Hercules (character)

"I can go the distance!"

- Hercules

Hercules is the protagonist of the 1997 Disney animated feature film of the same name, as well as its 1998-99 television series.

Personality
While his strength is above average, Hercules isn't all that intelligent. But what the hero lacks in outstanding brains, he makes up for in compassion and the desire to do good, which is especially appreciated in a world with constant turmoil around every corner, be it by the hands of a demon or beast, or The Lord of the Dead himself, Hades.

As mentioned above, Hercules is compassionate, and his most dominate trait is, without a doubt, his innocence and massively kind heart, in spite of being treated like a "freak" by his peers and those around him (with the exception of his foster parents) throughout his childhood, and adolescent years. Even after becoming a worldwide phenomenon, Hercules retained his innocence and cheerful nature, not once letting the fame dangerously inflate his ego. This makes Hercules one of the most pure of heart Disney characters.

Notably, whilst usually on the bright side, Hercules has an effective sternness to his personality, notably seen during the climax of the film, where the actions of Hades take a turn for the worse, killing and threatening the entire world of Olympus, as well as Megara. This can be seen again when his trainer and close companion, Phil, questioned Megara's affections towards the hero after witnessing her plotting against the latter with Hades (though it was a misunderstanding at that point in the movie).

The primary lesson Hercules learns throughout the film is what it takes to be a true hero. Something his father Zeus explained he had to learn for himself. After meeting and falling in love with the beautiful femme fatale, Megara, Hercules would learn a true hero is measured by the strength of his heart, as opposed to the strength of his muscles.

Powers and Abilities

 * Super-Strength: Hercules possesses virtually limitless superstrength. This was his sole remaining godly power and appears to be higher than most other gods or titans. In the Disney Universe, only Zeus, Bill Cipher, and Genie rival or surpass him in strength.
 * Enhanced Durability and Stamina: Although being incomparable to that of immortal Gods, his stamina and entire body including skin is seen to be strong enough to withstand his own actions that are beyond of normal humans on many occasions both in the film and in the animated series.
 * Enhanced Speed: In some occasions, he is seen to be surprisingly fast and is able to disappear being unnoticed by people in physical contacts.
 * Trained Hero: As a trained hero, Hercules is a master at using a variety of weapons from ancient Greece including swords, spears, and archery. He is trained to handle dangerous situations, battle monsters, and come up with a battle plan to win battles. In animated series, he has also seen to be skilled with various weaponless, and is able to spy and sneak on subject diving underground.
 * Immortality and universal divinity capabilities (formerly): During his brief times as a god Hercules was completely immortal. He would not age, grow sick, or be permanently harmed by any force known. He first lost this power when Hades made him mortal as a baby, and again when he chose to live his life with Meg.

Hercules
Hercules was born on "Mount Olympus" with all the powers of a god, to parents, Zeus and Hera. In this movie, Hera has been recast as a loving mother instead of a spiteful stepmother like in Mythological tales. On the celebration of his birth, during which the Olympian gods present the infant god with a multitude of gifts. Zeus himself creates the winged-horse Pegasus as a gift. It seems to be a joyous occasion, although one god is not happy about the new arrival: Hercules's evil uncle Hades, lord of the Underworld. Hades tried to give his gift, a spiked skull-shaped pacifier to Hercules by attempting to stick it into the baby's mouth. Hercules, however, managed to squeeze Hades' hand in order to drop the pacifier before it almost went into his mouth.Hercules is very strong he has a super strength that he was born with and ever since he kept it and knew with it, and when he got older he started to help out the villagers with heavy stuff that they could not carry, and helped them form people who will try to come in the village and do wrong stuff like steal and beat up people.

Hades wants to take control of Mount Olympus and the world, and he sees that if Hercules chooses to fight when he is older, his plans will be ruined. Knowing that as a god, Hercules is immortal, Hades sends his two lackeys, Pain and Panic, to kidnap Hercules and turn him mortal by means of a magic potion. Although they succeed in the first part of the plan, carrying Hercules down to Earth, they are interrupted by two human peasants (Amphitryon and Alcmene) before Hercules finishes drinking and the final drop falls wasted on the ground. Pain and Panic nevertheless attack him in the guise of snakes, and discover that because he did not drink the last drop he has retained his godly strength and they are beaten back. Amphytryon and Alcmene adopt the child, considering his arrival a gift from the gods since they are themselves childless. Too late, Zeus and the other gods discover the kidnapping. Because Herc is now mortal, however, they are unable to take him back to Olympus.

Hercules grows into a strong but clumsy teenager. He desperately wants to fit in, but as he cannot control his godly strength he only ends up causing havoc and alienating those around him. On one occasion, he accidentally flattens the local market town during a game of discus. His foster parents decide to finally come clean to him about the circumstances of his adoption, showing him a medallion they find that bears the symbol of the gods (Zeus's lightning bolt). Hercules sets off to find his place in the world, and goes to the Temple of Zeus for guidance.

While in the temple, Zeus himself appears (embodying his own statue), and reveals Hercules's origin. He explains that the only way Hercules can rejoin his parents on Mount Olympus is to prove himself a "true hero". A grown-up Pegasus also joins Hercules as a constant companion. As of that moment, Hercules's journey to godhood had begun.

He goes to see Philoctetes (a satyr), a trainer of heroes who initially says he will not train Hercules, having been let down too many times by losers who couldn't go the distance, but changes his mind after Zeus zaps him with a bolt of lightning.

When Hercules has reached adulthood and has passed his training, he sets off with Philoctetes to become a Hero in Thebes. On his way he encounters Megara, who is being pursued by the lecherous Nessus. Hercules then intervenes, defeating Nessus (after a couple of disastrous missteps) and rescuing Megara (who felt she didn't even need his help in the first place.) Phil and Pegasus dislike her. Megara relates the events to Hades, by which he learns that Hercules is still alive and so sends a variety of monsters to kill Hercules, the first of which is the Lernaean Hydra. But Hercules dispatches the Hydra and, during the song "Zero to Hero", is shown to dispatch every other monster Hades sends against him.

By this time, Hercules has become the toast of Greece: famous, rich, and perhaps a little too cocky. He believes himself a true hero, and is distraught when Zeus tells him he has not quite gotten there yet, unsure of what more he can do. Megara, on assignment from Hades, convinces him to play "hooky", or truant for the day, going on a date. The date is ended by Phil, irate at Herc for skipping training. Phil is knocked off Pegasus, and wakes up in time to learn of Meg's involvement with Hades. He leaves to tell his sure-to-be-devastated protege, not hearing Meg's refusal to help destroy Hercules. Hades then discovers that Hercules loves Megara and uses that knowledge to attempt to take the young hero out of the picture while he attempts to overtake Olympus.

Hercules, ecstatic from the date, refuses to believe Phil's warning about Meg, even hitting him in a flash of blind anger, prompting Phil to quit as his trainer. As soon as he is gone, Hades confronts Herc, offering Meg's safety if the hero will give up his strength for 24 hours (long enough for Hades to conquer Olympus). Hercules is reluctant to see anyone hurt, but Hades vows that no harm will come to Meg. Herc agrees, and Hades takes the opportunity to humiliate him by revealing Meg's role in his scheme. Enacting his plan, Hades sends a Cyclops to destroy Hercules so that he can't get in the way later on. Hercules has been so disheartened by learning that Meg had been working for Hades, that he doesn't even try to defeat the Cyclops. Meg hurries to fetch Phil, who convinces Hercules not to give up. Using his wits, he seizes a nearby torch as a weapon. He is able to defeat the Cyclops, which he does by burning its eye and sending him hurtling off a cliff.

The monster's fall causes a pillar to topple towards Hercules and Megara pushes him out of the way, taking the impact of the pillar. This in turn causes Hercules to regain his strength because Hades' end of the bargain is now broken. Megara, however, is gravely injured and Hercules leaves her in the care of Phil while he rushes off to thwart Hades' invasion of Olympus. He immediately engages the Titans. Ultimately, he wins the battle by using a tornado to suck up all the monsters, then use all his strength to hurl it into outer space. There, the group of Titans explode and are forever silenced. After thwarting the invasion, Hades shouts to him that he's got Meg's soul as his 'consolation prize', and Hercules rushes back to Meg's side, only to find that she had died moments before he got there.

However, he then travels to the Underworld to rescue Megara's spirit. Hercules manages to capture Hades' dog, Cerberus, and ride it to Hades' lair. Hades is undisturbed by this, even going so far as to taunt him. When Hades points out that Meg is dead and belongs in the Underworld now, Hercules makes a deal that he will trade his soul for Meg's. Hades agrees to this - IF Hercules can get her out. To do so he must dive into the river Styx, which swiftly ages mortals upon contact, killing them if they spend too long in there. Hercules nevertheless enters the pool to rescue Megara's soul. Although he begins to age ad course, he does not die, as his selfless act fulfills the requirement for being a true hero and, thus, Hercules regains his godhood. He then defeats Hades by punching him into the River Styx, and returns Megara's soul to her body.

He is then invited by Zeus to live in Olympus, which was indeed originally his wish, but he decides rather to live his life on earth as a mortal with Megara. Although he will eventually die, he believes that even an immortal life without Megara would be empty. Zeus respects this wish, and Hercules returns to the city of Greece.

Hercules: The Series
The animated series Hercules is set in the intervening period between his teen years and his first journey to Thebes as an adult, while he is still in training on Phil's island. The series also reveals that, on Zeus's instruction, Hercules attends a high school called the Prometheus Academy. While there, he befriends Icarus and Cassandra, and gains a rivalry with Adonis.

In the animated sequel to the film, and extension of the series, Hercules and Megara are revealed to have since married, moving into a new home together. During the move-in, however, Hercules's old yearbook from his High School years at Prometheus Academy was uncovered. Not wanting Meg to learn the truth of his embarrassing past, Hercules ordered Hermes to send the book back to Phil's island, to keep it away from Meg at all times. Later on, though, Hercules finds that Megara flew off to the island on Pegasus, and persuaded Phil into revealing the stories of Herc's youth. Once he arrives, he decides to give in and explain some of the stories himself, revealing the truth and believing Meg would see him as pitiful as his peers did back then, only to find out his bride couldn't care less, and her love for him was still as strong as ever.

In a special crossover episode, Hercules met, and battled Aladdin. When Hades and Jafar teamed up, they kidnapped Icarus and blamed the kidnapping on Aladdin. They then kidnapped Aladdin's monkey Abu, and blamed it on Hercules. After a battle, the heroes learn that they've been duped and travel to the Underworld. Aladdin and Hercules work together to eliminate Jafar once more, forcing Hades to simply give up.

House of Mouse
He also appears in the television series House of Mouse. In the episode "Salute to Sports", Hercules is competing in the Olympics with Donald Duck. He is seen in "Everybody Loves Mickey" when Meg compliments Mickey on his heroic cartoon. In "Donald Wants to Fly", Hercules and Phil are seen watching Carpet's stunt performance. In "Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation", he was shown having difficulty weighing a large amount of Pink Elephants. Hercules can also be seen during the opening song with Phil and Megara.

Kingdom Hearts series
Hercules is one of the primary characters featured in the Kingdom Hearts series. Appearing in the first game, Hercules is encountered by Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Cloud Strife after the group runs into Cerberus. Upon the defeat of Cerberus, Hercules is impressed with the trio and encourages them to continue training. When they leave, Hercules reveals to Phil that he had already worn out Cerberus by the time Sora and company came to fight him.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Hercules has continued fighting monsters, but when Megara is captured by Hades, Sora and the others go off to find her so that Hercules can deal with the attacking Hydra. After defeating it, he joins the others in the rescue, but is shocked to discover that the Hydra had caused destruction to the coliseum after Hercules had left it unconscious. The failure causes Hercules to fall into depression. With this opportunity, Hades kidnaps Megara to force Hercules into joining the tournaments in the Underdrome. In the finals, Hercules faces off against a brainwashed Auron and is almost eliminated by the swordsman until the fight is stopped when Sora and the others restore Auron's free will.

Angered by the outcome, Hades throws Megara into the Styx. Like the film, Hercules rescues her and his strength is restored, and helps the group defeat Hades. In the credits, it is shown that Hercules has successfully rebuilt the Coliseum with the help of his friends.

In Birth by Sleep, set 10 years prior to the first game, Hercules appears in his younger incarnation from Hercules: The Animates Series. By this point, Herc was training to become a hero alongside Zack, and witnesses the actions of Terra, Ventus, and Aqua when each had visited the coliseum, each in turn inspiring Hercules and allowing him to continue training with Phil after Hercules helped Ventus fight an Unversed.

Hercules also makes appearances in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a figment of Sora's memories and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Coded is the first and only game in the series in which Hercules appears as a party member, where he teams up with Sora in order to find Hades.

Once Upon a Time
Hercules appears on the show, portrayed by Jonathan Whitesell. He appeared in the episode "Labor of Love". Like in the movie, he was on a quest to return to Mount Olympus. While on his last quest (to defeating 12 beasts and collect 12 labors) he stumbled across Snow White. He listened to Snow White's troubles and decided to train her to become a hero, and taught her to shoot arrows. She faced a group of bandits traumatizing a village, but failed. Hercules then knocked on the ground to cause an earthquake as a warning for the bandits to leave her alone. Snow White wanted to quit, but Hercules convinced her to try again by telling her how he almost died when facing his first labor, but nevertheless succeeded. The day next, Snow White manages to face the bandits valiantly and the villagers were inspired to help. Hercules and Snow White then parted ways with a kiss, with Snow going back to become a better princess and Hercules to slay his last beast: Cerberus. He met Megara, who was being chased by the monster, and tried to slay it. Unfortunately, the beast proved too powerful for him, and he met his demise in the fatal battle. His soul was then sent to the Underworld, where he remained for decades due to his failure to finish his quest.

A grown-up Snow White, now named Mary Margaret, comes across Herc and asks him to help them defeat Cerberus so they may find Killian Jones. He tries to face the beast, but the fear and memory of failure proves to strong. Mary Margaret, after encouraging words from Regina, convinces Herc to try again by teaming up instead of facing it alone. They find a frightened Megara seconds before Cerberus appears, and the three slay it together. While resting at the Underworld version of Granny's Diner, Meg and Herc recognize each other from their last moment of life. There is clear affection between the two. Herc and Meg then ascend to Olympus together.

School of Secrets
Hercules been mentioned in the School of Secrets.

Disney Parks
Hercules appears at the Disney Parks for meet-and-greets, but he's currently very rare.

Hercules can be found at Disneyland Paris on occasions and also in Tokyo DisneySea around the Mediterranean Harbor.

Despite not appearing in the interactive attraction itself (as Hades, Pain, and Panic are the only characters from Hercules appearing in the attraction), Hercules has a spell card known as "Hercules' Tower Topple" in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

Fantasmic!
Hercules appears in the Walt Disney World version of the show, making a cameo during the floating bubble montage alongside other characters from his film. He also appeared on the Steamboat Willie riverboat during the show's finale, but has since disappeared.

Disney Cruise Line
He had his own stage show on the Disney Cruise Line ships called Hercules: The Muse-ical. He is most likely to be seen on the long-running live show The Golden Mickeys.

On the Disney Fantasy ship show Wishes Hercules and the Muses meet three high school graduates. The Muses perform Zero to Hero whilst Hercules battle some of the Titans during the show.

Although never seen in Villains Tonight!, Hercules is mentioned several times, usually to make Hades angry for the reminder of his defeat in the 1997 film.

Trivia

 * Gaia is his great-grandmother like and the ultimate enemy in the original myths.
 * Cronus is his grandfather like in the original myths.
 * Zeus is his father like in the original myths.
 * Hera is his mother in the Disney version while in the original myths she was his stepmother, and despised him.
 * Poseidon and Hades are his uncles like in the original myths.
 * He is also the second animated Disney character to have a villain as a biological relative, after Simba but before Kenai.
 * Amphitrite, Demeter and Hestia are his aunts like in the original myths.
 * In the Disney version Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus and Hermes are his full brothers while in the original myths they were only his half-brothers.
 * In the Disney version Aphrodite, Artemis and Athena are his full sisters while in the original myths they were only his half-sisters.
 * Nemesis was his half-sister according to one version of mythology. If she is a daughter of Zeus and Hera in the Disney version, then she would also be his full sister.
 * Triton and Otus were his cousins in the original myths.
 * Persephone and Dionysus are his cousins in the Disney version as children of Demeter while in the original myths they were his half-siblings.
 * If Pan is a son of Hermes like in the original myths, then he would be Hercules' nephew. In the original myths Pan was his half-nephew.
 * Fear and Terror were his half-nephews by Ares and Aphrodite in the original myths.
 * Cupid was his half-nephew by Aphrodite and either Ares or Hephaestus in the original myths.
 * Even though Amphytryon and Alcmene are his adopted father and adopted mother in the Disney version, in the original myths Alcmene was his birth mother and Amphytryon was his stepfather.
 * Like in the original myths, Megara becomes his wife.
 * She also does so after Hercules defends a dwelling place from a threat. In the original myths it was Thebes from the Minyans, in the Disney version it was Mt Olympus from the Titans and Hades.
 * Despite being the son of the king and queen of the Gods, Hercules himself is not considered a prince nor is he featured in the Disney Princes line up, this is mainly due to his movie's lack of success.
 * Hercules is the most well-built Disney male out of the others, in the likes of Li Shang and those who are rather muscular proportioned as demonstrated by their fitting outfits.
 * Hercules is the only Disney hero to have defeated a number of different beasts and monsters.
 * As a baby, Hercules is the first Disney hero to be given a pacifier.
 * In one episode of the series, a messenger asks for Hercules but mistakes the name as Heracles. Hercules is the Roman equivalent of the Greek name Heracles.
 * He is the only one in the movie that is called by his Roman name.
 * Hercules' mother in the myth is not Hera, but a mortal named.
 * In Mythology, Hercules is driven mad by Hera's jealousy of another step-son, and kills his own wife and children.
 * Hercules is the second Disney male hero to have a personality of naive and innocence, after Quasimodo.
 * He, along with Aladdin and Eric who are said to be the same age, is most likely the youngest of all male human Disney Heroes, as he is 18 during the majority of the film, and most of the other Disney Heroes are in their early twenties.
 * In the film, when posing for a pottery painting, Hercules is seen wearing a lions' head and skin cloak resembling that of Scar.
 * Hercules is the first Disney hero to be seen as an old man.
 * The last full line Hercules speaks in his movie is "I finally know where I belong." However he does say "Ma, Pa" during "A Star Is Born".
 * Hercules is the first Disney hero to have siblings, the second is Prince Naveen who has a little brother. The other Disney Heroes are all presumably only children.
 * If mythology is taken into consideration, Hercules and Ariel are related: Hercules's father is Zeus; Poseidon is a brother of Zeus; one of Poseidon's many sons is Triton; and, of course, Ariel is Triton's seventh daughter. This means Hercules is Triton's first cousin, and Ariel is Hercules's cousin once removed. However if this were true King Triton's lifespan would be called into question as the Little Mermaid takes place in the 1800's and Hercules takes place well over 3000 years in the past. (Though King Triton is a God, and of course, Gods are immortal.)
 * Hercules is the first Disney hero to offer a deal with his enemy (which is Hades). The second is Prince Naveen in The Princess and the Frog, in which he offers his deal with Dr. Facilier.
 * In mythology, Poseidon and Zeus are brothers. Poseidon's son is Triton, Ariel's father. Zeus' son is Hercules, which makes Hercules and Ariel cousins. However, the Triton in Hercules is more amphibious and resembles Hercules with green skin, while King Triton is a merman known to have had red hair in his childhood. The Little Mermaid TV series also states that King Triton's grandfather was named Neptune, which wouldn't have been possible either way (as Neptune and Poseidon were the same mythological character).
 * Disney planned a proposed direct-to-video sequel to Hercules. Hercules is now living in Athens with Megara and their daughter, Hebe. However, when an old friend named Helen is captured by the evil Paris of Troy, Hercules joins the united Greek army as they head out to war; however, this war will create revelations, including Hercules finding an old friend who eventually went missing.
 * In the original myth, Hercules had a twin brother named Iphicles by Amphytryon. This is called Heteroparental superfecundation when two different males father fraternal twins by one woman. This was left out when Disney made Hercules, Zeus and Hera's son instead of Zeus and Alceme.
 * When Hercules is made human, his coloring is duller than other humans. This may be because he was not actually a mortal, but a god.
 * It is unclear why he had to turn back to a immortal to live on Earth with Megara, and what would happen to him when his life as immortal come to an end. About after lives, not only him, but all the demigods and demigoddesses in this universe, their fates are unknown as well.
 * Unlike in myth, all Olympian or deities of other regions (e.g. Egyptian) including demigods and demigoddesses seem that their superhuman physical capabilities are much restricted (possibly). Demigods and demigoddess are actually capable of matching Pantheons.
 * Marvel Comics has its own version of Hercules as one of their superheroes, but the Marvel version of Hercules has yet to appear in a Disney movie or TV show.
 * He had been mentioned in School of Secrets, which probably takes place in Auradon, and Hades is also on the Isle of the Lost.