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Other manhwa by Kum-Chel Ryu:
+Manhwa/NephilimJohn
]
''Vagrant Soldier Ares'' (떠돌이 용병 아레스) is a Korean manhwa written and drawn by Kum-chel Ryu. It is a war epic that spans 26 volumes. The story centers around young swordsman Ares and takes place in a world similar to Ancient Rome.

The world of ''Ares'' is similar to Ancient Rome and shares [[MeaningfulName important names]] with that history. The main characters belong to or ally with the central country of Chronos. [[TheFederation Daraak Empire and the Radnik Alliance]] flank Chronos' western border, Isiris flanks its southern border, Chronos' ally, Silonica, flanks its eastern border, and the island nation of Minos is off its northern coast.

At the story's onset, a young warrior named Ares meets Mikael when both enlist with Temple Mercenaries, the most respected soldiers-for-hire in Chronos. Their comrades Baroona and Gohue are also soldiers for Temple Mercenaries. In their first mission, they put down a band of bandits that have been terrorizing a remote village.

The king of Chronos has neglected his duties, and neighboring states contemplate invasion. Temple Mercenaries are hired by Chronosian general Icarus for a pre-emptive attack against Minos in cooperation with their ally, Silonica. There, the four meet Ariadne, Ares´s future girlfriend, and her bodyguard, the young, able Helena. During the invasion, Ares protects Ariadne, winning the respect of the initially antagonistic Helena. Mikael and Baroona attract the attention of Icarus when Mikael defeats General Kentaro, a champion of Minos. The Temple Mercenaries succeed in capturing the Minoian king and force him to stop attacking Chronos and General Icarus is hailed as a hero.

However this is the beginning, there are forces both inside and outside of Chronos, that want to conquer that kingdom for various reasons.

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!!''Ares'' has examples of:
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: There doesn't seem to be a sword or knife in this series that ''can't'' be casually stuck in a rock until later.
* ActionSurvivor: Gohue. The poor guy repeatedly finds himself in the most dangerous situations and somehow makes it out in once piece even when people much more skilled than him are dropping like flies left and right.
* AnachronismStew: This features cigarettes, t-shirts, and sneakers in a medieval setting. Although this can be justified since ''Ares'' doesn't take place on Earth.
** It also features a mishmash of weapons and armor worthy of an average TabletopRPG campaign. Swords, flails, polearms and more from all over Europe and Asia and from across centuries are used side-by-side in the same armies, with a number of pure fantasy weapons for good measure.
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Michael, Cygnus, Linda, Sandra etc...characters were introduced only to be killed in a later date.]]
* ArmorIsUseless: Only very rarely subverted, and even more rarely for more than a panel. Most characters don't even bother wearing anything more protective than a hoodie and a helmet for much of the series, and the helmets tend to get knocked off, shattered, sliced, or thrown in every fight (partially because none of the main characters seem to know how to wear one). Either you have superhuman agility, or you're getting [[AbsurdlySharpBlade cut]] in half.
* BackToBackBadasses: Ares and Baruna, Baruna and Douglas
* BerserkButton: Mortally wounding one of Ares' Companions acts as this, but threatening Ariadne puts him straight into a TranquilFury.
* {{BFS}}: Shion's Ionix. The sheath ''alone'' weighs thirty kilograms (around sixty-six pounds), and he uses the sheathed weapon to [[SheathStrike bludgeon]] unworthy opponents. It's so heavy that when he finally [[ThrowTheSheathAway draws it,]] he does so by [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower embedding it in a stone wall.]]
* BloodKnight: Kirberos, Kirus
** Ares. Whenever he sees someone really strong, he just wants to fight. He'll even ignore the war for the chance to face off with a single worthy opponent.
* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The last chapter has Mickey from Jagsen village showing up to apply to the Tample Mercenaries just as Ares, Michael, and Baruna did at the start of the series.]]
* TheCaligula: The previous king of Chronos [[spoiler:and half brother of Ares]]
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: You won't see magic being thrown around this manhwa, but you will see characters shatter swords, catch [[spoiler: and eat]] arrows, swing around hundred-pound swords or giant polearms with one hand, leap ten feet in the air to avoid an attack, and shrug off having their skull used to shatter a brick wall. Practically every major character is MadeOfIron (until they're [[AnyoneCanDie not]]) and a LightningBruiser to boot.
* CombatByChampion: Many major battles tend to start with this.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Ares.
* DarkerAndEdgier: This series is a decidedly more bloody take on the shounen genre, with the good-natured IdiotHero having no qualms about killing fleeing or wounded opponents.
* DiesWideOpen: The rule rather than the exception. Of note are [[spoiler: Cygnus, Robin, and Michael.]]
* DamselInDistress: Silver Wolf Kaiser's granddaughter.
* DressingAsTheEnemy
* EasyAmnesia: Ares, who may or may not remember his past life as Sebastian.
* ExoticWeaponSupremacy: Baruna, who's master of a weapon that looks like two kunai connected by a steel cable. [[spoiler: Which is unsurprising, since he was formerly a slave gladiator.]]
** Rikion favors a weapon consisting of a large dagger resembling a Roman pugio with a chain similar to half of a manriki-gusari attached to the hilt.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Michael.]]
** [[spoiler:Granted, before this he repeatedly kills potential [=POWs=], comments on how instead of slaughtering everyone in a fortress, it's smarter to leave a few survivors to spread the tale, and kills an exhausted Cygnus after his fight with Ares.]]
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Icarus, in order to deceive Prince Michael and the Isiris army.]]
%%* FallenHero: Shion
* FantasyWorldMap: ''Ares'' has this but it's maps out a small part of that world. You can see it [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ares/1/01/ HERE]].
%%* FauxActionGirl: Helena.
%%* FolkHero: Kiron
%%* GoodScarsEvilScars
%%* HeroicBSOD: Ares
%%* HeroicSacrifice
* HollywoodTactics: "The enemy is here! Let's leave our defensive stronghold and meet them on the open plain!"
** Granted, one of the instances of this was coupled with CombatByChampion, the series's staple. The other was against orders, and the soldiers only did it because their enemies, realizing that the defenders wouldn't leave their stronghold, went around slaughtering civilians.
* IdiotHero: Ares, albeit, a darker variety of this trope than the usual shonen fare.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Baruna, with his rope daggers.
** Several others show up, like the bandit leader with his {{BFS}}, his second-in-command's pendulum-shaped scythes, the No-Name Knights captain with his claw-gauntlets, and more.
* MasterSwordsman: There are several, Kiron, Kirberos, Kirus, and The Silver Wolf Kaiser.
* MeaningfulName: Plenty
** Ares, the Greek War God. To be fair [[spoiler:he took the name that Chiron associated with "the strongest man in the world", since it was his goal to become the strongest.]]
*** [[spoiler:His original name, Sebastian, the Patron Saint of Soldiers]]
** Michael, the Archangel and War Prince of Heaven.
** Varuna, the pre-Vedic Hindu god of lord of the cosmos, keeper of divine order and bringer of rain.
%%* {{Mentor}}
* MentorOccupationalHazard: Kiron, Ares' master died while fighting Kirberos.
%%* {{Mooks}}
%%* MrFanservice
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Many, used in a comedic fashion in Ares Ch.35.
-->'''Assassin Leader:''' (After Ares has already killed half his men) From whom did you learn the ways of the sword that are so strong?
-->'''Ares:''' Chiron!
-->'''Assassin Leader''': (Jumps out window)
* OralFixation: Michael and Icarus always seem to have something in their mouths.
%%* PluckyComicRelief: Gohue
* TheQuietOne: Michael
** Robin is this too, seeing as he's literally a mute.
%%* RainOfArrows
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Anyone who's from the Red Eye Clan is a seasoned killer.
** To be fair, this is only because in the past, after refusing to give up its peaceful ways except to defend themselves, the Red-Eyed clan was massacred and now continues to be hunted up until the modern day.
* RedShirtArmy: If you're not a named character, you're pretty much guaranteed to be slaughtered by the bucketful. On second thought, even if you ARE a named character, you're not immune to this.
* RetiredBadass: Kiron, he would like to live a peaceful life but he keeps getting challengers who want to beat him.
%%* Retirony
* RoyalBlood: [[spoiler:Ares is the bastard son of a previous king]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:101's entire story, he overdoses on pills to save Linda and dies soon after, then Rikion comes in and kills her anyways for shits and giggles.]]
* SinkOrSwimMentor: Kiron is this seeing he forced Ares to take on and kill any challengers that wanted to kill Kiron.
* SmokingIsCool: Icarus and Baruna.
* SociopathicSoldier: Michael, as the story goes on, it's just gets worse.
** [[spoiler: Rikion has turned into this recently, massacring entire villages as payback for Isirisans did to his own country.]]
* TheSpeechless: Robin, while he never speaks, the readers can see his thoughts.
* TheStoic: Ares, Michael, Baruna, and Cygnus - basically every important male character - spends the majority of every fight scene with a dead-eyed, slack-faced stare.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Kirberos is supposed to be spelled as "Kerberos", referring to the three headed dog that guards the entry into Hades.
** Baruna/Baroona/Varuna
** The Tample/Temple Mercenaries
** and Kiron should be Chiron, The centaur who trained heroes from Greek Myth
%%* TheStrategist: Icarus
%%* SupportingLeader: Icarus
%%* TakeOverTheWorld
%%* TeamPet: Emergency Food
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Ares, Baruna and Michael are constantly underestimated by various gangs/thugs/villains because they look young. Said opponents are often quickly put in their place.
* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: Michael wipes out the Tample Mercenaries as his first step to conquering Chronos.]]
%%* WorldBuilding
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