Betty to military custody. Realizing the one shot at stopping Abomination is the Hulk, Bruce jumps out of the copter even though it's still unknown whether or not the antidote was a permanent one, hoping the Hulk will manifest and save him from being a pancake before being useful. It does, and the two monsters go ahead and beat the holy hell out of each other and the city. Hulk comes out on top, and shares a little bit of b'aw with Betty before running off again. Ross presumably gets majorly chewed out for botching the whole thing from the beginning, which gives Bruce enough breathing room to hie himself away to the wilderness of British Columbia, where he once again starts looking for a cure. In the meantime, he tries to at least get the monster within him under better control.
Headcanon:
To be found and updated here.
Personality/Psychology:
Ever since he was born, Bruce has been guilt-ridden. His father blamed him for everything, begrudged him everything, and basically said he was a freak from the moment he could understand it. And even with his mother's unconditional love, Bruce believed that everything was his fault, and this was only compounded when his father lost it and killed his mother. Because of this deep-seated guilt, Bruce began internalizing and suppressing any anger or pain (however trivial or justified), believing that he deserved all he got. Basically, you got this shy, shut-off outcast of a kid. This abated somewhat upon meeting Betty, and for a while, Bruce came pretty close to normal. He thought he was done paying for his family's troubles - he had a great job, a great girl, he was pretty darn smart, life was good. He became a little overconfident in his abilities, which of course led to the accident that made him the Hulk.
Which brought him right back to that guilt, especially since the first episode landed Betty in intensive care. If he'd been more careful, if he hadn't been so headstrong, none of this would have happened. This has led to a kind of expansion on the guilt: Bruce is determined to fix his own mistakes, and he is very reluctant to accept help on it. It's his burden to bear, and he doesn't want to put upon anyone after all the mess he's already made. Besides, the last person he did trust with helping him was Sterns, and the way he ended up 'helping' by replicating his blood has definitely put him off the idea.
Another result of all that childhood trauma is that Bruce has absolutely no sense of self-worth. His intelligence? Nothing but memorization of a load of books and anyone could do the same if they put their mind to it. After all, it's not like it's done him any good lately. His appearance? He still sees himself as that friendless, dorky kid in high school with no friends, and certainly no girlfriends. He can't understand what Betty saw in him, given that she was simply gorgeous without even trying and he was himself. Even years into the relationship, he half-expected her to wake up one day and ditch him for someone who actually deserved her. His personality? He sees himself as a total failure, which incidentally helps reinforce his conceptions regarding his intelligence. He does his best to be friendly, but he doesn't expect anyone to count him as "friend" even if he considers them such. After all, who'd want to be friends with Bruce Banner? He's an ugly, stupid loser. ...Yeah, boy has issues.
Bruce also has a healthy dose of paranoia and suspicion now after being chased by General Ross all this time. He doesn't trust any government or military figures at all, and keeps an eye and ear open for them every waking moment. So if he seems kinda twitchy and on edge, well, he's got a good excuse.
But anyway. Yes. Ever since the Hulk's 'birth', Bruce has gone right back to the self-isolation. He doesn't trust himself or his emotions, and he is downright terrified of what would happen to people around him if/when he loses control. It's only made worse by the fact that Bruce doesn't really remember what happens when he goes green (except for brief flashes, manifesting almost as PTSD), and so he imagines the absolute worst. Should anyone try to tell him otherwise, he refuses to believe it, thinking they're only trying to soften the blow. When it comes right down to it, Bruce doesn't accept the Hulk as part of himself, in any way, shape, or form. He clings to the belief that he is still human, and that the Hulk is just some malignant, emotion-triggered tumor that can someday be cut out and killed, and then he can go back to being normal with Betty. It's this one desperate hope that keeps him going through all the failures and setbacks he's had in trying to deal with the Hulk.
Addendum for lastvoyages:
Now, even as smart a guy as Bruce is, even he's hit a wall with dealing with his little green problem. Then the Admiral appears with his offer to become a Warden - and in return, Bruce a cure for the Hulk. Even though he's pretty sure he's the last person you'd ever want for the job (look at how long he's been running to keep himself out of a cell), he took the job anyway. He'll probably be very nervous and cautious with whomever gets assigned as his Inmate (oh god, look how badly I've screwed my life up, how am I supposed to help anyone else?).
Plus now, with his Hulk side effectively neutered, and being able to feel things without worrying about getting too excited? Bruce is savoring this little sample of "normalcy". He's still going to be exceedingly careful, as he won't really believe that he's free of it for a while and it's not as if he's going to test it out, but. It's a gigantic weight off his chest. Or at least it will be until he realizes the Admiral hasn't "cured" him just yet - after all, Bruce hasn't filled his end of the bargain, so why should he get rewarded just yet? Once he figures this out, Bruce is going to go riiiight on back to that suspicion and that depression and that isolation.
Abilities/Weaknesses:
Bruce has the strength, speed, and endurance of a man his age that engages in daily, rigorous exercise. He's used to going cross-continent mostly on foot, climbing cliffs in the rain forest, and running like hell when someone's after him. He's also got some defensive martial arts training, specifically in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and so can somewhat control his pulse and heartbeat. Plus, he's just über, über, über smart.
But if he gets into an extremely agitated state (afraid, angry, aroused, etc.) he turns into the Hulk. Eight feet tall and weighing about a half-ton, the Hulk is strong enough to crush tanks and buildings alike, can shrug off napalm and artillery fire like raindrops, and can run for hours upon hours and cover thousands of miles before getting tired. In this state, he also has a speedy healing factor (assuming anything can actually make a dent) and is resistant to most psychic and magical efforts. These episodes can last as long as a few weeks or as short as a few hours - it all depends on how you deal with the Hulk. Stay calm and talk him down, you'll get Banner back sooner rather than later. Piss him off, and God help you. But when he finally does change back, Bruce is extremely exhausted and disoriented, and stays that way for the better part of a week - usually the effects are proportional to the length and intensity of the episode. He has no memory of what happens in his Hulk form, except for rare momentary flashbacks that leave him with a splitting headache.
Addendum for lastvoyages:
Now, while on the Barge, the Hulk has been effectively neutered. No matter how hyped or angry or whatever Bruce gets, Bruce won't transform. Because really, the whole atmosphere aboard the Barge is one of stress and freaking out, and as the Hulk would cause serious damage that would affect the entirety of the boat every single time it happened.
However, during ports... That's an entirely different matter.
First Person Sample:
[the video feed cuts in midsentence, and the nerdy dude speaking is obviously distressed about something and is in the middle of saying so:]
--ait, it's not a power, it's a dis- .....Or just. Cut me off in the middle of talking. Fantastic... Just perfect.
[a sigh and he runs a hand over his face before noticing the thing recording] Ah, from the short version I got, there's a, um, bunch of people here already from all over. So. [small, nervous wave] Hello to everyone. And I suppose I'm a new Warden here on the, uh. Barge. ...Nice to meet you all. Hopefully. Yes. Ahem. [some more fidgeting before finally shutting the thing off]
Third Person Sample:
Bruce could never remember what happened afterward. He would recall the incidents leading up to it, the agitation or fear or anger that just would not go away no matter how hard he breathed, and then... A red mist clouding his eyes before it all went green, then black. Black, until he slowly, achingly came back to life in some strange and foreign location with the torn clothes barely hanging on his back and more than enough guilt to consider suicide again. Because he hadn't been careful enough, hadn't been able to control himself. Because he had probably hurt someone or multiple someones. Again.
There were flashes of almost-memory though, but Bruce hated those even more than the blackouts. Those brief, singular moments of recall were terrifying and hazy, and always left him shaking and shivering like a leaf in the wind. The images that would dart through his mind - almost always of gunfire and men coming at him with fists or guns, all awash in a deep green. But it wasn't the fear of the encounters that left him breathless on the floor. It was the sheer and utter rage. It threatened to drown him all over again, and he would never be able to come back from it. The professional in him classified it as post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by stress triggers. But the child in him saw it as the bogeyman, something totally alien and utterly awful, pounding on the closet door, roaring and ready to swallow him whole.
Betty had once suggested that the Hulk held something of him, was actually a part of him. It was impossible, and Bruce could and did give several reasons of just how it was impossible, but never shared the actual reason that he fervently denied the Hulk's existence in him (as he fervently denied the reason itself). If the Hulk was part of him, however deeply buried in his psyche, then... Then he really was full of such implacable anger and bitterness, and unable to live without finding some outlet for those emotions. He simply couldn't believe that on any conscious level, else he'd be worse than a giant green monster who could shrug off artillery fire and napalm.
He would be his father.