Hercules

The show has aged a bit but it had an enthusiastic fan base and remains a cult series. Its spin-off with break-through character Xena acquired an even more dedicated fan following.

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Background

Powers & Abilities

As a demigod (half-god, half-human), Hercules possesses considerable superhuman strength allowing him to lift and throw several tons.

Although his durability is not quite proportionate to his strength, it is superhuman enough that he has survived avalanches and being tossed over hills. Cutting and impaling weapons can break his skin but only when wielded by gods or other beings of superhuman power have they ever caused him to be badly wounded.

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He acquired an array of other powers that he retains only while in Ireland. Most are very subtle and are not mentioned as he only used them once. However, he possesses a considerable amount of superspeed while in the Land of Erin.

Video

The intro sequence (in 240p, it’s an old show – but at least this way you can just watch it on this page) at the very beginning on the show. It explains things.

History

Hercules has a rich and complex background. A man named Amphytryon, and his wife, Alcmene, had a son named Iphicles. When the boy was a few years old, Amphytryon went off to war. One day, he returned and made love with his wife.

As it turned out, Amphytryon died in the war without ever returning. The visitor was Zeus, King of the Gods, having appeared to her looking like her husband. She was pregnant with Zeus’s child. It is unclear if she realized who it really was before he was born or not until after. She named him Hercules.

From an early age, it was clear he had inherited gifts from his father. He was immensely strong. He also had a keen mind.

At some point in his childhood, his mother sent him to study at the training academy of Ceridian the Centaur. There he met Iolaus who would become his best friend and also Jason. He learned the arts of war and also, from experience on the battlefield, to avoid war except when absolutely necessary.

Don’t attack the Amazons

As a young adult, he had a condescending attitude toward women. They were there for one thing. Then he and Iolaus were asked to journey several days to a remote village where the villagers were being killed by strange beasts.

The creatures turned out to be the main tribe of amazons led by Queen Hippolyta. The men did not want to admit they were being bested by women. Iolaus was killed in the first battle and Hercules was captured. He could have escaped but he sensed something strange was going on and he felt some attraction to Hippolyta.

He soon discovered that she was being manipulated by Hera, Queen of the Gods and wife of Zeus. Hera could not vent her rage at Zeus himself for his numerous infidelities so she took it out on the women he seduced or on the illegitimate children he sired.

As the most powerful of those children and a son that was clearly a favorite of Zeus’s. The skyfather was always following his son’s career albeit Hercules in the early days did not know that, Hercules became her primary target.

She tried using Hippolyta to kill Hercules and, when that failed, she possessed the Queen of the Amazons and forced her to leap to her death, knowing how much it would hurt him. Hercules demanded that Zeus turn back time to undo what had happened and Zeus reluctantly agreed.

Hercules found himself several days back in time. Only he and Zeus remembered what would happen. He avoided the conflict ever happening. When the messenger came to ask for help, Hercules informed him that the men knew very well who these “beasts” were. He told him that they needed to swallow their pride and negotiate because if he went there, it would provoke Hera and cause the death of Iolaus.

Meeting his match

During his adventures, Hercules met Deinara, a smart and headstrong young woman who he soon fell in love with. They eventually married and had 3 children. How long they were together is uncertain but, based on the ages of the children, a decade would be a good rough estimate.

Eventually, Hera used a fireball to burn their home, killing his wife and children. The “fireball” was later revealed to be a demonic entity called Pyro (no relation) who served Hera.

For a short period of time, Hercules was consumed with the desire for vengeance. He went about destroying Hera’s temples. But he soon realized this was not who he really was. When Iolaus was almost killed on another mission while Hercules was busy with his revenge, he got past his anger and returned to his heroic ways.

Sometime later, Hercules was reunited with his old and original flame, Nemesis, whom he had known since he was a teenager. She was his first love and also the “hit woman” of the gods, especially of Hera. She was sent to kill Iolaus for the crime of arrogance but chose to judge him herself and commute the sentence. Iolaus being jealous of Hercules’ superhuman abilities was a recurring theme.

The warrior princess

One of the most significant events in history occurred when Hercules encountered the female warrior, Xena, though it seemed less important at the time. She seduced Iolaus into leading her army, as he thought her cause was just. She manipulated Hercules and Iolaus into fighting each other but Iolaus finally saw through her deception.

Hercules and Iolaus defeated her men while she escaped. This led to another encounter where Hercules convinced her to change her ways and fight for the cause of good. Later events and alternate realities revealed she would have become the conqueror of Greece and the known world had he not influenced her.

Again, a recurring theme was the jealousy of those around Hercules including that of his half-brother, Iphicles. For a time Iphicles went about pretending to be Hercules while avoiding any displays of super strength since he was incapable of them.

He was finally confronted by Hercules when he went to work for an evil warlord in order to gain the love of the warlord’s daughter. Iphicles, like Iolaus, realized his own merits and helped Hercules overthrow the warlord while also winning the love of the daughter, Rena.

Nemesis was eventually punished for her disobedience by being made mortal by Hera. At the same time, Hera’s enforcer, formed from water, was sent to kill Hercules but he defeated her.

Hercules is portrayed as originating the Olympic Games. In this case, he does it to end a war between the Spartans and the Eleans.

The golden hind

Many significant events occurred in the life of Hercules, far too many to mention them all. But one of the most outstanding occurred when Hercules and Iolaus tried to save the last of the Golden Hinds from hunters. These creatures had the upper bodies of humans – more or less – and the lower bodies of deer.

Zeus had previously killed all but one of them because their blood was a poison that could kill even a god. One of them, Serena, was absent when Zeus attacked. Ares subsequently protected her because he knew the potential power he had as long as he might have access to that blood.

Serena could assume human form. In that form, she had healing powers but being touched by a mortal human caused her to transform to her “Hind” form and she could not take human form again until she calmed down.

Serena and Hercules fell in love but there was a price from the gods for their marriage to take place. Hercules must give up his godly powers and become fully human. She must give up her Hind form and become a human without even the healing powers. They agreed and were married.

But Ares immediately double-crossed them. He had his nephew, the minor god Strife, kill Serena and frame Hercules for the crime. With the help of Xena, Gabrielle and Iolaus, the true murderers were revealed. Zeus restored Hercules’ powers. But he would not bring Serena back.

A short time later, Hercules again encountered Autolycus, the self-styled King of Thieves. He had stolen the Kronos Stone, an artifact that could stop time and even allow a person to travel through time. Autolycus and Hercules found themselves thrown several years back in time.

Hercules met Serena just after the rest of her species was killed by Zeus. He saved her from being killed in the future. That was at the price of changing history so that they never fell in love and married.

Dark Hercules

Hercules discovered there was an alternate reality in which he was a warlord called the Sovereign who ruled Greece. There was also a limbo between the two realities. A deity from outside of the world, known as Dahak, manipulated Callisto and Ares into trapping Hercules in that limbo.

Callisto went back in time and killed Hercules while he was in the womb. But Iolaus with the help of Ares (who realized he had been set up) and later the Kronos Stone, was able to go back and change things back to normal. Hercules escaped from limbo back into his world. He now knew that an enemy of unprecedented evil was trying to enter the world.

When Hercules’ mother died, leaving his friend Jason a widower, Zeus appeared. He offered Hercules the chance to become a full god so that he would be able to help people even more. It turned out that Hera had gotten most of the gods to ally with her in an attempt to overthrow Zeus.

So his offer of godhood was really for protection. But Hercules took it and helped defeat Hera and her minions. He then asked that he be returned to his status as a half-god, half-human. He believed that if he was meant to be a full god, he would have been born one.

Gods around the world

Shortly after this, Hercules met Gilgamesh, King of Sumeria and himself a half-god with superhuman strength. But Gilgamesh had sold his soul to Dahak and performed a ritual to allow Dahak to manifest in the world.

Gilgamesh’s half-sister, the pirate Nebula, was the intended sacrifice. But Iolaus jumped in the way of the sacrificial knife to save her and was killed. This allowed Dahak to possess Iolaus’s body.

Stricken with grief, Hercules embarked on a journey to Ireland. There he met the druids. Hercules suffered his first undeniable defeat in combat when he was utterly stomped by the Celtic half-goddess Morrigan. She moved so fast he seemed to move in slow motion. Learning to regain his belief in himself and to tap the power of the Land itself, he gained the same speed, defeated her and redeemed her.

He later met the Norse gods and battled Thor who, in this setting, was not all that proficient at combat.

Back to Dahak

Returning to Sumeria, Hercules realized that Dahak had possessed the body of Iolaus. He then pursued him back to Greece. Forcing his way into Dahak’s realm, Hercules was reunited with Iolaus. They were able to confront Dahak in physical form, throwing him into an abyss and trapping him forever. Iolaus then was ascended to Heaven.

Subsequently, Iolaus returned to Earth to help save the world when the Arch-angel Michael unleashed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. By being willing to sacrifice his own life, Hercules won the day.

Hera was able to return from the Abyss where she had been cast by the power of her grandson, Evander. However, she was bereft of her memories. When she regained them, she attacked Zeus. But when her desire for revenge killed her grandson, she finally repented. Combining her power with Zeus’s, she brought him back and she was finally reconciled with Hercules.

No synopsis could detail all of the important events in the life of Hercules. One would have to mention almost every other adventure and what one person thinks was important, another would not and vice versa. But this is one person’s overview.

Description

Hercules is a tall man, lean but muscular. He typically wears heavy leather pants and an armless yellow shirt. His forearms are adorned by the Gauntlets of Hephaestus.

Personality

Soft-spoken and insightful, Hercules is the classic hero who believes in justice and fair play and compassion above all else.

Quotes

“I have resisted the gods, because instead of helping us, they interfere with us. And I have bent the law when my heart tells me it’s unjust, because justice is not about the letter of the law, but the spirit. And I do try to inspire others to be everything they are capable of being. If this is sedition, then I am guilty.”

“But there is something more on trial here. The hero. A hero is a person who’s not afraid to risk his life for another. And sometimes, like Kazankus, it means losing that life. It’s what separates us from the animals and from the gods who would like us to believe we are less than we are. And that is why we all need heroes, to set a higher standard that others can aspire to. If I’m guilty of this, then I’m proud of it. If this is sedition, then I’m proud of that too and you might as well sentence me, because I won’t stop trying to do what’s right. My heart won’t allow it. If this is wrong, take me now.”

“Okay, guys, look, we can do this the hard way or we can do this the easy way. Nobody ever wants to do it the easy way.”

DC Universe History

There is already a DCU Hercules or Heracles. He takes the Greek Myths to the dark side as much as the Hercules of The Legendary Journeys takes them to the side of good.

A cross-dimensional meeting of the two would be interesting. However either the DCU Heracles would have to have his strength and durability hugely reduced or the The Legendary Journeys Hercules would have to have his strength and durability massively upgraded for there to be any sort of confrontation worth having.

By Doug Mertaugh.

Source of Character: The television series Hercules the Legendary Journeys and some episodes of the series Xena Warrior Princess written by Christian Williams, Paul Robert Coyle, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and many, many others. Hercules was portrayed by Kevin Sorbo.