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)

"Dip 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

1.02 - Between Friends

"I destroy Hercules, and everybody will know the name of... Strife! Ha!" - Nysus Gaius

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

1.10 - Cyrano de Hercules

"I wanted her to forget him, not destroy him." - Hephaestus

"If you do not let me end now, I shall only destroy you later! Don't you believe me?" - Galatea

"Why would you destroy me?" - Hercules

1.11 - Battle Lines I

"Two people that I care about are gonna spend tomorrow trying to destroy each other." - Hercules

1.12 - Battle Lines II

"I'll destroy you for what you've done to my people, Cheiron." - Cyane

"Your lies will stain the honor of this battlefield! Leave, or face obliteration!" - Cheiron

1.14 - No Way Out

"Save your tears, cadet. You'll need them for when I use you to destroy Hercules." - Ares

1.19 - The 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

1.24 - Dad Always Liked Me Best

"No one would ever suspect you offed your brother." - Lucius

"Destroying you isn't gonna be any more difficult than destroying--" - Lucius

"Why didn't you just get rid of me when you first met me?" - Hercules

"Zeus's father eliminated his brothers and sisters. Zeus erased his father!" - Lucius

1.25 - Herc's Nemesis

"Nemesis is the goddess of justice. She exterminates people." - Jason

"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

"If Hercules gets in your way... eliminate him." - Hera

1.27 - Mommy Dearests

"Yeah, he's trying to destroy every mortal son of Zeus." - Iolaus

"And I intend to use that to destroy him." - Lucius

"I want you to suffer for making me look bad in front of Zeus. And then, I wanna destroy you." - Lucius

"You could save him, but you so wanna finish me." - Lucius

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 Kindrah. Those who have traveled 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!" - 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

1.30 - Golden Bow

"Destroy them!" - Rytus and Strife

1.37 - The Head That Wears The Crown

"It's a shame I'll have to destroy you if Jason doesn't surrender." - Galinthia

1.47 - Mila

"You are gonna destroy Hercules." - Ares