Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

  I've had some criticisms on Hera in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys . Some of Hera's misdeeds in thes how are actually ZEUS' ACTIONS. It was Zeus and NOT HERA who separated Typhon from Echidna. Many of the show's events are rewritten, such as NOT requiring Hercules to perform the Twelve Labors. Now, there's been that big question, "Why does Hera hate Hercules so much when Zeus had SO MANY BASTARDS?" It doesn't explicitly state that Apollo and Artemis are children of Zeus and Leto. I mean, some accounts reveal that Hera tempted Tityas, a son of Zeus and Elara who grew giant, to RAPE LETO. It could've been put into one of the episodes where Hercules went to retrieve Persephone. I mean, Tantalus, another bastard son of Zeus, MADE A CAMEO. Sisyphus was also a villain whom Hades requested to be brought back to Tartarus.  If we look into the myth, Zeus had so many affairs that it's hard to keep track of them. The movie Clash of the Titans has Hera...

For better or for worse, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys deviates from the mythological sources. For instance, the screwed-up lineage of Hercules  is never mentioned. Hercules' heavily-inbred bloodline with Zeus mating with Io and had a son named Epaphus. Epaphus had a daughter named Libya who got romanced by Poseidon (her granduncle) to produce twins Belus and Agenor. Belus' lineage would lead up to Acrisius, the maternal grandfather of PERSEUS. So yes, Danae was a descendant of ZEUS via Belus down to Acrisius. It doesn't help that Zeus later impregnated his descendant Alcmene (who was also Perseus' granddaughter, HOW SCREWED UP IS THAT).  Another deviation worth noting is Echidna.  Echidna is described in the myth as: Echidna, often described as a half-woman, half-snake creature, holds a significant place in Greek mythology as the "mother of all monsters." Her legacy is marked by the terrifying and mythical creatures she brought into the world.   Echidna...

Certainly, a lot of editing was done for a short film for children but there's still some stuff that somehow got Crap Past the Radar. Anybody who watched Hercules: The Legendary Journeys may think it sucks or it has been watered down. Yes, this Hercules was created but I prefer it over the Disney version. However, we must realize that alterations from the original myth (which was way more messed up) exist. Also, it's amazing that both Jetlag's production AND Hercules: The Legendary Journeys were in 1995. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys came out on January 16 and the Jetlag adaptation came out on February 6, 1995. I think a downside of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is that it took a long time for Hera to show up. Also, it's never explained why Hera hated Hercules more than any bastard children of Zeus. Was it because Zeus messed up his lineage with Io and that Perseus' mother was also a descendant of Zeus and then so was Alcmene in the myths? Take note that messy...

One of the Easter eggs dropped in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is that of Perseus, founder of the kingdom of Mycenae. It was mentioned in the episode "Love Takes a Holiday" that Hephaestus designed a shield for Perseus -- the one needed to help the hero slay Medusa the Gorgon. However, the messed-up origins of Perseus were never given. Sure, one can think of Perseus as a son of Zeus or one can think of the classic movie Clash of the Titans . Unlike Hercules, Hera was just too indifferent towards Perseus in the movie. Perseus' enemy in the movie was Thetis who mothered the movie-only character Calibos. Thetis in Greek mythology is the mother of Achilles. The story of Clash of the Titans has had some revisions since Pegasus was born from Medusa's blood - not having sided with Perseus. Perseus used winged sandals to fly instead and was sent on errand by King Polydectes - a wicked king who still wanted to marry Perseus' mother Danae. What was interesting was that ...

It's no doubt that Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is a hit series. Though, I always had my beef towards two of its antagonists namely Hera and Ares (who later became the main antagonist in the place of his mother Hera for several seasons). If you've noticed in the first two seasons - these two villains were always nearly unseen or acted through proxies. Hera always appeared in the form of disembodied eyes for quite some time and also did so in the spin-off series Young Hercules . What did she look like? She was meant to be menacing and somehow - the eyes represent that she's indeed a green-eyed monster. She was usually voiced by the late Joy Watson who was supposed to be menacing. Yet, seasons later one actress would really steal the show... Later on, in Season Five we see Hera finally manifest herself. It made me think why wasn't she secured since the first season? Meg Foster really had the scary eyes and a menacing voice that would make you wish you didn...

A bit of a nostalgic trip also made me think of various older people playing as the gods in Hercules - The Legendary Journeys . Zeus was played by the late Anthony Quinn and the late Charles Keating. Meg Foster would later be Hera. However, as popular as the series was, I'm always annoyed by Hera who only spoke through a pair of disembodied eyes. Ares later got his human form and more menacing presence in the late Kevin Smith. Hera was put in the background like she always does. Now, it had me thinking that Honor Blackman herself (since she's a few years younger than Keating) could've also made a good Hera in the same show. Watching the old-school version of  Jason and the Argonauts from the 1960s makes me think of how Blackman herself could still cause trouble to Hercules as Hera. Blackman had a very magnificent presence as the queen of the gods. Although I would still say Foster is the best Hera ever (and I wish she acted as the same goddess in many more projects to ...

After watching how Hercules the Legendary Journeys progressed, I wanted to name a few points that annoyed me. Like one was Hera never showed herself so often. It was a deviation from how Hera was usually portrayed in the movies. In most movies, Hera was always shown in in her human form. So why didn' t Hercules: The Legendary Journeys give her the same treatment? I felt it was annoying to keep assuming how Hera looked beneath those two eyes. I wish Meg Foster already appeared from seasons one to four or others could have done the job.  I could have wanted to be closer to the myths than she was in the series. The reason why she hated Hercules, even more, was because his name means "Hera's Glory". Hercules was already named Alcides but when they found out that Alcmene was deceived by Zeus, his name was changed to Hercules in an attempt to appease Hera's wrath. Instead, it backfired resulting to Hera hating Hercules even more. Some stuff I wish the sho...

While watching Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Hercules' main enemy was his jealous and angr stepmother Hera who sought to destroy him. I'd just like to wonder why the show left out the whole reason that Hera hates Hercules even more because the latter's name means "Glory of Hera'. So for first two seasons, Ares wasn't all that active but he made some real trouble. At first, Ares simply acted through disguises like the "Ares Monster" form by dwelling on armor or he possesses Jarton's body to fight his half-brother Hercules. I guess the approach didn't make him too much of a god of war. He had appeared to also possess Jarton's body in one episode and in another disguised himself as a skull during the Festival of Dionysius. But he'd later get more special treatment than his mother Hera.

While watching Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, it was easy to see two enemies of Hercules namely his stepmother Hera and his half-brother Ares (son of his father Zeus and his stepmother Hera). I thought of how these two were carried out. Hera first appeared to be only heard or only appeared as a green-eyed apparition which never happened in the myths. Unless of course, you'd want to interpret it that Hera herself appeared as two eyes watching over Zeus' affairs. A lot of Zeus' misdeeds were attributed to her during the whole series' run such as separating Echidna from her husband or trying to reclaim fire from mortals. What was interesting also was that as time passed, her significance in the series was soon diminished in favor of Ares. Only after four seasons did Hera appear in her true form, played by Meg Foster. I wish that Foster herself played the part of Hera all throughout the series as she can play the mentally unstable, sharp-tongued, mean-spirited goddess...

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is a loose adaptation of the original Greek myths such as that Hercules was legally the descendant of Perseus (who is technically his "half-brother" though Zeus did not have sexual contact with Danae compared with Alcmene) or that Zeus committed adultery with another man's wife.  Hercules: The Legendary Journeys  has Hera got overly monsterized when Ares is much worse than she is. In fact, she even rejected her own son Ares for being too crude and rude. So how does Hera get overly monsterized in the TV series? Hera was mostly out of character considering that most of her hatred in the myths was merely focused on Hercules than the world. She does not plague the world and she does care about other mortals. It's just that Hercules ticks her off because his name in Greek (Heracles) is translated into "Hera's Glory". That deeply insults her as to why such a name is given to an illegitimate child of Zeus. While other renditio...

Here's some adaptational villainy I thought needs to be addressed: Hera- First and foremost, while it's certainly true to the myths that Hera hated Hercules but the show just makes her "too evil" where a lot of Zeus' misdeeds like separating Echidna from her husband Typhon or wanting to take fire away from man.  Yup, several times Hera has become more of a villain who throws her anger at the world than a bitter anti-heroine.  In the myths, Hera hated Hercules because the name Hercules means "Glory to Hera".  Pretty much the show makes Hera more cruel and hateful than she is in the myth.  In the myth, Hera's anger towards Hercules was pacified after the twelve labors and after Hercules rescued her from being raped by the titan Portheryon. Ares- Well Ares is another.  While the myths don't really portray him to be really evil, Hercules the Legendary Journeys pictures him to be much worse to the point he replaced his mother Hera as the show...

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is infamous for its altering too much of Greek mythology and maybe I should address that Hera is portrayed to be in a very negative light.  I'd like to talk about how she appeared in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Well I thought the fact that she never appeared in her human form for several seasons was damn annoying but what was really more annoying was that Hera was already made a complete monster rather than a tragic villain.  How so?  Made me think of this- in the myths most of Hera's plans were centered around Hercules (plus the show doesn't even address the issue that Hera hated Hercules even more because his name means "Hera's Glory").  For example, many of Zeus' misdeeds were attributed to her like it was Zeus who wants to get fire away from mankind, it was Zeus who separated Echidna from her husband so no more monsters will be conceived and it's Ares who's usually responsible for more of mankind's ...