this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2025
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Okay, I'll bite—what's the joke here?
It's two jokes. Firstly, "Barbarian" was a ancient Greek-"invented" term for people who don't speak Greek (or heavy dialects of Greek). The generally accepted theory is that "Barbar" is them imitating sounds they don't understand, similar to a modern "blabla". Secondly, Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek Heracles.
wouldn't it be more like a racist stereotype? like calling Chinese (Using as an example not come at me) ching chongs? ie making fun of their language.
It's still in use today when people talk of the Berbers, in north Africa, that's the origin of the name.
Ah, yes, of course... I had heard both of those little factoids before, but I needed this reminder, as it turns out 😅
Heracles or Hercules is a Greek tragic character who at one point murders his wife and child when in a rage. Thinking Disney's Hercules is an accurate portrayal is where they messed up in describing their character, and both the DM and history buff know it, but the DM won't let them ruin the surprise.
Alright but "inspired by" is a far cry from "did or will do all the same stuff". They want a strong half-celestial dude that kills monsters.
Hercules is the name the Romans called Heracles (or Herakles if you're pretentious), besides that, barbarian is from the Greek word that essentially means people who don't speak Greek.
To be fair barbarian is also a Roman term since they adopted it and they also used it for people not speaking Latin
Herakles would probably be more correct. Romans used 'k' mostly in Greek loanwords, and used their native letter 'c' everywhere else.
Ah, yes, of course... I had heard both of those little factoids before, but I needed this reminder, as it turns out 😅