So a thought occurs to me...what does make a 'Good Ares'?
Well the tl;dr is basically Norse Era Kratos but he's renamed Ares but since I technically said that in a previous blog post I'll elaborate. Alright, we all know how most media just gets Ares...wrong. He's either evil, ineffective because Athena exists, or just plain an asshole. Which if I was a God of War and Bloodshed who Loves bringing Fear, Dread, Strife, and Destruction where ever I go on a battlefield I can see why people would call me an asshole but if you followed me or most of my mutuals you probably know that's not entirely the case which makes it sad when that's the part where post people home in on. So, going under the assumption that we have enough on Ares from original tellings to paint a full picture*, here's what I would use to paint a picture of a 'good Ares'
Well he has to be violent, I know shocking right? A God of War being violent! Alright serious time, While certain War Gods and Philosophers love to paint a picture of a War that can be won without fighting, that's called diplomacy, and while it is valid, wars are inherently violent and confrontational and any Ares needs to reflect that. And since being a hothead that always looks for a fight doesn't automatically designate one towards being an asshole as proud warrior race guys, and hotheads can attest, he can be violent and still not be an asshole. Second off he has to be handsome. Yeah apparently original tellings of Ares describe him as one of the handsome among Greek Gods which is really impressive when Apollo and Adonis, two names synonymous with male beauty, exist. Granted you think most would figure that out from his legendary love affair with Aphrodite but apparently some people just can't resist making him ugly, which sucks but long story short, he has to be handsome. Third off, no misogyny. The whole dubiousness of Ares being a 'Protector of Women' thing notwithstanding and the fact that Greece already had Goddess who were 'Protectors of Women' (whether or not they were good at it from the stories we have vs how they were worshipped I leave you), Ares is a God in a pantheon that follows 'no means yes and yes means anal' rules to a T and the fact that he's one of the primary Olympians who has a cleanish track record with the opposite gender and is patron to an Island Nation of Badass Female Warriors who would go on to inspire Wonder Woman herself shows that by Ancient Greek Standards he's...not a misogynistic asshole (which in Ancient Greek Terms makes him a radfem but again, that speaks more poorly on his male cohorts if anything else). Fourthly, he has to be effective contrast to Athena who's no less necessary in the Art of War. Okay the running joke among Greek Mythology nerds is that Ares is the 'crybaby War God who gets his ass kicked by Athena and her pet heroes and goes crying to mommy and daddy who tell him to stop being a little bitch' and if I were to take his 3 most embarrassing moments in a vacuum I might come to that agreement. But I didn't and what I instead see is that Ares is a physically and martially superior to Athena who has to resort to tactical yet dirty tricks to get the win. Which isn't bad in and off itself, I do like Athena being a boss bitch, but when we say 'Athena kicked Ares ass twice in the Iliad' without the 'by using an invisible helmet and a mortal as a misdirection the first time and by having Zeus's 'Everything Proof Shield' and taking advantage of him being distracted the second time' we get painted an...incomplete picture. Which would be all fine and dandy but while Athena's domain of Strategy and Wisdom are important as shown in those examples (and said examples are no less impressive even if the impressiveness lies in her preparedness and strategy rather than her pure martial ability) Ares and by proxy War...kind of need the whole...violence, fear, dread, chaos, and destruction as I said before. So a good Ares needs to be a reminder that wisdom, strategy, and even diplomacy are no less essential to warfare than violence and bloodshed. Heck Ares sired a Goddess of Harmony so he himself knows this. So yeah, that's my list on what makes a good Ares...now who did Ares best... Well...Hades by Supergiant Games has the best Ares by default. He's violent to a borderline creepy degree but not impolite and/or rude to any of the Chthonic Deities, we don't know if if he has any children, but if he does we can also confer that if how he treats Zag is any indication he doesn't treat them like shit, he's handsome in a boyish way and looks cute in a game where 'looking cute' is a requirement for all the character designs, and he's a good contrast to Athena who's conversations between the two are nothing but pure gold.**
* New things get discovered everyday.
** But if he turns out to be evil in Hades 2 I'm going to recant that while resisting every urge to send hate mail to Supergiant Games.
