Ares
| Ares | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Aliases | He Who Delights in Battle, the Ruthless God | |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil | |
| Divine Rank | Intermediate God | |
| Pantheon | Greek | |
| Portfolio | Killing, strife, war | |
| Domains | 3E: Chaos, Destruction, Evil, War 5E: War |
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| Home Plane | Olympus (Arborea) | |
| Worshippers | Barbarians, fighters, half-orcs | |
| Favoured Weapon | Shortspear | |
Ares is the Greek god of war. Rather, he's the god of the brutality of war- the blood n' guts. His counterpart is Athena, the god of strategy and military intelligence. He is often portrayed in media as quick to anger, hotheaded, and brash to a fault. If you piss him off, you can bet your ass is going to be beaten brutally in your next war. He is the son of Zeus and Hera. Funnily enough, some myths involving him portray him as a jobber who'll go crying home to mommy if you somehow manage to hurt him. In a way, this makes sense, as outside of Sparta he's pretty unpopular due to representing the bad side of war, so of course they'd take the piss at him. Correspondingly, when the particularly-militant Romans were influenced by Greek religion and called him Mars, he was portrayed far more positively by them. He also stands out by seeming surprisingly reverent of women (he defended his daughters and mother fiercely, and is said to be the father of the first queen of Amazons who of course are foremost examples of badass matriarchal ladies) when Greek and Latin culture alike was quite misogynistic.
Deities & Demigods considers him to be chaotic evil, but there are arguments to be made for chaotic neutral or even chaotic good (thank the Romans and their reinterpretations of Ares as Mars for that). Due to his nature, Ares makes an excellent choice for barbarians, as well as a decent choice for fighters, though Athena arguably fits the fighter niche better (being the patron goddess of the tactical side of war). GM's planning on a setting in Greece will probably make liberal use of him, and so should consider his rivalry with Athena as a plot point.
Ares is a prominent villain in DC Comics as part of Wonder Woman’s rogue’s gallery. Since the broad scope of this depiction is based in a public domain character, Supers RPGs can get away with copying him even more closely than normal sample characters.
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If he can grimace like that through a helmet, I'd hate to see him without it.
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Not as villainous as the DC depiction, but still suitably savage.
