Hercules (God of War)

Hercules is a son of Zeus and a boss from God of War III.

Ascension to Greatness
Like his mythological counterpart, Hercules was apparently a great hero in the God Of War series, since he stated that he had completed the twelve seemingly impossible labors that made him famous in mythology.

Twelve Labors
1.Slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin, which was invincible against attacks.

2.Slay the 9-headed Hydra in the swamps of Lerna.

3.Catch Artemis’ Golden Stag.

4.Capture the Erymanthian Boar.

5.Clean the filthy Augean stables in one day.

6.Kill the Stymphalian birds.

7.Capture the bull of Crete.

8.Steal the flesh-eating mares of Diomedes.

9.Get the golden girdle of Hippolyta, the Amazon queen.

10.Steal the cattle of the three-bodied monster, Geryon.

11.Steal the golden apple of the Hesperides guarded by the 100 headed dragon, Ladon.

12.Capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog guardian of the Underworld, alive and bring him back.

Battle with Kratos
As Kratos and the Titans attacked Mt. Olympus, Hercules received the command to counterattack from his father and sent their undead warriors into battle. Later Kratos arrived at the arena, where he encountered Hera, who had Hercules fight the Ghost of Sparta as her champion. After appearing within the arena, Hercules revealed that he believed Kratos was Zeus’ favorite, since Zeus had given the Spartan the job of defeating Ares and then crowned him the new god of war while Hercules had been stuck doing his twelve labors. While he had taken enjoyment out of slaying the Nemean Lion, Kratos had been the one Zeus had made famous all across the world. Hercules then told his half-brother that he planned to kill him as his thirteenth, unofficial labor. After watching Kratos defeat his undead soldiers, Hercules put on his Nemean Cestus and leapt down into the Arena to fight his half-brother himself. However the Ghost of Sparta took the Cestus one by one by stabbing Hercules in the arms. He simply fought Kratos unarmed, even throwing pieces of the arena at his foe until finally attempting to drop his half-brother off the mountain by picking up most of the arena and lifting it up. Kratos managed to survive and trapped Hercules below the arena then smashed his face in with the Cestus. Eventually the ground below them collapsed and the two fell into the sewers within Olympus, Hercules dead and disfigured, whose body Kratos left to rot.

Powers
Hercules most prominent ability is his enormous strength, which seems to surpass that of even Kratos, since he succeeded in overpowering him physically. He could also use this strength to jump high into the air and also seemed to be able to regenerate quickly from injuries, since after being impaled on spikes, he walked away with no visible injury. Hercules’ Nemean Cestus, a gift for slaying the Nemean Lion, increased the strength of his brute force attacks. It let him unleash powerful shockwaves and send Kratos flying across the arena with one strike. After losing his cestus, Hercules demonstrated the ability to dodge Kratos’ attacks rather quickly.

Personality
Hercules seems to be easily susceptible to jealousy to the point of being irrational since he thought of Kratos as Zeus’ favorite, despite the fact that Kratos and Zeus wanted to destroy each other, and the good of his life was far outweighed by the bad. Hercules was also very proud and arrogant, but his great strength may have left him entitled to being that way.

Trivia

 * Hercules is voiced by Kevin Sorbo, who played the character in the TV show, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.


 * Hercules was originally planned to appear in God Of War II, but was scrapped due to time and budget constraints.


 * Hercules death in God Of War III marked the third time Kratos killed a half-brother, the first time was when he killed Ares in God Of War and the second time was when he killed Perseus in God Of War II.


 * Hercules stated that he did two of his labors during Kratos’ quest, but was a famous hero and worshipped as a god before Kratos was. He may have died after performing ten, completed them while his half-brother was on his quest or was rather comparing his labors to the Ghost of Sprta’s own, expressing his jealousy. This may have just been an alteration to the games.


 * Despite the gods having their Greek names, Hercules still went by his Roman name instead of Heracles, his Greek name. This may be because he was more well-known by his Roman name.


 * There were a number of moves named after Hercules in God Of War and an unlockable costume of him in God Of War II. However this version bore no resemblance to the God Of War III version, but this may have been because the creators had not decided fully on his appearance yet.


 * There seems to be a lion theme to Hercules, most likely a reference to his considering the slaying of the Nemean Lion a labor worthy of him. His Nemean Cestus have lion faces and some of their moves generate images of lions and beasts. Hercules’ helmet is designed after a lion face with the plume becoming a mane of sorts and his shoulder armor resembles lion paws.


 * Hercules fighting as Hera’s champion is both fitting and ironic since his Greek name means “Hera’s pride” yet in mythology, Hera despised Hercules since he was an illegitimate child of her husband, Zeus.