History Characters / ClassicalMythologyProtogenoi

* Brother–Sister Incest: She had sex with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon.

* Brother–Sister Incest: He had sex with Gaia, who then gave birth to Typhon.

* Brother–Sister Incest: With Hemera.

A formless void that preceded the universe. Translates from Greek as emptiness, vast void, chasm, abyss. In Myth/ClassicalMythology all things came into existence from Kaos. It is among the oldest of the Protogenoi, probably the oldest. It is not clear whether it is alive or not. Arche, the other term used to name this being [[EldritchAbomination if being it is]], translates roughly as; beginning, origin, first cause/power, sovereignty, domination, ultimate underlying substance, and ultimate undemonstrable principle. Thus Kaos is the Arche in Myth/ClassicalMythology.

* AmbiguousGender: It’s quite possible Kaos has none at all.

* BlowYouAway: As the first of the Protogenoi and the god of the air.

* EldritchAbomination: While just about everything else in this page is also this, it fits the trope the best. Creator/{{Ovid}} described it as “a rather crude and undigested mass, a lifeless lump, unfashioned and unframed, of jarring seeds and justly Chaos named”.
* GodOfChaos: Assuming it's even alive, that is.
* TheOlderImmortal: If it even has sentience, which is unknown. It is usually the oldest being in the Greek Cosmology.

* TrulySingleParent: It birthed several children all on its own. Not that it had much of an option, seeing as there were no other beings to mate with it at the time (though there is an account that they produced all birds by mating with Eros).

[[folder:Aion]]
Aion is a somewhat confusing god, commonly conflated with Khronos (who by himself is commonly conflated with Cronus). This is because he is a god of Time, like Khronos. However, while Khronos represents the concept of time, aka empirical time as divided into past present and future, Aion represents "unbound time". In other words, he is a god of eternity. He is also associated with the Zodiac and the orb or sphere that encompasses the universe.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* EldritchAbomination

[[folder:Ananke / Anangke / Anance / Anagke / Necessitas]]
A serpentine figure who accompanies Khronos. She represents the inevitability of things even the gods cannot change. The goddesses of fate are her own children.

* DemotedToExtra: Same as Chronos.
* YouCantFightFate: The reminder for everyone.

[[folder:Khronos / Chronus]]
A serpent figure that does not age. He represents the concept of time and together with his consort Ananke, split open a cosmic egg to create the universe.

Often confused with [[Characters/ClassicalMythologyTitans Cronus]] even in antiquity due to the similarity of their names.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Of time itself.
* DemotedToExtra: He was a larger figure in Orphic religion, which was a little different than the classical Greek mythology we are more familiar with.
* MultipleHeadCase: He is usually described as a serpent with the heads of three different animals.
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Because of the similar sound of Cronus and C'''h'''ronus (or Kronos and K'''h'''ronos), the titan Cronus become associated with Time, like the protogen Khronos. The character of Father Time is based on this overlap -- Father Time has a scythe (as would fit a harvest god) and has the idea of being succeeded by a child (the New Years baby / Zeus).
* WingedHumanoid: However, this is how he is most often depicted.

[[folder:Erebos / Erebus]]
The personification of darkness, son of Kaos, brother and mate of Nyx.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* CastingAShadow: Presumably among his powers.
* EldritchAbomination: Of Darkness.
* HappilyMarried: Certainly appears to be this with Nyx.
* TheSacredDarkness: Also a reasonable assumption, not a lot is known about him, but when it comes to the gods of Myth/ClassicalMythology "no news is good news".

[[folder:Eros / Cupid]]
The god of love, he was dainty and non-threatening, [[ThePowerOfLove but still managed to best even the greatest of gods]] (usually by [[CombatPragmatist taking potshots from far away]] with his bow, which had arrows that could inspire both love and hate). Early sources thought of him as a protogenos who emerged [[SpontaneousGeneration self formed]] from an egg at the beginning of creation, but later ones saw him as the [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld young]] son and/or servant of Aphrodite. His more famous Roman name is '''Cupidus''' (Cupid).

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Eros was known to be pretty coldly unforgiving against those who slighted and insulted him and he shows a darker side in these moments, despite being one of the most benevolent and good natured gods towards mortals. Just ask Apollo how much hurt this guy can lay out towards you
* CupidsArrow: Eros was depicted making people fall in love by shooting them in many myths, and can be considered the TropeMaker. Medea with Jason and [[DistractedByMyOwnSexy Narcissus with his own image in a pond]], for example.
** Cupid also {{Deconstructed}} the trope thanks to the reasons and effects of some of his jobs: Narcissus was made to fall in love with his image on the request of Nemesis as punishment for all the women he spurned and drove to desperation or [[DrivenToSuicide or worse]], and it ended with his death either by drowning in the attempt to kiss the image or ''starving to death'' because he was too busy admiring his image for anything else; Medea, instead, was made to fall in love with Jason on request of his protector Hera so she would help him claim the Golden Fleece, except this MagicalGirlfriend was also [[{{Yandere}} crazy enough to cut her own brother into little pieces when he tried to stop him]], and when Jason broke his oath of eternal love to Medea her reaction was such that Hera, who should have punished him, [[CruelMercy could do nothing but let him live with what Medea had done]].
* DecompositeCharacter: Later sources depicted there being two Eros--Eros the Protogenos created by Khaos and Eros the LoveGod son of Aphrodite.
* TheDreaded: Eros as a Protogenos was perceived as a being even the Gods feared, as his utilization of the PowerOfLove meant that he could manipulate them too.
* EternalLove: With Psyche.
* FriendlyPlayfulDolphin: Eros gets along with them and was often depicted riding them, though his sacred animal was a hare.

* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Mother, Like Son]]: He had a lot in common with Aphrodite; he was one of the most beautiful of the Gods, wasn't coy about taking his clothes off, had a dominion over love and lust, etc.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Inspires this. Also ends up a victim of this: see Psyche's entry.
* LoveGod
* LovePotion: His arrows. Though he also had the opposite as well. Eros had TWO types of arrows in his arsenal. The love inducing arrows that everyone knows about were described as made of gold with sharp tips, but the second type was made of lead with blunted tips. Those hit with the lead arrows would feel powerful hated for the first person they saw.

* MrFanservice[=/=]HotGod: Like mother, like son it appears; he was very often depicted as an extremely handsome young man and he was very ''rarely'' depicted as wearing clothes.
* MultipleChoicePast: Is alternatively considered a primordial deity born of Chaos and by contrast one of the younger deities and son of Aphrodite and Ares. It should be noted many have also come to the conclusion that there were simply [[DecompositeCharacter '''two''' gods named Eros.]]
* NonHumanLoverReveal
* OppositesAttract: Golden-winged, joyful protogenos Eros mated with dark, unsmiling Khaos and [[JustSoStory created all birds]]. Also, in some of the myths where he's a protogenos he brought all the elements of Khaos together to create the world.
* ParentalFavoritism: Aphrodite obviously liked him better than her other children.
* ParentalIncest: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. In a family already more inbred than even the most stereotypical American redneck family, the mother-son gods of love and sex are somehow never shown even ''contemplating'' having sex with eachother.
* PetTheDog: Towards mortals as a whole he was more compassionate and good natured in comparison to the majority of the other gods. This is seen in the fact that he shows his BewareTheNiceOnes side with them quite less than towards immortals.
* PhysicalGod
* ThePowerOfLove: Not even the king of the gods himself is immune to love. Ironically, not even Eros himself is immune to it. Cue Psyche's myth.
* PrettyBoy: Pretty much every version of him is described as 'the fairest of the deathless gods'.
* SadlyMythtaken: The whole "love is blind" thing. He was originally considered superior to Ananke (Necessity) because he ''did'' value beauty and drove people and gods to do more than just what was necessary.

* ThickerThanWater: Despite Aphrodite being shallow, unreliable, and all around bitchy, he still served her faithfully.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: Shirtless, pantsless, underwearless...he wasn't too into clothing.

* WingedHumanoid

The everpresent MotherNature. [[VideoGame/AgeOfMythology Some]][[VideoGame/GodOfWar times]] depicted as a titan (which to most people is a loose definition of any non-Olympian ancient deity), she was actually a protogeneia, in the same league as Ouranos and Nyx; with the former she copulated to give birth to the titans, as well as some critters like the cyclops. Because her husband didn't like the abominations they "created", he cast them into Tartarus, forcing Cronus to castrate his dad. But Cronus still imprisoned the cyclops and hekantonkheires (the non-titan offspring of Gaia and Ouranos, which Ouranos liked the least) in Tartarus (often depicted as a part of Gaia; keep reading), which in turn made her raise Zeus to overthrow his father. And later, Zeus imprisoned the titans in Tartarus, which made Gaia unhappy again, so she had sex with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon, which was thankfully overthrown by Zeus. She seems to have given up on killing the patriarch deity since then.

Her Roman name is '''Terra Mater/Tellus''' (the first literally means "Mother Earth"). While she was widely acknowledged by the Greeks and Romans alike, she was very inconsistently distinguished from other fertility goddesses such as Rhea or Demeter, much like Apollo and Helios were often considered the same. Confusion ensued when the Romans equated other fertility mother goddesses worshipped by conquered peoples, but the cult of the Mother Earth was more important than petty differentiation between deities. Nowadays, as you might have guessed, Gaia is very much worshipped by Neo-Pagans, being thus perhaps the most well known and loved of all pagan goddesses, being the mother of gods, humanity and the universe alike.

* ApronMatron: She's the mother of all [[MamaBear and will not take kindly to anyone messing with her kids.]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: She encouraged Kronos to overthrow his father, then encouraged Zeus to overthrow Kronos when Kronos threw her kids into Tartarus again, ''then'' created the Giants and Typhon to overthrow Zeus for locking up Kronos and his allies...yeah, she has confusing moral alliances. In fairness, she ''does'' seem to back off when Zeus defeats Typhon.
* TheDreaded: Even the Olympians opted out of ''directly'' messing with Gaia, as she was ruthless with those who caused her offense.
* EldritchAbomination: Much like Ouranos and Nyx, she was more of a force of nature than the typical "human with superpowers" the posterior gods like the Olympians were. If the myths are to go by she has some seriously BizarreAlienBiology, as well as a barely human way of thinking (but still understandable).

* GaiasVengeance: Literally, and three times according to mythology. She, however, couldn't care less about how many trees you cut or oceans you pollute; in Greek myth, after all, [[UnbuiltTrope she wasn't responsible for all aspects of nature]]. To her, what mattered was whereas someone was causing her pain or not, as well as rewarding those who worshiped her.
* GeniusLoci: She ''literally is'' the Earth, not merely the goddess thereof.
* GreenThumb: Along with DishingOutDirt. Within her capacities, but by no means the only powers she had.
* JerkassGods: Now you know where Zeus et al get it from. Gaia instigated several divine conflicts, most notably birthing Typhon to avenge Cronus being deposed by Zeus, never mind that Cronus was guilty of the same thing Gaia had Cronus castrate his own father, Ouranos for.

* MamaBear: Sort of. It is unknown if she actually cared for her offspring or if she just wanted to have them out of her.
* MoodSwinger: Befitting the embodiment of nature's volatility, she's prone to changing moods on a whim.
* MotherOfAThousandYoung: Just like her sister Nyx.
* NatureIsNotNice: Unlike modern interpretations (and very much unlike other contemporary fertility goddesses, like Demeter), Gaia was not a pure benevolent figure as much as she is a true force of Nature; she cared little for everyone else, so long as they weren't filling her bowels and causing her pain. Thus, she spawned several monsters to kill the ruling gods like Ouranos and Zeus, regardless of the lives at stake. She did care about her followers, however.
* ParentalIncest: Her male counterpart, Ouranos, with whom she gave birth to many the titans, cyclops, and hecatoncheires, was actually her firstborn.
* SadlyMythtaken: She is often filed in with the Titans.

* TrulySingleParent: While most of her children were fathered by other gods, her very first child, Ouranos, was hers alone.

[[folder:Hydros / Hydrus]]
Personification of Primordial Fresh Waters in Orphic religion, born at the same time as Thesis.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* EldritchAbomination
* ElementalEmbodiment: Of Water.

[[folder:Nyx / Nox]]
Nyx is the personification of Night, she is the daughter of Kaos, yet a few texts claim she is actually the first protogeneia. Nyx is the mother to many deities with her brother Erebos, including fearsome beings like Thanatos (Death), Moros (Doom), and Geras (Old Age), but also Philotes (friendship), Hemera (Day), and Hypnos (Sleep). She's often portrayed as a figure of exceptional power and beauty. Even Zeus fears her, and allowed Hypnos to escape after causing misfortune to Heracles.

* AllPowerfulBystander: Nyx is content to let the other Gods handle the "governing the universe" thing even with the implication she could slaughter them all on her own and take over for herself if she felt like it.
* BigFancyHouse: She has a special residence in Tartarus, where she lives alongside her children.
* DarkIsEvil / DarkIsNotEvil: Depending on the mood.
* TheDreaded: Nearly all the deities, ''including Zeus'', take great care not to get on her bad side--not least of which because she spawned other feared divinities like the Furies.
* ElementalEmbodiment: Of the Night.
* {{Gorn}}: She gave birth to Lyssa (Madness) with Ouranos' blood following his castration by Cronus.
* HappilyMarried: Appears to be this with Erebos.
* HumanoidAbomination: She is usually represented as a gorgeous female human, but has some eldritch vibes herself.
* JustSoStory: The cycle of day and night is explained by Nyx and Hemera taking turns on entering and leaving Tartarus.
* MamaBear: Maybe, even Zeus doesn't dare to risk it.
* MotherOfAThousandYoung: She gave birth to over 15 deities, many of whom are fearsome.
* TheSacredDarkness: As goddess of the night.
* ShipperOnDeck: In Claudians' take on the Abduction of Persephone, Nyx blessed Hades and Persephone's union at their wedding.
* TrulySingleParent: DependingOnTheWriter, she conceived all of her offspring alone, without Erebos' help. Averted in other tellings, where she and Erebos had children the old fashioned way.

[[folder:Protogenos / Phanes / Protogonos]]
Literally designated as the first born, implying that earlier beings like Kaos, Ophioneus, Chronos and Ananke were not born. Has other names [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on the oral tradition]] for what the first concept was, including: Phanes (Appearance), Himeros/Eros (Procreation), Ericapaeus (Power), and Metis (Thought).

Protogenos is a hermaphrodite who is addressed with male pronouns rather than neutral ones. He is the first of the Protogenoi, [[AnthropomorphicPersonification personifications of concepts]] [[TimeAbyss that have existed since the beginning of the universe]]. Thus somewhat [[EldritchAbomination less comprehensible for us]]. He is the personification of new life and procreation, who created the method of creation by mingling. He is described as having a helmet and broad golden wings. He has a long list of names, including Eros, though he is not the same being as the son of Aphrodite, he is the older representation of that concept and the embodiment of male sexual desire.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* EldritchAbomination
* {{Hermaphrodite}}
* IHaveManyNames
* PronounTrouble: As noted above, ''he'' is a hermaphrodite.

[[folder:Tartarus]]
The underworld, or that special part of it where the dead suffer, and the personification there of. This makes him different from other underworld gods in mythology, as their underworld takes on their name, in the form of ruler's land(s)/domain/kingdom/what-have-you; [[SadlyMythtaken a common mistake]], complicated by the fear of [[SpeakOfTheDevil speaking the name of death-related deities]]. He is located below the younger protogenoi; Gaea, Pontus and Ouranus. He is sometimes depicted as the father of Typhon, having had an affair with Gaia.

* AlmightyJanitor: Powerful enough to hold the titans and several monsters prisoner for eternity, Tartarus is apparently content with his position as jailer/jail of the gods.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Of Hell itself.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: As mentioned below, loyalty doesn't seem to be big on his list of priorities, yet he's constantly used to contain threats to the gods by whichever one is in power at the time, likely because he's simply the only one powerful enough to do so.
* EldritchAbomination: How else can you really describe a being that is literally Hell incarnate?
* {{Hell}}: The living embodiment of it.
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Was the divine prison under the reign of Ouranos, Kronos, and Zeus.
* LoyalToThePosition
* SealedEvilInACan: He ''is'' the can the gods used to seal evil in.
* TheUnderworld

[[folder:Thesis]]
Personification of Creation, the female creation that is, counterpart to Protogenos. Born at the same time as Hydros. Not to be confused with Thetis, a Nymph who is the mother of Achilles by Peleus.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* EldritchAbomination
* ElementalEmbodiment: Of Creation.

!Second Generation

[[folder:Aether / Aither]]
The son of Erebos and Nyx, the personification of light, the upper sky, space, heaven and the bright, glowing, pure air that gods breath. Hemera is his sister and mate.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* BlowYouAway: Possible power.
* EldritchAbomination
* ElementalEmbodiment: Of Light and Air.
* LightEmUp: Reasonable power assumption.

[[folder:Nesoi]]
The goddesses, and personification thereof, of islands, they were classified as protogenoi. Were apparently Ourea cast into the sea by an angry Poseidon.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* EldritchAbomination

[[folder:The Hekatonkheires / Hecatoncheires]]
Three brothers: Briareus (sometimes known as Aegaion), Kottos / Cottus, and Gyges. They are sons of Ouranos and Gaia. Embodiments of natural forces, they each have a hundred arms and fifty heads, which Ouranos thought so ugly that he sealed them away in Tartarus shortly after they were born with their other brothers, the Cyclopes. In some versions, Cronus either freed them and put them back in some time later or just kept them inside Tartarus, guarded by the Dragon Kampe. In the final year of the Titanomachy, Zeus freed them and they proved a pivotal point in the Olympians' victory. Afterword, they served as jailers to the Titans in the same way Kampe was to them. They had the same names in Roman myths, but their collective name was '''Centimani'''.

* AlmightyJanitor: By some accounts, Briareus became Zeus' gardener after ousting the Titans.
* DependingOnTheWriter: The treatment of Briareus and Aegaion. Sometimes, they were separate entities (Aegaion was usually on Zeus's side. Briareus was usually either a Titan or a hundred-hander on Cronus's side) or they are the same with men calling him Aegaion the Gods calling him Briareus. Or either of them was a Giant that fought against the Gods.
* EldritchAbomination
* ElementalEmbodiment: Of Natural Disasters.
* FlatCharacter: Gyges and Kottos never received a fraction of attention as Briareus/Aegaion did.
* TheGrotesque: They were ''very'' ugly, but are most definitely loyal to Zeus.
* TheLancer: Briareus/Aegaion has been described as Zeus' champion, and has come to his aid before when some of the Olympians rebelled.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous
* PersonOfMassDestruction
* RedBaron: Briareus was "The Vigorous", Aegaion was the "Sea Goat", Kottos was "The Furious", and Gyges was the "Big Limbed".
* SealedGoodInACan
* SpamAttack: With their hundred hands, the Hekatonkheires were able to launch hundreds of mountain-sized rocks at the Titans continuously until they were too overwhelmed to fight back.

[[folder:Hemera / Dies]]
Personification of Day, daughter of Erebos and Nyx, mated to her brother Aether.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* EldritchAbomination
* ElementalEmbodiment: Of the Day.
* JustSoStory: The cycle of day and night is explained by Hemera and Nyx taking turns on entering and leaving Tartarus.
* LightEmUp: If her mate doesn't have this power, she does (and vice versa), or they both could.
* ThePowerOfTheSun: Another possible power.

[[folder:Ouranos / Uranus / Caelus]]
Primordial sky-being, son and husband of Gaia, and father of the Gigantes, Cyclopes, Hecatonchires and Titans. A cruel and overbearing ruler who imprisoned his children in Tartarus because of their bizarre appearances. Gaia [[MamaBear didn't like this]], and had one of the Titans, Cronus, castrate, dismember, and overthrow Ouranos. The drops of his blood from this became the avenging Furies, and his severed genitals mixed with the ocean's foam and created Aphrodite. He spitefully predicted, however, that Cronus would also be destroyed by his own children. He is also Gaia's first child which she had by parthenogenesis, he is grouped with the Protogenoi because Gaia had so many children with him and he doesn't fit anywhere else.

* AbusiveDad
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Of the sky itself.
* AssholeVictim: Although he is still alive after Cronus castrated him, he was sliced to so many pieces that he is effectively dead, unable to do anything.
* EldritchAbomination: Ouranos wasn't regarded by the Greeks as very humanoid; while he probably assumed a [[HumanoidAbomination humanoid form]] to copulate with Gaia, he was seen as either a shapeless being or as a solid dome or sphere that formed the sky... and that was still alive and screwed Gaia regularly.
* ElementalEmbodiment: Of the Sky.
* EvilOverlord: He was the original ruler of the world and a total dick.
* GreaterScopeVillain: A lot of the problems the Titans and their children would have as people can probably be traced back to his [[SarcasmMode wonderful]] parenting.
* GroinAttack: On the receiving end of this, by his son Kronos.
* HeelFaceTurn: A confusingly fast one in the ''Theogony''; for some reason, Ouranos stayed with Gaia and the two helped Rhea hide Zeus, despite the fact that Gaia assisted the Titans in overthrowing him. Averted in later tellings, where he's either damaged beyond repair or just [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse disappears]].
* LightIsNotGood: Sort of. In art he is generally depicted as a GrandpaGod much like Zeus and Poseidon, generally wearing light blue or other light colours, but he was an evil tyrant. Of course, the only humanoid depictions made by the Greeks have him as considerably younger looking and naked, as otherwise he appeared as a dome or sphere as mentioned above, always carried by Atlas.
* ParentalIncest: Most of his children were birthed by his mother, Gaia.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: His prediction to Cronus could be considered this since it was paranoia from this prediction that led Cronus to swallow his kids alive. Guess how happy they were about ''that''.
* StarterVillain: The very first antagonist of the Classical Mythos.
* TakingYouWithMe: Unwilling to go down without leaving his son paranoid about suffering the same fate...[[SoreLoser or giving the Titans their nickname]].
* TrulySingleParent: A purely accidental example--his severed testicles ended up producing Aphrodite, making him effectively her "father". This possibly applies to the Meliae, the Furies and the Giants too, but most accounts claim that they were born to his blood mixing with the Earth, which would make them Gaia's children as well.

[[folder:Ourea]]
A group of gods that were the offspring of Gaia alone. They were the gods of mountains, quite literally the mountains themselves, and were named Aitna, Athos, Helikon, Kithairon, Nysos, Olympus, Oreios, Parnes, and Tmolus. Each mountain was also said to have its own local nymph as well, called an Oread. Were apparently never personified by the Greeks.
----
* EldritchAbomination
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pontus]]
God and personification of the Sea, born from Gaea without a mate like Ouranus. He is the god of the primordial sea, while in Orphic religion, the primordial fresh waters are covered by Hydros and his mate Thalassa.
----
* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* EldritchAbomination
[[/folder]]

!Third Generation

[[folder:Thalassa]]
Goddess and personification of the Primordial Sea. Daughter of Aether and Hemera. Mate of Pontus
----
* AnthropomorphicPersonification
* EldritchAbomination
* ElementalEmbodiment: Of the Seas.
[[/folder]]

* EldritchAbomination: While just about everything else in this page is also this, it fits the trope the best. Creator/{{Ovid}} described it as “a rather a crude and indigested mass, a lifeless lump, unfashioned and unframed, of jarring seeds and justly Chaos named”.

* MoralDissonance: From the gods perspective using Cupid to have mortals fall in love is pragmatism. However, these relationships don't always last, like Dido and Medea, who are used and then discarded by their paramours.

* MultipleChoicePast: Is alternatively considered a primordial deity born of Chaos and by contrast one of the younger deities and son of Aphrodite and Ares. It should be noted many have also come to the conclusion that there were simply [[DecompositeCharacter'''two''' gods named Eros.]]

* LoveAtFirstSight: Inspires this. Also ends up a victim of this: see Psyche's entry directly below.

* EvilOverlord

The everpresent MotherNature. [[VideoGame/AgeOfMythology Some]][[VideoGame/GodOfWar times]] depicted as a titan (which to most people is a loose definition of any non-Olympian ancient deity), she was actually a protogeneia, in the same league as Ouranos and Nyx; with the former she copulated to give birth to the titans, as well as some critters like the cyclops. Because her husband didn't like the abominations they "created", he cast them into Tartarus. forcing Cronus to castrate his dad. But Cronus still imprisoned the cyclops and hekantonkheires (the non-titan offspring of Gaia and Ouranos, which Ouranos liked the least) in Tartarus (often depicted as a part of Gaia; keep reading), which in turn made her raise Zeus to overthrow his father. And later, Zeus imprisoned the titans in Tartarus, which made Gaia unhappy again, so she had sex with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon, which was thankfully overthrown by Zeus. She seems to have given up on killing the patriarch deity since then.

* MotherOfAThousandYoung

Primordial sky-being, husband of Gaia and father of the Gigantes, Cyclopes, Hecatonchires and Titans. A cruel and overbearing ruler who imprisoned his children in Tartarus because of their bizarre appearances. Gaia [[MamaBear didn't like this]], and had one of the Titans, Cronus, castrate, dismember, and overthrow Ouranos. The drops of his blood from this became the avenging Furies, and his severed genitals mixed with the ocean's foam and created Aphrodite. He spitefully predicted, however, that Cronus would also be destroyed by his own children. He is also Gaia's first child which she had by parthenogenesis, he is grouped with the Protogenoi because Gaia had so many children with him and he doesn't fit anywhere else.

* TheDreaded: Nearly all the deities take great care not to get on her bad side--not least of which because she spawned other feared divinities like the Furies.

[[folder: Gaia / Gaea / Tellus / Terra]]

* {{Seers}}: Aside from having prophecy skills herself, Gaia can provide others with prophetic visions through cracks on the earth's surface--this is thought to be how the famous Oracle at Delphi did it.

* GeniusLoci: She's ''literally is'' the Earth, not merely the goddess thereof.

* ShipperOnDeck: Blessed Hades and Persephone's union at their wedding.

A formless void that preceded the universe. It translates from Greek as emptiness, vast void, chasm, abyss. In Myth/ClassicalMythology all things came into existence from Kaos. It is among the oldest of the Protogenoi, probably the oldest. It is not clear whether it is alive or not. Arche, the other term used to name this being [[EldritchAbomination if being it is]], translates roughly as; beginning, origin, first cause/power, sovereignty, domination, ultimate underlying substance, and ultimate undemonstrable principle. Thus Kaos is the Arche in Myth/ClassicalMythology.

* EldritchAbomination: While just about everything else in this page is also this, he fits the trope the best. Creator/{{Ovid}} described it as “a rather a crude and indigested mass, a lifeless lump, unfashioned and unframed, of jarring seeds and justly Chaos named”.

* TrulySingleParent: They birthed several children all on their own. Not that they had much of an option, seeing as there were no other beings to mate with them at the time (there is an account that they produced all birds by mating with Eros, though).

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: She encouraged Kronos to overthrow his father, then encouraged Zeus to overthrow Kronos when Kronos threw her kids into Tartarus again, ''then'' created the Giants and Typhon to overthrow Zeus for locking up Kronos and his allies...yeah, she has confusing moral alliances. In fairness, she ''does'' seem to back off when Zeus defeats Typhon.

* GroinAttack

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: In the ''Theogony'', they're never mentioned again after creating Gaia, Tartarus, Eros, Erebus and Nyx.