Settling down with his wife, Dieaneria, and Aeson, Clonus and Ilea, their three children, Hercules is having the best time of his life. Suddenly, someone comes for his help. The man is from the town of Thebes which Hercules and his family live next to. In town, the giant called Eryx the Boxer is killing people in a special challenge, trying to get Hercules' attention. After a tough battle which nearly destroys half the town, Hercules knocks the giant man off his feet. Eryx falls forward, his heart piercing through a wooden stake in the process. The fight promoter presents Hercules with a peacock feather prize, the calling card of the evil Hera. Outside town, Hercules destroys one of Hera's offering spots while asking his stepmother why she continues to play these games with him. Zeus appears to call his son off since taunting Hera only makes things worse for both of them. Hercules feels that his life is cursed. Zeus tells him that he has a great family, therefore shouldn’t feel he’s cursed. He also tells his son he’ll just have to fight twice as hard to keep what he has because it’s worth it. Hercules knows his father is right. Before Hercules departs for home, he asks his father to drop by and visit sometime. Zeus promises he will.
That night, a beautiful Nurian maiden named Iole ends her long journey, badly wounded near Hercules' homestead. Hercules, talking to the Centaur farmhand Nessus about the joys of family, sees her and races over quickly to help her. He brings her inside his house. While his wife and him tend to her, they learn that her village, Gryphon, is in trouble as a large hole has been opened up to a deadly world beneath the surface. Several people have already been devoured by this evil place. Hercules agrees to go and help Iole's people. Later that night, Dieaneria wakes up after hearing something lurking outside the house. She goes to the barn to find a drunken Nessus working in the forge. Nessus advances towards her to make a flirtatious move. After slapping him off her, Dieaneria warns him that if he does it again she will tell Hercules. Nessus claims he is just looking out for her, claiming the younger Iole will steal her husband’s heart. Dieaneria doesn't believe him.
Before Nessus, Hercules and Iole head to Gryphon the next morning, Dieaneria is given a medallion by Iole as a gift for tending to her. Later that day, Dieaneria goes to the market place in Thebes. She encounters an older woman that offers her condolences about Hercules. The old woman explains that the medallion she is wearing is that of a Nurian maiden, who according to the myths will lead the man she escorts on a mission to his death. To prove the myth is true, she shows Hercules’ wife the medallion her late son had been given by a similar woman. Concerned about her husband, Dieaneria leaves her sister with the children while she goes to get him back from Iole. When she finds him, Dieaneria is not too late to convince him to return home. Hercules kisses his wife, assuring her that he knows who Iole is and won't be seduced by her charms. He instructs Nessus to leave the journey in order to make sure Dieaneria gets home safely. While heading back, Nessus tries to take advantage of the beautiful Dieaneria, who then lets out a wild scream for help. Still nearby, Hercules shoots an arrow into Nessus’ side to protect his wife. As Nessus dies, apologizing to Dieaneria for what he did, he tells her that his blood is very powerful. Some of it has poured onto Dieaneria's cloak. Nessus tells her to give the cloak to Hercules as it will protect him from being unfaithful. Dieaneria gives Hercules the cloak after he comes over to check on her. That evening, Iole and Hercules stop at a tavern where a mute ogre is attacking the owner and several of his patrons. It turns out the ogre’s stew was overcooked and his mouth got burnt. Iole calms him down, using gentle words instead of force. The owner gives the ogre some cold water and everything turns out fine. Iole tells Hercules that sometimes using force isn’t necessary to prevail in a confrontation.
The next morning, Hercules is gathering up their supplies when he’s suddenly attacked by a man named Lycastus. This man has been following Iole and him since before the tavern. Lycastus wants to kill Hercules because he himself is in love with Iole. Hercules tries to tell Lycastus that Iole is not of his interest, but the smitten warrior won't believe it. Iole breaks up the fight. She says that while she is in love with Lycastus, it can never be. Soon after, Hercules and her finally make it to Gryphon. The villagers are glad to see that Hercules has come to take care of the large hole of death that has driven them to the outskirts of their own city. Zeus appears to his son to try and convince him not to go down into the hole, revealing it leads to the Other Side. Unsure if being a demigod means he can’t die, Hercules outrightly asks his father what will become of him if he goes to the Other Side. After Zeus tells Hercules that he can die, therefore shouldn't go down into the hole, Hercules goes to see Iole. He tells her he can't complete this mission. Later, an old crone tells Iole that her fate is death if she fails to convince Hercules to jump into the hole leading to the Other Side. Lycastus is told by Hercules to look after Iole. Hercules then shelters himself from the cold nighttime breeze with the cloak his wife gave him. It turns out Hercules has been duped as it starts to strangle him, driving him madly insane in the process. Lycastus and Iole try to tear it off him, but it begins to burn, forcing them to let go. Hercules finally rips the cloak off, condemns the gods for making his life miserable, and dives into the large hole of death. The cloak explodes into a peacock, a sure sign that this has all been part of another of Hera’s plots to kill her stepson.
Charon, the comical and hideous boatman on the river Styx, welcomes Hercules to the river that leads to the Other Side. But Charon won’t let Hercules go across since he isn't dead. In the process, Hercules finds out that Hades’ three-headed dog Cerberus, who guards the entrance to the Other Side, escaped his post, causing the hole to open up and havoc to erupt. Hera obviously took advantage of this fact. Since Hercules agrees to help Hades find his dog, Charon agrees to take him across. Upon reaching the gate to the Other Side, the demigod lands in Tartarus, which is a dark world full of hideous tongue-stretching maidens, zombies and several past foes that include Eryx the Boxer. He finally encounters Nessus, who informs him that Hera and him formed this master plan to bring Hercules to his worst state of depression, which Hercules falls under once he sees that Dieaneria killed herself after she learned he had driven himself down into the hole. A tearful Hercules begs Nessus to let him see the mirrored image of Dieaneria in the peaceful Elysian Fields one more time. Nessus agrees to it since it will depress Hercules even more. Hercules cleverly dives into the mirrored image, landing himself in the Elysian Fields. He finds Dieaneria, who doesn’t remember her life on Earth. Hades, the god of the underworld, appears to Hercules to tell him that Dieaneria's memory of what brought her to the afterlife has been taken away for her own good. However, after talking to her for awhile, Hercules is able to get his wife to recall their past together. Hades agrees that if Hercules brings Cerberus back to his post, Dieaneria can return to the land of the living. But if not, Hercules goes back alone and Dieaneria stays with him forever.
Sent down into the area of the Underworld where the dog currently is, Hercules assists several of Hades' minions in trying to catch the three-headed beast. When they finally catch up to the beast, Hercules attempts to lure Cerberus to his post with force. It fails. Recalling what Iole did to gain the mute ogre's trust, Hercules finally solves his problem. Now that Cerberus is back where he belongs, Dieaneria and Hercules return to Earth and Gryphon is back to normal. Iole and Lycastus thank Hercules and Dieaneria for everything, while also sharing the happy news that they are going to start a family of their own. After Hercules and his wife return home, they find out that Zeus has decided to stop by for a visit. As the children play in the fields, father and son talk about Hercules’ immortality. Zeus tells his son that just because he returned from the Underworld doesn’t mean he cannot die. Hercules says it doesn’t matter if he lives forever since he has everything he could ever want here and now.
Starring: Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Anthony Quinn (Zeus), Tawny Kitaen (Deianeira), Marlee Shelton (Iole), Cliff Curtis (Nessus), Jorge Gonzales (Eryx the Boxer), Timothy Balme (Lycastus)
Guest Starring: Michael Hurst (Aelus), Michael Mizrahi (Metion), Grant Bridger (Pinched Face), John McKee (Fake Eryx the Boxer), Pio Terei (Sestus), Michael Wilson (Opium/Echion), Buzz Moller (Cletis), Rose McIver (Ilea), Paul McIver (Aeson), Simon Lewthwaite (Klonus), Jason Hunt (Boy from Town), Simone Kessell (Worshipper), Greg Johnson (Idas), Yvonne Lawley (Old Woman in Market), Rose Glucina (Althea), Andrew Kovacevich (Berserk Man in Inn), Sydney Jackson (Rustic Innkeeper), Vicky Burrett (Haggard Woman), Amber Jane Raab (Townsperson #1), Peter Morgan (Townsperson #2), Mario Gaoa (Townsperson #3), Hilary Cleary (Gryphon Elder), Nic Fay (Runner from Gryphon), Michael Hurst (Charon the Boatman), Nicky Mealings (Seductress #1), Liseli Mutti (Seductress #2), Phaedra (Seductress #3), Vernon King (Wall Ghoul), Sarah Litherland (Woman in Elysian Fields), Mark Ferguson (Hades), Stig Eldred (Minion Leader), Gordon Hatfield (Minion #1), Stephen Hall (Minion #2), John Dybvig (Minion #3)
Written by Andrew Dettman & Daniel Truly
Directed by Bill L. Norton