Hephaestus is the name of a fictional character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. He is adapted from the Greek god of the same name. Hephaestus first appeared in ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

'' #226.

Fictional character biography

Hephaestus is the

Olympian Gods upright=1.8, Fragment of a relief (1st century BC1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; from left to right: Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and s ...

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

whose history is the same as his Greek mythology counterpart where he was born to

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

and Hera and wed to

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

. In the Pre-Crisis stories, he once assisted

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...

in menacing

and singer Julie Gabriel with female robots and fire that feeds off emotion. In the Post-Crisis, Hephaestus was the one who forged Wonder Woman's golden Lasso of Truth from the

Golden Girdle of Gaea The Golden Girdle of Gaea is a fictional object depicted in the DC Comics book ''Wonder Woman''. Originally created by William Moulton Marston as the Magic Girdle of Aphrodite from its tradition as originating from the Girdle of Aphrodite or Venus ...

and her silver bracelets which he formed from the splintered Aegis of Zeus. In 2011,

The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...

rebooted DC's continuity. While Hephaestus is shown to be deformed, his history of creating the Lasso of Truth is still intact. Wonder Woman is taken to Hephaestus by Eros. A molten monster sent by

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

kills two of Hephaestus' laborers and grabs Hephaestus. Wonder Woman uses water to put out the molten monster and shatters it. Afterwards, Wonder Woman discovers that the laborers are not

automaton An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...

s and actually men. Hephaestus and Eros state that the laborers were discarded male children from Themyscira that Hephaestus took in. He cut a deal with the Amazon to donate the male babies in exchange for giving them weapons. Later that night, Wonder Woman tried to get Hephaestus to release the males only for them to show their loyalty to him by demanding that Hephaestus be freed. She does so as Hephaestus states that Wonder Woman should get some sleep as she goes into the Underworld tomorrow. Hephaestus provides Wonder Woman with the equipment needed to rescue

Zola Zola may refer to: People * Zola (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * Zola (musician) (born 1977), South African entertainer * Zola (rapper), French rapper * Émile Zola, a major nineteenth-century French writer Plac ...

from Hades where he even gives her Eros' guns. Hephaestus receives a wedding invitation from Hades after he used Eros' guns on Wonder Woman. Hermes and Zola were later seen walking through the woods when they are approached by Aphrodite. When Hermes states to Zola that Aphrodite is married to the ugly god Hephaestus, Aphrodite states that Hephaestus has other "charms" and also states that she will not be attending the wedding as there is little love in Hell.

Powers and abilities

Like the Olympian Gods, Hephastus has supernatural abilities that include size-changing, shapeshifting, and immortality. He also has genius-level intellect and is an expert blacksmith.

In other media

Hephaestus appears in the ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and ...

'' episode "Hawk and Dove", voiced by

Edward Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...

. He is commissioned by

to build "the Annihilator" an enormous robot that Ares uses to foment civil war in Kaznia. During an initial skirmish with the Annihilator, Diana recognizes Hephaestus's sigil on its breastplate and visits his workshop to demand to know how to stop it. Hephaestus refuses to tell her, but gives her a hint that leads her to figure out, during the next battle, that the Annihilator feeds on aggression, and can't attack if it is not being attacked or menaced itself (similar to the weapons Hephaestus created for Ares in the comics). During Diana's visit, Hephaestus also mentions that he crafted Diana's armor, including her tiara and bracelets, for her mother, ''"but she didn't have your build"'', and offers to make alterations during her next visit.

References

External links

Hephaestus
at DC Comics Wiki {{Wonder Woman Hephaestus Comics characters introduced in 1976 DC Comics deities DC Comics male characters Fictional characters who can change size Fictional gods Classical mythology in DC Comics DC Comics characters who are shapeshifters DC Comics characters who use magic DC Comics characters with superhuman strength Greek and Roman deities in fiction Fictional smiths