Hades

Hades was the Greek god of the Dead and, according to Plato, [1] he should be considered as one of the Olympian gods. Hades was the supreme ruler of the Underworld. Almost never did he leave his gloomy kingdom but was residing there instead, surrounded by darkness and silence...
Hades' helper was Charos, the angel of dead. Charos had the duty to transfer the souls of the dead with a boat over the River Acheron from the world of the living to the world of the dead. Furthermore, Hades had a dog with three heads which was named Cerberus.

## Background

Hades was the god of the underworld and the name eventually came to also describe the home of the dead as well. He was the oldest male child of CRONUS and Rhea.

Hades and his brothers ZEUS and POSEIDON defeated their father and the TITANS to end their reign, claiming rulership over the cosmos. They agreed to split their rule with Zeus becoming god of the skies, Poseidon god of the sea and Hades god of the underworld.

He was later known to the Greeks as Plouton, which the ROMANS pluralized to Pluto. The god of the underworld was married to PERSEPHONE, the daughter of DEMETER, whom he obtained through deception after abducting her to the underworld and giving her the forbidden fruit pomegranate, forcing her to remain in the underworld with him for one third of each year.

### Ambrogio

Hades approached Ambrogio with an Offer for him and Selene to reside in the underworld but he would have to get Artemis' Bow and Arrow. Ambrogio agreed and offered his soul to Hades for safekeeping until he retrieves the bow and arrow and brings it to him.

## Powers and Abilities

Hades has the ultimate powers a god can possess. They are rivaled only by those of his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon. Indeed, Hades is so powerful, that when Ambrogio first meets him, he begins to feel very submissive right away, and has to fight the urge to follow Hades' every order.

* **Geokinesis**: As the God of the Underworld, Hades has absolute control over all the earth and stones, as well as the walls of the Underworld, Erebos. He has the same geokinetic abilities as Nico and Hazel, only to a much more infinite level.
	+ **Subterranean Navigation**: Hades is shown to be skilled in navigating under the earth, even before he became the Lord of the Underworld.
	+ **Earthquake Generation**: Hades generates a massive earthquake that shakes his huge throne room, and is felt miles above him, in Los Angeles, devastating the city.
* **Ferrokinesis**: As the God of Wealth, Hades can sense and summon any quantity of precious metals and jewels from under the ground, as well as manipulate them. As a result, Hades is the richest Olympian of all. Hades' palace has several magnificent halls made entirely of pure gold and silver, decorated with bouquets of flowers made of precious metals and jewels. A very impressed Persephone admits to never having seen "such dazzling wealth" even on Mount Olympus itself, since whatever she could destroy in a tantrum, Hades could instantly replace with something even better.
* **Magmakinesis (limited)**: As Hades controls underground, he has some control over magma and lava.
* **Necromancy**: As the God of the Dead and the Lord of the Underworld, Hades has divine authority and absolute control over the deceased. Hades' nickname "The Hospitable One" is a reference to him always having room in the Underworld for one more soul.
	+ **Power Over the Undead**: Hades can reanimate skeletons, call forth endless waves of the dead to fight for him, destroy Skeleton Warriors, and put them to sleep. He can also silence dead souls with a gesture, and physically take hold of ghosts.
	+ **Metamorphosis**: Hades can capture and release living souls in a blast of yellow flames,
	+ **Death Curses**: Hades is also able to place curses on the living. While he is unable to kill people before the Fates decree its time, he can prevent a person's soul from ever leaving their body, as he did with the Oracle of Delphi. This will mean that a person's body will eventually turn to dust with age, while their soul will be lost forever.
	+ **Death Sense**: As the God of the Dead, Hades can sense when a person is dying and when their soul is being judged in the Underworld. He can also sense people's life auras.
* **Osteokinesis**: As the God of the Dead, Hades can summon and telekinetically control numerous bones at once.
* **Cryokinesis (limited)**: he generates an aura of intense cold, which causes "frost to creep across the rocks and grass."
* **Infernal Monster Lordship**: Hades has absolute control over countless ferocious monsters native to his realm, such as Cerberus, the Hellhounds, the Furies, the Keres, the Oneiroi, and various daimons, along with many others. Hence, Hades would send a huge infernal army after Thalia during her journey to camp, and he later summoned his numerous forces to fight those of Kronos in *The Last Olympian*.
* **Umbrakinesis**: As the God of the Underworld, Hades has absolute control over shadows and darkness - the same as his children, but his are tremendously more powerful.
	+ **Darkness Generation**: He can shoot solid bolts of darkness, and surround enemies into pitch black clouds of lightless space.
	+ **Darkness Shields**: He can solidify shadows into virtually impenetrable shields, which are strong enough to deflect even Zeus' thunderbolts.
	+ **Darkness Absorption and Dissipation**: He can absorb and dissipate shadows with his Stygian Iron weapons.
	+ **Imperceptibility**: He can use shadows to cover himself in darkness to become invisible. While wearing his Helm of Darkness, Hades can pass through walls and melt into shadows, not be touched, seen or heard by anyone, even other Olympian gods, Titans, or Giants.
	+ **Shadow Travel**: Hades can use shadows as a way of swift transportation over vast distances.
* **Dark Infernal Pyrokinesis**: Hades has absolute control over black hellfire, which is considerably more destructive than normal flames, as it turns whatever it touches into liquid. He can conjure it, and propel it from his hands.
* **Hypnokinesis**: it is revealed that Hades has complete mastery over the Oneiroi dream spirits, and he used them to spread the word that all of the dead needed to take a coin with them to gain passage onto Charon's boat. Hades also has the same mastery over sleep powers as his son Nico di Angelo, only immensely increased.
* **Phobikinesis**: Hades has absolute control and divine authority over the power of fear. This ability grows even more powerful with the Helm of Darkness. It is implied in *The Lightning Thief* that Hades, while without his Helm, caused the mathematics teacher at Yancy Academy to experience a nervous breakdown before Alecto arrived.
	+ **Induced Terror**: With his Helm of Darkness, Hades can radiate death and terror to an incredible degree.
* **Transfiguration**: Hades was forced to turn the Oceanid Leuke into a poplar tree.
* **Shapeshifting**: Hades is quite skilled at shapeshifting, though he hardly ever utilizes this ability. He has transformed into an eagle (while escaping from Kronos' palace on Mount Othrys) and a bat (while sneaking into Tartarus' maximum-security zone with his siblings).
* **Leadership Abilities:** Hades was able to lead his armies against the monster armies of the Titans and was able to help turn the tide to the Olympians' favor

## Facts

* Hades is best known as the ruler of the underworld. It became his dominion after he and his brothers drew lots for their share of the universe.
* According to Iliad, Hades’ dominion lies between secret places of the earth. According to the Odyssey, one must cross Ocean to get there.
* Though Hades supervised the dead assigned to his realm, he was not one of its judges. Three demi-gods served that purpose instead.
* Hades was depicted as stern and unyielding, unmoved by prayer and sacrifice.
* Hades had a cap or helmet that made its wearer invisible.
* His wife was Persephone, Demeter’s only daughter, whom he kidnapped and made his queen.
* He was also called the God of Wealth or “the rich one” because he possessed the precious metals of the earth.
* Pirithoüs, friend of Theseus, detrmined to have Persephone (the most carefully guarded lady in all the universe) as his bride. To this end, the two friends journeyed to the underworld, but Hades thwarted their plan. He invited them to sit on the Chair of Forgetfulness, which cause its occupant to forget everything. HERCULES rescued THESEUS, but the King of the Dead held Pirithoüs there for trying to steal his queen.
* CERBERUS was a three-headed dog who guarded his realm; the ferryman Charon was another one of the underworld’s attendees.
* Though Hades is the King of the Dead, he should not be confused with Death itself, which is personified by Thanatos.
* CRONUS and Rhea were his parents.
* Poseidon and Zeus were his brothers.
* Hades rarely left the underworld. His presence was not welcomed by men or by gods.
* Hades took pride in collecting “subjects” for his kingdom and was disinclined to let anyone leave.
* His dominion was separated from the land of the living by the following rivers: Styx, Lethe, Acheron, Phlegethon, and Cocytus.
* Hades employed the Furies, who were responsible for torturing the guilty.
* Hades is described by some sources as the god of the earth’s fertility.
* The narcissus and the cypress are sacred to him.
* In his kingdom, Hades sat on a throne made of ebony and carried a scepter.
* Hades was known for his involvement with Sisyphus, the man condemned to the underworld to forever roll a boulder uphill. According to legend, Hades allowed SISYPHUS to return to earth long enough to arrange his own funeral.