Iolaus

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Character
Name: Iolaus
Occupation: Warrior, Blacksmith
Relationships: Hercules (best friend)
Fandom: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Young Hercules
Other: played by Michael Hurst
Young Iolaus played by Dean O'Gorman
"black and white drawing of Iolaus in his shirtless vest, a bow and quiver of arrows at his back"
Michael Hurst - Iolaus by amberj8 (2014)
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Iolaus is a fictional character and the deuteragonist of the television show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, portrayed by Michael Hurst. In the show, he is Hercules' sidekick and best friend.

Iolaus also appears in the spinoffs Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus, Xena: Warrior Princess and Young Hercules, with Iolaus being portrayed by Dean O'Gorman in Young Hercules.

Iolaus is a well liked character within the fandom for the show, and was often the focus of mailing lists and individual fan sites in the 1990s and early 2000s. In fanworks, he is a popular target for whump and hurt/comfort.

Canon

Iolaus is the best friend of the demigod Hercules, and grew up with him in the same village. They went to Cheiron's Academy together, fought in their first war together, and have traveled through Greece to deal with monsters, warlords, gods and demons together ever since.

Like many characters in the Hercules and Xena universes, Iolaus' backstory is inconsistent[1]. In the TV movie, 'Amazon Women', he marries Ania, and Hurst mentioned in an interview that he was told Iolaus had two sons with her. However, within the Legendary Journey series, it is revealed his wife died and a reference to one child is made. The only reference to parenthood takes place in a single episode and is never discussed again, then seems to be retconned entirely by season three.

Iolaus dies four times within the canonical universe of Hercules, with his fourth and final death causing strong reactions from fans as it appeared to be permanent. Many had come to believe that the show would never keep Iolaus dead. This later turned out to be true, when the showrunners brought Iolaus back one last time before the show's final season.

In late 1997, a fan on alt.tv.hercules reviewed and discussed Iolaus-centric episodes, see Iolausian Episodes.

Fandom

Most of the early fandom around Iolaus, and the series, was located on mailing lists and small individual H:tLJ fan sites and archives, like The Iolausian Library, most of which are now defunct. A few, including the Less Than Legendary Journeys, survive and several stories are now archived at AO3.

Fanon and Fannish Debates

  • Eye Color: While the actor who portrayed Iolaus has gray green eyes, Michael Hurst occasionally wore blue contact lenses "to mess with the fans." He wore the contacts in just a few episodes but they included a few memorable ones. As a consequence, the Iolaus that was written about in fandom had very bright, very blue eyes. His blue eyes are often a key point in the description of the character. In bad writing, he has blue "orbs". Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) actually has blue eyes, which may also account for the fan writer insistence on a blue-eyed Iolaus.
  • Golden Hunter: This epithet was never attached to Iolaus on the show, but it became very popular in fandom, to the extent that Iolaus is often called just 'the hunter' in fanfic. (And never, for example, 'the warrior' or 'the mortal', or even 'the blacksmith'.) The fanon apparently got back to the show's creators, which resulted in official "Iolaus, the Golden Hunter" T-shirts.
  • Pallid Hunter: We Always Hurt the One We Love, an essay by Helena Handbasket, which describes (and derides) the fanon where Iolaus is a wimpy, pathetic figure who always needs to be rescued, and who is treated appallingly badly by Hercules.
  • Iolaus' sons: most fanfic that deals with Iolaus' and Ania's ill-fated offspring suggest one child, almost always a son. Sometimes there are two sons, sometimes three. In an interview, Michael Hurst stated that he was told that Iolaus had two sons, and in Maze of the Minotaur Iolaus refers to the difficulties of being a single parent after Ania's death. The children are never mentioned again.

Common Tropes and Storylines in Fanworks

  • Hurt/Comfort: Iolaus is popular character to be whumped in fanworks. He is usually comforted by Hercules or other characters. These stories were sometimes labelled FSFI (Feel Sorry For Iolaus). Also see Cult of the Pallid Hunter.
  • Kidnapping: it was a common trope to have Iolaus kidnapped or captured by villains, these stories could include torture and other dark elements. Many stories often resolved with a big rescue from Hercules.
  • Adventure: similar to canon, where he defends those in need, usually beside Hercules
  • Episode Codas: expanding on individual episodes and sometimes dealing with the aftermath of canon events. The Iolausian Writer's Circle had challenges connected to various episodes.
  • Young Iolaus: these stories can be set within the Young Hercules series, or completely fan-created, with a focus on Iolaus as a child, teen and young adult. Before the introduction of the Young Hercules film Iolaus' background was a little bit fuzzy, aside from being Hercules' childhood friend, so fans would try and fill in the gaps.
  • Pre-canon: these fanworks usually take place post Young Hercules and before the beginning of The Legendary Journeys usually when Iolaus was marred to his wife Ania.
  • Iolaus' deaths: Iolaus died and then was resurrected a few times on the series, before his final death at the beginning of season 5, which many at the time thought was permanent. Many fanworks will try and deal with this and the effects it could have had on Iolaus and those around him. Although, it is not unusual for some fans to ignore his death completely in their fanworks,
  • Resurrection: after Iolaus' canonical death in season five, which many at the time believed was permanent, it was popular to write fic where he was resurrected in some fashion.
  • Height Difference, fans describing Iolaus with the epithet, "little" or "little buddy": From a 2000 essay: "One thing in Hercules fanfiction that will cause me to hit the back button faster than almost anything else is Hercules calling Iolaus 'little buddy.'" [2]

Pairings

Iolaus is shipped in a large number of pairings, including slash (Hercules/Iolaus, Iolaus/Ares, Iolaus/Autolycus, and other pairings), and het (Iolaus/Ania, Iolaus/Niobe, Iolaus/Nebula, Iolaus/Xena, Iolaus/Gabrielle, and many others).

There are also Reader/Iolaus fanworks, primarily for the Young Hercules Iolaus, as portrayed by Dean O'Gorman. The annual Dean O'Gorman focused fan event, Deano Bingo, sometimes includes these pairings as well as Iolaus/Original Character fanworks.

His most popular pairing is Hercules/Iolaus. Unlike in many other fandoms of its time, the sexual undercurrent between Hercules and Iolaus was quietly acknowledged by the actors and everyone involved, if only because in myth, Heracles had sex with everybody including Iolaus, who was his nephew and charioteer.

There was also a large gen fandom focused on Iolaus' friendships, the most popular being Iolaus & Hercules.

Reactions and analysis by fans

Sidekick role

Iolaus was sometimes described in reviews as being in the role of 'goofy sidekick', but many fans felt that there is less of a serious partner and goofy partner dynamic between Hercules and Iolaus than in other partnerships[3]. Iolaus has realistic and relatable character strengths and flaws – the latter of which lead to key events in canon, such as him being manipulated by Xena to turn on Hercules – and fans feel this offers his character greater depth than just a comedic sidekick[4].

I’d rank Iolaus as being one of the best sidekicks in any series. Normally the sidekick is I think the hardest character to get right. On the one hand nobody really likes a useless sidekick whose sole job is just to get captured, but at the same time, absolutely nobody likes a sidekick who completely undermines the main hero of the show and makes them look weak (I’m looking at you Clara Oswald and Wesley Crusher.)

Iolaus was the right balance of being a vital asset to Hercules, and being a strong enough character to actually carry episodes on his own when need be (such as during series 4 when Kevin Sorbo was ill) but he never completely undermined the main hero either and always remained perfectly likable.

burrunjorsramblesandbabbles [5]

However, while most fans recognised and enjoyed Iolaus as the sidekick character, some also felt that the dynamic between Hercules and Iolaus was meant to portray the fact that Hercules never thought of Iolaus as his sidekick, instead seeing him as his equal in their journey.

Iolaus is a pretty great guy too–a little more flawed, a little more apt to lose his temper or do something foolish, but absolutely someone you’d like to know.

And here’s something I think is important–I think anyone watching the show can pretty clearly see that Iolaus is Hercules’ sidekick. After all, Hercules is the one with his name in the title, and usually he’s the one who does just a little bit more, and is just a little bit better. BUT–I don’t think Hercules knows that Iolaus is his sidekick. I think he would maintain that he and Iolaus are equal partners. It wouldn’t be false modesty–it would be very sincere. I think that makes a difference in the character, and in the feel of the show.

Tales of the Marvelous [6]

As can happen in shows with a human character amidst supernatural or superhuman character, some fans were drawn to Iolaus' character specifically because he was fighting alongside a demigod and against powerful beings and creatures, all while being human and therefore much more vulnerable.

I also thought Iolaus was the more interesting character on Hercules, and Gabrielle was more interesting on Xena, since neither one had super powers, but hung in there and tried to save the world anyway.

mostly_nameless [7]

Michael Hurst himself discussed how managing the portrayal of the human sidekick "everyman", who would need to be rescued by Hercules from time-to-time, was an important aspect of balancing their core dynamic of the show. By using the strengths and flaws that many fans found interesting about Iolaus, the show was able to create realistic situations out of Iolaus's flaws:

During his adventures with Hercules, the everyman hero lolaus often found himself in over his head and requiring the aid of his halfgod best friend. Although Hurst is well aware of lolaus’ constant reliance on Hercules, he is philosophical about the way his character was used in the series.

“In terms of modern writing for this kind of genre, there are prescribed things the sidekick must do to feed into the hero’s dilemma,” he notes. “It’s the job of the hero to rescue the sidekick. And one of the things we found early on was that we could let lolaus be too hot-headed and quick-tempered, and suffer from things like hubris and pride. They were nice things to be tempered by Hercules' calm, more rational deal. That was a natural foil.”

Interview with Michael Hurst, Xena: Warrior Princess featuring Hercules #9. [8]

In addition to being rescued multiple times by Hercules, Iolaus was also kidnapped on multiple occasions, otherwise found himself in some kind of difficulty, or was the recipient of injuries - fatal or otherwise. This, alongside his sense of pride, and the the feelings of inadequacy or jealousy that sometimes arose due to him being in the sidekick role to a demigod, offered the opportunity for a considerable amount of angst to be explored in fanworks, which many fans did. For their episodic challenges[9], the Iolausian Writer's Circle often used prompts building on the scenes evoking angst or where Iolaus had been canonically whumped, or the prompt involved changing character roles so Iolaus became the recipient of more suffering. These prompts all had multiple submissions.

Season 4 death & alternate universe Iolaus

Iolaus dies for the fourth and final time on-screen at the beginning of season 5, to the great disappointment of his fans. His previous three deaths were all resolved quickly in canon, with the intervention of gods or Hercules restoring his life. However, his death at the beginning of season 5 was originally planned to be permanent, and so the story-lines throughout the season all seemed to reinforce that this death was not being reversed.

Iolaus from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Hercules' best friend since childhood, his companion. Iolaus has more virtues and vices than I can list here at this hour.

He's the kind of person you want to know, the kind of person you want to be. As human as it gets, in the best of ways. Mostly. And a hero in his own right.

He died a lot.... I cried every single time. But you get used to him being ressurected, and then suddenly... ;___;

karneol_vision [10]

Later that season another Iolaus from an alternative universe, played by the same actor, was introduced, but had a very different characterization then the original Iolaus. He was refered to by the fans as Iolaus2, IolausToo, Jester Iolaus and JIolaus (because he had been a jester in the alt universe), to differentiate between the two in discussions and fanworks. Many fans disliked this character greatly.

First let me say (editorial comment alert) that the real idiots are those

who dreamed up this whole cockamamie scheme and foisted it off on an

unsuspecting fandom.[11]

My whole problem with this "new Iolaus" idea is that:

1. "Jester" Iolaus wasn't ALL that appealing in the "Stranger in a Strange Land" epiosde LAST year. Perhaps there's ANOTHER alternative universe out there? :)

2. They did SUCH a hatchet job on the "old" Iolaus's "character". Seemed almost like we were seeing the death of a character that never EXSISTED before, not to mention dragging the whole thing OUT for half a season (effectively). I actually would have been able to handle this whole "new character" if the events of the first couple of episodes had been "it". Now.......

The sad irony to this whole thing? Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst have given what are probably the BEST performances of the show to date this season.......in an ill advised storyline. Now if they'd have had something

REALLY good to work with.[12]

There were some fans that liked Iolaus2 – though they may have been in the minority – and others who initially disliked him, but grew to like him over time, or at least became appreciative of how Michael Hurst managed to make the two characters seem so different to each other[13]

[Remi]

I dont want old Iolaus back because... The new Iolaus is very good.

[Truthseeker]
I'm really liking the new Iolaus too. And I don't want the old Iolaus back

either, but for a different reason.

The old Iolaus got killed. I'm kind of getting tired of dead people coming back from death, sometimes inexplicably. It destroys the credibility of the show.[14]

However, the original Iolaus eventually returned in the season 5 finale when he is thrown out of heaven for escaping and warning Hercules about the four horsemen of the apocalypse and the impending end of the world. Iolaus returned in the shortened season 6, reprising his role alongside Hercules.

There is debate over how much influence the fandom had on Iolaus' final return, given the reported intentions for him to remain dead and the rumours that season 5 was meant to be the final season[15][16].

Example Fanworks

Fanfic

  • The Encounter by Denyse M. Bridger (Black Magic Issue #4, 2002) - While on his way to visit Iphicles, Iolaus meets a young woman who steals his heart. Too bad she's hiding a secret that might destroy them all.
  • Home is Where the Heart is by LTLJ and Kimberley Rector, one of the many "Iolaus comes back to life" stories written after his death in the fifth season. There is an entire alternate timeline based on this story, including one of the greatest crossover stories of all time, "When Hellmouths Collide," that drops Buffy Sumers and company into the Hercverse.
  • Many Deaths by Therienne, playing on Iolaus's canonical many deaths.
  • Refiner's Fire by Melisande. Hurt/comfort stories were very popular in the fandom. In this one, Iolaus has to transport an injured Hercules across rough country, with Gabrielle's help.

Graphics and Gif Sets

Vids

Zines

Meta

1998

1999

2000

2001

2004

2005

Fanart

Example Art Gallery

Communities

Mailing lists

The majority of these mailing lists were on Yahoo groups and are no longer active:

Archives and Links

References

  1. ^ "What happened to Iolaus' children and wife Anya from the TV movie "Amazon Women"?, r/LegendaryJourneys". Archived from the original on 2024-05-17.
  2. ^ The Less Than Legendary Journeys: They Don't Wear Leather Pants on Gilligan's Island, Archived version, by Randi DuMois (2000)
  3. ^ "Veronica "Roni" Arreola, 'The Evolution of a Sidekick', Whoosh!". Archived from the original on 1999-04-23.
  4. ^ "Kym Masera Taborn, 'Warrior Princess: The Beginning of It All', Woosh!". Archived from the original on 1999-02-03.
  5. ^ 'Hercules The Legendary Journeys Review', burrunjorsramblesandbabbles, Archived version
  6. ^ 'Traipsing through Greek Mythology with Hercules', Tales of the Marvelous, June 2011, Archived version
  7. ^ Comment on 'When the Sidekick is Better Than the Hero', The Trek BBS, Archived version
  8. ^ Comment on 'When the Sidekick is Better Than the Hero', The Trek BBS, Archived version
  9. ^ "Iolausian Writer's Circle Archives - Episodic Challenges". Archived from the original on 2024-05-26.
  10. ^ "I like my men tall, handsome and... dead." karneol-vision Livejournal post, 19 September 2011, Archived version
  11. ^ Comment by Susan M. Sanders in response to the post What Happened to Iolus? on alt.tv.hercules, Archived version. Posted May 9, 1999. Archived May 21, 2024.
  12. ^ Comment by FrasierFan in response to the post the iolus paradox on alt.tv.hercules, Archived version. Posted Jan 23, 1999. Archived May 21, 2024.
  13. ^ 'Iolaus and Jester', discussion at SF-Fandom Forums, September 2004, Archived version
  14. ^ Comment on I dont want old Iolaus back because... posted to alt.tv.hercules. Posted May 10, 1999. Archived May 21, 2024.
  15. ^ "The Fate of Iolaus". Archived from the original on 2000-05-17.
  16. ^ "Why only 8 Episode in the final Season!?, Xena Online Community, Tapatalk". Archived from the original on 2024-05-17.
  17. ^ the second page of comments is offensive spam only, so skip it
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