Hercules (1997 film): Difference between revisions

* [[Disney Villain Death]]: As a god, Hades can't die, {{spoiler|but he is defeated by being [[Megaton Punch|punched]] into the river Styx, where the souls of the dead dogpile on him. He can't fall to his death, so he falls ''into'' a bunch of other people's.}}

** {{spoiler|With a darker echo of some self-serving dialogue from Pain and Panic}}:

'''Panic:''' ''If''. ''If'' is good.]] }}

** Played straight with the Cyclops.

* [[Distressed Damsel]]: [[Lampshaded]]:

'''Megara:''' I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle it. Have a nice day! }}

* [[Diving Save]]: Meg pushes Hercules out of the way of a falling pillar, {{spoiler|being crushed herself.}}

* [[The Dulcinea Effect]]: Invoked, since according to Phil it ''is'' a hero's job to save a [[Damsel in Distress]].

* [[Eagleland Osmosis]]: [[Played for Laughs]], and actually adds a [[Genius Bonus]].

* [[Eaten Alive]]: Hercules. The hydra eats him. It's clear he's still alive because A) he cuts off its head from inside and B) the film's only about halfway through.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: The Titans, pretty much.

* [[Elemental Powers]]: The Titans:

'''[[An Ice Person|Ice Titan]]:''' [[Kill It with Ice|FREEZE HIM!]]<br />

'''[[Magma Man|Lava Titan]]:''' [[I'm Melting|MELT ZEUS!]]<br />

* [[Friend to All Living Things]]: Depending on your view, it's either a subversion or a clear case of [[Disney Creatures of the Farce|Disney parodying themselves]].

* [[Friendly Address Privileges]]: Megara plays with this trope:

* [[Genre Savvy]]: {{spoiler|Hades at the end is offered Hercules's life for Meg's. It occurs to the car-dealer-type villain that it's maybe just a little too good to be true - but he's not given much time to think about it.}}

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: These scenes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNdodmliU_A

** Most of Hades' dialogue, references to [[Oedipus Rex]], just to name a few...

** Within ''the first two minutes'':

"''Our story'' actually begins long before Hercules..." }}

** Though the fat muse's nickname for Herc takes the cake:

Icelandic version: '''Sexikles'''. }}

** Don't forget Phil's reaction to the 'sundial seller'.

** The way Pain and Panic react to Hades when he finds out they didn't do the job right.

** Notable because Disney would never get away with "Oh my God", but that one little 's' that makes it a plural makes it a-okay.

** Pain's whole "my intentions were pure, I really was attracted to [[But You Screw One Goat!|you]]!" thing.

* [[Goofy Print Underwear]]: When Hercules announces to a small crowd of distressed people that he's a hero, one of the men realizes the "goat man," Phil that's with him trained Achilles. Phil tries to beat him up and ends up biting his toga, revealing white underwear with red spots. This may qualify Phil under the [[All Animals Are Dogs]] trope since that's a very dog thing of him to do.

* [[Go Seduce My Arch-Nemesis]]: After Hercules kicks the collective asses of every monster Hades sends at him, he decides to send Meg in to seduce him in order to find out what his weakness is. Predictably, she falls in love with him instead. However, this actually provides Hades with the answer to what Hercules' weakness is.

''[she turns and sees [[Explain, Explain, Oh Crap|Hades smirking at her]]]''<br />

'''Hades:''' I think he does, Meg. I truly think he does. }}

* [[Honest John's Dealership]]: Literal (the man who tries to sell sundials to Herc) and figurative (James Woods modeled Hades after a used-car salesmen).

* [[Honey Trap]]:

'''Hades:''' Oh, yeah... I wonder if maybe I haven't been throwing the ''right curves'' at him... }}

* [[Horsing Around]]: Pegasus is usually gentle with Herc. Megara, on the other hand...

* [[Pieta Plagiarism]]: This is played twice: {{spoiler|once when Hercules cradles Meg's corpse in his arms, and once when he, restored to godhood, holds her listless spirit.}}

* [[Pig Latin]]:

'''Phil:''' [[Two Words: Obvious Trope]]: '''AM-SCRAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!''' }}

* [[Playing Against Type]]: Non-acting example: The art director was Gerald Scarfe, the same person behind the nightmarish [[Deranged Animation|animation]] of ''[[The Wall]]''.

* [[Pragmatic Villainy]]: Hades main reason for wanting Hercules dead is a prophecy says he's [[The Chosen One]] who'd defeat his scheme. Otherwise he'd have left him alone.

** This is further shown in the crossover with ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''. Here Hades doesn't take it ''personally'' when Aladdin first defeats Pain and Panic. Needless to say Jafar was shocked:

'''Hades: '''"How about I ''[[Take Over the World|rule the cosmos]]'' first, and ''then'' I'll take it? }}

* [[Prophecies Rhyme All the Time]]: [[Lampshaded]]:

'''Hades:''' [[Yiddish as a Second Language|Oy]], ''verse''. }}

* [[Punctuated for Emphasis]]: "I've got 24 hours to get rid of this ''bozo'', or the entire scheme I've been setting up for 18 years goes up in smoke, and ''you. Are wearing. His. MERCHANDISE!?!''"

** Hades, just before the fight between Hercules and the Hydra: "[[Battle Cry|Let's get ready to RUMBLE!]]"

** And Hades again:

*** Followed by Hades again:

** The Muses themselves are ''very'' similar to Alan Menken's ''[[Little Shop of Horrors|other]]'' [[Little Shop of Horrors|famous]] [[Greek Chorus]].

** Don't forget the lion skin Hercules wears in one scene- it's [[The Lion King|Scar]]!

* [[Two Words: Obvious Trope]]: Phil loves them. Sadly, his math is a bit off.

** Right before [[Training Montage]], during the song, it looks like the trope is about to be played straight with the lines "Askin' me to jump into the fray/My answer is two words:" setting it to rhyme with something like "No way." Then he's [[But Thou Must!|zapped by lightning and the trope remains subverted.]]

** The Latin Spanish dub is funnier because it was the only time he actually got the count right.

* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: Meg's former lover. She gave Hades her soul for him, and he repays her ''by running off with someone else.''

* [[Yiddish as a Second Language]]: Phil and Hades. We're aware that that doesn't really make any sense. [[Rule of Funny|Most of us don't care]].

* [[You Got Spunk]]:

* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair]]: Blue, fiery hair.

* [[Younger Than They Look]]: The film begins with Hercules's birth, and the Fates inform Hades that he can release the Titans in 18 years.

* [[Old Superhero]]: Achilles' death was [[Retcon|retconned]] so that when his heel was hit he was instead crippled, and we see him as a weakened old man.

* [[Parental Bonus]]: It's DISNEY.

* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]: Icarus.

* [[Riddling Sphinx]]: The Sphinx is a quizmaster, voiced by game show host Wink Martindale. His riddle was "What does a man do standing up, a woman sitting down, and a dog on three legs?" The answer is {{spoiler|shake hands}}.<ref>This is a reference to the induction ceremony for the [[wikipedia:Ancient Order of Turtles|Turtle Club]], a real-life [[Brotherhood of Funny Hats]], where the inductee is given a series of supposedly lewd riddles and has to give the correct, family-friendly answer to each one.</ref>

* [[Ship Tease]]: Bacchus kisses the muse Thalia on the cheek in "Hercules and the Bacchanal".

* [[Shout-Out]]: So, so many.

** If he was upset back then, you've got to wonder how he'd feel [[Hilarious in Hindsight|after Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet nine years later...]]

* [[Snark Knight]]: Cassandra.