Roberto Orci Television and film screenwriting How did Orci begin his career as a screenwriter? Orci and Kurtzman began their writing collaboration on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,
How was the series Hercules received by critics and fans?
How was the TV series Hercules received by critics and fans?
Orci and Kurtzman began their writing collaboration on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, after being hired by Sam Raimi. After actor Kevin Sorbo suffered a stroke, the duo were required to come up with inventive ideas to minimize his appearances on screen. Due to this work, they became show runners at the age of 24. They were also involved in the sister-series to Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess. They sought to move to writing for a network-based television series, but found this difficult. After receiving a series of negative responses, they met with J. J. Abrams who was starting work on Alias at the time. The meeting went well, and resulted in them working on the series. They would go on to work together again on the Fox science fiction series Fringe where all three were listed as co-creators.  Orci and Kurtzman received their break in writing for films in 2004, with the Michael Bay film The Island, for which they developed the spec script by Caspian Tredwell-Owen. When Kurtzman and Orci first met Bay, he asked the pair "Why should I trust you?", to which Orci replied "You shouldn't yet. Let's see what happens." While the film was not an overwhelming success, they were brought back for Bay's following film, Transformers, after producer Steven Spielberg asked them to come in for a meeting. The movie took in $710 million at the box office.  Following their work on that film, the duo were brought in to revise the script for Zack Snyder's Watchmen, in an uncredited capacity. They worked once more with Abrams, on Mission: Impossible III. When they collaborated once more with Bay for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they were under significant time pressures due to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike. Kurtzman and Orci had two weeks to outline the film, and after the strike Bay had them moved into the Hotel Casa del Mar. The hotel was six blocks away from his office, enabling Bay to conduct surprise inspections.  In the period between 2005 and 2011, the films written by Kurtzman and Orci grossed more than $3 billion, leading to Forbes describing them as "Hollywood's secret weapons". The busyness of their screenwriting careers required them to collaborate with other writers due to the number of projects they were involved in. For example, on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they teamed up with Ehren Kruger, who took over from them on the writing duties for the Transfomers franchise from Transformers: Dark of the Moon onwards. CANNOTANSWER
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Roberto Gaston Orcí (born July 20, 1973) is a Mexican-American film and television screenwriter and producer. He began his longtime collaboration with Alex Kurtzman while at school in California. Together they have been employed on television series such as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. In 2008, together with J. J. Abrams, they created Fringe. In 2013, they created Sleepy Hollow alongside Phillip Iscove. Orci and Kurtzman's first film project was Michael Bay's The Island, and due to that partnership they went on to write the scripts for the first two films of the Transformers film series. Orci first became a film producer with 2008's Eagle Eye and again with 2009's The Proposal.

He and Kurtzman since returned to working with Abrams on Mission: Impossible III and both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness. Between 2005 and 2011, Kurtzman and Orci's film projects took revenues of more than $3 billion. In April 2014, Orci and Kurtzman announced that they would only collaborate in television projects, and Orci worked on the third Star Trek film, Star Trek Beyond, until being replaced the following December. Orci created the television series Matador for the El Rey Network, but after this was initially renewed, it was cancelled at the end of the first season. Both Kurtzman and Orci continue to work as producers on the television series Limitless and Scorpion. Orci was awarded the Norman Lear Writer's Award and the Raul Julia Award for Excellence, in addition to shared awards and nominations including The George Pal Memorial Award.

Early life
Orci was born in Mexico City on July 20, 1973, to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother. Orci grew up in Mexico, and moved with his family to the United States at the age of 10. He was raised in Texas, Los Angeles and Canada.

He met his longtime friend and collaborator Alex Kurtzman when both were 17-year-old students at Crossroads, a privately funded school in Santa Monica, California. The first time they came across each other was in a film class, where they discovered each other's love for films and in particular the Steven Soderbergh film Sex, Lies, and Videotape. The duo found that they had a number of things in common, as Kurtzman had previously lived in Mexico City and the two could relate. Orci later called him an "honorary Hispanic". Orci went on to attend the University of Texas at Austin. The duo got together once again, and began to write scripts. These included one called Misfortune Cookies which Orci described as "loosely autobiographical", and Last Kiss, which Kurtzman said was their version of The Breakfast Club but was set in a lunatic asylum.

Career

Television and film screenwriting

Orci and Kurtzman began their writing collaboration on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, after being hired by Sam Raimi. After actor Kevin Sorbo suffered a stroke, the duo were required to come up with inventive ideas to minimize his appearances on screen. Due to this work, they became show runners at the age of 24. They were also involved in the sister-series to Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess. They sought to move to writing for a network-based television series, but found this difficult. After receiving a series of negative responses, they met with J. J. Abrams who was starting work on Alias at the time. The meeting went well, and resulted in them working on the series. They would go on to work together again on the Fox science fiction series Fringe where all three were listed as co-creators.

Orci and Kurtzman received their break in writing for films in 2004, with the Michael Bay film The Island, for which they developed the spec script by Caspian Tredwell-Owen. When Kurtzman and Orci first met Bay, he asked the pair "Why should I trust you?", to which Orci replied "You shouldn't yet. Let's see what happens." While the film was not an overwhelming success, they were brought back for Bay's following film, Transformers, after producer Steven Spielberg asked them to come in for a meeting. The movie took in $710 million at the box office.

Following their work on that film, the duo were brought in to revise the script for Zack Snyder's Watchmen, in an uncredited capacity. They worked once more with Abrams, on Mission: Impossible III. When they collaborated once more with Bay for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they were under significant time pressures due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Kurtzman and Orci had two weeks to outline the film, and after the strike Bay had them moved into the Hotel Casa del Mar. The hotel was six blocks away from his office, enabling Bay to conduct surprise inspections.

In the period between 2005 and 2011, the films written by Kurtzman and Orci grossed more than $3 billion, leading to Forbes describing them as "Hollywood's secret weapons". The busyness of their screenwriting careers required them to collaborate with other writers due to the number of projects they were involved in. For example, on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they teamed up with Ehren Kruger, who took over from them on the writing duties for the Transfomers franchise from Transformers: Dark of the Moon onwards.

Becoming a producer
Orci's first credit solely as a producer came with the film Eagle Eye, where he worked once again alongside Kurtzman. He said in an interview with the magazine Extra that he had previously been involved in productions where the producers had writing backgrounds and had looked to them for help, and he was happy to provide that same support to the writers on Eagle Eye. The director of the film, D. J. Caruso, praised the duo saying that "What's unusually cool about them is that they have maintained the producer-writer power that they earned in television and carried that over into the feature film area, and that is extremely rare." Following their work on Eagle Eye, they were executive producers on the Sandra Bullock film, The Proposal.

Despite their film careers, Orci and Kurtzman continued to create television series. These included Sleepy Hollow, which they developed alongside Phillip Iscove. They pitched the series to a number of networks, and it was picked up by Fox. Orci took five years to bring the series Matador to television, with it originating from a conversation with his cousin Andrew. It was created for Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network, and Rodriguez's one demand of the show was that he could direct the pilot episode. Orci later explained in an interview that it was an easy decision, and he needed to pretend to consider it.

Orci and Kurtzman also worked together as executive producers on the animated television series, Transformers: Prime, due to their involvement with the live action movies. Following the end of the series they were hopeful to be involved in a future animated series based on the premise, which Orci saw less like a reboot of the show and more of a continuation in a different guise. He felt that while Prime was sophisticated, there were concerns that it was leaving younger viewers behind because of its complexity and intensity.

Star Trek reboot
Orci and Kurtzman were asked to write the script for a new Star Trek film, but initially turned it down despite Orci being a fan of the series. Orci suggested rebooting the timeline as seen previously in the films and television series, and adding the return of Leonard Nimoy as Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series. He considered the first two films in the reboot series to be the origin story for the crew, and that the third film would start where the crew was at the beginning of Star Trek: The Original Series. Orci felt that the relationship between the James T. Kirk and the younger Spock was reflective of the partnership of himself and Kurtzman, he said that "We didn't even realize we were writing about ourselves until we were halfway through the script, that was a little embarrassing.

Star Trek was profitable at the domestic box-office, resulting in a sequel being greenlit by the studio and Kurtzman and Orci being asked to write it. The studio set aside a larger budget for the sequel, which was revealed by Orci in an interview with TrekMovie.com. Orci ruled out the "hero quitting" staple of a second movie, which had featured in the Transformers sequel, saying that the crew of the Enterprise were committed and that type of story does not have to apply to all sequels. During the buildup to the film, called Star Trek Into Darkness, Orci was one of the production team who did not give much away about the villain in the film and denied that Benedict Cumberbatch was to play Khan Noonian Singh.

The criticism of the sequel resulted in Orci posting controversial comments on a Star Trek fan site. In response to a fan upset over Into Darkness, Orci called him a "shitty fan". He later apologized and deactivated his Twitter account.

Breakup of the partnership
In April 2014, Orci and Kurtzman confirmed to Variety that they are no longer going to work together on film projects but will still collaborate on television. Kurtzman wanted to work on the Spider-Man film franchise, while Orci was linked to the directorial role for Star Trek 3. Orci confirmed later that year in July that he was not involved in the production of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 alongside Kurtzman. Orci and Kurtzman's K/O Paper Products continues to operate as a production company within CBS Television Studios, and has created the series Scorpion inspired by the life of Walter O'Brien for the 2014-15 season and Limitless was created for the 2015-16 season from the 2011 film.

Prior to the split of Kurtzman and Orci, the duo were lined up to write the third film in the new Star Trek series. In May 2014, Skydance and Paramount Pictures announced that Orci was to direct the third installment of the Star Trek reboot franchise, after Abrams moved on to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This would have marked Orci's directorial debut, and he was to write the script alongside co-writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay. Due to his commitment to Star Trek 3, he dropped out of a new Power Rangers film, for which he would have been executive producer. But on December 5, it was announced he would no longer be directing the Star Trek film. He remains credited as a producer on the film, and was replaced by Doug Jung and cast member Simon Pegg as the script writers after Orci's initial script was dropped. Orci was replaced as director by Justin Lin, who had previously directed films in The Fast and the Furious franchise.

Orci created Matador with the idea that the main character would be a "soccer player by day who is a spy by night", and called him a "Latin James Bond". The series was broadcast on the El Rey Network created by Robert Rodriguez. It was renewed for a second season shortly before the pilot was broadcast, which had been directed by Rodriguez. But following the production of the first season, the series was cancelled despite the earlier renewal. This decision was blamed on poor international sales.

In March 2020, it was reported that Roberto Orci was hired by Sony to write a script for a untitled Marvel film that would set in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters

Personal life
 Orci married actress and screenwriter Adele Heather Taylor on June 6, 2020 in a private ceremony.  They work together as screenwriters and producers.

Awards and accolades
The Hollywood Reporter listed Orci as one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood of 2007. His first solo accolade was the Norman Lear Writer's Award at the Imagen Awards in 2009. He described the experience of receiving an award without Kurtzman as "bizarre". Orci has also been awarded the Raul Julia Award for Excellence by the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. Together with Kurtzman, Orci won The George Pal Memorial Award at the 2010 Saturn Awards.

Orci and Kurtzman were both honored by the nonprofit organization Chrysalis at the Butterfly Ball on June 8, 2013. The organization raises money for homeless people and low-income families, Orci said that "When you hear the life stories from people right here in our own community, who are clients at Chrysalis, and when you come to learn of their lowest moments and how Chrysalis has led to their proudest triumphs, it's easy to see why this local organization is so impactful."

In 2017, Orci was the recipient of the "Visionary Impact Award" by the National Hispanic Media Coalition. This award is given out by the organization for "Latinos making outstanding contributions to the positive portrayals of Latinos in film and TV".

Filmography

Films

Television credits

References

External links

1973 births
Living people
Mexican emigrants to the United States
American people of Cuban descent
Television producers from California
American television writers
American male television writers
Mexican people of Cuban descent
Mexican screenwriters
Writers from Mexico City
University of Texas at Austin alumni
Showrunners
Crossroads School alumni
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American screenwriters
American conspiracy theorists
20th-century American male writers
Heracles, also known as Hercules, is a Greek and Roman mythological hero known for his strength and far-ranging adventures. He is one of the most commonly portrayed figures from classical mythology in the popular culture of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Filmography

Italian, 1950s–60s

A series of nineteen Italian Hercules movies of the "Sword and sandal" film genre were made in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The first and most successful of these was Hercules, starring Steve Reeves. Other actors who played Hercules in these films were Gordon Scott, Kirk Morris, Mickey Hargitay, Mark Forest, Alan Steel, Dan Vadis, Brad Harris, Reg Park, Peter Lupus (billed as Rock Stevens), and Michael Lane. The films are listed below by their American release titles, and the titles in parentheses are the original Italian titles with English translation.  
 
Hercules (Le fatiche di Ercole / The Labors of Hercules, 1958) starring Steve Reeves
Hercules Unchained (Ercole e la regina di Lidia / Hercules and the Queen of Lydia, 1959) starring Steve Reeves
Goliath and the Dragon (La vendetta di Ercole / The Revenge of Hercules, 1960) starring Mark Forest (this Hercules film had its title changed to Goliath when it was distributed in the U.S.)
Hercules Vs The Hydra (Gli amori di Ercole / The Loves of Hercules, 1960) co-starring Mickey Hargitay & Jayne Mansfield
Hercules and the Captive Women (Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide / Hercules at the Conquest of Atlantis, 1961) starring Reg Park (alternate U.S. title: Hercules and the Haunted Women)
Hercules in the Haunted World (Ercole al centro della terra / Hercules at the Center of the Earth) 1961 (directed by Mario Bava) starring Reg Park
Hercules in the Valley of Woe (Maciste contro Ercole nella valle dei guai / Maciste vs Hercules in the Vale of Woe) starring Frank Gordon as Hercules, 1961
Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules (Ulisse contro Ercole / Ulysses vs Hercules) starring Mike Lane, 1962
The Fury of Hercules (La furia di Ercole / The Fury of Hercules) starring Brad Harris, 1962  (alternate U.S. title: The Fury of Samson)
Hercules, Samson and Ulysses (Ercole sfida Sansone / Hercules Challenges Samson) starring Kirk Morris, 1963
Hercules vs Moloch (Ercole contro Molock / Hercules vs Molock)  starring Gordon Scott, 1963 (a.k.a. The Conquest of Mycenae)
Son of Hercules in the Land of Darkness (Ercole l'invincibile / Hercules the Invincible) starring Dan Vadis, 1964. (This was originally a Hercules film retitled "Son of Hercules" for inclusion in the U.S. syndicated television package The Sons of Hercules).
Hercules vs The Giant Warriors (il trionfo di Ercole / The Triumph of Hercules) starring Dan Vadis, 1964  (alternate U.S. title: Hercules and the Ten Avengers)
Hercules Against Rome (Ercole contro Roma / Hercules vs Rome) starring Alan Steel, 1964
Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun (Ercole contro i figli del sole / Hercules vs the Sons of the Sun) starring Mark Forest, 1964
Samson and His Mighty Challenge (Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus: gli invincibili / Hercules, Samson, Maciste and Ursus: The Invincibles) starring Alan Steel as Hercules, 1964 (a.k.a. Combate dei Gigantes or Le Grand Defi)
Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (Ercole contro i tiranni di Babilonia / Hercules vs the Tyrants of Babylon) starring Rock Stevens,  1964
Hercules and the Princess of Troy (No Italian title) starring Gordon Scott, 1965 (a.k.a. Hercules vs the Sea Monster)  --- This U.S./ Italian co-production was made as a pilot for a Charles Band-produced TV series that never materialized & it was later distributed as a feature film.
Hercules the Avenger (Sfida dei giganti / Challenge of the Giants) starring Reg Park, 1965 (This film was composed mostly of re-edited footage from the two 1961 Reg Park Hercules films.)

A number of English-dubbed Italian films that featured the Hercules name in their title were never intended to be Hercules movies by their Italian creators.
Hercules Against the Moon Men, Hercules Against the Barbarians,  Hercules Against the Mongols and Hercules of the Desert were all originally Maciste films in Italy. (See "Maciste" section below)
Hercules and the Black Pirate and Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas were both originally Samson movies in Italy. (See "Samson" section below)
Hercules, Prisoner of Evil was originally an Ursus film in Italy. (See "Ursus" section below)
Hercules and the Masked Rider was actually originally a Goliath movie in Italy. (See "Goliath" section below)
None of these films in their original Italian versions involved the Hercules character in any way. Likewise, most of the Sons of Hercules movies shown on American TV in the 1960s had nothing to do with Hercules in their original Italian versions.

Other films

The Warrior's Husband (1933), directed by Walter Lang, in which Hercules, played by Tiny Sandford, is a clumsy, cowardly, comic character.
The Popeye the Sailor cartoon Greek Mirthology portrays Popeye as Hercules.
The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962), American comedy with the Three Stooges and Samson Burke playing Hercules.
Jason and the Argonauts (1963), with Hercules as a member of crew of the Argo, searching for the golden fleece but leaving before they get there.
Hercules (1964), Indian Hindi-language adventure film by Shriram in the style of the Italian peplums, starring Dara Singh in the titular role of the hero.
Son of Hercules (1964), another Indian film in Hindi by Sultan. It follows the story of Hercules' son and his fight with a dragon.
Tarzan Aur Hercules (1964), Indian Hindi-language action film by Mahmood, featuring a character based on Hercules who helps Tarzan win a princess.
Sheba and Hercules (1967), Indian Hindi-language action film by B. S. Chowdhary. It features characters with allusions to Hercules and the Queen of Sheba.
Hercules in New York (1970), with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Hercules (1983) and its sequel The Adventures of Hercules (1985) with Lou Ferrigno as the title character.
Hercules and the Amazon Women (1994), Star Kevin Sorbo
Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (1994), Star Kevin Sorbo
Hercules and the Circle Fire (1994), Star Kevin Sorbo
Hercules in the Underworld (1994), Star Kevin Sorbo
Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur (1994), Star Kevin Sorbo
Hercules (1997), American animated feature, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation.
The Amazing Feats of Young Hercules (1997), in which Hercules must complete four feats of heroism with his weasel companion Falina.
Jason and the Argonauts (2000), in which Hercules (Brian Thompson) travels all the way to Colchis with the Argonauts.
Little Hercules (2009), Little Hercules travels from Mt. Olympus to live life as a mortal in Los Angeles played by Richard Sandrak.
Immortals (2011), in which Heracles is played as one of the Olympian gods by Steve Byers.
The Legend of Hercules (2014), directed by Renny Harlin and played by Kellan Lutz.
Hercules (2014), directed by Brett Ratner and played by Dwayne Johnson. Based on the comic series by Steve Moore.
Hercules Reborn (2014), directed by Nick Lyon and played by John Morrison.

Television
 The Mighty Hercules, an animated series produced in 1963 by Adventure Cartoon Productions in connection with Trans-Lux Television.
 Space Sentinels (1977)
 The Freedom Force (TV Series) (1978)
 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, a TV series and several made-for-television movies in 1995–1999 starring Kevin Sorbo.
 Hercules: The Animated Series, a TV series based upon the 1997 Disney film.
 Young Hercules, a spin-off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys which aired on Fox Kids from September 12, 1998 to May 12, 1999, starring Ryan Gosling.
 Hercules (TV miniseries), a 2005 television mini-series done by Hallmark Entertainment.
 Hercules is the mentor and ancestor of Herry Hercules from Class of the Titans.
 Hercules appears in the BBC One series Atlantis where he is portrayed by Mark Addy.
 Hercules appears in the ABC fantasy drama Once Upon a Time, portrayed by Jonathan Whitesell.
 Hercules appears in the animated series DuckTales reboot, this version of him is depicted as a stork.

Video games and pinball
 Hercules (1979), Popularly considered to be the largest pinball machine made, Hercules was an oversized pinball machine released by Atari.
 The Return of Heracles (1983) is a video game designed by Stuart Smith and released for Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 computers.  It is a turn-based adventure/rpg designed around the Twelve Labours of Heracles, though you could play as any or all of several characters including Pegasus and Achilles. Its design is similar to Smith's earlier game Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
 Hercules is the title character of the Hercules no Eikō series (1987-2008)
 Glory of Heracles (2008), a video game for the Nintendo DS, in which you play a boy who lost his memories but is believed to be Heracles.  Along his journey, he finds that others have also lost their memories and also believes they are Heracles.  The game's story plot does not reflect the actual story of the mythology.
 Disney's Hercules (1997), based on the animated film of the same name.
A variation of the Disney version appears as a supporting character in Kingdom Hearts (2002) (voiced by Sean Astin), Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004), Kingdom Hearts II (2005) (voiced by Tate Donovan), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009), Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (2010) (voiced by Josh Keaton), Kingdom Hearts coded (2008), and Kingdom Hearts III (2019) (voiced by Tate Donovan).
 Herc's Adventures (1997) is a comedy adventure-role-playing video game on the PlayStation where you must complete many tasks, many of which are not actually credited to Hercules anywhere else (such as slaying Medusa).
 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (2000), based upon the TV series of the same name. Released to Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. The game pits Hercules against his evil half-brother Ares.
 Empire Earth (2001) features a character named Hierakles in the first mission of the Greek campaign, where he is the chieftain of an Anatolian tribe who must lead his people to Thessaly before the winter season sets in.
 Hercules (as Heracles) is a hero character in Age of Mythology (2002) and Age of Empires: Mythologies (2008) for the Nintendo DS.
 In the Japanese visual novel Fate/stay night (2004) as well as its anime adaptation, Hercules (as Heracles) appears as the Berserker servant (voiced by Tadahisa Saizen), one of seven heroic spirits summoned to fight in the Holy Grail War. He has twelve lives to represent the twelve labors he underwent for immortality.
 Heracles: Battle with the Gods (2006) is a Nintendo DS & PlayStation 2 game where he must free Pegasus from the clutches of his uncle the evil god Poseidon.
 DragonFable (2006) by Artix Entertainment features a parody of the 12 labours in the form of a quest chain set by a chicken/cow god named Zeuster.
 Rise of the Argonauts (2008), a video game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Hercules appears as one of Jason's Argonauts during the game, as a NPC party character.
 God of War III (2010), Hercules is a boss character and half-brother of the main character Kratos. He is portrayed as sinister and jealous of Kratos, believing Kratos was Zeus' favored son and comparing Kratos' tasks to have been more intense than Hercules' Twelve Labours. Hercules fights Kratos to claim the throne as God of War, which was left vacant after Zeus stripped Kratos of his powers, declaring it his thirteenth unofficial and final labour. He was voiced by Kevin Sorbo, who "reprised" the role from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Kratos himself has some similarities to Hercules, specifically performing tasks for the gods to gain atonement for slaying his own family.
 God of War: Ascension (2013), Hercules appears in the multiplayer mode on the map called Forum of Hercules, modeled after the location of the boss fight in God of War III. Here, he acts as an environmental obstacle for players, and is the final boss for the Trials of the Gods game mode. Kevin Sorbo reprised the role.
 Smite (2014), a video game in which he is known as the "Champion of Rome". He is depicted as a tall broad-shouldered man in his thirties with a tiny head and a humongous club. He also has another appearance, called a 'skin', which allow players to battle as a buff Kevin Sorbo with a beard and make exaggerated jokes about sorbets.
 Assassin's Creed Odyssey DLC "The Fate of Atlantis: Torment of Hades" (2019), a video game in which the protagonist fights Hercules armed with his club, in Tartarus.

Books
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: in this series by Rick Riordan, Hercules is portrayed negatively in The Titan's Curse, receiving help in getting the Golden Apples but giving no credit to his helpmate, Zoe Nightshade. He appears again as a minor antagonist in The Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena.
 In author Kevin Given's novel Last Rites: The Return of Sebastian Vasilis. Thor/Hercules is an immortal that was struck by lightning several times and is now a special needs immortal that refers to himself as "The Greek god Thor." While in ancient Greece he was revered as Heracles and then in Norway he was worshipped as the thunder god which has led to his confusion about the past.
 In Henry Lion Oldie's Achaean Cycle Heracles (along with his brother Iphicles) is the protagonist of "A Hero Must Be Alone". The novel omits his labours and focuses on Amphitryon's rivalry with Zeus which motivates him to raise both Heracles and Iphicles equally heroic, despite having to falsely admit that Heracles is Zeus's son. Heracles (or Iphicles, which is left unclear) also appears in Oldie's "Odysseus Son of Laertes".

Comic books

Hercules, a 1941 DC Comics appearance in the first Wonder Woman story
Hercules, a 1958 Dell comic adapting the film from the same year
Hercules Unchained, a 1959 Dell comic adapting the sequel to the 1958 film
 The Mighty Hercules, a 1963 Gold Key comic based on the animated series of the same name
 Journey into Mystery Annual #1, a 1965 Marvel Comics comic which featured the debut of Hercules, a character who appeared in many other titles, including his own series
Hercules: Adventures of the Man-God, a 1967 Charlton comic
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, a 1996 Topps comic based on the TV series of the same name
Hercules, a 2008 Radical comic by Steve Moore

Manga and anime
 In the manga One Piece, the character Kozuki Oden bears a resemblance to Heracles. They both possessed tremendous strength since infancy and had numerous affairs with women. Some of Oden's actions are even based on the Twelve Labors of Heracles:
 Oden defeating the Mountain God is based on the fourth labor, the capture of the Erymanthian Boar.
 Oden's attempt to help the Flower Capital citizens during a great drought by diverting a river to the city is based on the fifth labor, cleaning the Augean stables in a single day. Unlike Heracles, Oden's action ended in disaster.
 Both were rejected and disowned by one of their family members (Heracles' nemesis was Hera and Oden was disowned by his father, Kozuki Sukiyaki).
 Both were sailors (Heracles was part of the Argonauts and Oden sailed with the Whitebeard Pirates and Roger Pirates).
 Both had fathers who were rulers of their respective domains (Heracles's father was Zeus, King and ruler of Olympus; Oden's father was the head of the Kozuki family and shogun of Wano).

Music
 Hercules and Omphale or The Power of Love is a "classical extravaganza" which premiered at Royal St. James's Theatre in London on 26 December 1864. Written by William Brough, with music composed and arranged by Wallerstein, the piece was directed by Charles Matthews. 
 "Hercules and his gifts" are mentioned in "Something Just Like This" by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay.
 Hercules (musical) is a 2019 broadway musical based on the 1997 Disney animated film.
Hercules (Handel) is a musical drama composed in 1744 by George Frideric Handel.
The Choice of Hercules (Handel) is an oratorio in three acts composed in 1750 by Handel.
Hercules is mentioned in the song "Surface Pressure", performed by Jessica Darrow, in Disney's Encanto when Luisa says "Was Hercules ever like 'Yo I don't want to fight Cerberus'".

See also
 Maciste
 Lockheed C-130 Is a military transport aircraft also named Hercules
 5143 Heracles a binary asteriod

References 

 
Classical mythology in popular culture Snoopy Coaster is a mobile endless runner game developed by CGMatic and published by Chillingo for iOS and Android devices in March 2013. An installment in the Peanuts video game series, the game sees the player controlling Snoopy, who drives a roller coaster train through multiple different environments, most commonly a theme park.

Snoopy Coaster received mixed reception from critics, who criticized how the game was "almost a re-release" of CGMatic's 2012 title Madcoaster, which some felt had "simple" gameplay. Critics were more positive towards how the game could be nostalgic for Peanuts fans. On June 2, 2013, Snoopy Coaster was the best-selling free game on iOS systems in multiple countries.

Gameplay 

Snoopy Coaster is an endless runner game and sees the player controlling Snoopy, who drives a roller coaster train through different locations, such as a theme park and haunted house. The train features the Peanuts characters Charlie Brown, Linus van Pelt, Peppermint Patty, and Lucy van Pelt as passengers. The game is score-based, with the player's score increasing the longer they keep the train from crashing. Another way the player can increase their score is by collecting coins, which are scattered throughout the game.

While driving, players will come across different obstacles and roller coaster elements, such as a triple vertical loop.  Multiple objects and animals will also appear throughout the game, which also increases the player's score when hit with the train.

Development and release 
Snoopy Coaster was developed by CGMatic, who had previously also developed Madcoaster, which had similar gameplay to Snoopy Coaster. The game was published by Chillingo, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts.

Snoopy Coaster was first announced in early March 2013 and was set to release later the same month. The game later released on March 21 on mobile devices, with a launch price of $0.99. The game was later made free on May 2. Later, at an unknown time, Snoopy Coaster was removed from the App Store.

Reception 

Snoopy Coaster received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the game for being almost identical to Madcoaster. Some critics noted how the game could have a nostalgia factor for Peanuts fans, with AppSpy David Flodline only giving Snoopy Coaster a better review score than Madcoaster due to him being a fan of the Peanuts franchise.

The gameplay of Snoopy Coaster has been described by critics as simple. Pocket Gamer Mark Brown felt that the game would keep players "hooked" longer than most other endless runner games, due to its simple premise. AOL Brandy Shaul attributed the game's supposed simplicity to its easiness, writing that "the game is so simple and easy that it's not unheard of to earn more than 1,000 coins in a single run".

The game's voice lines received mixed reception; Pocket Gamer felt that they were "annoyingly repetitive", while AppSpy praised the voices for giving personality to the game's characters, while still agreeing that they would grow repetitive. AppSpy also praised the game's soundtrack, calling it "amazing".

Critics felt that Snoopy Coaster would be especially enjoyed by Peanuts fans, with David Flodline of AppSpy writing that all of his enjoyment from the game came from his love for the Peanuts intellectual property. AOL, however, felt that players didn't need to be Peanuts fans to enjoy the game due to Snoopy Coaster being a "slower [and] easier game that's perfect for those that are unfamiliar with the [endless running] genre's previously released games".

Snoopy Coaster has been frequently compared to Madcoaster due to the two game's similar gameplay. Pocket Gamer wrote that Snoopy Coaster is "little more than Peanuts-themed remake" of Madcoaster, citing identical design, interface, and objectives.

References 

2013 video games
IOS games
Android (operating system) games
Endless runner games
Single-player video games
Video games developed in the United States
Video games based on Peanuts