HADES

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"*You have been warned!*"
This article, HADES, contains MAJOR SPOILERS. -
Should you read the article without prior knowledge of the material, it will spoil a *significant* plot point, which can negatively affect your experience.

## Details

### Occupation

GAIA's Subordinate Function
Artificial Intelligence

### Powers / Skills

Machine hacking
Intelligence

### Type of Villain

Cataclysmic Artificial Intelligence

**HADES**, also known as the **Buried Shadow**, is the main antagonist of *Horizon Zero Dawn*.

It is an artificial intelligence that originally served as one of GAIA's original subordinate functions during Project Zero Dawn. Created for the purpose of restarting GAIA's terraforming process, HADES remained inactive for centuries, due to the success of GAIA's terraformation. It serves as the true leader of Eclipse, which seeks to conquer Meridian for themselves.

Awakened by a mysterious signal, HADES has transformed into an erratic and powerful AI that seeks to eradicate all life on Earth, regardless of whether the process was a success or not.

HADES firstly appears in Unity Force Missions: Horizon Zero Dawn as a major antagonist.

## Appearance

HADES is often seen as a red corruption, which is similar to the Corrupted Machines, pertaining to its icon colour.

## Personality

HADES is malevolent. It is coldly calculating, and views humans only as tools to be used. This is in keeping with its objective of destroying all life; it will use humans as instruments to bring about their own annihilation as well as that of all other forms of life. A microcosm of this attitude can be seen in its dealings with Sylens. Though Sylens repaired it, gave it the ability to speak, gave it all its knowledge of the new world, devised and executed the plan that gave it its army and provided it with an instant communication link to that army via the Focus network he built for that purpose, HADES considered him no longer useful when his work was finished, and thus ordered Helis to detain and kill him.

Additionally, HADES was capable of anger. When it saw that Aloy was still alive at Maker's End, it became enraged, shouting that this was unacceptable. When Aloy encountered it at its lair in the Eclipse main base, it was surprised that she dared to enter its stronghold, and furiously ordered the Deathbringers and Eclipse soldiers guarding it to kill her. However, it also feels fear, as shown by its alarmed reaction on seeing Aloy for the first time, and its fearful remark of "System threat imminent" when Aloy approached it to purge it after she killed the augmented Deathbringer that had been guarding it.

When Aloy learned that HADES had survived and found it in the Forbidden West, the AI was still able to retain a smug and prideful attitude. Even in its helpless state, HADES repeatedly mocked Aloy before she ultimately destroyed it.

## Abilities

* **Awakening Machines:** HADES has the ability to reactivate the long-buried Corruptor and Deathbringer units of the Faro Plague. Presumably, GAIA would have had the Plague’s activation codes as part of its ultimately successful efforts to brute-force its deactivation codes. Thus, as part of Zero Dawn, HADES would have had access to them as well. However, it was unable to restore their biomass conversion systems on its own. It appears to be unable to restore Metal Devils, as it made no attempts to reactivate the Titan it had hosted itself in for almost two decades.
* **High-Level Intelligence:** HADES possesses near-human cognitive functioning and an advanced understanding of mathematics and science. When scanned by the Focus, it is said that HADES' machine intelligence exceeds Turing 1.0, indicating its intelligence is indistinguishable from a human.
* **Non-Corporeality:** While HADES generally remains within some host body, it is shown that it is capable of existing outside of a physical host.
* **Vocal Communication:** Through Sylens's repairs, HADES is capable of speaking when contained within a Horus's processing core, albeit in a rough, unnatural tone.

## In the U.F. Series

### Unity Force Missions: Horizon Zero Dawn

HADES serves as the major antagonist of Unity Force Missions: Horizon Zero Dawn, starting from Sobeck arc.

In Chapter 11, HADES is firstly seen through the Eclipse Officer's Focus when Aloy connects it, causing it to be angered when the rogue AI finds out that she has survived the Proving Massacre.

In Chapter 12, HADES is seen talking with Resh, Thush, and Helis.

In Chapter 13, HADES makes a major appearance, when it proceeds to encounter the Unity Force personally on top of the derelict Tallneck within the Eclipse main base.

## Trivia

* HADES is named after the Greek god of the underworld.
* Early in the game's development, HADES was named Ares, after the Greek god of war.
* HADES' icon is based on the logo for Decima , the engine used to run the game. It is also used by the Eclipse as their symbol.
	+ This symbol is an upside down "standby" power symbol, commonly seen on all sorts of electrical devices. This was probably a deliberate nod towards HADES' intended role as a 'standby' emergency killswitch for the terraforming element of Project Zero Dawn.
* When HADES mentions that the current biosphere is version five and that there won't be a version six, it could be an intentional parallel to the Big 5 extinction events, which are real life prehistoric phenomenon that, in the universe of Horizon, would predate even the Old Ones.