Ares (Marvel Comics)

Superherobox|

caption=Cover art for "Mighty Avengers" #4.
Art by Frank Cho.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Ares
real_name=Ares
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Thor" (volume 1) #129 (June 1966)
creators=Stan Lee Jack Kirby
alliance_color=background:#cccccc
alliances=Mighty Avengers
Gods of Olympus
Leader of the Warhawks
aliases=Mars, Mister Talon, John Aaron, God of War, The Warhawk
powers=Superhuman strength, durability, agility, speed, and endurance,
Accelerated healing factor,
Immortality |

Ares is a fictional deity in the Marvel Comics Universe based on the Greek God of the same name. It is also the name of a 5 issue mini-series, written by Michael Avon Oeming and drawn by Travel Foreman, which focuses on this character.

Ares first appeared in the pages of "Thor" #129, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. He would often appear as a villain in both "Thor" and "The Avengers", but since the "Ares" mini-series, he has been portrayed as an anti-hero.

Fictional character biography

Early life

Ares is the son of Zeus and is the Olympian God of War. Ares reveled in war and combat in all its forms, not caring about sides or victims. Ares has hated Hercules ever since Hercules killed Ares' pets, the monstrous Stymphalian birds [Greek Mythology] , and his hatred increased when he noticed Hercules being favored by their father, while he was shunned for his brutal behavior. Further adding to his hatred, is that in modern times, war is shunned and disliked, where as Hercules is still beloved by the masses, despite his own history of death and destruction. [as noted in "Incredible Hercules" #115] As the Romans took on worship of Greek gods and renamed them, Ares is also the deity Mars.

Modern Years

Villain

After Zeus allowed the worship of the Greek/Roman gods to cease, the dissatisfied Ares held a deep grudge and would try to overthrow Olympus more than once. He refused to battle against Pluto on behalf of Hercules, and aided Pluto instead. Hercules teamed up with the Asgardian god Thor in order to defeat Ares, leading to Ares' retreat. ["Thor" #192] Ares fought a duel with Hercules, forming an alliance with the Enchantress to make Hercules her slave and ally against the Avengers. ["Avengers" #38]

Ares organized the Warhawks, and with them battled the Avengers. He dispatched Kratos and Bia to capture Hercules. After allying with the Enchantress again, he used the Black Knight's Ebony Blade to quench the Promethean Flame and conquer Olympus. He again battled the Avengers, and was defeated by Thor and the Black Knight. ["Avengers" #98-100]

Ares also battled Namor the Sub-Mariner and Venus. ["Sub-Mariner" #57] He formed another alliance with Pluto, and kidnapped Krista in an attempt to foment war between Olympus and Asgard. ["Thor" 221-222] He also plotted with Pluto and Ares's daughter Hippolyta to marry Hercules and Venus to Hippolyta and himself. ["Champions" #1-3]

It was revealed that in ancient times, he took part in the Trojan War. ["Thor Annual" #38] Alongside Zeus, Ares struck an alliance with Odin against the Eternals. ["Thor" #289] , and battled the Eternal Ikaris. ["Thor" #291] Alongside his fellow Olympians, Ares battled the Avengers at Zeus's behest. Ares was defeated by Namor, and forbidden to set foot on Earth again by Zeus.

He frequently battled teams and individuals while working as a villain, and continued to battle heroes like the Avengers. [such as in "Hercules and the Heart of Chaos" #1-3]

Human Life

In recent times, Ares' uncle Pluto sought to overwhelm Mount Olympus with an army of the dead, leading to a stalemate that the gods and demi-gods (including Hercules and Achilles) were unable to break. In desperation to end the siege of Olympus, Zeus called upon his son Ares who defeated Hades' army almost single-handedly. Hoping that this would allow him to join his kind in Olympus, Ares was disappointed to hear his parents and the other gods disparage his "crude" and "dishonorable" nature. He abandoned his brethren to live amongst mortal men, but did not completely give up his god nature yet.Ares 1]

Ares tired of his own war mongering when he realized that was why the other gods despised him and decided to live a normal life. He gave up his position as god of war, but maintained his skills, weaponry, and immortality. On Earth, he set himself up as a builder/carpenter. He would later father a son with an unidentified mother.

Ares: God of War (2006 miniseries)

The 2006 mini-series begins with Ares living a relatively peaceful life with his son, Alexander. This life is interrupted when Hermes visits Ares with a request...help Olympus fight off a new threat from the east, Amatsu-Mikaboshi (the Japanese god of evil). Taking advantage of the chaos left by the fall of Asgard and the Norse pantheon, Mikaboshi planned to extend his influence by capturing Olympus and crushing the Olympian gods. With the Olympians defeated, Mikaboshi hoped to cow all the other pantheons into surrendering. To this end, Mikaboshi laid siege to Olympus, which was very close to succeeding. Ares, still bitter about the treatment he received from the other Olympians, refuses to raise a finger to help them. Desperate for his aid and wishing to goad Ares into action, Zeus has Alexander kidnapped and brought to Olympus where he is placed under the care of Achilles and his Myrmidons. On Earth, Ares wages an assault against police forces, who have found his social security number to be false. One of the policemen states that the New Avengers have just formed as a team.

With the tide turning against them, Hermes goes to Earth to fetch an enraged Ares in an attempt to get him to speak with Zeus, but Ares' only concern is his son. Relenting, Hermes transports them both to Achilles' stronghold where they were keeping Alexander, only to find the fortress destroyed and Alexander missing.

While Achilles was away, Mikaboshi's forces managed to destroy the Myrmidon fortress and steal Alexander away to his own stronghold in the eastern lands. Mikaboshi slowly begins to warp Alexander's mind in an attempt to turn him against his father by revealing the brutal history and patricides committed by the Greek gods. Mikaboshi hopes to turn Alex into the new god of war, one that could be used against the Greek gods and, more importantly, Ares himself.

Finding out his son is in the hands of Olympus' enemies, a furious Ares begrudgingly agrees to join in the fighting, but only to rescue his son.

Mighty Avengers

After the events of Civil War, Ms. Marvel and Iron Man have recruited Ares as part of the new Mighty Avengers. He was recruited to serve on the new team due to their need for a combination "Thor and Wolverine in one." Ares says he didn't get involved in the Civil War as "It was just a slapfight." During the times of Civil War Ares was living a peaceful life as a civilian with his son, while working as a construction worker, until the Avengers blew his civilian cover. In order to provide compensation and secure his services, Iron Man offered him a higher salary than what he was making as a construction worker if he joined the Avengers -- after which Ares revealed that it would have to be higher than $44/hour.

As an Avenger, he seems often at odds, either vocally or internally, with the team's methods of combat, and particularly chafes at orders to stand down when he feels that the battle should continue. This seems to show when Iron Man's robotic helper offered help to the team; instead of letting them listen to it, Ares brutally destroyed the robot much to the dismay of the other team mates. [Mighty Avengers #4] He also appears to be a little violence-happy, as his "infiltration plan" for getting into Castle Doom is ramming the Quinjet into the castle walls.

During the events of World War Hulk, Ares is easily defeated by the Hulk, after the Mighty Avengers face the Green King (Hulk) and his Warbound. [World War Hulk #2]

However in the aftermath of World War Hulk, the Hulk had been stopped and Ares' brother, Hercules, who supported the Hulk's cause, was captured. Ares goaded Hercules into rebuilding the fallen Stark Tower as his punishment for aiding the Hulk during the war. However, Hercules refuses Ares' offer and escapes his enemies. Ares, Wonder Man, and Black Widow then head off to track and follow Hercules and Amadeus Cho, though Ares shows a preference for attacking and defeating Hercules in battle as opposed to simply arresting them, going so far as to knock Wonder Man unconscious when he counsels restraint in dealing with Hercules.

In "Mighty Avengers" #13, it was revealed that Alexander is actually Phobos, the Greek god of fear, (and son of Ares) reborn. Alex was then recurited by Daisy Johnson as part of Nick Fury's special ops team.

ecret Invasion

Ares was among the Mighty Avengers who were fighting heroes from the Skrull ship. ["Secret Invasion" #1-2] His son Alexander was recruited for Nick Fury's commandos, by Daisy Johnson, to oppose the Skrull invasion of New York City.

Powers and abilities

Ares possesses the typical powers of an Olympian, including superhuman strength, speed, durability, and reflexes, and virtual immortality, though some of his powers are substantially greater than most other Olympians.

Like all Olympians, Ares is superhumanly strong, though far more so than the majority of his race. Among the Olympians, his strength is equaled only by his uncles, Neptune and Pluto, and is exceeded only by his father, Zeus, and his half-brother, Hercules. Ares' body generates almost no fatigue toxins during physical activity, granting him almost limitless superhuman stamina in all physical activities. Ares' body is also highly resistant to physical injury. He can withstand great impact forces, temperature extremes, and falls from great heights without being injured. However, also like all other Olympians, he can sustain injury. He has been injured by magical attacks from the likes of Zeus, by blows from Thor's hammer, and from high caliber bullets. However, Ares' godly life-force enables him to rapidly recover from most injuries in a short period of time. Ares is functionally immortal in the sense that he is immune to the effects of aging and hasn't aged since reaching adulthood. He is also unaffected by any known disease or infection.

While not as accomplished at magic as many of his fellow Olympians, Ares can sense the presence of other gods, demons, and the use of magic, call other gods, summon weapons from Olympus, and transport himself by teleportation to Olympus and to Earth at will. Even though not accomplished at magic, as an Olympian god Ares has the potential to use magic.

He is, as fits his station as the Olympian God of War, a formidable hand to hand combatant. He is also an expert with numerous weapons, including ancient weapons and conventional, modern-day firearms. In his earlier appearances, he typically carried Olympian weapons like battleaxes, spears, swords, and daggers, but his most recent appearance shows him favoring a mixture of ancient and modern weapons, like gases, rays, firearms, and high-explosives, as well as "Hydra blood bullets", which contain the lethal blood of a Lernaean Hydra. He is an aficionado, expert and collector of the most unusual instruments and methods of death dealing. He is also well versed in torture, interrogation and combat tactics.

Ares sometimes wears Olympian battle armor and carries a mace and battle axe all forged from adamantine by Hephaestus. He sometimes rides a chariot of enchanted Olympian horses. At one time, he possessed the "Gauntlets of Ares", which made its wearer gain strength comparable to Hercules. He has since passed these on to his daughter Hippolyta.

Deviation from Mythology

*In mythology, Aphrodite is Ares' lover, and (in some sources) the mother of his children. In the Marvel Universe Ares is considered an enemy of Aphrodite and he fathered Deimos and Phobos instead upon the goddess Nox, the Olympian Goddess of the Night, who impersonated Aphrodite in order to trick Ares into giving her children.

References

External links

* [http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?id=5205 Marvel entry for the mini-series trade paperback]
* [http://marvel.com/universe/Ares Ares bio on Marvel.com]