Olympus

Olympus is a world in Kingdom Hearts III, based on the Disney film Hercules. It is an expansion on the recurring world of Olympus Coliseum, enlarging the town of Thebes and allowing access to the whole of Mount Olympus, rather than just the Coliseum.

Settings and Areas
In Kingdom Hearts III, Olympus is drastically expanded compared to Olympus Coliseum and covers three major areas: Mount Olympus, Thebes, and the Realm of the Gods. However, the coliseum itself does not appear in the game.

Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (オリンポス山) is the area Sora's party briefly visits upon entering the world. After getting blasted all the way to Thebes following an encounter with Hades gone wrong, the party re-approaches the mountain at the Keikoku (渓谷) near its base, where there is a normally shallow river and waterfall that Water Cores have turned into overflowing rapids until the Heartless are destroyed. Directly above the Ravine is the Gakemichi (崖道), which houses a shrine and towering statue of Zeus. Past this is the Dangai (断崖), the almost completely vertical face of the mountain that reaches into the clouds, leading to stormy weather; the climb is made more treacherous by rock slides caused by the Rock Titan. After scaling the walls and heading through the caves, the party finally reaches the Sanchō (山頂), where their epic battle against the Rock Titan takes place, and where the golden gates to the Realm of the Gods itself can be found.

Thebes
Thebes (テーベ) is the bustling city near Mount Olympus where Megara lives. The entrance to the city is located at the Shimin Hiroba (市民広場), a plaza with a massive statue of Hercules in the center. To help with the rescue effort against the Heartless, Hercules flings the party to Thebes' highest point, the Oka (丘), where one has clear view of the whole city, and where the party can interact with the Cherry Flan. From there, the party travel down to the Teien (庭園), a beautiful and pristine place largely undamaged by the Heartless, and the site where Zeus buried Pandora's Box, which Maleficent and Pete falsely presume to be the Black Box they are searching for. Further down is Omotedōri (表通り), a confined street that leads back to the Agora; alternatively, the party can keep going forward and take a detour through the Roji (路地), which connects to the plaza fountain through a waterway.

Realm of the Gods
At the top of Mount Olympus is Olympus itself, otherwise known as the Realm of the Gods (天界). At the entrance of the realm is the Zentei (前庭), with a staircase in the back leading up towards the Kaisō (回廊), a small network of halls and narrow waterways that Sora's party can grind on. A passageway to the right of the main hall leads down a pit into the Kaji Kōbō (鍛冶工房), where the Knight's Shield+ can be forged for Goofy, with a Flowmotion rail leading back up to the Corridors. To the left of the hallway entrance is another rail that coils up a mountain of clouds to the Kumo no Mine (雲の峰) at its peak. After passing through the main hallway, Sora must airstep up a stormy ascent to the Ten no Itadaki (天の頂) at the peak of Olympus, where his party's final battle with the Titans takes place; after their victory, a Flowmotion rail appears that connects the Apex to the Corridors as an alternative route.

Kingdom Hearts III
With his past plots to defeat Hercules using Terra, Cloud, and Auron having all failed, Hades decides to unleash his master plan: to free the Titans from their prison, and use them to attack Olympus and rule over the Cosmos.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive at Mount Olympus in the hopes of arriving at the Olympus Coliseum, but missing the Coliseum itself. They attempt to scale the mountain to find Hercules, but find themselves going in circles and are forced to call for Hercules himself. Hades, annoyed at them calling Hercules's name, appears and has the Titans blow them away to Thebes. Before he could attack Olympus, though, Maleficent and Pete arrive in search of a Black Box. Hades believes them to be looking for Pandora's Box and directs them to its location.

Meanwhile, Sora and company crash at Thebes, where they are saved by Hercules. After learning that Hades is responsible for attacking Thebes, Sora reveals that his strength has vanished and asked Hercules how he regained his power during their last visit. Hercules mentions strength of heart is important, and when he had saved Meg in Danger. Unfortunately, he is unable to provide him the sufficient answer he needed. Eventually, Flame Core Heartless rain down and Sora and company begin to fight off Heartless that are attacking the city. After telling Megara and Phil to leave on Pegasus, Hercules launches Sora, Donald, and Goofy on his statue to rescue a little girl who was trapped in the fire. After saving the little girl, Sora soon encounters Maleficent and Pete, who quickly ignore him, but not before Pete mocks Sora for being weaker than before.

Sora and company travel across Thebes, saving citizens from the Heartless and helping Hercules save citizens from a collapsing temple. When they escape the temple, they encounter Xigbar, who taunts the heroes, saying that he doesn't admire Hercules' heroics due to his Demigod stature and the fact that he doesn't find any worth in jumping in to save someone for no reason. After he leaves, Hercules encourages Sora to pay no heed to Xigbar's words, assuring that they'll prove him wrong. Back in the town square, Hercules learns that his father Zeus is in trouble, and the group traverses back up Mount Olympus. Towards the peak of the mountain, Sora and company defeat the Rock Titan before finally confronting Hades at the Realm of the Gods, where Hades is imprisoning Zeus. Hades has the rest of the Titans attack, but Sora and company defeat them as well. Hercules sends the Titans flying across the sky, and sends Hades packing to the Underworld as well. After chasing Hades away, Hercules decides to stay in the human realm because of his love for Megara, claiming a life without her would be empty. After finding the answer he needs, Sora vows to keep helping wherever he can to regain his lost strength, with Hercules encouraging Sora to continue chasing after his strength with all his heart.

Back in Thebes, Maleficent and Pete find Pandora's Box and quickly deem it as not the box they are looking for. Xigbar, spying on them, says to himself, "May your heart be your guiding key." Suddenly, Luxord appears behind him, and tells him a riddle as an example for aimlessly guessing where the Black Box was. Xigbar tells Luxord to do his job, which causes Luxord to remark on him always carrying out orders from the higher ups, all the while observing his opponent's strategies before asking if the order to search for the Black Box came from Xehanort or Xemnas. After ruling out Xehanort, Luxord concludes it was Xemnas, or rather Xigbar himself. When Xigbar denies this and says it was indeed Xemnas, Luxord proves him wrong after revealing he inquired directly to Xemnas, shocking Xigbar. Luxord inquires on Xigbar's intentions, though Xigbar attempts to lie his way out of the topic. However, Luxord, not believing anymore lies, throws a card towards Xigbar and questions him on the Black Box's sudden importance and his true identity, as he believes that he wishes to secure the Black Box in order to remove any connections to him with it. Though Xigbar gives no answer after catching the card other than an angry look, Luxord stands down, remarking that it wouldn't matter to him while explaining he was content with being silent before warping away.

After Xehanort's defeat, Hercules continues to repair the town, before Megara surprises him with his rebuilt statue.

Characters

 * The Fates are mentioned by the Narrator.
 * The Muses are shown in an image on a wall in Thebes.
 * Terra, Cloud, and Auron appeared as statues during the opening cutscene of Olympus.
 * Aphrodite, Dionysus, Ares and Hades' Horse make cameo appearance in the manga adaptation.

Gallery
L'Olympe Olymp El Olimpo