Hercules (Marvel)

Hercules Panhellenios (birth name Alcaeus), but better known as Hercules, is a superhero from Marvel comics who is based largely on the hero of myth - though he, much like Thor, has been updated into a superhero in the comics and has fought against a collection of supervillains and criminals of varying significance.
He was created by the late Stan Lee, the late Jack Kirby, and the late Charles Nicholas, and first appeared in Young Allies #16 in June of 1945.
==Biography==
===Origin===
Born to the Greek sky god Zeus and a mortal woman, Hercules's super strength was evident when he was born, as he crushed two serpents sent to kill him by his stepmother, Hera. As an adult, Hercules became one of the greatest heroes in Greco-Roman history, but his adulterous ways proved to be his undoing when his wife was tricked into giving him a tunic laced with the gall of a hydra under the lie that it would render him a more faithful husband.
Made into a full god by Zeus, Hercules eventually returned to Earth, where he had a brawl with, and later saved from forced rule of the underworld by his old friend, Thor. At a later date, Hercules was brainwashed by the Enchantress into attacking the Avengers, only to be banished by Zeus for leaving Olympius without his permission.
After aiding the team in several adventures, he was granted full membership, but left after saving the rest of the Olympians from the evil Titan, Typhus. However, he has returned to group time and again, and views them as true friends. Herc is currently the mentor of the next Prince of Power, Amadeus Cho.
===Birth===
Herakles was born Alcaeus, and is the son of the Olympian God king Zeus, and Alcmena, the Queen of Thebes in Ancient Greece. His birth came from a result of Zeus seducing Alcmena in the guise of her husband, Amphitryon, who was off at war against the pirates of Taphos. Due to his Olympian lineage, Hercules was born a Demigod, being the son of a God and a human, and had the potential to have massive strength. Despite his birth, Zeus' wife and sister Hera grew jealous of his adultery, but Alcmena attempted to appease the goddess by naming her son Herakles/Hercules (which means "Glory of Hera").
The child was at first abandoned outside Thebes, but Hera and Athena found him, and he was given the queen's divine breast milk. While Hera was breastfeeding him, Hercules' strength harmed her when he bit down harder, and was later returned home to Amphitryon. However, Hera sent two serpents to kill Hercules, but the one year old strangled them both with his bare hands.
===Early Years===
Amphitryon raised Hercules as his own son, and trained in all forms of combat, and gave the child many teachers. During one lesson with his music teacher, Hercules killed him with a single blow after he had criticized his lack of skill. Afterward, Hercules would go on many adventures of his own, taking what he learned to fight and protect himself.
In 1291 B.C., Hercules encountered a group of Minyan warriors travelling to sack Thebes, but the demigod beat them all with ease. Hercules was latter imprisoned for the attack, as this would lead Thebes and the Minyan people to war. At this time, Hercules learned the truth of his origin from his parents, and they gave him the garb bestowed on them from Zeus. Hercules attempted to kill the Minyan leader, but his axe shattered, and Amphitryon was later killed during the battle. The king thanked Hercules for saving the city, and gave him the hand of his daughter, Princess Megara.
In 1289 B.C., Hercules journeyed with the Jason and the Argonauts, battled the Akaana and faced the Lernean Hydra, saw the death of Medusa, and defeated Antaeus. He was left behind by the Argonauts when his companion Hylas was taken by the Nymphs on the island of Mysia, and he couldn't resign to search for him.
===The Twelve Labors===
Hercules performed the twelve labors to prove his worthieness for immortality to Zeus, and did them around 1277 B.C. Hercules returned from his twelfth and final labor, only to find that Euboen Lycus killed King Creon and condemned Megara and his three sons to death. Enraged, Hercules killed Lycus, but killed his family, and felt shame for his actions.
Hercules' friends, such as Theseus decided to accuse Hera for sending a curse onto him, but he didn't correct them, and was too ashamed of having killed his family. He changed his name Herakles to the roman Hercules to distance himself from Hera, and completed the labors to atone for his actions.
===Post Labors===
In 1268 B.C., Ares' son Kyknos decided to build a temple to him from the bones of the travelers he met, and met Hercules. The two clashes as Ares attempted to help his son, as Athena supported Hercules against Kyknos. Ares was wounded and retreated, and Kyknos was killed by Hercules, sparking Ares' rivalry against the demigod.
In 1264 B.C., King Laomedon of Troy asked Hercules to save his daughter form the Monster of Poseidon, as the Sea God and Apollo weren't payed for building the walls of the city. The king promised the son of Zeus a herd of magical horses which could run on water. After he was denied his reward, Hercules returned to Troy berserk, wrecking havoc in the city while claiming the horses, and killed all of Laomedon's sons except for Priam.
In 1260 B.C., Hercules battled the river God Achelous in western Greece to win Deianira as his wife. During the battle, Achelous transformed into a serpent and then as a bull, but Hercules managed to make him surrender after tearing off one of his horns. The couple crossed the river Evenus, and asked the centaur ferryman, Nessus, to take them across. However, he bolted with Deianira until Hercules shot him with an arrow dipped in Hydra's blood. The centaur tricked Deianeira how to make a love charm from his allegedly enchanted blood, but it was in fact tainted with Hydra's blood.
===Becoming an Olympian===
In 1246 B.C., Deianira found Hercules in bed with another woman, and decided to the use Nessus' blood to gain Hercules' loyalty once more. She rubbed the blood onto Hercules, which rendered him mad due to the poison, and threw himself on the funeral pyre built for him by his nephew Iolaus.
As his body burned his soul, he fell into the depth of Tartarus for three days until Zeus took pity on him. Zeus split the immortal away from his mortal body, allowing the "shade" to fall into the Underworld, and letting Hercules become a full God. Hercules took his place as the Olympian God of strength, labors, and heroes, and married Hebe to make amends with Hera. However, Hercules was cursed by Hera that any woman would fall in love with him if they became too involved. Later, Hercules led time-traveling soldiers against Vikings, which brought him into conflict with Odin's son, Thor, the Norse God of thunder.
===In Modern Day===
The Asgardian Enchantress hoped to gain revenge on the Avengers, and mesmerized Hercules to attack the team. During the fight, Hawkeye managed to free the Olympian from his thrall, and the Enchantress was routed. However, Hercules was exiled from Olympus by Zeus as punishment for his unauthorized excursion to Earth, and the Avengers housed him as their guest for months. Despite being a guest, Hercules would assist the team on their adventures, and eventually became an official of the Avengers, but later returned to Olympus with the team to defeat Typhon. After saving the other Olympians, Hercules elected to remain on Olympus with Zeus' blessing.
==Powers and Abilities==
===Powers===
*Olympian/Human-Physiology: Hercules is the son of the Olympian God Zeus, and Alcmena, the Queen of Thebes, making him Demigod. After being breastfeed by the divine milk from his stepmother and aunt, Hera, vastly increased his physiology to godlike levels.
**Vast Super Strength: His principal power is his godlike strength, and is considered to be the physically strongest of the Olympians. Due to his strength being unlimited, he is one of the many strongest heroes in Marvel Comics, as he took on Thor, the Hulk, and overpowered Sentry and Ares in battles. He also has done many great feats with his vast strength, such as towing the Island of Manhattan, and lifting the sky heavens.
**Godlike Stamina: His advanced musculature produces no fatigue toxins, allowing to fight indefinitely.
**Invulnerability: Having being fed Hera's breastmilk, Hercules gained mystical invulnerability, making him resistant to all forms of physical injury. In addition, Hercules has greater resistance to physical injury than any other Olympian except for Zeus, and possibly Poseidon and Hades.
**Regeneration: Despite his invulnerability, it is possible to injure the Olympian God, however, he is capable of recovering from injuries quickly. However, he is unable to regenerate missing limbs or oranges unless he used magical assistance to do so. In addition, he is immune to all known Earthly diseases, infections, drugs, and toxins.
**Longevity/True Immortality: Hercules is a true immortal after being saved by the depths of Tartarus by Zeus, and as a result, is immune to the effects of aging. Despite living through countless decades and centuries, he still possess the appearance and vitality of a man in his physical prime, and hasn't aged since adulthood.
**Power Jumping: Hercules' great strength extends to his leg muscles, allowing to jump great distances and heights, although they don't match those of the Hulk.
**Enhanced Agility: Despite his size, Hercules can move his body with flexibility and coordination.
**Ultra-Quick Reflexes: Despite his size, Hercules can react to those past that of human being.
===Former Powers===
*Skyfather-Physiology: During the Chaos War, Hercules became king of the Olympian Gods and possessed the powers of the Skyfather, being granted vast powers that surpassed them except for Zeus.
**Flight: Hercules can fly at near limitless speed, and was capable of moving faster than the speed of light.
**Electrokinesis: Her could generate tremendous amounts of electrical energy, and project it through the form of lightning bolts.
**Shapeshifting: Hercules could change his size and shape into other humanoid beings, and was capable of changing size to be larger than Earth during his fight against the Chaos King.
**Nigh-Omnipotence: He possessed near-omnipotent level of power, meaning he could do almost anything he desired, and was able to restore everything the way it was before the Chaos King destroyed it.
**Vast Energy Manipulation: Hercules could generate and manipulate vast forms of energy, and was capable of creating destructive energy, such as when he took the next step of his foot, and caused the earth to split the ground like an earthquake.
===Abilities===
*Allspeak: Like all of the Olympian race, he can communicate and understand all languages, including Earth dialect and alien languages.
*Leadership:
*Master Archer: He is an excellent archer, but doesn't use it anymore due to his wife Deianira using his arrows with the tainted blood of Nessus.
*Master Combatant: Hercules was trained by Amphitryon in combat during his teenaged years, and became one of Olympus' greatest warriors. He was trained patricianly in Greek wrestling and boxing, and invented the art of pankration. He was able to rival his skills against Thor, rival Hulk in strength, and fight Sentry and his half-brother Ares.
*Vast Wealth: Due to having lived across centuries, Hercules has gained fortune, and buy himself anything he wishes.
==Portrayals==
===Films===
*In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he is portrayed by Brett Goldstein.
===Television===
*In The Marvel Super Heroes, he was voiced by the late Len Birman.
*In The Super Hero Squad Show, he was voiced by Jess Harnell, who also voiced Ki-Adi-Mundi in Star Wars: Obi-Wan, Crash Bandicoot in the titular franchise, Joe Bucket in Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Dr. Finkelstein in The Nightmare Before Christmas franchise, and Cedric the Great in Sofia the First.
*In Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., he was voiced by Townsend Coleman, who also voiced The Tick in the titular animated series.
*In Avengers: Secret Wars, he was voiced by Matthew Mercer, who voices Leon S. Kennedy in the Resident Evil franchise, and also voiced Levi Ackerman in Attack on Titan and Kanji Tatsumi in Persona 4 the Animation.
===Video Games===
*In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, he was voiced by Sean Donnellan.
*In Marvel Heroes, he was voiced by Travis Willingham, who also voiced Thor in Thor: The Dark World - the Official Game, Reggie Rowe in inFamous: Second Son and Knuckles the Echidna in the Sonic franchise.
==Gallery==
4936581-herc.jpg|Hercules.
Hercules-m.png
Hercules_(Earth-616)_from_Incredible_Hercules_Vol_1_126.jpg|Hera feeding an infant Hercules her breastmilk.
Hercules_Vol_3_1_Textless.jpg
Hercules-vs-Thor.jpg|Hercules vs. Thor.
Hercules_(Shade)_(Earth-616)_and_Hercules_(Earth-616)_from_Incredible_Hercules_Vol_1_131_002.jpg|Hercules fights his shade self.
The avengers.jpg|Hercules with the Avengers.
==Trivia==
*His name means "Glory of Hera".
*Ranked 21 in "The Top 50 Avengers."
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