Artemisia (300)

Lead the entire Persian navy to victory by invading into Sparta and Athens with Xerxes.

### Crimes

Mass murder
War crimes
War mongering

### Type of MB

Vengeful Tyrant

**Artemisia** is the main antagonist of the action movie *300: Rise of an Empire*, and the overarching antagonist of the entire series since she is responsible for all the events that happen in the story. She is the the Navy Commander of the Persain Fleet and serves under King Xerxes who tries to conquer all of Greece.

She was portrayed by Eva Green.

## What Makes Her Magnificent?

* Despite having a horrific past where her entire family was killed and raped by some Greek soldiers when she was a girl and she herself was enslaved, raped and physically abused for years before being left for dead, she still manages to across as calm. Furthermore, her past serves as an explanation for her actions throughout the movie and her desire for revenge against the Greek.
* She was trained by the Persians to be a skilled warrior who often times even takes part in battles herself along with her soldiers and she has killed a lot of the enemies of King Darius, bringing their severed heads before him.
* When Darius tried to warn his son, Xerxes, that he shouldn't attack Greece because only the gods can defeat them, Artemisia uses her cunning and charisma to convince Xerxes that his father was actually making a challenge to him that he should become a God King to defeat them. Artemisia manipulated him into waging war against Greece and to become a God King.
* She made sure that Xerxes would only listen to her by killing his advisors and close friends, yet again displaying her cunning and ruthless nature.
* She is the fearsome commander of Persia's navy and has won many battles against her enemies while serving under Xerxes.
* She loves her family and the flashback of her as a young girl shows her crying when she sees the Greek soldiers killing and raping them.
* Even though she plucks out the arrow from King Darius' chest to put an end to his life and stop him from talking to his son, Xerxes, about leaving Greece in peace and then twists his words to manipulate Xerxes into launching an invasion against Greece, she still seems somewhat saddened by Darius' death. There are tears in Artemisia's eyes as Darius is dying and after she plucks out the arrow from his chest, she still has a saddened expression.
* Even though they are enemies, Artemisia falls in love with Themistocles. She has a passionate sex with him and is upset after he refuses to join her side but she still doesn't order her men to kill him even though he is on her ship. After she thinks that Themistocles has died in the battle, Xerxes calls him a "worthless coward" and Artemisia is upset and defends him, stating that if Themistocles had joined her, she would have laid the world at Xerxes' feet. When she finds out that Themistocles had survived, she fights him again and gives him a second chance to join her.
* She has some sense of honor. When a Greek spy escapes from her ship instead of staying and fighting, she calls him a "coward". When Themistocles disarms her and has her at his mercy, she accepts her situation with dignity and says "If death comes for me today, I am ready!" without trying to beg for mercy. When Themistocles offers her to surrender, Artemisia takes her weapon, charges at him and gets killed because she prefers to die free than live as a captive.
* She manages to defeat Themistocles' fleet by pouring oil into the water and then making her men light it up, decimating the Greek fleet. She destroys Themistocles' ship with a precise shot of her own bow, nearly killing him in the process.
* She is not afraid of calling out Xerxes even after he strikes her and threatens her. She ignores his orders not to engage Themistocles' fleet in battle and reminds Xerxes that she was the one who put a crown on his head.
* She has an epic combat with Themistocles where she is able to hold her own and the two of them are even presented as equally skilled. The only reason why Themistocles beats her is because Greek reinforcements suddenly appear and start decimating her own ships which distracts Artemisia for a second and Themistocles is able to throw her to the ground and point his blade at her.
* When she thinks she is about to die, she accepts her fat with dignity, stating: "If death comes for me today, I am ready!". When Themistocles offers her mercy if she surrenders to him, Artemisia doesn't want to lose her freedom again and she charges defiently against him even though she knows she would get killed and Themistocles is forced to impale her on his blade. After this, her death is played for sympathy as there is a sad music in the background while Artemisia and Themistocles stare each other in the eyes and Artemisia witnesses how the Greek are destroying her ships before she finally dies.

## What Makes Her A Baddie?

* She served under King Darius as an assassin and a flashback shows that she has killed many of his enemies, severing their heads, and has brought them as trophies to her King.
* When Darius on his deathbed after being severely injured advises his son, Xerxes, to stop the war with Greece because only a god could defeat them, Artemisia plucks out the arrow of his chest to let him die and stop his speech.
* She then manipulates Xerxes into believing that Darius' words were a challenge and that he needs to continue the conquest against Greece and that he needs to become a god to defeat his enemies. This makes her directly responsible for the war that is depicted in the series and for all the deaths that were a result of said war.
* She kills all of Xerxes' close advisors and friends, so that she would be the only one he would listen to. Artemisia used this to further manipulate Xerxes for her own ends.
* She regularly executed her own men if they displease her by throwing them off-board.
* She beheads a Greek spy she had captured and then kisses his head.
* She leads her fleet in battle attempting to destroy Themistocles' fleet and then help Xerxes conquer all of Greece.

## External Links

* Artemisia at the Villains Wiki
* Artemisia at the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
* Artemisia on the 300 Wiki