LADON

Real Name: Ladon

Identity/Class: Extradimensional Dragon (Olympus) (Post Hyborian)

Occupation: Guardian of the Garden of the Hesperides

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: The Hesperides

Enemies: Hercules

Known Relatives: Typhon (father), Echidna (mother, deceased), Selene (foster mother), Set (great-grandfather), Gaea (paternal grandmother/maternal great-aunt/maternal great-grandmother), Tartarus (paternal grandfather), Phorcys (maternal grandfather), Ceto (maternal grandmother), Chimaera, Hydra, Ladon, Nemean Lion, Orthus (brothers), Maralith, Phaea, Sphinx (sisters), Geryon, Pegasus (cousins), Damballah, Dragon of the Moon, Sligguth, Yamato-no-Orichi (maternal great-uncle), Ishiti, Tartessus (maternal great-aunts), Set (maternal great-grandfather), Pontus (maternal great-grandfather), Chthon, Hyppus (great-great-uncles), Issus, Oshtur (great-great-aunts), Demiurge (paternal great-grandfather/maternal great-great-grandfather)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The Garden of the Hesperides, Libya, 13th Century BC (Now part of modern Morocco)

First Appearance: (name only) Hercules III#4 (June 2005)

Powers/Abilities: Ladon was a great many-headed serpent with incredible strength approaching that of Hercules who has Class 100 level strength. Though immortal as the gods and endowed with an impervious hide, he was not invulnerable to harm.

History:

(Greek/Myth) - At the marriage of Zeus and Hera, the goddess Gaea gave Hera the Garden of the Hesperides as a gift. Hera assigned the job of guarding her gift to Ladon and instructed the Hesperides who tended the garden to nurture him and raise him to immense size.

(Hercules III#4 (fb) - BTS) - On his eleventh labor for King Eurystheus of Mycenae, Hercules was sent to pick apples from the Garden of the Hesperides. To do so, he had to kill Ladon which he did by grabbing the beast at the base of his many heads and strangling him until he was dead.

Comments: Adapted by Frank Tieri, Mark Texeira and James Palmiotti

Curiously, Ladon is the one figure in Greek and Roman myth with the most contradictions: he does not seem to have the ability to regenerate lost heads as the Hydra, his own sister, he's also curiously missing when Perseus had previously visited the garden and despite being often claimed to have several heads, Hercules kills him by strangulation.

Some myths claim Ladon was the dragon which guarded the tree in Colchis from which held the Golden Fleece, but that dragon is usually left unnamed.

Since there are no pictures as to how Ladon looks in the Marvel Universe, I had to borrow two pictures from Internet sources as per his appearance.

Profile by: WillU

CLARIFICATIONS:  Ladon is not to be confused with:  

  • Ladon, river-god, son of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, Not seen in the MU
  • Any other "ladon" in the Marvel Universe

 

Images:

Hercules III#1 , pg 28, left page

Issues:

Appearances:
Hercules III#1 (June 2005) - Frank Tieri (writer), Mark Texeira (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)

First Posted: 12/18/2005
Last updated: 09/04/2011

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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