Hydra

Hydra
Japanese	ヒュドラ
Rōmaji	Hyudora
Homeworld	Olympus Coliseum
Game	Kingdom Hearts II
KHII tracks Battle theme - Desire for All That Is Lost

Hydra
Kingdom Hearts II
Hercules (1997) A legendary monster with many heads, sent by Hades to fight Hercules. If you cut off one of its heads, two more grow back.
Kingdom Hearts Union χ
Hercules (1997) A legendary creature sent by Hades to destroy the Olympus Coliseum and Hercules.

Location		HP	Strength		Defense	EXP
Olympus Coliseum Episode 1		462	17		9	0
Physical	Fire			Blizzard
×1.0	×0.5			×0.5
Thunder	Dark			Neutral
×0.5	×0.5			×0.5
Rewards
Sora: Max HP +5, Thunder element, Hero's Crest Donald: Armor slot Goofy: Max HP +5 When a head is defeated with Vanquish HP prize (5) ×5, Drive prize (3%) ×5 When an urn flung by Phil One-Two is broken HP prize (5) ×3
World(s)
Olympus Coliseum

Location		HP	Strength		Defense	EXP
Olympus Coliseum Episode 1		462	17		9	0
Physical	Fire			Blizzard
×1.0	×0.5			×0.5
Thunder	Dark			Neutral
×0.5	×0.5			×1.0
Rewards
Sora: Max HP +5, Thunder element, Hero's Crest Donald: Armor slot Goofy: Max HP +5 When a head is defeated with Vanquish HP prize (5) ×5, Drive prize (3%) ×5 When an urn flung by Phil One-Two is broken HP prize (5) ×3
World(s)
Olympus Coliseum

The Hydra is a multi-headed serpentine monster that appears in Kingdom Hearts II. It is fought at Olympus Coliseum and originally appeared in Disney's 1997 animated film, Hercules.

Story

Kingdom Hearts II

Hades sends the Hydra to destroy Olympus Coliseum and kill Hercules. The hero battles and seems to defeat it, but the Hydra merely fakes its death and proceeds to destroy the Coliseum while Hercules is away. The Hydra meets its match when Sora, Donald, Goofy, Phil, Pegasus, and Megara team up to eliminate it once and for all.

Design

The Hydra is a massive, reptilian creature with dark purple skin. It has a bulky body, and it crawls using a pair of four-fingered hands with white claws. The Hydra's tail is long and thin, and each time one of its heads is cut off, two more grow back as a replacement. All of the Hydra's heads are identical; they sport long, serpentine necks, large mouths filled with white fangs, and orange eyes with slitted pupils. Spikes line each of the Hydra's heads and necks. In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II, the Hydra spews green blood when one of its heads is cut off. In other versions of the game, the blood is changed to purple smoke except in one cutscene.

Strategy

When fighting the Hydra, in addition to having Donald and Goofy in the party, Sora will have Phil, Megara, and Pegasus for support. Phil tosses urns that can stun the Hydra, Meg gives Sora much-needed HP, MP, and Drive orbs when he gets close to her, and Pegasus allows Sora to use the Pegasus Run reaction command.

Sora must first attack the Hydra's main head. When the Hydra's HP is depleted to a certain point, he must use the Vanquish reaction command to remove the head, ending the first phase. After this is done, the Hydra buries its head in the sand, causing three more heads to sprout out from underground in various locations, starting the second phase. By teaming up with Phil, Sora can use the Phil One-Two and Urninator reaction commands to immobilize them. Sora must defeat each of these heads and use Vanquish on them before they awaken.

In the third and final phase of this battle, the Hydra pulls its neck out of the ground and reveals a set of seven heads. Sora can team up with Pegasus and use the Pegasus Run reaction command to strike each head. Once the Hydra's HP has been depleted to 1, Sora need only use the Vanquish reaction command a final time to finish the monster off.

If the Hydra manages to defeat Sora, the option to revive him using King Mickey may become available. Victory grants Sora access to the Thunder spell, as well as the Hero's Crest Keyblade.

Technique		Element	Power	Guard?
Bite (かみつき, Kamitsuki)		Physical	x2.0 Hit 2+: x0.25	△
		Bites while swinging its heads wildly left and right. Used in the second phase.
Synchro Bite (一斉かみつき, Issei Kamitsuki)		Physical	x1.5 Hit 2+: x0.25	△
		All seven heads bite near-simultaneously. Used in the third phase.
Bite Combo (連続かみつき, Renzoku Kamitsuki)	(Bite)	Physical	x1.5 Hit 2+: x0.25	△
	(Downswing)	Physical	x1.0 Hit 2+: x0.25	△
		Bites repeatedly, then swings heads downward. Used in the third phase.
Tail Attack (シッポ攻撃, Shippo Kōgeki)		Physical	x1.5 Hit 2+: x0.5	△
		Sweeps wide with tails. Used in the first and third phases.
Dark Servant (暗黒のしもべ, Ankoku no Shimobe)		Dark	x0.75	△
		Brings forth demon-like orbs from the floor. Used in the first and third phases.
Hades Flame (冥界の炎, Meikai no Honō)		Fire	x0.5	X
		Generates pale, lightning-like flames among empty areas. Used in the first and third phases.
Guard/Block: △ = Can be blocked; O = Can be blocked and interrupted (melee) or deflected back (projectile); X = Cannot be blocked.

Reaction Commands
Reaction Command	Element	Power	Description
Vanquish (バニッシュ, Banisshu)	—	—	Can be used when approaching the Hydra's body or head (if the individual head is at 1HP) while it is stunned. Destroy the Hydra's head. Ends the battle when used in its third phase when the Hydra's HP is at 1.
Phil One-Two (フィルアタック, Firu Atakku, lit. "Phil Attack")	—	—	Can be used when on the Hydra's back during the second phase. Phil throws an urn into the air.
Urninator (バレットプレス, Baretto Puresu, lit. "Bullet Press")	—	—	Can be used after using Phil One-Two. Slam the urn into the Hydra's back, after which all heads will be temporarily incapacitated. This also greatly delays the restoration of another head.
Pegasus Run (ペガサスライド, Pegasasu Raido, lit. "Pegasus Ride")	—	—	Can be used when the Hydra uses Bite Combo during its third phase. Hop on Pegasus's back and fly around the Hydra's heads.
Attack (たたかう, Tatakau)	Physical	x2.0	Can be used when near the Hydra's heads after using Pegasus Run. Slash at the Hydra's heads. Attack appears seven times. Cannot reduce the Hydra's HP to 1.

Origin

The Hydra first appeared in Disney's 1997 animated film, Hercules. It is based on the Lernaean Hydra, a serpent-like water monster in Greek mythology. According to myth, the Hydra's defeat was one of the Labours of Hercules.

In the film, Hades ordered his minions, Pain and Panic, to disguise themselves as little boys and pretend to get trapped under a large boulder. He then used Megara to lure Hercules to their location. Hercules removed the boulder to save the "boys," but in doing so, he accidentally unleashed the Hydra. After a brief struggle, the monster managed to swallow Hercules whole. The hero escaped death, however, by cutting off the Hydra's head from the inside, which seemingly killed the beast.

Before Hercules could celebrate his victory over the Hydra, the creature's corpse came back to life and sprouted three more heads. Hercules resumed his battle with the Hydra, and as the fight continued, he came to realize the more heads he cut off, the more grew back to take their place. Eventually, the Hydra managed to pin Hercules against the side of a cliff. Faced again with elimination, the hero used his god-like strength to cause a rockslide, whereupon the Hydra is crushed to death by an avalanche of falling boulders.

Video

Hydra – Kingdom Hearts II

Gallery

• 

  The Hydra's original appearance prior to getting its head cut off.

• 

  One of the Hydra heads coming up from the ground.

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  Hydra's journal portrait in Kingdom Hearts II.

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  Hydra's journal portrait in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX.

• 

  The Hydra in the Kingdom Hearts II manga.