Herakles (New Earth)

From DC Database

Contents 1 History 1.1 War of the Gods 1.2 One Year Later 2 Powers and Abilities 2.1 Powers 2.2 Abilities 2.3 Strength level 3 Notes 4 See Also 5 Links and References 5.1 Footnotes

History

During Diana's Challenge of the Gods adventure, she discovered that Heracles was transformed into a colossal stone pilar within Doom's Doorway, and was supporting Themyscira's weight for several millennia. In this stone state he was tormented and scarred by various mythological creatures, feeling the pain inflicted by them but not being able to do anything about it. This was the punishment given to him by his Olympian family for his past transgressions. Gaining his original form back, he begged the Amazons for forgiveness. Though some of the Amazons still harbored hatred for their past rapes and humiliation, most of them were moved by Heracles' newfound humility, and Queen Hippolyta asked her people to search their hearts for the strength to forgive, which they eventually did. Doing so herself, Hippolyta not only forgave Heracles, but shared a brief romance with him before he left the mortal realm to return to his father in Olympus.

Later, Heracles appeared in the contemporary world and schemed to take revenge on the Amazons by seducing Wonder Woman. He did this by making an agreement with the mortal superhero Harold Champion. In exchange for his identity, Heracles gave Champion admission into Olympus. Once this was agreed upon Heracles used the Mirror of Circe to alter his appearance into that of Champion and proceeded to befriend Wonder Woman as a "new" friend. Heracles' identity was eventually revealed and he resumed his life on Olympus.

War of the Gods

Post-Crisis the Roman Gods existed separately from the Greek ones after Darkseid tricked them into splitting up so they could be worshipped by two different cultures at the same time; only after the "War of the Gods" did the two versions merge again. So in effect, both Heracles and Hercules existed, and they merged into one being.

One Year Later

A revamped Hercules reappears during the events of One Year Later. Now shaven, his place has been renewed as a fellow agent of Olympus, who occasionally aids Diana and even replaces her in battle. He is referred to as "Wonder Man" by Cheetah and Nemesis. He temporarily set up his base in the Greek Embassy.

Spoiler Warning: Plot or ending details follow. Please skip this section if you do not want foreknowledge of this plot.

Hercules is revealed to have lied about his reasons for returning to Earth. ^[1] One of the occupants of Olympus that rejected Athena's decision to remove themselves from the mortal realm, Hercules journeyed to Tartarus in hopes of recruiting Ares to aid him in returning to the mortal realm. Instead he found Circe who, upon hearing the demi-god's story and not wanting to spend eternity in limbo with Athena, decided to partner with Hercules instead(with the implication that they became lovers in the process). However, this didn't last long, as Circe betrayed him. However, with Diana's help, he was able to capture Circe, only to reveal his true motives: use her magical powers to transfer the power she had stolen and her own powers to him, becoming a new god to rule over Earth. Using the Lasso of Truth, he tries to compel Circe to cast the spell, and Diana encourages her to answer the question. Circe, revealing that the only way to cast that spell would be to reverse the original, casts the spell, returning their powers to their original owners and returning Diana's role as Wonder Woman to her. Wonder Woman then uses Wonder Girl's stolen Lasso of Lightning to bind Hercules, until they are interrupted by the arrival of the enhanced members of Wonder Woman's rogues gallery.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

His powers were basically quadrupled upon the merging of Heracles and Herucles to form Herakles.

Superhuman Strength: Hercules' principal power his his vast physical strength. Of the gods of the greek pantheon his strengh is now slightly greater than his brother Ares, and is on the same level as that of Wonder Woman. Superman barely surpasses Herakles' physical strength, upon merging Herakles became exactly equal with Superman. Herakles is sufficiently strong enough to lift 100 tons with minimal effort.

Superhuman Speed: Hercules is capable of running and moving at speeds greater than the finest human athlete.

Superhuman Stamina: Hercules' highly advanced musculature produces almost no fatigue toxins, granting him almost limitless physical stamina in all activities.

Superhuman Durability: Hercules is highly resistant to physical injury. He is capable of withstanding high caliber bullets, falls from great heights, powerful energy blasts, and extreme temperatures and pressures without sustaining injury. He is also capable of surviving, unprotected, in the vacuum of space for a brief period of time. His resistance to injury surpasses that of any other Olympian god with the exceptions of Pluto and Zeus. Wonder Woman's durability is comparable to his.

Immortality

• Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his great resilience, it is possible to injure Hercules. However, like all members of his race, he is capable of recovering from injuries with superhuman speed and efficiency. However, he is unable to regenerate missing limbs or organs and would require magical assistance to do so, after merging he cold regrow organ or limbs but it is extremely slow with no magic help, without he was able to regrow an arm in exactly one month. Hercules is also immune to all known Earthly diseases and infections. He is highly resistant to most drugs and toxins but can be affected if exposed to great quantities.

• Suspended Aging: Like all members of his race, Hercules is immune to the effects of aging and has not aged since reaching adulthood. Despite being thousands of years old, Hercules possesses the appearance vitality of a man in his physical prime.

  Abilities

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Hercules is an excellent hand to hand combatant and is a particularly excellent Greco-Roman wrestler.

Ancient Weapons Expert: Hercules is highly skilled and experienced, with all forms of weaponry used in ancient Greece.

Strength level

Class 100+ ; he is capable of lifting 100 tons effortlessly. He was orginally the strongest of the Olympian gods but now is just slightly greater than Ares.

Notes

• Hercules has an entry in the Who's Who in the DC Universe.
• Hercules is one of the mythological figures who grant Captain Marvel his powers when Billy Batson speaks the word of power "Shazam."
• During the Marvel/DC crossover JLA/Avengers, Wonder Woman believed the Marvel Comics' Hercules to be a villain, assuming he had raped her dimension's Hippolyta; however, Marvel Comics' Hercules had simply seduced Marvel Comics' Hippolyta with her consent. Wonder Woman came to realize this by the end of the story. Ironically, Hercules is a hero in the Marvel Universe, while Hippolyta is a villainess in that universe.

See Also

• Discuss Herakles (New Earth) on the forums
• Appearances of Herakles (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Herakles (New Earth)
• Quotations by Herakles (New Earth)
• Images featuring Herakles (New Earth)

Links and References

• Hercules at the Guide to the Mythological Universe
• Cosmic Teams: Hercules I, II & Unbound
• Hercules Unbound Index
  

Footnotes

1. ↑ Wonder Woman v3 #4

Wonder Woman Villain(s) This character is or was primarily an enemy of Wonder Woman in any of his various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Villains category."