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| As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
War is many things, Diana of Themyscira. It is a crucible by which mortals may discover--and abandon--their humanity. It is a forge by which they build and destroy their civilizations. But like the fire Prometheus gave to the mortals, war is always hungry. 
- ā Ares src
Ares is the God of War in the Greek pantheon. He is the son of Zeus, the ruler of the Greek pantheon, and his wife Hera. He is an enemy of his half-sister/granddaughter Wonder Woman.
History
Early Existence
Ares at "Tree of Darkness"
Ares was born eons ago in the trans-dimensional plane called Skyland. Skyland was situated in the Sphere of the Gods, a plane of existence outside the Multiverse. He was the son of Zeus and his wife Hera who were the patriarch and matriarch of the Greek pantheon, a group of gods who resided on Mount Olympus in the Skyland.[1] He had many siblings that made up the bulk of the Gods of Olympus. He fell in love with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and the two had many children together. Among his children were the twin sons Phobos and Deimos, who were the gods of fear and terror respectively.[2] He was also the father of the Amazons, although instead of fathering them with Aphrodite either Harmonia[3] or Otrera was the mother.[4]
Ares grew savage and was driven mad as time went on, due to his role as the God of War. The Gods of Olympus all agreed that Ares was to be incarcerated before he could do any damage. The gods had Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, forge shackles that would bind the fury and power of Ares. Aphrodite was set the task of binding Ares with the shackles, against expectations Ares willfully conceded to the shackles without fighting. He was imprisoned in a pocket dimension on the secret island of Themyscira, accessible only through a tree on the island. The Amazons were given the eternal task of guarding their father's prison, ensuring that Ares would never again release his wrath on the Multiverse. The tree would only become visible to those whom Ares wished to see it. The gods would wipe the minds of anyone who would leave Themyscira because if no one had the knowledge to get there, then Phobos and Deimos wouldn't be able to free their father.[2]
DC Rebirth
Imprisonment
As time went on Ares witnessed Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, give birth to a little girl named Diana. Ares foresaw that Diana would grow up to leave the island, and that the gods would hide the location of Themyscira from her like they did all others. One day when Diana was on a horse ride around the island Ares opened the tree to her. Taking the form of a snake, Ares bit the young princess. This bite was a gift as it allowed Diana to visit Ares directly without ever needing to find Themyscira, although Diana never remembered the encounter. Eventually Diana would leave Themyscira and become the super-hero Wonder Woman. Fearful that Diana would still find a way to return to the island, the gods gave her false memories to convince her that she had already rediscovered Themyscira.[2]
The tree of Ares
Ares watched as Diana lived real memories with the Justice League. On one occasion Ares watched his twin sons masquerade as him. Phobos and Deimos attempted to lift the location of Themyscira from her brain, however this failed as Diana no longer knew the location of the island. The twin brothers then employed the help of billionaire genius Veronica Cale to discover the location of Themyscira and their father. In order to secure a bargaining chip with Cale, the sons banished her daughter Izzy's soul to the prison of Ares. Eventually Cale was able to use Wonder Woman's connection to Ares to open a portal which allowed her and Diana into the prison. When the pair found Ares, he explained everything to them. Phobos and Deimos finally breached the prison thanks to Cale but were halted by Diana, who used her Lasso of Truth to subject them to the love of their mother. Wonder Woman then left with Cale as the twin brothers were finally dealt with.[2]
Sometime after his meeting with Cale and Wonder Woman, Ares was greeted by the arrival of Grail. Ares learnt through his clairvoyance that Grail was the daughter of the New God Darkseid, the ruler of the realm Apokolips. Grail and her father had been defeated by Diana, and so Grail was left to suffer in the prison by the Amazons.[5]
Reborn
While he shared his prison with Grail, Ares realized what should he really become as God of War: a symbol of Justice, a fighter for the weak. He then used his power to influence Grail, making her kill him with the Godkiller sword. This caused Themyscira to collapse, maybe bringing the rest of Olympus along with her, without Ares realizing it. He reappeared in Durovnia, where he became the local leader of the rebels against the nation's government. He thought that the Durovnian government held its people in tyranny, and so it was his duty to free them. As Durovnia was an ally of the United States, Steve Trevor and Etta Candy were deployed there to help the government, and so Diana got involved as well.[6]
Ares welcomed Diana with open arms, explaining to her what he did and what he wanted to become. Soon though, Diana realized that Ares still wasn't able to grasp the concept of justice, as she watched him redirect a missile on a village allied with the government, potentially killing several innocent people. While Ares kept struggling on understanding what he should do to be better than before, Diana found Steve and an unexpected ally, Aphrodite, for some reason in exile from Olympus.[7] Thanks to her help, Diana was able to stop Ares from his idea of destroying Durovnia's government. Understanding his mistakes, he spoke once again with Diana about his new mission, hoping she would counsel him for what he should do next. After the discussion, Ares decided to seek out Athena, goddess of Wisdom, so that maybe he could find out how to act to become the god he wanted.[8]
Infinite Frontier
The Great Darkness eventually took control of Ares' mind, alongside many other cosmic forces of evil who had sought its power.[9]
The Darkness' forces invaded the Multiverse, and Justice League Incarnate and the Justice League of Earth 0 tracked the origin point of the invasion to the ruins of the pre-Crisis Multiverse. Doctor Multiverse teleported the teams to Multiverse-2 where Pariah was modifying his antimatter chamber from the first Crisis to allow the Darkness to enter reality.
The heroes attempted to reason with Pariah but he refused to listen and summoned Ares and the other possessed villains. However, Green Arrow was able to destroy the chamber, cutting the Darkness' link to reality and causing Ares and the rest of the Darkness' forces to dissipate.[10]
Ares and the rest of the Dark Army later invaded Earth 0.[11] The heroes managed to banish Pariah to a pocket universe but Ares and the others remained possessed as the corrupted Darkness transferred to Deathstroke.[12] Black Adam used his lightning again to purge the Darkness from Deathstroke, freeing the God of War and the other possessed villains.[13]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Godly Physiology: Ares belongs to a race of ancient and inconceivably powerful beings known as the Old Gods. Because of this heritage Ares possesses almost unlimited power.[1]
- Clairvoyance: Ares is capable of witnessing and understanding events that he wasn't present for, as if he was there. He knew about the relationship between his twin sons and Veronica Cale.[2] Ares also knew who Grail was even though they hadn't been introduced to each other.[5]
- Cosmic Awareness: Ares, like all Gods, is aware of the multiverse and the realms that lie beyond. This knowledge gives him an understanding of the universe and all life that transcends the capabilities of normal mortals.[1]
- Electrokinesis: Ares can summon lightning from the skies to strike at a specific opponent. This lightning is strong enough to damage himself, as he was harmed when it was redirected back at him.[7]
- Energy Construct Creation: Ares is capable of constructing weapons out of pure energy.[14]
- Flight: Ares is able to fly or levitate completely unaided by any form of technology. He can travel at speeds faster then a missile.[15]
- Immortality: As an Old God worshipped by the ancient Greeks and Romans, Ares has lived for at least millennia.[2]
- Precognition: Ares claims to have the ability to see into the future. When he met Grail she threatened him by saying her father Darkseid would soon arrive to free and would kill him in the process, in response to this Ares calmly stated that he didn't see that in the future.[5]
- Superhuman Durability: Ares is incredibly resistant to all forms of damage. He has taken hits from the likes of Wonder Woman without suffering any injury at all.[5]
- Superhuman Strength: Ares is a god with almost infinite strength. He has manhandled incredibly powerful beings such as Wonder Woman. He has also caught and threw an active missile with little problem.[15]
- Telepathy: Ares is capable of using his power to absorb the memories of others. This process is extremely harmful to his victims, as even someone as powerful as Wonder Woman became weak and began bleeding from her eyes as a result of Ares doing this.[4]
- Illusion Casting: Ares was able to hide his identity from both mortals and gods by appearing as a hooded man in civilian clothing.[16]
Abilities
- Intimidation[17]
- Weaponry: Ares knows and can control the most varied types of weapons.[8]
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
- Tactical Analysis
Weaknesses
- Vulnerability to Aphrodite's love and power: His love for Aphrodite[2] and her knowledge of certain words[8] can bend the will of the god of war.
Paraphernalia
Weapons
Notes
- This character or object is an adaptation of Ares, a character or object in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.
- Ares was adapted by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter, first appearing in Wonder Woman #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity Ares first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Wonder Woman (Volume 4) #4 by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang.
Trivia
- During his stay in the Themysciran prison Ares had black hair and red eyes,[5] however once he was reborn he had blue eyes and blond hair.[6]
Related
- 58 Appearances of Ares (Prime Earth)
- 29 Images featuring Ares (Prime Earth)
- 9 Quotations by or about Ares (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Ares (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
- ā 1.0 1.1 1.2 DC's explanation of the New 52 Multiverse
- ā 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #23
- ā Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #2
- ā 4.0 4.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #12
- ā 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #45
- ā 6.0 6.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #58
- ā 7.0 7.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #60
- ā 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #62
- ā Justice League Incarnate #5
- ā Justice League (Volume 4) #75
- ā Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #5
- ā Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6
- ā Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7
- ā Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #61
- ā 15.0 15.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #59
- ā Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #3
- ā Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #14
  This character is or was primarily an enemy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons in any of her various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Villains category." |
 This character is or was an ally of Wonder Woman. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Supporting Cast" category. |