Hephaestus

Hephaestus is the Olympian God of the forge. As the God of the forge, he can create almost any weapon imaginable; he is also the creator of Zeus' thunderbolts.

Background[]

Powers and Abilities[]

Hephaestus possesses the natural powers and abilities of an Olympian god such as:

Immortality: Hephaestus, like all of the Olympian Gods, has universal immunity from death
Omnipresence: Hephaestus, like all of the Olympian Gods, is able to be passively present everywhere
Superhuman strength: Hephaestus, like most if not all Olympians, has a level of physical strength that far surpasses the physical strength of a typical mortal.
Limited Magic: Even though Hephaestus has not been seen displaying vast amount of magic, he has shown to possess the common magical abilities of an Olympian god such as teleportation and shapeshifting.

As the god of the Forge, he is a skilled blacksmith: Hephaestus is able to forge powerful and magical weapons such as Zeus' Thunderbolts and the Armageddon Bow.

Appearances[]

Hercules[]

In the film, he has a very minor role in which he only appears in minor cameos.

In the beginning of the film, he is present for the party celebrating the arrival of Zeus and Hera's newborn child Hercules. Hephaestus, along with the other gods, was sent to find Hercules, but it was too late as the baby had already been turned into a mortal and was adopted by a mortal family. Eighteen years later, he hears the alarm from Hermes saying that the Titans have escaped Tartarus and are heading for Mount Olympus and quickly begins forging thunderbolts for Zeus, tossing a set of them up to him to use to prevent the Titans from reaching Olympus' gates as they climbed the mountain. When Zeus runs out and requests more, Hermes reports that Hephaestus has been captured with the other Olympian Gods before being captured by Pain and Panic. He is seen imprisoned with the other gods after they lost against Hades and the Titans. Luckily, he and the other gods are freed by Hercules. Once freed, Hephaestus returns to his forge and makes a fresh batch of thunderbolts to throw up to Zeus, having just been freed by Hercules, who uses them to decapitate the Rock Titan of both its heads, forcing the Titans to turn tail and attempt to flee Olympus, before Hercules sees to their demise once and for all. Hephaestus joins the other gods in celebrating Hercules returning to Olympus after regaining his god-hood by saving Megara's soul from the River Styx.

Hercules: The Series[]

Hephaestus makes a number of small appearances throughout the series, although rarely has a prominent role. He is established as being romantically involved with Aphrodite, although this is never elaborated. Usually, when Hades tries to score a date with his fiancée, Hephaestus beats Hades senseless out of jealousy.

He is also known for crafting the first diamond out a chunk of coal. Ages ago, he tasked Mr. Griff with guarding it from the mountain gnomes.

Trivia[]

Hephaestus is shown to be easily agitated whenever someone (typically Hades) attempts to flirt with Aphrodite, and will instantly appear out of nowhere when it happens.
In original Greek mythology, Hephaestus was said to be horribly ugly, born with a deformed leg in some iterations, and completely deformed in others. In the Disney version, Hephaestus is portrayed as very muscular and able-bodied, his only deformation being the Greek column that replaces his right leg from the knee down.
He is referred to by Ares as "Heph".
The hammer of Hephaestus is featured on the Once Upon a Time episode "I'll Be Your Mirror". It was taken from Mr. Gold's shop by the Evil Queen, who wanted Henry to use it but failed.
Rip Torn, who voiced Zeus in the film, would later do the voice of Hephaestus in Sony's God of War III.