Is Hercules a copyrighted character or can I use it as a nickname for one of my superheroes?

No, no one owns any rights to the name "Hercules". However, you need to be careful about any similarities in story lines between what you create and what might have been created in modern times. Just because no owns the right to the name Hercules does not mean that stories they created about Hercules have no copyright. And this means that any original works you create for your character Hercules would be owned by you.

The name is not copyrighted, because copyright doesn't cover names. The character from mythology is not copyrighted. Later versions may well be copyrighted to the extent they added creative and original elements. The name is also a trademark on many types of goods or services, so you would need to check for its existing usage within your field prior to releasing Hercules brand goods or services (e.g., computer games, action figures, comic books, TV shows, etc).

You can use him,

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That's because mighty Thor belongs to the most powerful superhero team of them all — the league of public domain superheroes. There are tons and tons of characters that the major comic book publishers have featured, who happen to be in the public domain. Including figures from mythology, characters from literature, and cases where the publisher just forgot to file the paperwork.

Here's our complete list of superheroes (and some supervillains) who belong to you.

see link

The Greek Pantheon.

For one thing, there's Hercules, who turns up a lot. And at one point recently, Zeus was playing a starring role in DC's Wonder Woman comic and Marvel's Incredible Hercules comic. In one, he was putting Achilles in charge of the Amazons, in the other he was being turned into a bratty but cute kid. But besides Zeus and Hercules, tons of other Greek gods and demigods have turned up in Marvel and DC comics over the years. Ares is a Wonder Woman villain and a sometime member of the Mighty Avengers. (Because he's a Hulk and a Thor.)

http://io9.gizmodo.com/5796725/thor-isnt-the-only-...

The character from Greek and Roman mythology is not copyrighted. (He predates any concept of copyright by a couple of millennia.) Recent interpretations of Hercules might be copyrighted, but only insofar as they're different from the mythological character.

Hercules is a fictional,mythological characters from the time of Ancient Greece. His NAME can be used freely, but be careful that you don't copy IDEAS and sitations from books or movies or TV shows.

No. Mythological stories (which Hercules is one of) are not copyrighted.

You've gotten pretty accurate answers here. You'd be smart to consult an attorney who specializes in copyright law. Publishers are unlikely to pick it up if it is too similar to modern uses.

Hercules is an ancient character so old that there is a Greco-Roman constellation name for him. Any lawyer who claims plagiarism will have to answer to Vergil

He's a mythological Greek hero. I think the copyright protection timed out a couple of thousand years ago.

No, you can use him.