Thaddeus Ross (Earth-616)

General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross is a character appearing in Marvel Comics. He a longtime acquaintance of the Stark family, and the arch-enemy of the Hulk.

Early History
Thaddeus Ross was born to General Alexander Ross and Dr. Elizabeth Ross. When he came of age he attended West Point, quickly becoming one of the Academy's best students. He began a relationship with Karen Lee, the daughter of one of his instructors, and eventually married her. After graduating Ross joined Special Forces, and served several tours when "The War" broke out in the South Pacific. Ross served with distinction during this conflict, earning the nickname "Thunderbolt" for his tendency to "strike like thunder." It was also during this conflict that Ross met a young Howard Stark and apparently saved his life in an unspecified incident, with each man under the impression the other one was good for a favor. After the war, both men attended a summitt for a proposed organization called Control, which would monitor scientific progress with the hope of ending threats before they begin. These talks eventually led to the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D., but Ross had little interest in the organization; he was a soldier, not a spymaster. It was not long after that he and Karen welcomed a daughter, who he named Elizabeth, after his mother.

Stark's Seven
After performing an unspecified number of classified black ops assignments, Ross was promoted to Lieutenant and found himself mostly driving a desk. Though he found this tedious, it did give him more time to spend time with Karen and Betty. During a round of golf, he had a surprise reunion with Howard. He was calling in some favors with some of his old S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts to put a team together. Howard reminded Thaddeus that he owed Howard one from the war, but the Lieutenant remembered history a little differently; it was Howard that owed HIM. Howard told Thaddeus that he would "owe him TWO" if he agreed to help. An amused Ross agreed, and joined five other specialists: Federal Agent Jimmy Woo, former Howling Commando "Dum Dum" Dugan, card sharp "Nessa the Kitten", alien gangster Rollo, and a Russian demotions expert known only as "The Bear." Their mission: Break into the Area 52 casino, where a gang called "the Greys" were holding an intelligent android, Rigellian Recorder 451, hostage. It was Howard's hope that 451 would have the scientific know how to save the life of his unborn son. After 451 was successfully rescued, the team attacked the Greys and forced them off world.

Gamma Bomb Project
Ross was eventually eventually promoted to Major and began working with Defense contractors, using the guise of ROTC recruiting to scout out scientific prodigies that could assist in creating the latest cutting edge military weaponry. He found one such prodigy in a young man named Bruce Banner, the son of disgraced atomic physicist Dr. Brian Banner. Though Ross saw the Bruce as somewhat troubled, he could not deny the youth's engineering talents. Tragically, Ross lost Karen to cancer around this time. Betty would later note this was the first time she had ever seen any emotion from her father. He dealt with the loss by throwing himself into his work, sending Betty to a dormitory in California, under the reasoning that a military base was "not a proper place for a lady."

Ross was eventually promoted to General and placed in command of Los Diablos Missile Base in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The site was devoted to the testing of a new weapon: The Gamma Bomb. By this time, Banner had graduated and was lead scientist on the project. Betty, eager to reconnect with her father, accepted an internship at the base, and found herself in something of a romantic triangle with Bruce and one of her father's junior officers, Major Glenn Talbot. Tensions quickly flared between Banner and Ross; not only did Betty clearly favor Banner over Talbot, but Banner wanted the Gamma Bomb to have a less destructive yield, destroying enemy weapons and buildings but sparing human lives. Ross wanted a devastating weapon that would be feared by all of America's enemies. Under pressure from his own superior, General John Ryker, to produce results, Ross hired Howard's son Tony Stark to alter the bomb to make it more powerful. This drove a wedge between Tony and Bruce, who were friendly academic rivals prior to that point.

During the day of the test site, Banner notices a civilian teenager, Rick Jones, had wandered into the site's "death zone" and rushed to get him to safety. While he had safely pushed Rick into a ditch, he ended up getting caught in the blast. However, Banner did not die. His life was about to be changed forever. The same would also be true for General Ross.

Hunting the Hulk
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

- '''Friedrich Nietzsche

Banner and Jones were taken to an infirmary, but by nightfall, Banner underwent a startling metamorphosis into a hulking, musclebound behemoth. Initially believing that the creature killed Banner, Ross mobilizes his troops to hunt him down, and also calls Stark, having recently returned to the States after the ordeal that forged him into Iron Man, to inform him of Banner's presumed death. The creature defeats Iron Man and eludes Ross' hunt, reverting into Banner. But as Ross and Talbot grow increasingly suspicious, Banner is no longer able to keep up the charade and is forced on the run. Ross took charge of the "Hulkbuster" task force, an assignment he enjoyed as it provided him a back door to return to combat. As the hunt for the Hulk continued, Ross developed an almost Captain Ahab-level obsession with destroying the beast. His territorial attitude made him hostile when heroes like Iron Man, Thing, Wolverine, and Thor joined the pursuit against the Hulk; but it also meant that he would occasional ally with the Green Goliath against any supervillain threat who was powerful enough to rob him of his kill. His obsession cost him dearly, however, leading to a nervous breakdown and a fatal heart attack. His body was eventually recovered by the Leader, a Gamma-irradiated supervillain, and converted into his cyborg enforcer Redeemer. After a three-way confrontation between Hulk, Leader, and Hydra, Ross was freed of the Leader's influence and was reinstated by the military, convincing them that his previous erratic actions were due to the Leader's influence.

Eventually Banner gained better control the Hulk and married Betty, and for a time it looked like Ross was becoming more of an ally than an enemy. Then tragedy struck, as Betty was poisoned by the Hulk's old adversary, the Abomination. The Abomination had hoped that Betty's death would drive Hulk into a murderous rage and end his tortured existence. Banner responded with the one form of retaliation the Abomination could not endure: Forgiveness. Although this left the Abomination emotionally broken, Ross felt that his daughter had not received justice. Banner and Ross were once again enemies.

It was not long after this that General Ryker re-entered Ross and Banner's lives, taking charge of the Hulkbuster campaign. Ryker brought Ross to his secret base at Area 51 where he revealed his real agenda: He was hoping there was something in the Hulk's physiology that could heal his terminally ill wife, who is being kept alive in a medical containment tank. He ensures Ross' loyalty by revealing his hidden trump card: He has placed Betty in suspended animation. Angered that his own daughter is being waved under his nose as a carrot, he nevertheless agrees to set a trap for Banner. However, once Banner is brought to Area 51, they quickly team up to defeat Ryker, who is forced to flee the base. Now in charge of the Area 51 facility, Ross puts a merciful end to Ryker's wife, who did not ask for any of this, and has his own team of scientists tend to Betty, hoping that she can eventually be revived.

Becoming A Monster
After the Hulk was exiled off world by the Illuminati, Ross found himself without a sense of purpose. He was approached by The Leader and MODOK, who had pooled their resources to form an organization they called The Intelligencia. They warn that the Hulk will soon return to Earth, seeking revenge on those who wronged him. They convince him that if he can assist them in his plans, they can revive his daughter and bring about a better world. Sure enough, the Hulk does return, going on a roaring rampage of revenge against those who exiled him, and Ross worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers to stop him. After the Hulk was defeated by Iron Man, Ross arranged for Intelligencia androids, disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, retrieve the Hulk's body. Ross' new benefactors siphoned energy from the Hulk's body to turn Ross into the Red Hulk -- a red-skinned beast with similar size and strength to that of the original Hulk. But unlike Banner, Ross could control the transformation and retain his intelligence and personality. Thus, when Banner was imprisoned at Hulkbuster Base with a Life Model Decoy of Ross as his jailer, the real Ross carries out the Intelligencia's dirty work as the Red Hulk. Eager to test his newfound powers, the Red Hulk travels to the Yukon to hunt wild game, then makes his way to Russia where he finds the Abomination. Eager to extract a form of justice upon him that the original Hulk could not, the Red Hulk brutally beats the Abomination before shooting him with an experimental handgun. The murder of a Russian national, on Russian soil, by what appears to be an American citizen draws the attention of Iron Man, currently serving as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., so he takes She-Hulk and Doc Samson to investigate. After a brief tussle with the Winter Guard over jurisdiction, they conclude that an Impostor Hulk is on the loose and begin to investigate his identity. The Red Hulk follows them to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, where he attacks She-Hulk and Iron Man and forces the Helicarrier to crash. The Red Hulk touches down near Gamma Base, surprised to see that Rick Jones has hitchhiked there. Rick transforms into a reptilian creature calling himself A-Bomb and attacks the Red Hulk. The ensuing battle damages Gamma Base's fortifications, inadvertently freeing Banner. A fight between Red and Green Hulks ensues, with Red coming out on top. But before he can finish off Banner, Thor appears, eager to test his strength against this new Hulk. To his own surprise, the Red Hulk narrowly defeats the thunder god. But by this time the Hulk has gotten a second wind, and while the two first seem evenly matched, the Hulk's rage gradually tips the scales in his favor, and the Red Hulk, eventually overheats from the energy he has been exerting in the battle and collapses. The LMD of Ross, representing the Intelligencia, tells the Red Hulk that he has been fired from the Intelligencia for his failure.

Now a fugitive, Red Hulk is hunted by the various members of the superhero community, but eventually teams up with the original Hulk to stop the Intelligencia, having realized that their promises of a better world were lies. He then fights the true Hulk again, only to be defeated and captured.

After some time in prison, Ross regained his sanity. Captain America, now in charge of SHIELD, senses there is still good in him and offers him a chance for redemption. A technology firm called Omnisapient Systems has fallen victim to a virus that has turned people into violent and infectious cyborgs. He will work with Iron Man to contain the outbreak. However, due to a miscommunication, Iron Man believes he will be working with the Green Hulk rather than the Red one, so the mission is nearly compromised when the Armored Avenger mistakenly attacks his intended ally. The Red Hulk stops the outbreak by smashing the computer servers, and Iron Man manages to cure the outbreak with his Bleeding Edge armor technology. The Armored Avenger thanks the Red Hulk for his help, but points out that his current actions cannot erase his history of misdeeds.

The Red Hulk moves to Death Valley, continuing to do classified operations for Captain America. He encounters the Hood, who had stolen two Infinity Stones, and warns the Avengers. After helping them defeat the Hood, the Red Hulk is formally accepted onto the team. His teammates neither trusted him nor knew his identity, but they trusted Cap's judgment. He finally earned the respect of his teammates during the War of the Serpent, where he valiantly defended the Avengers tower against Angrir, Breaker of Souls, while his teammates were deployed throughout the rest of the world.

Quotes
"I've trashed my military career, I'm constantly being attacked by my supposed allies, my family won't talk to me... and the only place I can be human is on a secret base with the one man I can't stand. I'm doing great."

- Ross in a rare moment of self-deprecation

"Son, I didn't get these Stars by being somewhere else when the spit hit the fan!"

- Thunderbolt Ross, Four-Star Badass

"No Commie in tin suits will ever take Thunderbolt Ross alive! Never! I'll see you in hell first!"

- Ross tells Gremlin to bring it