Dionysus

* Biography
* Threat Assessment
* Trivia and Notes
* Gallery

Council of the Twelve, God of Achillean Love, God of Alcohol, God of Dance, God of Ecstasy, God of Festivals, God of Fruit, God of Hallucinations, God of Intoxicants, God of Theater, God of Viticulture, God of Wine, Sacred Son of the Natural Order (Purviews)

### Relatives

Poseidon (Maternal Grandfather)
Demeter (Maternal Grandmother)
Hades (Father)
Persephone (Mother)
Triton, Arion, Proteus and Triptolemus (Maternal Uncles)
Despoina, Benthesicyme, Kymopoleia, Rhode, Urea and Evadne (Maternal Aunts)
Achlys, Melinoe and Makaria (Sisters)
Hecate (Adopted Sister)
Kalliste (Maternal Cousin, Deceased)
Kale, Hegemone, Thalia, Methe, and Empusa (Daughters)
Staphylus, Oenopion and Comus (Sons)

## Biographical Information

### Place of Birth

**First Birth:** The Underworld
**Second Birth:** Nysa

### Marital Status

Widower (Ariadne, Wife, Deceased)
Single (Aphrodite, Aura, Hebe, Ampelos, Psalacantha, Erigone, Althaea, Pallene, and many others, Lovers)

## Biography

### Zagreus: Late Mythic Age - ~1550 BCE

Originally this god was born after the Fall of Titans, the product of the marriage of Hades and Persephone. He was given the name Zagreus by his father. By all rights of such an esteemed birth, the young God Zagreus should have been afforded all the luxury he could imagine, but his birth was a cursed one. Young Zagreus' childhood in the Underworld meant he drew in too much essence of death, becoming quite frail and sickly. As he began to show aptitude for channeling the essence that plagued him, he began to shadow his father in hopes that fostering his gift would aid him in overcoming his illness.

It was while Zagreus was accompanying his father in Tartarus that three of the Titans broke from their prison. The ancient daimons tore young Zagreus limb from limb before his father's eyes. Enraged, Hades cast the Titans into the oblivion before he cradled his dying son in his arms. As the Thanatosi came to claim the young deity's soul, Hades used his station as God of Death to prevent any from reaping his son's life-force. Even Death herself did not dare to anger the Lord of the Underworld out of fear of destabilizing the entire afterlife.

However, Death did convince Hestia to call a meeting of the Quorum of the Six to discuss the matter. Though the gods agreed that Hades was in the wrong, Zeus decided that a compromise was the better course of action. Using the dark magic of Hecate, Zagreus' undying heart was removed and made into a potion. One of Zeus' pregnant lovers, a priestess named Semele of Nysa agreed to drink the potion. Three days later, Semele gave birth to a divine child, but died in the process. In honor of her sacrifice, Hades named his reborn son 'Dionysus', a name meaning 'God of Nysa'.

Born in a new body, on the mortal plane, Dionysus inherited his original mother and grandmother's natural affinity to the earth, life, and nature. Dionysus was given a place in his grandmother's court as a minor vegetation god. Yet, as his powers grew, Dionysus' original memories began to return to him. He became haunted by phantom pains of limbs being torn off in his walking hours and plagued by nightmares in his sleep. Going mad, Dionysus became obsessed with finding a way to numb the pain and cloud his mind. To that end, Dionysus created wine.

With Dionysus' fermented drink, the young god's worship grew to such potency that mortals demanded that the young god needed a throne among the Twelve Thrones of Olympus. Hestia, having lost her interest in politics, quickly abdicated her seat. In order to be certain that Dionysus was an equal among the Twelve, Zeus gave him powers of other paradigms, such Theatre and Dance.

### Dionysus: ~1550 BCE - 476 CE

Dionysus played a role in the stories of many heroes including Theseus and Midas. He had many a romance with nymphs and satyrs but his most cherished relationship was his marriage to Ariadne - the daughter of King Minos of Crete. After Theseus had killed Asterion, the Minotaur of the Labyrinth, Theseus took the lovely princess Ariadne with him, promising to show her the world. But before their romantic adventure could begin, Theseus stopped at the island of Naxos to repair his ship and resupply before returning to Athens to deliver the Minotaur's head.

As the ship was repaired, the arrogant hero took to showing off the head of the slain monster. Theseus even wagered his trophy that he could outdrink anyone on the island if the loser agreed to pay for his ship's needed supplies. What Theseus didn't realize was Dionysus happened to be on the island on a bender and gladly accepted the hero's challenge.

When Dionysus won, Theseus begged to be allowed to keep the Minotaur's head. Much to the hero's surprise, Dionysus had no interest in the monster's head. However, Dionysus was not about to let the hero go without honoring his promise and so the god insisted that the hero leave something that he had taken from Crete on Naxos. Theseus agreed and that night set sail to Athens, leaving Ariadne behind as she slept.

Dionysus stumbled upon Ariadne cursing Theseus' name on the beach and the two began to converse. Their conversation turned to companions in travel and that soon turned to lovers. As Ariadne was a minor goddess herself, she was free to spend centuries as Dionysus' lover and eventually his wife... Until the fallen hero Perseus turned her to stone.

### Dionysus: 476 - Present

In Elysium, Dionysus is one of the most recognized gods among the mortals. This is in no doubt due to his constant world tour, going from festival to festival, sampling this world's many vineyards and alehouses, doing whatever he can drown his constant pain.

### Key Affiliations

* **Olympus:** Dionysus is not only the youngest of the Twelve, the highest council among the Olympian Pantheon, but also a vital figure in the Underworld's Stygian and Orphic Cults as the son of Hades and Persephone.

## Threat Assessment

### Assets

* **Daimon Physiology:** Dionysus is a daimon, born not once but twice. As a daimon, he is a natural essence manipulator.
	+ ***God of Wine, Vineyard, Vinification:*** As the creator of wine, Dionysus knows the location of all vineyards and can freely travel from one to another in an instant, can sense the presence of wine, and is a master vintner. This power also gives him the knowledge concerning the creation of other alcoholic beverages.
	+ ***God of Festivals, Dance, & Mirth:*** Dionysus can soak in the unclaimed, residual psychic energy from any festival or celebration he attends. Furthermore, Dionysus has an innate sense for locating celebratory events, knows the steps and rhythm for all styles of dance, and can cause mortals to break into merry laughter.
	+ ***God of Intoxicants:*** Dionysus is a master vintner, brewmaster, and cultivator of all forms of flora which could be used to intoxicate or inebriate. Though Dionysus has the power to conjure such with essence alone, he much prefers the real thing, even if he has to enhance the potency with his essence. Another power that he rarely exercises is the ability to dispel the effects of such to sober the minds of others.
	+ ***God of Theater:*** As the God of Theater, Dionysus is a master actor, director, set designer, script writer, and costumer. Dionysus knows the lines of any performed piece of stagecraft and can impart such knowledge and skill on others with a touch. He also knows to use this gift to 'act' his way through divine forms of lie detection.
* **The Vintner of Heaven:** By sacred oath of the Quorum of Six, Dionysus oversees the Olympian vineyards, bee farms, and the royal stores of Nektar. Though he delegates these to the lesser gods such as his cousin Aristaeus.
* **Keeper of Thyrsos:** The Thyrsos is a creation of Hephaestus that focuses Dionysus' innate powers which enables Dionysus to cast spells over mortal minds, simulating the various effects of drugs, alcohol, and other intoxicants.
* **Maenads:** After Perseus killed Ariadne, many nymphs flocked to Naxos to comfort Dionysus. The nymphs were transformed by Dionysus' anger, sorrow, and drunkenness. These nymphs became the maenads, the nymphs of madness, prepared to literally tear apart anyone who threatened their patron god.

### Flaws

* **Adamant:** Weapons made from Adamant inflict serious wounds on the gods which are not easily healed and can be easily fatal.
* **Ambrosia:** Without a regular diet consisting of Ambrosia, Dionysus' ichor begins to revert to blood, ceasing his immortality.
* **Ancient Laws:** As a cosmic being, Dionysus is bound by arcane rules.
* **Drunk:** Dionysus is never sober, affecting his judgement and perception.
* **Haunted:** Without alcohol or drugs to dull his pain, Dionysus suffers from reliving Zagreus' torture at the hands of the Titans.
* **Nektar:** Without a steady diet consisting of Nektar, Dionysus' internal essence loses its potency and his power wanes substantially.

### Analytics

* **Physicality:** 4 - Expert / Enhanced
* **Occult:** 6 - World-Class / Superb
* **Weaponry:** 6 - World-Class / Superb
* **Expertise:** 5 - Master / Remarkable
* **Range:** 4 - Expert / Enhanced
* **Strategy:** 0 - Abysmal / Nonexistent
	+ **TOTAL:** 85
	+ **RANKING:** Moderate Threat

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* Perseus used those stolen relics and Medusa's still living head to kill many of the people who wronged him and become a king, founding the kingdom of Mycenae. The gods sent Dionysus and Ariadne to negotiate a return of the relics, but Perseus had grown bold with his powerful charms. When he declined the god's offer, Dionysus insisted that he surrender the artifacts at once. Perseus responded by using Medusa's head to turn Dionysus' lover Ariadne into stone. Overcome with rage, Dionysus did something Perseus had not expected from the drunken god. Dionysus took his petrified wife and left the now blood-soaked relics with the spattered king. Athena and Hermes would be dispatched to reclaim the relics.

### Notes

* In Mythology, Dionysus is the son of Zeus, not the son of Hades and Persephone. Most believe him to be the son of Zeus due to his personality.
* Dionysus is composited with Zagreus, the son of Zeus and Persephone.

## Gallery

Dionysus (Modern).jpgDionysus (Modern)Dionysus.jpgDionysus (Classic)

## Links and References

* Appearances of Dionysus

1. ↑ RepCap: Dionysus
2. ↑ RepCap: Medusa