Hermes (God of War)

"You've been lucky in battle Spartan. But your luck ends today."

- Hermes

"Lazy mortal!"

- Hermes taunting Kratos

"I thought Spartans fought with honor, and yet you seek to kill me when I have no way to defend myself? Not Fair. But you have your own sense of Honor, right, Kratos? And what has that honor brought you? Nothing but nightmares of your failure. Today you may defeat me. But in the end, Kratos, in the end you'll betray only yourself."

- Hermes' last words

Hermes is the messenger god of Olympus and a major antagonist in the video game; God of War III.

God Of War: Betrayal
After the death of Argos and Kratos’ pursuit of his assassin, Hermes’ son, Ceryx, was sent to stop his pursuit, only to be killed. It is theorized by many that Hermes himself was the one who killed Argos, (a feat his mythological counterpart performed) which would mean many of the gods of Olympus had been plotting against Kratos. Either way, Ceryx’s death gave Hermes a reason to hate the Ghost of Sparta.

God Of War II
Hermes was seen amongst the gods battling the Titans during the stories told of the Great War during the game. He also attended Zeus’ meeting of the gods on Mt. Olympus after Kratos defeated him, when the Titans began attacking.

Attack on Olympus
As the Titans scaled Mt. Olympus, Hermes leapt down from where he was watching with the other gods and began running down the side of the mountain to join the battle.

Confronting Kratos
Later he met up with Kratos in the Labyrinth and taunted the Ghost of Sparta while boasting about his speed. After trading a few insults with the Spartan, Hermes ran up the Chain of Balance and Kratos climbed after him. The two met up again in the Chamber of the Flame and the messenger god taunted him again about his lack of speed. Hermes and Kratos begin a chase with Hermes leading the Ghost of Sparta all around the Olympian Citadel. Eventually the Ghost of Sparta managed to launch a boulder at the messenger god from a catapult that he chained himself to with his Blades of Exile. It crashed into a large statue of Athena that Hermes had perched himself on, wounding him in the process. Now cornered by Kratos, the messenger god attempted to fight using his formidable speed and agility, but his wounds kept tiring him out, forcing him to continually stop and catch his breath, this leaving him open to attack.

Defeated, Hermes taunted Kratos one more time and was slain when the Ghost of Sparta cut off his legs to take his boots.

The messenger god’s body then dissolved into a swarm of disease-ridden flies that covered the land.

Personality
Hermes is rather playful and immature as well as arrogant and boastful of his great speed. He usually act rather laid-back, often flipping his coin when he is idle, as well as quite talkative, constantly taunting Kratos about his killing his family members, his desire for vengeance, and his inability to match his speed. But Hermes’ seemingly light-hearted manner seems to be a mask for his seething hatred towards Kratos, which becomes more apparent during their talks and culminating in their final confrontation. Hermes remains defiant to the end, mocking Kratos’ “sense of honor” and saying that he will only betray himself in the end.

Powers
Being a god, Hermes is extremely powerful and possesses immortality as well as invincibility towards most forms of attack. He is the fastest of all the Olympians due to his winged boots, which let him move fast enough to defy gravity to do things such as running up walls and jumping incredible distances. Hermes seems to have the power to generate fire since his hair resembles fire and his boots generate fire when he runs.

Trivia

 * Hermes is voiced by Greg Ellis.


 * In Greek mythology, he had a pair of winged sandals that let him fly, but in the God Of War series, his boots do not appear to have the ability to fly since there are a few occasions where he could have flown to avoid injury, but didn’t.


 * Hermes also does not have a caduceus, a wand that he is commonly associated with, but its symbol is seen on his chest. He may have given it to his son, Ceryx, since he is seen with it. In the novel, he does have one and uses it to conjure an image of Kratos about to jump from the cliffs to warn Athena about what he was about to do.


 * The evil from Pandora’s Box that Hermes was infected with is either over-confidence, or pride since he displays these traits by his constant taunting and boasting towards Kratos instead of actually fighting him.


 * Hermes is considered by many to be one of the easiest bosses in God of War III due to the fact he uses a speed based attack style that focuses on attacking quickly instead of using strong attacks.


 * In the novel, he seems to be attracted to Athena.


 * When Hermes was killed, a swarm of flies causing disease start plaguing the whole place, a possible reference to Hermes' association with medicine in Western culture.