Hecatonchire

In Greek mythology, the Hecatonchires were a race of giants known for their incredible strength and power.

## **Characteristics**

The original Hecatonchires were first created by Ouranos and Gaia. Ouranos hated his children, including the Hecatonchires, and as soon as each was born, he imprisoned them underground, somewhere deep inside Gaia. As the *Theogony* describes it, Ouranos bound the Hundred-Handers

Eventually Ouranos' son, Kronos, castrated Ouranos, freeing his siblings (but not, apparently, the Hecatonchires), and Kronos became the new ruler of the gods. Kronos married his sister Rhea, and together they produced five children, whom Kronos swallowed as each was born, but the sixth child, Zeus, was saved by Rhea and hidden away to be raised by his grandmother Gaia. When Zeus grew up, he caused Kronos to disgorge his children, and a great war was begun, the Titanomachy, between Zeus and the Olympians, and Kronos and the Titans, for control of the cosmos.

Gaia had foretold that Zeus would be victorious with the help of the Hecatonchires, so Zeus released them from their bondage under the earth, and brought them up again into the light. Zeus restored their strength by feeding them nectar and ambrosia, and then asked the Hecatonchires to "manifest your great strength and your untouchable hands" and join in the war against the Titans.

And so the Hecatonchires "took up their positions against the Titans holding enormous boulders in their massive hands", and a final great battle was fought. Striding forth from Mount Olympus, Zeus unleashed the full fury of his thunderbolt, stunning and blinding the Titans, while the Hecatonchires pelted them with enormous boulders:

Thus the Titans were finally defeated and cast into Tartarus, where they were imprisoned.

As to the fate of the original Hecatonchires, the *Theogony* first tells us that they returned to Tartarus, to live nearby the "bronze gates" of the Titans' prison, where presumably, they took up the job of the Titans' warders. However, later in the poem, we are told that Cottus and Gyges "live in mansions upon the foundations of Ocean", while Briareus, "since he was good" became the son-in-law of Poseidon, who gave him "Cymopoliea his daughter to wed".

## **Appearance**

Hecatonchires appear as gigantic humanoid creatures, their most notable physical features are that they possess a hundred arms and hands with fifty heads. They are not physically beautiful in any way as Ouranos himself banished three of them into Tartarus as their appearance offended him. While a Hecatonchire as fifty heads, they do possess one main head located normally where a human's head would be, with the other smaller heads below it in a similar fashion to necklaces.

## **Similar Creatures**

Similar creatures include:

* **Centimani** (Italy)

## **Powers and Abilities**

The Hecatonchires are powerful creatures, despite being monsters, they are fully capable of holding their own against gods such as the Titans.

* **Super Strength** - Hecatonchires possess near-unlimited amounts of strength, they are capable of surviving encounters with gods and are able to pick up and throw massive boulders great distances.
* **Super Stamina** - They appear to possess greatly enhanced stamina and require little sustenance to survive as they were locked away in Tartarus without any food or water.
* **Super Senses** - Since Hecatonchires have fifty heads and a hundred arms, they possess far greater sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch compared to humans and other monsters.
* **Immortality** - Despite the original three being locked away in Tartarus for eons, they were unaffected by aging and disease.
* **Advanced Invulnerability**  - No conventional weapon is capable of causing harm to a Hecatonchire, only a god or a weapon wielded by a god can kill them.

## **Weaknesses**

* **Deities** - Ouranos was able to effortlessly overpower three Hecatonchires and lock them away in Tartarus for eons.
* **Divine Weaponry** - Godly weapons are capable of killing a Hecatonchire.