*impulse

Ten Beings That Can Defeat The Hulk

Every one of these beasts and deities would not only defeat the Hulk but any other Marvel hero or villain. This is a list of primordial generative and destructive forces.

Atlas was strength personified way before the Hulk was and he can hold up the heavens. No strength limit. No contest here.

Not only would Archangel Michael defeat the Hulk, but he would thwack the entire Marvel roster into the abyss.

Though Marduk gave Tiamat the business, before the epic clash, the Hulk would merely run around and play on Tiamat's body. The conflict would not resemble a battle. It would be more like a person staving off a germ or something.

Cthulu. Rrrrrghgherrrghghgh!!! Not really primordial, unless you consider the tremulous psyche of Mr. Lovecraft primeval, but quite fearsome, and impossible to defeat with pure physical force.

The Kraken: It would rise from the sea, entwine the Hulk in a tentacled mass, and drag him back into the brine to drown. No rage-enhanced strength could break him free. These ancient beasts embody powers that are way beyond measurable physical strength.

The Midgard Serpent: When the Midgard Serpent howled after biting his own tail, the reverberations would fling the Hulk to a distant galaxy.

Gaia: Would nurture and calm the Hulk instead of fighting him.

Medieval Dragon: Canonically invincible.

Actually, any number of canonically invincible entities would either triumph or at least fight to an eternal stalemate.

Tired Of The Everyday Grind? Looking To Get Away From It All?

We offer you...Cargoes, by John Masefield:

Quinquereme of Nineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack
Butting through the channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rail, pig-lead
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.

The three stanzas: exotic, exotic, and commonplace, for the time, that is, for even the coaster butting through the turbid channel now seems Dickensian-ly faraway.

Figurine by Pia Langelund.

DMGadget

Critical fumble decks, dice, battle maps, miniatures, character sheets, books, dungeon walls and doors, artifacts, relics, potions, rings, staves, scrolls, tomes, manuals, charts, maps, crystal balls, wands: game aids or gadgets?

The threshold between the real-life prestidigitations of d20 and the rods, staves, and wands wielded and spun in the fantasy matrix is tenuous and, on certain evenings, disappears altogether, leaving a sprawling band of errants brandishing swords and pointing mystic bolts at each other while rampaging down back alleys and Silicon Valley.

Since Engadget really isn't a geek site, perhaps DMGadget could be a misfitted alternative that touts the latest epic spell component as vigorously as the latest XML expression.

Mini sketched armory by Nicholas Webb

Unlimited Power

OK, it seems that our recent posts are heading toward a singularity which can only be reached via compiling a list of beings in mythology, comic books, role playing games, film, and television, that are explicitly described as being possessed of unlimited strength or force, indestructibility, irresistibility, or invincibility.

As a contrary example, though Galactus and Silver Surfer may be extremely powerful, it is never explicitly stated, or implied beyond a doubt canonically, that their powers are unlimited [like Hercules], or that they are superlative in their powers [like He-Man], and thus, they are excluded from the list. But, if you think you may have heard or read that a being has unlimited power and can't remember your information source, then we can tentatively include him/her/it, pending validation.

So far, we have:

1. The Hulk: [Marvel Comics] unlimited strength potential when enraged
2. Juggernaut: [Marvel Comics] unstoppable when moving forward
3. Superman: [DC Comics] overwhelmingly implied that he is indestructible and possessed of unlimited speed and strength.
4. Hercules: [Dungeons & Dragons] when enraged, there is "nothing he can't lift, nothing he can't bend, and nothing he can't break", though there is a small chance that I am remembering this incorrectly: it may be Atlas. If so, then replace D&D Hercules with D&D Atlas for this entry.
5. Frankenstein: [Gothic Horror novel by Mary Shelley] possibly indestructible except vulnerable to fire
6. Jason Voorhees: [Friday the 13th film series] indestructible
7. The Blob: [1958 Sci-Fi Classic] "indestructible", unstoppable
8. Lancelot: [Dungeons & Dragons] "invincible in combat"
9. Strong Guy [Marvel Comics] strength increases to unmeasured limit by absorbing kinetic energy
10. He-Man [1983-1985 cartoon series] "most powerful man in the universe"
11. Michael Myers [Halloween] indestructible

Illustration is of the Marvel Comics villain, Blob.

The Battle of the Ages

Five of the Most Powerful Beings in the Multiverse Clash and You Must Decide:

Opinion Polls & Market Research

The Blue Dolphin Inn

Twitter Update: Hanging at the Blue Dolphin Inn, on By-Water Road, with friends.

Let's give those orcs the business at that table over there!

City State of the Invincible Overlord

Still a Classic

The Sword of Shannara, and, later, The Elfstones of Shannara, and the Wishsong of Shannara were my favorite fantasy works as a teenage Rush/D&D/LedZeppelin/Fantasy-lover.

For some reason, this illustration by The Brothers Hildebrandt (Grimm?) from the original release of The Sword of Shannara, is the most memorable. Only years later, did I realize that subtlety, chiaroscuro, and expressionistic force likely gave this its impact.

I want to believe that the dragon dagger attack motion in Runescape was inspired by this work. Runescape, btw, somehow bridged the gap between Euro-gaming-techno-culture and American-swords-and-sorcery-geekdom like no other MMORPG has been able to do (or wanted to do) thus far.

Link: Shannara.