In ancient times Hera constantly tried to kill Hercules and make his life as miserable as possible.  But what has she done to him in modern times?  Humiliated him a few times and mess with his love life save for the "Assault on Olympus" story.  At that point Zeus was out of the picture.  Hercules has a long list of paramours.  If Hera really wanted Hercules to suffer why not kill them?  Not all of them have superpowers or superpowered friends to defend them.  If she put her mind to it as a goddess I'm sure she could uncover a good many of them.  Surely killing them would cause Hercules grief to know that people he cared about or at least got close to were being killed by her.  Of course, the same can be said about Zeus to a degree.

Do you think its because she fears him?  This is the best reason I can think of why she limits herself against both Hercules and Zeus.  IIRC, Hercules and Hera only had a physical confrontation once and Hercules as a full god came out the victor.  Herc's strength and durability is one such a level that it surpasses Hera's more diverse mystical powers.  Zeus is far more powerful than her.  When Hercules was mortal she could hide on Olympus and Herc was weak enough she could probable have killed him in a direct confrontation.  As a god he is the stronger of the two.

Both Zeus and Hercules are famous for their rage and sudden mood swings.  Both tend to be fairly tolerant of Hera's antics for different reasons.  Zeus due to loving her to some degree and a general disregard for mortals compared to gods.  Hercules probable due to respect for Zeus and Hera's position as queen of the gods.  Unlike Zeus, Hercules has always been shown to care greatly for mortals especially those he is close to.  Were Hera to direct her attacks against them would that be what would finally push Hercules to far and lead him to try and end her life?  If Zeus knew what she had done would he allow Hercules to kill her or just give a verbal reprimand?  If Hera were to somehow finally kill Hercules would that be what pushes Zeus over the edge in regards to her?

Would anybody be interested in a story like that?  One where Hera crosses a moral line and Hercules decides to try and end her once and for all and Zeus is forced to either defend his despicable wife

thoughts?

I think Hera has held back against Hercules since he's become immortal partially due to fear of the wrath of Zeus and partially because she knows deep down in her heart that Hecules is Olympus' greatest hero, champion and defender.  She knows that the Olympian gods, and thus she too, needs Hercules around to keep them safe.

As far as a storyline where Hera kills a (or several) mortal lovers of Hercules; that was kinda tried with a Herc galpal named Taylor Madison in the "Avengers" back in the mid 90's.

It ended quite anti-climactically, I might add.  Still, I'd like to see a storyline like this again.  It'd give Herc a chance or two to do the classic rescue of the damsel in distress while still involving and exploring Herc's mythological connections.