Morrigan

Morrigan

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Morrigan
Morrigan in "Darkness Rising"
Behind the scenes
Series	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Morrigan, the Druid of Justice, came from Eire, just off the coast from Britannia. She is a demi-god, her mother is the goddess Badb. Morrigan had a relationship with the god Kernunnos and together they had a daughter, Brigid. Under the influence of Kernunnos, Morrigan terrorized Eire killing off the followers of the Druids. Kernunnos fed Morrigan his blood in order to increase her godly powers but she became addicted and needed the help of Hercules to ween herself off it. Finally, Morrigan killed the Druid of Justice and had to take his place in that role.

As Hercules and Morrigan grew closer, they fell in love and she traveled with the hero to Sumeria when Hercules had a vision showing Nebula in danger. Later, Morrigan traveled to Greece with Hercules and Nebula on the trail of Dahak who was in possession of Iolaus' body.

Morrigan remained in Greece for a time, but eventually realized that she needed to return to Eire. Since Hercules needed to remain the Greeks' hero, Morrigan felt she could not ask him to return with her, and quietly slipped away.

Morrigan later visited Britannia to assist Merlin and Hercules in defeating a time-displaced King Arthur and the sorceress Mab.

She was played by Tamara Gorski.

Background

• Morrigan is based on the Morrigan, a powerful but somewhat mysterious figure in Irish mythology. The Morrigan (always with the definite article) is sometimes a goddess, sometimes a demigod queen and sometimes a trio of goddesses or queens.
• Morrigan's base demigod power is enhanced strength, just like Hercules. In "Darkness Rising", she sent a man hurtling through the air as she stood in place, without using her superhuman momentum or reflexes. Originally, Kernunnos fortified Morrigan's powers with his blood, imparting his super speed to her. She lost the power after being withheld the blood, apparent in her battle against the Romans in "Render Unto Caesar". After she became the Druid of Justice, Mabon must have taught her the Druidic technique of drawing power from the land of Eire, as he did with Hercules. Note that she was never shown to use super speed when she travelled to Sumeria, Greece, or Britannia.
• She is the only character that has ever defeated Hercules in physical combat in the series. However, it should be noted that Hercules is still grief-stricken over Iolaus's death and not focused at the time.
• Claire Stansfield originally auditioned for the part of Morrigan. When she lost out to Gorski, Rob Tapert was impressed enough that he rewrote the part of Alti on Xena: Warrior Princess for Stansfield.
• Morrigan is similar to Xena, both are female warriors who terrorized people until they met Hercules who "unchained" their hearts and lead them to the path of redemption and have short-lived romance with him as lovers and they both eventually decide to leave him for their own journeys. Although she does ask for a chance to resume their relationship, Hercules refuses due to feeling that they must stay with their own people.
• She is Hercules's last love interest in the series, and the only one that is also a demigod or half-god like him.

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