Hercules

Hercules (also known as Heracles) is the main protagonist of the film and the TV series who is based on the mythical character, although some aspects of his life differ greatly from the original legend. He was born on Mount Olympus with all the powers of a god, and his parents were Zeus and Hera (the King and Queen of all the gods, thus making him a god prince), who has been re-imagined as a loving mother instead of a spiteful stepmother. However, one god is upset about the new arrival: Hercules' evil uncle Hades who wants to take control of Mount Olympus and the world along with all of creation, and he sees that if Hercules chooses to fight when he is older, his plans will be ruined. Knowing that as a god, Hercules is immortal and invulnerable, Hades sends his two lackeys, Pain and Panic, to kidnap Hercules and turn him mortal by means of a magic potion, but the final drop falls wasted on the ground. Pain and Panic discover that because he did not drink the last drop he has retained his godly strength (although Hercule's strength appears to be exceptional even for a God as no other God is seen performing anything close to his feats of strength) and they are beaten back. Amphitryon and Alcmene adopt the child, considering his arrival a gift from the gods since they are themselves childless. Too late, Zeus and the other gods discover the kidnapping. Because Herc is now mortal, he cannot return to Mt. Olympus. When Hercules has reached adulthood and has passed his training, he sets off with Philoctetes to become a Hero in Thebes. On his way he saves Megara from Nessus, a centaur acting as river guardian. Unbeknownst to Herc, Meg is working for Hades (albeit unwillingly), and relates the events to the Lord of the Underworld, by which he learns that Hercules is still alive and so sends a variety of monsters to kill Hercules. But Hercules dispatches every monster Hades sends against him. By this time, Hercules has become the toast of Greece, and he believes himself a true hero, He is greatly upset when Zeus tells him that his celebrity status is not enough to regain his immortality, as being famous isn't the same as being a hero, and to "look into his heart". Meg (on assignment from Hades) convinces him to play hookie, going on a date. At first she was trying to learn any weakness he might have, but she eventually fell as hard for him as he had for her. The date is ended by Phil, irate at Hercules for skipping training. Phil is knocked off Pegasus, and wakes up in time to learn of Meg's involvement with Hades. He leaves to tell Hercules, not hearing Meg's refusal to help destroy Hercules. Hercules, ecstatic from the date, refuses to believe Phil's warning about Megera, even hitting him in a flash of blind anger, prompting Phil to quit.

Hades, realizing that Meg herself is Herk's weakness, confronts Hercules, offering Megara's safety if the hero will give up his strength for 24 hours (long enough for Hades to conquer Olympus). Herc is reluctant to see anyone hurt, but Hades vows that no harm will come to Meg. Hercules agrees, and Hades takes the opportunity to humiliate him before revealing Megara's role in his scheme. Enacting his plan, Hades sends a Cyclops to destroy Hercules. Without his superhuman strength and crushed by Meg's betrayal, Herc is brutally beaten about by the monster but, with a peptalk from the returning Phil, and using his wits, he is able to defeat the Cyclops and send him hurtling off a cliff. The monster's fall causes a pillar to topple towards Herc and Meg pushes him out of the way, taking the impact of the pillar. This in turn causes Hercules to regain his strength because Hades' end of the bargain is now broken as he promised that Meg wouldn't get hurt. Hercules leaves Megara in the care of his friends while he rushes off to thwart Hades' invasion of Olympus. Freeing the captured gods, he captures three of the Titans in the tornado body of the fourth and throws them into space, where they explode. He returns to Meg's side only to learn that her injuries were fatal. However, he then travels to Hades' realm to rescue Meg's spirit from the River Styx, which swiftly ages mortals upon contact, thus killing them within a short time. Hercules nevertheless enters the pool to rescue Megara's soul. He is able to reach Meg before he dies and his selfless act fulfills the requirement for being a true hero, thus regaining his godhood. He then punches Hades into the River Styx, and returns Meg's soul to her body. He is invited by Zeus to live in Olympus, which was indeed originally his wish, but he decides rather to live his life on Earth as a mortal with Megara.

Animator Randy Haycock based the infant version of Hercules on his newborn daughter. He also videotaped a friend's six-month old and rented movies with babies in them. Haycock admits that baby Hercules' curly hair comes from his infant daughter's appearance. He adds, Hercules mannerisms come right off things I've picked up from her", even though Hercules is more caricatured than a real baby. The inspiration for teenage Hercules came from Haycock's experiences as an adolescent. "I was too tall and skinny for my age, and I was a lousy athlete. At home I broke just about everything..." Teenage Hercules has big hands and feet that the animator remembers having himself, as well as the lack of coordination. Andreas Deja was supervising animator for the adult version of Hercules. He studied photographs of Olympic athletes, not the weightlifters with short necks and bulging muscles, but the swimmers, with long necks and natural musculature. Essentially, he wanted to return to the Greek tradition of character drawing. As Deja explains, this means "straight nose, pursed lips – almost cherubic, large eyes, a lidded look...The classic style you find on Greek vases or drawings."

The animated series Hercules is set in the intervening period between his teen years and his first journey to Thebes as an adult, while he is still in training on Phil's island. The series also reveals that, on Zeus's instruction, Hercules attends a high school called the Prometheus Academy.

Hercules has also appeared in the Kingdom Hearts series of video games. In the former, Sora must help Hercules defeat the evil Hades who, having joined Maleficent's main group of Disney Villains, is still trying to take over Olympus. In the first game, he is voiced by Sean Astin, but Donovan reprises his role in the second game. His Japanese voice is done by Yasunori Matsumoto. Hercules also appeared in the television series Disney's House of Mouse, in the Walt Disney World version of Fantasmic!, at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts daily for greetings, and had his own stage show on the Disney Cruise Line.

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