- “Not so fast, sweetheart. [...] Whoo! I like 'em fiery!”
- ―Nessus[src]
Nessus (known as the "River Guardian") is a large centaur with the head and upper body of a man and the body of a horse. He is a minor villain of Disney's 1997 animated feature film, Hercules.
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Role in the film
Nessus first appears when Megara is sent by Hades to recruit the mighty centaur for the latter's army. In exchange for his service, Nessus wants Meg to be his lover, but her refusal only makes him more persistent. The centaur chases the young woman and grabs her in his hand. Without thinking or analyzing the situation, Hercules barrels in and bravely tells Nessus to unhand her; however, the young hero's command doesn't faze the large centaur. As soon as Hercules pulls out his sword, Nessus uppercuts him and sends him flying halfway across the river, dunked in the water. Nessus walks towards Hercules as the young hero frantically searches for his missing sword. Hercules instead grabs a fish, which screams in fear when it sees Nessus and jumps away, much to the centaur's amusement. With Meg still in his clutches, Nessus roared with laughter before hitting Hercules again, who rammed headfirst into a rock jutting out of the water. Philoctetes then tells Hercules to use his head. Not quite understanding what his hero trainer means, Hercules literally uses his head by head-butting Nessus, sending the centaur flying.
However, Nessus doesn't let that stop him and charges towards Hercules. Excusing himself, Hercules leaps into battle and clearly outmatches Nessus, beating him down. Hercules even rides Nessus before he slams the centaur into a tree, then punches him into the air. Nessus falls back into the lake and is hit on the head with his four horseshoes. Three of them formed a large lump, while the last one catches around it. Pegasus then approaches Nessus and blows him over with a simple breath before stomping on his head. Nessus doesn't appear in the rest of the film.
Video Games
Hercules (video game)
Nessus is the boss of the level The Centaurs' Forest.
Disney's Arcade Frenzy
Nessus is among the guardian enemies in the Flying Frenzy game along with the Minotaur and Stheno. They walk around on the bottom and platform clouds and can be defeated from above or the sides.
