Never Say Kill

Because "Young Hercules" was aimed at a younger audience, some rules to the dialogue had to be adhered to. Villains couldn't use the word "kill" when making threats, so they had to be a little more creative. Here is a list of the many ways the word "kill" was subverted (or, y'know, just substituted with the word "destroy").

"We have something called Broadcast Standards and Practices. Herc and Xena don't have to deal with that but we do. Understandably so. They don't want children to imitate our characters in the schoolyard and say "I'm going to kill you." That's true, our dialogue has to be tweaked in that way. Ares can't say "kill" or "stupid" or other clinical terms like "idiot", "moron", or "retard". We can get away with a "kill" in a context like "He was killed". We can't say it as a threat." - Cynthia Hsiung, Producer of "Young Hercules", Whoosh Interview with Cynthia Hsiung - 1999.

The 'kill's that got through the censors...

"Kill me, and another Centaur will take my place." - Cheiron, (1.12 - Battle Lines II)

"I didn't... I did not try to kill you, okay?" - Ares, (1.15 - Ares on Trial)

"And, uh-uh, at any point in your day, did you hear Ares, you know, sort of talk about trying to kill me?" - Hercules, (1.15 - Ares on Trial)

"Oh! So, what you're trying to say is that it's not unusual to, um, to, uh, hear Ares talk about trying to kill me?" - Hercules, (1.15 - Ares on Trial)

"Because today, he actually did try to kill you." - Discord, (1.15 - Ares on Trial)

"Pollux killed him." - Lucius, (1.24 - Dad Always Liked Me Best)

"If Pollux didn't kill Castor then his name will be cleared." - Hercules, (1.24 - Dad Always Liked Me Best)

"Long enough for you to kill your brother, Castor." - Lucius, (1.24 - Dad Always Liked Me Best)

"Did this arrow in the bowl of Hind's blood-- the only thing that can kill a god. Careful-- a scratch and you will be lost. Nemesis is clever. You will only have one chance." - Hera, (1.25 - Herc's Nemesis)

1.01 - Treasure of Zeus

"Try 'naughty'. If you were any good at being bad, you'd dare what no god has dared before: destroy a mortal son of Zeus." - Ares

"No god can destroy Hercules without being fried - forever - by Zeus. Am I right, or am I right?" - Strife

1.03 - What a Crockery

"Thank you for the chance to destroy Hercules." - Ares

"When you grabbed Hera's chalice, you lost Daddy's protection, and now, I can destroy you." - Ares

"I could have destroyed you long ago, if not for Zeus's special protection!" - Ares

1.19 - Lure of the Lyre

"What are you doing?! Stop! Or be destroyed!" - Bacchus

1.20 - Fame

"At the concert, Hercules will try to interfere. But we'll be ready, and Hercules will be destroyed." - Bacchus

"The undead can only be defeated by their own." - Cheiron

"Run, my Bacchae! Destroy Hercules!" - Bacchus

1.21 - Lyre, Liar

"But now, to be replaced for a second time by Hercules! I will destroy him!" - Bacchus

"But when your sorrow fades, I will find you and take my revenge." - Bacchus

1.25 - Herc's Nemesis

"Justice-- really. So you call it justice when you destroy a man for taking some oil to keep his sick child warm?" - Hercules

"Hera's commands are never wrong. Look, just get out of the way. If you interfere, she has told me to destroy you." - Nemesis

"To destroy me?" - Hercules

"Destroy you?" - Iolaus

"Destroy him? Hera hasn't told her that you fall under Zeus's protection." - Jason

"Stregna-- Nemesis has disobeyed my command. If you wish to become goddess of justice-- you must prove your worth-- by destroying her." - Hera

1.28 - In Your Dreams

"Me? Nothing. I'm gonna let the nightmare do all the work and Hercules, well-- he's gonna destroy himself!" - Ares

"Stories passed down in my Kindra. Those who have travelled to the dreamworld-- their greatest fears have been made real there-- and've destroyed them." - Cheiron

"To destroy it, would be to destroy part of yourself. Do you even know what you're most afraid of?!" - Cheiron

"You're my greatest fear! Don't you get it?! Huh? If I destroy you-- or you destroy me-- we're both gonna lose!" - Hercules

"But I can't destroy you-- ‘cause you're a part of me. But, you know what?! That's it! All right?! You don't control me-- I do!" - Hercules

"Yes! He did it. Hercules destroyed himself! Ooh, ooh, ooh-- ahhhhhh." - Ares

"Yeah-- thanks to you. And you were right. I was _this_ close to destroying my darker half, but-- if I had-- I'd have destroyed myself, right?" - Hercules