Ares

**Ares** is the Olympian God of war. Unlike the more strategically oriented Athena, Ares' domain is the physical, violent, and untamed aspects of warfare.

He offers boons to Zagreus, which can increase his ability damage, inflict his signature Status Curse, Doom, or create Blade Rifts which deal rapid damage to enemies who walk into them.

Ares boons deal high amounts of damage over time, either by keeping enemies inside Blade Rifts, or by continuously applying Doom to enemies.

His signature Status Curse is Doom, which causes enemies to take a large amount of damage shortly after being inflicted, consuming the Curse. Ares also offers boons which increase the effectiveness of his Status Curse itself, such as Dire Misfortune.

## Characteristics and Personality

Ares is a lover of war and chaos, and while he may have a calm and courteous demeanor, he revels in the chaos of battle. As the Blood Knight, he is willing to aid his cousin Zagreus in his struggles in the Underworld.

Other Olympians are not particularly fond of Ares, and may curse him for his weak compliments. They find his thirst for polite carnage disconcerting. Ares is very confident, even arrogant, about his boons and often boasts about how his boons are better or will help Zagreus more than those of other gods, particularly Athena's. They see Ares as a terrible influence on Zagreus, who will lead him to sow a chaotic trail wherever he goes in his name. Aphrodite, on the other hand, doesn't seem to mind and considers him a "piece of the bad way".

The God of War is often misunderstood by his fellow Olympians. Artemis, in particular, finds Ares' conversations "embarrassing", as he always let's slip his "peculiar tastes" and prefers to keep her distance from him, with his attempts to start a conversation always ending in disaster. He secretly admires the Chthonic Gods for their darker roles, and he is the only Olympian who treats them beyond cold affability. Unfortunately, his joy in death is not even shared by the Chthonic gods, who see it more as a mundane aspect of their work.

In conversation with Chaos, it is revealed that surprisingly, Ares is one of the few who still venerates them. However, it is implied that Ares' worship of "chaos" was misguided, as he confused it with the vast and infinite void of violence and disorder. He also mentions having studied "all the designs of fate" and is the only god to express familiarity with Excalibur, implying he knows much more about the future than Athena does.

## Physical description

Ares is described as a powerful man with broad shoulders, a dark skin tone, and white warpaint over his eyes. He is dressed in a complex set of heavy battle armor and a badly tattered cape. However, his golden helmet is damaged with a large red "X" carved into the forehead, and he holds it in his arms, revealing his white hair, strong jawline, and black-leafed victory laurel. Ares is armed with a red-edged Kopis, along with two other swords strapped to his back. His body armor appears to be themed around a vulture or other bird, with a large raven's-face motif on his breast, alongside black feather-like decorations tucked into his shoulderpieces.

## Affinity

If given Nectar, Ares will give you Blood-Filled Vial.

Ares' affinity gauge is maxed out at 7 hearts.

### Favor

Ares' favor requires completing the **War-God's Bloodlust** prophecy and slaying at minimum 10,000 enemies total. The affinity gauge will not immediately unlock upon completing the prophecy, but rather from a dialogue with Ares a few encounters later.

## Codex entry

'*...Although my heart has long since stopped, it yet holds love in it for all the gods, save one, the one who made and ruined me as well. I have no kind words to impart to him, except, perhaps, in form of this concession: War, much like the heavens and the sea, can be considered as a force of nature. It keeps men down; they will never grow too plentiful, this way, or near as mighty as the gods. And yet, men worship Ares willingly; they are so much like him. I should know. I was a warrior myself. Only in death do I begin to fully grasp my wrongs.*'

## Boons

Ares's Boons tend to inflict Doom, which is incredibly similar to Dionysus's Boons granting Hangover. Their Duo Boon, Curse of Nausea, buffs Hangover without buffing Doom.

## Trivia

* Ares regrets his status in the second generation, envious of the older gods who fought in the brutal Titan War.

## Additional notes

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