The crooked King Salmoneus of Thessaly gets overthrown by Zeus for impersonating him. The people of Thessaly choose Hercules as their new king, forcing him to solve the kingdom's many problems, all while Salmoneus recruits Pain and Panic to get his throne back.
Tropes:
- 0% Approval Rating: Salmoneus is explicitly stated to have one.
- Bolt of Divine Retribution: Zeus deals with Salmoneus in his usual way.Zeus: [chalking a lightning bolt like a pool cue] Blasphemous infidel in the side pocket.
- The Chains of Commanding: Hercules finds kingship nothing but dull and exhausting.
- Destructive Saviour: While Hercules initially manages to fix a lot of Thessaly's woes, he ends up smashing every house in the kingdom in his battle against Pain, Panic and Salmoneus.
- Didn't Think This Through: Salmoneus really shouldn't have been all that surprised when the real Zeus would take offense at someone portraying him.
- Fat Bastard: Salmoneus is quite fat and always seems to be stuffing his face with food, even while exiled.
- Fusion Dance: Pain and Panic fight Hercules by joining together into a giant lion.
- God Guise: Salmoneus tries to keep his people under control by pretending to be Zeus. The real Zeus promptly turns up and lightning-bolts him for his act of hubris.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Salmoneus' advisor is a caricature of George Stephanopoulos.
- Visual Pun: The citizens of Thessaly have sunburnt necks — they're all rednecks.
