Hulkling

Origin

Teddy was raised by his single mother who really was a Skrull posing as a human who he believed to be his mother. Teddy did not know the true source of his power and assumed he was a mutant.

He had hidden his powers afraid of the backlash that comes with being a mutant, that is until he met Greg Norris who was the class president and captain of the basketball team. Teddy soon confided in him about his power and to his shock Norris was not upset. Greg, used his friend’s powers to pull cons and pranks using Teddy’s powers to shape shift into popular figures. After hearing of the break-up of the Avengers, Teddy was shocked. Greg used him to go into the wreckage of the Avengers Mansion. Teddy was in awe of the place and respected it, while Greg just wanted to use Teddy to loot the place. Teddy threatened Greg using his powers and he left the mansion.

Creation

Hulkling was created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung and first appeared in Young Avengers issue 1 (2005).

Major Story Arcs

Legacy of Avengers

After Greg left, Teddy then met Kang who was gathering teens by using the Vision’s fail-safe programing, to form a group of Young Avengers to fight Kang. Teddy agreed to join him and become Hulkling alongside Iron Lad (Kang), Stature (Cassie Lang), Patriot (Eli Bradley), Hawkeye and Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) with whom he kindled a close relationship.

After the Patriot quit the team the rest tried to talk him into coming back. While this happened, Hulkling was abducted by the Super-Skrull who said that Teddy was a Skrull himself and he had come to take him back. After a battle the group (minus Eli) escaped to Wiccan’s house where they found who they thought was Hulkling’s mother, but before anything could be made clear the Super-Skrull broke in with the Patriot as a hostage ordering Hulkling to come with him. The Super-Skrull then used a device that was supposedly supposed to reveal that Teddy was a Skrull but instead revealed that his mother was a Skrull. She stated that she was ordered by the Empress to protect Teddy and shot at the Super-Skrull who retaliated by setting her on fire, resulting in her death.

The Super-Skrull then took Hulkling and told him was Dorrek VIII and the son of Anelle, the Skrull Emperor’s daughter, and the only heir to the Skrull empire. But the Emperor had ordered the child’s death upon learning who his father was so Teddy was sent to Earth to be reunited with his father. Before the Super-Skrull could tell Hulkling who his father was, the other Young Avengers arrived to save Hulkling. Kree soldiers suddenly appeared claiming that Hulkling was Kree. The Kree soldiers then said that Hulkling was the son of Captain Mar-Vell and by law had to join the Kree army, but Hulkling refused and a battle broke out.

The Young Avengers fled, but then found themselves in the middle of another battle as Skrull and Kree Troops both appeared demanding that Hulkling come with them, but the the Avengers came to the rescue. The conflict was resolved when the Hulkling and the Super-Skrull switched identities and “Hulkling” agreed to a deal in which he would spend 6 months with the Kree and 6 months with the Skrulls before making a decision on who he would side with. The arrangement was still in order when the races left and Teddy returned to his original form, safe from both races and staying in Earth. After all was done Teddy scattered the ashes of his foster mother to the breeze at the Avenger’s Mansion.

Civil War

When the Super-Hero Civil War broke out, the Young Avengers decided to join Captain America’s resistance and the Anti-Registration side. Operating out of the resistance’s secret base, the team was tasked with the job of monitoring each incident from the base’s satellite feed. In Los Angeles, the group of superpowered teenagers known as the Runaways were attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, resulting in the destruction of team member Victor Mancha. Watching this happen live from their base in New York, the Young Avengers decided that it was necessary to travel to L.A. to help the Runaways. Eli asked Captain America for permission and resources, but he was denied, causing the team to strike out on their own. Billy used a locating spell to find the Runaways in L.A. The team arrived at their secret underground base of operations, and were immediately confronted by an annoyed Molly Hayes, who was shortly after incapacitated. The team entered the base, and was greeted by the Runaways who were furious, assuming that the Young Avengers had hurt Molly. After a brief battle, in which Teddy fought the Skrull member of the Runaways known as Xavin, the confusion was cleared up. Xavin, upon learning that Teddy is truly Dorrek VIII, bowed to Teddy and pledged his service. In the midst of their conversation, the warden of the supervillain prison known as the Cube released Noh-Varr, and ordered him to track down the teams. He gave Noh-Varr a scent of Skrull blood. With this, he was able to locate the teams (because there were two Skrulls gathered in the same place). Noh-Varr immediately took down Teddy, Billy, Karolina Dean, after breaking Xavin’s neck. He incapacitated several other members of the team, but was soon retrieved by the warden of the Cube, who had been acting on the behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. When Teddy awoke, he found himself trapped in a room with Billy, Karolina, and the presumably dead body of Xavin. The warden of the Cube was excited to “play” with his new “toys”. Using an array of knives and other intrusive objects, the warden vivisected Teddy, repeatedly cutting him open, and forced Billy to watch. All the while, Billy repeated the phrase “Iwanthimtostop” attempting to cast a spell. A device had been placed on Billy’s ears so that he could not hear the sound of his own voice, preventing him from casting any spells. The warden continued to cut away at Teddy, allowing him to heal just enough to be cut open again. The rest of the Young Avengers and Runaways had been launching an assault on the Cube, hoping to rescue their teammates. While the Warden was distracted, Xavin, who had healed from his wound, got up, and freed Karolina, telling her to free Billy and Teddy while he killed the Warden. Before he got his chance, Teddy stopped Xavin, telling him it was not right, and Xavin reluctantly allowed the warden to live. The four escapees followed the voice of the Vision, which led them to their teammates. After the Vision freed Noh-Varr from the Warden’s control, the two teams escaped and went their separate ways.

The Young Avengers returned to New York and continued to serve as members of the resistance. Captain America and his team were lured into a trap set by Tony Stark. The team’s two teleporters – Wiccan and Cloak – were taken out, and a battle ensued, ending in the death of Goliath. The Invisible Woman, who had originally been on the side of the Pro-Registration team, threw a shield up to protect the members of the resistance, urging them to get away immediately while she held back the vile Ragnarok, clone of Thor. The team escaped, and later on prepared a plan to free those imprisoned in the Negative Zone by the Pro-Registration side – including Billy. Teddy shapeshifted into Hank Pym, and infiltrated the Pro-Registration side. With this level of access, Hulkling was able to find the codes that allowed him to spring the imprisoned heroes free. After another battle, the heroes were free to leave, all except for Captain America, who turned himself in.

Secret Invasion

Teddy joins the other Young Avengers, confronting the first wave of invading Skrull religious fanatics that arrive in New York City. Teddy attempts to reason with the Skrulls by revealing his identity as Dorrek VIII, but is incapacitated before his identity is revealed. Leaders of the invasion recognize him and allude to his ability to jeopardize their plans if their followers learn of his identity. Nearby, the Runaways also confront Skrull invaders. Recognizing the danger they pose, Xavin attacks and incapacitates the Runways, pretending to be one of the invaders and protecting them from capture. Xavin sends the Runaways to safety with Nico and Victor, but notices Teddy being attacked. He escapes with Teddy, attempting to save him, but both are attacked by other Skrulls. The Super Skrull known as X’iv was sent to kill Teddy. Through the timely intervention of Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd, Teddy and Xavin were spared. Together the quartet escaped the clutches of X’iv, who had the combined powers of the crime fighting duo known as Cloak & Dagger, and the martial prowess of Elektra. Other members of the Runaways caught up to the team and helped battle General Chrell and X’iv. Eventually, by revealing who he truly was, Teddy was able to throw X’iv off. Teddy took advantage of her moment of shock to headbutt her, thereby knocking her unconscious. Teddy joined Xavin against Chrell. Xavin was able to take his former instructor down. Teddy then bowed to Xavin, thanking him for saving his life. The Runaways returned to L.A. and the Young Avengers left to help clean up New York in the aftermath of the invasion.

Children’s Crusade

Hulkling travels with Wiccan and the rest of the Young Avengers to locate the Scarlet Witch. After the deaths of Stature and Vision, he and his teammates agree to retire from being Superheroes.

Marvel NOW!

Hulkling is confronted by Wiccan for sneaking out at night disguised as other superheroes in order to fight crime. The two fight, and Hulkling is able to get Wiccan to see his point of view. To make it up to him, Wiccan finds an alternate universe’s version of Hulkling’s adoptive mother, and she is reunited with her son. However, that night, she attacks Wiccan’s parents. When Wiccan and Hulkling awake the next morning, they quickly discover that something is wrong. His “mother” tells them that they need to leave, and produces a sort of prison for them to stay in. The two go to the Uncanny Avengers for help, but for some reason they are unable to see anything wrong.

They are saved by Loki, who reveals that the being is an alternate dimensional parasite, and tells them that they need his help. Wiccan and Hulkling agree, but decide to first take Loki to New Asgardia, where they are attacked by Laufey. After fleeing from Asgard, the group continue to New York City, meeting up with Ms. America, Kate Bishop, and Noh Var. During the incident, Loki privately tells Teddy that he thinks that his and Billy’s relationship is due to the latter’s reality warping powers, and the thought disturbs Teddy. With Loki’s help, the team are able to defeat the parasite, but because Wiccan’s spell is still around, the team is forced to leave New York.

After three months in exile, Wiccan and the team are approached by the former X-Man and mutant Prodigy, who tells them that Speed, Wiccan’s twin brother, was kidnapped by a mysterious figure wearing a Patriot uniform. The team agrees to look for Speed and they use Miss America’s interdimensional powers to find him. When accidentally being left behind in Mother’s dimension with Prodigy, Prodigy kisses him as a last act. The rest of the team, having briefly encountered Leah, returns to save them. Teddy, concerned that his relationship with Billy is fake, tells him that he needs some time alone. He later meets with his therapist – Leah. Hulkling is tricked by Leah to return to New York (Earth-616) to be captured by Mother.

After a dangerous and adventure-filled trip through the multiverse, the team ventures to Mother’s dimension to rescue Teddy. Prodigy contacts the younger members of the X-Men at the Jean Grey School, and word gets around quickly. Soon, almost all the young heroes of Earth-616 are assembled to battle Mother’s army. During the battle, Billy becomes locked with Mother. He seems to be steadily losing ground, until Teddy appears to him. The two work out their problems, and their love is able to save the universe. Mother is defeated, and all the teen heroes gather at MJ’s Club to celebrate the new year.

Original Sin

Teddy joined forces with fellow teammates Noh-Varr and Prodigy to assess a threat after the “explosion” of force from one of Uatu the Watcher’s eyes in Manhattan, NYC. The explosion implanted memories of events the Watcher witnessed into the minds of those nearest. These memories were specific to the person they affected. Teddy, Noh, and David were unaffected by the explosion, but did decide to help alleviate the damage caused by the situation. SHIELD immediately began the evacuation of all those who were affected by the explosion. Their fear was that those who had been exposed would now know too much for their own good. The trio came upon a building that had been ignored by the SHIELD agents, which was especially peculiar. Upon entering the building, they were confronted by the Red Hood, who had been using his mystical powers to conceal the building from SHIELD’s scanners. After a brief struggle, Noh was able to use his enhanced speed to disarm the Hood, while Teddy managed to subdue him. The Hood explained that the residents of the building were going mad with the memories that had been implanted in their minds. He was trying to find a way to remove their memories so that he might help them. The trio was suspicious, but they agreed to help him. David used his powers to create a makeshift Cerebro that would allow him to remove their memories, and safely download them onto an encrypted file. While David worked, it would be up to Teddy and Noh to keep an eye on Red Hood. During this time, Noh and Teddy were contacting the other members of their team via text message. Billy, Teddy’s boyfriend, wanted to help, but Teddy encouraged him to stay home and finish studying, while he took care of things with Noh and David. Eventually, David’s contraption worked, allowing him to remove and download the implanted memories. Once the process was complete, Red Hood attempted to steal the device onto which the memories were stored. He was defeated yet again, and David later revealed that the encryption would only open to him. Unbeknownst to his companions, David kept a copy of all the secrets stored away just for him.

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS

Both Teddy and Billy made an appearance in Marvel’s AXIS event. They appeared at Avengers Tower during a massive Avengers meeting called together by an inverted Sam Wilson aka Falcon aka Captain America. A new band of inverted heroes (Sam, Medusa, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Wasp) now with malicious intent, was furious that someone in possession of an Avengers ID card had allowed – and even helped – the recently captured Red Skull to escape the Tower. Billy and Teddy, along with anyone who’d ever held Avengers membership, were called to the Tower for this reason – to be dealt with by the new Avengers.

In the Ultimate universe, his origin story is different. While his mother is still a skrull, his father was an ordinary human.

His human DNA greatly limited his skrull DNA. Which altered his shapeshifting powers. He could only turn into a green skinned/furred/scaled version of any animal. Although this is lesser than his main universe counterpart, it is still powerful in its own right. He can transform into pre historic, mythical, modern, or alien animals. He can combine animal parts or only morph certain parts of his body. He is naturally strong but can shift his muscle structure into that of a gorillas to increase his strength. He can also transform into Mitch smaller and or larger animals, like a whale or a nat. His skill with animal morphing is incredible.

Powers

Teddy’s super-human abilities stem from his parentage: a Skrull mother and a super-powered Kree father. As part-Skrull, Hulking is able to change his appearance by altering his size, shape, and color. When he increases his mass his strength also increases. He typically manifests claws and wings as necessary in battle. His Skrull physiology also gives him the ability to heal from injury at an accelerated rate and sub-consciously move and reshape his vital organs to protect himself from mortal damage. Teddy’s shape-shifting abilities are detailed enough to bypass highly sensitive eye-scans and voice-scans.

As part-Kree, Hulkling inherited superpowers from his father Captain Marvel. This grants him super-human strength (far greater than the average Skrull or Kree) and enhanced durability.

Teddy’s powers include:

• Superhuman Strength
• Superhuman Durability
• Superhuman Stamina
• Shapeshifting
• Flight (By using his shapeshifting abilities to grow wings)
• Subconscious Metamorphic Adaptation(subconsciously shifting biomass to protect vital organs)
• Healing (Regenerative healing factor)

Alternate Realities

Earth-721

Wiccan and Hulkling from the reality known as Earth A, came to Earth-616 as tourists and registered in the Initiative. The Wiccan and Hulkling of Earth-616 didn’t approve of this, and later Wiccan and Hulkling from Earth-721 were sent home when the portal between worlds was closed.

In Other Media

Video Games

• Hulking is featured in the digital card game Marvel: War of Heroes.
• Hulking is a playable character in Lego Marvel’s Avengers.
• Hulkling is a playable character in Marvel Future Fight.
• Hulkling appears in Marvel Avengers Academy.

Merchandise

• Hulkling was featured in ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends line as part of an exclusive Marvel Legends box set.
• Hulkling was featured in the HeroClix figure game in both his original and iconic designs.,