"UPON HEARING OF MY ENDEAVORS, THE ROMAN MERCURY WISHED TO JOIN THE COLITION. HE GRANTED ME THE RIGHT TO BEQUEATH HIS GREAT SPEED."-- Wizard Shazam, War of the Gods # 4.
Mercury (as Hermes) appeared mostly in the Wonder Woman title, and has an strong participation in the origin of Wonder Woman, as well, in the participation of the creation of the chosen champion known as Captain Marvel, on this ocassion, as his Roman avatar, Mercury.
It is not clear when Mercury gave his gift to the champion. What is known, is that Shazam met the roman Mercury while visiting Rome during the times of Myth. Shazam concurs along with a council of gods, in which Mercury is a member, made a pact to create a champion in the future that will save humankind from evil.
As Hermes, the god of messengers has been portrayed as a heroic, almost too supportive god for the cause of the Amazon race, he even fell in love with the best of Amazons, Wonder Woman.
In the post-Crisis origin of the Amazing Amazon, Hermes gifts the infant Diana with the 'speed and power of flight'.
He also gifted Diana with the pair of his sandals, which granted her (or any Amazon with enough faith) to fly and go through the Wall of Chaos, erected by the gods, around Paradise Island, as a measure of defense and punishment. Strongly involved in the rest of the story of Diana of Themyscira, known to the World as Wonder Woman, he faces the possibility of Oblivion when the god of war, Ares, almost succeeds in his quest for unleashing a Nuclear Holocaust that would have triggered the World War III, finally averted by the same Wonder Woman.
Hermes faces a terrible pain when it is revealed that his son, the god of Mischieve, Pan, was assasinated by one of the Manhunters, impersonating him for thousands of years. The final destiny of Pan is revealed as been eaten by the giant cyclops Polyphemus inside Doom's Doorway.
This event, makes Hermes to task Diana, into avenge the death of his son, making her crossover into the Millenium series, and finally destroying with her Magic Lasso, the Manhunter who impersonated Pan for millenia.
The gods, specially Eros and Aphrodite, recognize the kind of view that Hermes has for Diana, making it obvious his love for her.
Some time later, Hermes is the only god who was on Mount Olympus when Darkseid, the Destroyer, the ruler of Apokolips, invades the mystic home of the gods, in order of getting its power. Diana and Superman, succeed in freeing Mount Olympus, leaving a very wounded place in its wake.
Very briefly, after this event, Princess Diana has her first encounter against the mythical witch, Circe, in the island of Aeaea. Just in the moment before being defeated by this sinister villainess, Hermes intervenes in saving Diana, and taking her to the final resting place of Chronus, were is supposed that no power, divine or mystical could be used effectively ... eventually, Circe escapes, with the help of the god Phobos, sealing the final fate of Hermes.
But not only this happens at these moments, the gods of Olympus decide to leave Earth in a quest for regaining their wounded ego and prestige. Hermes' participation is important for this, but he offers his place among the Big Twelve to Heracles, and decides to stay on Earth, the main reason, his infatuation for the beautiful Princess, savior of the gods.
But Hermes makes a grave mistake when he decides to gather the attention of the humans, undermining the role of Wonder Woman in the process, by buying human's faith giving them money and granting wishes. But the most grave consequence is the destruction of Boston, when Hermes, liberates Ixion, the first mass killer, punished by Hermes in the times of myth. Not only him, but the god Phobos and Euryale return to plague the city that homes Diana. Managing to steal his Caduceous, the item used by him to focus his godly power, Hermes summons Princess Diana to his aid. Diana eventually stops the menace, but the loose of lives and destruction is too much. Diana confronts her god, Hermes, the god, shaken by Diana's words and humbled by his mistakes, reconstructs the city using his power, and leaving part of it in the buildings of the New England city.
After this, Princess Diana's magic lasso is stolen by the Cheetah, eventually making her to discover the hidden city of Bana Mighdal, in the sands of the Egyptian desert. Inside, the Golden Girdle of Gaea,
property of Hippolyta (since the Golden Lasso was made by the Girdle of Antiope), which was originally stolen by Heracles in the past.
During the visit of the representatives (among them, reporter Lois Lane), Eris, the Discord Goddess, poisons the delegation, including the Amazing Amazon, almost killing her in the process. If not for the
timely intervention of the god (who's power is rapidly ebbing), Diana would, once more, have died for sure.
The experience of becoming a man, proves too hard even for a god.Some time later, the Amazons decide to come to Patriarch's World after 3,000 years of isolation. After the events depicted by John Byrne
during his run on the Wonder Woman title, in which Hippolyta assumed the role of Wonder Woman after the death of her daughter and traveled to the past, becoming the Golden Age Wonder Woman, created a paradox loop, in which the Queen came to the World before this ocassion, but nonetheless, and although this time paradox has not being satisfactoraly explained, Hippolyta enters once more the city of New
York as Queen of the Amazon race.
Just before this happens, Diana manages to convince Hermes to be the god who opens the seas to guide the Amazons to the World of Man. He reluctantly accepts, but finally embraces the glory that is bear once more the power cosmic, which is very diminished by then, and in a majestic spectacle, Hermes opens the sea with his power.
This weakness, opens the opportunity for Circe to get her revenge. Using her considerable powers, Circe summons the gods into a war. Just before this, Hermes is plagued by terrible visions who almost drives him to crazyness, when Mercury, his Roman avatar, takes his place (Hermes and Mercury are distinguished by their portrayal, Hermes using a Caduceous more rounded, and Mercury using one more squared), who
battles Hermes. Mercury is finally defeated, with a combination of the power of Hermes and Wonder Woman, but this, separates more the Princess and the god.
Just then, the implacable Circe, unleashes the War of the Gods. The Olympic gods return, and the Roman Olympians invade Olympus. At the same time, a multitude of pantheons try to re-create the Universe as their respective cosmogonies dictate. Captain Marvel fights Wonder Woman, in the middle of the battle, both champions find both Messenger gods fighting among the chaos.
Mercury and Hermes continue their fight in Keystone City, where they encounter The Flash, and where Hermes steal the speed of the most of the speedsters of the DCU in order to win his battle against the Roman Avatar of himself.
But all of a sudden, Mercury dissappears, as part of a plan of getting the powers of the Mystic Sextet, in order of reviving Captain Marvel, where Shazam once more, makes a pact with them for bestowing these powers to his elected champion. The spirit of Mercury is contained by the body of Mercury, the Metal Man.
Hermes knows of the danger that Circe represents to Diana, once more, trying to save her, takes the witch once more to the final resting place of Chronus. Circe with all her power fights a weakened god who finally dies at the hands of the villainess. His last appearance as Hermes is as skeleton, which is thrown into Diana's face as an insult, following moments later, the destiny of her late patron.
The new pact is finally carried out, and the wizard Shazam re-creates the spell that enables him to bestow the powers of the group of gods and heroes to his champion. With this, and the resurgence of the Amazon champion, Wonder Woman, the War of the Gods is ended and the menace of Circe put to a rest... at least for a time.
Much later, it is revealed that Darkseid, when he was Uxas, made a plan to divide the Greek Pantheon into two, spawning the Roman Olympus. So much time elapsed of this mysterious event, that both pantheons
forget the origin of this strange coincidence. During the Genesis crisis, Mercury is also known as Hermes, after the gods who have counterparts fusioned with their respective doubles, becoming once more their original unified beings.
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