| “ | Royalty speaking! What will you whisper in my presence? | ” |
| ― Hera, Episode 119 |
Hera is the Goddess of Marriage and the Queen of Olympus. She is the wife of Zeus and the mother of Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus. She is a member of the 6 Traitors Dynasty.
Appearance
Hera is a goddess with golden hair and skin. She typically wears her long hair down, but will occasionally wear it up. She has dark blue eyes and a beauty mark below her left eye. She has a large X-shaped scar on her stomach.
Hera's wardrobe varies, and includes modern outfits and 1920s inspired clothing in multiple shades. Hera usually wears clothing that is white or dark blue, but has outfits that are red and green as well. At times, her body shimmers like actual gold. She is sometimes shown smoking a cigarette.
Personality
Hera is strong-willed and empathetic, however, she does appear to have a bit of a temper. Her empathetic nature is best seen when she is able to sense that someone is suffering and she begins to tear up in response. When she later discovers that it was Persephone she sensed, she is shocked and deeply saddened and becomes determined to figure out who hurt her. She also comes to comfort Hades after hearing about Minthe's actions, and it is revealed Hera helped care for him when he was injured in the past (presumably after getting eaten by Cronus.) Her caring side seems to be reserved only for those she likes, however, and all others get to see her as stubborn and resolute in her ideals. She butts heads often with Zeus, and his actions have often caused her to do destructive things, such as burn his portrait in retribution and punish Aphrodite and Eros after he claimed they were the reason for his infidelity.
Relationships
Zeus
Zeus is Hera's husband. According to Hades, Zeus "chose" Hera after their war with the Titans, preventing the other Gods from pursuing a relationship with her. It appears they had a good relationship in the past, based on their apparent happiness in portraits. In the current day, however, their relationship has become tumultuous. They fight constantly over each other's decisions, and Hera resents Zeus due to his affairs and womanizing behavior. Hera is also frustrated that Zeus consistently dismisses her suspicions about Apollo causing Persephone harm.
Hera yelling at Zeus.
Despite this, Zeus is unwilling to leave Hera for one of his mistresses, and Hera appears to put up with Zeus' infidelity to a certain point. This appears to indicate they still care for each other on some level. Even with the animosity between them, they have also been seen getting along and having fun together, such as when they excitedly spied on Hades and Persephone from their balcony.
Zeus has revealed to Hades that he knows he's a bad husband and truly does love Hera. However, their relationship became more tumultuous after Hera finds out an arrest warrant has been issued for both her sister and niece and scolds Zeus for that reason and goes for a walk alone.
Hades
Hades is Hera's brother-in-law and former fling. They get along very well, though as Hebe points out, she may sometimes take her frustrations with Zeus out on Hades. When she learns of her brother-in-law's attraction to Persephone, she initially disapproves, but after some consideration, she decides to secretly test him to see if he is suitable for Persephone. When Hades passes, Hera decides to encourage and support the relationship.
It is revealed that before the war against the Titans, Hera and Hades had mutual feelings for each other, and were apparently in a relationship that came to an end because of Zeus. Even so, it's implied that she still held a candle for Hades even after centuries had passed. Because of Zeus' constant infidelity, Hera, in retaliation, had a long-term sexual affair with Hades. They ultimately ended the affair during the "80's" (most likely sometime before Hades met Minthe).
Persephone
Hera has known Persephone since she was a child. Hera was taken with her after she told her she was beautiful, and Hera likewise left an impression on young Persephone. When Persephone comes to Olympus, Hera seeks to
Hera and Persephone meet.
protect her after hearing about Hades' attraction to her, admonishing him for saying lewd things about someone so young and impressionable. However, when she comes to realize that Hades and Persephone are mutually attracted to each other, and after Hades passes her "test," she decides to encourage and support their relationship. She is the one who signs on Persephone's internship in the Underworld with the intent of getting them closer.
When Hera holds hands with Persephone and inadvertently feels her trauma over being raped, she is devastated and becomes determined to find out who hurt her, showing she deeply cares about Persephone and her mental well-being. Later on, Hera visits both her niece and Hades in the Underworld and talks with the Goddess of Spring alone to gather more evidence on what Apollo did to her. She successfully gets her son, Hephaestus to get rid of the blackmail photos of her niece after giving him the SIM card.
Minthe
She has an extreme disdain for the river nymph and disapproves of Hades' relationship with her. There are moments where she shamelessly says horrible things about Minthe such as suggesting Hades if she can turn Minthe into a hideous beast for his sake. Hera also consistently bad mouths her during family reunions, according to Minthe.
Apollo
Hera ripping Apollo's application to marry Persephone
After Hera learns from her visions that Persephone was raped, she meets Apollo in disguised as her then reveals herself after burning his hand. Later on, she laughs and rejects his blessing to marry Persephone by tearing his application and burning it and tells him "No." She is currently gathering evidence against him for hurting Persephone. After meeting with Persephone and confirming her visions, she sets out to destroy the pictures and evidence Apollo took for blackmail which is dealt with thanks to Hephaestus and Aetna in Episodes 142 and 143.
Leto
Leto and Hera used to be very close friends, until they had a falling out that "shook the whole kingdom". Although the nature of their falling out is unknown, Hera cast Leto into social exile because of it. There is now major bad blood between the two.
Children
Hebe
Hebe is the daughter of Hera and Zeus. She often makes her parents drinks in the morning, and Hebe is typically dressed in an outfit that matches Hera's. Hebe is a source of reason for her mother: Hera wonders if Hebe may have more emotional intelligence than she does. Hebe is not afraid to check her parent's behavior, and shows annoyance at both Zeus and Hera when she finds them spying on Hades and Persephone, calling them "perverts."
Ares
Ares protecting Hera.
Ares is the son of Hera and Zeus. They have a close relationship; Ares arrives back on Olympus to protect his mother from Zeus' wrath, showing great anger at Zeus' mistreatment of her. Hera, likewise, is thrilled when Ares returns home. Ares is quick to come to his mother's defense, and is wracked with guilt when he accidentally hits her while fighting Zeus.
Hephaestus
Hephaestus is Hera’s first born son, however their relationship seems rather awkward and strained. While Hera does care for Hephaestus, Hephaestus is distant and blunt towards her. However, he tells her that he will think about visiting her and his little sister, Hebe.
Powers and Abilities
- Hera is able to sense the distress of others from afar. It is unknown if this ability extends to all kinds of distress, or just that associated with relationships.
- She has the ability to see brief visions, apparently tied to strong feelings, including trauma. It appears her strongest visions occur when she has physical contact with the individual.
- She has the capability to bless the marriages of mortals. She is an efficient and clever matchmaker, able to influence her decisions with the power of her visions. She can also annul blessings like she did with Apollo due to his obsession with Persephone.
- She has the ability to spontaneously generate objects, both tangible (such as a cigarette) and intangible (a crown of light for Persephone).
- She can shape-shift into different forms; she disguised herself as a pink nymph to eavesdrop on Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon and as horned reporter to gauge Persephone and Hades' relationship. Her disguises appear to be infallible, as no-one was able to see through them. She also can transform into other Goddesses. In episode 119, she transforms her appearance into Persephone's. While in disguise, she can also alter her outfits.
- She has healing skills, first seen in a flashback when she was changing Hades' bandages.
- Hera has the ability to fly.
- Hera can produce flames from the palms of her hands, which she uses to burn up Apollo's marriage application.
Gallery
Hera.
Trivia
- She smokes like Hades and Minthe.
- In Episode 30, Hera tells Hebe to wake up her sister but never reveals her name but it is possible she is referring to Athena, meaning Hera has four children. Athena has called Hades "Uncle" and shown great joy when seeing him but neither women have shown or mention any connections to one another.
- Hera stopped Aphrodite and Eros from using their powers to manipulate other gods' feelings after Zeus blamed them for his affairs.
- In Episode 119, Eros reveals that he and Hera don't have a close relationship because she sees him as "Aphrodite's wicked spawn." It is never implied if the two were close before.
- In Greek mythology, Hera is described as being incredibly bitter towards Zeus' many mistresses, along with their children by him. Most famously, she is known for being an enemy to the Greek hero and demigod, Heracles, a child of Zeus from his affairs. Legends tell about her finding ways to cause the demigod misfortune, such as the death of his family or through the Twelve Labours.
- According to the QnA (December 2018 on Webtoons), Hera's favorite drink is gin and tonic.
- In the original version of episode 119, Hera calls Demeter and Hestia her sisters, but they are not related. The line confused some readers, leading Rachel to clarify on Facebook that "sisters" was "not meant in the classic blood relative way, but to convey a sense of their once-close relationship/bond". To clear up the confusion, the comic was later updated and "sisters" was changed to "friends".