Hades

Dark Lord Hades
冥王 ハーデス Meiō Hādesu
Voice Actor	Ōtsuka Akio
Personal
Birthdate	December 21
Gender	Male
Height	195cm
Weight	87kg
Cloth	Surplice Kamui
Family
Kronos (Father) Rhea (Mother) Zeus (Brother) Poseidon (Brother) Pandora (Sister) Athena (Niece)
Special Moves
Greatest Eclipse

Hades (ハーデス, Hādesu) is the god who rules the Inferno and chief god of his Army. He is reborn every 243 years to start a crusade against Athena to conquer Earth. His soul is reborn on Earth in the castle Heinstein and choose to Shun as yorishiro. His real body is sleeping in his temple in Elysion.

Avatars

In Saint Seiya, as in the Greek mythology, Hades is the Underworld god, and as such, incarnates into a human being. Every 243 years Hades can enter the world of humans, and fight against Athena for control over the world. However it is said that Hades is too fond of his own body which was born by Cronus and Rhea. He cares so much of it that he keeps it locked in a chamber in Elysion so it doesn't get damaged, only to start using it when he has taken control over the world. To fight the sacred wars against Athena, Hades has to take control of the purest human being born at the time of his incarnation. During the previous Holy War in 1747 his avatar was a boy named Alone, and now more recently it was Andromeda Shun.

Plot overview

Holy War XIII Century

Hades woke again at about the thirteenth century, and initiated a new Holy War , in which he participated Aquarius Krest in the alternative version The Lost Canvas. There are no records of this fight more than the mention of it in the Aquarius Chapter. Hades was one of the three gods mentioned by Krest who participated in the XIII Century Holy war others being his brother Poseidon and his nephew Ares was defeated and sealed by his niece Athena.

In the modern age (between 1486-1493)

500 years before the present era, Hades reappears in full modern era. Data on this Holy War is virtually nil, however the sleeves Next Dimension and The Lost Canvas provide valuable data.

It brings the story that two Saints only managed to survive in that war, Cancer Sage and Altar Hakurei (twin brothers). According to them, the Twin Gods Thanatos and Hypnos all the Saints were defeated. Cancer Sage with his brother Altar Hakurei, had no possibility to cope with these terrible gods. Sage is appointed Pope of Athena while Hakurei returns to Jiamir and to guard the tower where the souls of the Spectres are sealed. Athena also leaves a Sword protected by her prayers to his saints.

The ova 25 reveals that Hades led many Spectres and invaded the 12 houses including Griffon Minos, Bat Wimber and Worm Raimi were defeated by eight saints including Altar Hakurei  and 4 bronze 1 gold ( Sage ) protecting to Athena . Finally it appears to be rescued by Altar Hakurei and Cancer Sage. Viver after the defeat of Hades but dies in the arms Altar Hakurei when appear Hypnos and Thanatos.

The Greatest Eclipse

After the Specters were ordered back to the Underworld and Pandora's Castle collapsed, Hades waited in Judeca, knowing that his new avatar Shun would come. After Lyra Orphée was killed by Wyvern Rhadamanthys during a failed assassination of Hades, Shun became possessed and Seiya was thrown into Cocytus. Meanwhile, Ikki defeats Garuda Aiacos in the fifth prison. Hades senses his cosmo and orders Pandora to bring the individual. Ikki is warped to Judeca. There, he fights against Pandora and remembers he had already seen her once. Pandora tells him that the "Yours Ever" pendant she gave Shun years ago was the chain that tied him to Hades. Shun takes a brief possession of his own body and tells Ikki to kill him in order to destroy Hades and stop the Greatest Eclipse, which will cause the alignment of nine planets including the planet Pluto itself and will darken the earth. However, Ikki wasn't able to do it, and was thrown into Cocytus by Harpy Valentine. Later, Athena and Virgo Shaka arrived; Athena asked him for a bargain: At the cost of her life, the Greatest Eclipse should stop. However, Athena's blood expels Hades from Shun's body. Enraged, Hades pulls Athena with him to Elysium.

Elysium

Seiya, Shun, Shiryu, Hyoga and Ikki reach Elysium. There, they fight Thanatos and Hypnos. However, after the twins are defeated, Hades is still lured by Athena to wake up in his own body. He fights the five Saints at once, receiving little damage to his God Cloth. When Seiya asks why Hades' eyes are so sad, Hades sees Tenma in Seiya. Athena joins the battle and duels Hades. Seiya, trying to protect her, is mortally wounded by Hades' sword, and fell in a coma in front of Athena and his friends. Athena does not take the chance to kill Hades and cries. Shun, Shiryu, Hyoga and Ikki then concentrate their cosmos into Athena's Victory Staff and Athena throws her weapon into Hades, which destroys his body.

In the newest Manga comic book series, Athena and Shun travel back in time to save Seiya from Hades' curse. Athena was turned into a baby by god of time Chronos. Then pope from sanctuary tries to kill her because he was hades spy. Shun meet Pegasus Temma saint and with him try to save Atena.

Hosts

Next Dimension

• Alone (ND)

TLC

• Alone (TLC)

Classic

• Andromeda Shun

Abilities and Attributes

Hades is one of the most powerful deities in the Saint Seiya Universe, being Zeus' oldest brother. As the God of the Underworld, Hades can allow his specters to travel from the Underworld to the Living World, also, he can resurrect any living being at will (as he did with his deceased Specters, and Cerberus during The Lost Canvas series).

As usual, he uses an avatar when he returns to Earth, but it must be the purest soul on earth. Hades stores his mythological body and his Surplice in Elysion, and is kept in a marble tomb while defended by the minor deities Thanatos and Hypnos.

When the Bronze Saints attack his tomb, he returns into his body. Being a deity he is a possessor of the Big Will (Divine Cosmo) but, unlike his brother Poseidon in the Saint Seiya series, he could use all the power of his Divine Cosmo.

In myth, Hades owned an Invisible helmet. Kurumada changed it from hat to sword. Or perhaps the helmet of Hades' Surplice was the Invisible helmet itself. In the story, the Invisible Sword possesses non-life aura that hurts souls directly. In real life it may be called Red-Overlay Aura(not red aura) that annoys some humans.

It is currently unknown what Hades's Kamui, if he has one, looks like and if it is the inspiration for his personal Surplice.

Trivia

• In classical mythology, there was no ill will between Athena and Hades, and interaction between them is only depicted once, in a handful of paintings depicting the Rape (Abduction) of Persephone, Hades's niece and eventual wife. In the paintings, as Hades kidnaps Persephone, Athena and Artemis (acting as archetypes of virginity and innocence) try to save her, but Hades proves too fast for them to catch. 
• The original description of Hades shows him as something of a neutral figure; he is a stern and immovable god, but he is just and had no interest in the human world, although he became furious with those who attempted to escape the Underworld against his wishes or who took souls rightfully belonging to him. In contrast, the Hades of Saint Seiya is a lot more antagonistic and aggressive towards human beings.
• Hades' attitude regarding humans is mirrored, interestingly, in the character of his wife, Persephone, in the video game God of War: Chains of Olympus. Similarly to the Saint Seiya version of Hades, in the game Persephone seeks to eradicate the entire world due to her view that all humans are selfish and corrupted. She additionally sought to destroy gods (as Hades wants to destroy Athena) due to their "betrayal", and then inability to save her when Hades tricked her into marrying him. Another parallel is that both, in full armored form, resemble dark angels or angels of Death.
• Hades' possession of the purest souls resembles his abduction of the maiden Persephone.
• Judging from the location of Hades's palace at the center of Cocytos and his antagonism towards humans, there is an implication that Hades is symbolic of Satan as, in Dante's Divine Comedy (which heavily influenced the Underworld of Saint Seiya), Hades's palace is located in the exact area where the Devil in Dante's work was imprisoned. Also as in the Divine Comedy, Hades's palace contains a gateway out of the Underworld (in the Divine Comedy, the narrator and his guide escape Hell by climbing down Satan's body and emerging back on Earth). This is furthermore supported by Hades's God Cloth, which resembles an angel, something the Devil was originally as Lucifer.
• Hades's Surplice and sword are reminiscent of the Judeo-Christian angel of Death, Azrael, who, in original depictions, removed souls from the dead using a sword. Unlike Hades, however, Azrael was moreso a force of good (albeit unmoved by appeals or pleas).
• Like many other characters, Hades doesn't use a helmet in Anime.
• Similar to the character of the same name in the video game God of War I,II,III, Hades was destroyed by Kratos on Underworld. Kratos Killing Hades using Claws Of Hades After Kratos took it from Hades hand. Kratos Trying to be take Soul Hades on his body after soul hades on Kratos. Kratos can pass River Styx using Soul Hades.

Gallery

Hades

Hades in the body of Shun

Hades with his Soul.