The mercenary Derk had committed murder, and Hercules was bringing him to Sparta to stand trial when a terrible storm wrecked their boat. Stranded on a desolate island, Hercules pursued Derk even as a band of pirates chased them both. Fighting off hideous worm-like creatures while searching for water, Hercules and Derk reached an uneasy truce. In time, Hercules came to appreciate Derk as a man of pride and honor despite his wrongdoings. Finally arriving in Sparta and learning Derk would not get a fair trial, Hercules helped the mercenary escape - on the condition that he would change his ways.

Daedalus the inventor was consumed with guilt over the death of his son, Icarus, who had flown too close to the sun. When Hercules found his longtime friend in Euboea, the unhappy Daedalus was inventing weapons of mass destruction for the cruel King Nikolos. Hercules knew the king was taking advantage of his friend's grief. Nikolos tried to kill Hercules with Daedalus' latest creation, the Megalith, but Hercules outsmarted the king, destroying the machine and Nikolos with it. Daedalus burned his blueprints for weapons and vowed to create only things that would help mankind.

Hephaestus, the god of fire, secretly pined for Aphrodite. His devious assistant. Iagos, hatched a plan to give Hephaestus a substitute for Aphrodite in return for a powerful bronze shield. Iagos went to retrieve Leandra, a beautiful mortal who rejected Hephaestus 50 years earlier, prompting the god of fire to place her in suspended animation. Aphrodite, who had recently decided to give up matchmaking, went with Iolaus to Leandra's rescue. Iolaus destroyed Iagos and revealed he was Leandra's grandson. Meanwhile, sparks flew between Hephaestus and Aphrodite, who resumed her duties as goddess of love.

Awakened by robbers, the mummy Ishtar walked again. Hercules set out to find the mummy with Ishtar's descendant, Princess Anuket. But the evil Sokar was also after the mummy. Sokar acquired the mummy's powerful golden pendant known as the ankh from Salmoneus and prepared to take over the Egyptian throne with the unwilling Anuket at his side. But Sokar was killed by the mummy, who absorbed his life force and grew to enormous size. Hercules defeated the mummy by giving the wrappings a mighty yank, unraveling the corpse. The skeleton spun helplessly into a pool of hot wax.

When word of a female killing machine on the loose reached Iolaus, he expected to find the Enforcer. Instead he encountered the Enforcer II, a new and improved version of Hera's assassin. She mortally wounded Iolaus, whose last act was to warn Hercules. Hades sent the original Enforcer with Hercules to defeat the new assassin, but the Enforcer II complicated matters by abducting Hercules' mother. The original Enforcer fought an epic battle with her successor and lost, but Hercules managed to incinerate the new Enforcer with one of her own fireballs. Her destruction returned Iolaus to life.

Typhon, the gentle giant, and Echnida, the mother of all monsters, sent word of their newborn to Hercules. But the thief Klepto abducted the child, a squid-like creature named Obie. Klepto brought the little monster to the warlord Bluth, who had been promised power and riches if he could deliver Obie to Hera. Bluth tried to turn Obie into a killing machine, but Hercules handily defeated Bluth, who found himself impaled on his own sword. When they returned the child to Echnida, she saw Klepto's growing affection for Obie and forgave the remorseful thief.

Aphrodite was consumed but jealousy at the notion that Psyche, a mortal, was as beautiful as she. But her son, Cupid, was in love with Psyche. When Hercules was accidentally shot by Cupid's bow, making him fall in love with the girl, Cupid's jealousy transformed him into a green eyed monster. The change was not permanent, and Psyche began to return Cupid's affections. Finally Aphrodite allowed Psyche to keep her beauty on the condition that she live with Cupid on Mount Olympus. For Hercules, the spell was broken when his thoughts turned to his late wife, the only woman he ever truly loved.

The ruthless Queen Parnassa of Kastus lost her son, Millius, in battle years ago. Working with Hera, who caused Hercules to suffer amnesia, the Queen formed a plan to make the son of Zeus think he was really Millius, the leader of her bloodthirsty army. But Kirin, Hercules' ""wife"", fell completely in love with him and helped Iolaus to convince Hercules of his true identity. The mention of Deianeira, Hercules' late wife, snapped him out of it before he could pledge his loyalty to Hera. But the victory was a bittersweet one, as Hercules bid farewell to the lovely Kirin.

A dream convinced Iolaus to travel north, joining others equally compelled. Meanwhile, King Polonius and Queen Maliphone attempted to round up all the male children in the province to make sure their own child would inherit the throne. When Hercules interfered, Hera sent her Death Squad to destroy him, but Hercules and his friends vanquished the soldiers. The king was killed and the queen exiled, leaving the people free to elect their next ruler. Finally, Iolaus and the others followed a shining star to a stable, where a man and woman bent over a tiny cradle.

A dragon named Braxis was on the loose in Laurentia, destroying villages and killing warriors who had been comrades of Iolaus and Hercules. The warlord Adamis and the evil Cynea were behind the dragon's actions. They manipulated Braxis and even convinced him that Hercules and Iolaus were responsible for his mother's death. First the two heroes had to fight Braxis until they could make him understand the truth. Then Adamis attacked, accidentally killing Cynea in the fracas. Braxis engulfed Adamis in a fireball, ending the warlord's reign of terror.

King Orestes, Iolaus' cousin and identical look-alike, hoped to establish a League of Nations to bring peace to all the kingdoms in the area. But King Xenon of Garantus had other plans. His assissin killed Orestes, and Iolaus assumed his cousins identity to see the peace plan through. Thrust back into Queen Niobe's life, Iolaus and the young widow consummated their love for each other. But Xenon set Iolaus up for attempted murder and planned to slay the other kings. With Niobe's help, Iolaus foiled Xenon's plans and cleared the way for Niobe to continue her quest for peace.

Alcmene, Iphicles, Jason, Falafel and Iolaus only wanted to throw Hercules a birthday party. Instead they got poisoned by the treacherous Callisto, who was on a mission from Hera to kill Hercules. To save them, Hercules agreed to travel with Callisto to the Labyrinth of the Gods, where the Tree of Life offered a cure. When they arrived, Callisto momentarily trapped Hercules and ate from the Tree, rendering her immortal. But Hercules engaged her in a fierce battle, incapacitated her, and returned home to cure his family and friends with fruit from the Tree.

Prince Nestor wanted the golden horns and hooves of Serena, the beautiful half-woman half-deer known as the Golden Hind. Nestor also wanted to kill Hercules with an arrow dipped in the Golden Hind's blood, and that was a plan Ares could embrace. After Hercules freed the Hind from a thorn wall trap, Ares presented the blood-stained thorns to Nestor. But Hercules evaded the prince's arrows, and Nestor was killed in one of his own traps. Out of danger, Serena and Hercules acknowledged their love for each other and hoped to find a way to stay together.

Hercules asked Serena to marry him, and she found the courage to ask Ares for her freedom. But the jealous god of war was determined to destroy their relationship. Meanwhile, Serena and Hercules traveled to the Other Side to receive his deceased wife's blessing. Deianeira was hurt at first, but Hercules assured her that his love for her would last forever. Ares then acquiesced to the marriage, on the condition that Hercules give up his god-given strength and that Serena become mortal. With Iolaus serving as best man, the couple was married on the shores of a mountain lake.

Hercules found it increasingly difficult to adjust to life without his superhuman strength. Meanwhile Ares and his nephew, Strife, plotted Hercules demise which didn't help matters. Then Hercules awoke one morning to find his wife lying dead beside him, murdered. He appeared to be the murderer, but in his darkest hour, his friends Iolaus, Xena and Gabrielle came to his aid, defending him against a lynch mob and exposing Strife as Serena's killer. Zeus gave back to his son the gift of incredible strength, and Hercules defeated Strife before the evil young god escaped with Ares.

Searching for his missing cousin Regina, Iolaus and his companion, Moira, found Salmoneus instead. The craftly friend to Hercules and Iolaus had stumbled upon an underground city that appeared to be a Utopia. But the city's ruler, Kamaros, was brain-washing his subjects with opiate-laced food. Salmoneus and regina had fallen under Kamaros' spell, as had the beautiful Aurora and her 10-year old sister Lorel, whom Kamaros exalted as a supreme goddess. Before he could be ""programmed,"" Iolaus fostered a revolt. Kamaros, who was actually Karkis the Butcher of Thessaly, was slain and the commune dwellers escaped.

The year was 1789, Count Francois Demarigny was not interested in joining the French Revolution, he just wanted the lady Marie deValle's money. He pretended to be the Chartreuse Fox, and his comrades Jean-Pierre and Robert pretended to be highwaymen. But the Lady Marie outsmarted them, for she herself was the Chartreuse Fox. When she was captured by the French police and taken to the guillotine, tales of Hercules - champion of the common man - inspired Robert and his friends to take action. They freed Marie, gave strength to the peasants and vowed to continue fighting injustice.

King Augeus had gone mad. Believing himself Zeus, the King ordered Aphrodite's temple to be rededicated to Hera. The evil goddess herself offered Augeus godly powers if he could kill Hercules by sunset. Aphrodite, angered by the king's actions, stepped in to reclaim her temples and protect the townspeople. Augeus - assisted by Hera - managed to imprison Aphrodite briefly, but the goddess joined forces with Hercules and battled the king until his delusion lifted. Augeus wasn't quite back to normal, however: Now he believed he was Ulysses.

Hercules was in the middle of a fight with bullies when Autolycus stopped time. Autolycus had stolen the Cronus Stone from King Quallius' palace museum. Suddenly he traveled five years back in time. Hercules witnessed the first meeting of Ares and Serena, the Golden Hind Hercules had married and lost. When Ares tried to kill her, Hercules forced the god of war to spare the Hind's human half. Later, when he and Autolycus returned to the present, Hercules encountered Serena, now a happy wife and mother. History had changed, wiping out everything they shared together.

Princess Melissa of Alcinia didn't want to marry the corpulent Prince Gordius of Lathia, but she didn't want to be sold into slavery either. Hercules unchained Melissa and the rest of the slave girls in the marketplace. Melissa's sister, Alexa, who had orchestrated the kidnapping, killed their ailing father and tried to claim the throne for herself. She attacked Hercules with the Fist of Tolas, burying him under rocks. But Hercules survived and broke the deadly machine in half. After Alexa was locked in the dungeon, Hercules said goodbye to Melissa, who developed an attraction to Gordius after all.

Was Cassus innocent or did he really murder an entire family? Hercules was determined to find out before the angry mob lynched Cassus. After a fight, the two men found themselves trapped inside an abandoned mine. A large slab of rock pinned Cassus to the ground, crushing his lower body and condemning him to death. When Iolaus found Cassus' estranged son Nico, and brought him to his father, Cassus finally told the truth: he was indeed a murderer. He hoped his confession might save Nico from making the same terrible mistakes in his life.

After his transport ship went down at sea, Hercules found himself on the shores of Atlantis. There he met Cassandra, a beautiful woman whose premonitions told her Atlantis was doomed. But King Panthius, scorning Cassandra's warnings, arrested the young woman and her new friend Hercules. Soon they learned Panthius' crystal-powered cannon had caused Hercules' shipwreck, and enslaved sailors worked the kings crystal mines. Escaping the torture chamber, Hercules freed the sailors and came back for Cassandra. They soared away to safety in a glider as the foundation of Atlantis crumbled, destroying the island city.