Titanomachy, Round Two

And you thought YOUR family had issues.^note Zeus was actually the youngest of Cronus's children, so he would be their little brother.

Hades: Brothers! Titans! Look at you in your swalled prison! Who. Put you down there!
Titans: Zeus!
Hades: And now that I set you free, what is the first thing you are going to do?!
Titans: DESTROY HIM!
Hades: Good answer.

— Hercules

A very specific Stock Plot that deals with a very specific version of Sealed Evil in a Can for plots involving Classical Mythology.

The stock plot derives as a follow up to the Greek tale of the Titanomachy, wherein Cronus^note Sometimes called Cronos or Kronos. The examples will use the spelling featured in their respective works. Greek Mythology also had a being called Chronos, who was the Anthropomorphic Personification of Time. The Greeks would themselves sometimes combine or confuse him for Cronus; as such it's not rare for modern works to also combine them and use the name Chronos, the leader of the Titans, devoured all his children for fear that one would usurp him. His youngest son Zeus avoided this fate when his mother swapped him with a rock. Once grown up, Zeus freed his siblings from his father's stomach and led them in rebellion against Cronus and the Titans, defeating them and imprisoning them in Tartarus. Zeus and his siblings would take over, beginning the Olympian Gods' rule over the Earth.

In this case, someone seeks to free Cronus (alternatively, any or all of the Titans) from Tartarus to overthrow the gods and/or destroy/conquer the world, and a hero needs to stop that.

The following elements likely feature in the plot:

1. The Protagonist, either mortal or a demigod, most often with a link to Zeus personally or with the Olympians as a group.
2. Cronus and/or the Titans escaping is always treated as something undeniably bad, akin to Satan escaping or Hell on Earth. He and the Titans are all Sealed Evil in a Can.
3. To fit the infernal imagery, Cronus will often be depicted as a gigantic monstrous figure, often of flame or lava, as opposed to his classical depiction of a scythe/sickle-and-harp-wielding old man. The rest of the titans are often given motifs equating them to the Christian Devil, such as hellish, fiery, or demonic traits. Tartarus may be depicted like the Christian Hell, with fire and flames all over.
4. The person trying to free Cronus is usually either a demigod or one of the Olympian gods.

If it's a setting where the Greek pantheon are all Jerkass Gods, releasing the Titans to defeat them may be portrayed as a net good, or at least as Evil Versus Evil.

Note that in Greek Mythology, the follow-up to the Titanomachy is the Gigantomachy, wherein Gaia, the primordial Earth deity and Cronus' mother, enraged at Zeus and the gods' actions towards her children, creates the Giants to wage war on Zeus. Some stories similarly feature a second round of this conflict, or pit the gods against another primordial adversary such as Typhon, instead of or in addition to a rematch with the Titans.

A type of Divine Conflict. See also Rage Against the Heavens (which is often at play by whoever is doing this), Hijacked by Jesus (when the Titans are treated as demonic while Zeus and Olympians are treated as entirely good deities) and Our Titans Are Different (when the nature of the Titans is played with).

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Defied in Record of Ragnarok where we find out that Titans tried to escape when the Greek Gods were distracted by the events of the Gigantomachy, but Hades stopped them by single-handedly killing every Titan approaching the Gates of Tartarus.
• Saint Seiya: Episode.G, an Immediate Prequel set in 1979 (the original manga is set in 1986), uses a variation: the Titans of myth are already on the loose, and they plan to release their leader Cronus to take their revenge on the Greek gods. However, the Gold Saints of Athena's Sanctuary stand in their way. In the franchise, the Greek gods (namely, Poseidon and Hades) do serve as main antagonists for the Athena and the Bronze Saints in the original work.

Comic Books

• The Incredible Hercules: In one Hercules/Hulk crossover, a fight between the two strongmen is interrupted when Cronus escapes from Tartarus along with other titans and other creatures. Though the duo beat back the escapees, the bloody and merciless slaughter upsets the Hulk, who sees a lot of himself in these fellow "monsters". Hulk thus leaves Mount Olympus in disgust.
• Teen Titans: In issues 12 and 13 of the Wolfman & Pérez run, Hyperion escapes from his prison on Tartarus and enchants Donna Troy, enlisting her help to free his fellow Titans. They lay siege on Mount Olympus, facing the combined forces of the Greek Gods, the female New Titans and the Amazons, although the conflict ultimately reaches a peaceful conclusion: Athena points out that, since the Titans have long been prophesied to lose the war, they have no hope of winning. Starfire then suggests they return to Tartarus and endeavor to transform the place into their personal paradise, with the Titans stoically complying.
• Wonder Woman (1987): Cronus creates his agent Devastation like Hippolyta created her daughter Diana (from clay), to inspire the world into following his "Cult of Cronus". After Devastation is defeated by Wonder Woman, Cronus and his "children" (not the Titans of myth, funnily enough) make their assault on Olympus and petrify the Greek pantheon, then turn their attentions to the Hindu deities (in the Godwar story arc).

Fan Works

• Justice League of Equestria's The Princess of Themyscira: Ares's master plan is to unleash the army of demons created by the Olympians' war with the Titans and then locked away in Tartarus, in order to start a Forever War. While he briefly succeeds in releasing them, Twilight (empowered by the Helmut of Nabu) sends them back, and Ares himself ends up sealed with them.

Film — Animated

• Hercules has Hades trying to free the Titans to use them to overthrow Zeus. They are not individually named except in supplemental material, but are all elemental giants, including one made of lava. Hercules, Zeus' son and a demigod trying to attain full godhood, is tasked with defeating them.
• Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus: The plot of the movie is set in motion when Hera betrays the Olympians and releases the Titans, their predecessors. This leads to a takeover of Olympus by the Titans and two heroes, demi-god Hercules and warrior princess Xena, having to defeat the Titans all over again.

Film — Live Action

• Immortals is about evil King Hyperion of Crete trying to free the Titans from Mount Tartarus to kill the gods. The son of Zeus, Theseus, must stop them. While in this version Hyperion is a mortal, he's named after one of the Titans.
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians very, very loosely follows the plot of the first two books, with numerous departures, shows an early confrontation with the titan Kronos,^note For context, Kronos is not a physical presence until book 4 father and enemy of the gods, who appears in this adaptation as a large, horned and monstrous being made from fire and lava. This is very different from the books, where the Titans are human-like gods like the Olympians save for being taller (around ten feet) and having inhuman features (like metallic skin and flaming eyes). Also unlike the books, where Kronos is a calculating villain and takes the majority of the final book to stop, this version is simple-minded and beaten in a minute and a half of screentime.
• Wrath of the Titans: Ares conspires against Zeus to free Kronos, who is a giant lava monster from Tartarus. Zeus' son Perseus needs to stop him.

Literature

• Call Me Titan by Robert Silverberg is told from the viewpoint of Typhon (insisting on being called Typhoeus) who broke out of his imprisonment under Etna in modern times and wants a rematch with Zeus. The apparent Death of the Old Gods makes this problematic.
• The Camp Half-Blood Series: The series has a recurring theme of History Repeats throughout generations of demigods, from the era of the myths to the modern times. As such, repeats of ancient divine conflicts play an important role:
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians has a plot that revolves around the attempts of Kronos to subvert and corrupt multiple demigods to free him from Tartarus. Kronos and the Titans (who are portrayed as human-like, save for being roughly ten feet tall and some having inhuman features like Hyperion having copper skin and flaming eyes) are actively working to free themselves and build an army using agents outside of Tartarus. On top of that, rather than just being a rampaging monster, Kronos is very much a thinking, scheming character and, instead of breaking out the normal way, he possesses a demigod's body to hold his essence while he regenerates a new body, as his original was destroyed in the first Titanomachy; his host's magical sword is also eventually revealed to be a reforged form of Kronos' scythe. Typhon is also included as one of the antagonists in the final book, though he's fought by the gods rather than the demigod armies. The series presents the Olympians as Jerkass Gods, but they are also seen as better than the Titans.
  • The sequel series, The Heroes of Olympus, follows up with a Gigantomachy Round Two, where the Giants are freed to awaken Gaia and replace the Olympians, forcing our heroes to go on a Round Two to defeat them all over again. Here, Gaia and the Giants specifically wish for the destruction of human civilization, as this is necessary for truly destroying the gods that embody it.
• Zeus Is Dead: Hecate and Brittany end up freeing the Titans, who immediately wage war against the Olympians.

Live-Action TV

• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: "Full Circle" turns into this partway in. Zeus wants to use half-god grandson Evander's great power to free Hera from the Abyss of Tartarus and make amends for his adulterous behavior. That part works (Hera's temporary amnesia notwithstanding), but being so innocent, Evander feels sorry for the Titans, so he also frees Oceanus and Helios. Hercules and Iolaus set out to deal with the two Titans, but Ares gets to them first and cuts a deal. In exchange for being the last Olympian standing, Ares tells them where to find the imprisoned Atlas (who is strong enough to destroy Olympus all by himself). Since bringing down the large mountain would have catatrosphic consequences for the whole planet, Hercules and Iolaus have to do some major tap dancing to get Oceanus and Helios to take each other out and then to trick a restored and vengeful Hera into turning Atlas to stone.
• Xena: Warrior Princess: "The Titans" features Hyperion, Crius, and Thea. They were turned to stone at some point during the war with the Olympians, and the plot is kick-started when Gabrielle reads the incantation that restores them. They initially defer to Gabrielle (thinking her to be a powerful goddess instead of a lowly mortal), but Xena can't shake the feeling this is going to be very bad. She's right, of course, as Hyperion schemes to awaken other Titans that were turned to stone and to lead them into battle against the Olympians. Crius is concerned about humanity being in the crossfire, and he's ultimately murdered by Hyperion. Thea tries to be loyal, but she ends up giving the heroes the opening to turn her and Hyperion back to stone before the war can be restarted.

Mythology and Religion

• In the Orphic Mystery Cult, it was taught that the god Dionysus was actually the son of Zeus and Persephone; Hera, jealous that Zeus planned to make Dionysus his heir instead of one of her children, incited the Titans to attack Dionysus, rip him apart limb from limb, and eat him. However, his heart is saved by Athena, allowing for his rebirth.

Tabletop Games

• Rifts: One plot hook involves Hera, now insane, considering arranging the escape of the Titans to destroy the Olympian pantheon.
• Scion has the return of the Titans as its primary plot, so naturally, it's this for the Theoi.

Theatre

• Aeschylus's play Prometheus Bound, about the imprisoned Titan Prometheus knowing a prophecy that will lead to Zeus's downfall, is the only surviving part of what was once a trilogy. It is known that its sequel, Prometheus Unbound, is about Heracles freeing Prometheus, and the Greek Chorus was composed of fellow freed Titans. However, there is so little information surviving about the third play Prometheus the Fire-Bringer that historians are unsure whether it is a sequel (depicting Prometheus helping Zeus avert the prophecy and reconciling with him) or a prequel (depicting the original story of Prometheus bringing fire to mankind).

Video Games

• Age of Mythology: The main plot of the game is Poseidon, via his demigod son Gargarensis, seeking to free Kronos (portrayed as a giant made of lava) from Tartarus. Arkantos, chosen hero of Zeus, needs to stop him.
• Glory of Heracles (DS): For most of the game one of antagonists tries to resurrect Oceanus (portrayed as a giant sea monster) whose soul was split into three and placed into human bodies. However, the real villainous plan involved the ressurection of Typhon, Titans' living weapon, who needs Dark ether to rise again. The whole affair turns out to be masterminded by Prometheus, of all people, who wants to take vengeance on (jerkass) Olympic gods, and doesn't care for humans, who will die in the crossfire.
• God of War:
  • God of War II: Rare protagonist version. Kratos (son of Zeus) gathers the Titans to lead an assault on Olympus and Zeus. In this version, Cronos is one of the few Titans who doesn't get directly involved.
  • God of War: Chains of Olympus (a prequel to the first game): Persephone, Hades's niece and wife, secretly releases the Titan Atlas from Tartarus so he can destroy the Axis Mundi (portrayed as a large pillar underneath the Earth that holds the entire world above).^note In retrospect, that may have merely been the load-bearing pillar preventing the Mediterranean Sea from ''drowning the underworld beneath it.
  • God of War III: We get to see the war in full action — and neither side wins. Gaia blurts out that she was planning to discard Kratos, who then decides to kill both sides while they're busy fighting one another. The story arguably serves as a subtle deconstruction of this trope, as the Titans prove to be far less of a threat than expected to the gods - they defeat most of them with relative ease during the opening battle alone, and would likely have killed them all without a single Olympian casualty were it not for the intervention of Kratos.
• Hades II: This is essentially the Inciting Incident. Chronos has escaped from Tartarus and captured Hades, his former captor. Hades' daughter Melinoë is trying to kill Chronos and save her father and the rest of her family.
• Kingdom Hearts III concludes the series-long plot of the Olympus Coliseum world (since it is an adaptation of the Disney film) by having Sora, Donald and Goofy joining Hercules in fighting the Titans in Olympus who were released by Hades.

Western Animation

• Blood of Zeus is more Gigantomachy Round Two. The Giants were born from a curse by the last Titan (who in this version are all dead). They were defeated by the Gods with some of their souls imprisoned. They were later released by Hera in her revenge against Zeus. The main protagonist, Heron, is Zeus' illegitimate son.
• Class of the Titans uses this as its premise. The plot kick starts with Cronus using the alignment of the planets to stop time for a second, which he uses to escape Tarturus. A new team of young heroes who are descended from heroes of Greek mythology are assembled to stop his plans.
• DuckTales (2017): In "New Gods on the Block!", after being stripped of his powers as punishment for abusing them, Zeus frees a titan in order to prove himself worthy to regain his place as King of the Gods. While he ultimately wasn't the one to defeat the titan, he still gets his power and position back at the end of the episode.
• An episode of Hercules: The Animated Series called "The Return of Typhon" involved...well, the return of Typhon, who in the series was a Titan. Hercules accidentally frees him while battling his equally-monstrous wife, Echidna, and Zeus, Hercules, and Hera have to team up and drive them off.

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