Nessus was a centaur who started working as a farm hand for Hercules' household.Hercules trusted Nessus to protect his family while he ventured out to help people, but Nessus had become infatuated with Hercules' wife Deianeira. He was so bitter and jealous towards Hercules that he started worshipping Hera, Hercules' sworn enemy.When Hercules ventured off to help Iole, Nessus mocked Deianeira that her husband would abandon her for the young maiden. Nessus then attempted to rape Deianeira, but Hercules heard her screams and shot an arrow into Nessus' back.While Nessus lay dying, he told Deianeira that his blood was a magic potion that would keep Hercules faithful to her forever. The blood had soaked into Deianeira's cape, and she gave it to Hercules, asking him to wear it and think of her while he was away.Iole did try to seduce Hercules once they reached her village, but he rejected her advances and wrapped the cape around himself to keep warm from the night air. It turned out that Nessus' blood had been poisoned by Hera, and caused the cape strangle Hercules and burn his flesh.Hercules threw the cape off, and it changed into Hera's peacock. In a fit of madness, Hercules dove into a portal to the Underworld. The villagers thought he was dead, and a sent a messenger to report to Deianeira. Stricken with grief, Deianeira wandered to the edge of a cliff, and Hera sent an apparition in the form of Hercules to trick her into committing suicide.Meanwhile, Hercules had survived the fall into the Underworld, and he met the spirit of Nessus, who mocked him that Deianeira was truly dead. He showed him a vision of Deianeira in the Elysian Fields to torture Hercules, saying that her death was his fault, but Hercules successfully restored Deianeira's body and soul from the Underworld, and they were able to return home, while Nessus continued to suffer in Tartarus. Show less «