Ares

“	I have taught you many ways to kill a mortal, Kratos. Flesh that burns, bones that break. But to break a man's spirit, is to truly destroy him.	”
–Ares.

Template:Infobox gods Ares was the first god of war and the main antagonist of the God of War game. He is the son of Zeus and Hera and commonly referred as the most hated God on Olympus even before Kratos killed him.

Greek Mythology

Ares is the God of War, son of Zeus and Hera, and one of the most prominent and powerful Gods of Olympus. He was born after the Great War of the Gods and Titans and served his father faithfully. He was also a rival of Athena, his younger sister, because they were both gods, one of War the other of Wisdom, and wished that the other stood down. His Roman counterpart was Mars. Ares was held in much higher esteem, second only to Kronos; Ionic form of the Doric ἀρά (ara), "bane, ruin" . 

In God of War Series

Alliance with the Furies

Ares came to covet all of Olympus and especially Zeus's throne, so he struck an alliance with the Furies, persuading them to take a more ruthless approach. Realizing that he would need a powerful warrior to aid him to overthrow Zeus and claim the crown of Olympus, he had a child with Alecto, hoping that their child would be the ultimate warrior needed for the task. Unfortunately, Orkos, his child, was not up to his standards, and was disowned. The Furies, however, saw potential in him and had him be their oath-keeper.

Sparta

Two Gods of Olympus, Ares and Athena, raided the city of Sparta in order to capture a child named Deimos, who had been suspected of being the mortal who would destroy Olympus in the the Marked Warrior prophecy. After capturing the boy, Deimos' brother, Kratos, charged toward Ares to save his younger brother. Despite his efforts, however, Ares hit Kratos on the face, creating a bloody scar on his right eye. As Ares was about to kill Kratos, Athena forced Ares to leave him be. Ares then left with Deimos, and Athena quickly apologized to Kratos. Ares then took Deimos to the Domain of Death, where he would be tortured for many years by Thanatos, the God of Death.

Wager of the Gods

In later years, the Gods created a contest, choosing various mortals as their champions for the capture of the Ambrosia. In the wager of the Gods, Ares is seen in the comics choosing Kratos as his champion, confident that nothing would stop him in his quest for the Ambrosia. After a grueling journey, Kratos captured the Ambrosia, thus making Ares the victor of the wager of the Gods.

Kratos' Servitude

Kratos pledging to Ares.

Kratos and his Spartan army were no match for the merciless barbarians tribes of the east. Being outnumbered and overpowered, his army was losing the battle. Kratos, about to be killed by Alrik the Barbarian King, Kratos pledged himself to Ares, the God of War, in exchange for victory. Seeing Kratos as the potential warrior he needed to overthrow Olympus, Ares accepted and violently wiped out the barbarians, giving Kratos the Blades of Chaos as a sign of his servitude.

To ensure that the Spartan became the perfect warrior and was bound to his will, Ares and the Furies devised three blood tests for Kratos. The first had already been completed, spilling the blood of enemies. The second, spilling the blood of innocents, was easy to accomplish with Kratos' rising bloodlust as he ended countless lives with his Spartan companions, conquering most of Greece. The last rite was spilling the blood of loved ones. Ares led Kratos to attack a village built in honor and worship of Athena. The Spartan soldiers ruthlessly killed all who lived in the village, burning their homes to the ground in the process. Upon reaching a strange temple, Kratos was warned by the Village Oracle not to venture within its walls. Ignoring the old woman, Kratos, blinded by bloodthirst, killed all who were within the walls of the temple, including his wife Lysandria and his child Calliope. Ares appeared before the bloodstained hands of Kratos, telling Kratos that it was necessary to have his family eliminated so nothing stood in his way.

The ashes of his loved ones were gathered by the Village Oracle and she placed them upon Kratos’ skin as a permanent reminder of the monster he had become, the Ghost of Sparta. Enraged by Ares' deception, Kratos declared vengeance upon the God of War who once saved his life.

After Kratos left Ares' service, the War God's son, Orkos, learned of the injustice his parents inflicted on Kratos and turned against his father(Ares) and his mothers (The Furies). He sought counsel from the Oracle, Aletheia, who revealed Ares' plot to overthrow Olympus. When Orkos and Aletheia went to warn Zeus, Ares discovered their attempt and sent the Furies after them. Orkos escaped while Aletheia had her eyes torn out and hidden in the ruined Statue of Apollo. The Furies then ruthlessly hounded Kratos to force him to return to Ares' service for their plan to reach its fruition.

During Kratos' triumph over the Furies, it was revealed that Ares wanted Kratos returned to him; the plan was ruined when Kratos killed the Furies and mercyfully killed Orkos, who was remade the Oath keeper to Kratos, thereby severing his bond. Kratos managed to escape and served Olympus for 10 years, hoping to redeem himself and for his sins to be forgiven.

Battle with Kratos

Jealousy came over Ares for Athena, Ares laid seige to Athens. Since Zeus had forbidden the Gods from waging war with one another, Athena could not step in to protect her city. Instead she enlisted the help of Kratos, who had faithfully been serving the Gods for 10 years. Kratos was instructed to find Pandora's Box in order to kill Ares. While Ares relentlessly tore Athens apart, he suddenly sensed that Kratos had retrieved the Box. Although he was impressed, he picked up a broken pillar and hurled it into the desert, which flew into Pandora's Tempe and impaled Kratos. Ares' Harpies retrieved the box and brought it to him. Kratos escaped the Underworld however, through the help of a mysterious grave digger (Zeus).

Ares challenged Zeus, threatening to open the Box and use it against Olympus. It seemed all was lost, until Ares looked behind him and saw Kratos standing behind him and mocked Zeus, saying he sent a broken mortal to defeat the God of War (him). Kratos, using his power granted by Zeus, took the Box from Ares’ hands and opened it. The Gods’ power was unleashed, and Kratos felt its magic pour into him, causing him to grow into a giant (though Ares was still noticeably bigger than him). His strength now matched Ares, and the ultimate battle for power began.

Ares claimed Kratos was still just a mortal, every bit as weak as the day Kratos begged Ares to save his life. Kratos recalled that he was not the same man Ares found that day – the monster Ares created had returned, to kill him. Ares boasted that Kratos had no idea of what a true monster really was, and unleashed large spider-like spikes from his back, ready to finally kill Kratos for good.

Kratos gained the upper hand during the fight, but Ares trapped him in an illusion where Kratos' family was being attacked by an army of clones of himself(representing his mistake of killing his wife and child) , stating that there are more effective ways of killing someone than physical harm. Though Kratos managed to kill all of the clones, Ares mocked him and ripped the Blades of Chaos from his arms and killed the image of his family with them. The two of them returned to the real world, where Kratos was emotionally beaten, and Ares boasted that Kratos should have been stronger and prepared to kill him with his sword.

Death of Ares

Kratos stabs Ares through his chest with the Blade of Gods

Kratos, however spotted the Blade of the Gods (sent by Athena), dodged Ares' attack, took up the sword and defeated him in battle with it. Ares pleaded for his life, reminding Kratos of the day he saved his life and how he was only trying to make him a great warrior. Kratos ironically recanted that Ares had "succeeded" in doing that before impaling him through the chest, killing him. The God of War fell into the Aegean Sea, and was no more, dead at the hands of the mortal he saved many years ago. Before his last breath Ares released a loud death cry, which caused blood to burst from his chest, and a powerful explosion was released. It is possible with Ares being the God of War, with his death brought the end of all wars, and thus brought peace everywhere on Earth. However, Kratos, having killed Ares the one who made him kill his family, asked Athena to remove the nightmares of his past. Athena replied that even though he has been forgiven of his sins, the Gods nor any mortal could ever remove his memories of killing his family. Kratos realized his nightmarish visions of his past sins would never leave him and thus tried to kill himself over Suicide Bluffs. But Athena saved him and said that the Gods could not allow Kratos, who had done such good deeds for them, to die by his own hand. Athena then said that Ares's tactics and methods were brutal and while the Olympians mourn for their brother, Ares's path of destruction had to be stopped. Now, there is now an empty place in Olympus for a new God of War-Kratos. Kratos then ascended to Mount Olympus and was given the crown, throne, and title as the new God of War, meaning that the peace of Ares' death was broken and whenever there were wars, for good or evil, they would be sought by and given permission to by Kratos, the new; present; all-powerful; and immortal God of War.

===First and second Attempted Revival=== FIRST ATTEMPTED REVIVAL- After Kratos' success in defeating and killing Ares and becoming the new God of War, the Spartan citizens disowned Ares and hailed Kratos willingly (save for a few staunch supporters of Ares), even removing all effigies of Ares and replacing them with those of Kratos. However, a few faithful disciples of Ares attempted to revive their fallen War God with the power of the Ambrosia (a power that could resurrect any thing), but Kratos had destroyed Gyges, the island in which the Ambrosia rested in, in order to prevent the followers of Ares' plans from coming to fruition.

SECOND ATTEMPTED REVIVAL- After Kratos was betrayed by Zeus and stripped of his Godly powers, Kratos was rescued by Gaia, the Titaness of Earth, who told him that the Sisters of Fate had the power to help Kratos go back in time, avert his betrayal and face Zeus. Kratos, after facing many challenges to get to the Sisters, finally arrived at the temple of the Fates where he met one of the sisters, Lahkesis. She told the Spartan that no one could change their destiny and then began to fight Kratos. As he hurt her gravely, she summoned her sister Atropos from her body, with the memories of destiny. Atropos quickly grabbed Kratos and took him inside the mirrors, bring him back to the day where he faced and killed Ares. She threw him on the Blade of the Gods' sword that he used to kill Ares and become the new and great God of War. Then she tried to change his past by destroying the blade. With blade gone, Ares would be victorious. In order to maintain his existence Kratos protected the Sword while battling her and eventually beat her, securing his past and trapping her inside the mirror.

Post-Mortem 

File:Tomb of ares.jpg

Tomb of Ares

While facing the Hippocampi on Gaia's hand, Kratos follows a path that leads to a chamber, the Tomb of Ares, which contains Ares' massive corpse concealed in ice. Kratos fights the first Centaur of the game here. There is a statue of Ares in the Garden of the Gods, where he is referred to as the "fallen God of War".

Despite being dead, Ares plays a small role in the third game, as he is mentioned by Athena, Hephaestus, Hera, Cronos, Zeus and Kratos, and is shown in flashback scenes. There is also a large fresco of Ares in the upper part of the Chamber of the Flame, showing him wielding his trademark sword. This fresco is located right next to a fresco of his mother, Hera. Ares' voice is heard when Kratos ends up in his psyche.

Multiplayer

“

Once your soul is in my grasp, warrior, I will grant you the strength to crush your enemies.

”

Ares is one of the mentors of God of War: Ascension's Multiplayer and the only mentor who is not a son of Cronos. His statue is the first one in the Rotunda of Olympus.

Overview

With the powers of the god of war, a warrior of Ares is what some might call a "glass cannon": the best physical damage dealers from the game, but also the least resistant to damage. This makes Ares the opposite to Poseidon in Multiplayer. His warriors also have a natural bond with fire and heat, which makes them even more fierce by allowing them to keep burning and harming enemies even after an attack.

A warrior of Ares can annihilate his enemies in a matter of seconds, but must watch out for incoming attacks. The god of war' servants can survive in hoards of enemies by themselves, which makes this the best class for Trial of the Gods.

Warrior

Dominant physical powers.

Fire Magic

Damage over time and disable enemy defenses.

Ares Items

Enhanced melee combat.

Ares Weapons

Grant damage bonuses and burn enemies over time in certain special attacks.

Ares Armors

Focus on enhancing physical powers.

Powers and Abilities

Being the God of War, Ares was a divine master of different combat and fighting styles and could determine the outcome of battles or wars.

Ares was one of the most powerful gods on Olympus, only standing behind Poseidon and Hades and his father Zeus. As a god, Ares was Immortal and was invincible to a certain degree but could be killed by the power of Pandora's Box, the Blade of Olympus, or by Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. He was able to kill the Barbarians with ease. By simply thinking about it, he caused hundreds of them to simultaneously be torn apart from the inside and burst into flames. Ares was able to lift his victims into the air and snap them in half and he had the ability to reclaim the Blades of Chaos and control them through telekinesis. At one point, he demonstrated the ability to create a pocket universe that he could warp to torture victims.

Ares showcased several superhuman attributes, such as endurance and accuracy, one example was when he was cut in the artery and he was only being inconvenienced. When he died he released a massive explosion and in God of War III his remains are still intact despite being in the center of that blast.

Ares using pyrokinesis

Ares, just like his uncles and father, is able to grant a small fraction of his powers to his followers. These followers can manipulate certain attributes of War to increase their fighting potential and strengthen their resolve, create explosions, fly, or even conjure walls of fire to aid them in battle. Due to Ares granting these powers, naturally he should be able to replicate them on a much greater scale.

Ares also had the powers of shape shifting, teleportation, superhuman strength, regeneration, superhuman speed, superhuman stamina, fire manipulation, conjuring, superhuman agility, healing, mastery of pyrokinesis, and the ability to materialize various weapons such as a gigantic war hammer, an axe, and a sword, all of which are enveloped in flames. These powers, along with having six blade-like protrusions appear out from his back, made Ares an incredibly formidable foe in battle.

Trivia

• He was voiced by Steven Blum in God of War and God of War: Ascension and by Fred Tatasciore in God of War III. Interestingly, he shares the same voice actor (Steven Blum) as Lucifer from the animated movie of Dante's Inferno, a game that shares many gameplay mechanics and themes.
• Ares' appearance changed dramatically during the development of God of War. Originally, David Jaffe had intended for the god to appear as "ninety percent energy and ten percent material", but because of the limited power of the PS2, Ares' appearance was gradually stripped back to the warrior seen in the final product.
• Ares appears also as the main antagonist at the end of Spartan: Total Warrior, a game that shares many similarities with God of War.
• Because he was killed by Kratos, it is rather unlikely that Ares had a chance to be affected by the evils of Pandora's Box. He did not truly display any characteristics of the evils. His threat to attack Olympus, and his bloodthirsty ways were part of his own characteristics.
• According to one of the secret messages at the end of God of War, Ares' soul was confined to a small chamber in Kratos' throne room, to be forever tormented by an unknown force.
• Ares' human-sized avatar is only seen in Ghost of Sparta, in flashbacks showing him taking Deimos away and scarring Kratos.
• Ares is one of the mentors for God of War: Ascension multiplayer. This makes him the only mentor who isn't a son of Cronos, he's his grandson instead.
• Ares was ranked on 55th place of the Top 100 Videogame Villains on IGN.
• Ares is the only God in the series that has shown the ability to grow retractable blade-like spider legs from his back. It remains unknown of there are other Olympians with this ability or if it's unique to Ares. Megaera, one of The Furies, has spider like legs growing out of her back, their appearance is very similar to Ares' but they are not on fire and they are probably always on her back.
  • Based on his appearance in God of War: Ascension, his ability to grow these spider legs wasn't a secret to the champions of Ares. In other words, Kratos would have known that Ares had this ability, implied by Kratos' complete lack of surprise. The legs were mostly a surprise for the gamer.
• The Champions of Ares have a natural bounding with fire and this drain energy from battle as revealed in the Ares' Trailer of Ascension.
• In God of War: Ascension, Ares is seen with shorter hair and beard than in the other games. The reason of the change is still unknown.
  • It is most likely, however, that Ares, like the other gods, could change his appearance depending on whatever suited his fancy.

Gallery

• Tomb of Ares

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• Go to Ares
• Ares, the fallen God of War
• Ares in God of War Ascension
• Ares as he appears in multiplayer
• Ares undistorted
• Concept Art

  Go to Ares
• Ares effigy in GoW: Ascension.

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Video

thumb|center|200px|Kratos vs. Ares

Related Pages

• Gods
• God of War (God)
• The Tomb of Ares