Pegasus in popular culture

Bellerophon on Pegasus spears the Chimera, on an Attic red-figure epinetron 425–420 BC

The winged, divine horse Pegasus has been a prominent figure in modern popular culture.

Art

Bellerophon riding Pegasus (1914)

Pegasus, an 1888 sculpture that depicts the creature being tamed by Bellerophon, is the most famous work of French sculptor Émile Louis Picault, of which only 800 were made.

Corporate and commercial uses

• Pegasus logo has been used for over 29 years, by Courier Company Pegasus Express Ltd, and is seen on all vehicles and trailers, and depots in Scotland/England.
• Pegasus has been the symbol of the Mobil brand of gas and oil, marketed by the Exxon Mobil Corporation, since the 1930s and, more recently, FBR Capital Markets, an investment bank based in Arlington, Virginia. As such, it has also been a symbol of Dallas, Texas, gracing its skyline atop the Magnolia building and in Pegasus Plaza.
• Pegaso was a Spanish maker of trucks, buses and sport cars, active in the 1946-1993 timeframe.
• The Poetry Foundation also uses Pegasus as its logo; the Buell Motorcycle Company uses Pegasus as a visual branding element. The former Pegaso truck maker from Spain derived its name and logo from Pegasus, although the logo portrayed a merely fast, wingless horse silhouette. Reader's Digest also has a Pegasus logo.
• A Pegasus is the emblem of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, which names its bar the Pegasus. Pegasus is the University of Exeter's Classics and Ancient History Departmental Journal. It has had many entries from notable Classicists as well as two articles from J. K. Rowling a former student of the University's Classics and Ancient History Department.
• It was featured in the cover of Fleetwood Mac's Family Man
• The Taiwanese company Asus took its name from the creature, omitting the first three letters in order for the company to appear first in telephone listings.
• Mascot of the Kentucky Derby Festival, a community celebration leading up to the Run for the Roses (aka: the Kentucky Derby) in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
• Turkish Pegasus Airlines uses the emblem of Pegasus, and Pegasus also appears in the turbines of all Air France aircraft.
• PEGASYS (Hoffmann–La Roche) for the treatment of hepatitis C, is a once-a-week injection that works to reduce the amount of hepatitis C virus in the body.
• Pegasus is the mascot of TriStar Pictures.
• Pegasus is the name of a medevac helicopter based at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Pegasus transports critically injured patients within 120 NM (220 km; 140 mi) of Charlottesville, Virginia. The name was chosen because it was different from most other medevac programs, and there are stories of Pegasus carrying wounded soldiers from battle.
• Pegasus is also featured on the coat of arms of Robinson College, part of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow Scotland, uses an online service called PEGASUS (Portal Engine Giving Access To Strathclyde University Systems) to provide its students with crucial information. Pegasus was chosen for the academic seal of the University of Central Florida, in 1963, by its first president, Dr. Charles Millican, who co-designed it.
• Nike Inc. has produced a brand of running shoe named the Air Pegasus.
• Pegasus Mail is the name of an email client.

A pegasus was used as the Pontiac Fiero's Emblem.

Films

Pegasus has appeared in several films, including the animated films Fantasia, Hercules, and Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus along with the stop motion film, Clash of the Titans, Clash of the Titans the remake version and, as a name only, Johnny English.

In Disney's Fantasia Pegasi are featured during the visualized "Pastoral Symphony" segment, along with other mythical creatures including unicorns and centaurs and in Hercules he is the winged horse sidekick and friend to Hercules, the main character. In Clash of the Titans, Pegasus is captured by Perseus before Perseus visits and kills Medusa the Gorgon. This version, changes the method of Pegasus' birth - although no further details are given, save a comment from Zeus that Pegasus is the sole surviving winged horse from a herd of the creatures, the rest killed by Thetis' son, Calibos. In Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, Pegasus is the winged horse who helps Princess Annika and in Johnny English, starring Rowan Atkinson, Pegasus, played by Tim Pigott-Smith, is the name of the head of the MI-7 spy cartel to which the hapless Mr. English reports. A pegasus can be seen on the TriStar logo.

Television

• On television, Pegasus has been featured in Stargate Atlantis as a galaxy, both versions of Battlestar Galactica, as Battlestar Pegasus that survived the fall of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.
• It was a starship, the USS Pegasus, in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• In the Japanese anime Digimon Adventure 02, Patamon can digivolve into Pegasusmon using the Digi-Egg of Hope.
• In the anime Beyblade: Metal Fusion, the hero Ginga Hagane uses the powerful bit-beast Pegasus.
• In the anime series Gundam, one of the main spaceships, White Base, is a Pegasus-class battle ship.
• In Sailor Moon SuperS, Pegasus plays an important role, as he is the spirit of Helios and the keeper of the Golden Crystal. He lives inside the Golden Mirror, which is kept inside of beautiful dreamers. In the manga, he lives inside of Mamoru Chiba's (Darien Shields) Golden Mirror of Beautiful Dreams. In the anime, Pegasus lives inside of Chibiusa's (Rini in the English dub) Golden Mirror of Beautiful Dreams.
• Pegasus frequently appears in the 1960s cartoon The Mighty Hercules, as the winged steed of the titular character.
• In Fate/Stay Night, Pegasus is the Mythical Beast that is used by the Servant Rider when she uses one of her Noble Phantasms, Bellerophon.
• The Hasbro owned toy line, "My Little Pony" Includes Ponies that are based on Pegasus. In the first animated special Rescue at Midnight Castle the pony Firefly is a pegasus pony. In the animated TV series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, the characters Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are pegasus ponies.

Theatre

In the Broadway production of Xanadu, protagonist Kira rides on Pegasus to Mount Olympus during the number "Suspended in Time."

Written works

• Authors include Julia Golding, in her Companions Quartet, including Secret of the Sirens, The Gorgon's Gaze, Mines of the Minotaur and The Chimera's Curse, Rick Riordan with Blackjack the Pegasus in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and Anne McCaffrey, who wrote a series of books, To Ride Pegasus, Pegasus in Flight, and Pegasus in Space.
• In the anime/manga of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the creator of the Duel Monsters card game was named Pegasus J. Crawford (Maximillion Pegasus in the dub and English manga). Also, there is a Duel Monster called Firewing Pegasus, and another called Sapphire Pegasus. In the classic anime/manga Saint Seiya, the Pegasus is the title character's destined constellation, and Seiya dons an ancient Greek armor in the form of the winged horse.
• In L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero Lost and Prospero in Hell, Mephisto can summon and ride Pegasus.

Video games

• In the video game God of War II, the protagonist Kratos is bidden by Gaia (mother of earth), the mother of the Titans, to find the Sisters of Fate in order to change his past. She gives Kratos the aid of a Fire Pegasus to traverse the distance to the Island of Creation, where the Fates' temple is located.

• Pegasus is the Poseidon captured victim in Heracles: Battle With The Gods on the Nintendo DS. Pegasus is freed and reunited with Heracles after Poseidon's defeat.

• In multiple games in the Fire Emblem series, pegasi are mounted by knights and called pegasus knights, or falco knights in their upgraded form. In the computer game Age of Mythology, Pegasus appears in game as a flying scout unit.

• Pegasus appears in the final scene of the 2600 game, No Escape.

• Heroes of Might and Magic 3 features Pegasi as recruitable troops from the Rampart town.

• In the video game Kingdom Hearts II, the protagonist, Sora, duels the Hydra from the back of Pegasus.

• In Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire the Hero has to obtain some Pegasus Feathers for the main quest.

• In the video game Mega Man Star Force, one of the three versions, as well as the featured "Satellite Admin" that the player fights, and obtains the power of, in the game, is named, and resembles a, Pegasus.

Popular music

The mythical creature has influenced much music and is eponymous to many band names, records and songs: The Japanese jazz fusion band, Casiopea created an offshoot band under the name. The New Zealand indie rock band The Phoenix Foundation named their 2005 album after the creature. Italian electronic music musician Mauro Picotto also named an album named after it in 2000.

A few of the eponymous songs are:

• "Pegasus" by The Allman Brothers Band.
• "Pegasus" by System F.
• "Pegasus" by The Hollies.
• "Pegasus" by Ulrich Roth.

Sport

The Pegasus was adopted as the icon of Team Pegasus, an amateur bicycle racing team in the Midwest region of the United States. The team is based in Milwaukee and Chicago.

Fusaichi Pegasus, a racehorse won the 2000 Kentucky Derby.