Dr. Araki was a Hiroshima survivor whose parents had died in the blast. As an adult, he moved to Nevada to work on Gamma bomb tests for the U.S. government, but during a countdown Araki spotted teenager Ricky Tenda in the blast zone. Leaving the safety of his bunker to rescue Ricky, Araki told his assistant Igor to hold the count, unaware Igor was a Russian spy; the count continued, and though Araki got Ricky to safety, he was caught in the blast himself and transformed into the raging monster "The Hulk".