Phil takes Hercules on the annual Caledonian Boar Hunt and introduces him to Nestor (a Greek hero who has exceptionally good eyesight) and Meleager (a Greek hero who has very acute hearing), some old friends—the four are eventually joined by Chiron, a centaur who is also Phil's biggest rival as a trainer of heroesnote . While initially excited by the hunt, Herc eventually has second thoughts about the whole thing and ends up deserting Phil and the others after being unable to bring himself to kill a Caledonian boar when he saw it. Herc eventually runs into Artemis, the goddess of the wild, who appoints Herc as the official protector of the boars in Caledonia.
While out searching for Hercules, Phil runs into Artemis, who turns Phil into a boar—Herc (not realizing what Artemis did to Phil) ultimately ends up having to protect his mentor from Chiron, Nestor and Meleager (who also don't realize what the goddess had done to the satyr).
This episode includes examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch: After Herc leaves with Phil to go on the boar hunt at the beginning of the episode, Cassandra has a vision (complete with swirly eyes) of "filthy men, splattered in blood, poking sticks into a rotting carcass." Icarus, logically, assumes that Cassandra must be having a premonition about Herc's hunting trip—but Cassandra explains that she was actually seeing what was going on in the kitchen of the Speedy Pita (as someone had left the door open).
- Beginner's Luck: After Artemis notes how Herc (who's a hero-in-training) managed to defeat "three of the biggest names in the hero business" (Chiron, Nestor and Meleager), Chironnote tries passing off Herc's success as this before Artemis tells him off.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Chiron rescues Herc, Phil, Nestor and Meleager when a Caledonian boar is trying to push their wagon over a cliff after they arrive in the Caledonian Forests.
- Herc becomes this to Phil after he manages to defeat Chiron, Nestor and Meleager in their quest to kill boar!Phil (although in the defense of the three older heroes, they didn't realize that the boar was Phil).
- Endangered Species: The Caledonian Boars are this (to the point of near-extinction). In fact, upon arriving in Caledonia, Phil and his two friends, Nestor and Meleager, explain Herc how it gets harder and harder every year to find even just one boar. We only ever see one Caledonian Boar throughout the entire episode (Phil doesn't count since he was turned into boar by Artemis).
- Forced Transformation: To get her message across, Artemis changes Phil into a boar so he can experience the hunt from the animal's perspective.
- Friend to All Living Things:
- Artemis is obviously this—but even so, the animals (at least those in Caledonia) seem to be a little too affectionate towards her.
- Herc is this as well—in fact, the whole reason Artemis appoint him as the protector of the Caledonian boars was because he couldn't bring himself to kill one after seeing it (as Herc explained to Phil, [Herc] wasn't scared—he just couldn't bring himself to kill the boar).
- Karmic Transformation: Artemis turns Phil into a boar and he soon discovers what its like to be hunted.
- A Real Man Is a Killer: This is the idea behind the Caledonian Boar Hunt. Once it becomes known to the others that Herc didn't kill the boar on-sight, Chiron as well as Nestor and Meleager are quick to start making fun of him—Herc's initially embarrassed by this, but then Artemis sets him straight and makes him the official protector of the Caledonian boars.
- At the end of the episode, when Chiron (once again) makes fun of Herc for being a "flincher," Artemis comes to Herc's defense by arguing that there's plenty of ways for heroes to prove their worth (and for guys to prove their "manhood") than by hunting/killing an animal "to the point of wiping out an entire species!"
- Shout-Out: Chiron mentions one of his trainees is a "promising out-of-towner" named Samson, the strongman from the Book of Judges in Tanakh / Old Testament. Phil alludes to Samson's story by quipping that the guy needs a haircut.
