History Characters / ThreeHundredGreeks

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Gorgo guts him like a fish, causing him to die without dignity and be exposed as a Persian spy when gold coins stamped with Xerxes's face come spilling out of his robes as he collapses.

* LoopholeAbuse: The Persians invade during [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carneia Carneia]], during which time Sparta's main army cannot be deployed. Instead, Leonidas takes "[[BlatantLies 300 bodyguards]]" with him [[IWasJustPassingThrough to the Hot Gates]].

* LoopholeAbuse: The Persians invade during [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carneia Carneia]], during which time Sparta's army cannot be sent out to war. Instead, Leonidas "[[BlatantLies takes a stroll]] [[IWasJustPassingThrough to the Hot Gates]], [[RefugeInAudacity with 300 bodyguards]]".

* ActionDad: Leonidas specifically asked for recruits who have sons to carry their respective legacies.

* OneManArmy: An entire ''army'' of them, in fact, but Stelios, Astanos, and of course Leonidas stand out even from the rest.

* BewareTheQuietOnes: The most soft-spoken of the eponymous three hundred, but he has his fare share of kills.

* CompositeCharacter: He is immediately based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristodemus_of_Sparta Aristodemus]], a historical Spartan warrior who fought in the Thermopylae, lost an eye and later returned to fight in Platea. However, he also fulfils the role of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pausanias_the_Regent Pausanias]], Leonidas's historical nephew who became regent after his death and led the Greek forces in the aforementioned battle.
* DownerEnding Averted: The real character of Aristodemus, who he is based on, was shunned by the other Spartans because he had not died with his comrades and committed suicide.

** While no less tragic, this is mitigated by the fact that he does have other sons, something he brings up when Leonidas is initially reluctant to take Astinos, and Astinos would ave had children of his own given how Leonidas only took men with sons for his honor guard.

!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/GerardButler, Eli Snyder (7-8 years old)

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Played with. Ephialtes is very sympathetic in spite of his deformity and initially wants to fight alongisde the Spartans. However, after being turned down, he throws his lot with the Persians and teaches them a secret passage to outflank the defenders.

* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: A rare inversion where he is depicted as a hideous hunchback, even though no historical record says that the historical Ephialtes looked anything other than normal.

* BladeOnAStick: The other major element of the phalanx besides the shield is the spear. The two combined make the phalanx into a giant and impenetrable porcupine.

* BladeOnAStick: They use mainly spears in battle.

The citizens of Sparta. The city was forbidden to raise an army by the Ephors, so King Leonidas chose 300 of the city's citizen-soldiers to accompany him and provide a "welcome committee" for the Persian armies at the Thermopylae.

* {{Seers}}: As her title suggests, she can have (or is supposed to have) visions from the future, induced by inhaling smoke that gets her high, akin to the real-life Oracle of Delphi (who always bore the name "Pythia", thus becoming known as "the" Pythia) who inhaled vapors from the earth. In the comic, the same method as in Delphi is used, while in the movie an Ephor burns a substance for her.

* {{Seers}}: As her title suggests, she can have (or is supposed to have) visions from the future, induced by inhaling smoke that gets her high, akin to the real-life Oracle of Delphi who inhaled vapors from the earth. In the comic, the same method as in Delphi is used, while in the movie an Ephor burns a substance for her.

* AscendedExtra: Gorgo only appears in the comic briefly to give the traditional Spartan goodbye to Leonidas ("Come back with your shield or on it"). She has a much bigger role in the movie where she is trying to secure reinforcements for her husband. Then she leads TheCavalry in ''Rise of an Empire''.

* LooksLikeJesus: He sports a beard and long hair.

[[folder:Pythia]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: In the graphic novel, the Pythia is AmbiguouslyEvil at the best, as she recites her prophecies in inteligible Greek and while looking lucid, thus implying she is in the Ephors's secret plan or at least coerced into playing along. In the film, she speaks dreamily in some arcane language and it needs an Ephor to translate the message, which all but states the priest is actually making the prophecy up out of trance babble or tweaking it to fit their designs.

* {{Seers}}: As her title suggests, she can have visions from the future.

* PreMortemOneLiner: Shouts "THIS! IS! ''SPARTA!!''" before kicking the Persian messenger into a well to his implied death.

* GorgeousGreek: Both the adult men and women are quite the sight for sore eyes.

* TheSmartGuy: Compared to the Spartans, the Athenians rely more on technical strategies and tactics to battle the Persians. After all, their city-state namesake is Athena, goddess of [[invoked]][[FridgeBrilliance warfare and wisdom]].
* WeakButSkilled: They are not lifelong heavy warriors like the Spartans, but their soldiers are fearsome in their own right thanks to their wide variety of tactics and artful hand-to-hand style.

* BadassInCharge: He is the BloodKnight king of an equally BloodKnight city-state.

* BadassInCharge: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. While he is TheCaptain of the BadassArmy, the King is obviously in charge, leaving Artemis as the official NumberTwo.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Leonidas was a [[LargeHam hammy]] braggart, GlorySeeker and ProudWarriorRace poster boy, while Themistocles appears to be much more humble and motivated chiefly by the need to protect his people. Also, while they are both great warriors, Leonidas trusted on his and his men's fighting skill, while Themistocles uses traps and ruses and makes long term plans.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Proved his worth in his youth with the ''agōgē'' he went through, and never ceased to be a badass leader ever since.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He's in command of what's left of the Athenian army and fleet, and probably the fiercest Athenian warrior in combat.

* KillEmAll: They stay and fight to a man, like the Spartans, and unlike the Spartans, none of them survive due to being sent away as a messenger.

* AdpatationalHairstyleChange: In the comic he has a full head of hair. In the movie he is completely bald, with [[BaldHeadOfToughness all that]] [[BaldHeadOfAuthority implies]] in context. It also emphasizes his ManlyFacialHair.

* AdaptationalEXpansion: Was a mere soldier in real life, while he's Themistocles's lieutenant here.