Editing Hercules

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'''Hercules''' is one of the primary characters featured in the ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|series}}'' series. He is the son of [[Zeus]] and Hera. He is a very popular fighter at the [[Olympus Coliseum]]. Hercules possesses great strength and can battle the toughest of monsters. He is very supportive of [[Sora]]'s goal to become a true hero.

He also meets [[Aqua]], appearing after Zack attempted to ask Aqua out. He points out how Aqua's "face is all red", and also gets advice from Aqua to not always rely on his strength, and she also tells him that she believes he will become a true hero someday. Hercules later trains under Phil with Zack watching by the gate before something takes him away.

<!--Pegasus cup illustrates that hercules has reunited with pegasus by this point:

hercules and pegasus were separated, but reunited when they grew up (kh2 journal)

Hercules does not arrive at Olympus Coliseum until he saves Sora, [[Donald Duck|Donald]], [[Goofy]], and [[Cloud]] from [[Cerberus]]. Sora, Donald and Goofy run back to battle Cerberus so Hercules can escape with an unconscious Cloud. Upon the defeat of Cerberus, Hercules is impressed with the trio but encourages them to continue training when [[Phil]] grants them "Junior Heroes". When they leave, Hercules reveals to Phil that he had already worn out Cerberus by the time Sora and company came to fight him. Hercules later battles Sora in a one-on-one battle in the [[Hercules Cup]]. When Sora wins and gains the Hercules Cup, as well as the ability to access the Keyhole of Olympus, he comments that his heart's strength comes from his friends, and Hercules supports him in it. He also exclaims that he "wasn't even holding back."

In a world constructed by Sora's memories, Hercules is met by Sora when Phil is about to cancel the games because no one else got past his preliminary course. Sora convinces them to keep the games because he wants to fight Hercules. Hercules agrees and Cloud shows up to add another contender to the games. During the games, Cloud wants to eliminate Hercules so he can have his lost memories restored. At the end of the course, Cloud and Hercules are fighting to the death and Hades intervenes, determined to kill Hercules himself, as Cloud could not finish him off. Sora then defends Hercules from Hades. After Hades is beaten, Hercules would like to fight Sora, but is not in his top fighting form and promises Sora a fight when he is.

Hercules spends most of his days in the coliseum battling Hades's monsters, including the [[Rock Titan]] and the [[Hydra]]. He gets rather tired, but hides his exhaustion from [[Megara]] and his friends. When Megara is captured by Hades, Sora and the others offer to find her so that he can deal with the Hydra. After he kills the monster, he runs into the Underworld to join the others in saving Megara. He later feels depressed for the destruction of the coliseum at the hands of the Hydra.

Upon Sora's second visit to the destroyed Coliseum, Hercules is still depressed. Hades forces Hercules to join in the tournaments in the Underdrome and uses Megara as threat. Before the finals, Sora and the others encounter their friend [[Auron]], who was being brainwashed at the time. In order to buy them time, Hercules offers to fight Auron one-on-one in a death match. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stop the fight just as Hercules is about to run out of endurance and help Auron regain his will. Angered by the outcome, Hades throws Megara into the Styx and Hercules jumps in after her and so regains his strength by reminding himself that a true hero's strength comes from his heart. With the revived Hercules on their side, the group defeats Hades, and witnesses the creation of a new constellation shaped like Sora, Donald, and Goofy, making the trio true heroes at long last.

Some time after Xemnas's defeat, Hercules has successfully rebuilt the Coliseum with the help of his friends.

A data version of Hercules teams up with [[Data-Sora]] to help him find Data- Hades, as well as destroy the data-Heartless and [[Bug Blox]] in the way. He has been seen battling Data-Cloud, who ironically also joins Data-Sora to help fight.Data-Hercules fights Data-Cerberus alongside Data-Sora and Data-Cloud. After defeating Data-Cerberus, he fights Hades again.  <!-- Move this to another section: After the fight,Data- Hercules will help synthesize items by taking 39, 49, or 60 scraps. -->

In order for Sora to regain the powers he lost when Xehanort kidnapped his body, [[Yen Sid]] directs the boy and his friends to go seek training from Hercules at the Olympus Coliseum.

Hercules encounters Sora, Donald, and Goofy when they come launching into Thebes at him, but he catches them. Sora wants to know how to become stronger and Hercules mentions strength of heart is important, and when he had saved Meg from the Styx before he knew that he had wanted to save her with all his heart. Hercules helps assist the townsfolk from being attacked by Heartless. Later, Hercules rejoins Sora and goes to the Realm of the Gods to save his father from Hades. After doing so, Hercules decides to stay in the human realm because of his love for Megara.

==Appearance==

[[File:Hercules KHBBS.png|thumb|right|220px|left|A younger Hercules in ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep''.]]

In ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', a much younger Hercules is seen prior to becoming a hero. His appearance is like in ''{{w|Hercules (1998 TV series)|Hercules: The Animated Series}}''. At this point in his life, Hercules was rather scrawny and far from muscular. His sandals were not knee-high like his current self's, and he wore a plain white toga that left most of his legs, his arms, and the right side of his chest exposed. There was a metal pendant engraved with Zeus's symbol that was attached to the strap on his left shoulder. His headband and wristbands were also absent. His hair was a bit longer as well, being just about shoulder-length and seemed to be a brighter shade of orange than it is now.

When fought in the Titan and Paradox Titan cups in the Underdrome during ''Kingdom Hearts II'', Hercules uses powerful punches and headbutts, and can jump and unleash a shockwave when he lands. He can also summon a gold aura, turning himself invincible, inspired by the end of his Disney movie.

For two fights with Hades, Hercules assists Sora as an ally. He uses his punch attacks, and has two special commands: '''Aura Guard''', which summons a barrier around him to protect Sora, and '''Aura Sphere''', which summons two orbs of energy that, when hit into Hades, extinguish his fire and render him vulnerable to physical and magical attacks.

Hercules reappears as a party member, in ''Kingdom Hearts Re:coded'', in [[Olympus Coliseum]]. His special attack is [[Zero to Hero]].

A demi-god and son of the sky god Zeus, Hercules is known as "Heracles" in ancient Greek mythology. He still possesses his great strength seen in the Disney adaptation of the "character," yet several plots seen in this version of Hercules do not remain present in the realm of myths. One similarity is that both are considered a hero in their own right, battling a series of monsters. Mythology has a much more diverse love life, no rivalry with Hades or affiliation with Phil, and no goal to regain his "god" status. Myth also depicts the hero as a man wielding a club rather than a sword, carrying a lion's pelt as his only source of clothing.

In the Disney film by the same name as this hero, Hercules was kidnapped as an infant from his home on Mount Olympus and turned mortal by Pain and Panic. Growing up a strong, teased and misunderstood teenager with mortal adopted parents, Hercules left home to seek out his true identity. A conversation with his father Zeus told him to seek out Philoctetes, trainer of heroes, and learn to be a "true hero" so he could reclaim godship. Hercules arose to fame, and eventually found love in Megara. It was a love for this woman that allowed Hercules to become a "true hero" when he risked his life for hers.

Hercules was voiced in the film by Tate Donovan, who initially did not reprise the role in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series until ''Kingdom Hearts II''; he was voiced in the original ''Kingdom Hearts'' by Sean Astin. Additionally, Hercules was voiced as a teenager in the movie by Josh Keaton who reprised the role in ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep''.