Philoctetes

Physical appearance

Phil is likely based on the satyr Pan, half-man, and half-goat. He has two goat-like horns on his head, a beard, and a round red nose, and he is also half-bald and short.

Background

Phil was born in the village of Satyrville, to his doting mother and an unnamed father. He was raised alongside his brother, Sal, towards whom Phil felt resentment due to their mother constantly boasting Sal's achievements while (apparently) rarely doing the same for Phil's accomplishment. In truth, and as revealed in "Hercules and the King For a Day", Cacophone has always been equally proud of her sons, but rarely goes out of her way to compliment them to their face as a way to keep them humble. At some point, Phil would leave Satyrville to pursue his dream of becoming a hero trainer. His base of operations was on a remote island that occupied several state-of-the-art gyms and training fields. Although Phil's pupils received fame and notoriety thanks to their mentor's training efforts, they each fell out of favor with the public after suffering humiliating (and sometimes deadly) defeats, most notably, Achilles. As Phil puts it, "none of them could go the distance." As a result of the failures, Phil's reputation was severely damaged, making him a laughing stock. He eventually retired to avoid further disappointment (and because of his age), which caused his home and training facility to fall into disrepair over the years until the arrival of the powerful demigod, Hercules.

Personality

A tough, rude, and crotchety old satyr (half-man, half-goat), Phil served as a trainer the original Olympians in Ancient Greece, but has been burned by a bunch of hero wannabes and has to be talked into training Hercules. Although he has a big heart, Phil is easily annoyed. He dislikes and becomes angry at others who ignore him or refuse to grant him respect. Philoctetes was the wisecracking trainer of heroes, having done it before with miscellany of legends including Jason, Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus, and Achilles, all of them didn't work out despite's Phil's efforts. Until he was convinced by Hercules to help him become a true hero, Phil was disappointed so much the last thing he needed was to be let down by some starry-eyed yahoo with more muscles than brains. By imposing hundreds of Philoctetes' hero rules, and constant days of practice, Hercules transformed from klutzy boy into hero material. When not busy training heroes, he spends his time watching beautiful women and flirting with them, only to usually face rejection. While ornery, he has a pure, loving heart and a sense of compassion. This is shown in the event in Meg's temporary death, when he regrets having hostile feelings towards her. He also has a rare condition called Pica, characterized by eating things that are not considered edible. For example, Phil eats a bowl (without fruit) and flowers. This is probably due to him being half goat.