After freeing the 'boys' from under a rock, Hercules in reality releases a giant serpent-like creature, the Hydra, an unintended consequence of a seemingly virtuous act which has been set up as a fixed contest by Hades to humiliate and kill the young hero. Right on cue, Meg appears and lures Hercules into saving two boys (Pain and Panic in disguise) trapped in a cave in a rocky canyon. Meanwhile, Hercules arrived in Thebes and announces himself as a hero, only for the Thebans to dismiss him as an amateur and refusing to give Hercules a chance to prove himself. Unbeknownst to Hercules, Meg is working for Hades (albeit unwillingly) and relates the events to the Lord of the Underworld, from which he learns that Hercules is still alive and plots to kill the would-be hero at the start of his career.

On his way, after a few sloppy mistakes, Hercules saves Megara from Nessus, a centaur acting as the river guardian, and is immediately smitten with the young woman. Having reached adulthood and passed his training, full of confidence and bravado, an eager Hercules sets off with Phil to become a hero in Thebes.

Phil at first declines returning to the hero training business, unconvinced that Hercules was the son of Zeus, but is convinced after Zeus strikes him with lightning. Zeus tells Hercules that he must prove himself a true hero, instructing him to find the trainer of heroes Philoctetes (or 'Phil'), while giving him the winged horse Pegasus to assist. This inspires Hercules to visit the temple of Zeus, where he learns of his godhood. Shortly afterward, Hercules is told about his adoption by Amphitryon and Alcmene. His clumsiness and uncoordinated strength leads to him accidentally destroying a marketplace. He has difficulty being accepted by others due to being a geek. Growing up into a clumsy teenager, Hercules is all elbows and knees, not being able to control his godlike strength. Zeus and the other gods discover the kidnapping too late, and because Hercules is now mortal, he cannot return to Mount Olympus. The couple then adopts the child, considering his arrival a gift from the gods since they are themselves childless. However, the arrival of two mortals, Amphitryon and Alcmene, causes Hercules to miss the final drop of the potion, causing him to retain his superhuman strength despite becoming mortal. Knowing that, as a god, Hercules is immortal and invulnerable to harm, Hades sends his two lackeys, Pain and Panic, to kidnap Hercules and turn him mortal by means of a magic potion. However, one god is upset about the new arrival: Hercules' evil uncle Hades, who wants to take control of Olympus and the world, along with all of creation. In the original movie, instead of the being the demigod hero son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, Hercules was actually born on Mount Olympus as a god, and his parents were Zeus and Hera, the latter of whom is re-imagined as a loving mother instead of a spiteful stepmother. As a hero, Hercules wears a brown-orange brass Cuirass-like tank armor tunic with a blue cape. However, despite his bravado and becoming the model of physical perfection as an adult, Hercules still retains some of his teenage flaws, such as being shy and awkward. After completing his hero training, Hercules physically changes to being top-heavy and muscular, having larger biceps and pectorals and a thicker neck, as well as a stance that changes from stooped and pigeon-toed to upright, with the chest puffed out and his feet turned out. As a gawky and awkward teenager, Hercules is depicted as tall and thin, with broad, but stooped shoulders, extraordinarily long arms and legs, huge hands and pigeon-toed feet, a long skinny neck, and oversized ears. He often inadvertently destroys things or humiliates himself. All elbows and knees, Hercules is represented as an overgrown gangly youth who doesn't know his own strength.

His appearance is a handsome young man, with orange hair and eyebrows and wide blue eyes. In the original movie, Josh Keaton voiced Hercules as a teenager, while Tate Donovan was the hero as an adult, and Roger Bart was Hercules' singing voice in the song ' Go the Distance'. He is based on the mythological Heracles, commonly referred to by the Roman spelling, Hercules. Hercules is the titular character of the franchise.

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