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| “ | I'm always... always on the side of justice. | „ |
| ~ Heracles explains to Loki, faced with his accusations of non-fidelity to the Gods, that he will always be on the side of those who are right. |
| “ | That was a good fight... I'm sorry... for yelling before... Brunhilde... are you watching?... I leave the rest to you... though they may be foolish, I still hold them dear... please save them. | „ |
| ~ The last words of Heracles shortly before his death, with which he asks Brunhilde to save Humanity. |
Heracles, also known as Alcides, is an anti-villain in the manga/anime series Record of Ragnarok and a supporting character of its manga spin-off Record of Ragnarok Forbidden Legend - Apocalypse of The Gods.
He is the main antagonist of the Fourth Round, a minor character in the Sixth Round and a minor antagonist in the Ninth Round of the Ragnarok Tournament.
Heracles is a Human being originally called Alcides who, in an attempt to defend justice and the weak, drank Ambrosia, the blood of Zeus, to contrast Ares and, following this, he became a God at the behest of Zeus himself. He is also the Gods' representative of the Gods Fighters during the Fourth Round, where he faces Jack the Ripper as the Humans' representative of the Einherjar.
He is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi, who has also voiced Diavolo in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, False Groudon in Pokémon: Jirachi, Wish Maker, Rayquaza in Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys, Captain Ginyu in Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dark Oak in Sonic X, Han in Fist of the North Star, Koutarou Amon in Tokyo Ghoul, Fraudrin in The Seven Deadly Sins, Sheepshead in One Piece, Torch Man in Mega Man 11, Johann Trinity in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Lucifer in Shin Megami Tensei IV, in the Japanese dubbed version of the anime adaptation. He is voiced by George Newbern in the English dub. In his younger version, he is voiced by Shohei Komatsu in the Japanese dub and by Yuri Lowenthal in the English dub.
Appearance[]
Heracles appears to be a tall, muscular man with long, spiky orange hair. He wears right shoulder guard and chest guard the same as in archery. His left arm has an ornate gold bracelet covering his biceps. He also wears a lion fur kilt, champion belt, and simple leather sandals. He has a red tattoo that crosses his torso from his right shoulder to his lower left abdomen. His eyes are blue.
As a Human, Alcides had dark brown hair and was much thinner and less muscular, which he only achieved after years of constant training. Immediately after drinking the Ambrosia, Alcides got white hair.
Personality[]
Heracles is a very just individual and is considered to be the most just being of the Gods, which is accentuated by his actions, his ideology, his judgment and his staunch opposition to the end of Humanity. Heracles is also a person of honor and dignity, as he stated to Loki that while he does not advocate the destruction of Humanity, he would still do his best in his Round of the Ragnarok having been cast as Gods Fighters.
He admires those he recognizes as strong, even those he deeply detests like Jack the Ripper. Being a true warrior, Heracles embraces combat in all its forms and relishes the heart of battle, and wishes to be able to fight against worthy opponents to prove his worth. He is a great friend of Prometheus and they both share the desire to save Humanity, in fact Heracles' aim during the Ragnarok Tournament was to demonstrate to the Gods the value of Humans through his fight and make them change their mind about Humanity.
Heracles feels a universal and indomitable love and altruism towards all Humans, to the point of saying that, although he considers them sinners, he will save them no matter what, which he also tried to do with his adversary, Jack the Ripper, after to have discovered that he is an individual who has given in to his instincts. He never gave up his principles of honor and love no matter what hardships he faced. During the last moments of his life, instead of ending his bout with a mutual kill, he embraced Jack with his remaining strength.
Biography[]
Heracles is the Greek God of Fortitude and a Demigod born and raised on Earth. Born in a Greek city called Thebes, Alcides befriends Castor and defends him from bullies all the time, although he is skinny and has no hope of defeating them, because he always intends to defend the weak. Over the years Alcides continues to help the weaker ones and constantly train to get stronger, eventually becoming quite muscular.
Several years later, following a decision by the Gods' Council, Ares' troops attack Thebes to destroy it, but Alcides stands in front of them and is easily defeated. Deciding to gamble everything and everything, Alcides drinks Ambrosia, the blood of Zeus which it is said only a true hero could survive, and thus manages to obtain the strength of Zeus, routing the army of Ares in an instant and directly facing the Greek God of War.
The battle is interrupted by Zeus, who proposes to Alcides to become a God to defend justice as he wishes, and Alcides accepts on condition that the Gods never interfere again in the affairs of Humans: the Gods accept and for the following 4000 years they do not interact more with Humans. Alcides thus ascends to Heaven and, after passing the Twelve Labors, is crowned by Zeus as God and takes the name of his wife, Hera, renaming himself Heracles. Over the years Heracles befriends Prometheus, Brunhilde and Göll.
Millennia later the Ragnarok Tournament is proclaimed and Heracles is chosen by Zeus as one of the Gods Fighters to represent the Gods during the competition. The Apocalypse Tournament is also established where many Gods would fight for the last place among the Gods Fighters and to establish a new rule in the Constitution of Valhalla, which is why Heracles goes to find Prometheus before his match and explains to him that he intends to participate in the Ragnarok Tournament to change the minds of the Gods about Humans through his match, and to show his support for his doubtful friend of his methods. Afterwards, Heracles watches the Round of 16 match of the Apocalypse Tournament between Prometheus and Sun Wukong.
Some time later, during the Ragnarok Tournament, Zeus decides to make Heracles fight in the Fourth Round to avenge the defeat of Poseidon in the Third Round and Heracles immediately warns Brunhilde and Göll, wishing them good luck. He is then approached by Loki who expresses doubts about Heracles' allegiance to the Gods, but he warns his that even if he is against the extermination of Humanity, he will fight for the Gods and then he will convince them to spare Humanity.
Heracles fights in the Fourth Round, representing the Gods, against Jack the Ripper, representing the Humans. Heracles becomes enraged that Brunhilde pitted him against a despicable Human being who murdered innocent women, but in the course of the fight he realizes that Jack has been disillusioned with life and has succumbed to his instincts, so after admitting to love Humanity despite its flaws decides to try to save him. In the end Heracles is defeated and killed by his opponent, but just before dying he shows Jack the Ripper how much he really loves Humanity including him and asks Brunhilde to save them all.
Powers and Abilities[]
Divine Physiology: As a Demigod, Heracles possesses physical abilities far exceeding those of any ordinary Human and his body cannot be harmed by deadly weapons. However, he can be injured and killed by physical attacks with superhuman strength or by Divine Weapons. Following the assimilation of Ambrosia, Heracles possesses an eternal body and unable to die due to old age. In fact, he shows no signs of aging despite being more than 4000 years old.
Divine Strength: After drinking Ambrosia and surviving, Heracles gained strength equal to that of Zeus and managed to defeat the army of Ares, the Vanguard of the Gods, and to fight him face to face, leading him to admit that he would be dead if Zeus had not intervened. In his fight against Jack the Ripper, Heracles split the entire ground by simply jumping, effortlessly broke Jack's giant scissors and created a giant crater in the ground by hitting him.
Divine Speed, Reflexes and Durability: Heracles is much faster than any ordinary Human. He was able to block multiple of Jack's knives being thrown at him at very high speed. Even when Jack tried to hit Heracles aiming at his blind spot, the God still managed to dodge the attack. As the God of Fortitude, Heracles possesses nearly unlimited durability. Even during his time as a mere mortal he was already much tougher than most Humans, having been able to take a blow from a huge boar and even a kick in the face from Ares, managing to survive and receive just a few wounds.
Divine Stamina and Endurance: As the God of Fortitude, Heracles possesses very high stamina, to an almost unlimited level. Despite being born with a body weaker than any other Human, Heracles managed to achieve a physique far superior to most Humans through sheer training and willpower alone. Before reaching the rank of God, Heracles was already strong enough to be considered among the strongest in Thebes. During his fight with Jack the Ripper, despite losing massive amounts of blood, Heracles still managed to keep up with the serial killer without showing any signs of fatigue or anemia.
Immense Pain Tolerance: Heracles has displayed immense pain tolerance. After becoming a Demigod, he was able to continue fighting Ares and his army despite suffering significant injuries. In the battle with Jack, even after being stabbed by countless knives, after his left arm was cut off and after a Divine building crashed into him, he continued to fight, showing no sign of pain. Furthermore, when he activated the Herculean Exodus, a technique with which Heracles harnesses the power of the Twelve Labors thanks to his club, a millimeter of the resulting tattoo growth causes even a natural God to feel a immense and sharp pain. Although Heracles grew large enough to cover half of his body, Heracles didn't even flinch, remaining calm throughout the ordeal. When Heracles activates the Twelfth Labor: Cerberus, Hound of Hades and merges with Cerberus transforming himself, the pain caused by the tattoo increases more and more until it would have caused his death, but Heracles does not give in to the pain even for a moment. Even before becoming a Demigod, Heracles already had an immense tolerance for pain, having been able to drink Ambrosia without dying or passing out, despite the substance burning his flesh in the process of transforming from mortal to Demigod.
Mental Abilities: Heracles possesses a righteous soul and a strong will even before he became a God. Even as a child, Heracles never gave in to despair, no matter how tough the situation. He always fought on the front lines and never backed down even though his opponent was a God. He has been training constantly since he was a Human, using hardship as a way to improve himself, in order to gain the strength to protect the weak. Heracles also showed immense charisma: thanks to his noble ambitions and his determination he managed to become a very popular individual among the Gods. Ares and many other people look up to him, including Jack the Ripper, who was moved by Heracles' actions despite being one of the most evil Humans.
Fighting Abilities: Heracles wields his Divine club with Divine skill and proficiency, as shown in his battle against Jack the Ripper, during which he deflected Jack's flurry of knives effortlessly and slashed Jack's giant scissors effortlessly. Also with a similar weapon he defeated the Vanguard of the Gods and the army of Ares. Heracles is very skilled in unarmed combat as well, having almost been able to defeat Jack the Ripper through the use of his brawling skills and his Twelfth Labor. According to Heimdall, Heracles managed to defeat both the Nemean Lion and Cerberus with nothing but his fists.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Although this version of Heracles cannot be considered as a Villain, he can still be classified as such because, even if he has no intention of exterminating Humanity, he still fought alongside the Gods Fighters and, in case of his victory, risked condemning Humanity to extermination (but he insisted that he will save them).
- The design of Cerberus' transformation was most likely inspired by the manga Bio Booster Armor Guyver.
- The concept behind Heracles' tattoo is likely a reference to the poisoned clothes which killed the original mythological Heracles. In the myths, the Demigod Heracles could not bear the pain and screamed constantly, but this Heracles seems to have improved his pain tolerance since his earthly death.
- In the original Greek Mythology, Heracles took a belt from the Amazon queen Hippolyta as his Ninth Labor. In some versions, he obtained it by winning in a wrestling contest against her. This Heracles' championship belt might be a reference to this version of the myth.
- While Ambrosia is the blood of Zeus in the Record of Ragnarok series, in the Greek myths Ambrosia is the food or drink of the Greek Gods, often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it.
External Links[]
Heracles on the Shuumatsu no Valkyrie Wiki
