Zeus (Hercules)

Zeus is the king of the Olympian Gods and the father of the legendary hero Hercules. He first appeared in the Disney film Hercules. He is a very jolly and easy-going person but he does know when to get serious. He is voiced by actor Rip Torn.

Past
Many eons ago (prior to the movie) Zeus imprisoned the deadly Titans, who threatened to destroy the world, deep beneath the ocean where they would remain for the rest of eternity undisturbed. However he was unaware that the next planetary alignment would reveal the location of the Titans prison, and his brother Hades planned to free them by the next alignment so he could use them to help him overthrow Zeus and take over Mount Olympus.

In Hercules
During the beginning of the movie, Zeus along with his wife Hera where celebrating the birth of their newborn son Hercules with their fellow Gods, soon enough Zeus' brother Hades arrives and grows worried that the newborn might become a threat to his evil plot, so he consults the Fates who reveal to him that Hercules will indeed foil Hades' plot. Fearing the possibility he sends out his servants Pain and Panic to kidnap the baby Hercules from Zeus' palace give him an evil formula that will turn him mortal thus allowing them to kill him, however Hercules fails to drink the last drop and manages to retain his God-like strength allowing him to easily dispatch Pain and Panic.

Zeus is devastated by the loss of his son and sends out all the Gods to find Hercules however by the time they find him it is too late as Hercules has already been adopted by a kind and loving mortal couple. Zeus would not interact with his son until his teenage years wherein Hercules sought to find out where he came from by going to the temple of Zeus. There the large statue of Zeus is possessed by the real Zeus who proceeds to happily welcome back his long lost son. However he explains that Hercules cannot go back to Mount Olympus as he has lost his Godhood, and the only way to reclaim it is to become a true hero. Hercules goes off and fights off almost every monster and becomes famous. Soon afterwards Hercules returns to the temples of Zeus and tells his father that this is the day he has been waiting for which is rejoining the Gods but Zeus tells his son that being famous isn't the same as being a true hero and that in order to become a true hero he must look inside his heart. Soon Hades takes Hercules' strength away from him and unleashes the Titans and captures Zeus and the other Gods and starts to rule Mount Olympus until Hercules (who's gotten his strength back from when Meg saved his life) shows up and frees his father and destroys the Titans. Hades takes Meg's spirit into the river of death but Hercules (who willing gives up his soul to save Meg) jumps in and rescues her and restores his godhood. After defeating Hades and returning Meg her spirit (to which she returns to life) Hercules is reunited with his parents and is told by Zeus For a true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength but by the strength of his heart. Hercules tells his parents this is the moment he's been waiting for but a life without Meg would be empty and that he wishes to stay on Earth with her to which Zeus and his wife agree. Once Hercules and Meg return to Earth they reunite with Hercules Foster Parents and Zeus paints a picture of his son in the stars.

Trivia

 * Actor Rip Torn who provides the voice of Zeus was married to actress Geraldine Page who provided the voice of Madame Medusa in The Rescuers. Page died in 1987 of a heart attack 10 years before her husband provided Zeus' voice.