#allisonshaw

Alright as everyone who's blinked in the general direction of my profile for the past 2-3 months can gather that I'm a huge fan of Ares the God of War (even though I've been a fan for roughly that long). And then I'd figured that since Ares is such an amazing character surely they're mountains of portrayals that don't need to rely on Mars to make him the complex War God we know...right?

...

Yeah it turns out it was a lot harder than I thought and I only got 5 Ares that I consider compelling and faithful (if not in text then in spirit) renditions of Ares and number 5 was a stretch and number 1 will kind of be obvious if you've read this blog post (which will also be my guide for how I judge them)...alright let's see what we got.

5) Destripando La Historia: Yeah when I said I had to search for a number 5 I mean that this was a tie between Class of the Titans, the Ares from the God of War franchise, Hercules the Animated Series Ares, and Xenia Warrior Princess Ares. But while I haven't seen the latter two, the first one was a bit before my time, and the second one does do the whole 'Ares is the Lord of Evil shtick' we're all tired of but happens to do it the best.

Destripando La Historia (or Unraveling History to those who don't speak Spanish) has the number 5 Ares on this list by virtue of a channel thankfully translating his video into English Subs (but I do recommend watching the original anyway to support the original creators).

This Ares, in this awesome music video, gives us a brief history (a mildly jaundiced history but still very entertaining) about him and his various tales and he looks really cool when he's allowed to and...THEY actually make him the most handsome Greek God which is NICE! What isn't nice is how his failures mentioned in the Iliad of losing to Diomedes and the Aloadae get mentioned (the former without context) but those two things happened but fortunately it does bring up the Alcippe myth which is actually nice.

And he makes a few appearances in various other music videos (usually as comedic relief but while usually at his expense I can't say it didn't make me laugh). Like I said had to start somewhere and this somewhere has...the least 'Good' Ares (and I pray everyday that changes soon.)

4) Eros and Psyche by Allison Shaw (+18): Another surprise hit that I semi found accidentally but while this Ares doesn't play a major part (which is understandable as it's a retelling of the Eros and Psyche story), @allidrawscomics's Ares is a pretty good Ares all things considered (and as an added bonus tickles the part of my brain that itches for a version of the story where Ares is involved).

Her Ares, a musclebound semi bloodthirsty charming sexual freak, is in a happy committed relationship with Aphrodite who, in this version, is scheming to hook their son up with Psyche and proves to be supportive of her wife's desire to help their son find love and willing to help in ways that...are morbidly hilarious (in fact morbidly hilarious is a running theme in his few appearances.).

The comic itself is also great (if you're over 18) and worth checking out and is a nice reimagining of the Eros and Psyche myth that doesn't go 'Lore Olympus' (oh yeah...I went there!)

3) Evoe by @mcsiggy: Another Ares in another webcomic that's a charming sexual freak that loves to fight? I think I might be noticing a pattern...anyway Evoe's Ares by mcsiggy is, in their words not mine, a wartistic hothead eager for a fight who constantly battles with Athena over silly shit for no reason (and in a nice change of pace doesn't always lose) while in a cute, but very open, relationship with Aphrodite.

His sense of style is borderline immaculate, his general style brings a smile to my face, his character interactions with the other characters are charming, and he just works as his part in the webcomic. And, while we don't get much of him in the webcomic proper, he's also proves to be a loving father when he put his boot down on Aphrodite to save Eros and Psyche's relationship from Aphrodite (who is also a cutie who I also love and love seeing) being a giant thunder bitch.

Hope we get a storyline where he's a proper character but I'm subscribed to Evoe on Tapas (which is an awesome webcomic with equally charming characters and is making Dionysus a favorite God of mine) so I can wait until then.

2) Epic the Musical (with this animatic by @sixofclovers): Alright I've already went into why I like Ares in Epic the musical here and why this specific animatic does the Lovers section the best here here so I won't go too into it.

But I will say that while Ares didn't have a minute of sound time it did make me excited and hope Jorge does the Iliad...which in turn makes me remember that Epic's penultimate fight ended with Odysseus using a wind jetpack to torture Poseidon which in turn makes me imagine Diomedes reenacting the Redneck Scene from Deliverance with Ares and I shudder at the thought of having to deal with more people thinking Diomedes is ancient Greece Kratos and Ares is a bitch...

No! No gotta have hope in Jorge and Earle to do Ares right once again! (and even if they don't rage and spite on people is a precious commodity I can't afford to waste)

1)Iliad by Ho...I'm sorry I couldn't finish that with a straight face (plus the previous entry gave it away)

1)Hades by SuperGiant Games: You saw it coming from a mile away yet here we are! Ares from Supergiant Games is the best depiction of Ares so far! First off he looks gorgeous in a game where everything has to be gorgeous, handsome, cute, or cool and exceeds at looking better than Apollo (my inbox is ready for any and all Apollo fans) and roughly as good as Hermes. The white and gold vulture armor makes his darkened skin and white warpaint pop in the best of ways. His devilish smile never fails to disarm when he starts talking about bloodshed in ways that disturb but never cease to amuse. Best of all...once you get past his bloodshed...he's actually charming and perceptive in ways even Athena misses.

It turns out he was able to figure out Zag's and Mel's domains super easily and he does it so casually. Also while he is charming, you can see how he can be unnerving and disliked by other Gods even though he's not very spiteful or vindictive as they are (and trust me beyond the smiles the Gods are vindictive and spiteful).

But while he might seem to enjoy war for wars sake, he truly does have the interest of the children of Hades and their welfare in mind even if he enjoys war a wee bit too much...actually he's the God of War so it's appropriate!