Here’s a fun Herc fact: Hercules’ Twelve Labors weren’t completed all by himself! He had help from his dear nephew, Iolaus. When Hercules faced the dreaded Hydra the first time, he had trouble knocking off all of it’s heads. While he bashed them in, Iolaus burned the wounds with a torch, ensuring the heads would not grow back.
Two heads are better than one
So who was Iolaus you ask? And why isn’t he in our game? Well, answering those questions is like opening up a box of chocolates from that weird guy who lives alone down the street – you really, really don’t want to know what you’re going to get…
Iolaus was a dear friend and gym partner of Hercules (the Theban gymnasium was named after him, and the annual Iolaeia athletic festival was held yearly in Thebes in his honor), and helped him to complete his Twelve Labors (the Hydra being most crucial).
Now, the reason that Hercules performed the Labors in the first place was as penance for murdering his own children (a terrible act he unleashed in a fit of hypnotic rage induced by the cruel Hera). After completing the twelve tasks, he would be able to get up in the morning and move on with his life. However, a big obstacle in this healing process was having to look at the angry face of his distraught wife. Rather than perform another twelve labors just for her, he did what any normal Joe would do – he gave his wife Megara (age 33) to his nephew Iolaus (age 16).
"This is kind of awkward..."
Awkward, right? Perhaps we can bring Iolaus in for a multiplayer sequel to Curse of the Hydra where they work with Dr. Phil on defeating Hercules’ nasty inner demons (this will require a whole lot more than the weapons featured in the current game)….
