Hades

Hades (ハーデス, Hādesu) is the god who rules the Inferno and chief god of his Army. He is reborn every 243 years to start a crusade against Athena to conquer Earth. His soul is reborn on Earth in the castle Heinstein and choose to Shun as yorishiro. His real body is sleeping in his temple in Elysion.
In Saint Seiya, as in the Greek mythology, Hades is the Underworld god, and as such, incarnates into a human being. Every 243 years Hades can enter the world of humans, and fight against Athena for control over the world. However it is said that Hades is too fond of his own body which was born by Cronus and Rhea. He cares so much of it that he keeps it locked in a chamber in Elysion so it doesn't get damaged, only to start using it when he has taken control over the world. To fight the sacred wars against Athena, Hades has to take control of the purest human being born at the time of his incarnation. During the previous Holy War in 1747 his avatar was a boy named Alone, and now more recently it was Andromeda Shun.

Hades is one of the most powerful deities in the Saint Seiya Universe, being Zeus' oldest brother. As the God of the Underworld, Hades can allow his specters to travel from the Underworld to the Living World, also, he can resurrect any living being at will (as he did with his deceased Specters, and Cerberus during The Lost Canvas series).

As usual, he uses an avatar when he returns to Earth, but it must be the purest soul on earth. Hades stores his mythological body and his Surplice in Elysion, and is kept in a marble tomb while defended by the minor deities Thanatos and Hypnos.

When the Bronze Saints attack his tomb, he returns into his body. Being a deity he is a possessor of the Big Will (Divine Cosmo) but, unlike his brother Poseidon in the Saint Seiya series, he could use all the power of his Divine Cosmo.

In myth, Hades owned an Invisible helmet. Kurumada changed it from hat to sword. Or perhaps the helmet of Hades' Surplice was the Invisible helmet itself. In the story, the Invisible Sword possesses non-life aura that hurts souls directly. In real life it may be called Red-Overlay Aura(not red aura) that annoys some humans.

It is currently unknown what Hades's Kamui, if he has one, looks like and if it is the inspiration for his personal Surplice.

## **Trivia**

In classical mythology, there was no ill will between Athena and Hades, and interaction between them is only depicted once, in a handful of paintings depicting the Rape (Abduction) of Persephone, Hades's niece and eventual wife. In the paintings, as Hades kidnaps Persephone, Athena and Artemis (acting as archetypes of virginity and innocence) try to save her, but Hades proves too fast for them to catch.
The original description of Hades shows him as something of a neutral figure; he is a stern and immovable god, but he is just and had no interest in the human world, although he became furious with those who attempted to escape the Underworld against his wishes or who took souls rightfully belonging to him. In contrast, the Hades of Saint Seiya is a lot more antagonistic and aggressive towards human beings.
Hades' attitude regarding humans is mirrored, interestingly, in the character of his wife, Persephone, in the video game God of War: Chains of Olympus. Similarly to the Saint Seiya version of Hades, in the game Persephone seeks to eradicate the entire world due to her view that all humans are selfish and corrupted. She additionally sought to destroy gods (as Hades wants to destroy Athena) due to their "betrayal", and then inability to save her when Hades tricked her into marrying him. Another parallel is that both, in full armored form, resemble dark angels or angels of Death.
Hades' possession of the purest souls resembles his abduction of the maiden Persephone.
Judging from the location of Hades's palace at the center of Cocytos and his antagonism towards humans, there is an implication that Hades is symbolic of Satan as, in Dante's Divine Comedy (which heavily influenced the Underworld of Saint Seiya), Hades's palace is located in the exact area where the Devil in Dante's work was imprisoned. Also as in the Divine Comedy, Hades's palace contains a gateway out of the Underworld (in the Divine Comedy, the narrator and his guide escape Hell by climbing down Satan's body and emerging back on Earth). This is furthermore supported by Hades's God Cloth, which resembles an angel, something the Devil was originally as Lucifer.
Hades's Surplice and sword are reminiscent of the Judeo-Christian angel of Death, Azrael, who, in original depictions, removed souls from the dead using a sword. Unlike Hades, however, Azrael was moreso a force of good (albeit unmoved by appeals or pleas).
Like many other characters, Hades doesn't use a helmet in Anime.