"IN THEBES, I HAD HOPED TO CALL UPON HERACLES, BUT THE GREEK OLYMPIAN WAS INACCESIBLE TO ME. BUT THE ROMAN HERCULES WAS MORE THAN HAPPY TO GRANT MY REQUEST."--Wizard Shazam, War of the Gods # 4.
In his first encounter, Heracles is defeated by the incredible skill demonstrated by the formidable Amazon Queen. Against all the advices given by her Oracle, Menalippe, of an impending danger that Heracles meant to the whole Amazon race, Hippolyta offers him her trust, and Heracles accepts, offering a banquet for the Amazons and his men in order of taking the Golden Girdle of Gaea from the Amazon.
With a too obvious sexual tension among them, Hippolyta and Heracles goes apart from the rest, to have a private toast, full of innocence, the Queen fells drugged by Heracles, who rapes and humiliates her, taking the Girdle of Gaea from her. It is logic, that the rest of his men do just the same, and imprison all of the women race, after a lot of abuses.
That very same night, Heracles departs for Troy, leaving a humiliated Queen who prays for the forgiveness of her gods, who in turn, gave her the opportunity to free herself and liberate her people. The Amazons slaughtered a lot of men, and are punished. The Amazons face a schism with the departure of Antiope, Hippolyta's sister, while the gods lead the Amazons to a hidden island, that, in turn, hids a horrible mystery that will challenge (and torment) them for more than 3,000 years.
For the sins comitted that terrible night, Heracles will face a terrible punishment for more than two millenia.
While all of this happened, the wizard Shazam knew the Roman Hercules and befriended him. During this time, the former boy named Jebediah, agrees with him, the possibility of bestowing part of his power to a champion in the future.
It is not clear how much time Shazam dedicated to this, if he took this portion of power from Hercules then, or only centuries later, after the death of King Solomon. The only thing that is clear, is that, after a great crisis produced by an evil god, the gods and heroes in a council with the wizard Shazam, decided to bestow this power to a future champion to appear to contain the evils that could threaten the humankind.
Many years later, when Princess Diana decides to accept the Challenge of the Gods, with the help of Hippolyta, who secretly, and with the help of goddess Harmonia intervention, is revealed that, made of stone, suffering a cruel torment, in the deepest parts of Doom's Doorway, Heracles has been there for more than 2000 years, punished by Zeus, for his sins against the Amazon race... and is referred as "his greatest treasure" by the same Zeus.
Hippolyta, showing great compassion, tries to liberate him, but in a terrible fight she falls, trying to save her, the same Heracles lifts Paradise Island on his back, trying to avert the death of the beautiful eternal Queen. Diana intervenes moments later, asking Heracles the opportunity of helping him, after taking Hippolyta to the safety of the surface. Heracles is impressed by the demonstration showed by this young woman, but both are freed by the gods, with the leadership of Zeus, who finally 'forgives' Heracles, and challenging him in turn, into getting the Amazons forgiveness.
Bathed in godly light, Heracles comes to Paradise (sealing in the process forever Doom's Doorway) to carry out the task imposed on him by his godly father. Hippolyta, gives this with sincerity, and the the
majority of Amazons as well, following their majestic Queen, making him, ironically, the first man to set a foot on Paradise Island. Some days passed, and Heracles wonders if Diana may be the result of the
night that he shared in ancient times with the Queen... he feels a little dissappointed when knowing the truth behind the origin of the Princess of Paradise, and after a brief kiss, he returns to Olympus to assume once more his role among the Olympic gods.
After this events, the new god, Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips, invades Mount Olympus. The gods were absent, save for Hermes, and leave in the wake of the battle for its liberation, an smoldering carcass, not showing anymore the power and the glory of the gods. After this, the gods decide to depart the Earth in a quest for recuperating their lost pride and making new adepts. Heracles takes the position of Hermes among the Big Twelve gods of Olympus, when the God of Messengers decides to stay on Earth.
When the gods return from their cosmic migration, Circe unleashes the War of the Gods, the Roman counterparts of the Olympian pantheon invades Mount Olympus (the new one) and begin a battle that almost tears apart the very fabric of reality. Hercules, the Roman avatar of Heracles, is among the invaders.
Diana is summoned to the new Olympus, and Heracles stays on Paradise Island as defender of the tiny island. Just then, an earthquake announces the presence of an alien under the island. Heracles runs to the place were the Doom's Doorway lied (and where now was an statue honoring all the fallen Amazons) and finds with surprise, that Atlas, the titan of myth, is the responsible for this.
In the middle of the fight, they didn't realize that both of them are really not who they think they are... Heracles thinks he's facing the Greek counterpart of Atlas, and Atlas thinks is facing Hercules. Too late, they realize what is happening, but Atlas dissappears all of a sudden. Heracles is left in his place, taking once more, the whole weight of the island on himself.
Some time later, the War of the Gods comes to an end, and the island is once more a normal island, thanks to the power of Gaea. Heracles reconciles, along with the Greek gods, with their Roman counterparts, and it could be assumed that they cohabited since then.
But Heracles return some time later with a revenge. Using a magic mirror, Heracles takes the place of mortal Harold Champion with a change on his known appearance to disguise himself as the rich superstrong superhero known to the world as Harold Champion. He approaches Diana as a person who wants to help her, but Heracles is full of revenge and crazyness, since he reveals later, that he said he was sorry for his past sins, because he didn't have any other option to be freed from that place. But, in his game, he finishes to be the looser, Heracles fell in love with the brave Diana after sharing some adventures with her (among them, battling against a clone of Doomsday).
In love, Heracles is revealed in his deceit as a traitor to Diana, who can't resist the lies behind this god, who saved her after Diana almost looses her life when the Amazon gods become so far from their chosen race, that they revert to the clay from which they were spawned.
Heracles remains after this in Olympus, not clear if he was sincere on this ocassion. The original Harold Champion lives on Olympus as well.
Heracles fusioned with his Roman counterpart, Hercules, during the Genesis crisis.
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