The Golden Hind is a creature in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Young Hercules. It is a golden creature that's half woman, half deer.
History[]
Highly sought after for their solid gold hooves and horns, the Golden Hinds were hunted to near extinction by mortals. They had the ability to assume human form, but involuntarily reverted back into their true forms when touched by mortals. The touch of gods or demigods would not cause a Hind to revert.
The Golden Hinds were apparently immortal (but not invulnerable), had the ability to heal others, and had some form of empathic ability. They spent their lives in herds of close family (sisters) watching over the forest and its inhabitants. The blood of a Golden Hind was famously one of the few things that could reliably kill a god. Golden Hinds were one of the rarest of creatures on earth and sacred to the goddess Artemis.
Unfortunately, the gentle nature of the Hinds made them targets for hunters.
Fearing their blood, Zeus destroyed the remaining Hinds with a series of lightning bolts (HTLJ "The End of the Beginning"). Hercules encountered the last Golden Hind in her human form as Serena, whom Ares had secretly rescued from Zeus's genocide. Hercules survived what would usually be fatal blow with Hind's Blood. Hercules was very sick but eventually recovered and fell in love with Serena. Sadly, Serena was murdered at Strife's instigation on their wedding night. Hercules eventually found his way into the past, where he forced Ares to permanently turn Serena into a mortal. The Hinds were still rendered extinct, but Serena herself lived on.
In Young Hercules
The Golden Hind are a very rare species of half-human, half-deer creatures, and are particularly favored by Artemis. As the name implies, their skin, fur, and hair is all gold. Their pelts are said to be very valuable (a small tuft of fur can easily sell for 1000 dinars) and, because of it, they have been almost entirely wiped out by hunters. The one encountered by both Hercules and Iolaus is named Helene.
Background[]
- The last Golden Hind was played by Sam Jenkins most of her appearances and Kara Zediker in "The End of the Beginning". Jenkins hated the Hind makeup so much that she would only return to the role for episodes where Serena didn't transform.
- In Greek mythology, the Ceryneian Hind (Greek: ἡ Κερυνῖτις ἔλαφος), also called Cerynitis or the Golden Hind, was an enormous hind (female deer), who lived in Keryneia, Greece. It was sacred to Artemis, the chaste goddess of the hunt, animals and unmarried women. It had golden antlers like a stag and hooves of bronze or brass, and it was said that it could outrun an arrow in flight. The capture of the hind was one of the labors of Heracles (Hercules). King Eurystheus, hoping to get him in trouble with Artemis, told him to capture the hind and bring it back to him. Rather than incurring the goddess' wrath, though, Hercules explained why he so badly needed to catch the hind and swore to return it. True to his word, he released the hind back to her mistress before Eurystheus could add it to his menagerie.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- YH: Hind Sight
- YH: Iolaus Goes Stag
- HTLJ: "Encounter"
- HTLJ: "When a Man Loves a Woman"
- HTLJ: "Judgment Day"
- HTLJ: "The End of the Beginning"