Ares (God of War)

"Is THIS the best you can do, father? Send a broken mortal to defeat ME, the God of War?"

- Ares

Ares is the cruel and destructive god of war, and the main villain of the video game God Of War.

History
Ares and Kratos actually had their first encounter when he was just a boy, when the God Of War was sent to capture the "Marked Warrior" that the Oracle predicted would bring an end to the rule of the gods and destroy Olympus. It was believed that Kratos' brother, Deimos, was the warrior that the prophecy spoke of due to the strange birthmarks on his body. Ares and Athena went to Sparta, where the God of War took Deimos and when Kratos attempted to attack Ares, he struck him away, giving him the scar on his right eye. But before the god of war could finish him off, Athena told him to leave the boy and reminded him that they had only come for the Marked Warrior. Ares then left with Deimos, who was handed over to Thanatos.

Gaining the Servitude of Kratos
After Kratos found that his Spartan army was no match for the barbarian forces and was at the mercy of the Barbarian King, he called out to Ares, offering him his life and servitude if the war god destroyed his enemies. He accepted and unleashed his powers to viciously destroy the barbarians, then gave Kratos the Blades of Chaos as a symbol of his servitude. As a servant of the god of war, he and his soldiers conquered much of Greece and slaughtered many people in their new master’s name. Ares decided that it was time to make his servant into the ultimate warrior of death and sent Kratos to a village that worshipped Athena. The Spartan and his warriors slaughtered the inhabitants and burned the place to the ground. Kratos himself stormed into Athena’s temple and began slaughtering everything inside, killing both his wife and daughter in his bloodrage, just as Ares had planned. After Kratos realized what had happened, Ares appeared within the flames and told the Spartan that with his wife and child gone, he could become Death itself. However Kratos was not as pleased and swore vengeance on Ares, becoming the Ghost of Sparta.

Assault on Athens
Kratos began a harsh 10 years of servitude in the name of the gods, battling monsters and Greece’s enemies in their name so as to earn redemption for his sins. In the 10th year, Ares decided to finally show up Athena, who had been his rival for many years. He led an army of undead warriors and monsters in an attack on Athens, the goddess’ sacred city. Because Zeus had forbidden war between the god, Athena could not fight Ares herself. Instead she sent Kratos to defeat Ares, making this his final task in his quest for redemption. Fresh from defeating the Hydra, the Ghost of Sparta headed to Athens were he began fighting Ares’ army. Eventually Kratos came across the war god, easily fighting off Athens’ defenders. Though the desire for vengeance burned within him, the Ghost of Sparta did not make his presence known, knowing he couldn’t defeat Ares. After the Oracle told the Ghost of Sparta about Pandora’s Box, Kratos headed into the Desert of Lost Souls and found Cronos, who had the Temple of Pandora chained to his back. He navigated through the perilous temple and eventually found Pandora’s Box.

Showdown with Kratos
However back in Athens, Ares became aware of Kratos’ success and threw a cone shaped piece of rubble into the desert and into the temple, impaling the Ghost of Sparta. As he died, the war god had his harpies bring the box to him, but Ares did not count on Kratos managing to escape the Underworld. The Ghost of Sparta found the war god calling to his father Zeus, threatening to use the powers of Pandora’s Box against Olympus. Ares noticed Kratos, but he was not threatened and called up to Zeus again, mocking his sending a “broken mortal” to challenge him. However the Ghost of Sparta used some magic Zeus had given him to get the box out of Ares grasp and opened it. The power gave Kratos the power he needed to fight the god of war and grew to giant size. He confronted Ares, stating that the monster he had created had returned to kill him. Ares replied that he had no idea what a true monster was and sprouted a set of bladed appendages form his back, before engaging Kratos in battle. However the Ghost of Sparta was able to match Ares in combat and the war god pulled him into a illusion world. There Kratos found himself back in the temple where this all had began, seeing illusion versions of himself attack his family. After Kratos defeated all of the illusion versions of himself, Ares pulled the Blades of Chaos from his former servant’s body and used them to kill the Ghsot of Sparta’s family once more. Disheartened, Kratos knelt as Ares prepared to deliver the final blow, but he suddenly noticed the large stone sword held by a statue of Athena. He dodged the attack and took up the sword and finally defeated Ares, who tried to get Kratos to spare him, saying that he only wanted to make him a great warrior. The Ghost of Sparta simply told him, “You succeeded”, and drove the sword through Ares’ body. With that final blow, the war god finally died, leaving Athens just barely intact. After his death, Kratos took his throne as the new god of war.

Powers
Being a god, Ares is extremely strong and powerful, able to use a great number of godly powers. His powers are best seen when he violently destroyed the barbarians. Ares also wields a powerful set of weapons including a warhammer that spews fire out the end and a flaming sword. It is presumed that he can change his size like the other gods and can sprout a set of bladed appendages out of his back to give himself an advantage in combat. Ares also possesses immortality and can create illusions, use telekinesis, and unleash fire attacks.

Trivia

 * A statue of Ares is seen in the Garden of the Gods in God Of War II and in God Of War III, Kratos enters the Tomb of Ares on Mt. Olympus.


 * Ares originally design was going to be of a being that was “90% energy and 10% material” as stated by David Jaffe.


 * He was voiced by Steven Blum.


 * Ares was also the main antagonist of a game called Spartan: Total Warrior, a game that shared many similarities to God Of War.
 * If one thinks about it, Ares himself could be blamed for setting in motion the events of the following games in the God Of War series.