List of Disney's Hercules characters: Difference between revisions
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* '''[[Clotho]]''' (voiced by [[Amanda Plummer]] in the film, [[Tress MacNeille]] in the TV series): The Fate who spins the Thread of Life. |
* '''[[Clotho]]''' (voiced by [[Amanda Plummer]] in the film, [[Tress MacNeille]] in the TV series): The Fate who spins the Thread of Life. |
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* '''[[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]]''' (voiced by [[Carole Shelley]]): The Fate who decides how long your lifeline is. |
* '''[[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]]''' (voiced by [[Carole Shelley]]): The Fate who decides how long your lifeline is. |
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* '''[[Atropos]]''' (voiced by [[Paddi Edwards]]): The Fate who cuts your life-thread |
* '''[[Atropos]]''' (voiced by [[Paddi Edwards]]): The Fate who cuts your life-thread. |
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This is what the Fates say in rhyme to Hades: |
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"In 18 years, precisely, |
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The [[planet]]s will align ever so nicely. |
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The time has come for you at hand. |
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Unleash the Titans, your monstrous band. |
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Then the one and only Zeus will finally fall, |
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And you, Hades, will rule all! |
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A word of caution to this tale; |
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Shall Hercules fight, you will fail." |
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===The Muses=== |
===The Muses=== |
Revision as of 17:45, 2 December 2010
The following are fictional characters from Disney's 1997 film Hercules and from the 1998 TV series. One should keep in mind that this a heavily re-interpreted version of Greek mythology, and thus should not be considered as being an actual representation of such.
Hercules
Hercules | |
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File:HerculesDisney.jpg | |
First appearance | Hercules (1997) |
Voiced by | Tate Donovan (adult in Hercules and Kingdom Hearts II) Josh Keaton (teenager in film) Sean Astin (adult in Kingdom Hearts) |
Alias | Herk, Herk the Jerk (By Hades and Pete), Wonder Boy (By Megara and Hades), Blunder Boy (By Hades), Jerkules (By Hades and villagers) |
Hercules (also known as Herc) is the main protagonist of the film and the TV series. He is based on the mythical character Hercules, although some aspects of his life differ greatly from the original legend. Hercules 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 not happy about the new arrival: Hercules's evil uncle Hades. Hades 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 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, however, they are unable to take him back to Olympus.
Hercules grows into a strong but clumsy teenage boy who cannot control his godly strength, causing havoc and alienating those around him. His foster parents decide to finally come clean to him about the circumstances of his adoption, showing him a medallion they find that bears the symbol of the gods (Zeus's lightning bolt). Hercules sets off to find his place in the world, and goes to the Temple of Zeus for guidance. While in the temple, Zeus embodies his own statue, and reveals Hercules's origin. He explains that the only way Hercules can rejoin his parents on Mount Olympus is to prove himself a "true hero", and thus, regain his godhood. He goes to see Philoctetes, a trainer of heroes who originally says he will not train Hercules, but changes his mind after Zeus zaps him with a bolt of lightning.
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 Herc'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. 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 Meg.
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.[1] 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.[1] 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..."[1] Teenage Hercules has big hands and feet that the animator remembers having himself, as well as the lack of coordination.[1] 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.[1] 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."[1]
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.
Phil
Philoctetes | |
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First appearance | Hercules (1997) |
Voiced by | Danny DeVito (Hercules), Robert Costanzo (other appearances), Ichirō Nagai (Japanese) |
Philoctetes (usually referred to simply as "Phil"), based on the mythological Philoctetes, is a satyr and a trainer of aspiring heroes who has often been disappointed by his trainees' shortcomings. This however, seems to be a confusion with the myth of Chiron, as Phil states that he trained Achilles and Jason of the Argonauts, both disciples of Chiron. He also says that he trained Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus -- "a lot of 'yeuseus.'" Phil also trained Bellerophon, but he was equally a failure. On several occasions, Phil will explain something by saying "Two words", and then his next statement will be either one word or three. Phil has long-since retired after failing to train a successful hero, but is convinced to train the callow young Hercules.
After his training is complete, Phil, Hercules and Pegasus set out for the city of Thebes to prove Hercules' newfound worth. Along the way, Hercules saves a woman named Megara from being pestered by the centaur Nessus, and becomes attracted to her, while Phil immediately clashes with her, considering her a distraction from Hercules' activities. Phil becomes a personal manager to the celebrity Hercules has become. Later in the film, Phil discovers that Megara is working for Hades, her mission being to find Hercules' weakness. Phil tries to warn Hercules, but abandons him after an argument ensues. When Hercules loses his powers to Hades, it is Megara who convinces Phil to return to Hercules, motivating him into battling and defeating the Cyclops through improvisation. During the fight, Megara is mortally wounded by a falling column to save Hercules, and Phil is left taking care of the dying Megara while Hercules fights Hades and the Titans. After Hercules defeats Hades, Phil goes with Hercules to Mount Olympus, where he is seen flirting with Aphrodite. When Hercules and his friends return to Thebes, Phil is gratified when the people refer to the mighty and triumphant Hercules as "Phil's boy".
The prequel Hercules: Zero to Hero and the subsequent TV series Disney's Hercules are set during the time when teen Hercules is training under Phil and attending the Prometheus Academy.
Phil has also appeared in the Disney/Square Enix video game series Kingdom Hearts, as well as in the TV series Disney's House of Mouse. In the film, Philoctetes' voice is provided by Danny DeVito, while Robert Costanzo fills the role in the character's video game and television appearances. Ichirō Nagai supplies Phil's Japanese voice, while Lakis Lazopoulos was cast for Phil's voice in the Greek language version of the film.
Hades
Hades | |
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File:Hades2.jpg | |
First appearance | Hercules (1997) |
Created by | Ron Clements John Musker |
Voiced by | English: James Woods Japanese: Kyusaku Shimada Danish: Henning Jensen Swedish: Dan Ekborg French : Dominique Collignon-Maurin Latin american spanish: Rubén Trujillo Greek: Konstantinos Tzoumas. |
Hades is the main antagonist of the film and the TV series. He also the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. Unlike the mythological Hades, who is for the most part a relatively passive deity doing a sometimes nasty job, this version is a fast-talking, evil deity, reminiscent of Satan, as well as sleazy dealers, notably persuasive Hollywood Agent types and car dealers. In all of his appearances, Hades has been voiced by James Woods. The character's mannerisms and other tendencies were partly due to James Woods's using "car-dealer"-style speech while providing the voice of Hades. Hades is described as "mean" and "ruthless" by the Muses. His status as a god makes him immortal, but not invincible. His status as a god likely makes him one of the most powerful if not the most powerful Disney villain. He wears a dark robe with a skull emblem-like pin and his hair is a glowing blue flame, which flares whenever he becomes excited or enraged (if he is excited it stays blue and if he is angered or frustrated it turns yellow while his whole body turns red). He is also one of the few Disney villains to be 100% sane.
In Hercules, Hades seeks to overthrow Zeus and rule Mount Olympus, the Earth and the rest of creation for himself. Upon visiting the Fates, he learns that he could succeed by releasing the Titans in eighteen years, but if Zeus's son, Hercules, is to fight Hades, Hercules will win. Hades sends his demons, Pain and Panic, to kidnap baby Hercules and give him a potion that would render him mortal. Hercules needs to drink every last drop for it to work, but the last drop is lost. Thus Hercules, while mortal, retains his god-like strength and spends his life on Earth.
Later, a young woman named Megara sells her soul to Hades so that he will return her lover's soul. He does, but soon Meg's lover ungratefully dumps her for another girl shortly afterwards. Meg remains trapped as a slave to Hades, and he uses her beauty, charm and intelligence as an advantage to persuade monsters to join his army. After discovering that Hercules is still alive, Hades sends numerous monsters to do away with Hercules, but none work. When he finds out that Hercules has fallen in love with Megara, he uses this to his advantage and makes a deal with Hercules: Herc must give up his powers for twenty-four hours (secretly the same twenty-four hours he will use to take over Olympus) in exchange for Meg's freedom. Herc agrees, as long as Meg will be safe from harm. Hades then reveals that Megara was working for him the whole time, crushing Hercules' will to fight. Hades then releases the Titans, who defeat and imprison the gods, and sends the Cyclops to kill the weakened and discouraged Hercules to keep him from getting in the way, but Hercules defeats the monster using his wits. However, Megara is greviously injured saving Hercules from a falling pillar- negating Hades's deal that Meg would not be hurt. Hercules is thus given his powers back and returns to Mount Olympus where he easily takes down the Titans and frees the gods. Hades loses his temper, but he taunts Hercules that he at least has a parting gift; while Hercules was fighting the Titans, Megara died from her injuries. Hercules travels to the Underworld to rescue her soul and offers himself to Hades in exchange for Megara's freedom. He swims into the River Styx to retrieve her soul. It almost kills him, when his full Godhood is restored by his being willing to risk his life to save Meg. Hercules emerges from the pit alive and immortal with Megara's soul in his arms, much to Hades' anger. Knowing that he can never be able to stop Hercules in his path, Hades begs the hero to try and ease things with him and the other gods, but Hercules loses his temper and slugs his uncle into the River Styx, where he is swarmed upon by the Spirits of the Dead and dragged down under the surface.
Later, with the return of Hercules on the form of an animated series, Hades also re-appeared, and had many appearances trying to take over Olympus. One episode even had a crossover where Jafar makes a deal with Hades, in order to make Hercules and Aladdin fight each other. While Hades and Jafar had numerous things in common, Jafar's evil laugh consistently got on the more smooth-talking Hades' nerves – at least until he tried it for himself. This entire series ignores a certain fact about the film however: in the movie Hades still thought Hercules was dead throughout his high school days, but in the series, they have many interactions during that time.
Hades appears in the Kingdom Hearts series of video games. He was originally in league with Maleficent, using the Heartless to try to take over the worlds. Hades wanted to dispose of Hercules and tricked Cloud Strife into challenging Hercules in the Preliminaries at the Olympus Colliseum. In return, Hades "promised" Cloud he will lead him to Sephiroth. However, when Sora arrived, Hades changed plans and had Cloud attack Sora first. When Cloud refused to kill Sora (or was defeated by him, depending on the outcome), Hades sends out Cerberus to take care of Cloud. Hercules arrived to get Cloud to safety while Sora & company dealt with Cerberus. After Maleficent's defeat, Hades himself battles Sora and lost as all his schemes against Sora and the others end in failure. In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, a facsimile Hades appeared as token of Sora's memory and the darkness in Riku's heart. In Kingdom Hearts II, Hades's desire to kill Hercules is still undeterred. After joining forces with Pete, and probably Maleficent through him, Hades decides to use Auron, who has already died, to fight against Hercules and kill him; however, Auron rebels against Hades and fights him, only to be interrupted by Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy. They fight Hades, but, due to the Underworld curse, he is invincible to their attacks. Hades then sends Cerberus and later the Hydra against Sora and his friends. Upon discovering that Sora's Keyblade could unlock any lock, Hades initially plans to use it to unlock the Underdrome, the Underworld's own coliseum. However, when Pete informs him that the Keyblade will only work for Sora, Hades kidnaps Meg and traps her in the locked Underdrome, forcing Sora to unlock it to rescue her. After defeating Pete and the Hydra again, Sora and his friends eventually fight and defeat Hades. However, Hades survives and acts as a challenger in the last tournaments, which are unlocked near the end of the game. In the prequel, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, he attempts to use Terra to kill Hercules, but Terra resists the Darkness in his heart, so Hades places Zack under his control to eliminate both Terra and Hercules, but Terra defeats Zack and frees him from Hades' influence. Later, Hades and the Ice Colossus (a replica of the Ice Titan) both fight Aqua in the Coliseum, but Aqua defeats the both of them and Hades flees to the Underworld to further his plans. James Woods reprises his role for the English versions of the games, while his Japanese voice in all the games is done by Kyusaku Shimada.
Hades is one of the Disney Villains summoned by the Evil Queen to fight Mickey Mouse in Fantasmic!. Hades also appears in several episodes of Disney's House of Mouse He is also one of the main group of villains in the full-length spin-off Mickey's House of Villains; James Woods only provides the voice for one line ("Ha – love that"), and Rob Paulsen provides the singing voice when Hades sings the lines "Where everyone's a friend of mine!" and "What a place for breakin' bread!" in the song "It's Our House Now!". He also appears briefly in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.
Megara
Megara | |
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First appearance | Hercules (1997) |
Voiced by | Susan Egan |
Alias | Meg Nutmeg (by Hades) |
Megara (also known as Meg) is a mortal woman unwillingly working for Hades, and the love interest of Hercules. Sometime during the events of Hercules, Meg went to Hades and sold her soul to revive a lover of hers who had died (revealed in the series to be Adonis). Hades agreed on the condition that she serve him forever, which she accepted. However, shortly after her lover was revived, he fell in love with someone else and left Meg still locked in servitude to Hades. This background story of the character alludes to the myth of Alcestis, who dies by proxy for her husband Admetus.
When Meg first appears onscreen, Hercules encounters her in the middle of trying to recruit Nessus. Meg, not believing that Hercules can help, simply tells him she can handle it, and after Nessus and he fight, watches with some amusement. She at first believes Hercules is faking his shy and innocent personality due to bad experiences with other men. She then reports back to Hades, who learns that Hercules is still alive. Later, in Thebes [disambiguation needed], Meg rushes up to Hercules, telling him two kids (Pain and Panic in disguise) are trapped in a gorge. He falls for it, and Meg silently pleads with him from a distance to leave before Hades' plan goes into effect, but is forced to watch as Hercules fights and defeats the Hydra. After several more victories, Meg is openly smug and confident that Hercules will survive. Hades offers Meg her freedom in exchange for discovering Hercules' weakness. Meg goes to Hercules and convinces him to take the day off with her, to which he quickly agrees. During the date, Hercules reveals his feelings for Meg and promises that he will never hurt her. They nearly kiss, but are stopped by Phil. Finding herself falling in love, she tries to deny it, but the Muses convince her to stop denying the way she feels.
Hades then intervenes, and Meg tells him that she will not help him hurt Hercules, and that he has no weaknesses. A furious Hades reminds her that he owns her, and upon seeing her new-found emotions for Hercules, realizes that Herc's feelings for her is his weakness and uses her as leverage to convince Hercules to give up his strength for one day in return for her safety; if the deal is broken, his strength will return. Hades then reveals Meg worked for Hades the whole time, and Hercules leaves, disheartened at learning of Meg's betrayal. Meg then goes to find Phil, as he is the only one who can talk sense into Hercules. They return to see Hercules has been badly beaten by the Cyclops, and convince him to fight back. After seeing a column collapse where he is standing, due to the Cyclops Hercules was fighting, Meg pushes him out of the way, and it collapses on her instead. When he asks why, she explains that "people always do crazy things- when they're in love." Meg dies from her injuries, so Hercules goes to the Underworld to get her soul back. He makes a deal with Hades where he will exchange himself in return for Meg's life, but in the process of saving her, becomes a god again. After her soul is returned, he explains that he did it for the same reason she gave her life for him- he is in love with her. They are risen to Olympus, and Meg watches as Hercules is finally accepted as a god. However, he declines his place to stay with her on Earth; Meg and Hercules finally kiss, apparently continuing her life with him and his foster parents.
In Hercules: The Animated Series, Meg appeared twice, once as a teenager and once as an adult from the movie timeline. She meets Hercules, offering a chance to prove himself as a hero. Having him retrieve her the amphora so she can use it to forget about Adonis who she had a blind date with that went badly. They do retrieve it from Ares' sons, but Meg leaves Hercules to escape. She is immediately taken to the Underworld by Pain and Panic; Hercules, despite her betrayal, goes after her. During a fight for the amphora, Meg tells Hercules that she liked him from the start. They almost kiss, but the amphora's water is dropped on them, causing them to forget how they met, and reinforcing the fact that Hercules and Meg never established any relationship until the film. Another episode, "Hercules and the Yearbook", takes place after the events of the film and features Hercules and Meg moving his stuff from Phil's island. Hermes delivers a special package, which Hercules immediately hides from Meg. Phil reveals all of Hercules' incidents during his school time, and Hercules tells Meg he did not want to show her the yearbook because he wants her to see him as a hero. Meg tells him that she accepts that part of his life as an awkward phase, and loves him just the same. However, this does not stop Hercules from having Hermes retrieve Meg's own yearbook where it is revealed Meg was a cheerleader.
Meg also appeared in Kingdom Hearts II and meets Sora and co. in the Underworld entrance. She later assists Sora in the fight against the Hydra by providing useful items. She also appears in Disney's House of Mouse as a guest.
Pain and Panic
Pain and Panic | |
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First appearance | Hercules (1997) |
Voiced by | Bobcat Goldthwait (Pain) Matt Frewer (Panic) |
Pain and Panic are a pair of pint-sized, devil shaped demons (also called imps) in the Disney animated feature Hercules. Pain is a fat, red-shaded demon, and Panic is skinny and blue-green. They are the minions of the film's villain, Hades, and serve primarily as comic relief. Pain is voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait and Panic by Matt Frewer.
Panic is paranoid, twitchy, and panicky, as his name suggests. He appears to be more honest than Pain. For example, when he says, "Hades is gonna kill us when he finds out what happened!" Pain replies, "You mean if he finds out." And Panic replies, "'If'. 'If' is good." Pain, on the other hand, is bossy, hot-tempered, and sly, but also clumsy and liable to get into painful situations, and seems to be less intelligent than Panic.
Both possess the ability to shapeshift into almost any form. They frequently manage to irritate Hades even more than usual, and he is always ready to punish them severely for any mistakes. He also threatens them with torture. Ironically, since they are demons, even Hades cannot kill them – but it is made clear repeatedly that they can still feel pain, and since both Hades and they are immortal, they endeavor not to anger him. It is unclear why they even serve Hades, though they seem to do so out of fear.
In the movie, Hades sends them to kidnap baby Hercules, make him mortal, and kill him. The imps obey and somehow capture him in the middle of the night, but fail to kill him, and only half-succeed in making him mortal: he keeps his godlike strength, allowing him to dispose of the pair before they have a chance to kill him as snakes (a reference to the original Hercules myth). Not wanting Hades to know about their failure, they tell him that Hercules is dead. Many years later Hades discovers that Hercules is actually alive. To try and grovel sufficiently they become insects, reminding Hades they could still kill Hercules in the time left. Throughout the rest of the movie, they're seen either cheering Hades's monsters on, grovelling to Hades, or using their shape-shifting powers to contact Hades's spy, Meg. In rare moments of competence, they manage to trap Pegasus by pretending to be his mare, and even capture Hermes in the assault on Olympus, hoarding the gods off the mountain in chains. At the end of the movie, Hades is punched into the river Styx, and they are left behind, hoping that he won't return.
Pain and Panic also appear in the Hercules TV series, and still serve as Hades's lackeys. They made many brief appearances in the House of Mouse television series, usually along with Hades (though there was one episode in which they broke up Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket without Hades's aid) and had a very small role in Kingdom Hearts II, where they are working for Hades and work at the Underdrome, but have no other purpose.
Other characters
- Pegasus (voiced by Frank Welker): Hercules' pet. Pegasus is a winged horse created by Zeus from clouds. Pegasus helps his friend Hercules defeat monsters and rescue people who need help. Pegasus does not like Meg until the end of the movie.
- Zeus (voiced by Rip Torn in the film, Corey Burton in the TV series): The ruler of Mount Olympus and Hercules' father. Many eons ago Zeus imprisoned the deadly Titans, who threatened to destroy the world, deep beneath the ocean where they would remain for the rest of eternity undisturbed. However he was unaware that the next planetary alignment would reveal the location of the Titans prison. He tells his son that to join the gods, he must become a hero, which he defines as something more than being famous. Zeus is betrayed by Hades, but Hercules later saves him and Olympus, and Zeus reveals that for willingly giving his life to save Meg, he is finally a true hero and can be a god. Nonetheless, he is supportive of his son's decision to remain with Meg. Zeus was heavily edited by Disney as he is different from his portrayal in mythology. Zeus had many affairs with mortal woman and Hercules was born that way, but this was changed in the movie due to it being inappropriate for younger audiences.
- Hera (voiced by Samantha Eggar): Zeus' wife and Hercules' mother.
- Nessus (voiced by Jim Cummings): A centaur whom Hades wanted to recruit into his army, but is defeated by Hercules after the latter sees him man-handling Megara. When Hades asked Megara on this, Megara told him that she made "an offer that he refused."
- Demetrius (voiced by Wayne Knight): A pottery salesman whose shop is accidentally destroyed by Hercules alongside the other locations in the local marketplace. He only barely tolerates Hercules, but the loss of his shop angers him to the point that he openly insults Hercules and demanding Amphitryon to keep Hercules away from the marketplace.
- Amphitryon (voiced by Hal Holbrook): A mortal farmer and Hercules' foster father.
- Alcmene (voiced by Barbara Barrie): Amphitryon's wife and Hercules' foster mother.
- Hermes (voiced by Paul Shaffer): The messenger of the gods. In the TV series, Hermes Hercules's uncle and a frequent companion to "Herc", whom he furnishes with comic relief* Apollo (voiced by Keith David): God of the sun and music.
The Fates
- Clotho (voiced by Amanda Plummer in the film, Tress MacNeille in the TV series): The Fate who spins the Thread of Life.
- Lachesis (voiced by Carole Shelley): The Fate who decides how long your lifeline is.
- Atropos (voiced by Paddi Edwards): The Fate who cuts your life-thread.
This is what the Fates say in rhyme to Hades:
"In 18 years, precisely,
The planets will align ever so nicely.
The time has come for you at hand.
Unleash the Titans, your monstrous band.
Then the one and only Zeus will finally fall,
And you, Hades, will rule all!
A word of caution to this tale;
Shall Hercules fight, you will fail."
The Muses
The Muses sung 6 songs to go along with the film which were also featured on the soundtrack album.The songs where "The Gospel Truth", "The Gospel Truth II", "The Gospel Truth III", "Zero to Hero" and "A Star Is Born". The Muses also sing backup vocals for the song "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)". In 2005 the song was remade by the R&B and pop group The Cheetah Girls for the album DisneyMania 3.The direct-to-video film, Hercules: Zero to Hero, featured a title inspired by The Muses song "Zero To Hero". All of the songs were released on the soundtrack to the movie called, Hercules: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack.It was released May 27, 1997 on Walt Disney Records. Allmusic gave the album 3/5 stars.The album was nominated for an Oscar Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. The film begins in a very United States of America-like ancient Greece with a mock-epic spoken narration (by Charlton Heston), but dissolves into the musical narration by the five Muses. The Muses tell the tale ("The Gospel Truth") of how Zeus came to power and prevented the monstrous Titans from ruling the world. The songs from the movie sung by The Muses (as well as the other songs in the movie) were composed by Alan Menken and the lyrics were written by David Zippel. After the film, the Muses made appearances on the Hercules TV series, making musical appearances in episodes of the series. The Muses made also a guest appearance on Disney's House of Mouse, January 26, 2002 on season 2 and on the episode called "Where's Minnie?". They sung a song called "Minnie Mouse Is in The House" which had the beat of Salt-n-Pepa's song "Whatta Man".
- Calliope (voiced by Lillias White): The Muse of epic tales, who wears a headband over her big, curly hair.
- Clio (voiced by Vanéese Y. Thomas): The Muse of history, with the ponytail.
- Melpomene (voiced by Cheryl Freeman): The long-haired Muse of drama.
- Terpsichore (voiced by LaChanze): The dance Muse with the short, kinky hair.
- Thalia: The short and plump Muse of comedy (voiced by Roz Ryan).
The Titans
The Titans were the giant rulers of the world when it was first created, rampaging until they were imprisoned by Zeus. Each presents one of the four elements
- Lythos (voiced by Corey Burton and Patrick Pinney) – The two-headed Rock Titan. He also appeared in Kingdom Hearts as a boss.
- Hydros (voiced by Patrick Pinney) – The Ice Titan. He made an appearance in both Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as a boss, renamed the Ice Colossus in the later.
- Pyros (voiced by Jim Cummings) – The Lava Titan, a blob-like creature made of magma.
- Stratos (voiced by Corey Burton) – The Wind Titan, resembling a living tornado.
- Cyclops - A Giant cycloptic titan whom Hades sends to kill Hercules. Only titan who doesn't battle the Gods.
Titans in the television series
- Antaeus (voiced by Miguel Ferrer) – A half-Giant half-Titan who founded the P.O.O.T.L.s ("People's Organization of Titanic Liberators") so he could free the Titans. He held Prometheus Academy hostage and wanted Hercules as their prisoner so that he can force Zeus to release them. His giant form resembles a rock version of himself. After learning that Antaeus is the son of Gaia and is stronger when on the ground, Hercules threw him into the air and sent him flying all the way to where Zeus had imprisoned the Titans and was placed in there by Zeus himself.
- Atlas (voiced by Thomas Lennon [disambiguation needed]) – A muscular Titan that was cursed to forever hold up the sky at the Edge of the World. He appeared in "Hercules and the Prince of Thrace".
- Briares (voiced by Reggie Miller) - A Hecatonchires. In this show, he is a giant that can conjure arms from the ground and even water. He is also a fan of the comic book hero Myklos.
- Cronus – The former king of the Titans and father of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. When he was defeated by Zeus, he created the Cronus Stone as an act of revenge. The stone places any God that comes near it into an eternal sleep.
- Helios – The Titan that embodies the Sun. He never physically appeared in the series, but the Colossus of Rhodes - which resembles him - appeared in "Hercules and the Hero of Athens". However, in Greek mythology Helios became identified as the Sun God Apollo.
- Prometheus (voiced by Carl Reiner) – A kindly Titan who gave the gift of fire to humanity so they could improve their lives.
Introduced in the TV series
Prometheus Academy
The Prometheus Academy is the fictional high school from the Disney animated television series Hercules. Though set in Ancient Greece (specifically Athens), the Academy shares many traits with modern educational institutions. It is coeducational, with both male and female students, and teaches such diverse subjects as history, astronomy, shop class, theater arts and "Home Greconomics".
Prometheus Academy is the school that the teenaged Hercules attends while training with Philoctetes to become a hero in the Disney movie Hercules. Many of the other students at the Academy are based on characters from mythology.
The Academy was named after the Titan Prometheus, who brought fire from Mount Olympus (the metaphorical "light of reason") to mankind, and was punished by Zeus being chained to a rock and having his liver pecked out by an eagle every day forever. A bronze statue of Prometheus being administered in his punishment is the central point of the Academy's courtyard.
Prometheus Academy students
- Icarus (voiced by French Stewart) – Hercules' best friend. The boy who escaped from the Labyrinth with his father on wax wings appears as a complete nut (he was "brain-fried" by flying too close to the Sun). Despite his accident, Icarus still flies every chance he gets resulting in a few more encounters with the sun. Icarus is very adaptive and hence could adjust to about every situation, except when he is very jealous and acts irrational. He could become an ultra serious soldier at boot camp or a nearly identical version of Hades himself. Thankfully, at the end of each episode, he reverts to his own odd self. His father Daedalus is a teacher in the academy and Icarus doesn't acknowledge his parents' divorce. When Icarus graduates, he goes into inventing with his father and makes a fortune, earning the commercial title "The Wax-Wing King".
- Cassandra (voiced by Sandra Bernhard) friend of Hercules, social outcast, and Seer. Daughter of Vic (Fred Willard) and Evelyn (Georgia Engel), who call her "Casserole." Cassandra is cursed with the helpless ability to foresee catastrophic events, but never to be believed. When one of these prophetic trances overcome her, she becomes immobile and her eyes spin. Icarus calls this her "Cassandra-Vision." Cassandra despises Icarus and calls him her stalker, but she tolerates his presence because otherwise she would have no friends.
- Adonis (voiced by Diedrich Bader) – The narcissistic, self-obsessed prince of Thrace who bullies Hercules and Icarus every chance he has. He even annoys the gods which resulted in Gaia even putting a curse on him once. Adonis believes that anything can be solved with power and money. In "The Yearbook" at graduation, he was one credit short and had to attend summer school.
- Helen of Troy (voiced by Jodi Benson) – Helen was the sweetest and feminine character of the series. She was the most popular girl in the academy and Adonis' girlfriend. Helen tries her best to keep Adonis from being a jerk but mostly fails. She likes Hercules but as a friend. She is a princess as in the myth but is not a half-sister of Hercules in the series.
- Ajax (grunts by Frank Welker) - A barbarian student with very bad hygiene.
- Tempest, (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh), the quick-tempered Amazon "Warrior Princess". She is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta & King Darius.
- Triton (voiced by Chris Elliott) - Young godling son of Poseidon & Amphitrite. Cousin of Hercules and new student at the Prometheus Academy.
- Melampus (voiced by Ethan Embry) - Rival of Icarus for Cassandra's affections. Mykloid fan-boy of the comic-scroll superhero Myklos.
- Electra (voiced by Joey Lauren Adams) - Goth student with a habit of defying the established order. When angry, summons the vicious Furies.
- Pandora (voiced by Jenna von Oÿ) - Student who possesses a locker full of mysteries.
- Andromeda (voiced by Katherine Soucie) - A new student who attracts Herc's attention.
- Anaxarete (voiced by Cree Summer) - Herc's former girlfriend.
Prometheus Academy staff
- Mr. Parentheses (voiced by Eric Idle) - Prometheus Academy's Class Administrator and Student Counselor
- Ms. Cassiopeia (voiced by Alice Ghostley) - Poetry Teacher
- Phys Oedipus (voiced by Richard Simmons) - teacher of Physical Education
- Miss Thespius (voiced by Kathy Najimy) - Drama Teacher
- Mr. Daedalus (voiced by David Hyde Pierce) - ProAc Shop Class Instructor, father of Icarus (who calls him Dad-alus), and greatest inventor of all antiquity.
- Mr. Herodotus (voiced by Jess Harnell & Paul Reubens) - History teacher.
- Mr. Pygmalion (voiced by Calvert DeForest) - Art teacher, married to a statue of a woman that Aphrodite brought to life.
- Mr. Ptolemy (voiced by George Takei) - Astronomy Instructor
- Mr. Aesop (voiced by Bob Keeshan) - Storytime Instructor for ProAc, Jr (Prometheus Junior Academy)
- Miss Euphrosyne (voiced by Melissa Manchester) - Home Greconomics Teacher
- Mr. Linus (voiced by Jason Marsden) - Music Teacher
Mr.Eucledes - The Geometry Teacher The unnamed Grammar Teacher
Jr. Prometheus Academy students
The junior school attached to Prometheus Academy. The students that attend are also figures from mythology or ancient history, though preteen versions of those characters, before they became famous. One of their teachers is Mr. Aesop, who tells stories (his eponymous fables) in order to teach the students by means of his morals.
- Alex (voiced by Courtland Mead) -
- Brutus (voiced by Pamela Adlon) - a centaur foal
- Callista (voiced by Lacey Chabert) -
- Alcides (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh) -
- Phillip (voiced by Ryan O'Donohue) - A kid with teething troubles
Greek Pantheon
In addition to Zeus, Hades, Hera, Hermes, Apollo, and the Muses, other characters from the Pantheon include:
- Poseidon (voiced by Jason Alexander) - The God of the Seas.
- Hephaestus (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) – The peg-legged god of fire and the gods' blacksmith. Whether he is a son of Zeus and Hera is never revealed. Engaged to Aphrodite and hates it if Hades flirts with her.
- Morpheus (voiced by Jonathan Katz) – God of Sleep. He has a little brother called Phantasos who wanted to become god of sleep but Zeus said that he couldn't because of "seniority."
- Phantasos (voiced by Tom Kenny) – At the start of the world, Phantasos wanted to be God of Sleep only for his brother Morpheus to get the job. Since then, Phantasos plotted to get the job one way or another until the day he created a nightmare counterpart of Morpheus' Blanket of Slumber called the Discomforter. Due to the nightmares people are having, Phantasos suggested to Zeus to become the new God of Sleep should Morpheus fail to stop the nightmare crisis. When in their dreams, Hercules and Philoctetes ended up fighting Phantasos when he turned into the Hydra and Typhon. Though Hercules managed to overcome his nightmare of losing to the Hydra and defeat Morpheus. The next day, Zeus was convinced by Morpheus to make Phantaso the God of Dreams and Nightmares since he is much better at dreams and nightmares than his brother. To improve his work, Phantasos wrote down Zeus's suggestions like no one dreaming is to hit the ground when falling and no one gets caught by dream monster.
- Ares (voiced by Jay Thomas) – The God of War, who just wants to destroy things and prove the superiority of Sparta. He hates using 'egghead', and similar words, and is a brash god. It can be assumed he and Hercules are full brothers, since he is a son of Hera and Zeus. Served by his sons Fear (voiced by David Cross) and Terror (voiced by Toby Russ). Ares also has two "dogs of war" who draw his chariot named Brutacles & Sadisto.
- Athena (voiced by Jane Leeves) – The Goddess of Wisdom and witty sister of Ares. Ares tries frequently to destroy her worship city, Athens, but Athena always receives help from Hercules. She tends to treat her brother Hercules like a child. Athena has a pet owl named Ibid. Though she doesn't get along with Ares. But when the two team up like when Echidna attacks Hercules during the game between Sparta and Athens, they are a formidable pair.
- Boreas (voiced by Alan Rosenberg) – The God of the North Wind, seems to have a grudge against Ares for beating him up when Sparta was being created. Aeolus or any of the other winds do not appear so in the show he may be the God of all of the Winds.
- Aphrodite (voiced by Lisa Kudrow) – Goddess of Love, with a theme song that even she thinks is annoying. She is quite strong minded, feisty and clever. Shown to be engaged to Hephaestus but only in one episode. She has pink skin and blonde hair. Hades is constantly trying to flirt with her, to no avail.
- Demeter (voiced by Florence Henderson) – Goddess of Agriculture. Summons Nemesis to smite the satyr Pan (Joe Pantoliano) for his inadequate offerings at her harvest festival and building a temple to himself.
- Persephone – Contrary to seemingly popular opinion, she never actually appears in the show. According to an inside source from the show, several different stories were considered for her, including one where she was the daughter of Hades and Demeter who were embroiled in a custody battle, and another where she would have been a teacher at Prometheus Academy, but nothing ever felt really appropriate and her storyline was dropped.
- Cupid (voiced by Tom Arnold) – The God of Passion also appears. He is shown as a pink, short, overweight, middle-aged man wearing a diaper; not explicitly stated to be a son of Aphrodite. Cupid has minions called Cherubs, and his quiver holds both "love" and "loathe" arrows.
- Bacchus (voiced by Dom DeLuise) – God of the Wine and Partying. He nearly sinks Phil's island with his revelry that bothered Poseidon.
- Nemesis (voiced by Linda Hamilton) – The Demigoddess of Vengeance who works for the Infernal Retribution Service (IRS), a service which punishes mortals for offenses committed against Gods like posing as a God or defacing a God's temple. She can turn her hands into weapons. She gets really angry whenever she can't do a smiting.
- Trivia (voiced by Ben Stein) – The God of when three roads meet. Considered boring and unimportant and not invited to Hades' pool party (actually a memory-erasing plot) at the River Lethe. He speaks in a monotone. Depicted as a god of trivial information, sought out Hercules to help maintain order in the world while the other gods have lost their memories. In actual mythology, this name belongs to Hecate.
- Artemis (voiced by Reba McEntire) – Goddess of the Hunt and Wild Animals, Artemis has a few appearances mainly relating to episodes involving hunting sporting McEntire's accent. In particular, she is seen protecting the Calydonian Boar and transforms a few of the characters into animals, a reference of her turning a hunter who saw her bathing into a stag in mythology. She is also seen scolding Orion also making references to the Belt of Orion in terms of the star patterns. A few times, she is comically seen fighting off her adoring animal fans like a snake that starts to constrict her. She is the sister of Apollo.
- Amphitrite (voiced by Leslie Mann) - The Goddess of the Sea and wife of Poseidon.
- Hestia (voiced by Betty White) – Only making a few appearances, the Goddess of Family and the Hearth is seen as a cheery housewife type. She is often seen cooking or marveling at her own confections... most of which end up being ruined in a comical fashion like when Adonis caused Hercules to crash into her cake.
- Hecate (voiced by Peri Gilpin) – An Underworld goddess, Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft and longs to take over the Underworld from Hades in much the same way he longs to take Olympus from Zeus. Despite his seeming dislike of the place most of the time, he's very possessive of his kingdom whenever she tries to overthrow him.
- Narcissus – God of Vanity? Not truly a god in Greco-Roman mythology, but was depicted several times in both the film and the series as an Olympian god.
- Gaia (voiced by Kerri Kenney) – Goddess of the Earth, mother of the Titans. Adonis selfishly woke her from her eternal slumber after not heeding a warning sign and she cursed him to die at sundown. With Hercules' help, Adonis procured golden apples to appease Gaia, who removes his curse.
- Pan (voiced by Joe Pantoliano) - The God of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. Was shown as merely the king of the satyrs who wants to be worshiped as a god by his people. He gains the wrath of Demeter, who threatens to smite him for building a temple to himself if he does not give her suitable offerings by the end of the harvest festival. After an attempt to get Phil to take his place, which nearly gets the trainer killed, Pan is forced to give up all the offerings of the festival to spare his life,he also appear in the episode Herules and the Prince of Thrace in the story of th Muses with King Midas.
- Styx – Was seen in the episode "Hercules and the River Styx".
Heroes
- Hippocrates (voiced by Mandy Patinkin) – He is the world's First Doctor. He cures people of plague and even goes so far as bringing the dead back to life.
- Paris (voiced by Cary Elwes) – Trojan Academy student and arrogant Trojan prince.
- Hylas (voiced by Rocky Carroll) – He is "the bad boy of rowing" although in Greek mythology he is the son of Hercules or was at least raised by him.
- Orpheus (voiced by Rob Paulsen) – He is a singer and teen idol.
- Chiron (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in the first appearance, Louis Gossett, Jr. in the second appearance) – Centaur, Hero, famous hero-trainer and author. Chiron is both rival and friend to Phil, and hunting buddy of Nestor and Meleager.
- Meleager (voiced by Nicholas Turturro) – He's usually with Nestor. He has extraordinary hearing abilities.
- Nestor (voiced by James Belushi) – He is usually with Meleager. He can see very far.
- Agamemnon (voiced by Patrick Warburton) – He is a drill sergeant for the Spar O.T.C.
- Achilles (voiced by Dom Irrera) – He is an old hero who everyone except for Hercules has forgotten. He was once trained by Phil but he failed.
- Odysseus (voiced by Steven Weber) – A cunning king of the Greek island of Ithaca.
- Telemachus – The prince of Ithaca. He, Hercules, and three Argonauts end up in their own Odyssey.
- Jason (voiced by William Shatner) – The leader of the Argonauts.
- Lynceus (voiced by Larry Miller) – The helmsman of the Argo.
- Butes (voiced by Steven Wright) – Bee keeper from the Argo.
- Bellerophon (voiced by David Schramm) – Hero king of Corinth who takes Pegasus in and names him "Ignatius". With the help of Pegasus, Bellerophon is able to defeat the Chimera.
- Mentor (voiced by Edward Asner) – The tough chief police man.
- Chipacles (voiced by Mike Connors) – Head city-state trooper for the Athens P.D who takes his job very seriously (Probably a reference to the television show CHiPs).
- Melampus (voiced by Ethan Embry) – He is a nerd that goes to Prometheus Academy. He is dating Cassandra which makes him Icarus' rival. Icarus once tried to hurt Melampus but was stopped by Hercules.
- Alectryon (voiced by Steve Hytner) – He is a guard who was turned into a rooster for falling asleep on guard duty. Whenever he crows, anyone who is asleep wakes up.
- Theseus (voiced by Eric Stoltz) – Hercules' cousin. After the Minotaur escapes from the Labyrinth, he helps Hercules face it. Theseus has a double identity, his second self being the superhero "Grim Avenger", whose costume resembles that of DC Comics' character Doctor Fate, though his personality and backstory are more inspired by Batman. As the Grim Avenger, Theseus is constantly narrating his every move aloud.
- Pheidippides - He was mentioned as a student of Chiron who ran 10000 metres and set a new world record.
- Samson - He is described as another student of Chiron's who is very strong and is an "out of towner" referring to him being of Israel. With that Philoctetes sais "yah yah I know him strong guy that needs a haircut referring to the fact that Samsons strength came from his long hair."
Guest characters
- "Bob" the Narrator (voiced by Robert Stack) – The incorporeal voice who opens most episodes and is helped by the Muses who act as a "Greek chorus" typically singing their narration. Bob has an incorporeal wife (Mrs. Bob) and two incorporeal children named Tiffany & Chad. Their only "appearance" on screen is in episode "Return of Typhon" when 'Bob' is convinced by the muses to take a holiday, their movements only noticeable by the hats they wore.
- Homer – Homer (coincidently voiced by another "Homer", Dan Castellaneta) is Journalist for a National News-scroll, the "Greekly World News."
- Queen Hippolyta & King Darius (voiced by Jane Curtin & Emeril Lagasse) - The parents of Tempest.
- King Minos (voiced by Charles Nelson Reilly) - The insane King of Crete who had Daedalus construct the labyrinth to hold the Minotaur.
- Orion (voiced by Craig Ferguson) - The great hunter. Due to him almost killing off every animal on Earth, he was made a constellation by Artemis to keep Zeus for smiting him. Hercules once freed him to teach him how to use the bow resulting in Hercules learning the barbaric Orion Cluster (which was banned in every city-state). He ended up running afoul of Chipacles and even ate a food from Gyro World without paying for it. Due to Hercules freeing Orion, he also freed Leo, Taurus, Aries, Scorpius, and the Big Dipper causing Hercules and Orion to hunt four of them down with their defeat causing the destruction of Sparta, Corinth, Thessaly, and Abacus Valley. When Leo, Taurus, Aries, and Scorpius converged on Athens, Artemis arrived after finding the Big Dipper and prevented Orion from using the Orion Cluster. Following Hercules learning of Orion's history with Artemis, Hercules was able to use his own rendition of the Orion Cluster to take down the Constellations. After the Constellations were rounded up and sent back into the sky, Artemis had Hercules repair the damaged city-states, the damaged Gyro World, and pay the fine that Chipacles gave Orion. Later, Orion returned to the sky himself.
- Galatea (voiced by Jennifer Aniston) – She also made an appearance, but not as the wife of Pygmalion the art teacher, but as the statue Hercules beseeched Aphrodite to bring to life for him as a date to the Aphrodasia Dance. Hercules learned a decidedly different lesson than the one from the original myth. Because he asked that her personality would be "crazy about [him]", Galatea becomes increasingly obsessive about him, especially when he dumped her and dropped her off on an island in the middle of nowhere. Literally, she walked through water to get to him. She was solidified by an accidental fire but tried hopping to him. Aphrodite changes her personality to free will and have a mind of her own.
- Circe (voiced by Idina Menzel) – She also made an appearance, but not with Odysseus, who appeared in other episodes. She was simply looking for suitable boyfriends and turned most of the male cast into various animals.
- King Midas (voiced by Eugene Levy) – He is a greedy king whose touch turns everything into gold, which wanted Hermes' sandals to transform the whole world. After being foiled in a James Bond manner by Hercules, Midas sees the negative side of his power after accidentally touching his daughter Marigold.
- Marigold (voiced by Tia Carrere) - Midas' daughter.
- Agent Epsilon (voiced by Craig Ferguson) – An agent of Midas who was pretending to be with Athens Intelligence to get Hercules into a trap.
- Salmoneus (Jeffrey Tambor) – King of Thessaly. To keep his morality high to the people, he ends up impersonating Zeus and gets smited by Zeus after being exposed. He conspired with Pain and Panic to reclaim his throne.
- One episode featured a crossover with Aladdin, in which Hades and Jafar (voiced by Jonathan Freeman) team up to destroy both their respective archnemesis (ignoring the fact these two series seem to take place a thousand years apart from each other).
- One episode deals with Egyptian gods (Amun, Bastet and Ra) and the dual role of the Greek gods in Rome who answered the petitions of Romulus and Remus and vied for patronage with Icarus, Nemesis and the Grecian Gods of Olympus. At the end of the episode, Icarus gives all the gods Roman names, where Zeus became "Jupiter", Hera became "Juno" etc. Hades is infuriated at receiving the name "Pluto". As he storms out of the room in a rage, Hades shouts: "Pluto?! I wouldn't name my dog Pluto!" Having given nearly all of the Greek gods new Roman names, Icarus suddenly found himself at a loss when he came to Apollo and finally dubbed him "Larry." (reference to both Romans and Greeks using the same name for Apollo)
- The Norse Gods also appeared where Loki (voiced by Vince Vaughn) tricks Hercules into depowering Thor (voiced by David James Elliott) to cause the Twilight of the Gods by having Hercules take Thor's place, since the prophecy states that Thor must wield his hammer for the Norse Gods to win (Although the episode concludes with Hercules delivering the winning blow; Odin noted that the prophecy only said Thor had to wield the hammer without saying that he had to hit anything with it). This is slightly referential to the episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in "Somewhere Across the Rainbow Bridge" where Ragnarok would begin but to a lesser extent. Also The Fates are accused of "moonlighting" as the Norns, a reference to how the Norns bear striking resemblance to the Fates. Vaughn's portrayal of Loki is obviously comparable to Woods's portrayal of Hades as a slick showbiz agent-type, and is very reminiscent of his role in Swingers. Even Odin (voiced by Garrison Keillor) is portrayed somewhat similarly to Zeus's persona in the show. Hermod (voiced by Paul Shaffer) is shown as a counterpart of Hermes. Also, the Fates had their own Norse counterpart in the Norns.
Monsters
- Echidna (voiced by Kathie Lee Gifford) – The Mother of all Monsters. Echidna had a recurring role in the series and was typically seen as an obsessive and doting mother to her various children who one-by-one were defeated by Hercules (a reference to Kevin Sorbo's Hercules fighting Echidna, except here she serves Hades). Her mate was Typhon (voiced by Regis Philbin), who famously lost a battle to Zeus. Among their children were the:
- Cyclops – One is the son of Echidna, as seen in "Hercules and the Big Games."
- Orthos – (voiced respectively by Wayne Knight and Brad Garrett) – A two-headed Cyclops that Hercules fought in "Hercules and the First Day of School."
- Cerberus (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) – The three-headed dog that guards the Underworld for Hades.
- Hydra – A giant serpent from Thebes that can grow multiple heads.
- Nemean Lion (voiced by Jeremy Piven) – A lion with a hide that no weapons can penetrate.
- Chimera (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) - An enemy of Bellerophon. In this show, it has the head and front legs of a lion, the horns and back legs of a goat, and a snake-headed tail.
- Ladon (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) – The youngest of Echidna's monsters.
- Gegenius (voiced by Brad Garrett in the first appearance, Frank Welker in the second appearance) – The multi-armed yeti-like sailor-eating monster that was encountered by Hercules and the Argonauts.
- Geryon (voiced by Will Ferrell) – A monster with three torsos with each head and arms on it.
- Furies – Giant birds that live in the Underworld.
- Ceto – A sea monster.
- Griffins - Griffins are creatures that are part eagle, part lion. There were two known Griffins in this show:
- Griff (voiced by Tim Conway) - An elderly griffin that guarded a diamond that Hephaestus forged.
- Merv Griffin (voiced by Merv Griffin) - A griffin who has his own talk show.
- Argus Panoptes (voiced by Harvey Fierstein) - A multi-eyed monster who has a history with Hermes.
- Caucasian Eagle (voiced by Jerry Stiller) – A giant eagle who was ordered by Zeus to eat the liver of Prometheus every day. Appeared in Hercules and the Prometheus Affair.
- Catoblepas (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) - A bull monster that Phil once fought.
- Medusa (voiced by Jennifer Love Hewitt) – The famous gorgon whose gaze turns people to stone, although here she is really just lonely and longs for friends. After rescuing Herc from drowning, she develops a crush on him and asks for divine assistance to be able to get close to him. Aphrodite offers useful but utterly ignored self-esteem tips and stone-preventing sunglasses, while Hades grants her a beautiful appearance by day, monster and his employee by night. But if one true friend accepts her for who she is, he'd turn her human permanently. But when Hercules finds out what she truly was, he first thought she was trying to get close to turn him to stone and she runs off, sad. When Hades learns that it is Hercules that she had a crush on, he purposefully revealed her appearance in the dark to turn him to stone. But Aphrodite appeared, pointing out the technicality in the contract but Hades was only concerned in turning Medusa human but she deflects the spell with Hercules' shield at him. With his eyes closed, Hercules asks Medusa out, to which she says yes but first takes Aphrodite's glasses.
- The Minotaur (voiced by Michael Dorn) – He appears in two episodes, The first following his myth, being housed inside the Labyrinth built by Daedalus for the insane Crete king Minos. The second has him escaping and reaching Athens, where he faces Hercules and Theseus. The two of them managed to subdue the Minotaur and the Gods placed him back in the Labyrinth.
- Winged Wolves of Hecate (voiced by Jon Cryer and Jim Cummings) - Two wolves with bird-like wings who work for Hecate.
- King Arismap (voiced by Harvey Korman) - The King of the Arismapse (a race of thieving mountain gnomes) who had been trying to steal the diamond that Griff guards.
- Doubt – A snake that bites people, causing them to drown in fear and doubt. Hades called him in to strike Icarus so that he won't kiss Cassandra (because she sold her soul to him to make sure he doesn't kiss her), but his bite wore off quickly.
- Three-Headed Sea Serpent (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) - A sea monster that Hercules and Poseidon fought in "Hercules and the Son of Poseidon."
- Scylla - A sea monster that resembles a woman with tentacled legs and dog-heads on her hips. Hercules fought her twice, in "Hercules and the Big Sink" and "Hercules and the Oddysey Experience."
- Arachne (voiced by Vicki Lewis) – The guardian of the Tapestry of Fate; a spider-like monster with a bored, sarcastic personality. She only became a guardian because of her mother saying she should see the world and eat exotic people. When Hades changed the Tapestry, Arachne was reduced to minding the cave where the Tapestry used to be.
- Sphinx (voiced by Wink Martindale) – He is a trivia game show host who asks questions nobody can answer until Hercules comes along winning a chariot in the process.
- Ephialtes (voiced by Jim Varney) - A tree giant who is the King of the Dryads and the father of Syrinx.
- Syrinx (voiced by Annie Potts) - A nymph who is the daughter of Ephialtes.
- Laestrygonian (voiced by Patrick Warburton) - A giant that Hades tries to lure to his side. He is a big fan of Orpheus.
- Man-Eating Mares (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) – Phil had tasked Hercules with a job of taking down a Man-Eating Mare. Hades had sent Neurosis to make sure Hercules fails. When the Man-Eating Mares prove to be difficult for Hercules, he calls on his father for help. Zeus managed to scare off the Man-Eating Mares.
- Fenrir - A monstrous wolf that was released by Loki in a plot to incite Ragnarok.
- Frost Giants - Giants of the Norse from Jotunheim, composed of ice and snow similar to the Ice Titan. Agents of Loki and enemies of all that is good.