Hump Day Husbandos: Heracles (Record of Ragnarok)

All Articles Features Headliners Hump Day Husbandos Manga
Lilia Hellal
March 29, 2023
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As a latecomer to Record of Ragnarok, it did not take me very long to discover a variety of potential Hump Day Husbando candidates for this weekly column, including today’s subject Heracles.

I know this isn’t Buddha’s time to shine, but maybe there will be a next time since my fiery, knuckleheaded demigod will always win over my heart. After all, this will not be the first nor the last time that I will talk about this manga.

Spoiler-free up until the last section – noted in the last heading below.

Who is Heracles?

Heracles comes into the spotlight within Record of Ragnarok before the fourth round of its battles commence. He’s a representative of the Gods as the Greek God of Fortitude. Like any fictional piece that takes creative liberties when it comes to existing mythological figures and such, Record of Ragnarok not only has Heracles’ origin as a human-turned-demigod but also as a shounen hero archetype.

Heracles is a lot of fun with this in mind, and as a gentle giant, he fights on the side of justice, regardless of his status as a demigod and fighter of the Gods. He always strove to do the right thing even before he was even turned into a God when he did not have the strength to back his words up; he always was and will forever remain a defender and protector. His morals remain steadfast even as a demigod, and theyu appear at the forefront of his motivations when tackling his one and only opponent in the series: Jack the Ripper.

Why you will love him

There are currently only two known Gods in Record of Ragnarok who want to protect humanity, while the rest of them want us all up in flames. Heracles is the wholeheartedly well-intentioned and most virtuous one of the entire lot. He is one of the few Gods to actually respect the human fighter candidates as well as being one of the only ones to be loved by nearly everyone, as seen en masse when his battle concludes.

With his motivation being to win his fight and convince the Gods to not go through with wiping out all of humanity, his good intentions and determinism know no bounds. This is because since he was once a human, he still holds unconditional love for all of humanity. He’s also an absolute unit of a tank for withstanding as much as he does while never wavering in his morals. He never falters during his battle despite sustaining some truly grisly injuries and forcing himself well over the limit of his own abilities – powers that are literally draining his life source the more times he uses them.

Why we love him (spoilers below)

Another fiery redhead? Say no more, right? Alongside a humble origin story that sees him defending those weaker and scrawnier than himself, and his determination to become stronger in order to continue his role as protector, Heracles is another iconic, hot-blooded redhead who wants to be a hero. As a guide of humanity and overall do-gooder, Heracles was effectively set up to lose for the greater good of mankind. And he not only accepted this but quite literally embraced it.

Since he always used his brute strength to win and had never fought someone who fights as dirty as Jack the Ripper does, the outcome of the battle was more than obvious from the outset. This is made a full-on example of with how he exits the series, choosing to embrace Jack the Ripper, said to be “the worst humanity has to offer” instead of going for an easy tie.

He took the loss for humanity’s sake, further solidifying how genuine, honourable and good he has and always will be. Furthermore, since he is a demigod like Brunhilde and Göll, who view him as a brother, the fact that his fate was sealed so early on due to Brunhilde’s own determination to see her goals through makes his fate all the more tragic. While his time in the series was short-lived, it’s hard to argue that the impact he had was one of the most significant in the long run. The manga panel as pictured above should be proof enough!

Read the manga now, available across retailers such as Amazon.

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