Ares (Hercules and Xena)
Encyclopedia
Ares is a character on the television shows Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....

, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is a television series, filmed in New Zealand and the United States. It was produced from 1995, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles...

 and Young Hercules
Young Hercules
Young Hercules is a spin-off from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. It was aired on Fox Kids from September 12, 1998, to May 12, 1999. It lasted one season with 50 episodes and starred Ryan Gosling in the title role.-Plot:...

. He was portrayed by New Zealand actor Kevin Tod Smith. Ares is a significant recurring antagonist during the first three seasons, makes a guest appearance in the "coda" episode of season four and was Xena's main love interest during seasons five (as well as being that season's main antagonist, appearing in 10 of the 22 episodes) and six.

Ares on Xena: Warrior Princess

Suave, charming, witty, yet ruthless and amoral, Ares often represents, especially in the early seasons, the seductive power of war and the dark side. He repeatedly attempts to lure Xena
Xena
Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise. She first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before going on to appear in Xena: Warrior Princess TV show and subsequent comic book of the same name...

 away from her quest for redemption alongside Gabrielle
Gabrielle (Xena)
Gabrielle is a fictional character played by Renée O'Connor in Xena: Warrior Princess. She is referred to by fans as the Battling Bard of Potidaea. Her trademark weapons are the Amazon fighting staff and later, the sais...

, and to win her over 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.

Much of Ares' relationship with Xena remains ambiguous, including whether he is at least partly redeemed by his love for Xena, or to what extent Xena reciprocates his feelings. He says several times that he "has a thing" for Xena, and this seems to prevent him from killing her, even when pitted against her in deadly combat., yet he pursues her sexually and romantically.

Their relationship prior to the show's timeline is also a mystery. The dialogue in an early episode strongly suggests that this is their first face-to-face meeting; subsequent episodes, however, establish that at some point in the past he trained her and may have been her lover as well. It is also stated that Ares gave Xena her signature weapon, the chakram
Chakram
The chakram , sometimes called a war quoit, is a throwing weapon from India. Its shape is of a flat metal hoop with a sharp outer edge from in diameter...

.

"They had this idea for the God of War," Kevin Smith remembered. "They wanted a foil for Xena - someone who could beat her in battle, and a former mentor. The weird thing is there's sympathy for the character, because he's done terrible, terrible things and yet, at the bottom of it all, the only way this works is if you believe he truly loves Xena. Of course Ares did admit his love for her and Xena never said it but she Loved Ares."

The story

During season 1, Ares frames her for murdering three villagers in the hope that she will call on him for help when threatened with execution. He also takes the shape of her long-lost father Atrius and nearly tricks her into attacking a village. However, these plans are thwarted by Xena and Gabrielle.

In a Season 2 episode, Ares joins forces with Xena's now-dead archenemy, Callisto
Callisto (Xena)
Callisto is a fictional character in the fantasy TV series Xena: Warrior Princess. She features as the most frequently recurring villainess on that show. She also makes appearances on three episodes of the parent show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...

 of Cirra
Kirra, Phocis
Kirra , is a village in Phocis, central Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Itea. It is also sometimes called Adrastea. Kirra is part of a Trifecta starting in the north with Delphi, descending south to the Gulf of Corinth to Itea, which is the main city on the water in that area, and then...

, and engineers a body switch
Body swap
A body swap is a storytelling device seen in a variety of fiction, most often in television shows and movies, in which two people exchange minds and end up in each other's bodies. Alternatively, their minds may stay where they are as their bodies adjust...

 so that Callisto's soul occupies Xena's body while Xena is trapped in Tartarus
Tartarus
In classic mythology, below Uranus , Gaia , and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros . It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato In classic mythology, below Uranus (sky), Gaia (earth), and Pontus...

. He seems to be grooming Callisto-in-Xena's body to be his new Warrior Queen, and has sex with her, but later turns away from her, realizing that she is too madly obsessed with revenge against Xena and too uncontrollable. Xena, who persuades Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...

 to release her, is able to send Callisto back to Tartarus.

In the next episode, the audience sees a different side to Ares for the first time. After losing his godhood due to the trickery of king Sisyphus
Sisyphus
In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity...

 of Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...

, he needs Xena's help to get it back; Xena reluctantly agrees to help him after realizing that the world needs a god of war and Ares is the best man for the job. As a mortal, Ares shows a new humanity and conscience, but after getting his godhood back he seems to revert to his former cold-hearted self.

In Season 3, Ares' relationship with Xena grows more complicated; he is still trying to win her back into the fold, using the Furies to drive her mad for that purpose, but also tries to form an alliance with her to fight the evil god Dahak
Dahak
Dahak is a fictional character in the fictional universe of Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. He is the main antagonist of Xenas third season and the fifth season of Hercules....

. Under threat from Dahak, Ares ends up briefly switching sides until Dahak is defeated by Xena. Ares also makes an unusual appearance in the musical episode where, as the "Emperor" in the fantasy land of Illusia, he personifies the seductive appeal of the dark side. The tango Ares and Xena dance to Ares' song, "Come Melt into Me", also highlights the erotic chemistry between the two.

Ares' character on Xena: Warrior Princess evolves dramatically in Season 5. A major part of the season's storyline involves the Twilight of the Gods and the rise of monotheistic religion. Determined to protect his own power and the rule of the Olympian gods
Twelve Olympians
The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal deities of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades were siblings. Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis were children of Zeus...

, Ares kills Eli
Eli (Xena)
Eli is a fictional character from the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. He is portrayed by American actor Timothy Omundson.-The Devi:...

, a Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

-like prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...

 who urges the people to abandon the old gods and the old ways.

At the same time, however, Ares becomes less of a villain and more of a romantic interest. The sexual tension between Xena and Ares, and the suggestion that he is secretly in love with her, have been there all along. As early as Season 1, it is clear that he can't kill her; as a mortal, he suggests that she can inspire him to change. His obsession with her is evident as well. It is also suggested that he might be her father, but this scenario is later dropped. In Season 5, the theme of Ares' love for Xena is brought out into the open. After the Fates
Moirae
The Moirae, Moerae or Moirai , in Greek mythology, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny . Their number became fixed at three...

 prophesy that Xena's child Eve
Eve (Xena)
Eve | Livia is a fictional character created by Robert Tapert for the popular TV series Xena: Warrior Princess. She is portrayed by Adrienne Wilkinson...

 will bring about the end of the Olympian gods, Ares tries to declare his love for Xena, offering to protect her and her baby from the other gods and willingly become mortal if they can be together and have a child of their own and/or raise Eve as their own. Xena rejects his offer, refusing to believe that his feelings are sincere.

When Xena and Gabrielle fake their deaths to escape the gods' persecution, Ares inadvertently thwarts their plans by burying them in an ice cave where they sleep for 25 years. After mourning Xena for years, Ares unknowingly takes Eve, now the Roman warrior Livia, as his protégée and lover. When Xena returns, he resumes his pursuit of her. Enraged by her continuing rejection, he first encourages Livia to kill her, and then joins the other Olympians in their effort to kill Eve. However, when Gabrielle and Eve die and Xena temporarily loses her power to kill gods, Ares love for Xena prevails, and he gives up his godhood to resurrect Gabrielle and Eve, enabling Xena to kill Athena.

In the Season 6 premiere, Xena risks her life to save the now-mortal Ares from the Furies. At the end of the episode, the two share a tender kiss, and Xena tells Ares, "You always got to me. But you were bad for me, Ares; you still are." She also says that the chance of them ever going beyond friendship is "one in a billion".

Later in the season, Xena helps Ares again, hiding him from vengeful warlords on her family's farm. She restores his godhood with a golden apple wrested from Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

, but refuses his offer to become a goddess and rule by his side. In the next episode, Ares and Xena are once again adversaries as she foils his plot to get the Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

 into a war with the Romans in order to gain more worshipers. However, they also seem to share a new mutual understanding and acceptance.

The "uber" episodes of Xena, set in the future, suggest that at some point Ares is imprisoned in a tomb from which only a descendant of Xena's can free him, and that after getting out of the tomb, he continues to pursue a reincarnated Xena in the 20th Century.

Ares on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

The character of Ares on Hercules is quite different from his character on Xena. In the show's first season, prior to Ares' appearance on Xena, Ares appears in non-human form as a skull in the moon or a fountain of blood, and in one episode, he takes the form of a slain warrior. He first appears in the familiar form of Kevin Smith in the Season 3 "Hind trilogy", in which Hercules falls in love with Serena, a mysterious woman who sometimes becomes a golden hind and who is a protegée of Ares. Ares tells Hercules that he will release Serena from her vow of service to him, and allow her and Hercules to marry, if Hercules gives up his superhuman strength. Later, Ares' underling, the god Strife, kills Serena and he and Ares attempt to frame Hercules for her murder. He is saved by the intervention of Xena and Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

.

Ares' main goal on Hercules is to kill his demi-god half-brother, both because Hercules constantly stands in his way by preventing wars and because he resents his father Zeus' preference for Hercules. Ares' schemes are invariably thwarted. In later episodes of Hercules, he changes from a dark villain to a more comical one. This is especially true following the rise of evil entities such as Dahak, or the rise of a more powerful God in Xena: Warrior Princess which sought to destroy all Pantheons of gods and become the sole ruler. While most of the Olympians are destroyed during this time, Ares remains a mortal and appears in many comedic episodes such as "Old Ares Had a Farm".

In a Season 4 episode, it is revealed that Ares had sired a child with the now-mortal Goddess of Revenge, Nemesis
Nemesis (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris . The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge...

. The child, Evander, is born with supernatural abilities, particularly telekinesis. Ares wants 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
Iolaus
In Greek mythology, Iolaus was a Theban divine hero, son of Iphicles, Heracles's brother, and Automedusa.He was famed for being Heracles's nephew and for helping with some of his Labors, and also for being one of the Argonauts...

 manage to foil his plan and return the child to his mother. Later in that season, Ares teams up with Callisto, now a goddess, to trap Hercules in a passageway between parallel worlds. Callisto, working with Dahak's daughter Hope
Hope (Xena)
Hope is a fictional character in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. She is the daughter of Dahak, born of Gabrielle. Hope is a recurring villainess in the third season, portrayed by Amy Morrison and Renée O'Connor.-Character history:...

, then turns on Ares, gets thoroughly beaten up by him in a hand-to-hand fight (during this, Ares admonishes her, "Pain? I invented it!"). However, she is then "recharged" with supernatural energy by Hope, turns the tables and roundly defeats Ares, and finally uses a dagger dipped in the blood of a golden hind, lethal to gods, to kill Strife. In the Season 4 finale, Ares plots with his mother Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...

 to kill Zeus.

In Season 5, Ares and Hercules briefly team up to stop the archangel
Archangel
An archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...

 Michael
Michael (archangel)
Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...

 from destroying the world by unleashing the Apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...

. In the show's finale, Ares is back to plotting against Zeus, this time by releasing two of the Titans
Titan (mythology)
In Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia and Uranus, that ruled during the legendary Golden Age....

 once imprisoned by the gods, but Hercules and Iolaus stop him again.

In two episodes the series introduced a parallel world in which Ares is a god of love wearing white and without facial hair, while Cupid is a god of war.

Ares also appears in two Hercules "uber" episodes. In these episodes, which are set in the present day and based on the premise that Kevin Sorbo
Kevin Sorbo
Kevin David Sorbo is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda and Kull in Kull the Conqueror.-Early life:...

 is actually the immortal Hercules himself, Ares is still at war with his half-brother and is plotting to get Hercules: The Legendary Journeys off the air.

Ares on Young Hercules

Ares' role on Young Hercules, is similar to his role in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Apparently he has been trying to destroy his younger brother, the "apple of his father's eye", since he was a teenager starting out training at Cheiron's Academy, still with the help of his sister Discord and his underling Strife, though he's going to have to try to rid the world of the world's future greatest hero by getting around the protection order Zeus has placed upon his demigod son.

Powers and abilities

Ares possesses most of the abilities of a god. He has shown superstrength at times and cannot feel pain or be killed unless affected by Hind's blood or more powerful gods such as Dahak. Ares can teleport around Earth and to Mt. Olympus at will. He can also turn invisible to everyone or just certain people, though it has been shown that Xena can sense his presence even when invisible. His offensive powers are fire balls and lightning bolts. He also has telekinetic abilities, can heal people or bring them back to life, and time travel as seen in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episodes Armageddon Now part 1 and 2. Ares possesses combat prowess similar to Hercules and Xena. He is also a great swordsman. Ares has had several sidekicks, including Strife, Discord and Deimos. His favorite warrior is Xena and he tries to use Serena but ends up killing her. Ares also has a demon-dog creature named Greigus in the first season of Hercules that he tries to use to kill Hercules but fails.

Ares is shown to be a skillful manipulator and a master strategist.

Xena Appearances

  • 1.06 The Reckoning
  • 1.20 Ties That Bind
  • 2.07 Intimate Stranger
  • 2.08 Ten Little Warlords
  • 2.10 The Xena Scrolls
  • 3.01 The Furies
  • 3.03 The Dirty Half Dozen
  • 3.04 The Deliverer
  • 3.10 The Quill Is Mightier...
  • 3.12 The Bitter Suite
  • 3.17 Forget Me Not (subconscious manifestation)
  • 3.21 Sacrifice, Part 1
  • 3.22 Sacrifice, Part 2
  • 4.22 Deja Vu All Over Again (Uber episode)
  • 5.02 Chakram
  • 5.03 Succession
  • 5.09 Seeds Of Faith
  • 5.12 God Fearing Child
  • 5.13 Eternal Bonds
  • 5.14 Amphipolis Under Siege
  • 5.19 Looking Death In The Eye
  • 5.20 Livia
  • 5.21 Eve
  • 5.22 Motherhood
  • 6.01 Coming Home
  • 6.10 Old Ares Had A Farm
  • 6.12 The God You Know
  • 6.13 You Are There
  • 6.14 Path of Vengeance (Last "Real" Appearance)
  • 6.20 Soul Possession (Uber episode)

External links

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