Hades

"Did you forget who you're talking to? I am the Lord of the Dead!"

—Hades to Willie the Giant

Hades Cronusson is the co-ruler of the Hellfire Organization, and one of the major villains in the Kingdom Hearts Unlimited Saga. In this series, Hades pretty much reprises his role from the games, only with a much more expanded role to give him more importance as a force to be reckoned with on the journey.

Hot-headed literally and emotionally, he will stop at nothing to see both Mt. Olympus conquered by him and the end of Hercules fulfilled.

Story

Ancient History to Before Birth of a New Era

Hades was the eldest male child of Kronos, the Titan King of Mount Othrys, and his sister-wife Rhea, born after his sister Hestia. Since he was their firstborn son, Rhea had hoped that Hades would not get swallowed, since she believed that Kronos would enjoy raising a son and heir. However, since Hades was a god, Kronos, fearing that Hades would one day overpower him, quickly proceeded to swallow him whole as well. Hades, thus, spent his childhood undigested in his father's stomach along with his sister, and younger brother Poseidon, who was swallowed shortly thereafter. As a result, Kronos became known as "The Cannibal King." Rhea pleaded with Kronos to spare their children but with no success, since even Kronos' great love for Rhea was not enough to overpower his selfish and evil nature. However, Rhea soon gave birth to her final child, Zeus, whom she secretly raised on Crete, far away from Mount Othrys.

After growing up, Zeus successfully infiltrated Kronos' Palace on Mount Othrys as the Titan King's royal cup bearer. Hades was finally released during the final drinking competition that Kronos had with his Titanic brothers and nephews. Zeus poured an extremely powerful emetic (made from nectar mixed with mustard) into Kronos' goblet, which caused the Titan King to disgorge all of the contents of his stomach, in reverse order of swallowing: first the boulder, then Hera, followed by Demeter, Poseidon, Hades, and Hestia. All five of them had been growing undigested in Kronos' stomach, being gods.

Zeus quickly introduced himself to his elder siblings, and all of them promptly escaped Mount Othrys, before their Titanic uncles and cousins came to their senses. In Zeus' Cave, at the base of Mount Ida, Hades happily reunited with his beloved mother Rhea, who tearfully embraced him. Shortly thereafter, Hades and the other gods accepted Zeus as their leader, and reached a unanimous consensus on declaring war against their tyrannical father. However, since the Titans were well-armed and the gods still had no weapons, Hades agreed to help Zeus release their Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheire uncles from Tartarus first. For some reason, Hades seemed quite happy at the prospect of venturing into the darkest and most horrifying realm of the world.

Hades, being very skilled in navigating under the earth, was able to lead them all into straight into Tartarus through a network of Underworld tunnels. There, imprisoned in the maximum-security zone, surrounded by huge bronze walls, and a lava moat, guarded fierce demons, were the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires. Their guardian, Kampê, was the most ferocious and fearsome monster in all of Tartarus, and even Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon initially shuddered with horror when they saw the infernal monster for the first time. However, the gods overcame their fear, and were able to sneak in. Zeus managed to talk to the Cyclopes Brontes, and convinced him to forge powerful weapons for him and his siblings behind Kampê's back. The three Elder Cyclopes forged three incredibly powerful weapons: the Master Bolt (for Zeus), the Trident (for Poseidon), and the Helm of Darkness (for Hades). Hades seemed particularly pleased with the Helm's power of generating intense and ineffable terror . With these new weapons, Zeus killed Kampê, and Poseidon shattered the chains of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, releasing them. Afterwards, Hades safely guided his siblings and uncles back out of Tartarus. In return, for their release, all six of Hades' uncles agreed to fight on his side in the upcoming war with the Titans.

Shortly after their return from Tartarus, Hades and his siblings officially declared war on Kronos and the other Titans, which resulted in the terrifying 11-year-long Titanomachy. The Titans initially had the upper hand, since they were much more experienced warriors. However, as the years of the War passed, the gods quickly became skilled warriors as well, and with the help of their new extremely powerful weapons, as well as the aid of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, excluding the traitorous Arges and Aegaeon, the gods finally prevailed. Hades himself proved to be a very dangerous and ferocious warrior and greatly contributed to the ultimate downfall of Kronos and his Titanic followers. He was greatly feared among all of the Titans due to his terrifying Helm.

While preparing for the final battle of the War, Hades and his siblings ascended to Mount Olympus (the tallest mountain in Greece after Mount Orthys). During the final battle, Zeus used his Master Bolt to shear off the top of Mount Othrys, and hurl Kronos from his Black Throne, defeating the Titan King. Shortly thereafter, the gods invaded the ruins of Mount Orthys, and finally overwhelmed Atlas, Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios, and Koios.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Elder Cylopes chained up all of the defeated Titans, while the Hekatonkheires forced them to kneel before Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon. Zeus took his father's Scythe, and sliced Kronos into a thousand pieces, before casting him into Tartarus, along with the rest of his followers (except for General Atlas, who was forced to hold the Sky).

The gods chose Mount Olympus as their official residence, and the Elder Cyclopes built magnificent palaces there for them all. As a result, the gods started to call themselves the Olympians. Shortly thereafter, Hades had a private meeting with his younger brothers Poseidon and Zeus, and the three mighty sons of Kronos agreed to divide the world between themselves. Although it was Hades' birthright (as Kronos' firstborn son) to be named his father's successor, he agreed to divide the Titan King's former domain with his brothers. Hades received the Underworld, Poseidon seized the seas and oceans, and Zeus claimed the heavens as his domain. Shortly after this division, the three mighty sons of Kronos came to be known as "The Big Three." However, Zeus' authority was recognized as superior to that of his brothers, and Zeus became the King of Mount Olympus and the Olympians.

Unfortunately for Hades, he was greatly feared by all of his siblings, nephews and nieces, and hence, he was rarely invited to Mount Olympus (except for the Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year). However, by gaining the Underworld, Hades also gained divine authority over all of the precious metals and jewels under the earth, becoming richer than any other Olympian. Hades was so feared by mortals and demigods, that they rarely even used his name, and referred to him as either "The Rich One", "The Silent One", or "The Hospitable One".

Several centuries later, Zeus appointed Hades the dangerous but very important job of serving as jailer for the Ancient Ones in Tartarus. Chernabog, lord of the Ancient Ones by that point, was highly amused when he found out about it from an anonymous source, and thus decided to spite Zeus by converting Hades to his side as preparation for the coming of the storm. Using several imps who lurked about the Underworld as his mouthpieces, Chernabog played to Hades's resentment and anger that despite his highly important job, he got little to no recognition from his siblings or even the surviving Alpha Beings who now comprised the rising High Council. Finally, once Hades had become sufficiently bitter after a certain amount of centuries, an avatar of Chernabog's malice came down to Hades and offered him Mt. Olympus in return for the destruction of the High Council. In his hate, Hades agreed.

The Birth of A New Era

Between BoaNE and The Journey

The Journey

The Chain of Memories

An Empire of Dreams

Encoded Truths

The Fantasmic Dreamtime

Appearance and Personality

In his normal state, Hades has blue skin and blue flaming "hair". His eyes are completely yellow except for his black pupils. He has very sharp teeth and an unnatural black mouth. His face is quite long and thin, with his chin jutting out abruptly. His fingers are long, thin, and clawed. He wears what appears to be a dark grey shirt underneath a black toga, the latter of which seems to be held up by a small skull pin on his right shoulder. Hades's feet are never visible, due to the length of his robes.

When Hades gets angry, he quite literally erupts with anger, his skin turning red-orange and his "hair" flaring up in red, orange, and yellow flame. The light this fire gives off also bathes his clothes (and the surroundings) in a red hue (which is ironic since blue fire is warmer than red fire).

Hades is also shown to be very cunning and smooth when calm and tends to talk a lot; for instance, when he tricked Taran into opening the Underdrome to save Meg. He also shows this trait when talking to Hercules, most of the time giving indirect answers and eerie hints that usually lead Hercules to danger. Also, unlike other Disney antagonists, Hades never seems to lie directly, instead never telling the whole truth of the matter. He possesses a biting, dry wit, and has a habit of making both subtle and overt verbal jabs at those around him. Hades also has childlike tendencies, like blocking his ears with his fingers and pretending he doesn't hear Taran when he tries to talk to him. He admitted that he has an ambition to rule his homeworld not to mention all others with it in Encoded Truths.

Abilities

Hades always makes heavy use of powerful Fire elemental magic in his encounters. The Lord of the Dead has high amounts of HP, and can even become invulnerable for short periods of time.