Hercules • Heracles
Hercules is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character is based on Heracles of Greek mythology. The character has starred in three self-titled limited series and been a perennial member of the superhero team the Avengers. In 2008, Hercules debuted in his own series titled The Incredible Hercules. The character was ranked 21st in IGN's list of "The Top 50 Avengers", and has appeared in various forms of media including television series and video games.
Abilities : Hercules possesses the typical powers of an Olympian god, including superhuman strength, durability, speed, reflexes, stamina and endurance. He is the strongest of the Olympians, being capable of feats such as lifting and hurling a giant sequoia tree, smashing rocks to powder, sealing an entire cliff around an opponent with his bare hands, knocking out a yellow-crested Titan, and dragging the island of Manhattan (though this was later retconned to be merely a boast he had made, and not a genuine feat). His superstrong legs allow him to run at speeds of over 100 mph, and leap over a hundred feet into the air. He can withstand blows from Thor, and possesses a complete resistance to high caliber bullets. Hercules is highly skilled in archery, boxing, Greco-Roman wrestling and claims to have invented the martial art Pankration. In combat he occasionally wields a golden-looking adamantine mace - stated and shown to be equal in durability to Thor's own mystical hammer Mjolnir (though it is not enchanted with additional abilities as Mjolnir is) - forged by the Greek god Hephaestus. As an Olympian, he is resistant to all earthly diseases, possesses a healing factor, immortality, and also has some immunity to magic. However, his strength can be taken by significant Olympian magic, such as that of Zeus. Hercules sacrificed his godly powers to save humanity in the wake of the Chaos War, and was completely powerless. Despite this, he retained his exceptional physical condition compared to a normal human, incredible skills in archery and hand-to-hand combat and access to magical weapons and items that help in battle. At the start of the 2015 Hercules series, his powers made an unexplained return. They were later revealed to have been restored through scientific means. At this time, Hercules made use of both antique and modern weapons, such as assault rifles, tasers, grenade launchers, and others.
