Character Analysis: Herakles (Feat DJTiki)

 

Herakles / Heracles / Hercules
Character Sheet

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Preliminary Notes

1. This character (and matchup) is incredibly different from our normal fare for fights. We’re digging into many interpretations and readings (to which there are plentiful) for this fight. That being said, I am NOT a certified historian, folklorist, or literaturist. Everything here (and within my notes) are conclusions drawn by the rules of DEATH BATTLE and my take-aways from related readings.

2. Greek Mythology is the primary source for this character. Anything outside of that and depictions such as Disney’s Hercules or Marvel’s Hercules, will not be evaluated. It will be used as footage. 

3. Feats will be taken largely through Hercules’s time as a demi-god. The same must be stated for Sun Wukong as a result.

4. There are so many various translations and different links for everything. Most of Greek history is not something that can be logged with a few comic scans or anime episodes as most were hymns, poems, articles, or books (something that can’t be as easily traced, we’re talking BCE era where 90% of literature is lost to time). As a solution, it is IMPORTANT that the links provided in my notes (above) be combined with the overall feats and information (below).

5. Because of Point 4, relevant feats will be commented on as opposed to hyperlinked.

6. Greek Mythology is, honestly, fairly inconsistent, so there won’t be such a thing as an “outlier.” These are characters beloved by entire races and going to try and be as lenient as possible.

7. If there is anything I do get incorrect about Herakles and anything in relation, I do apologize.

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• Born Alcaeus, son of Zeus and Alcmene

• Herakles, Greek God of Strength

• Gender: Male

• Birthday: November 10, 1286 BC

• Height: 6’2” | 208 cm

• Founder of the Olympic Games

• Father of 51 Children

• Target of Hera’s jealousy

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Background

In one of Zeus’s many flings, he beds Alcmene, daughter of the King of Tiryns and Anaxo. He proclaims that there will be a day where his son will rule the lands around him. Hera had overheard this and despised it. For eons, Zeus has not committed and slept with many maidens and amassed many children. This was the breaking point. She would do something about it. She arranged for Eileithyia to delay Alcmene’s childbirth. After seven days of labor, Alcmene birthed two sons, Eurystheus and Alcaeus. 

Because Eurystheus was born before Heracles, he became the next rightful owner of Tiryns. Having failed to kill Alcaeus, she sent a pair of snakes after his crib. To her, and everyone’s surprise, Alcaeus had strangled the two snakes with ease. Alcmene feared Hera’s further wrath and abandoned her son in a forest to die. Luckily, Atena rescued Alcaeus and brought the baby to Mount Olympus. Athena tricked Hera into nursing the child. Hera’s breast milk gave the baby power unbound. The baby bit on Hera’s nipples and she, realizing he had been tricked, kicked the child out of Mount Olympus. Hera’s breast milk spilled across the sky, forging the Milky Way (yes, this is how it happened) .

Growing up as a child, Alcaeus learned many skills from various teachers of Greece. Alcaeus was a problem child and his stubborn nature often got him into trouble. One such example is when he killed his music instructor, Linus, after the boy grew frustrated and retaliated after Linus struck him. While acquitted, Alcaeus was sent away by Ampitryon to prevent future incidents. Alcaeus would live the life of a normal Greek hero, waging wars, performing superhuman feats, and traveling the lands. But one day this would change. After winning a war for Thebes against the kingdom of Orchomenus, Alcaeus married its princess, Megara. The two lived happily with their children.

However, seeing his prosperous life, Hera sent a fit of madness to Alceus. Seeing his family as monsters, Alcaeus slaughtered his family in cold blood. While Thebes did not want to acquit their hero, Alcaeus exiled himself and searched for redemption. He found the Oracle of Delphi, who instructed Alcaeus to serve under Eurystheus, king of Tiryns and Myceanae, his own brother. And to this end, the Oracle told Alcaeus he was no longer known by that name, and so he took on the name of Heracles instead. Eurystheus punished Heracles by making him perform ten labors, each more grueling than the last. He could not perform these labors for monetary gain or with aid. And so he set Heracles out for many years and within his most famous stories (as well as greatest achievements). 

Labor 1 was to kill the Nemean lion. The lion was impervious to conventional weapons. To defeat it, Heracles choked it to death. Labor 2 was to kill the Lernaean Hydra, a snake with nine heads. When you cut one off, two more would grow in its place. Its poison was mighty and could burn and corrode anything. With the aid of his nephew, the two took the immortal beast down. Heracles dipped his arrows in the Hydra’s poison, a weapon that would prove effective the rest of his life. Labor 3 was to catch the Ceryneian Hind, noted for being a beast that had belonged to the Goddess Artemis. Heracles chased it for a whole year before binding it. After a brief disagreement with Artemis, she let him use it, telling Heracles to return it afterwards. Labor 4 was to catch the Erymanthian Boar, traversing through the snows of Mount Erymanthos. While a simple labor, Heracles also ended up in a drunken disagreement with a band of centaurs. He ended up killing many with his poison arrows. Even immortals like the Centaur Pholus. 

Labor 5 was to clean the Augean Stables, whose cattle have not been cleaned in many years. Heracles got into a deal with Alpheus and Peneius to wash away the manure in a single day in return for some of its cattle. Heracles diverted a river and washed away the stables, bringing rich life to the country of Elis. Alpheus refused to give Heracles his share for the deal and went to court. After losing the case, Heracles vowed for revenge. He would eventually come back, kill Alpheus and find the Olympic Games

Labor 6 was to kill the man-eating birds, the Ornithes Stymphalides. These birds could pierce armor. They were difficult for Heracles to shoot down with his bow given their anxious natures. He received a bronze koratala from Athena and its sound scared the birds and made them vulnerable to Heracles’s arrows. Labor 7 and Labor 8 had Heracles capture the Tauros Kretaios (a bull) and Diomedes’s Man-Eating Mares respectively. Fairly simple labors.

Labor 9 was to steal Hippolyte’s Girdle. To do this, Heracles had to go to the Amazon race, children of the God of War, Ares. Having heard of Heracles’s deeds, the leader of the Amazons, Hippolyte, bedded Heracles and was more than glad to give it up. However, Hera spread rumors amongst the tribe that Heracles planned to kidnap their leader. After the Amazons retaliated, Heracles, having felt betrayed, killed Hippolyte and her Amazons. Labor 10 was to fetch the Cattle of Geryon. Geryon was a giant three-headed and six-legged monster. Having enough of Heracles, Hera decided to aid Geryon herself. With his might, he slew Geryon. And with his arrows, considerably wounded Hera and forced her to retreat. Hera would intervene very little for the rest of Heracles’s life. 

With the labors done, Heracles returned to Eurystheus. However, Eurystheus disqualified two of the labors. For the Hydra, Heracles had received help from his nephew. For the Augean Stables, Heracles did it for a prize (despite not actually receiving it in the end). Heracles would have to do two more labors in its place.

Labor 11 was to fetch the Apples of Hesperides. These golden apples were sacred and could only be obtained by an immortal. After receiving information on obtaining it, Heracles sought after Atlas. Atlas held up the Celestial Globe, the entire skies and beyond. After corrupting the golden garden, Heracles held it in Atlas’s place momentarily before tricking him to hold the globe again. The final labor was to steal the hound of Cerberus. After making a trip to the underworld, Hades tasked Heracles with defeathing his hound without any use of his weapons. Heracles obliged and wrestled down Cerberus. With all of these impossible tasks completed, Heracles was redeemed. Heracles would live out the remainder of his life similar to how he was as Alcaeus. He participated in various warlike campaigns. Eventually, his past transgressions would catch up to him.

One of the centaurs that Heracles slaughtered had been plotting his revenge for years. This Centaur, Nessus, would try and assault the hand of Deianeira, Heracles’s next wife. Heracles killed Nessus with one of his Hydra Arrows, but as he was dying, told Deianeria to take his blood and put it on a garment. In the case that Heracles loses his eye for her, to give that garment to Heracles. The time would eventually arrive and Deianeria did as Nessus told. The blood still had been imbued with the rich  Hydra poison. The garment would burn through Heracles’s body. He climbed upon a pyre on Mount Oeta where his body turned to ash. His mortal part was shed but his divine part ascended to heaven and Heracles became a god.

Arsenal & Equipment

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• Bow & Arrow - a normal bowstring and quiver of arrows. Used against the Nemean Lion to little to no effect.

• Chariot - a carriage that is often driven by a horse or two.

• Golden Goblet - temporarily given to Heracles by Helios. It’s a sea-ferry.

• Flaming Spears - mainly throwing javelins that are on fire.

• Golden Falchion - a bronze sword that Heracles coated in fire to help cauterize the Lernaean Hydra sliced off heads. 

• Club - a giant wooden club for blundging anything. Heracles killed a dog with it.

• Shield - Heracles have a giant bronze shield. 

• Bronze Krotala - a set of noise-making instruments given by Athena. They produce a sound so horrible to animals that it immediately causes them to panic and flee.

• Poisonous Hydra Arrows - notably an upgrade from Hercales’s regular arrows. After dipping them into the Hydra’s poisonous blood, Heracles’s arrows became a potent instant kill weapon. Its poison is so corrosive, burning, and painful that even immortals (like Hera and Nessus) would rather die than live in such agonizing pain. The arrows have fallen Giants, Gods, and giant monsters. Heracles never showed an exact limit of how many of these poisonous arrows he had on hand. After all, he slaughtered entire tribes and races of people with these alone. 

Powers & Abilities

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• Superhuman Strength, Speed, Durability - Heracles’s main acclaim to fame. After drinking Hera’s breast milk, Heracles gained unimaginable power. His power even rivaled that of the Olympian Gods and the Titans. This made his labors easier as he became capable of unimaginable feats.

Expertise & Training

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• Taught Chariot Driving by Amphitryon

• …Fencing from Castor

• …Wrestling from Autolycus

• …Boxing from Harpalycus 

• …Archery from Eurytus

• …attempted to be taught music by Linus

Feats

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Strength & Attack Potency

• Wrestled down a lion, a dangerous boar, a bull, and Cerberus.

• Wrestled down the shape-shifting Sea-God, Nerus.

• Diverted the river Alpheus and Peneius to wash away manura.

• Built the two “Pillars of Hercules”, one in Europe, one in Libya.

• Killed the Giant Antaeus, who derived power from Gaia Earth.

• Fought Giants, who could grow so large they brushed stars.

• Arrows gravely wounded Hera, who defeated Artemis, the Moon Goddess.

• Received abilities from Hera’s breast milk, which created the Milky Way.

• Fought alongside Zeus against the Giants, and his lightning bolts and mere handshakes can quake the universe.

• Temporarily held up the heavens and skies of the entire world.

Durability & Stamina

• Strength & Attack Potency feats apply to durability & stamina as well.

• Withstood being near proximity from Zeus’s lightning bolt.

• Though struggled, did withstand the weight of the whole skies on his shoulders.

Speed & Stamina

• Chased the Ceryneian Hind for over a year.

• Said Ceryneian Hind can dodge arrows and belonged to Artemis’s chariot.

• Either threatened or actually shot an arrow at Helios, the Greek Sun God.

• Fought alongside Zeus against the mightiest Giants.

Skill & Intelligence

• Completed the Twelve Labors. (see Notes and Background)

• Conquered Troy, Sparta, Phyllis, Elis.

• Instrumental in the defeat of the Giants as they attempted to take over Olympus.

• Killed many, many, MANY royalty and their sons. Too numerous to just list here.

Weaknesses

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• Extremely headstrong and stubborn. Often kills people during disagreements.

• Heracles is not immune to his own poison. This is how he is killed properly.

• Heracles is fairly susceptible to being driven mad by illusions, this was exploited by Hera into having Heracles kill his own family.