SHE-HULK

Recruited in She-Hulk Vol. 1 #7 (2004) by Dan Slott and Juan Bobillo, Jennifer Walters joined the Magistrati, the cosmic judiciary serving the Living Tribunal. Her assignment on the planet Skardon looked impossible: the Elder of the Universe called the Champion had beaten every challenger in the planet's trial-by-combat arena — Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill and Adam Warlock among them — and by Skard law that made him its ruler. Jen's brief was to beat him in the ring.

The first bout nearly killed her. The Magistrati stopped the fight to save her life, and Jen did the most lawyerly thing available: she objected, and won a three-month adjournment for a rematch. In that window she worked out the loophole in her own biology — whatever strength Jennifer Walters builds is multiplied exponentially when she becomes She-Hulk — so she spent the three months training in her smaller human form, with Gamora teaching her to fight.

The rematch in She-Hulk Vol. 1 #8 (2004) turned on a second piece of lawyering. Skard rules barred outside weapons from the ring, so Jen insisted the Champion remove the Power Gem he wore — and wagered he would never use it again if he lost, while he demanded she become his wife if she lost. Gemless and out-trained, the Elder who had never lost in the ring was beaten decisively, Skardon got its planet back, and the Champion swore off the Gem for good.