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crack_van2004-02-01 08:22 am
ltlj.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-02-01 08:22 am
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Hercules: the Legendary Journeys - An Overview
This is the overview for your small fandom supplement for February:
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys was set in a neverland version of ancient Greece that looked amazingly like New Zealand, complete with monsters, interfering gods and an off-the-wall spin on Greek mythology.
(Click on the images to see the larger version)
The main characters are Hercules (Kevin Sorbo)
a demigod with supernatural strength
and Iolaus (Michael Hurst)
his mortal companion.
Hercules and Iolaus have known each other since they were children and learned to be warriors together at Cheiron's Academy. They fight together, travel together, sleep in the dirt together, tend each other's wounds, bicker, tease, and tend to express lots of affection for each other:
(Click on the images to see the larger version)
There were five TV movies as prequels to the parent series, a spin-off called Young Hercules that centered on Hercules, Iolaus and Jason in Cheiron's Academy, a Young Hercules movie that told the story of the voyage of the Argonauts, and some Xena crossover episodes. There was a large cast of great recurring characters, most of whom have their own fandoms. This is going to be a mostly Hercules and Iolaus-centric overview, because I'm going to rec mainly stories about them (gen, het and slash) since that's what I read. But the next time HtLJ's turn comes up, someone else is going to be doing recs from the other areas of the fandom, focussing on the other characters.
Key Elements: Gods, Wives, Xena, How Come That Guy Looks Like That Other Guy, and He May Have Been Dead Four Times But He's Still Pretty
Key things you should probably know: Hercules was the son of Zeus, King of the Gods, and Alcmene, a mortal woman. Zeus' wife Hera was determined to destroy him, and in the first episode of the series she killed his wife Deianeira and his three children with a fireball. Iolaus was also married in the first TV movie, and according to the episode guide had two sons who never appeared in an episode, and so have been presumed dead. His wife Anya is mentioned as being dead in the last TV movie, Maze of the Minotaur.
Xena: Warrior Princess was originally a spinoff of Hercules, when the character of Xena was introduced in a three episode story arc in the first season. Xena, then an evil warlord, had sex with Iolaus in a plot to turn him against Hercules, causing Hercules and Iolaus to have a kickass swordfight, during which they decided they didn't want to kill each other and should therefore kill Xena. Xena escaped, but decided being evil was no longer attractive, met Hercules again and had sex with him, then together they fought her undead evil ex-buddy Darphus, then she made up with Iolaus. Then Xena went off to get her own show and her bard Gabrielle, who was introduced to the guys during a crossover episode and developed a thing with Iolaus, but it didn't last. This sequence is summarized in the images below:
Also note, actors tend to show up playing exact duplicates of their original characters, who are explained variously as brothers, sisters, cousins, and duplicates from an alternate universe. Yes, in the alternate universe Hercules has a beard. No, I'm not making that up.
Iolaus was also killed four times during the course of the show, causing much angst to both Hercules and the audience.
1) Stabbed by an Amazon in the first Hercules movie Hercules and the Amazon Women. Hercules convinced Zeus to turn back time to bring Iolaus and a lot of other folks back to life.
2) In the first episode of the series "The Wrong Path," where he was turned to stone by a She-Demon. When Hercules killed it, this restored Iolaus and all the other victims.
3) In the third season episode "Not Fade Away," Iolaus was killed by Hera's second Enforcer. Hercules struck a deal with Hades to bring him back to life if he killed the Enforcer before sunset that day.
4) At the beginning of the fifth season he was killed by Gilgamesh while Gilgamesh was possessed by Dahak. He was resurrected in the last episode of the fifth season and finished out the last (sixth) season with Hercules. (During a few episodes of the fifth season he was replaced by his exact duplicate from the alternate universe. No, I'm not making that up either.)
Characters you may encounter in these recommendations:
Salmoneus (Robert Trebor) a conman with a heart of gold, who is determined to be Hercules' biographer and continually tries to find some way of making money off of his exploits. He's also told Hercules that he thinks he's a very attractive man.
Jason of the Argonauts and Alcmene (Jeffrey Thomas and Liddy Holloway) During the second season, Jason marries Hercules' mother Alcmene over some initial objections from Hercules. Early on in the series, Jason has a little problem with the drinking, and the seeing things that aren't there, and the being eaten by a seamonster, but he got better.
Autolycus, the King of Thieves (Bruce Campbell) There's the time Auto and Iolaus ended up naked and chained together, then had to fight a giant chicken. Then there's the time Auto and Salmoneus dressed in drag and pretended to be showgirls to hide from an evil warlord. It just goes on.
Iphicles, Hercules' mortal half-brother (Kevin Smith) who became King of Corinth after Jason stepped down to marry Alcmene. Iphicles had relationship problems with Hercules, dating back to that time he pretended to be Hercules causing Iolaus to be held hostage by an evil warlord and Hercules to almost get killed by Hera's salamander.
The goddess Aphrodite, Hercules' half-sister, (Alexandra Tydings) Despite being the goddess of love and in general helpful, Aphrodite can sometimes cause chaos. She might decide to help Hercules with crazy King Augeas who thinks he's Zeus, or she might use Iolaus and a Gold Apple to break up a royal marriage, fail to tell her son Cupid he has a curse on him, or decide that Iolaus is her personal trainer and needs to help her find a new career.
Nebula, Pirate Captain and eventually Queen of Sumeria, (Gina Torres) had a hot thing going on with Iolaus. Too bad her brother sacrificed him to Dahak.
Ares, God of War, (Kevin Smith) Hercules' full-god half brother, and the best villain ever, with the god Strife, (Joel Tobeck) the other best villain ever. Ares is also one of the prettiest villains ever. He hates Hercules but also loves to torment him and Iolaus. He and Hercules also have some kickass knock-down fights. Yes, two buff guys going at each other -- what's not to like?
Strife appears quite a bit in the Young Hercules series, where his tormenting of the boys is played more for comedy. His exploits in the parent series are darker, and he was responsible for killing Serena, Hercules' second wife, and making Hercules believe he had killed her himself in his sleep.
The Goddess Discord (Meighan Desmond). Discord causes discord on the parent series and Young Hercules. There was an incident where she had Autolycus steal Artemis' bow so she could turn Hercules into a pig. Due to this, she may have spent a long, long time as a chicken dressed in a fetching little black leather outfit.
Iolaus, Jason, and Hercules in the Young Hercules series. (Dean O'Gorman, Chris Conrad, and Ryan Gosling)
Hercules is a fun show, with comedy, adventure, hurt/comfort, amnesia, time-travel, men in drag, portals to other worlds and angst-loaded drama. It has attractive people wearing leather, which sometimes gets wet, and they fight a lot. If you'd like to check it out, reruns have been airing again in the US on the SciFi Channel, and it's also now being released in box season DVD sets.
Archives and Other Useful Sites:
The Iolausian Library, a giant (over 1500 stories) archive and index of Hercules, Young Hercules and Xena crossover fanfiction.
Lookout2's Young Hercules Archive, an archive of Young Hercules fanfiction.
Ashera's Archive, another giant index of Hercules and Xena fanfiction, organized by pairing and concentrating more on R and NC17 fiction, slash and het.
Hercules Universe Link Listing, links to all kinds of Hercules and Young Hercules sites, gen and slash.
and the Hercules and Iolaus Fanfiction Net Ring lists many single author sites and small archives, all ratings, gen and slash.
Young Hercules is airing again in the US on WAM! and the Global DeanO Network lists showings of Young Hercules all over the world.
Images from this overview are from The Less Than Legendary Journeys, Mary Crawford's Vices, the Hercules Alcove and Mike's Images.
(And thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
casapazzo, ndancer, dbw, celli, marycrawford, hnix, devinharris, marinarusalka, and nightwalker for suggestions and betaing for this overview.)
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys was set in a neverland version of ancient Greece that looked amazingly like New Zealand, complete with monsters, interfering gods and an off-the-wall spin on Greek mythology.
(Click on the images to see the larger version)
The main characters are Hercules (Kevin Sorbo)
a demigod with supernatural strength
and Iolaus (Michael Hurst)
his mortal companion.
Hercules and Iolaus have known each other since they were children and learned to be warriors together at Cheiron's Academy. They fight together, travel together, sleep in the dirt together, tend each other's wounds, bicker, tease, and tend to express lots of affection for each other:
(Click on the images to see the larger version)
There were five TV movies as prequels to the parent series, a spin-off called Young Hercules that centered on Hercules, Iolaus and Jason in Cheiron's Academy, a Young Hercules movie that told the story of the voyage of the Argonauts, and some Xena crossover episodes. There was a large cast of great recurring characters, most of whom have their own fandoms. This is going to be a mostly Hercules and Iolaus-centric overview, because I'm going to rec mainly stories about them (gen, het and slash) since that's what I read. But the next time HtLJ's turn comes up, someone else is going to be doing recs from the other areas of the fandom, focussing on the other characters.
Key Elements: Gods, Wives, Xena, How Come That Guy Looks Like That Other Guy, and He May Have Been Dead Four Times But He's Still Pretty
Key things you should probably know: Hercules was the son of Zeus, King of the Gods, and Alcmene, a mortal woman. Zeus' wife Hera was determined to destroy him, and in the first episode of the series she killed his wife Deianeira and his three children with a fireball. Iolaus was also married in the first TV movie, and according to the episode guide had two sons who never appeared in an episode, and so have been presumed dead. His wife Anya is mentioned as being dead in the last TV movie, Maze of the Minotaur.
Xena: Warrior Princess was originally a spinoff of Hercules, when the character of Xena was introduced in a three episode story arc in the first season. Xena, then an evil warlord, had sex with Iolaus in a plot to turn him against Hercules, causing Hercules and Iolaus to have a kickass swordfight, during which they decided they didn't want to kill each other and should therefore kill Xena. Xena escaped, but decided being evil was no longer attractive, met Hercules again and had sex with him, then together they fought her undead evil ex-buddy Darphus, then she made up with Iolaus. Then Xena went off to get her own show and her bard Gabrielle, who was introduced to the guys during a crossover episode and developed a thing with Iolaus, but it didn't last. This sequence is summarized in the images below:
Also note, actors tend to show up playing exact duplicates of their original characters, who are explained variously as brothers, sisters, cousins, and duplicates from an alternate universe. Yes, in the alternate universe Hercules has a beard. No, I'm not making that up.
Iolaus was also killed four times during the course of the show, causing much angst to both Hercules and the audience.
1) Stabbed by an Amazon in the first Hercules movie Hercules and the Amazon Women. Hercules convinced Zeus to turn back time to bring Iolaus and a lot of other folks back to life.
2) In the first episode of the series "The Wrong Path," where he was turned to stone by a She-Demon. When Hercules killed it, this restored Iolaus and all the other victims.
3) In the third season episode "Not Fade Away," Iolaus was killed by Hera's second Enforcer. Hercules struck a deal with Hades to bring him back to life if he killed the Enforcer before sunset that day.
4) At the beginning of the fifth season he was killed by Gilgamesh while Gilgamesh was possessed by Dahak. He was resurrected in the last episode of the fifth season and finished out the last (sixth) season with Hercules. (During a few episodes of the fifth season he was replaced by his exact duplicate from the alternate universe. No, I'm not making that up either.)
Characters you may encounter in these recommendations:
Salmoneus (Robert Trebor) a conman with a heart of gold, who is determined to be Hercules' biographer and continually tries to find some way of making money off of his exploits. He's also told Hercules that he thinks he's a very attractive man.
Jason of the Argonauts and Alcmene (Jeffrey Thomas and Liddy Holloway) During the second season, Jason marries Hercules' mother Alcmene over some initial objections from Hercules. Early on in the series, Jason has a little problem with the drinking, and the seeing things that aren't there, and the being eaten by a seamonster, but he got better.
Autolycus, the King of Thieves (Bruce Campbell) There's the time Auto and Iolaus ended up naked and chained together, then had to fight a giant chicken. Then there's the time Auto and Salmoneus dressed in drag and pretended to be showgirls to hide from an evil warlord. It just goes on.
Iphicles, Hercules' mortal half-brother (Kevin Smith) who became King of Corinth after Jason stepped down to marry Alcmene. Iphicles had relationship problems with Hercules, dating back to that time he pretended to be Hercules causing Iolaus to be held hostage by an evil warlord and Hercules to almost get killed by Hera's salamander.
The goddess Aphrodite, Hercules' half-sister, (Alexandra Tydings) Despite being the goddess of love and in general helpful, Aphrodite can sometimes cause chaos. She might decide to help Hercules with crazy King Augeas who thinks he's Zeus, or she might use Iolaus and a Gold Apple to break up a royal marriage, fail to tell her son Cupid he has a curse on him, or decide that Iolaus is her personal trainer and needs to help her find a new career.
Nebula, Pirate Captain and eventually Queen of Sumeria, (Gina Torres) had a hot thing going on with Iolaus. Too bad her brother sacrificed him to Dahak.
Ares, God of War, (Kevin Smith) Hercules' full-god half brother, and the best villain ever, with the god Strife, (Joel Tobeck) the other best villain ever. Ares is also one of the prettiest villains ever. He hates Hercules but also loves to torment him and Iolaus. He and Hercules also have some kickass knock-down fights. Yes, two buff guys going at each other -- what's not to like?
Strife appears quite a bit in the Young Hercules series, where his tormenting of the boys is played more for comedy. His exploits in the parent series are darker, and he was responsible for killing Serena, Hercules' second wife, and making Hercules believe he had killed her himself in his sleep.
The Goddess Discord (Meighan Desmond). Discord causes discord on the parent series and Young Hercules. There was an incident where she had Autolycus steal Artemis' bow so she could turn Hercules into a pig. Due to this, she may have spent a long, long time as a chicken dressed in a fetching little black leather outfit.
Iolaus, Jason, and Hercules in the Young Hercules series. (Dean O'Gorman, Chris Conrad, and Ryan Gosling)
Hercules is a fun show, with comedy, adventure, hurt/comfort, amnesia, time-travel, men in drag, portals to other worlds and angst-loaded drama. It has attractive people wearing leather, which sometimes gets wet, and they fight a lot. If you'd like to check it out, reruns have been airing again in the US on the SciFi Channel, and it's also now being released in box season DVD sets.
Archives and Other Useful Sites:
The Iolausian Library, a giant (over 1500 stories) archive and index of Hercules, Young Hercules and Xena crossover fanfiction.
Lookout2's Young Hercules Archive, an archive of Young Hercules fanfiction.
Ashera's Archive, another giant index of Hercules and Xena fanfiction, organized by pairing and concentrating more on R and NC17 fiction, slash and het.
Hercules Universe Link Listing, links to all kinds of Hercules and Young Hercules sites, gen and slash.
and the Hercules and Iolaus Fanfiction Net Ring lists many single author sites and small archives, all ratings, gen and slash.
Young Hercules is airing again in the US on WAM! and the Global DeanO Network lists showings of Young Hercules all over the world.
Images from this overview are from The Less Than Legendary Journeys, Mary Crawford's Vices, the Hercules Alcove and Mike's Images.
(And thanks to
casapazzo, ndancer, dbw, celli, marycrawford, hnix, devinharris, marinarusalka, and nightwalker for suggestions and betaing for this overview.)
no subject
no subject
And hey, Ares *is* a great villain, one my favorites, but what about Callisto? She might not be in enough episodes to mention, but she does cause Herc quite a bit of angst, IIRC.
Re:
no subject
The few times I watched this show, I was struck hard in the face by the hoyay, and that was before I ever had an interest in slash. I can only imagine the volume of fic it must have spawned.
no subject
Also, Iolaus is on *everything*.
no subject
Re:
Thanks! On the commentary track on the first season DVD set there's a couple of small bits where Michael Hurst actually mentions the more obvious subtext in two scenes -- it was pretty hilarious.
no subject
Re:
Hmm...
Re: Hmm...
Let's see, she was also in "Judgement Day" from the third season, which was part three of a three part story arc, and she was also in the first or second "Armageddon Now" episode and the "Stranger in a Strange World" episode (playing the Xena from the alternate universe) in the fourth season. I think that was it.
There's an episode guide here on Ceryndip's Sanctuary (http://members.tripod.com/ceryndip/epiguide.htm) that might help.
no subject
My computer died a few months ago and I lost all my bookmarks. :( And now I'd like to reread a Hercules story I read ages ago, and I can't remember what it's called or where I found it (although I strongly suspect it was on ltljverse.com.)
This story involved multiple Iolauses (Iolausi?) from different dimensions all being pulled into regular Hercverse. Can someone tell me where to find it, pretty please?
no subject
An Iolaus a day, by Amorette
direct link to story (http://www.geocities.com/amoretteall/iolausday.html)
link to Amorette's story index on Iolausian Library (http://iolausianlibrary.org/amorette.htm)
I haven't read much HTLJ for the past year, but I dearly love this 'verse, and I love Amorette's fics. Hope this helps!
no subject