SHE-HULK

 

SHE-HULK

Real Name: Jennifer Susan Walters

First Appearance: Savage She-Hulk (Vol. 1) #1, February 1980

Powers: Jennifer Walters was originally a baseline human who received a transfusion of gamma-irradiated blood from her cousin, Bruce Banner (aka the Incredible Hulk). This gave her the power to mentally trigger a transformation into a gamma mutated form: Taller, more muscular and well-developed, and possessing superhuman Class 100 strength, endurance, durability, recuperation, and a high tolerance for disease, poison, and the effects of radiation. Unlike her cousin, Jen was capable of transforming back and forth at will, with no change in personality. There is a theory that the secondary form created through gamma mutation is governed by the psychology of the subject. Jennifer Walters' She-Hulk form is a result of her desire to be confident, assertive, and powerful. During her time with the Fantastic Four, however, She-Hulk received a dose of gamma radiation that froze her permanently in her gamma form. This was later explained as a psychological event, with Jen subconsciously blocking her own ability to turn back to normal since she truly preferred being She-Hulk.

After that point, She-Hulk was briefly reverted into a smaller, weaker, gray form and a stronger, more massive and aggressive "Savage She-Hulk". Both of these occasions were extremely temporary, resulting from some outside force affecting her, and apparently the changes manifested from Jen's knowledge of her cousin's transformations.

Some time back, Jen's gamma powers were upset by prolonged exposure to the Zero radiation powering a fellow Avenger named Jack of Hearts. This led to a brief change of status where she transformed from Jennifer Walters to a "Savage She-Hulk" in times of fear. Though she soon stabilized back to a normal She-Hulk mind and body, she retained the ability to transform back to Jen Walters. At this point, fearing for her safety in this weakened state, Jen had the Scarlet Witch cast a hex spell over her which prevented anyone from recognizing Jen Walters as the She-Hulk if they meant to do harm to her alter-ego, thus protecting Jen from her enemies when in human form. Further, it seems her "She-Hulk" strength level was now relative to that of Jennifer Walters, an exponential increase in the physical power she possessed as a normal woman. After a period of three months training herself vigorously as Jen, she gained a tremendous increase in her She-Hulk strength, greatly exceeding Class 100 strength levels. With the help of Reed Richards, she began employing John Jameson's old Jupiter Suit to inhibit her strength down to manageable levels. After a major fight with Titania, the Jupiter Suit was destroyed and Jen could no longer change into She-Hulk. Apparently, this is another psychological situation, with Jen having become far more comfortable in her normal form thanks to her time spent at GLK & H practicing law as Jen Walters and not "She-Hulk".

Doc Samson helped construct a bracelet device called a "gamma-changer" which could artificially trigger her transformations for her, but it required time to build a sufficient gamma charge between uses, limiting the amount of changes she could make. Eventually, a consultation with Doc Samson and Dr. Strange led to a fuller understanding of Jen's psychological inhibitions relating to her powers. By removing Wanda's hex spell over Jen, Dr. Strange fully restored her ability to transform between Jen and She-Hulk. However, it remains unclear whether She-Hulk's strength level has diminished back to its classic level or not. She also learned the body-mind transference technique from the extraterrestrial race known as the Ovoids, but she rarely employs this ability.

Jennifer Walters is a practicing attorney who holds a Juris Doctor degree from UCLA. She has extensive knowledge of the American legal system.

8-BALL

 

8-BALL

Real Name: Jeffrey Hagees

First Appearance: Sleepwalker (Vol. 1) #2, July 1991

Powers: Jeff Hagees was a designer of mission propulsion systems for a defense contractor. A compulsive gambler, he was fired by his employers who feared he'd sell defense secrets to pay his gambling debts. Furious, he created the costumed criminal identity of 8-Ball, basing his custom pool cue on his propulsion system work.

His pool cue worked as a force-amplification delivery system. By striking a target with the cue, the target would receive hundreds or even thousands of times greater directional force than the average strike of a pool cue would generate. With his own talent for billiards and angular geometry, 8-Ball could then launch objects as projectiles towards his true target to cause massive damage. The strike itself seemed to transfer force, not apply it: Striking a person with the pool cue would not hurt them with 100x greater force than normal, it would amplify the force they were experiencing from the strike, causing them to move with greater force and velocity, but without experiencing the impact that would normally be necessary to transfer that amount of force into their bodies. Whatever the pool cue launched them into would be a crushing impact, but getting hit by the pool cue itself would not. His costume was a billiards motif consisting of a bulletproof helmet and a variety of pool balls for throwing, some designed to act as grenades. He traveled aboard a hover rack in the form of a giant pool ball.

Jeffrey Hagees holds a masters degree in engineering. A gifted intellect and inventor, he is a skilled gymnast, an expert pool player, and an experienced designer of missile propulsion system.