Hercules

Hercules is one of the primary characters featured in the Kingdom Hearts series. He is a demi-god and son of Zeus, living on Olympus Coliseum. His enemy is Hades, lord of the Underworld. Hercules possesses great strength and can battle the toughest of monsters. He is very supportive of Sora's goal to become a true hero.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Hercules (1997)

A boy with tremendous strength who goes by "Herc" for short.

He was born a god, but someone kidnapped him when he was a baby, and ever since he has lived down on earth as a mortal.

After learning he can rejoin the gods on Olympus if he becomes a true hero, he asked Phil to train him, and has been hard at work ever since.

Kingdom Hearts
''A legendary hero with godlike strength. He's the son of the gods Zeus and Hera, but not a god himself. The people regard Hercules as a true hero.''

He went from "zero to hero" in "Hercules" (1997).

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Son of the god Zeus and Hera, but not a god himself.

With godlike strength and a gentle heart, Hercules is a true hero.

He has never lost at the Coliseum games.

Kingdom Hearts II

 * First Entry

Hercules (1997)

''A legendary hero with super strength -- and a pretty great fellow, too. Hercules is the son of the god Zeus and Hera, but he's not a god himself. Not long ago, he joined forces with Sora and his friends to stop Hades from taking over the world.''

''Hercules really impresses the crowds when he battles in the Coliseum. He's never lost a match yet.''


 * Second Entry

Hercules (1997)

''A legendary hero with super strength. When the Hydra destroyed the Coliseum, Hercules thought he'd let everyone down. Now he isn't sure he's the hero he thought he was, and he seems to have lost his fighting spirit.''

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Young Hercules is training to become a hero alongside Zack, hoping to restore his godhood and return to Mt. Olympus by proving himself a true hero. After seeing Terra fight, he wishes to become like Terra.

He meets Ventus and after he, Ven and Zack fight and defeat the Unversed, Hercules suggests to Ven that he should train under Phil to become a hero. During the final match with Zack, the Unversed attack the city and Ven runs off to defeat them. Herc instantly gives up the fight to help Ventus. After the battle, a hidden Unversed attempts to attack Herc from behind, but is defeated by Zack. Phil then comes forth and declares to coach Hercules for being fast enough to make a helpful decision. In truth, Phil never planned on giving up Herc.

He also meets Aqua, appearing after Zack attempted to ask Aqua out. He points out how Aqua's "face is all red", and also gets advice from Aqua to not always rely on his strength, and she also tells him that she believes he will become a true hero someday.

In the ending credits, Hercules is seen training under Phil with Zack watching by the gate before something takes him away.

Kingdom Hearts
Hercules is not seen in Olympus Coliseum until he saves Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Cloud Strife from Cerberus. Sora, Donald and Goofy run back to battle Cerberus so Hercules can escape with an unconscious Cloud. Upon the defeat of Cerberus, Hercules is impressed with the trio but encourages them to continue training when Phil grants them "Junior Heroes". When they leave, Hercules reveals to Phil that he had already worn out Cerberus by the time Sora and company came to fight him. Hercules later battles Sora in a one-on-one battle in the Hercules Cup. When Sora wins and gains the Hercules Cup, as well as the ability to access the Yellow Trinity Mark, he comments that his heart's strength comes from his friends, and Hercules supports him in it.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Hercules' storyline for Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is basically the same for as Kingdom Hearts. You meet him where Phil is about to cancel the games because no one else got past his preliminary course. Sora convinces them to keep the games because Sora wants to fight Hercules. Hercules agrees and Cloud shows up to add another contender to the games. During the games, Cloud wants to eliminate Hercules so he can have his lost memories restored. At the end of the course, Cloud and Hercules are fighting to the death and Hades intervenes, determined to kill Hercules himself, as Cloud could not finish him off. Sora then defends Hercules from Hades. After Hades is beaten, Hercules would like to fight Sora, but is not in his top fighting form and promises Sora a fight when he is.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Hercules makes a small appearance in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. He was out looking for possible new heroes for the Coliseum and was said to have sent someone to start training with Phil. Phil mistook Roxas as this person and started training him. Hercules is shown training in a couple of scenes and another one where he walks by Roxas to talk to Phil. Phil then tells Hercules how well Roxas is doing and Hercules says that his person he found couldn't even be here since it will take him awhile to get to the Coliseum.

Kingdom Hearts II
Hercules spends most of his days in the coliseum battling Hades' monsters, including the Rock Titan and the Hydra. He gets rather tired but hides his exhaustion from Megara and his friends. When Megara is captured by Hades, Sora and the others offer to find her so that he can deal with the Hydra at hand. After he "kills" the monster, he runs into the Underworld to join the others in saving Meg. He later feels depressed for the destruction of the coliseum at the hands of the Hydra.

Upon Sora's second visit to the destroyed Coliseum, Hercules is still depressed. Hades forces Hercules to join in the tournaments in the Underdrome and uses Megara as threat. Before the finals, Sora and the others encounter their friend Auron, who was being brainwashed at the time. In order to buy them time, Hercules offers to fight Auron one-on-one - to the death. Sora, Donald and Goofy stop the fight just as Hercules is about to run out of endurance and help Auron regain his will. Angered by the outcome, Hades throws Megara into the Styx and Hercules jumps in after her and so regains his strength by reminding himself that a true hero's strength comes from his heart. With the revived Hercules on their side, the group defeats Hades, and witnesses the creation of a new constellation shaped like Sora, Donald, and Goofy, making the trio true heroes at long last.

The credits of the game show that Hercules has successfully rebuilt the Coliseum with the help of his friends.

Kingdom Hearts coded
In coded, Hercules makes his first appearance as one of Sora's party members. He teams up with Sora to help him find Hades, as well as destroy the Heartless and Blocks in the way. Like in Kingdom Hearts, he has been seen battling Cloud, who ironically also joins Sora as a party member. Hercules fights Cerberus alongside with Sora and Cloud. After defeating Cerberus, he fights Hades again. After that is over, Hercules will take bundles of scraps for you and trade them for synthesis items. You can give him bundles of 39, 49, or 60 scraps.

Personality
Hercules is shown to be tough, yet caring, willing to withstand hours of intense training at the hands of his mentor, Phil. He has a genuine love for Megara, and is willing to sacrifice even his own life for her. He is not without fault, however, as insults from Hades and a series of tough matches, including a loss to the Hydra, cause the hero to doubt his worth. It is when his friends' lives are most in danger that Hercules realizes he is not worthless, and that, in his words, "A true hero is measured by the strength of his heart."

Appearance
Extremely muscular, with broad shoulders and a comparatively thin waist, Hercules is always seen wearing orange-brown armor that ends in a sort of metal skirt. His armor does not extend to his arms, nor to most of his legs. He wears a brown belt around his waist with a gold emblem with the symbol of Zeus printed on it. Hercules's sandals are knee-high and have cross-shaped straps and are brown, as are two wristbands he also wears. He has a reddish-brown headband tied around his forehead, pushing back his rust-colored hair (save for one bang that falls over it. The only aspects of Hercules's appearance not colored in earth tones are his sky blue eyes and short, deep blue cape. He is occasionally seen with a simple sword with a brown handle and yellow cross-guard, but apparently prefers to fight barehanded.

In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, a much younger Hercules is seen prior to becoming a hero. His appearance is like in Hercules The Animated Series. At this point in his life, Hercules was rather scrawny and far from muscular. His sandals were not knee-high like his current self's, and he wore a plain white toga that left most of his legs, his arms, and the right side of his chest exposed. There was a metal pendant engraved with Zeus's symbol that was attached to the strap on his left shoulder. His headband and wristbands were also absent. His hair was a bit longer as well, being just about shoulder-length and seemed to be a brighter shade of orange than it is now.

Origin
A demi-god and son of the Sky God Zeus, Hercules is known as "Heracles" in ancient Greek mythology. He still possesses his great strength seen in the Disney adaption of the "character," yet several plots seen in this version of Hercules do not remain present in the realm of myths. One similarity is that both are considered a hero in their own right, battling a series of monsters. Mythology has a much more diverse love life, no rivalry with Hades or affiliation with Phil, and no goal to regain his "god" status. Myth also depicts the hero as a man wielding a club rather than a sword, carrying a lion's pelt as his only source of clothing.

In the Disney film by the same name as this hero, Hercules was kidnapped as an infant from his home on Mount Olympus and turned mortal by Pain and Panic. Growing up a strong, teased and misunderstood teenager with mortal adopted parents, Herc left home to seek out his true identity. A conversation with his father Zeus told him to seek out Philoctetes, trainer of heroes, and learn to be a "true hero" so he could reclaim godship. Hercules arose to fame, and eventually found love in Megara. It was a love for this woman that allowed Hercules to become a "true hero" when he risked his life for hers.

In Battle
Main article: Hercules (Boss)

When fought in the various Coliseum tournaments in the first Kingdom Hearts, Hercules is invincible and protected by a golden aura - Sora must pick up and throw barrels at him to make him vulnerable for a short time. The best time to throw a barrel at Hercules is when he's taunting by saying "Hey! You give up yet?" and flexes his muscles. You can tell he is going to taunt when he slowly side steps across the field first. Hercules attacks with various punches and also slams the ground, unleashing a shockwave. He also has other attacks that include delivering a bullet punch, spinning around the field with his sword out, a charging headbutt and even unleashing an energy explosion around him.

When fought in the Titan and Paradox Titan cups in the Underdrome during Kingdom Hearts II, Hercules uses powerful punches and headbutts, and can jump and unleash a shockwave when he lands. He can also summon a gold aura, turning himself invincible, inspired by the end of his Disney movie.

For two fights with Hades, Hercules assists Sora as an ally. He uses his punch attacks, and has two special commands: Aura Guard, which summons a barrier around him to protect Sora, and Aura Sphere, which summons two orbs of energy that, when hit into Hades, extinguish his fire and render him vulnerable to physical and magical attacks.

Quotes

 * A true hero is measured by the strength of his heart.
 * Hades was right. I'm just a... a washout!
 * Junior heroes, always busy!
 * Phil, get them outta here!
 * Sora! Donald! Goofy! When did you get here? You out on another adventure?
 * I'm gonna show these guys what happens when they mess with a true hero.

Trivia

 * Hercules is the only protagonist besides Sora, Donald, and Goofy to fight Final Fantasy heroes.
 * Hercules's father, Zeus, along with the other gods have yet to make an appearance on Mount Olympus in the series. This may be touched upon in future games, because Zeus is mentioned more and more in the series, plus he crafted the constellation of Sora, Donald, and Goofy after the second visit is over, thus proving that they are indeed true heroes. The constellation scene is similar to the movie as he did the same thing for Hercules. He is the only one who is capable of this power.
 * Strangely, Hercules's original voice actor, Tate Donovan, from the original film (and spin-off TV show), did not reprise his role in the first game (in which Hercules was voiced in North America by Sean Astin), but did in Kingdom Hearts II.
 * Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Hercules and Philoctetes are the only Disney characters to be in every game in the series.

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Hercule