Hercules (God of War)

"Call it my thirteenth and final labor. Soon I will become the God of War and claim the throne for myself!"

- Hercules

Hercules is a minor antagonist in the video game; God of War III. He's is the son of Zeus, half-brother of Kratos, and one of the bosses Kratos encounters.

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.

Attack on Mt. Olympus
As Kratos and the Titans attacked Mt. Olympus, Hercules received the command to counterattack from his father and sent their undead warriors into battle. ===Battle with Kratos===

Later on, Kratos arrived at an 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. As the battle waged on, Kratos stripped off both Hercules' armor and helmet. As he gloated towards Hera on how much of a weakling Kratos was, Kratos managed to take the Cestus one by one. Despite Hercules losing both of the Cestuses, he simply fought Kratos unarmed. Finally, growing tired of the Ghost of Sparta, Hercules attempted to drop his half-brother off the mountain by picking up most of the arena, and lifting it up, in hopes Kratos would fall to his death. Kratos managed to survive and procceded to climb to the lifted arena. He then trapped Hercules below the arena ground then processed to beat him to death by smashing his face in with the Cestus. Eventually the floor below them collapsed and the two fell into the sewers within Olympus, Hercules dead and disfigured, whose body Kratos left to rot.

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.

Powers
Hercules most prominent ability is his enormous strength, which seems to equal or possibly even surpass that of even Kratos, since he succeeded in overpowering him physically (He is at least 8'6" and has an even bigger physique than Kratos to boot). He can also use this strength to jump high into the air and seems to be able to regenerate quickly from injuries, since after being impaled on spikes, and yet he's able to walk away with almost no visible injury. Hercules’ Nemean Cestus, a gift for slaying the Nemean Lion, increase the strength of his brute force attacks. They let him unleash powerful shockwaves and send Kratos flying across the arena with one strike. Without his cestus, Hercules has demonstrated the ability to dodge Kratos’ attacks rather quickly.

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 fourth time Kratos killed a half-brother, the first time was when he killed Castor in God of War: Ascension, the second time is Ares in God of War and the third 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 Sparta’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 is 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.


 * Both Hercules and Kratos are very similar in many ways besides being half-brothers. For one they both killed their wife and child under the influence of a certain god (Ares for Kratos, and Hera for Hercules), they are both demigods, and they were forced to serve the gods for several years.


 * It's likely that when Kratos opened Pandora's Box, Hercules was probably infected by Jealousy/Envy.


 * According to the special features in God of War III, Hercules stands almost 12 feet tall, and weighs more than 4000 pounds.