Aegaeon

Template:Infobox gods

“	For the Furies felt death was too kind for this oath-breaker. Aegaeon the Hecatonchires became an example to all. A special symbol for those who might think to break a blood oath with a god.	”
–Gaia.

Aegaeon was one of the three Hecatonchires and the first boss in God of War: Ascension. He was the first to break a blood oath with a god and to be punished by the Furies, becoming a titan-sized living-prison called the Prison of the Damned. One of these prisoners is Kratos, who is imprisoned in the Hecatonchires by The Furies as punishment for his crime.

While Aegaeon's full form is never seen in the game, flashbacks depict him as a giant with twelve smaller limbs protruding from his six main arms.

Greek Mythology

Aegaeon (also called Briareus) the Hecatonchires was one of three giants of incredible strength and ferocity that surpassed that of all Titans whom they helped overthrow. Born from Ouranus and Gaia, along with his two brothers Cottus, and Gyges. Their name derives from the Greek ἑκατόν (hekaton; "hundred") and χείρ (kheir; "hand"), "each of them having a hundred hands and fifty heads". Hesiod's Theogony reports that the three Hekatonkheires became the guards of the gates of Tartarus.

In the God of War Series

Long before the events of the series, Aegaeon was banished to Tartarus by his father, Uranus, who was repulsed by his and the rest of the Hecatonchires's perceived ugliness.

God of War: Ascension

“	The Furies only sought retribution for those who they deemed guilty, the first of these traitors was Aegaeon the Hecatonchires.	”
–Gaia

After the Great War against the Titans, Aegaeon pledged a blood oath to Zeus, only to later betray him. Displeased by this betrayal, the Furies hunted him down to torture him without end, as they saw death would be too merciful for such a crime. He became an example to all, with his body being converted into a prison for those who followed his example.

Six months after he was tricked into killing his wife and child, the Spartan warrior Kratos tries to break the blood oath that binds him to the God of War, Ares. Kratos is sentenced to a life of madness by the Furies, chained inside Aegaeon's mouth until he would return to the service of the God of War. As the Ghost of Sparta escapes the torture of Megaera, he tries to find a way out of the prison.

The Infected Hands of Aegaeon

Megaera uses her parasites to infect the arms of the Hecatonchires in an attempt to stop Kratos, which causes them to mutate and grow into monsters. However, the Spartan manages to kill the infected arms and makes his way to Aegaeon's head, despite Megaera manipulating the arms of the Hecatonchires to stop him.

One of the infected hands of Aegaeon

Megaera engages Kratos in fight once again, this time on the platform in front of Aegaeon's head.

Aegaeon's death

After Kratos kills all of the enemies in the platform, Megaera declares that Kratos had caused her pain for the last time. She creates more parasites, which burrow under Aegaeon's eye. His dormant face's skin starts to crack before Aegaeon's head mutates into a horrific monstrosity with insect-like mandibles around his mouth and sharpened teeth, who seeks to kill Kratos.

The infected head of Aegaeon

Kratos tries to attack the head's newly acquired limbs while fighting more enemies on the platform and trying to avoid Aegaeon's crushes and bites. After inflicting enough damage to one of the limbs, it explodes, and the head throws both the platform and Kratos away.

After escaping from the head, Kratos falls on another platform of the Hecatonchires, and the head appears once again as he fights more infected hands. The Spartan attacks the Infected Hand and then stabs his Blades in its eyes and climbs on its back, while making the infected hand attack the Hecatonchires' head. Aegaeon ultimately mangles the infected hand by biting it, while Kratos jumps towards Megaera, who was on Aegaeon's eye. After a short fight, Kratos stabs the Fury's chest, making her fall from the head, and he falls after her. He finishes her life by stabbing her chest once again as they reach the ground.

Aegaeon dies with Megaera, freed from his suffering and finally able rest in peace.

God of War Comics

Gyges, the Hecatonkheires, planned to resurrect him and their brother, Cottus, so that they would rise again and overthrow Zeus, taking his place as the ruler of the universe. He was halted by Kratos.

Trivia

• It is unknown why Aegaeon dies after Megaera's demise. It is possibly due to blood-loss after three of his hands and his own face are mangled and destroyed by Kratos, or from the damage inflicted by Megaera's parasites invading and mutating his body.
• Aegaeon is, chronologically, the first boss in the God of War series.
• Gyges, another one of the Hecatonchires, appears in the God of War Comics.
• The warrior seemingly killed by one of the Aegaeon's arms, is, in fact, the warrior the players use in the multiplayer mode.
• Aegeaon is repeatedly and incorrectly referred to as 'the Hecatonchires', which is the plural form of 'Hecatonchire', like he should be.
• If The Scribe of Hecatonchires was the first prisoner to be put there, that implies that the prison was built not so long ago, as it seemed that it was built thousand of years before Kratos' birth, near the beginning of Zeus' reign. This is because, even if the Scribe was caged in his youth, he is old, but still alive, something that implies that the prison was built at least 60 ~ 70 years before the Ascension timeline. Alternately, the Furies found a way to slow or stop the aging of prisoners within Aegaeon, in a way to make their torture be, in fact, eternal.
• A few moments before Megaera infects the head of Aegaeon with more parasites, it's possible to see his eye looking around trying to see what is happening to him. This proves that, even many years after having his whole body and many of his vital organs transformed into a prison, Aegaeon was still alive.
• The Furies would cloud their prisoners' memories as part of their torture - Kratos, for example, had to struggle to remember the weeks prior to his imprisonment. The main character of Rise of the Warrior needed the help of Orkos to remember why he was at the Prison and even who he was himself.
  • When reading about the Scribe of Hecatonchires in his cell, it's mentioned that, in order to keep a grip on his sanity, he had been writing meticulous records of the Furies and their schemes. The description was probably referring to this effect: making records of all that happens in Aegaeon and then reading them again in case of loss of memory would always help the Scribe to remember what had been happening and even who he was, preventing him from losing all his memories.
• The "cell" in which Kratos was kept and tortured in the Hecatonchires is actually located inside Aegaeon's open mouth.
• Aegaeon is the earliest known character in the series to be free from torment by means of death. Others who would follow this fate includes Orkos, Prometheus, Peirithous, and Mimir.

Videos

God of War Ascension Aegaeon the Hecatonchires Boss Fight

Gallery

Aegaeon the Hekantonkheires

The Beast within the Arms

Infected head of Aegaeon

Mural seen in the interior of the Hecatonchires

Early concept of th interior of Aegaeon

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Hecatonchires early concept

Concept Art: The Living Prison

Infected arm of Aegaeon

Early Design of the infected hand

Eye of Aegaeon

T-Model: Infected Arm