Thunderbolt Ross

''This is about General Ross before he became Red Hulk. For information on him after he became Red Hulk, view the article here.''

"If you're ready to fight, you'd better be ready to kill. Because if you're not going to kill, then you're going to lose."

- General Ross

General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross is a prominent character in the Marvel comic universe, where he is depicted as one of the arch-enemies of the Hulk. He is a high-ranking military officer (usually as a three-star or four-star general, depending on the continuity) for either the U.S. Army or U.S. Air Force (again, depending on the continuity) and was the head of the Gamma Bomb Project that resulted in Dr. Bruce Banner becoming the Hulk in the first place. He is also the father of Elizabeth "Betty" Ross, who is Banner / Hulk's main love interest.

After the creation of the Hulk, Ross pursues the creature with a growing obsession, and after learning that Banner and the Hulk are one and the same, Ross hunts Banner as well. Later, he becomes Red Hulk in order to better combat the Green Goliath.

In addition to appearing in the comics, various cartoon, and various video games, Ross has appeared in the films Hulk (2003) and The Incredible Hulk (2008). He ranked 71st on IGN's list of Greatest Comic Book Villains of All Time.

Biography
Ross is a General in the Air Force who is in charge of Bruce Banner's gamma bomb project. His daughter, Betty, takes a liking to the young scientist, a fact which only enhances the dislike the rough Ross has for the "weakling" scientist Banner. After Banner's transformation into the Hulk, Ross spends years chasing the monster, becoming obsessed enough with it to commit treason by allying himself with the Leader, M.O.D.O.K., and the Abomination in order to destroy the Hulk. Dishonorably discharged, he shows up at Betty and Bruce's wedding with a gun, and shoots Rick Jones. He is recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Clay Quartermain to merge with the electric creature Zzzax, a process that gives Ross superpowers, but also makes him mentally unstable. He is later restored to human form but retains some residual energy-generating powers.

Finally, a mutant who drains people of their life energy attacks Gamma Base in search for a strong host, in this case the Hulk. After witnessing Rick Jones (who was the Hulk at that time) and Banner heroically engaging the mutant, Ross, realizing that he has been wrong about the Hulk being a mindless monster, saves his daughter from being slain by allowing the mutant to latch onto him, and discharging the energy resources he retained from Zzzax. Giving his blessing to Bruce and Betty, he dies in his daughter's arms.

Ross' body is later stolen by the Leader, who uses the powers of one of his followers to resurrect Ross. He turns him into a mindless replacement for his fallen soldier Redeemer. Ross is eventually recovered and revived by agents of the alien Troyjan, and returns to the Air Force. He would later come up with a more cost-effective method of confronting the Hulk when he is in his childlike stage: active non-resistance. He and his men simply do not fire on or engage the Hulk in any way. The Hulk, confused, does not smash and leaps away.

Ross would make friends with Banner, but when Betty is seemingly killed due to what both Ross and Banner believed to have been Banner's gamma-irradiated DNA interacting with hers, he once more pursues the Hulk with a vendetta.

Around this time, General Ryker takes over the pursuit of the Hulk. Ross is indirectly involved, observing when Ryker mentally tortures Banner to try to figure out how the Hulk works. The Hulk escapes from Ryker's control and after several adventures, is lost in space.

After the Hulk returns from exile and initiates "World War Hulk", General Ross, now wearing the stars of a full general, makes his own return, electing to bring the fight to his nemesis once more after Iron Man is felled by the Goliath. After a failed assault on the Hulk, Ross and his men are captured and placed in chains under the watch of Hulk's Warbound, the army he has brought back from space. The Hulk is eventually defeated via satellite weapons that fire upon him, reverting him to human form.

Hulk (2003)
In Ang Lee's 2003 film Hulk, Ross is played by Sam Elliott. A number of years ago, Ross supervised the experiments of Dr. David Banner, who was trying to improve humanity via genetics. However, Ross decided to shut down Banner's research when he found out that the scientist was making dangerous experiments on himself without the Government's approval. In a rage, Banner made the whole base explode, forcing Ross and his men to leave.

Years later, Ross has become a General, and he has had a daughter, Betty, who hates him. After many years of silence between the two of them, Thunderbolt Ross contacts his daughter, since he's worried about David's son, Bruce Banner's, Betty's ex boyfriend, research. The son, infact, is starting to work in the same field of his father, and Ross is concerned about it. Betty, anyway, doesn't want to listen to him and leaves, enraged and disappointed.

After Bruce's first transformation in the The Hulk, Ross puts Banner under house arrest for security, preventing him to enter his lab. However, after being provoked by both his father and Glenn Talbot, Bruce transforms again and breaks free, injuring several soldiers in the process. Ross so decides to take him into an underground base, in which he keeps him prisoner, for both his and others' security. Betty tries to convince her father that she can help Bruce in controlling the Hulk, but Ross believes that he's the same as his father, and doesn't agree. Meanwhile, Talbot tries to steal a fragment of Hulk's skin to make research on it, but he only manages to free the brute in the base, which cannot in any way contain it. When the Hulk breaks free, Thunderbolt Ross leads a squadron to hunt him down: the monster destroys tanks and helicopters, and then flees to San Francisco. In here, he's calmed down by Betty and the Army can take him in custody once again.

Because of an agreement between Betty and David Banner, the latter is allowed to speak with his son, despite the General's disagreement. When the two start a massive fight, Ross follows them on a chopper and put an end to their fight hitting them both with a Gamma Charge Bomb, leaving them for dead. He later tries to reconciliate with his daughter, without success.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)
In the 2008 reboot of the Incredible Hulk film franchise, Ross is portrayed by William Hurt and is one of the two main antagonists of the film.

Ross is the head of a military project that is attempting to recreate Dr. Abraham Erskine's Super-Soldier Serum. He convinces Dr. Bruce Banner, who is his daughter Betty's fiance, to participate in the project. Banner tests the end result of one such experiment on himself; as a result, he transforms into the Hulk, injures Betty, and flees. Taken by a sense of guilt and rage, Ross puts his life at the service of a single cause: to hunt down and capture Bruce Banner.

Five years later, Ross is still determined to hunt down Banner, and pinpoints his location in Brazil (where Banner has been working in a soda-bottling factory) after tracing a bottle of soda that had been contaminated with Bruce's blood. Ross dispatches a special ops fire team lead by Captain Emil Blonsky of the British Royal Marines. The team, however, fails in capturing Bruce, who evades the team narrowly after he transforms into the Hulk.

When Blonsky comes back and is told how Banner has become the Hulk, he accepts to be injected with an experimental version of the Super Soldier Serum, developed by Ross' researchers. When Leonard Samson, Betty's new boyfriend, warns Ross that Bruce has come back to Virginia, Ross and his forces, super-powered Blonsky included, attacks the Culver University in an attempt to capture Banner. Ross uses all his men and his new weapons created by Stark Industries, but fails once again, and Betty flees with Bruce.

With much of Ross' surprise, Blonsky manages to recover very fast from the wounds suffered in the battle with Banner, that because of the Serum. General Ross manages to track Banner's accomplice and has his lab taken in custody by the Army. Unknown to Ross, anyway, Blonsky goes to Samuel Sterns' lab and forces him to inject him with Bruce's DNA, which reacts with the Serum and transforms him into a Hulk-like monster. For stopping Blonsky, Ross accepts Banner's help, and has The Hulk fight The Abomination. At the end of the battle, Ross takes Blonsky in custody, while Banner is disappeared once again.

Later, in a bar, Ross meets Tony Stark, who wants to talk with him about the "Avengers Initiative" that might interest him.