ARES
Real Name: Aphneius (possibly)
Occupation: God of War
Legal Status: Citizen of Olympus
Identity: The general public of
Earth is unaware of Ares’s existence except as a mythological character.
Other aliases: Mars (Roman
name), Luran (Etruscan name), Teutates (Celtic name), Mr. Talon
Place of Birth: Olympus
Marital Status: Single
Known relatives: Zeus
(father),
Hera (mother), Hephaestus (brother),
Discord, Eileithyia,
Hebe (sisters),
Hercules, Apollo,
Dionysus, Hermes (half-brothers),
Artemis, Athena,
Aphrodite,
Helen, Persephone,
Pandia (half-sister),
Deimos, Phobos,
Dryas,
Alexander (sons), Romulus, Remus
(sons, deceased), Poseidon,
Hades (uncles),
Demeter, Hestia (aunts), Asclepius,
Janus, Eros, Pan (nephews), Triton, Consus, Vertumnus, Pomona (cousins),
Group Affiliation: Gods of
Olympus
Base of Operation: The
Areopagus, also Olympus and a temple in Ancient Sparta (now part of modern
Greece)
First Appearance: (historical)
Wonder Woman I #1, (recent) Thor #129
History: Ares is the son of
Zeus, monarch of the Olympian gods, his wife Hera. The second son of Zeus, Ares
hated most of his brothers, particularly Apollo, who was born before him. Hera
had tried to delay the birth of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis by sending a
great serpent called the Python to prevent their mother, the goddess Leto, from
finding sanctuary. Leto, however, found sanctuary on the island of Delos
protected by Poseidon and Apollo was born the first-born son of Zeus, taking any
right Ares had to ruling Olympus after Zeus. Hera encouraged his anger to the
point that he became god of war and most feared gods of Olympus.
Aphrodite, wife of Hephaestus, however,
found herself attracted to Ares and attempted to dissuade his anger by inviting
him to her bed. She eventually seduced him and conceived him two sons, Deimos
and Phobos and eventually a daughter, Harmonia. Helios, the sun god, revealed
the adultery to Hephaestus and the smith-god schemed to reveal the affair by
placing a trap in his marital bed that sprang into a cage around them. He then
pushed them out to reveal the two of them to the other gods. Poseidon handled
reparations between Hephaestus and Aphrodite, but Ares lost all interest in her
after these incidents.
Ares himself never took a wife himself
although his sister Eris, who often called herself Discord, often considered him
to be her equal and compatriot in his schemes along with his sons Deimos and
Phobos. Ares, however, impersonated many of his most loyal followers and
generals in order to seduce their wives and lovers. He fathered several of the
kings and warlords of Ancient Greece such as Phlegyras, Oenomaus, Tereus, Cycnus,
Thestius and Diomedes to whom he gave man-eating mares as a gift. Ares also
reputed fathered the first Amazons by seducing his half-sister Otrera.
As god of war, Ares engaged in savagery
and a war lust that had no bounds. Despite Ares’ bravado as a bully, Otus and
Ephialtes, the giant sons of Poseidon, managed to humiliate him by imprisoning
him in a pot as they tried to ascend to Olympus. He had to be rescued by Hermes
and Eeriboea, the mortal mother of the giants.
Ares’ enmity of Hercules began after
the son of Zeus slaughtered his Stymphalian Birds and tamed his man-eating mares
as part of his labors. Hercules bested Ares several times in ancient times and
Ares has sought various ways to either kill Hercules or to humiliate him. As a
side result of Zeus’s protection of Hercules, Ares has grown increasingly
dissatisfied with Zeus’ rule of the gods of Olympus and has attempted to
overthrow him on several occasions. Nevertheless, Ares fought with Hercules
beside him and slew the giant Mimas and the Giants when they tried to storm
Olympus.
During the Trojan War, Ares was wounded
by the Argive General Diomedes (not to be confused with the son of Ares) and
complained to Zeus over the insult to himself. Zeus refused to help him since he
had forbid the gods from getting involved in the war. Aphrodite came to the aide
of Ares but Athena knocked her out beside him.
Several years after the war, Ares
became known as Mars by the denizens of Rome, which was founded by his mortal
sons, Romulus and Remus on the location of Latium founded by Aeneas of Troy.
During the Roman Empire, Xena, the self-proclaimed warrior goddess, became an
infatuation for Ares. According to some rumors, she might have been Ares’ own
daughter, but this is unconfirmed. Xena turned against her original warlike
tendencies after encountering Hercules and this fact seems to have exacerbated
the war-god’s relationship to Hercules over the following years.
Ares was worshipped as the god of war
in ancient Greece and Rome, but the principal sites of his worship were in
Sparta and Thrace as well as Scythia. Zeus, however, discovered that the Romans
were killing Christians in the names of the Olympian gods and allowed worship of
the gods to die out. Ares could no longer act as patron god of warriors and
under unrevealed circumstances, he was imprisoned in a tomb in Macedonia. In his
absence, the Amazons lead by Queen Hippolyta renounced their warlike tendencies
and guided by Athena founded new land far beyond Greece. At some point, the
immortal wizard Shazam used mystical aspects of Ares to create the spells for
the future hero known as Captain
Marvel.
At some point in the past, Hercules and
the Asgardian thunder god Thor
slew Deimos and Phobos, Ares’s sons, but they
were restored to life in recent years by the primeval goddess Nyx who convinced
them that she was her true mother and used them in a plot against Doctor
Strange, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme.
On the onset of World War Two, Melinda
Pappas, a descendant of Xena, released Ares from his tomb. He worked behind the
scenes of the war as Athena minimized his influence by instructing the Amazons
to create a sentinel for peace who would become known as Wonder
Woman. Ares,
however, saw her as another reincarnation of his beloved Xena and attempted
several efforts to turn her or the Amazons back to their former ways, but all of
these ploys often failed.
In recent years, Ares set two of
Earth’s nations at war with each other. The conflict threatened to spread over
all of Earth, until Ares was forced to put an end to it by his half-sister
Aphrodite, whom he has long sought in marriage, and Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Aphrodite and the Sub-Mariner extracted a pledge from Ares not to engage in
further warmongering on Earth, but through alliances with Hades or Loki, he has
attempted to conquer either Earth or Olympus but has been consistently defeated
each time.
Height: 6’ 1”
Weight: 500 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Strength Level: Ares possesses
greater strength than most Olympian gods and can lift (press) approximately 70
tons under optimal conditions.
Known
Superhuman Powers: Ares
possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Olympian Gods. Like all
Olympian Gods, he is immortal. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and
cannot die by any known conventional means. He is immune to all known
terrestrial diseases and is invulnerable to conventional injury. If wounded, his
godly life force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would
take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily
molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for
Zeus or a number of gods of equal power working together to revive him. Ares
does have some superhuman strength and his own Olympian metabolism gives him far
greater than human endurance in all physical activities.
(Olympian flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human
tissue, contributing to the Olympian's superhuman strength and weight).
As an immortal god, Ares possesses vast
strength and endurance. His physical capabilities are superior to those of the
majority of Olympian gods. He has virtually inexhaustible stamina, and does not
tire appreciably after any exertion.
Like all Olympians, Ares is immortal, possessing a life essence that cannot be ended by any conventional means. He can be wounded in battle, but his godly life force gives him incredible recuperative abilities. He can fully recover from penetration wounds (such as by knife, sword, or bullet) in anywhere from minutes to hours, depending on their severity. Only an injury of such magnitude that it incinerates him or disperses a major portion of his bodily molecules could cause him physical death. Even then, his life essence may still be unharmed, and Zeus may be able to resurrect him.
Ares has limited mystical potential
confined mostly to teleportation, crossing between dimensions such as from Earth
to Olympus, disguising himself and discharging explosive energy bursts resembling
lightning. He can render himself invisible to mortals on Earth, but certain
individuals such as Xena and Wolverine gifted with advanced senses can still
sense his presence.
Comments: This profile includes info from Marvel Comics, DC Comics and The Legendary Journeys cosmology.
Ares lends his Roman name to the planet Mars and the Mars
candy bar.
Clarifications: Ares is not to be confused with:
Last updated: 02/11/07