Information about Hades (disney)

Hades
First appearance	Hercules
Created by	Ron Clements John Musker
Voiced by	James Woods

Hades, voiced by James Woods, is the villain in the 1997 movie Hercules, based on the Greek god Hades. Unlike the mythological Hades, who is for the most part a relatively passive deity doing a sometimes nasty job, this version is a fast-talking, evil deity, reminiscent of Satan. The character's mannerisms were due to James Woods ending up using a "car-dealer"-style voice while the movie was being made. His hair is blue fire, and whenever he gets upset, it flares and becomes red (for common carbon-burning fire, blue indicates a hotter flame than red). His hair-flame has also been shown to flare when he grows particularly excited (when the Fates tell him he will overthrow Zeus), although in this case it remains blue.

Hades later reappeared in and the Kingdom Hearts series. In all of his appearances he was voiced by James Woods.

Hercules

In the 1997 animated film, Hades sought to overthrow his older brother Zeus and rule Mount Olympus for himself. Upon visiting the Fates, he learned that he could succeed, but there was a catch. If Zeus's son, his nephew, Hercules was to fight Hades, Hercules would win.

Hades sent his two demons, Pain and Panic, to kidnap baby Hercules and give him a potion that would render him mortal. Hercules needed to drink every last drop for it to work, but when a human couple comes along, the demons drop the bottle, breaking it and losing the last drop. Thus, Hercules became a demigod and spent his life on Earth.

Later, a young woman named Megara, or Meg, sold her soul to Hades so that he would rescue her lover. He did, but soon Meg's lover fled for another girl (possibly under Hades' influence, though it's never specified). Meg was stuck doing tasks for Hades.

Hades sent numerous threats to kill Hercules, such as the Hydra, but none worked. When he found out that Hercules had fallen in love with Meg, he took this to his advantage and made a deal with Hercules. He asked Hercules to give up his powers for twenty four hours (when he was set to overtake Mount Olympus) in exchange for Meg's freedom. Hercules agreed, as long as Meg wouldn't be hurt.

Hades attacked Mount Olympus with the Titans and succeeded in overthrowing Zeus without Hercules to stop him. The Cyclops was sent to Earth. Hercules, despite being powerless, managed to take down the monster, using his wits instead of his strength.

However, Meg was fatally crushed saving Hercules from a falling pillar. This negated Hades' deal that Meg would not be hurt. Hercules was thus given his powers back and returned to Mount Olympus where he easily took down the Titans and freed the gods.

Hades was furious, but he taunted Hercules that he at least had a parting gift: Meg's soul. Hercules traveled to the Underworld to rescue her. He swam into the River Styx to retrieve her soul. It almost killed him, when his full Godliness was restored by willing to risk his life to save Meg. Hercules emerged from the pit.

Hades begged the hero to try and ease things with him and the other gods, but Hercules decided to let Hades spread his evil no longer and punched him into the River Styx, where he was swarmed by the Spirits of the Dead. Because he's a god he's currently still alive but is trapped in the river.

Hercules: The Animated Series

Later, with the return of Hercules on the form of , Hades also re-appeared, and had many appearances trying to take over the Olympus. One episode even had a crossover where Jafar makes a deal with Hades, in order to make Hercules and Aladdin fight each other. Hades once was a black belt.

Fantasmic

Hades was called on by The Queen and Jafar to fight Mickey Mouse in the Walt Disney World-MGM Studios' version of the nighttime show spectacular. He summons the black god Chernabog from the movie Fantasia, and is eventually defeated along the rest of the villains in the end.

Kingdom Hearts series

Kingdom Hearts

He was originally in league with Maleficent (Who Hades actually manages to outlive), using the Heartless to try to take over the worlds. Hades wanted to dispose of Hercules and tricked Cloud Strife into challenging Hercules in the Preliminaries at the Olympus Colliseum. In return, Hades "promised" Cloud he'll lead him to Sephiroth. However, when Sora arrived, Hades changed plans and had Cloud attack Sora first. When Cloud refused to kill Sora after beating him (or when Sora is victorious over Cloud), Hades sends out Cerberus to take care of Cloud. However, Hercules arrived to get Cloud to safety while Sora & company dealt with Cerberus. Even though Hades doesn't want Maleficent meddling in Olympus Colisem (telling her it was "his show"), he is seen with Maleficent after sealing the Agrabah Keyhole, showing Riku that Kairi was with Maleficent. After Maleficent's defeat, Hades decided to take care of Hercules AND Sora at the Hades Tournament. However, even when he fights Sora himself, Hades was defeated and all his schemes against Sora and the others ended in failure. He is last seen after finishing the Hades Cup, where Donald Duck uses his Blizzard magic spell to put out Hades' hair, mirroring Pegasus putting out his hair in Hercules.

A facsimile Hades appeared as token of Sora's memory and the darkness in Riku's heart. His plan is similar to the one he attempts in Kingdom Hearts, but with some differences. In this, he sets up a tournament in order to lure Hercules in, and hires Cloud to kill Hercules in exchange for recovering his memories (a promise that he never intended to honor; he claims that it is not easy to restore "true memories"). Cloud and Hercules fight, and while Cloud is too badly wounded to continue fighting, Hercules is also wounded. Hades arrives, easily scattering the two and reneging on his deal with Cloud ("You, my spiky-haired friend, are fired"). However, Sora attacks and defeats Hades.

Kingdom Hearts II

Hades's desire to kill Hercules is still undetered. After joining forces with Pete, and probably Maleficent through him, Hades and his demons Pain and Panic, decide to use somebody who has already died to use against Hercules and kill him. Hades brings back Auron, but Auron rebels against Hades, telling him that this is "his story" (this parallels Auron's character from Final Fantasy X). Hades and Auron duel, only to be interrupted by Sora, Donald and Goofy. He chases Sora, Auron and the others out of his private quarters, and decides to finish off the four by setting Cerberus on them. However, Cerberus was defeated by Sora and Auron. He appears to Hercules, Sora, Donald and Goofy in the Olympus Coliseum and has Hydra attack in an attempt to destroy Hercules. Upon discovering that Sora's Keyblade could unlock any lock, Hades sets Meg into a trap that would allow Hades to open the Underworld's own coliseum, the Underdrome that was locked by Zeus. Pete is defeated by Sora, Donald and Goofy and Hercules, but, unbeknownst to them, the Underdrome had already been unlocked (They did not know this, even when Auron sarcastically implied it to them when the first tournament is unlocked). However, Hercules had let the Hydra be, unknowing that it had awoken from its defeat and destroyed the Olympus Coliseum. The Hydra was killed by Sora, Donald and Goofy, with help from Pegasus, Meg and Phil in the process. When they returned, Hades took direct action against them, (this time without the help of Pete) after summoning a new group of heartless, he put a few of them in the Hades Cup, and put the rest on guard duty. He also took control of Auron with a statue. He eventually fought Sora personally, but was still defeated by the team of him, Donald, Goofy, Auron, and Hercules. After his defeat, he fell accidentally into the River Styx and vanished. However, he survived. He acts as a challenger in the last tournaments, which are unlocked near the end of the game.

James Woods reprises his role for the North American and European versions of the games in the series, while his Japanese voice in all three games is done by Kyusaku Shimada.

Mickey's House of Mouse

Hades appears a few times in the House of Mouse full-length spin-off Mickey's House of Villains; however, James Woods only provides the voice for one line ("Ha - love that", in response to Mickey's joke, "Why, I even saw Hades - he was really paintin' the town dead!"). Rob Paulsen provides the singing voice when Hades sings the lines "Where everyone's a friend of mine!" and "What a place for breakin' bread!" in the song "It's Our House Now!"

During the actual House of Mouse series, Hades serves as a sort of comic relief. In one episode he complains that his coffee was mistankly decafe, to which Gaston of Beauty and the Beast replied "Nobody makes decafe like Gaston", a running gag that gets on Hades' nerves. In another episode, Mickey runs past him so fast, the flames on his head go out. However, he uses Lumiere to light it again. Yet another episode was dedicated strictly to him, in which the air conditioning breaks, driving away all of the guests except Hades, who comments that it feels "just like home." Mickey and friends then attempt to make Hades as comfortable as possible to prevent him from leaving (The House's contract states that should the place be completely empty, it will be closed down). He eventually leaves after the House is flooded, but thankfully it serves as a perfect environment for the Little Mermaid characters. In this same episode, Hades is greatly pleased to see Chernabog from Fantasia perform what he calls "the old act" (A basic reprise of Chernabog's performance in the actual Fantasia movie).

In another House of Mouse episode, Hades is attracted to the female villain Maleficent and does everything to attract her attention. When every idea backfires he scolds Mickey angrily by casting himself in flames. Maleficent notices him and thus asks him to sit next to her.