Hercules (Marvel Comics)

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Hercules
Cover to Hercules #1 (2005). Art by Mark Texeira.
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance Journey into Mystery Annual #1 (1965) Created by Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist)
Characteristics Species Olympian, from Olympus Affiliations Olympian Pantheon, Olympia Corp, Argonauts Abilities Superhuman strength, durability and stamina, Immortality, Skilled hand-to-hand warrior.

Hercules is a fictional character, an Olympian god and superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe, based on the mythological demi-god and hero called Herakles by the Greeks and Hercules by the Romans.

He was adapted and introduced by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist-coplotter Jack Kirby in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 (1965). Hercules was first used as a foil for Thor.

Contents 1 Fictional character biography 1.1 Origin 1.2 Modern era 1.3 Exile 1.4 New Labors 1.5 Civil War 1.6 World War Hulk 2 Relationship with other gods 2.1 The Mighty Thor 2.2 Other gods 3 Alternate versions 3.1 Hercules 2300 4 Powers and abilities 4.1 Power 4.2 Skills 5 Other media 5.1 Video Game 5.2 Television 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Fictional character biography

[edit] Origin

Hercules was born to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods, and Alcmene, a mortal woman. Blessed with extraordinary strength imparted by his father, his history is similar to that of the mythical Hercules. The Marvel version of Hercules deviates from myth in that Hercules did not die courtesy of a poisoned robe, but rather remained in Olympus until the dawn of the Silver Age and the rise of the superhero.

[edit] Modern era

Hercules' first appearance is technically Avengers #10, in which Immortus pulls Hercules from the ancient past to battle Thor.^[1] As this is the Hercules from the past, the "modern" Hercules has no memory of the encounter when meeting Thor in Thor Annual #1 (1965).^[2] A retcon in the mini-series Avengers Forever (1998-2000), which "fixed" many inconsistencies in Avengers history, determined that the historical Hercules that Thor first met was in fact a Space Phantom in disguise.^[3]

Hercules first appears in Avengers #38 as a thrall of the Enchantress,^[4] 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 and the Dragon Man; the Red Guardian; Whirlwind and Typhon.^[5] Hercules later appears in the Olympian arc (#98-100);^[6] and returns for the final issues of the "Korvac saga" (#173-177).^[7] Hercules makes a guest appearance in issue #211,^[8] before rejoining the team on an ongoing basis as of issue #250.^[9]

In the "Avengers Under Siege" storyline in Avengers #270-277,^[10] 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 the Masters of Evil until being surprised and viciously beaten by Goliath. 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.^[11] Blamed by Zeus for Hercules' condition, the Avengers battle the gods and finally Zeus himself.

[edit] Exile

Angered by his son's preference for the mortal world, Zeus strips Hercules of his immortality and a great deal of his power, then exiles him to Earth. There, 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 Goliath, now known as Atlas, in order to exact revenge for his coma. Hawkeye convinces Hercules to stand down at the cost of their long friendship.

[edit] 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.^[12]

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.

[edit] Civil War

In the 2006 Marvel Comics crossover event Civil War, Hercules is shown as an early opponent of the Superhuman Registration Act, and seems to regard the Pro-Registration Heroes as "traitors". He has taken the alias "Victor Tegler", an IT consultant, as cover to hide from pro-registration forces. In the final pages of Civil War # 3, he is incapacitated by a bolt of lightning summoned by a clone of Thor. In the following issue, he is the only member of Captain America's team to resist the sonic attack triggered by Iron Man.^[13] In the final battle (Civil War #7), he defeats the cyborg clone of Thor, smashing his head with the clone's own Mjolnir hammer.

[edit] World War Hulk

Hercules is set to appear in the next Marvel summer event entitled World War Hulk.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Relationship with other gods

[edit] 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 recently chronicled in the six-part series Thor: Blood Oath (2005).^[14] 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.^[15][16] 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.^[17] He also mentions that he is a friend of Thor and destroys the Thor-Clone in his name in Civil War #7.

[edit] Other gods

For all Zeus' gruffness, Hercules volume 2 #4 shows that he regards Hercules as his favorite,^[18] much to chagrin of the other Olympians - with the exception of Hercules' half-brother Apollo. Both Ares and Pluto are Hercules' mortal enemies.^[19]

[edit] Alternate versions

[edit] Hercules 2300

Hercules also stars in two miniseries set in the 24th century.^[20][21] 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 beings including Galactus, Hercules returns to Olympus to confront Zeus.

[edit] Powers and abilities

[edit] Power

Hercules' primary power is his superhuman physical strength. Hercules is physically the strongest of all Olympians. He once lifted and hurled a giant Sequoia tree.^{[citation needed]} While the limits of Hercules' strength have never been measured, he is strong enough to stand toe to toe with Thor (Thor Annual #1, 1965) and an enraged Hulk (Tales To Astonish #79, 1966).^[2][22]

Since Zeus's punishment (marked by a "lightning bolt" tattoo on Hercules's shoulder), he has reverted to his original, ancient strength level.^{[citation needed]} Another result of this is that Hercules is no longer an immortal, aging just as ordinary humans do.^{[citation needed]} At his full godly power, Hercules is functionally immortal, as are other Olympians. Hercules is immune to all known diseases, and cannot die under conventional circumstances, at least before Zeus's punishment. Hercules' body is highly resistant to physical injury and has withstood the impact of high caliber machine gun shells, falls from tremendous heights, exposure to temperature extremes 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, although he was revived with the other fallen Avengers by a dying Korvac in Avengers volume 1, #177.^[23]

Hercules currently possesses his full godly powers and abilities. ^[24]

[edit] Skills

Hercules is a skilled boxer and Greco-Roman wrestler. He is highly skilled with all forms of weaponry used in ancient Greece. His weapon of choice is an adamantine mace, forged by Hephaestus, the blacksmith of the gods. Thor Annual #1 showed the mace to be as durable as Thor's mystical hammer Mjolnir.^[2]

[edit] Other media

[edit] Video Game

• • There is a Trading Card of Hercules in the Marvel Trading Card Game.

[edit] Television

• He was a regular character on the Mighty Thor segment of Marvel Super Heroes.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Marvel Database Project: Hercules
• Marvel.com Bio of Hercules