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* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Despite being part of the Olympian pantheon, Hades was somehow unaware for 18 years that Hercules had survived his kidnapping and assassination and that Zeus had located him in the mortal realm. Hades only finds this out after Meg's chance encounter (and realizes Pain and Panic botched their mission and lied). This ''can'' be justified, as the opening of the film establishes Hades has little love for the Olympus crowd (and vice-versa), and both parties mutually steer clear of each other. So it ''is'' plausible this isolation ironically backfired on Hades and left him in the dark on the family crisis (although given his network throughout the mortal realm, you'd think ''somebody'' on the payroll would've observed what Zeus was up to and informed Hades).
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* HammyVillainSeriousHero: Herc is a sweet, fun-loving NiceGuy but his personality turns much more serious and TranquilFury against the more hammy, comedic, and easily angered Hades.
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* RecycledInSpace: The movie's plot is basically ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' IN ANCIENT GREECE! Hercules bearing some resemblance to Franchise/{{Shazam}}, a boy who becomes a man, due to retaining his teenage characteristics even after growing into a hero upon completing his training. The film being like a superhero movie was no accident either--John Musker and Ron Clements, the directors of the film, are admitted superhero comic fans.
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* RecycledInSpace: The movie's plot is basically ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' IN ANCIENT GREECE! Hercules bearing some resemblance to Franchise/{{Shazam}}, ComicBook/{{Shazam}}, a boy who becomes a man, due to retaining his teenage characteristics even after growing into a hero upon completing his training. The film being like a superhero movie was no accident either--John Musker and Ron Clements, the directors of the film, are admitted superhero comic fans.
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* InstantlyProvenWrong: After struggling with a one-headed Hydra that swallows him whole, then having cut his way out from inside the Hydra, Hercules staggers out covered in green slime, saying "See Phil? That...that wasn't so hard." However, the Hydra grows three heads with each cut.
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* NotWearingTights: Hercules is portrayed as this; unsurprising, considering that the Greek demigods are arguably the earliest forms of the {{Superhero}} archetype. Though some tights are noticeable in Hercules' undergarmments as he battles the Hydra.
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* NotWearingTights: Hercules is portrayed as this; unsurprising, considering that the Greek demigods are arguably the earliest forms of the {{Superhero}} archetype. Though some tights are noticeable in Hercules' undergarmments as he battles undergarmments, like during the Hydra.Hydra battle.
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* NotWearingTights: Hercules is portrayed as this; unsurprising, considering that the Greek demigods are arguably the earliest forms of the {{Superhero}} archetype.
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* NotWearingTights: Hercules is portrayed as this; unsurprising, considering that the Greek demigods are arguably the earliest forms of the {{Superhero}} archetype. Though some tights are noticeable in Hercules' undergarmments as he battles the Hydra.
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* RecycledInSpace: The movie's plot is basically ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' IN ANCIENT GREECE! This was no accident either--John Musker and Ron Clements, the directors of the film, are admitted superhero comic fans.
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* RecycledInSpace: The movie's plot is basically ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' IN ANCIENT GREECE! This Hercules bearing some resemblance to Franchise/{{Shazam}}, a boy who becomes a man, due to retaining his teenage characteristics even after growing into a hero upon completing his training. The film being like a superhero movie was no accident either--John Musker and Ron Clements, the directors of the film, are admitted superhero comic fans.
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* MultipurposeTongue: The Hydra's tongue. In their first battle, the Hydra lashed out with her tongue and caught Hercules by the ankle, then she flipped him high into the air to swallow him whole. Later, when fighting multiple Hydra heads, Hercules grabbed one of the head's tongue to swing around as one attempt to escape the swarm of heads.
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* ParentalBonus: As expected from a Disney film. Most blatantly, Nessus pushing himself on Megara is certainly reminiscent of a rape attempt, with the centaur noting "I like 'em fiery!" as she keeps rejecting him, and once Hercules frees Meg and asks how she ended up with him, she replies "You know how men are. They think 'no' means 'yes', and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours'!" There is also one of the Muses reacting to a picture of Hercules saying she'd like "make some music," a guy who appears to be a flasher as he reveals he's selling sundials, and this gem of a quote:
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* ParentalBonus: As expected from a Disney film. Most blatantly, Nessus pushing himself on Megara is certainly reminiscent of a rape attempt, with the centaur noting "I like 'em fiery!" as she keeps rejecting him, and once Hercules frees Meg and asks how she ended up with him, she replies "You know how men are. They think 'no' means 'yes', and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours'!" When talking to Nessus, Hercules briefly hesitates and looks, uh... ''down there'' before calling him "sir". There is also one of the Muses reacting to a picture of Hercules saying she'd like "make some music," a guy who appears to be a flasher as he reveals he's selling sundials, and this gem of a quote:
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* KidnappedWhileSleeping: Baby Hercules is kidnapped by Pain and Panic while he is asleep.
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* OffModel:
** Hercules will frequently suffer ClothingDamage to his tunic, only for it to be repaired by the next frame. Most obviously when he's attacked by his fangirls--one strap of his tunic comes down, in the next frame it's fixed and in the next it's the other shoulder down. It's also shown a bit during the battle against the Cyclops: at first, he's beaten up, with bruises on his eyes and arms, a strap down and with a bit of blood coming out of his mouth, but when he's grabbed after Phil's pep talk, his wounds disappear.
** The river in the Underworld before Hercules jumps in. First he's able to dip his hand into the water. A few frames later, he jumps off a precipice to get into the river.
** Hercules will frequently suffer ClothingDamage to his tunic, only for it to be repaired by the next frame. Most obviously when he's attacked by his fangirls--one strap of his tunic comes down, in the next frame it's fixed and in the next it's the other shoulder down. It's also shown a bit during the battle against the Cyclops: at first, he's beaten up, with bruises on his eyes and arms, a strap down and with a bit of blood coming out of his mouth, but when he's grabbed after Phil's pep talk, his wounds disappear.
** The river in the Underworld before Hercules jumps in. First he's able to dip his hand into the water. A few frames later, he jumps off a precipice to get into the river.
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* LiteralMinded: Hercules takes it literally when Phil tells him to UseYourHead .
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* GoryDiscretionShot: We only see a distant reaction shot of the Cyclops after Hercules jabs a flaming stick into his eye.
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*** From ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', we get Zeus's wedge-shaped beard, a blue centaur, pudgy Bacchus and a scene of Hephaestus hammering at Zeus's lightning bolts. In addition, Hercules defeats the Cyclops the same way MickeyMouse defeated the giant in "WesternAnimation/BraveLittleTailor".
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*** From ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', we get Zeus's wedge-shaped beard, a blue centaur, pudgy Bacchus and a scene of Hephaestus hammering at Zeus's lightning bolts. In addition, Hercules defeats the Cyclops the same way MickeyMouse WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse defeated the giant in "WesternAnimation/BraveLittleTailor".
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* JokeOfTheButt:
** Pegasus's StuckInTheDoorway moment happens because his butt is too big to fit through Phil's door, and it's shown entirely from the outside so the audience gets an eyeful of his rear end failing to squeeze through.
** Phil's "fur [[{{Wedgie}} wedgie]]".
** Pegasus's StuckInTheDoorway moment happens because his butt is too big to fit through Phil's door, and it's shown entirely from the outside so the audience gets an eyeful of his rear end failing to squeeze through.
** Phil's "fur [[{{Wedgie}} wedgie]]".
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Hades, the Cyclops, Nessus, & Pain and Panic inadvertently led themselves to be defeated.
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* NonSequiturThud: When Phil tries to whisk Hercules back to training after finding he was playing hooky with Meg:
-->'''Phil:''' ''[gets smacked off of Pegasus by a tree branch, lands on his skull on a column and falls, raises arm in protest, slurred]'' That's '''IT!''' Next time, ''I'm'' driving... ''[he faints and his arm collapses]''
-->'''Phil:''' ''[gets smacked off of Pegasus by a tree branch, lands on his skull on a column and falls, raises arm in protest, slurred]'' That's '''IT!''' Next time, ''I'm'' driving... ''[he faints and his arm collapses]''
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** Nessus is no exception either. Meg tried to recruit him to join Hades' army but instead wanted to have his way with her. When he was defeated, Hercules and Meg would later fall in love.
** If Pain and Panic were honest with Hades about their failure to kill baby Hercules, Hades would have more time to kill Hercules to prevent him from screwing with his plans to conquer Mount Olympus.
* NonSequiturThud: When Phil tries to whisk Hercules back to training after finding he was playing hooky with Meg:
-->'''Phil:''' ''[gets smacked off of Pegasus by a tree branch, lands on his skull on a column and falls, raises arm in protest, slurred]'' That's '''IT!''' Next time, ''I'm'' driving... ''[he faints and his arm collapses]''
** If Pain and Panic were honest with Hades about their failure to kill baby Hercules, Hades would have more time to kill Hercules to prevent him from screwing with his plans to conquer Mount Olympus.
* NonSequiturThud: When Phil tries to whisk Hercules back to training after finding he was playing hooky with Meg:
-->'''Phil:''' ''[gets smacked off of Pegasus by a tree branch, lands on his skull on a column and falls, raises arm in protest, slurred]'' That's '''IT!''' Next time, ''I'm'' driving... ''[he faints and his arm collapses]''
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Hades and the cat Cyclops inadvertently led themselves to be defeated.
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* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
** The Cyclops sending Hercules waltzing in all corners of a building not only led to his death but the latter to get his strength back & defeat Hades.
** On the other side of the equation, if Hades led Hercules and Meg be, or better yet, have the Fates cut Hercules' life thread, or murder Hercules himself instead of sending the Cyclops to kill him, his plans would've succeeded.
** The Cyclops sending Hercules waltzing in all corners of a building not only led to his death but the latter to get his strength back & defeat Hades.
** On the other side of the equation, if Hades led Hercules and Meg be, or better yet, have the Fates cut Hercules' life thread, or murder Hercules himself instead of sending the Cyclops to kill him, his plans would've succeeded.
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* MythPrologue: The film begins with a straightforward retelling of the Ancient Greek creation myth... until the muses interrupt and turn it into a gospel number. But the story beats are the same, telling the story of how Zeus stopped the Titans and tamed the world.
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* MythologyGag: Aptly enough; despite many changes to the actual myths, there are more than a few references to them outside the main plot.
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* MythologyGag: Aptly enough; despite Literally, in this case; Despite many changes to the actual myths, there are more than a few references to them outside the main plot.
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'''Pain:''' You mean, ''if'' he finds out.\\
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'''Pain:''' You mean, mean ''if'' he finds out.\\
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'''Pain:''' You mean, ''if'' he gets out of there!\\
'''Panic:''' "If"? "If" is good.
'''Panic:''' "If"? "If" is good.
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'''Pain:''' You mean, mean ''if'' he gets out of there!\\
'''Panic:'''"If"? "If". "If" is good.
'''Panic:'''
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** Hercules accidentally releases the Hydra to free two children from a cave in. After trying to defeat it by cutting its head off, three more heads grow in its place. Regardless, he keeps cutting them, producing a swarm of heads until Phil tells him point-blank to stop doing that.
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** Hercules accidentally releases the Hydra to free two children from a cave in. After trying to defeat it by cutting its head off, three more heads grow in its place. Regardless, he keeps cutting them, producing a swarm of heads until Phil tells yells at him point-blank to stop doing that.
** Phil is no exception to this. Since he had no proof of Meg's true intentions because he didn't hear the entire conversation between her and Hades instead of leaving halfway through, Hercules is incredulous when he tries to warn him. He then gets pissed off when Hercules doesn't believe him, argues with him, gets on his bad side when he insults Meg in his face (as offensive words as a G-rated movie can afford), resulting in a slap from his student, and he leaves him in the lurch with the intention to go back to his island and just forget about him and retire. This was a big, big mistake, as Hades took advantage of the fact that his arch-enemy was alone, and because of this, Hercules finds out that Meg was really working for Hades, loses his super strength, gets his heart broken and is at the mercy of a Cyclops in Thebes, winning the fight and not getting killed only because Meg insisted that Phil had to come back and help him.
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-->'''Phil:''' ''[gets smacked off of Pegasus by a tree branch and lands on his skull behind bench, raises arm in protest, slurred]'' That's '''IT!''' Next time, ''I'm'' driving... ''[arm collapses]''
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-->'''Phil:''' ''[gets smacked off of Pegasus by a tree branch and branch, lands on his skull behind bench, on a column and falls, raises arm in protest, slurred]'' That's '''IT!''' Next time, ''I'm'' driving... ''[arm ''[he faints and his arm collapses]''
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* NeverSayDie: Averted. When Meg goes to Phil's island on Pegasus in an attempt to convince him to return and help Hercules when he's fighting a losing battle against a Cyclops, she says it clearly that Hercules will die if Phil won't help him right now.
-->'''Meg:''' Look, I know what I did was wrong, but this isn't about me, it's about him! If you don't help him now, Phil, he'll die!
-->'''Meg:''' Look, I know what I did was wrong, but this isn't about me, it's about him! If you don't help him now, Phil, he'll die!
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* NeverSayDie: Averted. When Meg goes to Phil's island Phil on Pegasus in an attempt to convince him to return and help Hercules when he's fighting a losing battle against a Cyclops, she says it clearly uses the word "die" to make it clear to Phil that Hercules will die if Phil won't he doesn't go back and help him right now.
-->'''Meg:''' Look, I know what I did was wrong, but this isn't about me, it's about him! If you don't help him now, Phil, he'll die!immediately, he's doomed.
-->'''Meg:''' Look, I know what I did was wrong, but this isn't about me, it's about him! If you don't help him now, Phil, he'll die!
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* NeverSayDie: Averted. When Meg goes to Phil's island on Pegasus in an attempt to convince him to return and help Hercules when he's fighting a losing battle against a Cyclops, she says it clearly that Hercules will die if Phil won't help him right now.
-->'''Meg:''' Look, I know what I did was wrong, but this isn't about me, it's about him! If you don't help him now, Phil, he'll die!
-->'''Meg:''' Look, I know what I did was wrong, but this isn't about me, it's about him! If you don't help him now, Phil, he'll die!
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* NotHelpingYourCase: When Phil went to warn Hercules about the fact that Meg was working for Hades, which he didn't believe, he then gets a slap from him. The reason? Because he made Hercules angry by insulting her to his face. Be thankful that this isn't the Hercules from the original myths, Phil.
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* NotHelpingYourCase: When Phil went to warn Hercules about the fact that Meg was working for Hades, which he didn't believe, he then gets a slap from him. The reason? Because he made Hercules angry by insulting her to his face. Be Not cool, Phil, be thankful that this isn't is not the Hercules from the original myths, Phil.myths.
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* HairTriggerTemper: Hades has a bad case of this. Every little annoyance or perceived transgression Pain and Panic (or anyone else make) make is enough to drive him to viciously beat them or burn them.
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* HairTriggerTemper: Hades has a bad case of this. Every little annoyance or perceived transgression Pain and Panic (or anyone else make) else) make is enough to drive him to viciously beat them or burn them.
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* HairTriggerTemper: Hades has a bad case of this. Every little annoyance or perceived transgression Pain and Panic (or anyone else make) make is enough to drive him to viciously beat them or burn them.
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** While the Fates don't really count as Hades’ henchmen, they are given a more neutral role in the ''Hades Challenge'' computer game as well as a few episodes of the TV series.
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* KickTheDog: After Hades captures Megara and has Hercules give him his strength and powers in exchange for Meg's safety, the first thing he does is to viciously toss a huge barbell toward Herc, knocking him into the ground and taunting him about how he finally got his wish of being "just like everybody else". To further rub salt into the wound, Hades uses the moment to reveal to Herc that Meg had been working for him the entire time. Herc, already in huge pain from the drastic loss of his powers, is utterly devastated by this revelation.
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* KickTheDog: After Hades captures Megara and has Hercules give him his strength and powers in exchange for Meg's safety, the first thing he does is to viciously toss a huge barbell toward Herc, knocking him into the ground and taunting him about how he finally got his wish of being "just like everybody else". To further rub salt into the wound, Hades uses the moment to reveal to Herc that Meg had been working for him the entire time. Herc, already in huge pain from the drastic loss of his powers, is utterly devastated by this revelation. Then, Pain and Panic mock him in front of Meg, who is then reduced to tears for being involved in this mess.
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** Herc gets this [[spoiler:after he hits Phil in a blind rage]]. He's very shocked at himself for lashing out.
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** Herc gets this [[spoiler:after he hits slaps Phil in a blind rage]]. He's very shocked at himself for lashing out.
*NotHelpingYourCase: When Phil went to warn Hercules about the fact that Meg was working for Hades, which he didn't believe, he then gets a slap from him. The reason? Because he made Hercules angry by insulting her to his face. Be thankful that this isn't the Hercules from the original myths, Phil.
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** Hercules will frequently suffer ClothingDamage to his tunic, only for it to be repaired by the next frame. Most obviously when he's attacked by his fangirls--one strap of his tunic comes down, in the next frame it's fixed and in the next it's the other shoulder down.
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** Hercules will frequently suffer ClothingDamage to his tunic, only for it to be repaired by the next frame. Most obviously when he's attacked by his fangirls--one strap of his tunic comes down, in the next frame it's fixed and in the next it's the other shoulder down. It's also shown a bit during the battle against the Cyclops: at first, he's beaten up, with bruises on his eyes and arms, a strap down and with a bit of blood coming out of his mouth, but when he's grabbed after Phil's pep talk, his wounds disappear.
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* PhosphorEssence: The gods of Olympus glow in bright colors, and the loss of Hercules' immortality is visually represented by the loss of his godly glow. [[spoiler:His glow makes a triumphant return when he regains his godhood by saving Meg's soul, and disappears again when he chooses to live on Earth with her]].
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* PhosphorEssence: The gods of Olympus glow in bright colors, and the loss of Hercules' immortality is visually represented by the loss of his godly glow. [[spoiler:His glow makes a triumphant return when he regains his godhood by saving Meg's soul, and disappears again when he chooses to live on Earth with her]]. When he loses his super-human strength, his colors are faded and much darker.
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-->'''Hercules:''' ''SHUT UP!'' ''(swats Phil away, [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength sending him flying into some barbells]])''
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-->'''Hercules:''' ''SHUT UP!'' ''(swats ''(smacks Phil away, [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength sending him flying into some barbells]])''barbells and chains]])''
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* GainingConfidenceSong: Hercules is ostracized by his peers because he is unable to control his own strength, so he somberly sings "Go The Distance" to express his desire to be accepted. Halfway through the song, his adoptive parents advise him to visit the Temple of Zeus in order to learn about his past, which fuels him with optimism and causes him to happily sing that he will not give up until he finds the place where he belongs.
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* GainingConfidenceSong: Hercules is ostracized by his peers because he is unable to control his own strength, so he somberly sings "Go The Distance" to express his desire to be accepted. Halfway through the song, his adoptive parents advise him to visit the Temple of Zeus in order to learn about his past, which fuels him with optimism and causes him to happily sing that he will not give up until he finds the place where he belongs. Once he learns the truth about himself, the third verse is about how he definitely ''will'' prove himself.
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* PlugTheVolcano: During the song "Zero Hero", Hercules can be seen stopping a volcanic eruption by plugging the crater with a huge boulder.
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Panty Shot is a definition-only page
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* PantyShot: Rare male example, as Hercules has a really, really short toga.
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[[WMG:[[center:[-''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' '''Trope Examples'''\\
[[Hercules/TropesAToC A - C]] | [[Hercules/TropesDToF D - F]] | '''G - R''' | [[Hercules/TropesSToZ S - Z]]-]]]]]
----
[[Hercules/TropesAToC A - C]] | [[Hercules/TropesDToF D - F]] | '''G - R''' | [[Hercules/TropesSToZ S - Z]]-]]]]]
----
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:G]]
* GainingConfidenceSong: Hercules is ostracized by his peers because he is unable to control his own strength, so he somberly sings "Go The Distance" to express his desire to be accepted. Halfway through the song, his adoptive parents advise him to visit the Temple of Zeus in order to learn about his past, which fuels him with optimism and causes him to happily sing that he will not give up until he finds the place where he belongs.
* GodOfEvil: Hades is portrayed as an EvilOverlord that schemes and betrays as naturally as a mortal breathes as part of his god of death thing. This is contrary to Greek Mythology and more in line with a Christian line of thought. See SatanicArchetype.
* TheGodsMustBeLazy: Played straight and inverted.
** Zeus singlehandedly defeated and imprisoned the Titans in the prologue.
** Zeus ''[[BoltOfDivineRetribution persuades]]'' Phil to take Hercules on as a student.
** Hades reveals himself as one behind the release of the Titans and their assault on Olympus [[TheUsurper seeking to usurp]] the [[TopGod king of gods from his throne]]. Yet in the climax all the gods are ''not'' in the underworld, and are ''not'' proceeding to kick Hades' ass.
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: When Hercules announces to a small crowd of distressed people that he's a hero, one of the men realizes the "goat man", Phil, that's with him trained Achilles. Phil tries to beat him up and ends up biting his toga, revealing white underwear with red spots. This may qualify Phil under the AllAnimalsAreDogs trope since that's a very canine thing of him to do.
* GoSeduceMyArchnemesis: After Hercules kicks the collective asses of every monster Hades sends at him, he decides to send Meg in to seduce him in order to find out what his weakness is. Predictably, she falls in love with him instead. However, this provides Hades with the answer he wanted in the first place.
-->'''Hades:''' Meg, listen. Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of your freedom, fluttering away, ''forever!''\\
'''Meg:''' I don't care, I'm not going to help you hurt him!\\
'''Hades:''' ''[sighs]'' I can't believe you're getting all worked up over some ''guy''.\\
'''Meg:''' This one is different. He's strong, he's caring, he would never do anything to hurt me...\\
'''Hades:''' He's a guy!\\
'''Meg:''' ''[smugly]'' Besides, O Oneness, you can't beat him. He has no weaknesses! He's gonna...\\
''[she turns and sees [[ExplainExplainOhCrap Hades smirking at her]]]''\\
'''Hades:''' [[EurekaMoment I think he does, Meg]]. [[IHaveYourWife I truly think he does]].
* GospelRevivalNumber: Basically, anything that the Muses touch becomes stirring and passionate. Creator/CharltonHeston didn't stand a chance.
* GradeSystemSnark: When Hercules defeats the River Guardian and sends him flying (with just a headbutt) to rescue Meg, Phil loudly says several congratulatory remarks, ending with, "Not bad, kid!" This is directly followed by him muttering underneath his breath, "Not exactly what I had in mind, but not bad.", as not a minute earlier he told Hercules to 'use his head' to beat the Guardian.
* GreekChorus: Literally! The movie is narrated by the Greek Muses who take part in the story, sort of.
* GroupieBrigade: One follows Hercules after his fame explodes, and tackles him for fan paraphernalia.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:H]]
* HalfHeartedHenchman: Anyone working for Hades.
** Pain and Panic are clearly with Hades because they are terrified of him. They have no problem lying to him, and after Hercules punches him into The River Styx they clearly do not miss him. Panic is only worried about how angry Hades will be.
** Meg is only working for Hades because she sold her soul, and is paying off a debt. Once she falls in love with Hercules she turns on him.
* HandshakeOfDoom: [[spoiler: Towards the end of the film, Hades holds Meg hostage and forces Hercules into accepting a deal: he will let Meg go free and unharmed but on the condition that Hercules surrender his superhuman strength for 24 hours - more than enough time to for Hades to conquer Olympus. Finally, he has Hercules seal the deal with a handshake.]]
* HappilyAdopted: The human couple that take Hercules in treat him well, though they fade from view after he discovers his godly heritage. He's later shown in one of the musical numbers to be putting his newfound wealth and influence to work paying them back several times over.
* HappilyMarried: Unlike the mythology, Zeus and Hera are quite happy together. Hercules' human parents qualify as well.
* HeroicBSOD: Hercules, after Hades convinces him to give up his strength for Meg's freedom and safety, and ''then'' revealing that Meg was working for him all along. It has such a profound effect on him that he doesn't even attempt to fight back against the Cyclops, [[HeroicSecondWind until Phil's pep talk.]]
* HeroicBuild: Hercules, following his training with Phil. Just look at the picture at the top of this page!
* HeroicSacrifice: Twice, from each side of the LoveInterest relationship: first Meg pushes Hercules out of the path of a falling pillar to save him [[spoiler:(thus [[CurseEscapeClause abrogating Hades' deal]] in which [[ExactWords he said he wouldn't hurt her]], and giving Herc his strength back)]] and costing her her life, then Herc gives up his life to Hades to rescue Meg's soul [[spoiler:(an act of such selfless heroism it restores his godhood)]].
* HighFiveLeftHanging: After Herc defeats the centaur Nessus, Pegasus offers him a high-five, but Hercules is too distracted by the sight of Megara to acknowledge him.
* HijackedByJesus: Zeus has become a GrandpaGod, Hades a SatanicArchetype, and Hercules a stand-in for Jesus.
** "And that's the gospel truth"
* HoldYourHippogriffs:
** "Holy [[labelnote:Hera!]] Heavens/Hell![[/labelnote]]"
** Thebes is called the "{{Big| Applesauce}} [[labelnote:Olive]][[BigApplesauce Apple]][[/labelnote]]."
** "Wanna buy a [[labelnote:sundial?]] watch?[[/labelnote]]"
** "Somebody call [[labelnote:IX-I-I!]] 9-1-1![[/labelnote]]"
** "Keep your [[labelnote:toga]] pants[[/labelnote]] on, pal!"
** "This is the honest-to-[[labelnote:Zeus]] God[[/labelnote]] truth..."
** "Is this an audience or [[labelnote:a mosaic?]] an oil painting?[[/labelnote]]"
*** In an interview with Disney Adventure magazine, James Woods said the original line in the script was in fact "oil painting," but he improvised the word "mosaic" and they went with it.
** "That's it, I'm moving to [[labelnote:Sparta!]] Canada![[/labelnote]]"
** "He's just another [[labelnote:chariot]][[AmbulanceChaser ambulance]][[/labelnote]] [[AmbulanceChaser chaser]]."
** "...but I could see through ''that'' in a [[labelnote:Peloponnesian]] New York[[/labelnote]] minute."
* HonestJohnsDealership: The man who tries to sell sundials to Herc is ''very'' shady.
* HoneyTrap:
-->'''Megara:''' Wonderboy is hitting every curve you throw at him.\\
'''Hades:''' Oh, yeah... I wonder if maybe I haven't been throwing the ''right'' curves at him...
* HorsingAround: Pegasus is usually gentle with Herc. Megara, on the other hand...
* HydraProblem: Obviously when Hercules fights the Hydra. He thinks he's won once he cuts off its head, but three more grow to take its place. Hercules keeps chopping off heads, until there are several dozen.
-->'''Phil:''' WILL YOU FORGET THE HEAD-SLICING THING!?
* HypocriticalHumor: Done to [[EverybodyHatesHades show how out of favor Hades is with the other gods.]] He introduces himself with a lame joke that meets with no response; as he leaves, Zeus cracks a similarly lame joke, and everyone bursts into laughter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I]]
* IHaveYourWife: Hades holds Meg [[BoundAndGagged hostage]] and tells Hercules he will release her safely if he gives him his powers. Herc, being the [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl guy he is]], ultimately accepts after a moment of hesitation, rendering him completely weak and letting Hades fully enact his EvilPlan.
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: Between Hades and the Fates because the Fates know ''everything'' and feel a need to remind Hades because he explains things to them.
* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Four of the Muses and Aphrodite--especially Aphrodite given that she's the goddess of love and has a waist so tiny she could wrap one hand around. It's sort of explained by the fact that they're goddesses. Artemis and Megara have HartmanHips.
* IncrediblyLongNote: The reprise of "Go the Distance" holds "belong" for a long time at the end.
* InNameOnly: Due to the sheer amount of changes made from the source material, the only things this movie has in common with the original Heracles myth is that they both star a super strong demigod protagonist and share a couple of similar plot points and settings.
* InkSuitActor:
** Short, portly Creator/DannyDeVito as the short, portly Philoctetes.
** Hermes, who shares the same features and trademark shades of his voice actor Paul Shaffer, best known as David Letterman's bandleader. He even plays keyboards!
** Tate Donovan looks almost ''exactly'' like Hercules. Ditto for Susan Egan as Meg. Even after nearly two decades, their resemblances are still ''incredibly'' striking.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Herc, a demigod, has a flying horse, Pegasus, for a companion, and his mentor, Phil, is a satyr.
* IronicEcho:
-->'''Hercules:''' ''(to Meg)'' You know, when I was a kid, I would've given anything to be exactly like everybody else.\\\
'''Hades:''' ''(after taking away Hercules strength)'' Now you know what it's like to be just like everybody else!
* IWantSong: "Go the Distance", which also became an AwardBaitSong, focuses on Hercules' desire for acceptance.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:J]]
* JealousPet: Hercule's horse Pegasus becomes jealous of his love interest Megara nigh instantly. As his first act after hero training, Hercules rescues snarky beauty Megara and falls in love with her. His flying steed Pegasus does not share his liking for her. During their first flight, he purposely makes it difficult for Meg, who has a fear of heights. He eventually comes around after Meg frees him from captivity and saves his master.
* JustInTime: [[spoiler:Hercules reaches Meg's soul ''right'' when the Fates are about to cut his thread. By succeeding, his thread turned indestructible and his immortality was secured. It may even have been part of the unspoken rules that you have to be willing to sacrifice your life to be a true hero.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:K]]
* KarmicJackpot: Amphitron and his wife adopt a baby they find on the road, rearing him as their own son. They love him and comfort him when his clumsiness causes problems with the neighbors; when he wants to find out who he is, they let him go seek Zeus's guidance with bittersweet smiles. As a result, Hercules supports them with the royalties he gets from his hero merchandise, their adoptive son is honored as a god, and Hercules returns home with a lovely wife and a hero's reputation.
* KavorkaMan: Phil at the end, [[spoiler:since Aphrodite kisses him.]]
* KickTheDog: After Hades captures Megara and has Hercules give him his strength and powers in exchange for Meg's safety, the first thing he does is to viciously toss a huge barbell toward Herc, knocking him into the ground and taunting him about how he finally got his wish of being "just like everybody else". To further rub salt into the wound, Hades uses the moment to reveal to Herc that Meg had been working for him the entire time. Herc, already in huge pain from the drastic loss of his powers, is utterly devastated by this revelation.
* KillItThroughItsStomach: When the Hydra swallows Herc, it looks pretty satisfied with itself, until it gives a confused look moments before Hercules decapitates it from the inside. [[spoiler:However, this isn't enough to kill it.]]
* KubrickStare: When Hercules decides to [[spoiler: reverse Meg's death by marching into the underworld]], he sports one of these almost the whole time, especially when looking at Hades. BewareTheNiceOnes indeed.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:L]]
* LaughOfLove: Hercules and Megara tend to laugh as they hang out together and eventually fall in love, particularly in [[https://youtu.be/HUrj1X_Nda0 the garden scene]].
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Hades' comment "it's only half-time" in reference to Hercules and the Hydra battle comes at the actual halfway mark of the film's runtime.
* LeavingTheNestSong: "Go the Distance" is a song about Hercules leaving home for the first time to discover his roots and his purpose after years of being treated like a freak for his godly strength.
* LetMeAtHim: Pegasus tries to attack Nessus after he struck Hercules twice, but Phil holds him back, citing that Herc has to fight him on his own.
* LetsGetDangerous: Zeus. On his free time, he's a loving father and husband, spends time joking with everyone and attempts to be a good big bro for Hades; in fact, he's ''much'' more lovable than the original Zeus, but once the Titans attack and Hades proved to be a backstabber, we quickly see where Hercules' strength come from and ''why'' you don't mess with the King of the Gods.
* LighterAndSofter: The take on Greek mythology present in the film, in addition to being SadlyMythtaken, is ''much'' lighter and more family-friendly. Without it, the film would have turned out an R-Rating. It also applies in the context of Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon. Of the '90s Disney movies, this film was considerably lighter and more of a slapstick comedy, especially compared to its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] and more [[EpicMovie epic]] predecessors (''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'') and successors (''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'').
* LivingForeverIsNoBigDeal: The Gods seem to consider immortality part of their lives; they are naturally worried when it's removed from one of them, but in normal times they barely ''refer'' to their immortality. Phil, too, who is apparently immortal/has an extremely long life span (since he trained all the heroes of the past), doesn't even ''mention'' being immortal.
* LoneWolfBoss: Nessus the Centaur, who has no ties to Hades and Herc fights solely because the creep was making a move on Meg. While Meg had attempted to get Nessus to join Hades army, Nessus took sole interest in her and had other plans instead.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Portrayed rather positively in this case, as Meg's genuine love for Hercules, and his for her, foils Hades' plans.
-->'''Megara:''' People always do crazy things when they're in love.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M]]
* MeaningfulEcho:
-->'''Panic:''' Hades is gonna kill us when he finds out!\\
'''Pain:''' You mean, ''if'' he finds out.\\
'''Panic:''' Of course he's gonna-- ''[realization strikes]'' "If." "If" is good.\\
''[much later]''\\
'''Panic:''' He's not gonna be happy when he gets out of there.\\
'''Pain:''' You mean, ''if'' he gets out of there!\\
'''Panic:''' "If"? "If" is good.
* MeaningfulName: Pain and Panic. Pain [[ChewToy is constantly subjected to pain]], and as for Panic, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin he does just that: panic]].
* MentorsNewHope: Phil believes Hercules to be his final hope of training a great hero after all of his other failures, which is discussed in his song "One Last Hope".
* MickeyMousing: The coda for "One Last Hope". It seems that, as in ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', [[InvertedTrope the animators took their cue from the music]].
* AMinorKidroduction: The film begins with Hercules as a baby. It appears to be a baby shower, or maybe the day of his birth since he gets gifts.
* MomentKiller: Phil is quite skilled at doing this. He has a megaphone.
* MoodWhiplash: Meg [[spoiler: sacrifices herself to save Hercules, her body is crushed.]] Herc then goes to save the gods from Hades' plot, and partakes in some hilarious hi-jinks, only to snatch right back after the confrontation, [[spoiler: as Meg is dying.]]
* MortalityEnsues:
** At the beginning when Pain and Panic make Baby!Hercules drink the mortality potion.
** [[spoiler:At the end when Hercules gives up his reinstated godhood to live on Earth with Meg.]]
* MsFanservice:
** Meg is drawn to be a lot more sexy than the usual Disney heroine, sharing a similar body type to [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Jessica Rabbit]]. She also gets scenes like when she washes herself in the river and seduces Hercules.
** The Muses are also amongst the most attractive women in Disney history, wear robes that expose their shapely legs and cleavage, and spend much of their time in the movie shaking their ample hips. [[FatComicRelief Even the goofy Thalia]] is [[BigBeautifulWoman gorgeous.]]
* MuggleFosterParents: Hercules' human parents have no idea they found the son of gods.
* MultipleHeadCase: The Hydra, while trying to eat Herc, accidentally attacks the other heads or knocks into them. The heads themselves also fight over which one gets to eat him. Justified that it only had one head a few minutes ago--growing extra heads takes some getting used to, you know...
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** Hercules and Phil after seeing the Hydra grow more heads.
** Herc gets this [[spoiler:after he hits Phil in a blind rage]]. He's very shocked at himself for lashing out.
** Meg also gets this when Hades [[spoiler:makes the deal with Hercules to deprive him of his strength, and then reveals that Meg was in Hades's service.]]
* MythologyGag: Aptly enough; despite many changes to the actual myths, there are more than a few references to them outside the main plot.
** The Mythological Hercules is best known[[note]](besides for killing his wife in a goddess-induced fit of madness)[[/note]] for performing the Twelve Labors, all of which are referenced in the film, most of them in the "Zero to Hero" segment.
*** The first labor, the slaying of the Nemean Lion, is changed from a lion that terrorized the town of Nemea to a monster that Hades sends. Hercules is later shown wearing its pelt (as he is usually depicted in the myths), and the lion's skin looks remarkably like [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Scar's]].
*** The second labor is the slaying of the Lernaean Hydra; obviously this is referenced by the massive Hydra battle (although it comes before the lion and is not in Lake Lerna, as it is in the myths, and is sent by Hades instead of Hera). In some (often the more detailed versions) of the myth, the Hydra had at least one immortal head, so Hercules had to finish it by burying it under a large rock. In the movie, Hercules defeats the Hydra by burying it under several large rocks.
*** The fourth labor is to capture the Erymanthian Boar, which is alternately said to get its name from where it lives, Mt. Erymanthos, or from Erymanthus, Apollo's son who was blinded by Aphrodite (or in a few accounts Artemis) when he saw her bathing, which led him to send said boar to attack her. A large boar shows up in the "Zero to Hero" as another monster that Hades sends.
*** The fifth labor is mentioned in passing as Augeas having a problem with his stables that Hercules is expected to help with.
*** The sixth labor is to slay the man-eating Stymphalian birds, which are likely referenced by the large bird shown in passing as being a monster Hercules defeated in "Zero to Hero".
*** The ninth labor is mentioned by Phil as having to get a girdle from some Amazons.
*** The eleventh labor does not appear in the movie, but is referenced in the series, where Adonis is cursed by Gaia and needs the golden apples of Hesperides to be cured, which Hercules gets Atlas to pick for him, just as he does in the original myth.
*** The twelfth labor appears at the end of the movie; Hercules was challenged to tame Cerberus, and appears riding him into the Underworld in the finale.
** As a baby, Hercules saves his adoptive parents from Pain and Panic when they turn into snakes, strangling both of them. In the Greek Myths, two (ordinary) snakes sent by Hera actually did attack Hercules as a baby, and he strangled both of them to death.
** In fact, if you count name drops and people in crowd scenes, it's almost a constant stream of references to Greek mythology.
** There's some to other Disney movies too:
*** From ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', we get Zeus's wedge-shaped beard, a blue centaur, pudgy Bacchus and a scene of Hephaestus hammering at Zeus's lightning bolts. In addition, Hercules defeats the Cyclops the same way MickeyMouse defeated the giant in "WesternAnimation/BraveLittleTailor".
*** One of the smallest ones is the blue centaur Hercules battles to save Meg in their first scene together. His name, Nessus, is said exactly once, and in passing, to boot. In Greek mythology, Nessus was a centaur killed by Hercules who tricked Deianeira (Hercules' wife) into using his blood as poison to kill her husband.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:N]]
* NearMissGroinAttack: During the "One last Hope" song:
-->'''Phil:''' Rule number 95: Concentrate!
-->''[Teen Hercules throws half a dozen swords at the targets and misses, surrounding Phil with swords, who's on the tip of his hooves avoiding one between his legs]''
-->'''Phil:''' Rule 96: Aim!
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** As a teen Hercules accidentally destroys an entire town while trying to catch a frisbee. The townsfolk turn on him and call him a freak and a menace.
** Hercules accidentally releases the Hydra to free two children from a cave in. After trying to defeat it by cutting its head off, three more heads grow in its place. Regardless, he keeps cutting them, producing a swarm of heads until Phil tells him point-blank to stop doing that.
** Meg sassing Hades on realizing she loves Hercules accidentally reveals to Hades that ''she'' is Wonder Boy's weakness.
* NonSequiturThud: When Phil tries to whisk Hercules back to training after finding he was playing hooky with Meg:
-->'''Phil:''' ''[gets smacked off of Pegasus by a tree branch and lands on his skull behind bench, raises arm in protest, slurred]'' That's '''IT!''' Next time, ''I'm'' driving... ''[arm collapses]''
* NoSongForTheWicked: Hades has no VillainSong despite being such a LargeHam. Even though Woods loves playing Hades, he doesn't like to sing (according to the DVD commentary for the first ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode he appeared).[[note]] Creator/RobPaulsen voiced his verse for the ''WesternAnimation/MickeysHouseOfVillains'' song It's Our House Now".[[/note]] The stage musical averts this by giving him two numbers, "A Cool Day in Hell" and its reprise.
* NotWearingTights: Hercules is portrayed as this; unsurprising, considering that the Greek demigods are arguably the earliest forms of the {{Superhero}} archetype.
* NouveauRiche: Hercules gets rich and famous after his victory in Thebes, as "Zero to Hero" describes. The house he buys for his human parents is ''huge''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:O]]
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: This exchange between Meg and Hercules after Hades has sent her to find out his weakness.
-->'''Hercules:''' [[IJustWantToBeNormal You know, when I was a kid, I would have given anything to be exactly like everybody else.]]\\
'''Megara:''' ''[scoffs]'' You wanted to be petty and dishonest?\\
'''Hercules:''' Everybody's not like that.\\
'''Megara:''' Yes, they are.\\
'''Hercules:''' ''You're'' not like that.
* ObviouslyNotFine: Most of the movie runs on supernatural shenanigans and heroics. Hercules shrugs off many injuries that would kill a mere mortal, even when he loses his powers temporarily. Then Meg does a heroic deed, [[spoiler:pushing Hercules out of the way of a falling pillar. It crushes her instead, falling on her spine with a SickeningCrunch. Pegasus, Hercules and Phil go OhCrap because when Hercules regains his strength and pulls it off her, she's in pain and moaning, voice raspy. Her attempts to smile and say it was WorthIt are undercut by her agony. With the town on fire, there are no medics or doctors nearby, and with an injury like that, Meg has no chance of recovery. When she tells Hercules to stop Hades and not worry about her, he reluctantly obeys while Phil holds her hand and waits for the end. She passes away in a short while, writhing in agony]].
* OffModel:
** Hercules will frequently suffer ClothingDamage to his tunic, only for it to be repaired by the next frame. Most obviously when he's attacked by his fangirls--one strap of his tunic comes down, in the next frame it's fixed and in the next it's the other shoulder down.
** The river in the Underworld before Hercules jumps in. First he's able to dip his hand into the water. A few frames later, he jumps off a precipice to get into the river.
* OffhandBackhand: Done by Herc to Hades near the end [[spoiler: and because his divinity was restored, he literally punches Hades' face in.]]
* OhCrap:
** Because of his clumsiness, Hercules causes accidents and makes a lot of mistakes in his battles. For instance, losing his sword.
** Phil's face when the Hydra starts growing more heads.
--->'''Phil:''' ''[sees the Hydra's corpse twitching]'' That doesn't sound good. ''[The Hydra gets back on its feet, grows three more heads and starts moving towards them]'' '''''DEFINITELY NOT GOOD!''''' ''[hands Herc his sword and runs]''
** The look on the Hydra's faces when Herc triggers the rock slide.
** Pain and Panic do this frequently whenever they screw something up.
* OhMyGods: Pain and Panic are the {{Trope Namer|s}} - after all, this is set in polytheistic Greece. There is also an instance where Phil goes "Holy Hera."
* OpenTheDoorAndSeeAllThePeople: Hercules opens the door of his BigFancyHouse only to be met with screaming fans who make him want to run back inside and hide.
* OurHydrasAreDifferent: Hercules faces the iconic multi-headed serpent early in his hero career. The creature starts out with only one head, but ''three'' new ones grow in the place of each cranium lost.
* OurNymphsAreDifferent: Hercules meets Philoctetes as he is peeping on a group of nymphs lounging by a river. When his cover is blown, Phil tries to catch one, only for them to turn into a pile of flowers and a tree.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:P]]
* PainToTheAss: During their introduction scene, Pain and Panic trip down a flight of stairs and Pain lands bottom first onto Panic's horns.
* PapaWolf: Zeus comes to Hercules' aid a couple of times.
* PantyShot: Rare male example, as Hercules has a really, really short toga.
* ParentalAbandonment: One of the only films in the entire Disney canon to avert this trope. Herc not only has his immortal parents watching from on high, he has a pair of mortal adoptive parents who love him very much.
* ParentalBonus: As expected from a Disney film. Most blatantly, Nessus pushing himself on Megara is certainly reminiscent of a rape attempt, with the centaur noting "I like 'em fiery!" as she keeps rejecting him, and once Hercules frees Meg and asks how she ended up with him, she replies "You know how men are. They think 'no' means 'yes', and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours'!" There is also one of the Muses reacting to a picture of Hercules saying she'd like "make some music," a guy who appears to be a flasher as he reveals he's selling sundials, and this gem of a quote:
-->'''Hercules''': And that play, [[Theatre/OedipusRex that Oedipus thing]]? Man, I thought I had problems!
* ThePearlyGates: Mt. Olympus possesses glowing-gold gates that the Rock Titan crashes through during the invasion and opens for Hercules when he attains godhood.
* {{Pegasus}}: A winged horse made of clouds as a gift for Hercules on his birthday.
* PetTheDog:
** Hades ''did'' bring a gift for the little "sunspot" at the Olympus party. It's just that Hercules bit his finger as well when tasting the sucker. After that, Hades wants to murder the little guy, and not just because of the prophecy.
** Technically, Meg defied Hades and went against their agreement to find Hercules's weakness. She only reveals it by accident when smugly saying that Hercules would never hurt her, causing Hades to have a EurekaMoment. In fact, as far as Meg knew, Wonder Boy was perfectly safe because he seemed to have no weakness. Even so, Hades gets what he wants. Then he frees Meg from her bondage, as promised, despite the fact that she reneged on their deal.
* PhosphorEssence: The gods of Olympus glow in bright colors, and the loss of Hercules' immortality is visually represented by the loss of his godly glow. [[spoiler:His glow makes a triumphant return when he regains his godhood by saving Meg's soul, and disappears again when he chooses to live on Earth with her]].
%%* PhysicalGod: It's Greek Mythology, what do you expect?
* PietaPlagiarism: This is played twice: [[spoiler:once when Hercules cradles Meg's corpse in his arms, and once when he, restored to godhood, holds her listless spirit.]]
* PigLatin:
-->'''Herc:''' ''[The Hydra emerges]'' Phil? What do you call that thing?\\
'''Phil:''' {{Two words|ICantCount}}: '''AM-SCRAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!'''
* PragmaticAdaptation: The [[Myth/ClassicalMythology original Heracles myth]]--and Greek Mythology in general--were as family unfriendly as you can get and had a ''lot'' of built-in ValuesDissonance (the basic conflict ''alone'' was unacceptable for a family film, since Hercules is a product of Zeus' adultery with a mortal, and Hera, Zeus' wife, is the villain who constantly makes Hercules' life miserable because of this), so the studio was forced to [[DisneyFication heavily rework the concept]]; it borrows the character names (not so much the personalities), story points and the setting from the myths, but [[AdaptedOut throws out]] and [[CanonImmigrant adds in]] things from other parts of Greek Myth (such as Pegasus and the Muses, who were not in the original Heracles story), and reworks everything else (such as expanding Hades role in the story [[EveryoneHatesHades by turning him into the main villain]]), ultimately making the film less an adaptation of Greek Mythology and more like a [[JustForFun/XMeetsY mashup of]] ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' [[RecycledInSpace set in a]] [[TheThemeParkVersion burlesque of Ancient Greece.]]
* PropheciesRhymeAllTheTime: {{Lampshaded}}:
-->'''Fates:''' In 18 years, precisely, the planets will align, ever so nicely...\\
'''Hades:''' [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Oy]], ''verse''.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "I've got 24 hours to get rid of this ''bozo'', or the entire scheme I've been setting up for 18 years goes up in smoke, and ''you. Are wearing. His. MERCHANDISE!?!''"
[[/folder]]
[[folder:R]]
* RapidAging: Herc is subject to this in The River Styx, and his thread of life becomes immediate fair play for the Fates; [[spoiler: he survives by rescuing Meg and becoming a god.]]
* RapidFireDescriptors: When Phil argues with Hercules when telling him that Meg is working with Hades (with Herc refusing to believe him), he uses many adjectives in a row.
-->'''Phil:''' She's nothin' but a two-timin'...
-->'''Hercules:''' ''Stop it!''
-->'''Phil:''' ...no-good, lyin', schemin'--!
-->'''Hercules:''' ''SHUT UP!'' ''(swats Phil away, [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength sending him flying into some barbells]])''
* RapidFireNailBiting: Pegasus bites his front hooves, during the "One Last Hope" number when Hercules goes through the dangerous obstacle course that Phil set up as part of his training to save a damsel in distress.
* RefusingParadise: [[spoiler:At the end, Hercules chooses to remain on Earth with Meg instead of returning to Olympus.]]
* RescueIntroduction: Hercules meets Megara when rescuing her from a monstrous centaur.
* RescuedFromTheUnderworld: Hercules travels to the Underworld in order to rescue [[spoiler:Meg's spirit and reunite it with her body, thus getting his godhood back]].
* RecycledInSpace: The movie's plot is basically ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' IN ANCIENT GREECE! This was no accident either--John Musker and Ron Clements, the directors of the film, are admitted superhero comic fans.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: Herc storms the underworld to bring Meg back.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The Titans go on one of these against Zeus after being released from the vault he locked them in.
* RuleOfFunny: Why isn't Phil a pile of dust from the lightning? Because it's funnier to see him with ash-face instead.
* RuleOfThree: The people of Thebes' reactions to Herc’s first public heroism and their raising reception: when he raises and throws the colossal boulder they are unimpressed but still clap for him, then when he cuts off the Hydra’s first head they are legitimately impressed and their clapping is much more sincere, then when Herc kills the Hydra they go crazy and erupt into a roaring applause.
* RunOrDie: After the Hydra's head is cut off, three more grow in its place. Having had enough trouble while fighting the monster with one head, Hercules had no choice but to run away from three snapping heads.
* RunningGag: "Two words: (insert three [or more or less] words--in a place where two words could have been used)". [[labelnote:BilingualBonus]]Interestingly, when Phil says "I am retired", the Greek translation is "Είμαι συνταξιούχος", which is indeed two words.[[/labelnote]]
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder:G]]
* GainingConfidenceSong: Hercules is ostracized by his peers because he is unable to control his own strength, so he somberly sings "Go The Distance" to express his desire to be accepted. Halfway through the song, his adoptive parents advise him to visit the Temple of Zeus in order to learn about his past, which fuels him with optimism and causes him to happily sing that he will not give up until he finds the place where he belongs.
* GodOfEvil: Hades is portrayed as an EvilOverlord that schemes and betrays as naturally as a mortal breathes as part of his god of death thing. This is contrary to Greek Mythology and more in line with a Christian line of thought. See SatanicArchetype.
* TheGodsMustBeLazy: Played straight and inverted.
** Zeus singlehandedly defeated and imprisoned the Titans in the prologue.
** Zeus ''[[BoltOfDivineRetribution persuades]]'' Phil to take Hercules on as a student.
** Hades reveals himself as one behind the release of the Titans and their assault on Olympus [[TheUsurper seeking to usurp]] the [[TopGod king of gods from his throne]]. Yet in the climax all the gods are ''not'' in the underworld, and are ''not'' proceeding to kick Hades' ass.
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: When Hercules announces to a small crowd of distressed people that he's a hero, one of the men realizes the "goat man", Phil, that's with him trained Achilles. Phil tries to beat him up and ends up biting his toga, revealing white underwear with red spots. This may qualify Phil under the AllAnimalsAreDogs trope since that's a very canine thing of him to do.
* GoSeduceMyArchnemesis: After Hercules kicks the collective asses of every monster Hades sends at him, he decides to send Meg in to seduce him in order to find out what his weakness is. Predictably, she falls in love with him instead. However, this provides Hades with the answer he wanted in the first place.
-->'''Hades:''' Meg, listen. Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of your freedom, fluttering away, ''forever!''\\
'''Meg:''' I don't care, I'm not going to help you hurt him!\\
'''Hades:''' ''[sighs]'' I can't believe you're getting all worked up over some ''guy''.\\
'''Meg:''' This one is different. He's strong, he's caring, he would never do anything to hurt me...\\
'''Hades:''' He's a guy!\\
'''Meg:''' ''[smugly]'' Besides, O Oneness, you can't beat him. He has no weaknesses! He's gonna...\\
''[she turns and sees [[ExplainExplainOhCrap Hades smirking at her]]]''\\
'''Hades:''' [[EurekaMoment I think he does, Meg]]. [[IHaveYourWife I truly think he does]].
* GospelRevivalNumber: Basically, anything that the Muses touch becomes stirring and passionate. Creator/CharltonHeston didn't stand a chance.
* GradeSystemSnark: When Hercules defeats the River Guardian and sends him flying (with just a headbutt) to rescue Meg, Phil loudly says several congratulatory remarks, ending with, "Not bad, kid!" This is directly followed by him muttering underneath his breath, "Not exactly what I had in mind, but not bad.", as not a minute earlier he told Hercules to 'use his head' to beat the Guardian.
* GreekChorus: Literally! The movie is narrated by the Greek Muses who take part in the story, sort of.
* GroupieBrigade: One follows Hercules after his fame explodes, and tackles him for fan paraphernalia.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:H]]
* HalfHeartedHenchman: Anyone working for Hades.
** Pain and Panic are clearly with Hades because they are terrified of him. They have no problem lying to him, and after Hercules punches him into The River Styx they clearly do not miss him. Panic is only worried about how angry Hades will be.
** Meg is only working for Hades because she sold her soul, and is paying off a debt. Once she falls in love with Hercules she turns on him.
* HandshakeOfDoom: [[spoiler: Towards the end of the film, Hades holds Meg hostage and forces Hercules into accepting a deal: he will let Meg go free and unharmed but on the condition that Hercules surrender his superhuman strength for 24 hours - more than enough time to for Hades to conquer Olympus. Finally, he has Hercules seal the deal with a handshake.]]
* HappilyAdopted: The human couple that take Hercules in treat him well, though they fade from view after he discovers his godly heritage. He's later shown in one of the musical numbers to be putting his newfound wealth and influence to work paying them back several times over.
* HappilyMarried: Unlike the mythology, Zeus and Hera are quite happy together. Hercules' human parents qualify as well.
* HeroicBSOD: Hercules, after Hades convinces him to give up his strength for Meg's freedom and safety, and ''then'' revealing that Meg was working for him all along. It has such a profound effect on him that he doesn't even attempt to fight back against the Cyclops, [[HeroicSecondWind until Phil's pep talk.]]
* HeroicBuild: Hercules, following his training with Phil. Just look at the picture at the top of this page!
* HeroicSacrifice: Twice, from each side of the LoveInterest relationship: first Meg pushes Hercules out of the path of a falling pillar to save him [[spoiler:(thus [[CurseEscapeClause abrogating Hades' deal]] in which [[ExactWords he said he wouldn't hurt her]], and giving Herc his strength back)]] and costing her her life, then Herc gives up his life to Hades to rescue Meg's soul [[spoiler:(an act of such selfless heroism it restores his godhood)]].
* HighFiveLeftHanging: After Herc defeats the centaur Nessus, Pegasus offers him a high-five, but Hercules is too distracted by the sight of Megara to acknowledge him.
* HijackedByJesus: Zeus has become a GrandpaGod, Hades a SatanicArchetype, and Hercules a stand-in for Jesus.
** "And that's the gospel truth"
* HoldYourHippogriffs:
** "Holy [[labelnote:Hera!]] Heavens/Hell![[/labelnote]]"
** Thebes is called the "{{Big| Applesauce}} [[labelnote:Olive]][[BigApplesauce Apple]][[/labelnote]]."
** "Wanna buy a [[labelnote:sundial?]] watch?[[/labelnote]]"
** "Somebody call [[labelnote:IX-I-I!]] 9-1-1![[/labelnote]]"
** "Keep your [[labelnote:toga]] pants[[/labelnote]] on, pal!"
** "This is the honest-to-[[labelnote:Zeus]] God[[/labelnote]] truth..."
** "Is this an audience or [[labelnote:a mosaic?]] an oil painting?[[/labelnote]]"
*** In an interview with Disney Adventure magazine, James Woods said the original line in the script was in fact "oil painting," but he improvised the word "mosaic" and they went with it.
** "That's it, I'm moving to [[labelnote:Sparta!]] Canada![[/labelnote]]"
** "He's just another [[labelnote:chariot]][[AmbulanceChaser ambulance]][[/labelnote]] [[AmbulanceChaser chaser]]."
** "...but I could see through ''that'' in a [[labelnote:Peloponnesian]] New York[[/labelnote]] minute."
* HonestJohnsDealership: The man who tries to sell sundials to Herc is ''very'' shady.
* HoneyTrap:
-->'''Megara:''' Wonderboy is hitting every curve you throw at him.\\
'''Hades:''' Oh, yeah... I wonder if maybe I haven't been throwing the ''right'' curves at him...
* HorsingAround: Pegasus is usually gentle with Herc. Megara, on the other hand...
* HydraProblem: Obviously when Hercules fights the Hydra. He thinks he's won once he cuts off its head, but three more grow to take its place. Hercules keeps chopping off heads, until there are several dozen.
-->'''Phil:''' WILL YOU FORGET THE HEAD-SLICING THING!?
* HypocriticalHumor: Done to [[EverybodyHatesHades show how out of favor Hades is with the other gods.]] He introduces himself with a lame joke that meets with no response; as he leaves, Zeus cracks a similarly lame joke, and everyone bursts into laughter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I]]
* IHaveYourWife: Hades holds Meg [[BoundAndGagged hostage]] and tells Hercules he will release her safely if he gives him his powers. Herc, being the [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl guy he is]], ultimately accepts after a moment of hesitation, rendering him completely weak and letting Hades fully enact his EvilPlan.
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: Between Hades and the Fates because the Fates know ''everything'' and feel a need to remind Hades because he explains things to them.
* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Four of the Muses and Aphrodite--especially Aphrodite given that she's the goddess of love and has a waist so tiny she could wrap one hand around. It's sort of explained by the fact that they're goddesses. Artemis and Megara have HartmanHips.
* IncrediblyLongNote: The reprise of "Go the Distance" holds "belong" for a long time at the end.
* InNameOnly: Due to the sheer amount of changes made from the source material, the only things this movie has in common with the original Heracles myth is that they both star a super strong demigod protagonist and share a couple of similar plot points and settings.
* InkSuitActor:
** Short, portly Creator/DannyDeVito as the short, portly Philoctetes.
** Hermes, who shares the same features and trademark shades of his voice actor Paul Shaffer, best known as David Letterman's bandleader. He even plays keyboards!
** Tate Donovan looks almost ''exactly'' like Hercules. Ditto for Susan Egan as Meg. Even after nearly two decades, their resemblances are still ''incredibly'' striking.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Herc, a demigod, has a flying horse, Pegasus, for a companion, and his mentor, Phil, is a satyr.
* IronicEcho:
-->'''Hercules:''' ''(to Meg)'' You know, when I was a kid, I would've given anything to be exactly like everybody else.\\\
'''Hades:''' ''(after taking away Hercules strength)'' Now you know what it's like to be just like everybody else!
* IWantSong: "Go the Distance", which also became an AwardBaitSong, focuses on Hercules' desire for acceptance.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:J]]
* JealousPet: Hercule's horse Pegasus becomes jealous of his love interest Megara nigh instantly. As his first act after hero training, Hercules rescues snarky beauty Megara and falls in love with her. His flying steed Pegasus does not share his liking for her. During their first flight, he purposely makes it difficult for Meg, who has a fear of heights. He eventually comes around after Meg frees him from captivity and saves his master.
* JustInTime: [[spoiler:Hercules reaches Meg's soul ''right'' when the Fates are about to cut his thread. By succeeding, his thread turned indestructible and his immortality was secured. It may even have been part of the unspoken rules that you have to be willing to sacrifice your life to be a true hero.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:K]]
* KarmicJackpot: Amphitron and his wife adopt a baby they find on the road, rearing him as their own son. They love him and comfort him when his clumsiness causes problems with the neighbors; when he wants to find out who he is, they let him go seek Zeus's guidance with bittersweet smiles. As a result, Hercules supports them with the royalties he gets from his hero merchandise, their adoptive son is honored as a god, and Hercules returns home with a lovely wife and a hero's reputation.
* KavorkaMan: Phil at the end, [[spoiler:since Aphrodite kisses him.]]
* KickTheDog: After Hades captures Megara and has Hercules give him his strength and powers in exchange for Meg's safety, the first thing he does is to viciously toss a huge barbell toward Herc, knocking him into the ground and taunting him about how he finally got his wish of being "just like everybody else". To further rub salt into the wound, Hades uses the moment to reveal to Herc that Meg had been working for him the entire time. Herc, already in huge pain from the drastic loss of his powers, is utterly devastated by this revelation.
* KillItThroughItsStomach: When the Hydra swallows Herc, it looks pretty satisfied with itself, until it gives a confused look moments before Hercules decapitates it from the inside. [[spoiler:However, this isn't enough to kill it.]]
* KubrickStare: When Hercules decides to [[spoiler: reverse Meg's death by marching into the underworld]], he sports one of these almost the whole time, especially when looking at Hades. BewareTheNiceOnes indeed.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:L]]
* LaughOfLove: Hercules and Megara tend to laugh as they hang out together and eventually fall in love, particularly in [[https://youtu.be/HUrj1X_Nda0 the garden scene]].
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Hades' comment "it's only half-time" in reference to Hercules and the Hydra battle comes at the actual halfway mark of the film's runtime.
* LeavingTheNestSong: "Go the Distance" is a song about Hercules leaving home for the first time to discover his roots and his purpose after years of being treated like a freak for his godly strength.
* LetMeAtHim: Pegasus tries to attack Nessus after he struck Hercules twice, but Phil holds him back, citing that Herc has to fight him on his own.
* LetsGetDangerous: Zeus. On his free time, he's a loving father and husband, spends time joking with everyone and attempts to be a good big bro for Hades; in fact, he's ''much'' more lovable than the original Zeus, but once the Titans attack and Hades proved to be a backstabber, we quickly see where Hercules' strength come from and ''why'' you don't mess with the King of the Gods.
* LighterAndSofter: The take on Greek mythology present in the film, in addition to being SadlyMythtaken, is ''much'' lighter and more family-friendly. Without it, the film would have turned out an R-Rating. It also applies in the context of Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon. Of the '90s Disney movies, this film was considerably lighter and more of a slapstick comedy, especially compared to its [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] and more [[EpicMovie epic]] predecessors (''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'') and successors (''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'').
* LivingForeverIsNoBigDeal: The Gods seem to consider immortality part of their lives; they are naturally worried when it's removed from one of them, but in normal times they barely ''refer'' to their immortality. Phil, too, who is apparently immortal/has an extremely long life span (since he trained all the heroes of the past), doesn't even ''mention'' being immortal.
* LoneWolfBoss: Nessus the Centaur, who has no ties to Hades and Herc fights solely because the creep was making a move on Meg. While Meg had attempted to get Nessus to join Hades army, Nessus took sole interest in her and had other plans instead.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Portrayed rather positively in this case, as Meg's genuine love for Hercules, and his for her, foils Hades' plans.
-->'''Megara:''' People always do crazy things when they're in love.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M]]
* MeaningfulEcho:
-->'''Panic:''' Hades is gonna kill us when he finds out!\\
'''Pain:''' You mean, ''if'' he finds out.\\
'''Panic:''' Of course he's gonna-- ''[realization strikes]'' "If." "If" is good.\\
''[much later]''\\
'''Panic:''' He's not gonna be happy when he gets out of there.\\
'''Pain:''' You mean, ''if'' he gets out of there!\\
'''Panic:''' "If"? "If" is good.
* MeaningfulName: Pain and Panic. Pain [[ChewToy is constantly subjected to pain]], and as for Panic, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin he does just that: panic]].
* MentorsNewHope: Phil believes Hercules to be his final hope of training a great hero after all of his other failures, which is discussed in his song "One Last Hope".
* MickeyMousing: The coda for "One Last Hope". It seems that, as in ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', [[InvertedTrope the animators took their cue from the music]].
* AMinorKidroduction: The film begins with Hercules as a baby. It appears to be a baby shower, or maybe the day of his birth since he gets gifts.
* MomentKiller: Phil is quite skilled at doing this. He has a megaphone.
* MoodWhiplash: Meg [[spoiler: sacrifices herself to save Hercules, her body is crushed.]] Herc then goes to save the gods from Hades' plot, and partakes in some hilarious hi-jinks, only to snatch right back after the confrontation, [[spoiler: as Meg is dying.]]
* MortalityEnsues:
** At the beginning when Pain and Panic make Baby!Hercules drink the mortality potion.
** [[spoiler:At the end when Hercules gives up his reinstated godhood to live on Earth with Meg.]]
* MsFanservice:
** Meg is drawn to be a lot more sexy than the usual Disney heroine, sharing a similar body type to [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Jessica Rabbit]]. She also gets scenes like when she washes herself in the river and seduces Hercules.
** The Muses are also amongst the most attractive women in Disney history, wear robes that expose their shapely legs and cleavage, and spend much of their time in the movie shaking their ample hips. [[FatComicRelief Even the goofy Thalia]] is [[BigBeautifulWoman gorgeous.]]
* MuggleFosterParents: Hercules' human parents have no idea they found the son of gods.
* MultipleHeadCase: The Hydra, while trying to eat Herc, accidentally attacks the other heads or knocks into them. The heads themselves also fight over which one gets to eat him. Justified that it only had one head a few minutes ago--growing extra heads takes some getting used to, you know...
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** Hercules and Phil after seeing the Hydra grow more heads.
** Herc gets this [[spoiler:after he hits Phil in a blind rage]]. He's very shocked at himself for lashing out.
** Meg also gets this when Hades [[spoiler:makes the deal with Hercules to deprive him of his strength, and then reveals that Meg was in Hades's service.]]
* MythologyGag: Aptly enough; despite many changes to the actual myths, there are more than a few references to them outside the main plot.
** The Mythological Hercules is best known[[note]](besides for killing his wife in a goddess-induced fit of madness)[[/note]] for performing the Twelve Labors, all of which are referenced in the film, most of them in the "Zero to Hero" segment.
*** The first labor, the slaying of the Nemean Lion, is changed from a lion that terrorized the town of Nemea to a monster that Hades sends. Hercules is later shown wearing its pelt (as he is usually depicted in the myths), and the lion's skin looks remarkably like [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Scar's]].
*** The second labor is the slaying of the Lernaean Hydra; obviously this is referenced by the massive Hydra battle (although it comes before the lion and is not in Lake Lerna, as it is in the myths, and is sent by Hades instead of Hera). In some (often the more detailed versions) of the myth, the Hydra had at least one immortal head, so Hercules had to finish it by burying it under a large rock. In the movie, Hercules defeats the Hydra by burying it under several large rocks.
*** The fourth labor is to capture the Erymanthian Boar, which is alternately said to get its name from where it lives, Mt. Erymanthos, or from Erymanthus, Apollo's son who was blinded by Aphrodite (or in a few accounts Artemis) when he saw her bathing, which led him to send said boar to attack her. A large boar shows up in the "Zero to Hero" as another monster that Hades sends.
*** The fifth labor is mentioned in passing as Augeas having a problem with his stables that Hercules is expected to help with.
*** The sixth labor is to slay the man-eating Stymphalian birds, which are likely referenced by the large bird shown in passing as being a monster Hercules defeated in "Zero to Hero".
*** The ninth labor is mentioned by Phil as having to get a girdle from some Amazons.
*** The eleventh labor does not appear in the movie, but is referenced in the series, where Adonis is cursed by Gaia and needs the golden apples of Hesperides to be cured, which Hercules gets Atlas to pick for him, just as he does in the original myth.
*** The twelfth labor appears at the end of the movie; Hercules was challenged to tame Cerberus, and appears riding him into the Underworld in the finale.
** As a baby, Hercules saves his adoptive parents from Pain and Panic when they turn into snakes, strangling both of them. In the Greek Myths, two (ordinary) snakes sent by Hera actually did attack Hercules as a baby, and he strangled both of them to death.
** In fact, if you count name drops and people in crowd scenes, it's almost a constant stream of references to Greek mythology.
** There's some to other Disney movies too:
*** From ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', we get Zeus's wedge-shaped beard, a blue centaur, pudgy Bacchus and a scene of Hephaestus hammering at Zeus's lightning bolts. In addition, Hercules defeats the Cyclops the same way MickeyMouse defeated the giant in "WesternAnimation/BraveLittleTailor".
*** One of the smallest ones is the blue centaur Hercules battles to save Meg in their first scene together. His name, Nessus, is said exactly once, and in passing, to boot. In Greek mythology, Nessus was a centaur killed by Hercules who tricked Deianeira (Hercules' wife) into using his blood as poison to kill her husband.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:N]]
* NearMissGroinAttack: During the "One last Hope" song:
-->'''Phil:''' Rule number 95: Concentrate!
-->''[Teen Hercules throws half a dozen swords at the targets and misses, surrounding Phil with swords, who's on the tip of his hooves avoiding one between his legs]''
-->'''Phil:''' Rule 96: Aim!
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** As a teen Hercules accidentally destroys an entire town while trying to catch a frisbee. The townsfolk turn on him and call him a freak and a menace.
** Hercules accidentally releases the Hydra to free two children from a cave in. After trying to defeat it by cutting its head off, three more heads grow in its place. Regardless, he keeps cutting them, producing a swarm of heads until Phil tells him point-blank to stop doing that.
** Meg sassing Hades on realizing she loves Hercules accidentally reveals to Hades that ''she'' is Wonder Boy's weakness.
* NonSequiturThud: When Phil tries to whisk Hercules back to training after finding he was playing hooky with Meg:
-->'''Phil:''' ''[gets smacked off of Pegasus by a tree branch and lands on his skull behind bench, raises arm in protest, slurred]'' That's '''IT!''' Next time, ''I'm'' driving... ''[arm collapses]''
* NoSongForTheWicked: Hades has no VillainSong despite being such a LargeHam. Even though Woods loves playing Hades, he doesn't like to sing (according to the DVD commentary for the first ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode he appeared).[[note]] Creator/RobPaulsen voiced his verse for the ''WesternAnimation/MickeysHouseOfVillains'' song It's Our House Now".[[/note]] The stage musical averts this by giving him two numbers, "A Cool Day in Hell" and its reprise.
* NotWearingTights: Hercules is portrayed as this; unsurprising, considering that the Greek demigods are arguably the earliest forms of the {{Superhero}} archetype.
* NouveauRiche: Hercules gets rich and famous after his victory in Thebes, as "Zero to Hero" describes. The house he buys for his human parents is ''huge''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:O]]
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: This exchange between Meg and Hercules after Hades has sent her to find out his weakness.
-->'''Hercules:''' [[IJustWantToBeNormal You know, when I was a kid, I would have given anything to be exactly like everybody else.]]\\
'''Megara:''' ''[scoffs]'' You wanted to be petty and dishonest?\\
'''Hercules:''' Everybody's not like that.\\
'''Megara:''' Yes, they are.\\
'''Hercules:''' ''You're'' not like that.
* ObviouslyNotFine: Most of the movie runs on supernatural shenanigans and heroics. Hercules shrugs off many injuries that would kill a mere mortal, even when he loses his powers temporarily. Then Meg does a heroic deed, [[spoiler:pushing Hercules out of the way of a falling pillar. It crushes her instead, falling on her spine with a SickeningCrunch. Pegasus, Hercules and Phil go OhCrap because when Hercules regains his strength and pulls it off her, she's in pain and moaning, voice raspy. Her attempts to smile and say it was WorthIt are undercut by her agony. With the town on fire, there are no medics or doctors nearby, and with an injury like that, Meg has no chance of recovery. When she tells Hercules to stop Hades and not worry about her, he reluctantly obeys while Phil holds her hand and waits for the end. She passes away in a short while, writhing in agony]].
* OffModel:
** Hercules will frequently suffer ClothingDamage to his tunic, only for it to be repaired by the next frame. Most obviously when he's attacked by his fangirls--one strap of his tunic comes down, in the next frame it's fixed and in the next it's the other shoulder down.
** The river in the Underworld before Hercules jumps in. First he's able to dip his hand into the water. A few frames later, he jumps off a precipice to get into the river.
* OffhandBackhand: Done by Herc to Hades near the end [[spoiler: and because his divinity was restored, he literally punches Hades' face in.]]
* OhCrap:
** Because of his clumsiness, Hercules causes accidents and makes a lot of mistakes in his battles. For instance, losing his sword.
** Phil's face when the Hydra starts growing more heads.
--->'''Phil:''' ''[sees the Hydra's corpse twitching]'' That doesn't sound good. ''[The Hydra gets back on its feet, grows three more heads and starts moving towards them]'' '''''DEFINITELY NOT GOOD!''''' ''[hands Herc his sword and runs]''
** The look on the Hydra's faces when Herc triggers the rock slide.
** Pain and Panic do this frequently whenever they screw something up.
* OhMyGods: Pain and Panic are the {{Trope Namer|s}} - after all, this is set in polytheistic Greece. There is also an instance where Phil goes "Holy Hera."
* OpenTheDoorAndSeeAllThePeople: Hercules opens the door of his BigFancyHouse only to be met with screaming fans who make him want to run back inside and hide.
* OurHydrasAreDifferent: Hercules faces the iconic multi-headed serpent early in his hero career. The creature starts out with only one head, but ''three'' new ones grow in the place of each cranium lost.
* OurNymphsAreDifferent: Hercules meets Philoctetes as he is peeping on a group of nymphs lounging by a river. When his cover is blown, Phil tries to catch one, only for them to turn into a pile of flowers and a tree.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:P]]
* PainToTheAss: During their introduction scene, Pain and Panic trip down a flight of stairs and Pain lands bottom first onto Panic's horns.
* PapaWolf: Zeus comes to Hercules' aid a couple of times.
* PantyShot: Rare male example, as Hercules has a really, really short toga.
* ParentalAbandonment: One of the only films in the entire Disney canon to avert this trope. Herc not only has his immortal parents watching from on high, he has a pair of mortal adoptive parents who love him very much.
* ParentalBonus: As expected from a Disney film. Most blatantly, Nessus pushing himself on Megara is certainly reminiscent of a rape attempt, with the centaur noting "I like 'em fiery!" as she keeps rejecting him, and once Hercules frees Meg and asks how she ended up with him, she replies "You know how men are. They think 'no' means 'yes', and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours'!" There is also one of the Muses reacting to a picture of Hercules saying she'd like "make some music," a guy who appears to be a flasher as he reveals he's selling sundials, and this gem of a quote:
-->'''Hercules''': And that play, [[Theatre/OedipusRex that Oedipus thing]]? Man, I thought I had problems!
* ThePearlyGates: Mt. Olympus possesses glowing-gold gates that the Rock Titan crashes through during the invasion and opens for Hercules when he attains godhood.
* {{Pegasus}}: A winged horse made of clouds as a gift for Hercules on his birthday.
* PetTheDog:
** Hades ''did'' bring a gift for the little "sunspot" at the Olympus party. It's just that Hercules bit his finger as well when tasting the sucker. After that, Hades wants to murder the little guy, and not just because of the prophecy.
** Technically, Meg defied Hades and went against their agreement to find Hercules's weakness. She only reveals it by accident when smugly saying that Hercules would never hurt her, causing Hades to have a EurekaMoment. In fact, as far as Meg knew, Wonder Boy was perfectly safe because he seemed to have no weakness. Even so, Hades gets what he wants. Then he frees Meg from her bondage, as promised, despite the fact that she reneged on their deal.
* PhosphorEssence: The gods of Olympus glow in bright colors, and the loss of Hercules' immortality is visually represented by the loss of his godly glow. [[spoiler:His glow makes a triumphant return when he regains his godhood by saving Meg's soul, and disappears again when he chooses to live on Earth with her]].
%%* PhysicalGod: It's Greek Mythology, what do you expect?
* PietaPlagiarism: This is played twice: [[spoiler:once when Hercules cradles Meg's corpse in his arms, and once when he, restored to godhood, holds her listless spirit.]]
* PigLatin:
-->'''Herc:''' ''[The Hydra emerges]'' Phil? What do you call that thing?\\
'''Phil:''' {{Two words|ICantCount}}: '''AM-SCRAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!'''
* PragmaticAdaptation: The [[Myth/ClassicalMythology original Heracles myth]]--and Greek Mythology in general--were as family unfriendly as you can get and had a ''lot'' of built-in ValuesDissonance (the basic conflict ''alone'' was unacceptable for a family film, since Hercules is a product of Zeus' adultery with a mortal, and Hera, Zeus' wife, is the villain who constantly makes Hercules' life miserable because of this), so the studio was forced to [[DisneyFication heavily rework the concept]]; it borrows the character names (not so much the personalities), story points and the setting from the myths, but [[AdaptedOut throws out]] and [[CanonImmigrant adds in]] things from other parts of Greek Myth (such as Pegasus and the Muses, who were not in the original Heracles story), and reworks everything else (such as expanding Hades role in the story [[EveryoneHatesHades by turning him into the main villain]]), ultimately making the film less an adaptation of Greek Mythology and more like a [[JustForFun/XMeetsY mashup of]] ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' [[RecycledInSpace set in a]] [[TheThemeParkVersion burlesque of Ancient Greece.]]
* PropheciesRhymeAllTheTime: {{Lampshaded}}:
-->'''Fates:''' In 18 years, precisely, the planets will align, ever so nicely...\\
'''Hades:''' [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Oy]], ''verse''.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "I've got 24 hours to get rid of this ''bozo'', or the entire scheme I've been setting up for 18 years goes up in smoke, and ''you. Are wearing. His. MERCHANDISE!?!''"
[[/folder]]
[[folder:R]]
* RapidAging: Herc is subject to this in The River Styx, and his thread of life becomes immediate fair play for the Fates; [[spoiler: he survives by rescuing Meg and becoming a god.]]
* RapidFireDescriptors: When Phil argues with Hercules when telling him that Meg is working with Hades (with Herc refusing to believe him), he uses many adjectives in a row.
-->'''Phil:''' She's nothin' but a two-timin'...
-->'''Hercules:''' ''Stop it!''
-->'''Phil:''' ...no-good, lyin', schemin'--!
-->'''Hercules:''' ''SHUT UP!'' ''(swats Phil away, [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength sending him flying into some barbells]])''
* RapidFireNailBiting: Pegasus bites his front hooves, during the "One Last Hope" number when Hercules goes through the dangerous obstacle course that Phil set up as part of his training to save a damsel in distress.
* RefusingParadise: [[spoiler:At the end, Hercules chooses to remain on Earth with Meg instead of returning to Olympus.]]
* RescueIntroduction: Hercules meets Megara when rescuing her from a monstrous centaur.
* RescuedFromTheUnderworld: Hercules travels to the Underworld in order to rescue [[spoiler:Meg's spirit and reunite it with her body, thus getting his godhood back]].
* RecycledInSpace: The movie's plot is basically ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' IN ANCIENT GREECE! This was no accident either--John Musker and Ron Clements, the directors of the film, are admitted superhero comic fans.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: Herc storms the underworld to bring Meg back.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The Titans go on one of these against Zeus after being released from the vault he locked them in.
* RuleOfFunny: Why isn't Phil a pile of dust from the lightning? Because it's funnier to see him with ash-face instead.
* RuleOfThree: The people of Thebes' reactions to Herc’s first public heroism and their raising reception: when he raises and throws the colossal boulder they are unimpressed but still clap for him, then when he cuts off the Hydra’s first head they are legitimately impressed and their clapping is much more sincere, then when Herc kills the Hydra they go crazy and erupt into a roaring applause.
* RunOrDie: After the Hydra's head is cut off, three more grow in its place. Having had enough trouble while fighting the monster with one head, Hercules had no choice but to run away from three snapping heads.
* RunningGag: "Two words: (insert three [or more or less] words--in a place where two words could have been used)". [[labelnote:BilingualBonus]]Interestingly, when Phil says "I am retired", the Greek translation is "Είμαι συνταξιούχος", which is indeed two words.[[/labelnote]]
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