Despite being an Olympian, Hercules has always seemed a bit out of place and not just due to being originally a demigod. Yes, he comes there for a place to sleep and party, but he is so different from the other Olympians it seems he would fit in better with Asgard or The Celtic Gods of Avalon. There overall culktures are more of the warrior/advenurous type that Hercules fits instead of hte hedonists of the Olympians. Would Hercules be better off trying to become a member of the Asgardian pantheon?

For that matter, among the reasons Hercules often wanders from Olympus: thirst for adventure, lust for life, spread his fame, etc,. do you think another reason is just to get away from his family. Because if you think about how pretty much all of the major ones are either massive jerks or have one too many moments of behavior like that and how they may look down on Herc for being formerly mortal I can't help but think that though he has learned to tolerate them part of him gets tired of all their crap?

thoughts?

Earth is his home, Olympus is king of like the place where he goes to have family reunions.... nothing much more.

Hercules was born, raised and protected Earth for pretty much all of his mortal life. He was raised up to Olympus after his mortal body's death, and even given Hebe as a wife, but in his case, I think that one can safely make the argument that he would always crave the excitement and duty of living on Earth over the revelry of Mt. Olympus. Of course, when he is Earth he parties like he is still on Mt. Olympus, so it is all still well and good.

Hercules is at home on Earth first and foremost. He enjoys the many splendors of Olympus but it's just not exciting enough for him because, though there is no shortage of women, song and libations, there are not enough challenges - not enough worthy battle.

As for Hercules leaving Olympus to try to become a member of either the Norse or Celtic pantheons . . . no. Hercules wouldn't turn his back on his family or his heritage like that. He is far too loyal and honorable.

Olympus is a bit small, anyways.

I kinda disagree with him fitting in better with Asgard because the Asgardians to me anyway seem to hold a much higher and more royal like regard for themselves. Hercules seems more like a regular guy who just likes to brag and name drop once in awhile. Really Thor and Herc are just counter parts of one another so that's why they seem to be so alike.

I wonder if Olympus would have been a better home for Hercules had he kept his Sky-Father powers after the Chaos War. Considering how massively all-powerful he'd become, the world of mortals doesn't seem like it would be durable enough for him to reside comfortably in. He might just have found Olympus more to his liking.

@powerherc said:

Olympus is a bit small, anyways.

What is that from?

@leesensei: I believe this map of Olympus is from "The Mighty Avengers: Most Wanted Files."

One thing I wonder is how large is Olympus? This map makes the entire dimension look like the size of a small to medium sized city at best. Its population would be what...a couple of thousand gods along with an assortment of Greco-Roman mythological creatures? Maybe in the tens of thousands making a generous estimate? Yet a few stories like the Ares mini have indicated it is much larger with vast surrounding fields and Mt. Olympus being a large mountain in the middle.

Do you know how the map above was composed or if some of the locations mentioned have ever actually appeared in the comics? It mentions a dimensional bridge leading back to the original homeland of the Olympians. Has this ever been mentioned in story? What about the bridges to the "Earth of Greek heroes" or the bridge to "Ossus, Pelion and other lands?" Do you think these may refer to not Earth itself, but maybe dimensions that form the rest of the lands of the Olympian dimension? If Olympus is on a flat asteroid floating in its home dimension could these perhaps be other asteroids? Or would it be more like the Asgardian nine worlds? They are naturally occurring dimensional portals linking otherwise separate dimensions. The Asgardians describe them as nine separate worlds and treat them as such. Could the Olympians lump all of them together as "Olympus" and consider them all under the rule of Zeus?

I don't think so. Despite all the claims about Hercules being a skyfather for all intents and purposes he had transcended the skyfathers. He was as far above them as they are above an ant. No skyfather has ever demonstrated close to that level of power or knowledge. Things on Olympus are probably tougher so they can better withstand gods, but not enough for a being who has transcended godhood. I can't see the other Olympians, especially Zeus, being comfortable with someone so far above them living with them. Herc would need to move on to one of the more ethereal planes of existence closer to where the abstracts live. For one who so loves the physical life as Hercules I would think this would not sit well with him.

My total knowledge of Herc in marvel is lacking but considering only Zeus and Hebe really care for him, most of the other gods tend to hate him, Ares has always had a HUGE sibling rivalry thing goin on with him (by which i mean trying to kill him dozens of times), then theres the fact that Hera absolutely despises his existance

I doubt he cares to stick around there to long.

All true. He has usually been shown getting along fairly well with Apollo, Athena, and Dionysus. But considering how different he is from the other ones I can see him not wanting to hang around with them for too long.

You make good points about the size of Olympus seeming small which contradicts past references to it's many denizens. Maybe the Olympian dimension appears small but is really quite large similar to how Hank Pym's Infinite Avengers Mansion worked in "The Mighty Avengers" or how the Collector's massive base/starship appeared on radar to be about three cubic meters in size (Avengers #173 - During the Korvac Saga). I don't know if all the locations given on the map have actually appeared in comics. Additionally, I don't know/can't remember if the dimensional bridge leading back to the original homeland of the Olympians has ever been mentioned in a story. As for the other bridges, I doubt they are bridges to Earth and find it much more likely that these are indeed, as you theorize, other dimensions which form the entire Olympian realm. I think the Olympian dimension coul well be set up in a manner similar to that of Asgard's Nine World's but I wouldn't automatically assume that's the case. Marvel will have to determine that. I do think it would be accurate to say all the various Olympian dimensions/lands (including Olympus the city) do indeed comprise Olympus as a whole and that this consolidated realm of Olympus is under the rule of Zeus.

Yes, you are right, Hercules had indeed transcended the sky-fathers and that physical matter on Olympus, though much more durable than Earthly matter, wouldn't be durable enough to withstand Sky-Father Hercules' supreme power-levels. I contend that Hercules would, at some point, become more attuned to his sky-father power, gain full control over it and would therefore not need a realm/base more durable than Olympus. Even if he didn't master his power for a while, he could've still used his new found power to enhance the durability of Olympus (or anywhere else for that matter) to a level sufficient to withstand any casual or accidental use of his power.

As far a Zeus being comfortable with the much more powerful Sky-Father Hercules living on Olympus amongst he and the other Olympians: He'd just have to deal with it because, like it or not, there wouldn't be anything he or anyone else could do about it. Even if Hercules didn't decide to reside in Olympus, I doubt Hercules would choose to reside on any higher/ethereal planes of existence because, as you stated, Hercules loves the physical life too much to do that.

I wish Marvel would explore the Olympian gods like they do the Norse. Stop treating them as underpowered comic relief also.

Many of the major Olympians do seem to disdain Hercules the way the stories are written these days. However, in several past stories featuring the Hercules the Olympian Gods generally don't weigh in one way or another concerning Hercules. Apollo, Athena and Dionysus have been shown to get along fairy well with Hercules most of the time but so have Venus and Hermes. Neptune, Prometheus, the Titan whom aided the Olympians in the Titanomachy, and Tharamus have both been shown as being good friends/quite friendly with Hercules. Artemis hasn't shown either like or dislike for Hercules as far as I've seen. Considering this, I'd hardly say "most of the other gods tend to hate him."

I would find that kind of funny. The other Olympians (especially Hera) have to put up with Zeus and his shenanigans because there is nothing they can do about it. And Zeus tends to be obnoxious with his power. If Herc were to do that to Zeus he would finally find out what it is like to put him with someone like that.

As for everything else you said regarding the Olympus dimension or Hercules becoming attuned to his power I agree with it.

That is one thing that bothered me about Pak and Lente's take on the Olympians. The few past stories I have read by Marvel about them had them come across as a bit more balanced. You could see why people had once respected them. Modern stories reduced them to the caricatures the have become in modern culture. Hermes was about the only exception.

Regarding Neptune, when has he ever interacted with Hercules in Marvel? Are you referring to the time in Incredible Hercules when Hercules and Namora rescued him from the Amazons? And speaking of that story, did the reason Neptune was depowered ever make sense to you? It always bothered me because he was the only Olympian to be so drastically effected assuming all of them were to some degree. After all, since when could a regular gun threaten ANY of the Olympians let alone one of the most powerful? That being a occurring threat was something else that bothered me as well.

@seekquaze: It would be great to see Zeus get a dose of his own medicine. I agree. The scenario of Hercules retaining his Sky-Father power and doing just this to Zeus would be part of a great "What if . . .?" story.

You got it! I was referring to the time when Hercules and Namora rescued Neptune from the Amazons.

The reason for Neptune being depowered didn't make sense to me. The Olympian Diaspora had "corroded" Neptune's powers was a very weak explanation for why he was defeated and held captive by Artume and the other Amazons. The gun to his head should not have been any threat whatsoever to arguably the second most powerful Olympian God. This power corrosion didn't occur with the other Olympians. It was absolute b.s.

@powerherc: De-powering any of the Olympian gods doesn't make any sense at all lol. They are suppose to be gods...so make them as such, or just don't use them.

I completely agree. It shouldn't have happened to Herc in the first place.