Hercules is a 1997 animated film by Pure Magic, which adapts the myth of Heracles. It has also been released under the titles The Invincible Hero Hercules and Legend of Herkules.
Hera, queen of the Heavens, is jealous of Hercules, son of Zeus, due to him eclipsing her champion, King Eurystheus of Argos. This reaches a breaking point when Hercules falls in love with Deianira, Eurystheus' betrothed. She hatches a plan to poison Hercules with Nectar from the Underworld, driving him to destroy Thebes and injure Deianira in his stupor. The gods prophesize that Deianira will die unless Hercules can slay the Hydra. Meanwhile, Hera seeks to take Zeus' place as supreme ruler of the universe.
Tropes present in this movie:
- Adapted Out: The Twelve Labors are reduced to just the Mad Boar, the Augean Stables, and the Hydra. Technically, only the Hydra is a presented as a Labor Hercules must complete to atone for his actions; the other two are just obstacles that Hercules happened to run into on his way to Lerna.
- Adaptational Ugliness: Hera is often depicted as a beautiful woman in classical art, and was referred as "the greatest beauty among immortals or goddesses" in some hymns. Here, she is depicted as a completely unattractive hag.
- Androcles' Lion: The Mad Boar of Erymanthean is only mad because of a thorn stuck in his ear. After Hercules removes the thorn, he becomes quite friendly.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Eurystheus' reasons for not wanting to get rid of Hercules (at first):No army would ever attack us, you don't see a monster anywhere, and if you need any furniture moving...
- Big Bad: Hera's desire to get rid of Hercules and overthrow Zeus as Top God causes most of the movie's conflict.
- Big Damn Heroes: Hercules leaves on his quest all alone, and is almost eaten by a crocodile. He is only saved when Iolaus arrives at the last second to distract the beast.
- Composite Character: The Mad Boar of Erymanthean is given a hide hard enough to break any weapon and tusks that can destroy rock, traits usually associated with the Nemean Lion.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Hercules wins the Olympic Games with no effort, even when holding back or playing with a handicap.
- Cyclops: King Augeas is a giant with only one eye (but two eyebrows). He's very sensitive to any comments about this.
- Disc-One Final Boss: The Hydra is set up as the ultimate enemy and goal of Hercules' quest, but afterwards he finds out that Deianira has been taken away, setting up the true final confrontation on Mount Olympus.
- The Dragon: Although Hera is the Big Bad of the movie, she is forbidden from directly meddling with Earth's affairs, so she commands King Eurystheus to do most of her work.
- Either/Or Prophecy: The Oracle gives two prophecies that have built-in escape clauses:
- Hercules will win the heart of Deianira and overthrow Eurystheus as king, unless Hercules is disposed of.
- After Deinanira falls into a coma, the gods predict that she will die, unless Hercules can slay the Hydra.
- Everybody Hates Hades: Averted for once. Hades does nothing evil at all in the movie. Actually, he doesn't do anything beyond owning some bottles of nectar that happen to be poison to anyone other than him, which are used by Hera without his knowledge.
- Finger-Tenting: Hera is seen putting her hands in this position after she realized Hades' nectar could be used to get rid of Hercules.
- Full-Boar Action: The Mad Boar of Erymanthean, although he becomes a heroic example after he has his thorn removed.
- Horse of a Different Color: The Boar of Erymanthean becomes Hercules and Iolaus' mount after Hercules removes a thorn behind his ear. His rock-breaking tusks come in handy a couple of times.
- I Choose to Stay: At the end, Hercules is offered full godhood, but he refuses, choosing to stay on Earth with Deianira and Iolaus, the people who gave him the strength needed to accomplish all he did.
- Impossible Task: Slaying the Hydra was meant to be this, since the Hydra is immortal. Hercules still manages to do it by making the monster jump into a volcano.
- Leitmotif:
- Hercules has a triumphant theme with horns and strings that plays during the Olympic Games and over the end credits. A sad violin version plays when Hercules sees the destruction of Thebes, while a calm flute version plays when Hercules sets off to slay the Hydra.
- Chaotic jazz music plays during both Hydra fights.
- Limited Animation: A lot of animation is looped, often with the end and starting framed being different enough for there to be an obvious skip. Even when the animation loops properly, it's often repeated enough times in a row to be conspicuous.
- Love at First Sight: Hercules immediately falls in love with Deianira as she awards him the victory laurel.
- Marry for Love: Deianira was betrothed to King Eurystheus, but she changes her mind and declares she will only love a man who can love her in return.
- The Mockbuster: Hmmm, an animated film about Hercules made in 1997. What reason could someone possibly have to want to make a movie about this character?
- Mushroom Samba: After drinking Hades' nectar, Hercules hallucinates himself turning into a Hydra, and then fighting against it.
- My Greatest Failure: Hercules feels obligated to fight the Hydra, even though he doesn't believe he can win, because he's responsible for destroying Thebes and putting Deianira in a coma from which she can only wake if the Hydra is slain.
- Nemean Skinning: Hercules wears a lion pelt throughout the entire film, although the Trope Namer is Adapted Out.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Hercules nearly gets eaten by a giant crocodile.
- Our Hydras Are Different: It has five heads, each with a different power.
- Slimeball spits mucus that hardens like concrete, trapping its victims.
- Morph can turn into weapons and detach itself from the Hydra's body to fly around.
- Hothead breathes fire.
- Flasher has Eye Beams.
- Bighead is immortal and can regenerate the other heads if they're destroyed, although he can't increase the total amount of heads unlike traditional depictions.
- Spell My Name With An S: The Phoenix Games release changes Hercules' name to Herkules, and Hera to Heras.
- Super-Breath: When Hercules climbs Mount Olympus, Poseidon uses his breath to try and blow him off. He just runs out of breath and collapses after a few seconds of blowing.
- Too Dumb to Live: The Hydra. After learning that the middle head is immortal, the other heads become so jealous that they decide to jump into a volcano to test its immortality.
- Truer to the Text: Is far more faithful to the original myth than Disney's version.
- Visual Pun: At the beginning of the movie, Dionysus says "bottoms up!" as naked angels pour nectar for the gods. As they do so, they bend down into a triangular shape, with their bottoms literally pointing up.
