Hercules

Hercules is one of the primary characters featured in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. 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
''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
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 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 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 all by himself.

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 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, render him vulnerable.

Trivia

 * Hercules is the only protagonist besides Sora, Donald, and Goofy to fight Final Fantasy heroes.
 * Hercules helps you when you fight Hades and Pete in the Underworld as well as fighting with Sora in the Hades Cup in the 2nd visit Olympus Coliseum.
 * You also fight Hercules in the Hercules Cup, Titan Cup and the Paradox Titan Cup.
 * 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' 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 here by Sean Astin), but did in Kingdom Hearts II.
 * It is unknown why Hercules has yet to become a party member in Olympus Coliseum. It could be due to his smaller roles in the games. So far, he has only been a "unofficial" party member like Queen Minnie and Past Pete.

Hercule