Zeus (Clash of the Titans)

## Zeus

### Other Names

Brother (By Poseidon and Hades), Father (by his children), Son of Kronos, Father of Perseus, The King of the Heavens

### Goal

To make the world safe for Perseus (succeeded)

## Relationships

### Friends / Allies

 Perseus,  Hades,  Poseidon,  Andromeda,  Io,  Helius, Agenor, Pegasus

### **Enemies**

Acrisius, Calibos, Hades (formerly), Kraken, Makhai, Kronos, other titans

## Personal Information

### Occupation

King of the Heavens
Lord of Olympus

### Powers/Abilities

Control of air, weather, electricity, lightning

## Character Information

### **Portrayed by**

Laurence Olivier (1981)
Liam Neeson (2010)

### **Inspiration**

Zeus from Greek Mythology

**Zeus** is a major character in *Clash of the Titans* and the 2010 remake and the tritagonist of *Wrath of the Titans*. Despite remaining an aloof and distant father, Zeus still guides his son, Perseus, throughout his times of need.

Zeus is based on the mythological character of the same name from Greek Mythology.

## Background

Zeus is  Perseus' father, was the ruler of Olympus, the brother of Hades and Poseidon and the son of Kronos and Rhea.

In fear that one of his children would overthrow him, Kronos consumed his first five-born children, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. However, his and Rhea's youngest child, Zeus, was hidden by his mother on the Isle of Crete and raised by nymphs. As an adult, being a cupbearer for his father, Zeus made a drink mixed with wine and mustard and tricked Kronos into drinking the concoction, which caused Kronos into disgorging and freeing all five of Zeus' siblings

He, Hades and Poseidon all plotted to overthrow their parents. During the Titan War, Zeus had convinced Hades to give birth to the Kraken, who defeated the Titans in Stygia. After the ten-year Titanomachy, Zeus tricked his brother, Hades to being ruler of the Underworld and he himself became the king of the Heaven while Poseidon became king of the seas.  Zeus tricked Hades to live in darkness and in misery in the Underworld. Overtime, Hades grew resentful of Zeus and plotted to overthrow his brother.

As king of the Olympians, Zeus later married his sister Hera but occasionally had affairs with other mortals whom Zeus created to populate the world.

Zeus later fathered a child, Perseus who was raised by a family of fishermen after his step-father, Acirisius cast him and Danae into the sea, which caused Zeus to sent a lightning bolt to Acrisius' head and reincarnate him as Calibos. The battle between the mortals and the gods raged on as Hades plotted his revenge to overthrow Zeus and become king of the Gods.

### Powers and Abilities

* **Immortality:** As long as man prayed, Zeus and his other fellow gods were immortal. However, after they ignored the gods and refused to pray to them, Zeus lost his immortality and was susceptible to dying after Kronos wounded them grately.
* **Atmokinesis:** Ability to manipulate air
* **Electrokinesis:** Zeus had the bility to generate lightning and electricity, and sent a lightning bolt to Calibos' head and also sending electricity to Perseus' sword when his son called for him.
* **Teleportation:** Zeus could transport from one place to another, and he usually appears in a crack of lightning. He could also enter his grandson, Helius' dreams sometimes.
* **Shape-shifting:** Zeus was known to change forms, either as his sacred animal, a bald eagle or a bolt of lightning.
* **Telepathy:** Even though they were far apart, Zeus was able to telepathically call out to Preseus who was on his way to rescue his father from Hades and Ares.

### Personality

Zeus has an authority over the other gods of Olympus, the skies, and the mortals, appearing as a divine figure. He is capable leader, having most of the gods to follow him, especially during the Titanomachy. He was fairly hot-tempered, as he refused to listen to reason when the other gods pled that there could be a peace between them and the Humans. Zeus' brother, Hades, took advantage of his younger brother's anger, directed it towards the humans ignoring the gods and no longer feeding them prayers.  In his anger, he would let it cloud his judgement, such as following Hades' council. When he first learned that Perseus, the son he lost, had in fact survived, Zeus apparently felt no need to help his son. However, he kept a figurine of Perseus hidden and decided to leave his son a sword and a Pegasus for Perseus, who denied both gifts, and rather would have fought this as a man than as a god.
Zeus did attempt to convince Perseus out of this dangerous quest and to make him immortal. However, he immediately refused. Instead, he gave Perseus a drachma in order to pay for the ferryman. At the end of the film, Zeus saw that Hades had in fact wanted power and realized that though he wanted men to worship them again, Zeus did not want it to cost him Perseus.

He was a paternal figure towards all his children up except for Ares, who betrayed the Olympians after Ares hated his father for favoring Perseus and having a human side, believing he had grown soft. Zeus' favorite children were his daughter Athena, and his son Perseus. In a deleted scene, Zeus nearly cried when he saw Athena and his other children chained. Zeus encountered his own grandson, Helius in his dreams sometimes and often visited the boy in them. In the final film, Zeus reveals that his motivations for keeping Kronos at bay, was he was trying to make the world a safer place for Perseus.

Zeus had a sense of humor, as he called Perseus' life as a human "mundane," it caused Perseus to slightly huff in amusement. It was also exhibited in the sequel, where Zeus enthusiastically told Hades that they should "have some fun" while using their powers against Kronos, as they used to have powers before they had weapons.

At the very end of his life, Zeus told Perseus that Helius gave his father strength as Perseus gave Zeus his. In the sequel, Zeus admits he regrets banishing Hades to the Underworld to be hated. Zeus was, after all, only human and had finally learned from his mistakes, as him tricking Hades to the Underworld drove him down the path towards the dark side.  However, even Hades no longer held a grudge against his younger brother and finally accepted his forgiveness. As a last sign of affection, he gently touches his son's cheek before crumbling to dust.

## *Clash of the Titans*

### Original Film

Zeus is told by Poseidon that his former lover Danae and his son, Perseus, has been tossed into the sea by her father, King Acrisius. He orders Poseidon to unleash the Kraken as punishment to destroy the city of Argos.

In the final act of the film, Zeus sees his son collapse out of exhaustion on the Joppa colosseum. Zeus uses magic to restore his son to health. In doing so, Perseus saves Andromeda in time, using Medusa's head to petrify the Kraken and turn it to stone.

Proud of his son, Zeus proclaims his son is triumphant. Most of the gods fear of other heroes like Perseus. However, Zeus adds that his son is fortunate and wishes none of the gods enact vengeance on Perseus and instead for him to live a happy life with Andromeda. He predicts they will rule wisely, have fine sons and leave a legacy behind. He tells his fellow gods to have his daughter-in-law Andromeda, son Perseus, Pegasus and even the vain Cassiopeia be placed memorialized as constellations in the stars. He proclaims, that the stars will tell their stories until the end of time and that men will look up to them whenever they feel lost.

### 2010 Remake

In the 2010 remake, Zeus is portrayed significantly younger than Laurence Olivier's performance having brown hair as opposed to white. He also interacts with Perseus more than once in the film.

Angered by the Mortals' resistance, Zeus is angered by their defiance and denies all of the gods' conviction to reach a truce with the humans. They are disturbed by the arrival of Hades, who proclaims that he has a way to make the humans love and respect them again. Blinded by anger, Zeus  allows Hades to go to Argos and threaten the humans with  unleashing the Kraken. Hermes comes to Zeus and announces that his son, Perseus, is alive.

Despite claiming not to help Perseus, Zeus gifts his son with a sword and a winged-horse, Pegasus.  However, Perseus refuses everything his father gives him. After Perseus confronted the three Stygian Witches, Zeus appeared to Perseus and offered his son immortality. However, Perseus refuses to acknowledge Zeus as his father and accept the god's offer of Immortality.  Instead, Zeus gives Perseus a drachma  to bribe the ferryman, Charon.

Hades reveals his intentions to his brother: to feed off of the fear of humans and gain more power. Zeus realizes he can only rely on Perseus now.

With the combined forces of father and son, Zeus is called upon by Perseus and sends lightning to his son's sword, who hurls it at Hades and banish Hades back into the Underworld with Perseus' sword and Zeus' lightning. They both predict that Hades will return and attempt to take advantage of men growing weak and their fears again.

### *Wrath of the Titans*

As the walls of Tartarus are beginning to fall, Zeus realizes that his father is breaking out of Tartarus and that the gods' powers are falling and their work is becoming undone. He visits his son and grandson one night, hoping to convince Perseus to come with him to the Underworld and contain Kronos in his prison. However, Perseus refuses his father in favor of staying with his son, Helius. Zeus travels to the Underworld alone, where he meets with Hades, Poseidon and Ares. However, the gods of the Undrworld and the god of War immediately ambush Zeus and Poseidon, who is mortally wounded and gets away. Hades and Ares announce their plan is to drain Zeus of his power and life source and bring Kronos back into power.

Rendered useless, Zeus sends a call out to Perseus, who is on his way to rescue his father from the Underworld.Nearing death, Zeus apologizes to Hades for abandoning him in the Underworld to be hated. At that moment, Perseus, Andromeda and Agenor appear. Perseus uses Poseidon's trident and the powers he inherited from Zeus to break his father out of his prison. Ares hurls Hades' pitchfork at Zeus,. Though it wounds Zeus, Perseus is able to claim it and form the Spear of Triam, the only weapon able to defeat Kronos. Zeus tells Perseus to use the love and motivation for his son, Helius to face off at Kronos.

Hades appears to his brother, and claims that he forgives his brother before transferring some of his powers to Zeus, restoring his youth and some of his powers. The reconciled brothers decide to go out on the battlefield and use their powers before they had weapons. During the battle, Zeus is mortally wounded by Kronos.

Before he crumbles to dust, Zeus thanks Perseus before disappearing. Zeus tells Perseus to use his powers wisely and that the world needs people like him.

## Quotes

* "There is a calamity coming. It will affect us all. Gods and men."
* "This is business for gods. We need all our children now. Perhaps, together, we can remedy this. But we need every shred of power, Perseus."