Real Name: Aphneius (possibly, Ares is his Classical Greek name)

Occupation: God of war, adventurer, former construction worker.

Legal Status: Citizen of Olympus with a provisional American citizenship due to his Avengers status

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Ares except as a mythological character.

Other Aliases: Mars (Roman name), Teutates (Celtic name), Laran (Etruscan name), Mister Talon, Warhawk, John Aaron, Marshall Reason, Ares Marshall (mortal identities),

Place Of Birth: possibly Olympus

Marital Status: Single

Known Relatives: Zeus (father), Hera (mother), Hephaestus (brother), Discord, Eileithyia, Hebe (sisters), Hercules, Apollo, Dionysus, Hermes (half-brothers), Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, Helen, Persephone, Pandia (half-sister), Deimos, Phobos, Dryas, Alexander (sons), Romulus, Remus (sons, deceased), Poseidon, Hades (uncles), Demeter, Hestia (aunts), Asclepius, Janus, Eros, Pan (nephews), Triton, Consus, Vertumnus, Pomona (cousins), Julius Caesar, King Arthur (descendants, deceased)

Group Affiliation: The Gods of Olympus, formerly the Dark Avengers, Avengers and the Warhawks

Base Of Operations: The Areopagus, also Olympus and a temple in Ancient Sparta (now part of modern Greece), formerly Avengers Tower in New York City

First Appearance: (historical) Human Torch Comics #5, (modern) Wonder Woman I #1, (recent) Thor #129

History: Ares is the son of Zeus, monarch of the Olympian gods, his wife Hera. The second son of Zeus, Ares hated most of his brothers, particularly Apollo, who was born before him. Hera had tried to delay the birth of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis by sending a great serpent called the Python to prevent their mother, the goddess Leto, from finding sanctuary. Leto, however, found sanctuary on the island of Delos protected by Poseidon and Apollo was born the first-born son of Zeus, taking any right Ares had to ruling Olympus after Zeus. Hera encouraged his anger to the point that he became god of war and most feared gods of Olympus.

Aphrodite, wife of Hephaestus, however, found herself attracted to Ares and attempted to dissuade his anger by inviting him to her bed. She eventually seduced him and conceived him two sons, Deimos and Phobos and eventually a daughter, Harmonia. Helios, the sun god, revealed the adultery to Hephaestus and the smith-god schemed to reveal the affair by placing a trap in his marital bed that sprang into a cage around them. He then pushed them out to reveal the two of them to the other gods. Poseidon handled reparations between Hephaestus and Aphrodite, but Ares lost all interest in her after these incidents.

Ares himself never took a wife himself although his sister Eris, who often called herself Discord, often considered him to be her equal and compatriot in his schemes along with his sons, Deimos and Phobos. Ares, however, impersonated many of his most loyal followers and generals in order to seduce their wives and lovers. He fathered several of the kings and warlords of Ancient Greece such as Phlegyras, Oenomaus, Tereus, Cycnus, Thestius and Diomedes to whom he gave man-eating mares as a gift. Ares also reputed fathered the first Amazons by seducing his half-sister Otrera. His son, Dryas, by an unidentified mortal woman lived to the Twentieth Century as the hero calling himself Bombshell.

As god of war, Ares engaged in savagery and a war lust that had no bounds. Despite Ares’ bravado as a bully, Otus and Ephialtes, the giant sons of Poseidon, managed to humiliate him by imprisoning him in a pot as they tried to ascend to Olympus and had to be rescued by Hermes and Eeriboea, the mortal mother of the giants. Ares’ enmity of Hercules began after the son of Zeus slaughtered his Stymphalian Birds and tamed his man-eating mares as part of his labors. Hercules bested Ares several times in ancient times and Ares has sought various ways to either kill Hercules or to humiliate him. As a side result of Zeus’s protection of Hercules, Ares has grown increasingly dissatisfied with Zeus’ rule of the gods of Olympus and has attempted to overthrow him on several occasions. Nevertheless, Ares fought with Hercules beside him and slew the giant Mimas and the Giants when they tried to storm Olympus. During the Trojan War, Ares was wounded by the Argive General Diomedes (not to be confused with the son of Ares) and complained to Zeus over the insult to himself. Zeus refused to help him since he had forbid the gods from getting involved in the war. Aphrodite came to the aide of Ares but Athena knocked her out beside him.

Several years after the war, Ares became known as Mars by the denizens of Rome, which was founded by his mortal sons, Romulus and Remus on the ruins of Latium once ruled by the descendants of Aeneas of Troy. During the Roman Empire, Xena, the self-proclaimed warrior goddess, became an infatuation for Ares. According to some rumors, she might have been Ares’ own daughter, but this is unconfirmed. Xena soon turned against her original warlike tendencies after encountering Hercules and this fact seems to have exacerbated the war-god’s relationship to Hercules over the following years. 

Ares was worshipped as the god of war in ancient Greece and Rome, but the principal sites of his worship were in Sparta and Thrace as well as Scythia. Zeus, however, discovered that the Romans were killing Christians in the names of the Olympian gods and allowed worship of the gods to die out. Ares could no longer act as patron god of warriors and under unrevealed circumstances, he was imprisoned in a tomb in Macedonia. In his absence, the Amazons lead by Queen Hippolyta renounced their warlike tendencies and guided by Athena founded new land far beyond Greece. At some point, the immortal wizard Shazam used mystical aspects of Ares to create the spells for the future hero known as Captain Marvel.

At some point in the past, Hercules and the Asgardian thunder god Thor slew Deimos and Phobos, Ares’s sons, but they were restored to life in recent years by the primeval goddess Nyx who convinced them that she was her true mother and used them in a plot against Doctor Strange, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. On the onset of World War Two, Melinda Pappas, a descendant of Xena, accidentally released Ares from his tomb, and he worked behind the scenes of the war to instigate as much bloodshed as possible. Athena tried minimizing as much of his influence by instructing the Amazons to create a sentinel for peace who became known as Wonder Woman. Ares, however, saw her as another reincarnation of his beloved Xena and attempted several efforts to turn her or the Amazons back to their former ways, but all of these ploys often failed.

In recent years, Ares set two of Earth’s nations at war with each other. The conflict threatened to spread over all of Earth, until Ares was forced to put an end to it by his half-sister Aphrodite, whom he has long sought in marriage, and Namor the Sub-Mariner. Aphrodite and the Sub-Mariner extracted a pledge from Ares not to engage in further war-mongering on Earth, but through alliances with Hades or Loki, he has attempted to conquer either Earth or Olympus but has been consistently defeated each time.

Over the years, Ares has also continually antagonized his half-brother, Hercules, for foiling many of his plans and schemes on Earth, eventually joining with Hera in order to torment Hercules personally. The two gods eventually succeeded in killing Hercules' earthly romantic interest, Taylor Madison, and have continued to separately make Hercules's life difficult.

Like several of the Gods of Olympus, Ares continued to father half-mortal children through his visits to Earth. Many of whom became wards of the Centaur Chiron at Camp Half-Blood, a secret remote school for young demigods. One of his mortal sons, Alexander Aaron, was orphaned by the death of his mortal mother, and following his last humiliating defeat by the Avengers, Ares departed Olympus and took a job on Earth as a construction worker to raise him. Alexander, however, was soon abducted by Mikaboshi, the Japanese god of evil, and Ares was forced to help his fellow Olympians alongside the Gods of Japan to rescue him.

Still insistent that his son have a mortal upbringing, Ares returned to his life as a construction worker afterward. While he was living in Dover, New Jersey, Ares was approached by Iron Man and Ms. Marvel who had traveled to Ares' construction site to recruit him for their new Avengers team during the enactment of the Superhuman Registration Act and a Civil War between New York City's resident costumed crime fighters. Agreeing that the heroes had ruined his civilian cover, Ares eventually agreed to join the team after Iron Man threatened to deport him to Olympus if he did not register with the U.S. Government and promised a salary similar to that of his construction job.

Ares immediately proved himself by playing a big role in the Avengers in several missions, and even taking a role in punishing his half-brother Hercules for aiding the Hulk in an attempted conquest of Earth. Although he failed to contain and recapture Hercules, Ares proved to be a capable member of the team although his morals and tactics on saving the Earth for the greater good differed. This differences allowed him to become a part of Harry Osborn's ersatz replacement Avengers team, the Dark Avengers. Ares viewed his new alliance with Osborn as a new direction continuing the same goals of the original team, but Osborn manipulated his trust into an alliance with Loki and an assault on Asgard. Leading the attack, Ares attacked Balder himself who now ruled Asgard in Thor's absence, believing him to be under Loki's influence, but Ares eventually realized his mistake. Enraged at having been manipulated, Ares confronted Osborn as the Iron Patriot and was subsequently murdered by the Sentry coming to Osborn's side. 

After being sighted by his son, Alex, on the fields of Elysium, Ares was restored to life by Mikaboshi. Now calling himself the Chaos King, Mikaboshi lead the armies of the undead and several brainwashed gods into a complete siege to destroy the Earth. Ares eventually switched sides to rally with Earth's heroes, helping Thor and Hercules to forcibly dispatch Mikaboshi into another alternate reality.

Ares activities since have yet to be revealed.

Height: 6’ 1”
Weight: 500 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

Strength Level: Ares possesses greater strength than most Olympian gods and can lift (press) approximately 70 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: Ares possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Olympian Gods. Like all Olympian Gods, he is immortal. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any known conventional means. He is immune to all known terrestrial diseases and is invulnerable to conventional injury. If wounded, his godly life force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for Zeus or a number of gods of equal power working together to revive him. Ares does have some superhuman strength and his own Olympian metabolism gives him far greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Olympian flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the Olympian's superhuman strength and weight).

As an immortal, Ares possesses vast strength and endurance. His physical capabilities are superior to those of the majority of Olympian gods. He has virtually inexhaustible stamina, and does not tire appreciably after any exertion.

Like all Olympians, Ares is immortal, possessing a life essence that cannot be ended by any conventional means. He can be wounded in battle, but his godly life force gives him incredible recuperative abilities. He can fully recover from penetration wounds (such as by knife, sword, or bullet) in anywhere from minutes to hours, depending on their severity. Only an injury of such magnitude that it incinerates him or disperses a major portion of his bodily molecules could cause him physical death. Even then, his life essence may still be unharmed, and Zeus may be able to resurrect him. 

Ares has limited mystical potential confined mostly to teleportation, crossing between dimensions such as from Earth to Olympus, conjuring weapons, disguising himself and discharging explosive energy bursts resembling lightning. He can render himself invisible to mortals on Earth, but certain individuals such as Xena and Wolverine gifted with advanced senses can still sense his presence.

Abilities: Ares possesses great skill, expertise and precision in the use of all the implements of war used in the time of ancient Greece and Rome. However, he has studied and become familiar with all forms of weapons over the ages regardless of culture or time period.

Weapons/Paraphernalia: Ares has access to an enormous arsenal of weapons collected from throughout Earth's history; including ancient Greek and Roman javelins, axes, swords, maces, knives, shields, spears, and flails forged by the Hephaestus. He has been revealed to employ Celtic spears, Roman Helmets, Middle Eastern scimitars, Arthurian swords and Native American axes up to modern weapons, such as a variety of different firearms, gases, rays, explosives, and bullets dipped in the blood of the Hydra. In addition to battle armor, he also employs gauntlets enchanted to increase his strength to a level comparable to Hercules. Ares also has access to a number of battle tanks, regular tanks armored with Olympian adamantine.

Comments: This profile includes info from Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Percy Jackson, The Legendary Journeys and the God of War cosmology.

Ares has been portrayed by Kevin Smith (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys/Xena 1995-2000), Ray Winstone (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - 2010), David Sharman (Immortals-2011) and Tamer Hassan (Clash Of The Titans - 2010).

Clarifications: Ares is not to be confused with:

• Aries Spears, American comedian and character actor (born 1968)

Last updated: 10/27/13

Back to Main Page