Helios

“	Behold the glory of Helios!	”
–Helios.

Template:Infobox godsHelios is the God of The Sun and Guardian of Oaths. He is an antagonist in God Of War 3. Helios is one of the strongest Gods, since he is the sun itself, he is only surpassed by Poseidon, Hades, Zeus and Ares.

In Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, the sun was personified as Helios. Helios was the All-Seeing Titan of the sun and was called upon witness when needed by the gods. He was a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and brother of the Titanesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn. The names of these three were also the common Greek words for sun, dawn and moon. Helios was imagined as a handsome god crowned with the shining aureole of the sun, who drove the Sun Chariot across the sky each day to earth-circling Oceanus and through the world-ocean returned to the East at night. Homer described Helios's chariot as drawn by his Fire Steeds. Still later, the horses were given fiery names: Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon.

Although born a Titan, Helios is never depicted in the gigantic form of his parents.

As time passed, Helios was increasingly identified with the god of light, Apollo, but the two remained separate beings. Helios' mythological Roman equivalent is Sol.

In the God of War Series

The First Titanomachy

In Atlas' flashback of the Great War, Helios can be seen fighting alongside Hermes with the Titans.

Wager with the Gods

Helios appeared in the gods' wager, with a champion of his own. Although endowed with powers similar to Helios' own, his champion was killed in battle by Kratos.

Helios' Abduction

Helios was kidnapped by Atlas by orders of Persephone, who felt betrayed by the gods for being forced to stay with Hades six months out of every year. His disappearance allowed Morpheus, the god of dreams, to take over the mortal realm and cast the gods into a deep slumber. Helios was taken to the Underworld, where Atlas used his power to destroy the Pillar of the World-and with it, the rest of the world.

Before this plan could be fully achieved, the Sun God was saved by Kratos, who defeated Persephone and chained Atlas to the world in the Pillar's place. During the battle with Persephone, Helios was held in Atlas' hand, forming of an orb of light. The ray of sunlight he radiated was used by Kratos to weaken Persephone. After his final battle, an unconscious Kratos was stripped of his items by Helios and Athena. Helios, grateful for Kratos' rescuing him, and showing pity for his sacrifices, suggests helping him further, only for Athena to disagree, claiming that "He'll live. They must."

Further Appearances

While Helios does not appear in person in Ascension, God of War, Ghost of Sparta or God of War II (save the ending cutscene), technically he is always visible whenever the Sun is in the sky.

Two statues of the Sun God do appear in God of War II. The first is the great Colossus of Rhodes, which, after being brought to life by Zeus, Kratos fought and destroyed. The second was found in the Garden of the Gods, as Kratos travelled through the Palace of the Fates.

Helios briefly appears in person at the end, during the council of the gods on Olympus, along with Hermes, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. He is one of the first witnesses of the rescued Titans ascending Mount Olympus, led by Gaia and a vengeful Kratos.

The Second Titanomachy

“	The Titans will fail again!	”
–Helios.

The gods quickly took action to defeat the Titans once again. Helios jumped onto his Sun Chariot and began attacking Gaia, throwing a fireball, combusting a fallen tree to prevent Kratos from escaping the undead soldiers that swarmed the Titan's shoulder. Afterwards, Helios was also seen battling the Titan of Destruction, Perses, and successfully dislodging him from the mountain.

Helios again confronted Perses on the slopes of Olympia, holding an advantage over the Titan because of the blinding light he emitted. He occasionally aided the minions of Olympus fighting Kratos, throwing fireballs into the area. After having fought his way through the hordes, Kratos used a ballista to damage Helios' Sun Chariot, causing him to fly straight into Perses' hand. The Titan then crushed Helios with his Chariot, and threw him far into the city.

Death

After traveling through the ruined city, Kratos discovers Helio once again; severly injured from the crash and unable to lift himself off the ground. A battalion of Olympus Guardians desperately attempted to protect their god, forming a circular phalanx around him. Being unable to shatter their Onyx shields with his weapons, Kratos controlled a Cyclops to break through the ranks, crushing the phalanx, after which he killed the Cyclops by brutally ripping out its eye.

Helios, pleading for his life, reminded Kratos of the debt he owed the mortal for saving him years ago, and promised to repay Kratos if his life was to be spared as his life was spared from Atlas by the Ghost of Sparta. Kratos immediately demanded the location of The Flames of Olympus. Helios stated he would never reach it, subsequently unleashing the power of the sun, in an attempt to blind Kratos. Kratos however, was able to block the light with his hands and slowly advance toward him and smash Helios' head repeatedly under his boot. Helios then lies to Kratos by saying that Kratos would have to embrace the Flames of Olympus to defeat Zeus, only to have Kratos angrily reveal that Hephaestus had already told him about the flame and how it was both harmful to gods and mortals. Helios expressed shock at Kratos trusting the words of Hephaestus, labeling the smith god as an exiled freak who had fallen from the graces of Olympus. Kratos then declared that was exactly why he believed Hephaestus in the first place.

Failing to convince Kratos, and with a final gaze at the Spartan, Helios told Kratos his death would not lead him to Zeus, only for Kratos to reply that is where he was wrong. Kratos then grabbed his head, and started to pull it fiercely, Kratos then, delivered a powerful hit on Helios's neck, breaking it, and then grabbed the god's head again and started to pull it with all his might, Helios screamed in pain as Kratos brutally tore off his head, killing him. Helios's severed head screamed in pain and anger as Kratos observed it. With the sun god's death, clouds blocked the sun, bringing darkness and storms across the world.

Kratos would then use the late god's head to discover several secrets, blind enemies, and unlocking new paths throughout Olympus, as well as the Underworld.

Powers and abilities

“	FEEL THE POWER OF THE SUN!	”
–Helios attacking Kratos.

As the God of the Sun, Helios has many powers that revolve around elements which are fire and light. Helios is able to control fire, using it to his will. Examples include:

Helios launching fireballs at his enemies.
His Steeds and his Chariot being covered in flames, granting them great speed and the power to fly.
Unleashing a powerful beam that could blind enemies, and brighten up even the darkest of places.
The Sun Shield, which he can use to deflect projectiles thrown at him.
As an Olympian, Helios had the common God powers, including immortality, teleportation, invincibility, superhuman strength, durability, stamina, accuary, and regeneration
Sun/light control
Light manipulation
Solar manipulation

Trivia

He is voiced by Dwight Schultz in Chains of Olympus and by Crispin Freeman in God of War III, where his face is also modeled after Freeman's.
In Chains of Olympus, Helios' abduction led to the disappearance of the Sun from the sky. In God of War III, Kratos killed Helios by ripping his head off, causing the sun to be blocked by dark clouds, and an endless torrent of rain to pour down, then followed by thunderstorms and tornadoes. In the demo version however, after Kratos rips Helios' head off, the sky seems to have been spared from any changes.
Right in front of Helios, while lying wounded on the rooftop, lies the Sun Shield Kratos used in Chains of Olympus, which can be retrieved as a Godly Possession.
In a rather form of cruel irony, Helios' death actually did lead him to Zeus, since the spartan used the god's head as a lantern to light his way through Olympus.
The Evil that infected Helios is most likely Deceit, since he lied to Kratos about The Flame of Olympus.
Even though appearing in very few mythology stories, he was still regarded as the sun god, even having the Colossus of Rhodes built in his image on the eponymous island, where he was worshiped and said to be born.
Helios and his sisters, Eos and Selene are cousins of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia, since both Hyperion and Cronos were brothers.
In the God of War II ending cutscene, where Zeus gathers his fellow Gods to face Kratos' threats, Helios's appearance is slightly different. He gains a helmet in God of War III and his armor is brighter.
Similar to Athena, Helios once sided with Kratos, aiding him in his quest to stop Persephone. They later turned against him when Kratos sought to kill Zeus after being betrayed.
If one looks carefully, Helios appears to have the edges of a sun tattoo showing over his breast-plate, and on his arms and legs.
When Kratos uses Helios' Head, the faint screams of the God can still be heard coming from the decapitated head. A possible, yet horrifying, conclusion from this is that Helios is somehow still alive as a disembodied head.