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 original God of War and the main antagonist of the God of War game and perpetrator behind the events of God of War: Ascension , he was also responsible for setting the events of the series into motion by trapping, manipulating Kratos into slaying his family and indirectly responsible for his metamorphosis into the Ghost of Sparta and setting him on the path which would eventually lead to the destruction of Olympus at his hands. He was the son of Zeus and Hera. Ares was the oldest child of Zeus and was commonly referred as the most hated God on Mount Olympus, even before being killed by Kratos.

Greek Mythology

Ares was 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. Mars 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, especially Zeus's throne, so he struck an alliance with The Furies, and persuaded them to take a more ruthless approach. After learning of the prophecy of the Marked Warrior, who is destined to destroy Olympus and kill Zeus, Ares had a child with Alecto, and hoped that their child would be the marked one so that he could aid him in overthrowing Zeus and claiming his throne. Unfortunately, Orkos, Ares' child, was not up to his standards, and was disowned. The Furies, however, saw potential in Orkos and made him their oath-keeper.

Trojan

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 Marked Warrior Prophecy. After Ares captured the boy, Deimos' brother, Kratos, charged toward Ares to save his older brother. Despite his efforts, however, Ares hit Kratos on the face, and created 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. Little did Ares know that the boy to whom he gave a scar would be the same boy who would Initially serve him and later leave him in adulthood after his family would be slaughtered by his own hands due to his machinations.

Wager of the Gods

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

Kratos' Servitude

Untitled 11 ares — Ares getting a pledge of servitude from Kratos

Kratos and his Spartan army were no match for the merciless barbarians tribes of the east. Being outnumbered and overpowered, Kratos' army was losing the battle. Kratos, about to be killed by Alrik, the Barbarian King, pledged himself to Ares, the God of War, in exchange for victory. After he saw Kratos as the potential warrior that he needed to overthrow Olympus, Ares accepted, violently wiped out the barbarians, and gave 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, and conquered 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, and burned 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, Lysandra, and his daughter, Calliope. Ares appeared before the bloodstained hands of Kratos, and told him that it was necessary to have his family eliminated so that nothing stood in his way.

The ashes of Kratos' loved ones were gathered by the Village Oracle and she placed them upon his 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 God of War's son, Orkos, learned of the injustice that his parents had inflicted on Kratos and turned against his father and his mothers. Orkos 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 hunted 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 had wanted Kratos returned to him; the plan was ruined when Kratos killed the Furies and mercifully killed Orkos, who was remade the oath keeper to Kratos, and thereby severed his bond. Kratos managed to escape, served Olympus for 10 years, hoped to redeem himself, and for his sins to be forgiven.

Battle with Kratos

Jealousy came over Ares for Athena, and, as a result of that jealousy, Ares laid siege to Athens. Since Zeus had forbidden the Gods from waging war with one another, Athena could not step in to protect her city. Instead, Athena enlisted the help of Kratos, who had faithfully served 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, Ares picked up a broken pillar and hurled it into the desert, which flew into Pandora's Tempe and struck Kratos in the chest, impaling him to a wall and killing him. Ares' Harpies retrieved the Box and brought it to him. However, Kratos escaped the Underworld through the help of the mysterious Grave Digger.

Ares challenged Zeus, and threatened to open the Box and use it against Olympus. It seemed all was lost, until Ares looked behind him and saw a returning Kratos standing behind him, mocked Zeus, and said that he sent a broken mortal to defeat the God of War. 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, which caused him to grow into a giant (though Ares was still noticeably bigger than him). Kratos' strength matched Ares, and the ultimate battle for power began.

Ares claimed that Kratos was still just a mortal, and was every bit as weak as the day that he begged him to save his life. Kratos recalled that he was not the same man that Ares had 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, unleashed large spider-like spikes from his back, and was ready to finally kill Kratos for good.

Kratos gained the upper hand during the fight, but Ares trapped him in an illusion where his family was attacked by an army of clones of himself (representing his mistake of killing his wife and child), and stated that there were more effective ways of killing someone than physical harm. Though Kratos had managed to kill all of the clones, Ares mocked him, 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

Untitled 4ares — Ares getting stabbed through his chest with the Blade of Gods by Kratos

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, reminded Kratos of the day that he saved his life, and how he only tried to make him a great warrior. Kratos ironically recanted that Ares had "succeeded" in doing that before he impaled him through the chest, and killed him. The God of War fell into the Aegean Sea, and was no more, dead at the hands of the mortal that 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. 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 had been forgiven of his sins, the Gods nor any mortal could ever remove his memories of killing his family. Kratos realized that his nightmarish visions of his past sins would never leave him and thus tried to kill himself over Suicide Bluffs. Athena saved Kratos and said that the Gods could not allow him, 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 mourned for their brother, Ares's path of destruction had to be stopped. However, with Ares's death, there was an empty place on Olympus for a new God of War: Kratos. Kratos then ascended to Olympus and was given the crown, throne, and title as the new God of War, which meant 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; all-powerful; and immortal God of War.

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), and even removed all effigies of Ares and replaced them with those of Kratos. However, a few faithful Disciples of Ares attempted to revive their fallen God of War with the power of the Ambrosia (a power that could resurrect even a God), but Kratos had destroyed Gyges, the island in which the Ambrosia rested on, in order to prevent the followers of Ares' plans from coming to fruition.

After Ares' Death

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 him go back in time, avert his betrayal and face Zeus. On the Island of Creation, Kratos came upon a room known as the Garden of the Gods, in which there was a Statue of Ares where he was referred to as "The Fallen God of War". Kratos, after he faced 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 Kratos that no one could change their destiny and then began to fight him. As Kratos hurt Lahkesis gravely, she summoned her sister, Atropos from within herself. Atropos quickly grabbed Kratos, took him inside the mirrors, and brought him back to the day where he faced and killed Ares. She threw Kratos on the Blade of the Gods 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 the blade gone, Ares would be victorious. In order to maintain his existence, Kratos protected the blade while he battled Atropos, eventually defeated her, secured his past, and trapped her inside the mirror.

The Second Titanomachy

File:Tomb of ares.jpg

Ares' Tomb

While he faced the Hippocampi on Gaia's hand, Kratos followed a path that lead to a chamber, the Tomb of Ares, which contained Ares' massive corpse that was concealed in ice. Kratos fought the first Centaur of the game there.

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

With the death of Zeus and the near destruction of the world, Ares' plan for Kratos to take down the Olympian Gods and Mount Olympus came to full fruition, though not as he hoped.

Multiplayer

“

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

”

Ares was one of the mentors of God of War: Ascension's Multiplayer and the only mentor who was not a son of Cronos. His statue was 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 could annihilate his enemies in a matter of seconds, but must watch out for incoming attacks. The God of War's servants could survive in hoards of enemies by themselves, which made that 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.

Ares Symbols

Spear, helmet, dog, vulture, and flaming torch.

Powers and Abilities

As the original God of War, Ares was one of the most powerful gods on Olympus with a large variety of abilities, most in reference to war and combat.

Dimensiokinesis: Ares was able to create pocket universes that he could control completely. Ares demonstrated that during his battle with Kratos, where he trapped him in the his own mind, where he was forced to protect his family, for Ares to kill after all, and almost broke his spirit. The pocket universe seemed to be made in Kratos' head, as he returned his giant body, kneeling as Ares appeared behind him, and was ready to strike him down.
Enhanced Senses: Ares was able to sense how Kratos retrieved Pandora's Box, while being miles away from the Desert of Lost Souls.
Immortality: Ares was an immortal, meaning he couldn't die through natural means and only divine weapons, Titans and other gods would be able to kill him.
Power Bestowal: Ares was able to grant chosen warrior with a large variety of abilities and weapons. It was he who gave Kratos his original blades, the Blades of Chaos. He can also grant vast pyrokinetic abilities to his followers.
Pyrokinesis: Ares possessed the ability to manipulate fire, in every way possible. Ares was able to infuse it in his weapons, throw fire balls from his hands, and ignited people at will. Ares often used that ability to kill those who opposed him. Ares also used it in a aesthetic way, as his hair and facial hair were made of fire.
Astral Projection: Ares was able to project an image of himself out of fire to communicate to Kratos after the Spartan killed his family.
Shapeshifting: As an Olympian, Ares was able to alter his appearance at will. He did that however to a small extent as the change of his hair was altered between God of War: Ascension and God of War.
- Size Alternation: Ares was able to alter his size, and often increased it to titanic proportions, as he did during the Battle of Athens.
- Transformation: Ares was able to sprout grow large spider-like protrusions from his back that could be used in combat to hit and impale his enemies. Based on the fact that his statue in God of War: Ascension bore those "claws", implied that was a trademark feature of the War God.
Telepathy: Ares was able to talk to people through their minds, without physically getting involved with his target.
Telekinesis: Ares was able to move objects and people with his mind and did that on a massive scale. Ares used the ability to rip the Blades of Chaos from Kratos' arms, and, during the Battle with the Barbarians, lifted people in the air and broke them in half.
Teleportation: Throughout his battle with Kratos, Ares was able to teleport all around the area very quickly.
Geokinesis: Ares would occasionally summon enormous volcanic rock structures to try to harm Kratos.
War Embodiment: Ares was the embodiment of War and was able to draw power from war. In combination with his other abilities, Ares was able to lay waste to huge armies, with little to no effort. When he died, Ares' body exploded like a nuclear bomb.
Weapon Creation: During his final fight with Kratos, Ares has shown the ability to materialize various weapons such as a gigantic war hammer, an axe, and a sword, all of which were enveloped in flames.
Enhanced Marksmanship: As a god , he possessed a greater level of marksmanship as he was able to perfectly hurl a large pillar from Athens to the far off Pandora's Temple in the Desert of Lost Souls to fatally kill Kratos.

Appearance

Ares appears as a giant warrior god. He wears a brown sleeveless tunic, shoulder pieces with wolf faces built into them, and has bracers and boots with chains on them. His boots go up to his knees. He has long hair and a beard, which seem to be made of fire.

Gallery

Trivia

Ares 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 shared the same voice actor (Steven Blum) as Lucifer from the animated movie of Dante's Inferno, a game that shared 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 also appeared as the main antagonist at the end of Spartan: Total Warrior, a game that shared many similarities with God of War.
Because he was killed by Kratos, it was 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. Ares' threat to attack Olympus, and his bloodthirsty ways were already part of his own character.
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, and was forever tormented by an unknown force.
Ares' human-sized avatar was only seen in Ghost of Sparta: in flashbacks that showed him taking Deimos away and scarring Kratos.
Ares was one of the mentors for God of War: Ascension Multiplayer. That made him the only mentor who wasn't a son of Cronos: he's his grandson instead.
Ares was ranked on 55th place of the Top 100 Video Game Villains on IGN.
Ares was the only God in the series shown with the ability to grow retractable blade-like spider legs from his back. It remained unknown if there were other Olympians with that ability or if it's unique to Ares. Megaera, one of the Furies, had spider-like legs growing out of her back: their appearance was very similar, though more insect-like, compared to Ares' but they were not on fire and they seemed to be truly a part of her physiology.
- Based on Ares' appearance in God of War: Ascension, his ability to grow those spider legs wasn't a secret to the Champions of Ares. In other words, Kratos would have known that Ares had that ability: implied by Kratos' complete lack of surprise. The legs were mostly a surprise for the gamer.
The Champions of Ares had a natural bounding with fire and gained energy from battle as revealed in Ares' Trailer of Ascension.
In God of War: Ascension, Ares was seen with shorter hair and beard than in the other games. The reason of the change was still unknown.
- It was most likely, however, that Ares, like the other Gods, could change his appearance depending on whatever suited him.
- Since Ares' appearance in Ascension is shown in flashbacks, it is possible this was Ares' appearance prior to Kratos' birth.