Ares

Ares was the Greek God of War and a son of Zeus and Hera.

Ares was worshipped in ancient Greece.



The archetypical ideal of the warlords, tall, dark, handsome, with well-groomed sideburns, a swaggering walk, and wearing black studded leather that leaves his muscular arms bare.

Despite the often chaotic results of his worshipers actions, Ares sees himself as a subtle strategist, as befits the god of war, rather than the god of brawling. He also comes across as a curious mix of sportsman and cheater.

In his relations with the other Olympians, he relies on the fact that they need him, so he usually runs his own agendas with little regard to the wishes of his colleagues.

He’s genuinely fond of his sister Aphrodite, though he seldom lets it show. Discord and Deimos (and his predecessor Strife before his death) are his junior partners, whom he bullies and directs.

His relationships outside the Olympians include competitive rivalry with Kal and a treasonous pact with Dahak.

And, finally, he’s obsessed with the 2 greatest heroes of Greece: Hercules (whom he wants to destroy), and Xena (whom he wants back). Most of his schemes these days are centred on those.

He often attempts to lure Xena away from her quest with Gabrielle, to join him as his Warrior Queen. He offers her huge armies and historic victories, great wealth and great power, and in later seasons his love -- offers which she consistently rejects despite being sometimes tempted. Ares is responsible for giving Xena the Chakram.

Ares framed her for murdering three villagers in the hope that she would call on him for help when threatened with execution.

Ares joined forces with Xena's now-dead archenemy Callisto and engineered a body switch so that Callisto's soul occupied Xena's body while Xena was trapped in Tartarus. He seemed to be grooming Callisto-in-Xena's body to be his new Warrior Queen, and had sex with her, but later turned away from her, realizing that she was too madly obsessed with revenge against Xena and too uncontrollable. Xena, who had persuaded Hades to release her, was able to send Callisto back to Tartarus.

Ares have often tried to make Hercules's life miserable as can be, especially when Hercules had married Ares' protege, Serena, the last Golden Hind. Ares told Hercules that he would release Serena from her vow of service to him, and allow her and Hercules to marry, if Hercules gave up his superhuman strength. Later, Ares' underling, Strife, killed Serena and he and Ares attempted to frame Hercules for her murder. He was saved by the intervention of Xena and Zeus.

After losing his godhood due to Sisyphus' trickery, he needed Xena's help to get it back; Xena reluctantly agreed to help him after realizing that the world needed a God of War and Ares was the best man for the job. As a mortal, Ares showed a new humanity and conscience, but after getting his godhood back he seemed to revert to his former cold-hearted self.

Ares had sired a child with the now-mortal Goddess of Retribution, Nemesis. The child, Evander, was born with supernatural abilities. Ares wanted to take the boy from Nemesis and raise him to be loyal to him, hoping to use him as a weapon against Hercules. However, Hercules and Iolaus managed to foil his plan and return the child to his mother.

Later, Ares teamed up with Callisto, now a goddess, to trap Hercules in a passageway between parallel world. Callisto (working with Dahak's daughter Hope) then turned on Ares, badly beat him in a hand-to-hand fight, and used a dagger dipped in the blood of a golden hind to kill Strife.

Ares' relationship with Xena grew more complicated; he was still trying to win her back to the fold, but also tried to form an alliance with her to fight the evil god Dahak. Under threat from Dahak, Ares ended up briefly switching sides until Dahak was defeated by Xena.

Ares plotted with his mother Hera to kill Zeus.

Ares and Hercules briefly teamed up to stop the Archangel Michael from destroying the world by unleashing the Apocalypse.

Ares was back to plotting against Zeus, this time by releasing two of the Titans once imprisoned by the Gods, but Hercules and Iolaus stopped him again.

Determined to protect his own power and the rule of the Olympian gods, Ares killed Eli, a Jesus-like prophet who urged the people to abandon the old gods.

After the Fates prophesied that Xena's child Eve would bring about the end of the Olympian gods, Ares tried to declare his love for Xena, offering to protect her and her baby from the other gods and willingly become mortal if they could be together and have a child of their own. Xena rejected his offer, refusing to believe that his feelings could be sincere. Later, however, she used his help to defeat Athena.

When Xena and Gabrielle faked their deaths to escape the gods' persecution, Ares inadvertently thwarted their plans by burying them in an ice cave where they slept for 25 years. After mourning Xena for years, Ares unknowingly took Eve (now the Roman warrior Livia) as his protegée and lover. When Xena returned, he resumed his pursuit of her; enraged by her continuing rejection, he first encouraged Livia/Eve to kill her, and then joined the other Olympians in their effort to kill Eve. At the last minute, however, his love for Xena prevailed, and he gave up his godhood to heal the mortally wounded Gabrielle and Eve.



After the Twilight of the Gods (Olympian Massacre), the Olympian worship died out and Ares was no longer allowed to act as patron god of warriors.

Xena risked her life to save the now-mortal Ares from the Furies. Xena helped Ares again, hiding him from vengeful warlords on her family's farm.

She restored his godhood with a golden apple wrested from Odin, but refused his offer to become a goddess and rule by his side. Ares and Xena were once again adversaries as she foiled his plot to get the Amazons into a war with the Romans in order to gain more worshipers. However, they also seemed to share a new mutual understanding and acceptance.