Hercules is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe, based on Heracles of Greek mythology,^[1] the character exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe. He was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 (1965).

Origin

Hercules is the son of Zeus, king of the gods of Olympus, and Alcmena, a mortal woman who lived about three thousand years ago. Recognizing the need for a son who would be powerful enough to defend both the Olympian gods and humanity from future dangers he foresaw, Zeus seduced Alcmena in the guise of her husband, King Amphitryon of Troezen. Thanks to Zeus' enchantment, Hercules was born with the potential for extraordinary strength, which he first displayed before he was even one year old by strangling two serpents which attacked him. As an adult, Hercules is best known for his celebrated Twelve Labors, which were performed in part to prove his worthiness for immortality to Zeus (one of these Labors, the cleansing of the Aegean Stables, was actually performed by the Eternal called the Forgotten One, who was sometimes mistaken for Hercules).

In the course of these Labors, Hercules provoked the wrath of three immortals who remain his enemies to this day. By slaughtering the man-eating Stymphalian birds, he enraged the war god Ares, to whom they were sacred. In temporarily capturing Cerberus, the three-headed hound that serves as guardian to the Olympian underworld (not to be confused with the shape-shifting giant of the same name), Hercules offended Pluto, the lord of that realm. By killing the Nemean lion, the Hydra, and other creatures spawned by the inconceivably grotesque and powerful monster Typhoeus, Hercules gained the bitter enmity of Typhon, the immortal humanoid offspring of Typhoeus and a Titaness.

However, it was the centaur Nessus who caused Hercules' mortal demise. Nessus kidnapped Hercules' wife Deianeira, whereupon Hercules shot him with an arrow. Feigning a wish to make amends, the dying centaur told Deianeira how to make a love charm from his allegedly enchanted blood, aware that it was now tainted with the lethal poison of the Hydra, in which Hercules had dipped his arrows. Some time after Nessus' death, Deianeira, distraught over her husband's latest infidelity, rubbed the supposed love charm into Hercules' shirt. When Hercules donned the shirt, the poison quickly worked and caused Hercules great pain. In an attempt to end this pain, he built a funeral pyre for himself and set it ablaze. Zeus intervened however, consuming the pyre with his thunderbolts and bringing Hercules to Olympus to be made a true immortal.

Publication history

Modern era

Hercules first appears when Immortus pulls him from the ancient past to battle Thor.^[2] However this was subsequently ignored in his later appearances, such as in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 (1965), where he battled Thor in Olympus.^[3] The miniseries Avengers Forever (1998-2000) explained this by having the Hercules from Avengers #10 be a Space Phantom in disguise.^[4]

Hercules made several appearances in The Mighty Thor^[5], even defeating Thor in battle on Earth.^[6] He then unwittingly signed an "Olympian contract," making himself Pluto's slave; Thor rescued Hercules from Pluto's underworld.^[7]

Hercules then appeared in the Avengers during issue #38 as a thrall of the Enchantress,^[8] but goes on to aid the team through issues #39-50 (officially joining in #45) against the likes of the Mad Thinker, the Sub-Mariner, Diablo, Dragon Man, the Red Guardian, Whirlwind, and Typhon.^[9] During this time, it is revealed that he is estranged from his wife, Hebe, due to an argument that Hercules had with his father Zeus.^[10] Hercules later appears in the Olympian arc (#98-100) of the Avengers, where he is captured by Ares' minions, and is rescued by the Avengers on Olympus.^[11]

After that, he battles Thor again in Olympus, and contended with Pluto and Ares.^[12] With Thor, he battles the Destroyer and then battles Firelord.^[13] Hercules and Thor then journey to Ego the Living Planet.^[14] Hercules is then menaced by the "Great Fear," who is actually the Dweller-in-Darkness.^[15] After parting company with Thor, Hercules helps form the Champions, who aid him in battle against Pluto, Hippolyta, and the Huntsman.^[16]

He returns to the Avengers for the final issues of the "Korvac saga" (#173-177).^[17] Hercules makes a guest appearance in issue #211,^[18] and aided in the battle against Surtur's legions in their invasion of New York City ^[19] before rejoining the team on an ongoing basis as of issue #250.^[20]

In the "Avengers Under Siege" storyline in Avengers #270-277,^[21] Baron Helmut Zemo assembled a super-sized version of the Masters of Evil and courtesy of a pawn drug Hercules at a bar. Returning to the Mansion during the siege, a drunken Hercules ignores the Wasp and holds off the attacking Masters of Evil until being surprised and viciously beaten by Goliath, Mister Hyde, and the Wrecking Crew. Hercules falls into a coma as a result of his beating, and is eventually retrieved by Hermes and taken back to Olympus, setting the stage for the "Assault on Olympus" storyline, which ran from #280-285. He was awakened from his coma by Prometheus, but was temporarily insane; he fought his fellow Avengers until he was restored to sanity by Doctor Druid.^[22] Blamed by Zeus for Hercules' condition, the Avengers battle the gods and finally Zeus himself.

Hercules later defeated the High Evolutionary, mutating "beyond godhood" in order to do so.^[23] In time, he returned to his previous godly form.^[24] He then assumed the secret identity "Harry Cleese."^[25] He also had an encounter with one of his worshippers, Magma.^[26]

Taylor Madison, and exile from Olympus

Back on Earth, Hercules falls in love with a woman named Taylor Madison. As their relationship starts to get serious, Hera shows up and attempts to kill her, for Hera and Ares had made a bet on who could hurt Hercules the most.^[27] However, Ares betrays Hera and alerts Zeus in an attempt to get back in his favor. Zeus defeats Hera, but then reveals that Taylor Madison is not a real human being, but a construct created by Zeus himself to lure out Hera. Zeus then removes Taylor from existence, which causes Hercules to lash out to his father. Angered by what he calls "his son's lack of respect", Zeus strips Hercules of his immortality and a great deal of his power, then forbids him from ever returning to Olympus.^[28]

The traumatized Hercules draws support from the Avengers, especially Deathcry, whom he helps to return to her Shi'ar homeworld. Upon returning from space, Hercules discovers that the Avengers have apparently sacrificed themselves to stop the being known as Onslaught. Distraught over the loss of his comrades, he takes to drinking, becoming an alcoholic.

Hercules travels in search of adventure, briefly serving with the Heroes For Hire. When the Avengers and other heroes return from their exile, Hercules joins the reformed team, opting to be an inactive member rather than serve as an active member. Hercules also seeks out Erik Josten, now known as Atlas of the Thunderbolts, in order to exact revenge for the coma he had put Hercules in while Josten was Goliath of the Masters of Evil. Hawkeye, then leader of the Thunderbolts, convinces Hercules to stand down at the cost of their long friendship.

New Labors

With the dissolution of the Avengers during the "Disassembled" storyline and the destruction of Asgard, Hercules falls to old habits, frequenting bars and putting forth the image of a drunkard. With Hercules in a vulnerable position, Hera decides to strike with a new set of Labors. To this end, she utilizes Eurystheus, now the head of a modern company, to film a reality television show of Hercules completing new Labors, updated for the modern age. During the course of his labors, Hercules finds forgiveness from Megara, and returns to defeat Eurystheus. In a concluding conversation with Hades, Hera confirms that the myths were correct in assuming that she caused her step-son to slaughter his family, but apparently not to Hercules knowledge.^[29]

Hercules goes on to fight and seriously injure the Constrictor, a supervillain who then sues Hercules, sending him into financial ruin. After helping Zeus and Ares unite the gods to defend Olympus against invaders, Hercules once again returns to Earth and rejoins Damage Control, with whom he had previously performed community service as a result of his drunken stupors. This time, however, he is an employee, working in construction and demolition. Hercules recovers, however, when he participates in a poker game organized by the Thing and wins much of his fortune back from the Constrictor.

Civil War

In the 2006 Marvel Comics crossover event Civil War, Hercules is shown as an early opponent of the Superhuman Registration Act, and calls the pro-registration heroes "traitors". He takes the alias "Victor Tegler", an IT consultant, as cover to hide from pro-registration forces.^[30] He was outted by Deadpool who tracked Cable and found out several of the secret identities assumed by anti-registration heroes. He is later dismissed as being not particularly intelligent by Tony Stark, who says that he "can't even spell 'registration'".^[31] In the final battle, he defeats the cyborg clone of Thor, smashing the clone's head with his own Mjolnir hammer, screaming "Thou art no Thor!"^[32]

World War Hulk

Issue 106 of The Incredible Hulk ends with Hercules and Archangel meeting with Amadeus Cho, one of the Hulk's allies. They agree to help the Hulk, but, upon encountering him, the Hulk savagely charges them. Hercules is forced to defend himself, but is severely beaten after he stops fighting the Hulk to prove that he is not there to hurt him. Hercules' reason for aiding the Hulk is simple: both men, despite all of their strength, have lost their queen and family. In addition, Hercules wishes to make up for an altercation between the Hulk and the Champions years earlier. He and his team, the newly formed "Renegades", briefly appear in World War Hulk issue 2. The group is comprised of Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Angel, Namora, and the female Scorpion. During the action, Herc and Namora shared a kiss. When the conflict ended, Hercules was the only renegade to stay with Amadeus.

The Incredible Hercules

Marvel changed the name of the Incredible Hulk series to Incredible Hercules from #113 onwards, with the series featuring Hercules and Amadeus as main characters.^[33][34] In the aftermath of the war, Hercules, against Amadeus' wishes, agrees to turn himself in. However, after learning that he will be working under his brother Ares, he escapes, taking Amadeus with him. After finding brief shelter in a refugee camp outside of New York, Hercules speaks with Athena, who is living in Vermont, to try and seek shelter. However, after being shot by Ares with bullets made from Hydra's blood (the poison that resulted in his first, mortal death), he is driven into a psychotic rage by the pain, and begins seeing Amadeus Cho as Iolaus, his nephew and ally from Ancient Greek times. Cho decides to take advantage of the situation, by getting Hercules to attack a S.H.I.E.L.D. base. However both men were stopped by the Black Widow, who knocked out Cho, accidentally breaking the back of Cho's puppy, and cured Hercules of his rage by using fire to burn the poison out of him. Out of respect for Hercules, Natasha lets Hercules go, with her claiming he knocked her out. He reunited with Cho, who captured a S.H.I.E.L.D. mobile base and was willing to destroy all of S.H.I.E.L.D. governmental facilities. Ares followed them, but with some heavy lifting and some tales of his greatest myths, Hercules was able to defeat Ares and convince Cho to halt S.H.I.E.L.D. destruction. Hercules and Cho teleported to where Athena was hiding out, and she warns them of the Secret Invasion.

Secret Invasion

Though Hercules and Amadeus Cho were not directly attacked in the course of the Skrull infiltration, Veranke, before the House of M, named the Olympian demigod among the “bigger guns” at the “top of the list,” to be taken down “one at a time.” However, Kirby was replaced after World War Hulk, and was able to fool the God Squad.^{[volume & issue needed]} In the tie-in to the Secret Invasion, Hercules gathers a team of gods to battle the pantheon of Skrull gods.^[35] This "God Squad" consists of Snowbird, Ajak, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, and Demogorge, and are set to oppose the Skrull gods led by Kly'bn and Sl'gur't.^[36] After the group is forced to experience their worse fears by Nightmare, Snowbird and Hercules make love, after she confesses to him that she doesn't want to be alone anymore.^[37] Soon after a Skrull that had been with them since the end of World War Hulk reveals itself and is quickly dispatched. The issue ends with an impending battle between gods Hercules and Kly'bn, who states "He hears you" "and he loves you". However, Hercules and Snowbird together manage to slay the head god of the Skrulls, destroying the very inspiration for the ongoing Secret Invasion war. Meanwhile Mikaboshi has managed to overcome Sl´gur´t, and apparently assumes the position of leader of the Skrull pantheon, all according to Athena's plan, as shown when the smiling goddess observes the proceedings from afar in her Vermont home.^[38]

Love and War

While Hercules decides to have a vacation with Namora after the Secret Invasion, a group of Amazons attack and capture Amadeus Cho, wanting him to find the Omphalos, and use it to become the world's dominant force. Hercules manages to save the captured Poseidon, and heads to intercept the Amazons at the new axis mundi, Washington, D.C. However, the Amazon leader Artume succeeds in reshaping the world into an Amazon-dominated one, with Hercules as the sole remaining rebel against her regime.^[39]

Meanwhile, Hera and Pluto have taken over the Olympus Group, the modern day seat of power for the Olympians, via the inherited shares of Zeus' and by buying out Poseidon, and have decided the company has a new major goal: the deaths of Athena and Hercules.^[40]

With the help of Hercules, Amadeus, Athena and others, Amadeus´ lover Delphyne manages to slay Artume and restore all of reality. Hercules discovers that Namora's fondest desire is to love Namor, to his shock. Namora is called away to serve in the Agents of Atlas's first mission in the Dark Reign, and Hercules and Amadeus unite after Athena uses what remained of the axis mundi energies to undo the damage inflicted.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In the 130th issue of Hercules, the Olympian and Amadeus Cho, sent by Athena to Hades, neglected by Pluto through his attachment to the mortal plane, must work to defend his fallen father Zeus from the condemnation of Pluto hundreds of feet down in Hades as the court case of the divine rages.^[41]

Mighty Avengers

In the aftermath of Secret Invasion, the activities of the Elder God Chthon create a series of freak events that Cho dubs the "chaos cascade", and concludes the Avengers will be necessary to deal with the events. Hercules and Cho locate Edwin Jarvis, and then Henry Pym and Jocasta, to form the new Mighty Avengers.^[42]

Powers and abilities

Hercules possesses the typical powers of an Olympian, including superhuman speed, durability, and reflexes. His primary power is his superhuman physical strength; Hercules is physically the strongest of all Olympians. His strength is sufficient to hurl a giant Sequoia tree, drag the island of Manhattan back into place,^[43] and preventing a gigantic fissure from ripping it apart.^[44] While the limits of Hercules' strength have never been measured, he has been strong enough to stand toe to toe with Thor and the Hulk.^[3][45] The former once stated that Hercules possesses superior mettle in unarmed combat.^[46]

At one time, Hercules had been punished by Zeus, a punishment marked by a "lightning bolt" tattoo on Hercules' shoulder. As a result, Hercules' powers, particularly his strength and immortality, were weakened considerably. However, in the recent Ares limited series, Hercules is shown fighting on behalf of Olympus with Zeus' blessing, and it has been officially stated that his full strength and godly attributes are restored to their usual levels.^[47]

At his full power, Hercules is functionally immortal, as are all Olympians, being immune to all known diseases, and his godly life force renders him capable of recovering from any conventional injury that does not severely dismember or disintegrate his body, but this was reduced at the time of Zeus' punishment.^[48] Hercules is immensely resistant to physical injury and has withstood the impact of high caliber machine gun shells, falls from tremendous heights, exposure to temperature extremes, the vaccum of outer space, fire, and powerful energy blasts without sustaining injury. It took two point-blank blasts from the god Michael Korvac to bring Hercules to the point of death.^[49] Similarly, Hercules proved able to survive a vicious ambush from several superhumanly strong supervillains, including Goliath, the Wrecking Crew, and Mister Hyde, despite being severely drunk at the time, although he fell into a coma from the damage.^[50] Hercules has even been unaffected by Iron Man's high-level sound waves that subdued even the peak-level Captain America in seconds.

Hercules is an accomplished boxer and Greco-Roman wrestler. He is highly skilled with all forms of weaponry used in ancient Greece as well as the unarmed art of Pankration, which he is reputed to have created. His weapon of choice is his enchanted Adamantine "Golden Mace," forged by Hephaestus, the blacksmith of the gods. The mace is known to be as durable as Thor's mystical Uru hammer, Mjolnir,^[3] and to strike with equivalent force.^[51] He is an extraordinarily gifted archer, as well as an extraordinary hand-to-hand combatant. He was educated by tutors employed by his foster father, Amphitryon.

Before attaining godhood, Hercules employed arrows dipped in the lethal blood of the Lernaean Hydra, and wore the virtually indestructible hide of the Nemean Lion. Hercules sometimes rides about on a chariot built by Hephaestus, which is drawn by enchanted Olympian horses which can fly through space and into other dimensions.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Relationships with other mythical characters

The Mighty Thor

Thor and Hercules are close rivals, but neither has hesitated to help the other if needed. The second meeting between the two gods was chronicled in the six-part series Thor: Blood Oath (2005).^[52] The third meeting takes place in Journey Into Mystery #125 and Thor #126-130, when Thor battles the minions of Pluto to save Hercules from being trapped in the underworld forever.^[53][54] Hercules has returned the favor and assisted Thor on several occasions, a notable example being the final battle against the Dark Gods in Thor (vol. 2) #10-12.^[55] He also mentions that he is a friend of Thor and nearly destroys the Thor clone in his name in Civil War #7, seeing it as an affront to his friend. The two characters seem to regard each other as equals and have a deep amount of respect for each other, though they have not met for a long period of time, even in Marvel time, though Hercules expresses some degree of contempt (tinged with jealousy) when Athena and the Council of Godheads discuss gathering the Mighty Thor to lead the God Squad. Despite this, during the final battle of the Secret Invasion, neither Ares nor Thor appeared to have personal problems with each other, even heartily offering support and congratulations in the midst of the conflict.

Other gods

For all Zeus' gruffness, Hercules volume 2 #4 shows that he regards Hercules as his favorite,^[56] much to the chagrin of the other Olympians — with the exception of Hercules' half-brother Apollo. Ares, Hera and Pluto are Hercules's mortal enemies, while Athena and Poseidon regard him with more favor and liking, assisting him at times; Hercules in turn cares deeply for both, consenting to listen to and aid them when in need. ^[57]

Wonder Woman

During the Marvel/DC crossover JLA/Avengers, Wonder Woman believed Hercules to be a villain, assuming he had raped his dimension's version of her mother, Hippolyta; however, in marvel there relationship was reversed, Marvel Comics' Hippolyta had (with some help from Pluto) captured Marvel Comics' Hercules and raped him agains his will.^[58]. Ironically, the Marvel Universe version of Hercules is a hero while Hippolyta is a villainess, closely allied with her father Ares, whose counterpart is Wonder Woman's archenemy. However, this presented some continuity problems as Diana and her mother had already accepted their incarnation of Hercules' forgiveness, and Wonder Woman had not yet reverted to any previous incarnations.

In a more recent story this contrast appears deliberately spoofed, as Hercules is attacked by amazons led by Hippolyta's daughter, Artume (the Etruscan match for Rome's Diana), a fanatic warmonger, in comparison with Wonder Woman's mission of peace. Additionally, Hippolyta states "I made you from..." (presumably "clay") before being cut off as Artume murders her for being 'lovestruck' and 'too soft'.^[59] It is later revealed by Delphyne - a Gorgon - that the innate magic of her people was used to make Artume from a stone statue.

Other versions

Hercules 2300

Hercules also stars in two miniseries set in the 24th century.^[60][61] In a bid to teach his son humility, an offended Zeus banishes Hercules. Loaned Apollo's chariot and steeds as a means of transportation, Hercules explores the cosmos. He encounters and befriends a Skrull named Skyppi and the Rigellian Recorder #417, woos various ladies (one of whom would give birth to a son who would become emperor of a planet and bitter towards his absentee father), fights assorted aliens, and, hopelessly outmatched against the World Devourer Galactus, only succeeds in amusing him. This, however, proves to be enough, as Galactus forgets his hunger and spares the planet Hercules is defending. After numerous encounters with a variety of other beings, Hercules returns to Olympus to confront Zeus.

Once at Olympus he finds that Zeus has apparently slain all the other gods and now waits for Hercules in order to battle him as well. Zeus orders Hercules to fight, only to have him refuse. Zeus then strips Hercules of his immortality and forms it into a pearl, which he places in an altar fire. He states that now Hercules has something worth fighting for, and attacks him with a war ax. Greatly wounded, Hercules manages to use all his strength to defeat Zeus in single combat. At the end, Hercules has the ax and yet refuses to slay his father. At that point Zeus reveals that it had all been a sham designed to test Hercules strength of character, and that he had been exiled in order to learn humility. Zeus had known that the time of the gods was nearing an end and that Hercules was destined to found a new race of gods for another world if he so chose, but Zeus had to assure himself that Hercules was actually worthy of the honor. Zeus assures Hercules that the Olympian gods are not truly dead, but instead have gone on to another level of existence. Hercules reclaims the pearl of his immortality and journeys to the heavens to find his dynasty.

MC2

In the world of the MC2 Universe, Hercules is one of the last remaining Avengers alive and has bore a son named Argo the Almighty, who has aided the next generation of Avengers.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Marvel Zombies

The zombie Hercules investigates the prone form of the zombie Hulk during the Silver Surfer feeding frenzy. He peers into the Hulk's mouth, noting the Surfer's head. The Hulk smashes Hercules' head between his hands. However, as seen with Colonel America, massive brain trauma does not always stop the zombies.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Hercules is also seen in the Marvel Zombies crossover with the Ultimate Fantastic Four. When the Ultimate Reed Richards visits the Marvel Zombies dimension, She-Hulk and Hercules try to eat him. Reed escapes unharmed.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Collected editions

A number of Hercules' stories have been collected into individual volumes:

• Essential Thor: Volume 2 (includes Journey into Mystery Annual #1 and Thor #126, 128-130, 584 pages, October 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3381-X)
• Hercules: Prince of Power (collects Hercules: Prince of Power #1-4, 192 pages, hardcover, September 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3955-9, softcover, September 1997, ISBN 0-7851-0555-7)
• Thor: Blood Oath (collects Thor: Blood Oath #1-6, hardcover, April 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2274-5, softcover, January 2007, ISBN 0-7851-1852-7)
• Ares: God of War (collects Ares #1-5, 120 pages, November 2006, hardcover, ISBN 0-7851-2333-4, softcover, ISBN 0-7851-1991-4)
• Hulk: WWH - Incredible Hercules (collects Incredible Hulk #106-111, 152 pages, June 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2991-X)
• Smash of the Titans (collects Incredible Hulk #106-112, Incredible Hercules #113-115, and "Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Collide", 296 pages, hardcover, July 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3968-0)

• Incredible Hercules:
  • Against The World (collects Incredible Hulk #112 and Incredible Hercules #113-115 and "Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Collide", 136 pages, hardcover, July 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3312-7, softcover, October 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2533-7)
  • Secret Invasion (collects Incredible Hercules #116-120, hardcover, November 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3333-X, softcover, March 2009, ISBN 0-7851-2829-8)
  • Love and War (collects Incredible Hercules #121-125, 128 pages, hardcover, March 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3334-8, softcover, June 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3246-5)
  • Dark Reign (collects Incredible Hercules #126-131, 160 pages, hardcover, October 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3830-7)

Other media

Television

• Hercules is a recurring character on the Mighty Thor segment of The Marvel Super Heroes.^{[citation needed]}

• Hercules made cameos in the Fantastic Four episodes "To Battle the Living Planet" and "Doomsday" along with the other Avengers.^{[citation needed]}

Video Games

• Hercules is confirmed to be fightable as a mini-boss on the Pro-Registration Side in the upcoming game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2.^{[citation needed]}

Toys

• Hercules was featured in Hasbro's premiere series of Marvel Legends action figures. He came with the left wing of Annihilus.^[62]

Notes

References

External links

• Hercules at the Marvel Universe
• Hercules at the Marvel Database Project
• Hercules at the Comic Book Realm

Interviews

• GREEK WEEK Part I -Pak & Van Lente talk Hercules' Past, Comic Book Resources, March 17, 2008
• GREEK WEEK Part II- "Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Clash", Comic Book Resources, March 19, 2008
• GREEK WEEK Part III: Artist Rafa Sandoval, Comic Book Resources, March 19, 2008
• Love, Olympian Style: Pak & Van Lente talk "Incredible Hercules", Comic Book Resources, September 4, 2008