Athena

**Athena** is the Olympian Goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. She offers boons to Zagreus that cause his abilities to Deflect enemy attacks. In addition, she also offers boons that reduce damage or increase other defensive options.

Athena offers excellent defensive options with her boons, protecting you from damage with the ability to deflect enemy projectiles and melee attacks, as well as reduce the damage you will take in a run.

Her signature Status Curse is Exposed, which causes enemies to take additional damage from behind. This stacks with Backstab bonuses offered by the Mirror of Night.

As her boon is the reward for clearing the very first room in a fresh save, she will always be the first of the Olympian gods to be encountered.

## Characteristics and Personality

Stoic, gracious, and refined, Athena is the first deity contacted by Nyx and offers her help to Zagreus. As the goddess of wisdom and military strategy, Athena sincerely wishes for her cousin to escape his unjust imprisonment with an elaborate plan.

Athena tends to be less personal with Zagreus compared to the other gods, and does not share details of her personal life or interests, as her focus is always on helping Zagreus escape, and she is the only Olympian willing to help simply because it is the right thing to do. She genuinely respects her cousin as a member of her family.

Athens certainly can be considered the favorite child of her father Zeus. He constantly brags about her cunning, but Athena will deny any resemblance to him. On the other hand, she is equally willing to punish Zagreus for accepting another god's blessing instead of hers when the given the choice. In fact, behind her image of a "perfect" and obedient daughter, calm and calculated, Athena can lose her composure when interacting with other gods, as is the case with Aphrodite, who are like water and oil.

Despite the best intentions, comments from Olympians indicate that Athena is a kind of "know-it-all," an "unbearable genius" who considers her ideas superior to others. Artemis remarks that she never knows for sure whether Athena is trying to prove something or show off. Other Olympian gods indicate that she is somewhat fawning and that her benevolence is just an act.

In fact, beneath all her apparent benevolence, Athena is far from as wise as one might expect from a goddess of wisdom, having her own hidden depths and may have made serious mistakes in her past. Chaos speculates that the true reason Athena is carrying everything on her shoulders and is so eager to help Zagreus escape the underworld is that she sees him as a form of personal redemption, viewing him "as a tool with which her broken family can still be fixed" and to correct the rift between Olympian and chthonic gods.

## Physical description

Athena appears as a beautiful and imposing warrior figure, tall and upright with a dark grey skin tone, posing like a statue, with lavender braided hair and matching eyes. She wears a radiant collection of golden armor with a Gorgon stamped on the hip and lightweight robes, crowned with a blue helmet with a horsehair crest. She holds an owl, her sacred animal, in one hand and is armed with her characteristic golden shield, with golden discs adorning her forehead, ears, and chest.

## History

### Before Hades

The favorite daughter of Zeus, is said to have been born to him and his first wife. It was prophesied that the powerful Athena would overthrow Zeus's rule. Terrified by this prediction, Zeus swallowed Metis while she was pregnant to protect his position. However, Zeus soon developed an unbearable headache and had to find someone to split his head open. Athena was born from Zeus's head and combined the best qualities of both Zeus and his mother, becoming the embodiment of strategic warfare and wisdom.

## Affinity

If given Nectar, Athena will give you the Owl Pendant.

Athena's affinity gauge is maxed out at 7 hearts.

### Favor

Athena's favor requires seeing all three of Athena's remarks after successfully clearing a run, acknowledging Zagreus' strength.

## Codex entry

'*...Of some things I am certain, and one of them is this: That there were many times, during my mortal life, when my spear found its mark thanks to Pallas Athena. She favors those of dispositions such as mine, and I would like to think her efforts keep the violent lusting of Ares, her half-brother, well in check. If anybody on Olympus might have the capacity to mend the rift between my Master and themselves, it must be her; though, even in all her wisdom, I remain unsure if she can sway my Master's obstinance.*'

## Quotes

> *For quotes and dialogue regarding Athena, please refer to Athena/Quotes.*
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## Mechanics

Many of Athena's boons add **Deflect** to your abilities. Deflect is a mechanic unique to Athena boons which allows an ability to repel projectiles and damage back at the attacker. A projectile hit with a Deflecting ability will be sent back towards the enemy who cast it, and deals a portion of the enemy's health instead of its base damage. A well timed Deflecting ability can also negate a melee attack, dealing damage to the attacker instead.

*(Note: Portion of damage not known. It doesn't appear to be eight times the base damage at least in every case. Needs verifying.)*

## Trivia

* Whenever a dialogue between Athena begins, Dusa, if in proximity, instinctively seeks to vanish from sight, concealing herself in trepidation of catching the goddess's attention. This is a reference to their mythological relationship.

## Additional notes

*For additional information on Athena that does not pertain to Hades, see Wikipedia's article: Athena*