Ares

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Ares is the son of Zeus and is the Olympian God of War. He reveled in war and combat in all its forms, not caring about sides or victims, supporting Troy in the Trojan War. Ares has hated Hercules ever since Hercules killed Ares' pets, the Stymphalian birds, and his hatred increased when he noticed Hercules being favored by their father, while he was shunned for his brutal behavior. As the Romans took on the worship of Greek gods and renamed them, Ares is also the deity Mars. 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. Ares organized the Warhawks, which included Satyrs whose pipes caused violence in humans, 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, by turning all the other Olympians to crystal, although Hercules was not transformed, but exiled to Earth with amnesia. Ares also battled Namor and Venus. He formed another alliance with Pluto, and kidnapped Krista in an attempt to foment war between Olympus and Asgard. He also plotted with Pluto and Ares' daughter Hippolyta to marry Hercules and Venus to Hippolyta and himself. It was revealed that in ancient times, he took part in the Trojan War. Alongside Zeus, Ares struck an alliance with Odin against the Eternals, and battled the Eternal Ikaris.

In Their Own Story

In 2006, the character was recast as an antihero who simply lived for battle, any battle, joining the Avengers as one of their 'heavy hitters' with his own 'Warriors Honor' codex, versus the one-dimensional villain he had been portrayed as in the past. He would join Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers, believing that he could put his powers to good use, before being killed by Sentry during Siege. He is later resurrected, before returning to villainy and being killed again by the Punisher. Ares was tired of his own warmongering 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. After the events of the Civil War storyline, Ms. Marvel and Iron Man recruit Ares into the new Mighty Avengers. He plays a major part in defeating Ultron. During the Secret Invasion, Ares' son Alexander was recruited for Nick Fury's Secret Warriors, by Daisy Johnson, to oppose the Skrull invasion of New York City. During the Dark Reign storyline, Ares joins the Dark Avengers, Norman Osborn's personal team of Avengers. Writer of the Dark Avengers series, Brian Michael Bendis, described Ares' role: 'Ares is going to be a big part of this book. He's really going to step up and use his War God brain.' During The Dark Avengers' first mission, 'Venom-Spidey' is turned into a monster by Morgan le Fay. Venom (under her control) attempts to eat Ares. He is spit back out but is turned to stone shortly thereafter by Morgana. He returns to normal when Morgana is defeated by Dr. Doom in her own time. Ares later receives a truancy notice in the mail regarding his son. Deciding to investigate as best he can, he sends Alex to school, only to see him board Daisy Johnson's scooter on the way to a new base for the Secret Warriors. Ares tails them on his motorcycle and rampages his way in through the wall. When Hellfire tries to attack, Ares easily dispatches him and in their own silent way, Nick Fury and Ares ask for a private audience with one another. Ares then uncharacteristically declares himself a horrid father, but only aims to raise Alex differently than he and his father were raised. He then peacefully leaves the place behind, allowing Alex the opportunity to not have to hide his allegiance anymore. When the Dark Avengers and H.A.M.M.E.R. go to San Francisco to quell the riots, Ares was stomping out a group of pro-mutant activists. Gambit challenged him but was easily dispatched. Rogue tried absorbing his powers, which prove too much for her, but nonetheless she manages to weaken him. Danger, fearing that Rogue might injure herself, threw an energized manhole at Ares, pushing him away from Rogue. She gained half of Ares' power as a result. The trio then hijack a H.A.M.M.E.R. tank and leave a bleeding Ares behind. Ares, having recovered from his injuries, is seen next during the Dark Avengers' assault on the X-Men's new base Utopia (which was made from the remains of Asteroid M). There he fights with several X-Men until he is confronted with the once more empowered Valkyrie Danielle Moonstar. The two fight and are evenly matched with Dani quickly gaining the upper hand due to having borrowed some power from Hela. Eventually both he and his team of Avengers are forced to retreat. Before the Siege begins, Osborn is seen trying to convince Ares to come up with a plan to invade Asgard, saying Loki has taken control of it. Even though Osborn promises Ares that nothing is wrong, Ares tells Osborn that if he is lying, he will 'cut his head off, armour and all'. Once the Siege of Asgard begins, as the battle intensifies, Ares finds himself battling Balder and learns from Heimdall about Osborn's deceptions. When Osborn dispatches Daken to find Maria Hill, he is struck down by Ares, who vows to kill Osborn for his lies. However, Ares is suddenly attacked by the Sentry, who kills him by ripping him in half. Alexander, after finding out about his father's death, recalls a time when he asked Ares if they would always be together, Ares responded that, as they are gods, they can be killed, but they 'will never truly die' and tells him that he has experienced 'this many, many times', having been 'to Hades and through the Underworld to awaken in the fair Fields of Elysium...'. Ares tells Alexander that he would one day die, but promises him that he will always find him again. During the Chaos War storyline, Ares is among the dead beings released by Pluto to defend the Underworld from the forces of Amatsu-Mikaboshi, but is ultimately defeated and enslaved by the Chaos King along with Zeus and Hera. Despite the combined attacks of the God Squad, Ares is unscathed and engages Hercules in direct combat as Zeus and Hera battle Galactus and the other members of the Squad. Ares ultimately returned to the underworld with the rest of the dead. In All-New, All-Different Marvel, Ares and Alexander (who had been killed by Gorgon) are later seen residing in the Elysian Fields.

Reader's Guide

Ares first appeared in Thor #129, 1966, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. He would often appear as a villain in both Thor and The Avengers over the next 30 years. A 5-issue limited series, Ares, written by Michael Avon Oeming and drawn by Travel Foreman, was published in 2006 and focuses on this character. Since the release of the Ares miniseries he has been portrayed as an antihero. Following 'Civil War', Ares was invited to join the official, S.H.I.E.L.D.-sponsored The Mighty Avengers, led by Tony Stark, and appeared in that title. He was one of only two members to remain on the team after Norman Osborn took Stark's position, as part of the Dark Reign storyline and appeared in the first Dark Avengers series throughout its run. Ares subsequently starred in a three-issue Dark Avengers: Ares miniseries written by Kieron Gillen. He appeared as a regular Dark Avengers character from issue #1 (March 2009) until his death in Siege. During 'Chaos War', Ares appeared in a one-shot comic titled Chaos War: Ares.

Did You Know?

• Ares first appeared in Thor #129 (June 1966), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
• Ares has been killed twice: first by Sentry during Siege, and later by the Punisher after being resurrected.
• Ares once gave up his position as god of war and worked as a builder/carpenter on Earth.
• During the Dark Reign storyline, Ares told Norman Osborn he would 'cut his head off, armour and all' if Osborn was lying about Loki taking control of Asgard.
• Ares' son Alexander was recruited into Nick Fury's Secret Warriors during the Secret Invasion storyline.