#fun fact ive been Thinking a lot about herc's sexuality the past few days because he's so. he's something.

[panhelleniios]

Name: Hercules Panhellenios 

Nickname(s): Herc, Herak, you know. Any of the names he's had in the past, within reason. Just not Heracles, thanks.  

Relationship Status: Verse dependent. Single, typically, unless otherwise established. 

Gender: Cis man

Romantic Orientation: Biromantic / Bisexual / Polyamorous

Preferred Pet Names: None, really. Call him whatever, and he tends to use partner's names rather than any pet names. 

Opinion on True Love: Absolutely believes it's real. Pretty certain it's what he had with Megara and he chases that feeling. Their relationship wasn't perfect — far from it, really, being back in ancient times and all that. He’s not sure he's had true love since then, but he wants to feel it again, even if he won't admit it out loud. 

Opinion on Love at First Sight: Attraction at first sight happens plenty for him, but love? Really only with Megara because of how smitten he was with her from the start. The fact that their marriage was arranged has no bearing on that — she was the first person he ever tried to settle down with, and he did try. 

How 'Romantic' are They?:  Once a relationship is established, very.  He'll still get affectionate and sweet on someone he's seeing casually, no doubt about that — but the lines between friendship, romantic love, and sexual attraction all blur in his head in some ways. Certain people he will only think of as platonic, and it's sort of instinctual instead of actually thought out not to cross any lines with them, but once the physical attraction is reciprocated — even without romantic intent —  he tends to get a little sappy. Even if you’re just his friend having a casual bit of fun with him, he’s likely to start being a little more sweet on you.

Ideal Physical Traits: This is a tough one to call, because Hercules doesn't entirely have a list of traits he thinks of as ideal. He can find just about anything attractive on anyone, given their personalities mesh well — and even when they don't. I'd like to say physical strength is up there, though. Confidence? An ability to stand up against him in a fight, even one just for fun? 

Ideal Personality Traits: Again, it's difficult to pin down properly. He's been with so many people that it's such a wide range — he knows he likes confidence and steadiness in battle, someone who can keep up with him and enjoy the fight at the same time. But he's also had plenty of lovers who stay far away from battle that he likes to dote on and take care of. So long as the person he's eyeing isn't downright cruel, he's bound to find something to like. There's also the matter of his tendency to like people who are smarter than him, someone who can bring a little bit of balance to his recklessness — even if you don't manage to stop him from doing something stupid.

Unattractive Physical Traits: He’s not picky. I mean, he fucked a drider once. He was also a drider in that moment but the point still stands.

Unattractive Personality Traits: Cruelty, really. That's about all I can think of — again, he's taken so many lovers over the years, but his taste does tend to veer toward the ‘morally good’ side of things. But he's had casual sex with people who have tried to kill him. Good way to cut the tension or be a distraction, I guess? (no let's be honest those interactions are solely the result of mutual sexual attraction.)

Ideal Date: Is it clear yet that Herc isn't picky? He'll consider fighting monsters as a date, but he'll also be more than happy to have casual nights out. Or in. As long as he gets to spend time with the person, he's happy. Though if he can manage to wrangle someone into taking a trip to Greece with him, he'll jump at that chance.

Do They Have a Type?: So this is something I've actually been contemplating for a bit and I'm not sure there's necessarily a word for it, but Hercules' type is … reciprocation. He can be physically and emotionally attracted to someone and keep it to a normal level of flirtation and interaction, but once it's reciprocated is when he gets really into the thought of it. 

Average Relationship Length: That's hard to gauge with a man who's thousands of years old. He's had flings, one night stands, relationships that last decades or centuries — there's no average for him. But he does cherish them. Just because he outlives someone doesn't mean he just tosses that relationship into the back of his mind forever — he'll keep mementos and cherish the memories for as long as he can. 

Preferred Non-Sexual Intimacy: A lot of touching. Cuddling, sleeping near someone, just being able to feel another person next to him. 

Commitment Level: As of his sobriety, he wants something a little more serious — more than just a one-night stand, maybe not something that winds up in marriage, something in-between. Before that it was an anything goes sort of deal. He's gotten married, divorced, and been a widower for people he's known for short amounts of time. He’s slept with people and left them for no reason other than he got bored. At times he’s been shallow about relationships, and at times he’s been deeply committed to people just because they’re nice to him. 

Opinion of Public Affection: Hercules loves it. He'll gauge based on what his partner is comfortable with, but he gets very affectionate very fast. Before his sobriety he’d gotten in trouble for public indecency, but these days he’s definitely far more conscious and a little smarter about all of that. Nonetheless he’s the type of person who wants to be touching, holding hands, an arm around a shoulder or waist, and he will bring up how impressive his partner is at any given moment. The displays of affection don't all have to be physical, after all. 

Past Relationships? Too many to count. Of course the most well-known is Megara, everyone knows he's been married before, he had kids — but that ended badly and left him a little intimidated by the idea of ever having a family again. Deinaira, Queen Omphale, Hylas, you know the drill — he was an overzealous bisexual in the ancient world who would sleep with anyone who offered. 

More modern days, his list of partners isn't any less impressive — Black Widow, She-Hulk, Snowbird, plenty of other heroes in various levels of commitment —  unfortunately the comics really used to disregard his bisexuality aside from little jokes about it (some that REALLY didn't age well at all) in some of his runs. Thankfully they've picked up on it in recent years. Noh-Varr being his latest and what seems to be a pretty decently balanced relationship is nice to see — even if they're ‘on a break’, according to some newer issues. 

And of course for 12025 verse Hercules — I can't forget him ever — he's a little more complicated. Banned from being with mortals, I don't think he even had Megara.  But he does have his Wolverine, and they're committed to a point that not even death can break them up. 

tagged by: @snkts

tagging: just steal it from me it's fun to do crime