Hades is the main antagonist of Disney's 1997 animated feature film Hercules. He is the fast-talking god of the Underworld, known for having a fiery temper and a vendetta against his oldest brother, Zeus. Over the span of 18 years, Hades developed a scheme to take over Mount Olympus and the cosmos, but a prophecy by the Fates foretold that a hero would rise against him and end his reign.

While the Hades of Greek mythology was not particularly malevolent, the Disney version portrays him as an evil figure, albeit comedic. This interpretation of the character proved successful, making Hades one of Disney’s most popular antagonists, and a primary member of the Disney Villains line-up.

Hades was granted ownership of the Underworld by Zeus, unwillingly. Unbeknownst to Zeus and the other deities, however, Hades despises the Underworld, as well as his job, finding them both gloomy, depressing, and overbearing. Because of this, Hades secretly plots to overthrow Zeus and rule Mount Olympus as the King of Deities, himself. Though powerful in his own right, Hades is considerably weaker than Zeus and cannot overthrow him alone. As such, he often allies himself with various beasts and creatures lurking through Greece, hiring them to do his bidding; the most notable example being the Titans, who were imprisoned by Zeus eons ago.

In the Underworld, Hades is aided by his two shapeshifting lackeys, Pain and Panic. The two fear Hades immensely and are used as punching-bags during his outbursts, typically as punishment for their incompetence being a recurring hindrance in Hades' schemes. Despite their constant colossal failures and lies, Hades seems to have a surprising amount of faith in these imps as he continuously sends them out with various missions and tasks, most of which are rather major.

Hades is hot-headed, both figuratively and literally. When relaxed or upbeat, his flaming hair and skin retain a calming blue color. When angered, his hair and face become a passionate red/orange.

Originally, Hades was envisioned as a more somber and dramatic villain, in a similar vein of Ursula from The Little Mermaid or Jafar from Aladdin. This early, slow-talking portrayal of the character was intended to be played by Jack Nicholson; so much so, that character designer Gerald Scarfe's initial sketches of Hades bore a resemblance to Nicholson. Nicholson visited the studio and met with directors John Musker and Ron Clements in 1995 to familiarize himself with the character. However, Nicholson left the project because he demanded $10-$15 million, plus a 50% cut of all the proceeds from Hades merchandise, of which Disney declined.

In addition to Nicholson, Willem Dafoe, David Bowie, Ron Silver, James Coburn, Kevin Spacey, Phil Hartman, Rod Steiger,^[1] Michael Ironside, Terrence Mann, Martin Landau, Jerry Lewis,^[2] and John Lithgow were once considered for the role of Hades. Lithgow was released from the role, because the directors thought he did not work. Like with the original Nicholson version, Hades was still portrayed in a fairly serious light during auditions.

The direction of the character altered greatly, however, when James Woods auditioned for the role. As the procedure with the previous actors, Woods was asked to give a straightforward performance. Under the belief that he wasn't right for that portrayal, Woods approached Hades casually, delivering dialogue as if he were a sleazy car salesman. This impressed the filmmakers so much that the character was rewritten into a comical villain with a heavy emphasis on humor. Some of Hades' most memorable lines were ad-libbed by Woods. In the decades following the release of Hercules, Woods has remained openly fond and protective of the role of Hades, and has gone on record saying he will always return to reprise the role should the character be used for any purpose—true to his word, Woods has voiced Hades in everything from television shows, video games, and theme park attractions for over two decades (with the notable exceptions of the "It's Our House Now!" song in Mickey's House of Villains, in which Rob Paulsen did Hades' singing voice).

As the Lord of the Underworld, Hades is a hot-headed fast talker who hates ruling the Underworld. His dream is to take over Mount Olympus. Hades is generally calm, cool, and collected. Though his machinations are cruel, Hades' informal approach to villainy makes him a widely comedic character with a self-aware and irreverent style of humor (though his jokes are usually played for his own, twisted amusement, and at the expense of others). However, this is partly surface-level; Hades is eternally bitter and imperious, with his most famous trait being his uncontrollably fervid temper. At times, the smallest inconveniences can send Hades over the edge, causing fiery fits and extreme damage to the area and people around him, depending on the situation. This quality makes him a feared figure among Greece and beyond, especially in the eyes of his minions, Pain and Panic.

For all his power, Hades is no match for his eldest brother. What Hades lacks in physical strength, however, he makes up for in cunning. He is incredibly meticulous with his scheming, going so far as to patiently wait eighteen years to unleash an attack upon Mount Olympus. He is also rather analytical; upon witnessing Hercules' strength firsthand, Hades instantly knew that his newborn nephew could cause issues with his plans and sought to eliminate the problem immediately, albeit unsuccessfully.

Having learned from the Fates of his eventual takeover of Mount Olympus, Hades plotted to dispose of Hercules. First by sending Pain and Panic to kidnap baby Hercules, give him a potion that would render him mortal, and kill him. However, unbeknownst to Hades, Hercules didn't drink every last drop, thus retaining his godlike strength. Hades didn't learn that Hercules survived until he grew into an adult and hero-in-training. Determined to humiliate the young hero, Hades sends monsters to destroy Hercules. Having Meg lure Hercules into a fixed contest in facing the Hydra, Hades watches every second of the battle excitedly as the strong young man destined to defeat him struggles under the attacks, only for the multi-headed monster to be buried in a rockslide and Hercules emerging from the monster's claw. Frustrated that none of the monsters have worked, Hades hits upon a new plan to send a reluctant Meg to stop him, hoping that Herc will become too distracted by his attraction for Meg to fight learn his weaknesses. When he learns that Hercules has fallen in love with Megara, Hades uses this to his advantage and makes a deal with Hercules to give up his strength for the next twenty-four hours then reveals that Meg was working for him the whole time, crushing Hercules' will to fight. Unfortunately, Hercules gains his strength back and defeats the Titans, and later Hades after saving Meg's soul from the Underworld.

In addition to his own intellect, Hades relies on schmoozing to get what he wants, more so than his godly power—acting along the lines of a seedy car salesman or con-artist. Even so, he's an honest god and keeps his end of the bargain with every deal, no matter what the stakes are. Additionally, Hades seems to be willing to give people second chances, as he is constantly giving Pain and Panic important tasks in spite of their constant failures. He is also implied to be somewhat sympathetic to Megara, as he is willing to free Meg (or at least reduce her time of servitude) as long as she helps him conquer the Olympus. Also, when reminding her of how she ended up as his prisoner, Hades called Megara's ex-boyfriend a "creep", implying that even Hades was disgusted by what he did after Meg saved him.

Hades appears as a blue-gray humanoid with flaming blue hair, wearing a black robe and a smoky base. When he gets angry, his skin turns red and he bursts into flames (especially his hair, which becomes yellow-orange). He has yellow eyes sunken deep into their sockets and sharp teeth.

Hades is first seen appearing on Mount Olympus during Hercules' christening. None of the gods are happy to see him. After greeting them, Hades goes up to Baby Hercules' crib and attempts to put a spiked skull-shaped pacifier into the baby's mouth. He almost succeeds, but then the baby grabs and squeezes his finger, causing him to drop the pacifier, and he begins to insult Hercules under his breath. After Zeus fails to cheer him up, Hades leaves in pain. Humiliated by his brother in front of the other deities, he leaves Olympus to the Underworld to plan his takeover of Olympus. Hades asks Pain and Panic if the Fates have arrived before they reveal the Fates are waiting for him. Angered his minions had not previously alerted him, Hades goes and consults with the Fates on his plan to take over Mount Olympus. They tell him that when the planets align eighteen years later, Hades will be able to unleash the horrible Titans and that they would lead him to victory and power. However, if Hercules intervenes, this will all backfire.

Hades sends Pain and Panic to turn Hercules mortal with a special potion so that they can kill him, but as Hercules does not drink the last drop, he retains his godlike strength and uses it to defend himself. Pain and Panic cover for their failure by claiming they killed Hercules, allowing Hades to continue with his planning. In the mix, he comes across a girl named Megara who sells her soul to him in order to save her boyfriend's life. However, once he has revived, the boy abandons Meg for another woman, breaking her heart and leaving her in Hades' hands. Since then, Meg works with Hades to rule Olympus, though she merely does so because she has no choice and often mocks the god's temper with a sarcastic quip. Years later, Hades sends Meg to recruit Nessus. This backfires, however, when Hercules intervenes. When Hades discovers through this that Hercules is still alive, he takes matters into his own hands. Using Meg to lure Hercules into a fixed contest in facing the Hydra, Hades smiles smugly as he watches the man destined to defeat him struggle under the attacks, only for Hercules to slay the Hydra in a rockslide that seems to have killed both, until Hercules emerges from the monster's claw. After sending an army of monsters to defeat Hercules, all of which fail, Hades sends Meg to seduce Hercules and find his weakness.

Meg falls in love with Hercules on their following date and forgets about the mission, simply saying that he has no weakness when he asks. Hades deduces that Hercules' love for Meg is his weakness and uses her to trick Hercules into giving up his godlike strength for a day for Meg's safety. Hercules agrees and Hades, knowing Hercules will not interfere, not only unleashes the Titans at last but also sends the Cyclops to kill Hercules while he is powerless. Meanwhile, Hades ignites an attack on Mount Olympus, successfully imprisoning Zeus and the others deities in the process, thus allowing the throne to fall into his hands. During the Cyclops' attack on Hercules, a pillar falls on Meg (when she pushes Hercules out of the way), severely injuring her. This breaks Hades' promise that Meg would not be hurt, causing Hercules to regain his strength. Hercules proceeds to go to Mount Olympus, where he engages the Titans and eventually defeats them, thwarting Hades' invasion. However, Meg has died because of her injuries (thanks to the Fates clipping her life thread) and Hades claims her soul as his consolation prize, knowing how much her death will hurt Hercules.

Hercules storms into the Underworld subdues Cerberus and confronts Hades, demanding he returns Meg to him. Hades smugly explains to Hercules that Meg is dead, and he cannot have her back. Hercules offers his soul in exchange for Meg's and Hades displays a moment of being genre-savvy, seeing the deal as almost too good to be true. However, he decides to agree on the condition that Hercules must retrieve her himself. It is not until Hercules has already dived into the River Styx that Hades shouts that the former will be dead before he can reach Meg. The Fates attempt to cut Hercules' life thread, but are unable to. Hercules' genuinely heroic sacrifice causes him to return to his natural god form, making him immortal in the process. Hercules emerges from the river, carrying Meg's soul. Hades, astounded, attempts to smooth-talk Hercules again, enraging Hercules into punching him, sending Hades into the river, where he is swarmed by the souls trapped inside and dragged into its depths. It is unknown what happened to him afterward, though Pain and Panic's commentary implies that Hades may be trapped within the river for quite some time, if not eternity.

During the end credits when the thanks to the staff are shown, Hades' voice is heard saying that everyone's got a happy ending but him. Then he asks if anyone's listening and if he's talking to hyperspace.

Contrary to film canon, where Hades was unaware of Hercules' survival until the demigod was 18, the animated series shows that Hades often faces off against a teenage Hercules. Hades tries many schemes to destroy Hercules and take over Olympus, plans including exposing the other gods to water from the river Lethe- thus making them all forget their original roles and leaving him free to take over -diverting the River Styx into Greece, or killing Zeus when he temporarily made himself mortal to prove a point to Hercules. Despite all these transgressions, he is never expelled from godhood, frequently being summoned to Mount Olympus for job-related matters afterward.

Hades is shown to have a very poor working relationship with those in his service, primarily the witch Hecate, who frequently attempts to usurp control of the underworld out from under him. Despite Hades attempts to frequently abandon the underworld for Mount Olympus, he seems protective of the job when it is threatened to be taken away from him.

In one episode, he notably teamed up with Aladdin's deceased arch-enemy Jafar and used subsequent attempts to defeat each other's enemies. They didn't always get along however and sometimes argued. Hades found Jafar annoying because he hated his puns and evil laugh, thinking of him as a freak. Their evil plans failed when they underestimated the value of Hercules' strength and Aladdin's ingenuity, culminating in the two teaming up to stop Hades and send Jafar back to the Underworld for good.

In "Hercules and the Tapestry of Fate", thanks to Icarus' and Hercules' messing with the Tapestry of Fate, Hades is alerted to the Tapestry's existence, allowing him to create an alternate reality where Hades is King of Olympus, while Zeus became Lord of the Underworld. They eventually got into a fight nearing the end of the episode, and the reality was undone after Hercules destroyed the tapestry binding the reality together (which also resulted in Hercules getting tickets to a canceled concert that he had earlier not been able to get due to Prince Adonis beating him out of it).

Hades has several notable appearances on the series. In one episode, "Halloween With Hades", Hades had a crush on Maleficent. His first attempt to woo Maleficent fails, so he goes to Mickey Mouse for advice. Mickey tells Hades to try to be nice, but this fails too since Maleficent loathes and despises nice. Hades attempts to take his anger out on Mickey until Maleficent discovers how cruel he is towards Mickey and appreciate his fiery disposition and decides to date him.

Another notable appearance by Hades in House of Mouse is "Suddenly Hades", where Pete causes the House's thermostat to go broke and break, causing all the guests to leave due to the heat, except for Hades, who enjoys the heat. Mickey and friends then try their best to keep Hades in the House (since Mickey's contract states that the House stays open as long as the show goes on, he would be obliged to close the House down if there were no guests whatsoever). One way in which Mickey tried to keep Hades included an act from Chernabog, a sort of fast-forward version of Night on Bald Mountain. Hades loved it ("Hey! It's the old act! I love this guy!"). Hades eventually left when Pete flooded the House, but this allowed The Little Mermaid characters (Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian) to enter the House instead.

In the episode "House Ghosts", his bloopers reel was shown on the big screen, humiliating him so badly that he tortures his minion's Pain and Panic for no particular reason.

Hades is one of the main villains in Mickey's House of Villains as well, though he does not take part in the initial scheming at the beginning of the film. Hades was also seen in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse, alongside Jafar and Captain Hook during the finale song.

In Once Upon a Studio, Hades makes a brief speaking appearance, with James Woods reprising the role following a comeback in the film industry. In the short, he expresses slight aggravation after Belle and the Beast start singing "When You Wish Upon a Star", commenting that he predicted a reprise of the song would be inevitable. Hades can also be seen with Pain and Panic in the distance shot amongst the wide array of Disney characters, singing the song before the group photo is taken.

Hades serves as the final boss in the game, where he battles Hercules in the Underworld over Megara's final fate. Hades' moves set includes launching fireballs at Hercules while trying to evade the hero's sword. Animation of Hades also appears when the player receives a "game over"; in which Hades taunts them for their failure.

Hades appears in the mobile game as one of the unlockable fallen heroes. His attacks are the same as in the movie, and his white ability is throwing fire at the enemies, making them lose vitality little by little.

His mission friends are Megara, Zeus, Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and Anger from Inside Out.

In the interactive game, Hercules has gone off to battle a giant, leaving Zeus and Hermes without a hero to protect Greece from Hades and his schemes. Zeus messages Phil, requesting a new hero to substitute until Hercules returns. Phil appoints the player, but Hades is not happy with the attempt. As such, he tries to sabotage Phil's training to prevent any more heroes from foiling his plots. Towards the end of the game, Hades kidnaps Phil and holds him prisoner in the Underworld. After the player defeats Hades' monsters, a cowardly Hades tries to talk his way out of trouble, only to inadvertently fall into the River Styx.

Hades appears in the Kingdom Hearts video game series as a recurring villain residing in the world he came from.

Hades makes his first appearance in the original Kingdom Hearts, where he was a member of Maleficent's council and has been supplied with Heartless to use in Olympus Coliseum. Like before, he had managed to gain another warrior, Cloud, by promising him a lead to Sephiroth if Cloud kills Hercules and later Sora when the latter begins winning in the Coliseum. When the plan fails, Hades sends Cerberus after them, who also loses. He is seen later speaking with Maleficent and Riku after Jafar's defeat at the hands of Sora, and Maleficent warns him about letting the darkness consume him. Much later, when Maleficent and the rest of her allies have also been defeated, Hades decides to defeat Sora and Hercules personally in a long tournament with a battle with him near the end. Ultimately, he is defeated by Sora. However, Hades retaliates by unleashing two of the Titans upon the world like the events in Hercules. Upon Lythos' defeat, however, Hades disappears.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Hades' planning and actions occur within the Underworld instead of the Coliseum. This time, he revives Auron, the "Mother of All Bad Guys", to destroy Hercules, only for the swordsman to refuse this. Hades tries to strike him, but Auron departs with Sora when the Keyblade wielder arrives wishing to talk to Hades (which proves unsuccessful due to Hades' invincibility within the Underworld. However, after Pete reveals that the Keyblade can open any lock, Hades decides to use Sora to reopen an ancient coliseum known as the Underdrome by kidnapping Megara and bringing her to the Underdrome. Sora rescues her but unseals it as a result. Due to his victory, Hades decides to hold the Hades Cup to try to kill the weakened Hercules, who was filled with guilt after failing to stop the Hydra. Hades creates a statue of Auron to control him and fight Hercules. However, Sora steals the statue back and destroys it, freeing Auron. Like the conclusion within the film, Hades tries to throw Meg into the River Styx, forcing Hercules to dive in and save her, causing Hercules' power to be restored by his willingness to risk his life to save Meg. Hades is quickly defeated and falls down into the River Styx, though he manages to escape, but does not continue to cause trouble for the group.

In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, set 10 years before the events of the first game, Hades' first interaction with the Keyblade wielders begins when Terra arrives to test his strength, prompting Hades to convince him to enter the Games to use him against Zeus. But when Terra does not use his darkness, Hades decides to use Zack instead, only for Zack to lose against Terra anyway forcing Hades to flee. When Aqua arrives, Hades reappears as her opponent and nicknames her "little bluebird" due to her hair color. After he calls Terra a coward for not using his darkness, Aqua battles him so Hades fights with the aid of a copy of Hydros called the Ice Colossus. Hades ends up losing and retreats but vows to return.

Hades would also appear in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts coded in minor roles, likely due to how his appearances both games were simply copies of the real one.

In Kingdom Hearts III, Hades goes back to his original 18-year plan by releasing the Titans from their prison to take over Olympus and rule over the cosmos (like in the original movie) after his previous attempts of using Terra, Cloud, and Auron to further his conquests had failed. He first arrives when Sora, Donald, and Goofy began searching for Hercules with the former calling out for Herc's name much to his dismay. As the trio taunt him of his previous failures, Hades summons the Titans to show them their power creating a gust of wind blowing them into Thebes. He is then briefly reunited with Maleficent and Pete much to his annoyance, although the evil fairy assures him that they won't interfere with his plans and ask him if there is a Black Box in the world. Thinking that they're looking for the box Zeus hid on earth he directs them to the box's location. Later, Hades sits upon his throne on Olympus after Zeus is imprisoned by the Lava and Ice Titan, however, Hercules, Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive resulting in Hades in sending in the Titans to attack the heroes. After the defeat of the Titans, Hades attempts to retaliate against them but is mocked to return to the underworld and then punched by Hercules in retaliation for attacking Thebes. Defeated, Hades retreats and threatens to throw Meg in the River of Styx, but not before Zeus tosses a thunderbolt at him.

In Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, set around 60 years approximately before Birth by Sleep, Hades helps Xehanort and Eraqus to find Hoder and the other upper classmen in exchange of keeping one of their companions with him in the Underworld. Later on, he claims that one of them earned a permanent stay there, but he isn't sure if it's Bragi or Baldr.

Hades appears as a playable character in Disney Speedstorm, with James Woods once again reprising the role. He can be unlocked with the Hercules Collection, and the character also comes with the "Hot-Headed" unique skill. In normal mode, he'll gain a moderate amount of nitro fuel whenever he overtakes an opponent, and when in charged mode, Hades can trigger an explosion whenever he gets angry. Especially after an opponent overtakes him.

Hades appears as a playable character in Disney Mirrorverse. He is a ranged Guardian.

Hades appears in the game's second expansion The Storybook Vale. He and Maleficent took control over two different areas of the Vale shortly after the Forgetting hit Dreamlight Valley, with Hades' territory being Mythopia, a biome based on the golden Elysian Fields of Greek Mythology. While they were initially allies, they began to disagree, which led to them becoming enemies and waging war which caused mass destruction to the Vale, resulting in what was dubbed the "Neverafter". In Part One of the DLC, the player manages to get Hades and Maleficent to compromise and renew their alliance, but Maleficent vanishes shortly thereafter as they prepare to figure out where Princess Aurora vanished to.

Hades is the main antagonist of the fifth Disney Chills book, Liar, Liar, Head on Fire, which released on August 10, 2021. He is the main villain who strikes a deal with twelve-year-old boy Hector.

A Villain Tales book, it explains the origin of Hades' increasing bitterness, seeing his family as treating him as a monster, dismayed over the lack of respect from mortals, and his plan to take over Olympus, sought by splitting his Thread of Fate. Hades, being an immortal god and possessing immense power, makes references to pop culture and modern inventions.

In later years, despite not having too many live appearances, Hades has become quite the common Disney villain in several spots, mostly for entertainment purposes.

Hades is also used in promos for the Disney theme parks along with other major Disney villains as part of Halloween celebrations, including animated commercials and the live-action Christmas/Halloween promo that premiered October 2013.

In California, Hades appears with a speaking role in the annual Frightfully Fun Parade at the Disneyland park.

In 2013, Hades appeared with Megara, Pain, Panic, and several Disney villains on stage for the "Unleash the Villains" Halloween stage event at Disney's Hollywood Studios. He would return for the renamed "Villains Unleashed" event in 2014.

In the interactive attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, Hades serves as the main antagonist again. In this attraction, Hades sets his eyes on the Magic Kingdom for his new summer vacation spot and plans on turning it into a post-apocalyptic wasteland but Merlin's powerful Crystal of the Magic Kingdom prevents him from doing so, as it is powered to keep all evil at bay at the park. When Hades sends Pain and Panic to steal it, the crystal is accidentally shattered into several pieces with four of them getting scattered around the park. Hades then recruits several Disney Villains to help retrieve them, but in the end, Hades and the villains are trapped and imprisoned in the newly-reconstructed crystal by Merlin and the park guests that helped him on the adventure.

In Fantasmic!, Hades is one of the villains summoned by the Evil Queen to destroy Mickey Mouse in the Florida version of Fantasmic!. Once Hades is summoned, he then summons Chernabog. Hades is defeated with the other villains at the end.

Hades does not appear in Mickey's Philharmagic show itself, but on a poster in the queue area where he sings "Torch Songs".

In Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, Hades is one of the many villains to join the Sanderson Sisters with their Halloween celebration as one of the "frightful friends" Maleficent conjures.

In Wonderful World of Animation, Hades appeared as a major villain alongside Tamatoa and Yzma during the villain-centric segment. When he appears, the Chinese theater is engulfed in blue flames as the audience is transported to the Underworld.

In the Magic Kingdom's Villains Unite the Night, Hades and Meg serve as the protagonists. In the show, Hades is preparing for the planets to align; an ancient prophecy declares that someone will be granted ultimate power that will dub them ruler of the universe. Hades believes this to be him but later finds that Jafar, Maleficent, the Evil Queen, and Dr. Facilier have been following the same prophecy.

In Starlight Dreams, Hades is one of the central villains where he joins other Disney Villains in a hostile takeover scheme against Mickey Mouse and friends. During the Halloween season, he is prominently featured alongside other major Disney villains throughout the park, including a live appearance in Tokyo DisneySea's Villain's World show.

In Hong Kong, Hades was added to the 2017 edition of The Nightmare Experiment attraction, where guests can visit his Underworld during the latter half of the tour.

As part of the park's Halloween celebration, Hades joins Dr. Facilier and Maleficent in the Villain's Cavalcade night show.

Hades is the starring character for Villains Tonight!. In this show, Hades has "gone soft" in recent years and if he doesn't regain his evil nature, he will lose control over the Underworld. Hades visits the most powerful Disney Villains to help recapture his infamous cruelty.

• Hades (Descendants)
• Hades (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

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