| “ | Behold the glory of Helios! | ” |
–Helios. | ||
Helios was the Titan God of the Sun. He was the cousin of Zeus and brother of Eos.Template:Infobox gods
Greek Mythology
Helios was the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. When Zeus rescued his siblings from Cronos and began the Great War, Helios joined his cousins and helped overthrow the Titans, including his father.
From his chariot high above the world, Helios could see everything that occurred on Earth or Olympus, and thus was also the lord of sight and the keeper of oaths.
When Hades kidnapped Persephone, it was Helios who told the panicked Demeter what had happened. It was also Helios who discovered Aphrodite was cheating on Hephaestus with Ares.
Helios again helped the gods when the Giants attacked Olympus, rescuing Hephaestus from the battlefield and killing a Giant in single combat.
Helios never took a wife, but he had many children by various mothers. The most famous was the witch Circe.
God of War
Comics
Helios takes part in the Wager of the Gods, supporting Cereyon. Cereyon mentions no disaster compelling him to search for the Ambrosia and is the only warrior to know he is the champion of a god. When Kratos drowns him, Helios is disqualified.
Chains of Olympus
Helios' abduction by the freed Atlas causes the uncontrolled Sun Chariot to plunge from the heavens, casting the world into eternal night. To prevent Morpheus from controlling the world, Kratos is tasked by Athena to find him and return him to the sky.
Kratos finds the Sun God in the grip of Atlas as the mighty Titan attempts to destroy the Pillar of the World. During the battle, Helios is freed, and Kratos uses the god's reflected power to overcome Persephone's defenses and strike her down.
After Kratos restores the Sun Chariot to the sky, he collapses in exhaustion and lands on the Suicide Bluffs. Helios appears in person to retrieve his Shield. He asks Athena if they should help Kratos further, but she declines and they return to Olympus.
II
Helios was the patron god of Rhodes. His worshipers had almost completed the great Colossus to honor him when Kratos, the new God of War, led his Spartans to attack the city. The ensuing battle destroyed the Colossus, the city, the Spartans and Rhodesians and even Kratos himself as Zeus intervened.
A much smaller statue of the Sun God appears in the Garden of the Gods in the Palace of the Fates.
Helios himself appears as Zeus rallies the gods after the death of Athena. He joins his cousins as they discover the Titans scaling Olympus itself.
III
Helios is the first to act, summoning his chariot and riding it into battle. He blocks Kratos' path by setting part of Gaia's forest ablaze, then turns to fighting the others, knocking Perses off the mountain within minutes.
After killing Hades, Kratos returns to the surface to find Helios again locked in battle with Perses. Though the god attempts to stop the Spartan by throwing fireballs, his split attention between his two enemies allows Kratos to fire a ballista into his chariot, knocking him out of control and into Perses' hand. The Titan crushes the god and hurls him into the city of Olympia.
Kratos tracks down the injured god, slaughtering all the soldiers of Olympus who try to protect him. Though Helios attempts to negotiate with, blind or mislead Kratos, the Spartan would not be deterred. He tears the god's head from his shoulders, ending his life. As Helios' screams fade, so does the Sun itself, and the world is again plunged into darkness.
Kratos continues to use the Head of Helios until Zeus' final assault destroys or scatters all of his weapons.
Helios' brutal death
Trivia
- He is voiced by Dwight Schultz in Chains of Olympus and by Crispin Freeman in God of War III, where his face is modeled after Freeman's.
- The Sun Shield Kratos used in Chains of Olympus can be found next to his corpse in Olympia, renamed Helios' Shield as one of the Godly Possessions.
- Helios has the edges of a sun tattoo showing over his breastplate and on his arms and legs.
- Whenever Kratos uses the Head of Helios, the god can still be heard screaming.
- In the traditions of Rhodes, Helios was the husband of Athena and was the first to tell mankind to worship her.
Gallery
.jpg "Helios (comics).jpg (257 KB)")
