DISCORD

Real Name: Eris

Occupation: Goddess of strife and discord

Legal Status: Citizen of Olympus

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Discord’s existence except as a mythological character.

Other Aliases: Bellona, Enyo, Discordia,

Place of Birth: Olympus

Marital Status: Single

Known Relatives: Zeus (father), Hera (mother), Ares, Hephaestus (brothers), Eileithyia, Hebe, (sisters), Hercules, Apollo, Hermes, Dionysus (half-brothers), Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, Helen, Persephone, Panthia (half-sisters), Poseidon, Hades (uncles), Demeter, Hestia (aunts), Asclepius, Cupid, Janus, Deimos, Phobos (nephews), Harmonia (niece), Triton, Rhode, Benthescyme, Neptunia, Arion, Pomona, Consus, Vertumnus (cousins), 

Group Affiliation: The Olympian Gods

Base of Operations: Olympus , possibly the Areopagus

First Appearance: (TV) Young Hercules, Episode “Pilot,” (Comics) Doctor Strange III #54

History: Discord is the daughter of the Zeus, Ruler of the Olympian gods, and his wife, Hera. According to a much earlier account, she was actually the daughter of the ancient primeval earth-gods Erebus and Nyx, but this maybe erroneous, or just an earlier incarnation of the goddess.

Discord often entered into the schemes and plans of her older brother Ares to ignite the dissension that often lead to war and she might have at one time been his wife following his affairs with other goddesses and mortal women, mortals who were quite often the wives of his generals and followers. Possibly as a way to cause dissension between gods and mortals, she stole three apples from the garden of the Hesperides guarded for Hera and had them engraved with the words, “For the Fairest.” She then tossed them among the guests attending the marriage of King Peleus of Aegina to the goddess Thetis. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite then tried to claim the apples in the dispute that triggered the Trojan War. Her activity after that event is unrecorded, but after the war, several Trojan refugees lead by Dardanian prince Aeneas conquered the area upon Rome was built on. During the Roman Empire , Discord was intensely worshipped by the Romans as one of their most important goddesses.

During this time, Hercules most often antagonized Discord as he prevented most of her attempts to cause dissent and strife among mortals. She also became a recurring nemesis of the mortal warrior-goddess Xena who she often saw as an obstacle for the attention of Ares.

In his visits to Earth, Zeus, however, became incensed that Discord was taking an active role in exciting her followers into killing Christians in his name. He decided to break off ties with earth and allow the worship of the Olympian Gods to fade away. Discord retaliated by assisting many of the gods eager to preserve their ties to earth into hunting down and killing Xena who was pregnant at the time. An oracle had prophesied that any child of Xena would lead mortals away from worshipping the gods. Zeus faked his death to lend credence to an end of worship of the Olympian gods and Xena killed Discord shortly thereafter. To all who had seen these events, it appeared as if the gods were dead, but Zeus had several spells in affect that any god that was killed would be restored to life. Once restored to life, Discord tried to hold on to whatever worshippers she had, but then a powerful alien race known as the Celestials issued an edict forbidding the gods from taking an active role in the lives of mortals. Discord watched their power as they battled and seemingly destroyed the life forces of the Asgardian Gods. Influenced by their power, she retreated to Olympus for some time.

In modern years, Discord became intrigued by the forces of terrorism and racism on earth and even masqueraded as a mortal to stir up trouble between blacks and whites, Jews and Anti-Semitics, left and right wing liberals and other potentially controversial groups. Seeing as her brother had fared unsuccessfully against both Hercules and Thor, she began training her own modern champion, Centaurion, as a worthy ally. She eventually sent him to kill Kyllian, a mortal man imbued with the power of a trio of Celtic Gods, many of whom the Olympian gods beheld with some enmity. After Kyllian defeated Centaurion, Discord realized that he might make a better pawn or ally than a new adversary and she vanished back to Olympus to plot her next scheme.

Height: 5’4’

Weight: 310 lbs.

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black

Strength Level: Discord possesses superhuman strength enabling her to lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: Discord possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Olympian Gods. Like all Olympian Gods, she is immortal. She has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any known conventional means. She is immune to all known terrestrial diseases and is invulnerable to conventional injury. If wounded, her godly life force would enable her to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of her bodily molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for Zeus or a number of gods working together to revive him. Discord does have some superhuman strength, but she is not quite the powerhouse as gods like Hercules or Ares. Her Olympian metabolism gives her 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 superhuman strength and weight of the Olympian gods).

Discord also has limited mystical prowess common to all the gods such as the ability to transport long distances and to create and project fireballs. She can place mystical enchantments on inanimate objects to be more powerful than their natural properties or to bestow power on the mortals who used them. She is also extremely long-lived having ceased to age since reaching adulthood. She is immune to terrestrial disease and cannot be harmed by any conventional means.

Abilities: Discord has great skill in the use of all the implements of war used in the time of ancient Greece and Rome.

Comments: Discord actually has very little mythology behind her outside the two TV Series “Xena” and “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.” In those series, she was portrayed by New Zealand actress Meighan Desmond.

Clarifications: Discord is not to be confused with:

 

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