VILLAINS! Your Thoughts On: ARES

[mathew101281]

The God of war, carnage and bloodshed.



Historically he's been Wonder Woman's big bad, but the New52 recast him in a more ambiguous light. Personally I see him as the embodiment of carnage, at least that's what the ancient Greeks saw him. This is in stark contrast to Athena who embodied the more rational elements of combat. I feel Perez's Ares fits that role better then Azzarello's. I also feel WW needs all the heavy hitter villains she can get, and turning Ares actually agitates the problem rather then helping. To me He should be on the level of Darkseid, Mongrol and the Anti Monitor. A truly cosmic menace. I feel he has more potential in that role then as one of many ambiguous gods in a large pantheon.

[numberthirty]

A little too "Blah" as a straight up villain.

[Lex Luthor]

id rather he be a villain, the mentor dynamic was much too xena-ish

[Outside_85]

In the past, I think he's been rather 'bleh' as a straight up villain, as I usually describe him: a moustache twirling cartoon badguy who does what he does simply for the sake of it, he is War that is why he's the bad guy... which is about as simplistic as you could get with Ares.

The New 52 version, I thought, was interesting under Azzarello simply because his relationship with Diana was turned on it's head. He is War, he's a bit of a jerk, but that doesn't mean he is the embodiment of evil. On top of that I thought it was interesting to see him as a reflection of mankind's perception of War; once it was 'glorious' and he appeared as a strapping big man who'd sing his victories, but now as war is considered a miserable affair, so has he become a miserable frail man who just wants it to stop.

His return and apparent picking up the battle-axe to reclaim his mantle, to me, flies much in the face of how he was depicted less than 2 years ago. And I kinda hope this is only a temporary thing and that once the dust is settled, that he can return to being a more ambigious character that might fight against Diana in one issue and come to her aid in another.

[Titan Theo]

When WW becomes rebooted, unless WW is a goddess herself, Ares should be beyond her reach and should be treated as a universal threat, wherein his involvement can not be direct otherwise the other gods will act against him.

He has enough minions.

[Dr. Poison]

When WW becomes rebooted, unless WW is a goddess herself, Ares should be beyond her reach and should be treated as a universal threat, wherein his involvement can not be direct otherwise the other gods will act against him.

He has enough minions.

Agreed. Instead of constantly using Ares as a main antagonist, why not elevate his minions from past stories such as Nubia, Silver Swan, and the Duke of Deception? Maybe after Diana takes them all on and defeats them, she can have an epic final battle with Ares.

[WonderScott]

There are aspects of the Perez, Rucka, and Azz versions of Ares that I enjoyed. I'm agreed that he should shift from wanting complete oblivion to being the force behind strife and fear to fuel him.

One of the more interesting parts of him were his children (Deimos, Eris, Phobos, & Harmonia.) I wouldn't mind seeing them return as emissaries of his will and their machinations on Earth. Or mix in Strife from the Azz run. The Duke of Deception, Lord Conquest, and Earl of Greed could be interesting human agents if revamped for a contemporary take.

I was always curious how the "love" affair between Ares and Circe would have played out if Rucka hadn't left the book. It gave both characters added depth in the Wonder mythos whose union affected Diana, but wasn't completely about her.

[Nyssane]

I think what Ares needs more than anything is an ensemble of minions. Darkseid has his New Gods, Apocalypse has his Horsemen/Dark Riders, Ares should have his own assortment. Deimos, Phobos, and Eris are a start, but also Silver Swan, Decay, and the Duke of Deception.

Honestly, the Perez version of Ares was kind of bland. I'm re-reading the issues and Ares is very one-dimensional. And after thinking about it, really the only Ares I've enjoyed is from Rucka. So I'm excited to see him back on the book.

Though ultimately, I think Ares gets misrepresented as being Wonder Woman's "strongest arch-enemy," since as a whole his history's been rather lackluster. Circe has flashier, more memorable stories, and I really wish they went the route of having her as WW's "Big Bad."

[Darius]

I feel like Ares is a better behind the scenes character most of the time. I liked that Azzarello gave us a different view on the character's world view and honestly I thought it was interesting to see how Ares adapts to his role based on what's happening in the world at the time. I think it would be cool to see him alter physically based on the perception of a specific culture too ... i.e. he becomes a giant warrior when he's in places where war is rampant and regular, but withers into the old man where war is rare etc... this could be played with a lot.

I agree with the posters who want to see him have a stable of minions ... Duke of Deception, Deimos, Phobos, Eris, Strife (although I see her as more of a sometimes ally and more of an equal than a minion). I think there is room to make Ares a sometimes ally of Diana's too, give him more dimension than just being the "big bad". I'd like to see his minions have their own agency too. Let them become more than simply Ares proxies.

[mathew101281]

I feel like Ares is a better behind the scenes character most of the time. I liked that Azzarello gave us a different view on the character's world view and honestly I thought it was interesting to see how Ares adapts to his role based on what's happening in the world at the time. I think it would be cool to see him alter physically based on the perception of a specific culture too ... i.e. he becomes a giant warrior when he's in places where war is rampant and regular, but withers into the old man where war is rare etc... this could be played with a lot.

I agree with the posters who want to see him have a stable of minions ... Duke of Deception, Deimos, Phobos, Eris, Strife (although I see her as more of a sometimes ally and more of an equal than a minion). I think there is room to make Ares a sometimes ally of Diana's too, give him more dimension than just being the "big bad". I'd like to see his minions have their own agency too. Let them become more than simply Ares proxies.

I agree that they should use Ares' underlings more. But I feel that are best used when Ares is a true villains.

[Darius]

I agree that they should use Ares' underlings more. But I feel that are best used when Ares is a true villains.

I just like the idea that as a God of War he can be both evil and noble depending on the view of the people toward War. There are always at least 2 sides in any war, all sides inevitably believe they are "right" it's a complex emotional situation which I think would be cool to portray in the character. The Greeks solved for this by having Athena and Ares each represent different aspects of War, which is another route to go, in fact I could see DC deciding to make Diana become the War aspects embodied by Athena and moving the more aggressive/negative aspects to Ares ... thus having 2 GoWs again.

[numberthirty]

Honestly, the Perez version of Ares was kind of bland. I'm re-reading the issues and Ares is very one-dimensional. And after thinking about it, really the only Ares I've enjoyed is from Rucka. So I'm excited to see him back on the book.

While I don't really have a real problem with Ares as a "Bigger Than Just Rogue's Gallery" level threat, it would be nice for the "why" to be fleshed out a bit.

One of the smartest moves Marvel ever made was a limited series about Thanos' childhood. Something like that for a more standard "Greek God As Villain" character would be great.

[Outside_85]

I've done this before with the New 52 version, but regarding War/Ares, instead of DC having writers write him as an instigator, a maker of War. Wouldn't it make more sense that Ares (and Diana atm) are just the representatives of war? Kinda like how Destruction of the Endless didn't actually cause destruction, but simply 'toured' around to where destruction was taking place. You could even tap into the duality of the Endless as well with someone like Ares, he might be War, but on the flipside he is also defining Peace... though that might render Erine obsolete.

Regarding minions, I think thats a good idea; people he recruited for something, his own kids and even people who just worship him.

One of the smartest moves Marvel ever made was a limited series about Thanos' childhood. Something like that for a more standard "Greek God As Villain" character would be great.

If I am honest, I'd rather go without something like that for two reasons;
1) The Thanos childhood story only proved what a rotten deal his mother got. She gives birth and spends the next decade or so in the loony-bin, a few years of being free but utterly terrified of her own son who then uses her as a science experiement.
2) All that story really did for me was to show how pathetic Thanos actaually is when you get past his exterior since his love of Death comes across as him projecting onto something that isn't there and that it somehow vindicates all his terrible actions. It's down to 'the voices made me do it'.

[numberthirty]

2) All that story really did for me was to show how pathetic Thanos actaually is when you get past his exterior since his love of Death comes across as him projecting onto something that isn't there and that it somehow vindicates all his terrible actions. It's down to 'the voices made me do it'.

Sure.

That said, it's still more of a window into the "why" than you get with most super villains.

[Agent Z]

While I don't really have a real problem with Ares as a "Bigger Than Just Rogue's Gallery" level threat, it would be nice for the "why" to be fleshed out a bit.

One of the smartest moves Marvel ever made was a limited series about Thanos' childhood. Something like that for a more standard "Greek God As Villain" character would be great.

From what I hear (I haven't read the issue) we get something similar in Injustice

spoilers:

Ares wanted to join other pantheons in a war against an unknown evil. However, Zeus declined and turned him into the God of War

end of spoilers