THE HYDRA	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Roy Thomas and Adrian Gonzales

The Hydra; Art by George Pérez and Bruce D. Patterson

PERSONAL DATA

Aliases: The Laernian Hydra; the Seven-headed Hydra; the Unseen Slayer
Occupation: Monster of Greek myth
Status: Active
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Echidna (mother); the Nemean Lion, Ladon, Cerberus, the Chimera, the Sphinx, Chthon (siblings); Gaea (grandmother); Uranus (grandfather); Cronus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion; Iapetus, Oceanus (uncles); Rhea, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, Themis, Thia (aunts)
Base of Operation: The underworld
Group Affiliation(s): Titans of Myth
Distinguishing Features: Green skin (8th century), greyish purple skin (20th century)
First Appearance: Arak, Son of Thunder #15 (November 1982): "The Slayer from the Wine-Dark Sea"
Creators: Roy Thomas and Adrian Gonzales

“Years ago and leagues from here, I found the skull of the Hydra, an ancient monster slain by the hero Herakles, whom the Romans called Hercules. It was said to have nine heads – but the one I found is the only one that matters.”

OVERVIEW

The Hydra was a dragon with many heads in Greek mythology. Whenever a head was chopped off, a new one grew to take its place.

HISTORY

In Greek mythology, the Laernian Hydra was a multi-headed (seven heads according to some sources, nine heads according to others), fire-breathing dragon, originally killed by the legendary hero Heracles during his Twelve Labors. The difficulty in killing the Hydra lay in the dragon's ability to regenerate severed heads.

In the 8th century, the Hydra was revived by the old Greek Makados, who had found the center head. After throwing the head into the sea and reciting spells, he was able to call forth the Hydra and make it kill the Byzantine warriors who had occupied his hometown of Thessalonika. Invisible due to Makados’ spells, the Hydra was dubbed “The Unseen Slayer”. The Hydra was finally killed by Arak Red-Hand.

The essence of the Hydra ended up in the underworld behind Doom's Doorway on Themyscira, where it was killed a third time by Wonder Woman during the so-called Challenge of the Gods. When planted in the dirt, the Hydra's teeth grew into skeleton warriors, the so-called Hellspawn of the Hydra.

Notoriously difficult to kill, the Hydra was later revived once again to do its mother Echidna's bidding and destroy a Christian church in Greece.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

The Hydra breathes fire through all its heads and has the power to regenerate severed heads. Due to certain spells woven by Makados, the Hydra was also able to turn invisible. It is not known whether the Hydra retained this ability in later incarnations.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of The Hydra in chronological order click here