History Characters / HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys

!!! Serena / The Golden Hind.

-->'''Hera:''' You've always been so captivated by your pathetic mortals. Let's see how you like living as one of them! You're a mortal now."

* BreakTheHaughty: The flashbacks to "Regrets... I've Had A Few" open with Hercules being quite full of himself. Then he fights off an attacker and accidentally kills him because he didn't take the fight seriously.

* ComesGreatResponsibility: The flashbacks in "Regrets... I've Had A Few" are about him learning this lesson. It's also a recurring theme whenever he fails to help others.

* FantasticRacism: Zig Zagged in regards to gods. Hercules makes no secret of his disdain in general for the gods, but it's often because of how they play deadly games with mortals; he gets along fine with Hades, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. On the other hand, this trope reaches a fever pitch in "Descent," where Hercules is told his actions allowed Dahak to kill the Sumerian gods. Hercules tells Dumuzi he doesn't care, a result of him grieving over Iolaus's death.

* HalfBreedDiscrimination: Downplayed. Several gods like Hera and Ares look down on him as "a half-mortal mongrel" or some such, due to both resenting him being Zeus's favorite child and already having a general disdain for mortals. Nicer gods like do treat Herc with respect, though. On the other hand, mortals positively adore Hercules for his heroic deeds and consider him their champion. Even when he was young and feeling out of place among mortals, no one took issue with his status (whereas some of his half-brothers were reportedly ostracized).

* HeroesLoveDogs: He and his family had a pet dog. Also, in the ''Underworld'' TV-Movie, he saves the day by treating Cerberus as a dog instead of a monster.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: In "Atlantis," he says he saw his strength as a curse while growing up. In "Two Men and a Baby," he hints that (after realizing he was different) he longed to be like everyone else and was disappointed he would never be.

* MrFanservice: He occasionaly has some moments of ShirtlessScene.

* NoodleIncident: Since the first TV-Movie began with Hercules already an established hero, there were numerous references to various off-screen adventures he's had throughout his life. Some of these form the backstories to episodes (like bringing peace between the warring kingdoms in "The Apple" and "War Bride"). Others are just off-hand references, such as slaying the Nemean Lion or facing a two-headed giant.

* PapaWolf: In the ''Underworld'' TV-Movie, Nessus attempts to rape Deianeira. Hercules shoots him dead with an arrow.

** In most episodes, this is played for laughs. People often expect Hercules to be slaying monsters every day when that's not all that he does. On the other hand, sometimes, people openly question events that viewers know to be true.

* TheUnreveal: Whether he's immortal or not. Even Zeus admits he can't be sure one way or the other. Even taking the present day clip shows into account, it's left ambiguous if living so long is because he's immortal or just because he's half-god.

* AdaptationDecay: Iolaus learns in "The Wrong Path" that people have written about Hercules's various adventures, but that he was AdaptedOut. He also has a bone to pick with Archivus in "Once A Hero" due to not getting a mention in past stories and being told that facts sometimes have to sacrificed for the sake of the narrative.

** ''Amazon Women'' TV-Movie: He gets knifed by an Amazon when his head is turned. This is undone via time travel.

* LadykillerInLove: He treated all his various relationships rather seriously, but it was Nebula he really fell for.

* {{Retcon}}: In the ''Amazon Women'' TV-Movie, Iolaus is engaged to be married. ''The Maze of the Minotaur'' followed up on this--saying the wife died young but not before they had a child. When the series started up, though, Iolaus is said to have always been single and never had any children.
* UncannyFamilyResemblance: He meets his cousin, Orestes, in "King For A Day" and marvels over how they look exactly alike. Iolaus is able to substitute for him in that episode and "Love Live The King" because of it.

* BigNo: Memorably in "Stranger In A Strange World" when he becomes trapped in-between worlds.

* KilledOffForReal: By Ares in "Stranger And Stranger."

* OmnicidalManiac: His plan in "Stranger In A Strange World" was to become king of the gods and kill every possible human (save his most devout followers).

* SealedEvilInACan: In "Stranger In A Strange World," he becomes trapped in-between worlds in a place called the Netherworld. He briefly gets out in "Armageddon Now" but is quickly returned.
* SmarterThanYouLook: Played with. On the one hand in "Stranger In A Strange World," he came up with the plan to take over the world, as well as knew that his Xena was a devious schemer and that his Iolaus was tasked with assassinating him. On the other hand, whereas Hercules uses his intellect to figure out a way to escape the Netherworld, the Sovereign never does so.

* ADayInTheLimelight: "Love On The Rocks."

* AscendedExtra: A one-off in Season 4's "Stranger In A Strange World," he became Herc's partner in the second half of Season 5.

* NeverMyFault: In "Stranger And Stranger," he blames Herc for the bad things that have happened to him since they last met. Iolaus 2 later admits he wasn't willing to own up.

* SadisticChoice: Leaving his old world permanently. He admits in "Love On The Rocks" and "My Best Girl's Wedding" that it was actually much harder to do than he let on.

* FemininityFailure: In "If I Had A Hammer", she chooses to wear a long dress and act more feminine for her boyfriend's sake. It goes south when a group of bullies attack him, her [[ActionDressRip dress gets ripped]] and she fights them off with Hercules' help.

* PygmalionPlot: Atlanta creates a statue of Hercules in "If I Had A Hammer" that gains life of its own, but is very child-like. He is mistaken for a monster by a crowd and sacrifices his life to save both Atalanta and the real Hercules.

* CoolOldLady: You qualify if you're able to keep it together when a sea serpent swallows you whole. Not to mention offer your well traveled demigod son life advice he always takes to heart.

* GreenEyedMonster: Quite literally where a curse from Hera makes him transform into a monster following a jealous fit.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: One of the more notable gods that went completely unaccounted for during the Twilight of the Gods storyline over on ''Xena'''s fifth season. Karl Urban was even asked about it at a convention, and he felt Cupid was still alive and simply living his life.

* KavorkaMan: Downplayed. He often appears as a kindly old man--not unattractive, but certainly not Adonis. However, he is quite capable of charming young women, such as when romancing an Amazon in the ''Amazon Women'' TV-Movie. Even Deianeira (in ''Circle of Fire'' specifically) admitted to being stunned by how effective Zeus was.

* TheNeidermeyer: A trait he shares with his wife. He's supposedly the BigGood of the Herc Xena verse but that role better fits his son than him or any other god on series. In truth he's a selfish, irritable, vain, irresponsible and often outright cowardly manchild who really couldn't care less about his family. It's part of the reason why many of them turned on him; Gods, Mortals and even his own son in the end.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Normally, a very benevolent figure, but when he gets mad, even Hercules is taken aback.

* PutOnABus: He regularly appears to Hercules throughout the TV-Movies, but they have a falling out at the start of the series when Hera kills Herc's family. Afterwards, Zeus is often referred to, but only makes a handful of appearances. Justified since having a god regularly in the hero's corner would be a StoryBreakerPower.

* TheArtifact: She becomes less prominent of an antagonist midway through season 3 in favor of Ares, and doesn't even appear in season 5 or 6 until BackForTheFinale yet the opening narration continues to treat as the BigBad of the entire series.

* TheNeidermeyer: What her essential character boils down too. Always blaming her lackeys for her failures, persecuting a species '''SHE''' helped create due to her husbands infidelities, culminating in her own lack of backbone in standing up to her slimy spouse and her constant chiding her stepson because of this.
* OmnicidalManiac: More than once Hera has tried to publicly execute mankind or otherwise hinder them in such a way it comes about.

* OutOfFocus: She's the main antagonist in three of the TV-Movies [[note]]She causes trouble for Herc in ''Underworld'', the fourth TV-Movie, but she apparently had nothing to do with the main conflict (Cerberus getting loose)[[/note]] and the first two seasons, but she starts losing prominence in Season 3 to Ares and other threats. By Season 4, she only menaces Hercules a couple times (one of which was a WholeEpisodeFlashback) before being trapped in the Abyss of Tartarus.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: She resurrects Callisto in "Surprise" as part of yet another plan to kill Hercules. This has little long-term importance for this show, but it leads to a number major events on Xena's show.

* [[TheManBehindTheMan The Woman Behind The Man]]: She directs men, monsters and everything in-between after Hercules or [[HumansAreInsects whichever insignificant mortals]] of the week piss her off. Unlike the other gods, she very rarely faces him in person.

* WomenAreWiser: Unlike Ares and other antagonistic gods, she avoids fighting Hercules one-on-one because she knows she's forbidden from outright killing him. She has no reason to go to the trouble of a fight, if she has no chance of actually killing him, so she opts for schemes and lackeys to do the grunt work. The only times she ever confronted Hercules directly were when Zeus was explicitly in no position to interfere.

See Character sheet for Series/XenaWarriorPrincess

* FakeUltimateHero: He was this to Deimos, who genuinely thought the guy was an imposing, feared individual that commanded respect. Discord set the record straight by saying that absolutely no one feared Strife ever.

* ProperlyParanoid: He knew in "Armageddon Now" that Callisto was trying to manipulate Ares. The war god knew that, too, and was hoping to use her to his own ends, but Strife was insistent on not taking any chances at all.

* VoluntaryShapeShifting: Strife has the alter his appearance to take whatever form he likes whether mortals or monsters or Gods.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Mostly one sided with Ares, she's all in on him but he only wants her when he's bored.

* DressedLikeADominatrix: Her usual style, toned down for 'Young Hercules' though.

* {{Goth}}: Though she does mix in some brown/burgandy with the basic black when she switches to her more family friendly wardrobe in Young Hercules.

* SiblingIncest: Gotten past the censors in a rather ingenious way. They are clearly sleeping together when she appears on Xena and Hercules without saying they're related but when appearing in the prequel 'Young Hercules' (aimed at kids) she's called his sister and there's no funny business.

** After she had finally become second-in-command, Ares opted to give Deimos a shot at the position with a plan against Hercules. Irritated as she was about it, Discord initially tried to help Deimos, as she figured she could get rid of Hercules and take the credit for the plan's success. When that wasn't panning out, she opted for an EnemyMine with Hercules to ensure that Deimos would fail.

* DeadpanSnarker: He can be this usually after having spent the whole day in risking his life of suffering some (albeit comically) injures.

* HonestJohnsDealership: For the most part, he actually averts this. Many of the goods he sells are of fair quality and entirely legal. On the other hand, he tried selling what turned out to be cursed treasure he found in a mine, and he once cheated a warlord by selling him swords and belts made up a material that melted in the rain.
* KavorkaMan: Just ask the 50 Daughters of King Thespius.

* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: When Hercules first met him, Salmoneus was a toga salesman. He had many different jobs since in order to strike it rich.
* OutOfFocus: A very prominent recurring character in the first two seasons, Salmoneus started making fewer appearances in Season 3, only two in Season 4 and just one in Season 5.

* DecompositeCharacter: The Morrigan of myth was a triple goddess, encompassing three sides one of which was named Badb. Here she's demigoddess daughter of a full goddess named Badb.

* HeelFaceTurn: She is introduced as an antagonist, but redeems herself thank to

* AllAmazonsWantHercules: While technically not an amazon herself, she did fell in love with Hercules after testing his strength with arm-wrestling.

* BadassNormal: Despite not having any godly powers, she can hold herself in a fight pretty well.
* TheBlacksmith: Her day-to-day job is working in a forge, which is likely how she gained her beefed up physique.
* ChainmailBikini: She wore a leotard-like outfit which shows off her buff arms, most of her chest and butt really not too different from most of the female clothes in the show.

* FemininityFailure: In "If I Had A Hammer", she chooses to wear a long dress and act more feminine for her boyfriend's sake. It goes to south when a group of bullies attack him, her [[ActionDressRip dress gets ripped]] and she fights them off with Hercules' help.
* MsFanservice: She wears a [[ChainmailBikini very revealing armor]] that displays a [[AmazonianBeauty very well-formed physique]].
* PygmalionPlot: Atlanta creates a statue of Hercules in "If I Had A Hammer" that gains life of its own, but its very child-like. He is mistaken for a monster by a crowd and sacrifices his life to save both Atalanta and the real Hercules.

* StatuesqueStunner: Atalanta is taller than most guys barring Hercules.

* WellDoneSonGuy: He had issues with his father, a general who was always off fighting a war somewhere and eventually abandoned the family. Iolaus encounters him in the Underworld during one of the times he was dead, and the two manage to reach an understanding.

%%* WingedHumanoid

* HumansAreBastards: She openly despises humanity because Zeus was so enchanted with them.

* DressedLikeADominatrix[=/=]HellBentForLeather: Her usual style, toned down for 'Young Hercules' though.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep[=/=]HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: Goes simply by 'Discord' instead of Eris.
* EvilIsSexy: She tries at least.

%%* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife

* BoobsOfSteel: Atlanta is very voluptuous, but also very strong and knows how to fight.

%%* CoolOldLady

* AdultFear: A Roman attack on a village leaves many dead, including a young boy. Seeing this makes Morrigan think of her own daughter.

* DivineParentage: Courtesy of Zeus

** A more minor but still notable example would be his mother. Hercules usually doesn't take it well when any man tries to woo Alcmene. He grew especially angry and distrustful when a villain named Demetrius tried to woo her(though for good reason). He also didn't take it well when even his longtime friend Jason began courting his mother, though in Jason's case, Hercules had more of a FreudianExcuse since in the past, Jason had really upset Hercules by going after a girl he was interested in during the ''Medea Culpa'' episode. And he eventually grew to accept Jason after getting over his initial reservations.

->'''Played by:''' Creator/ReneeOConnor (daughter of Ilus), Tawny Kitaen (wife of Hercules)

* NotSoDifferent: He's not Iolaus, but Jason feels he shares the same heart.

* NotSoDifferent: Though the comparison is made after she becomes good.

->'''Played by:''' Renee O'Connor (daughter of Ilus), Tawny Kitaen (wife of Hercules)

->'''Played by:''' Tawny Kitaen

->'''Played by:''' Creator/KevinSmith