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* PyrrhicVillainy: He eventually defeats the 300 Spartans, but it cost him lots of CannonFodder and only turns them into martyrs, which leads the entire Greece to eventually trump his invasion.
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* PyrrhicVillainy: PyrrhicVictory: He eventually defeats the 300 Spartans, but it cost him lots of CannonFodder and only turns them into martyrs, which leads the entire Greece to eventually trump his invasion.
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* UnwittingPawn: To Artemisia in the second film, she manipulated him to continue the war against the Greeks so she can have her revenge against them.
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* BelatedBackstory: He's the first film's StarterVillain and gets killed immediately. Turns out he's the one who saved and mentored the second film's main antagonist.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leon_laderach_2_8.jpg]]
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* DarkActionGirl: In the final Battle with a thorn spine armor coat.
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* RageHelm: Their face-plates, which resembles a scowling face. They actually looked ''scarier'' with the masks off...
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The Immortals's "beast", a giant of a man who faces Leonidas in battle.
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The Immortals's Immortals' "beast", a giant of a man who faces Leonidas in battle.
* CurbStompBattle: Spends most of his fight Leonidas batting him around like a toy, with the injuries he takes just serving to make him mad until his head is cut off.
* TheDreaded: The Immortals keep him chained up and only release him as a last resort. When he's free he chokeslams one of them. Even though he spends most of his freedom attack Leonidas it's easy to see why even the other Immortal are afraid of him.
* ImplacableMan: Take a sword through the arm barely slows him down and even getting stabbed in the eye just makes him mad. He doesn't die unless his head is cut off.
* SuperToughness: When he's stabbed through the arm with a sword, he grabs it by the blade and yanks it out.
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* WalkingShirtlessScene: Wears the Immortal black pants along with aditional boots, but nothing on his upper body.
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* WalkingShirtlessScene: Wears the Immortal black pants along with aditional additional boots, but nothing on his upper body.
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* DominanceThroughFurniture: Is introduced being carried in a massive sedan chair by an army of slaves, who then form themselves into stairs for him to descend to the ground.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persians sure have an impressive variety of warriors which they are happy to throw against their enemies, alongside monstrous beasts of battle and archaic grenades. However, they end up backfiring when fighting against the Spartans, because none of them are able to overcome the Greeks's training, toughness and SimpleYetAwesome weapons.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persians sure have an impressive variety of warriors which they are happy to throw against their enemies, alongside monstrous beasts of battle and even archaic grenades. However, they all of this end up backfiring when fighting against the Spartans, because none of them are able they prove unable to overcome the Greeks's training, toughness and SimpleYetAwesome weapons.weapons.
* BlackVikings: This version of the Achaemenid Empire has Sub-Saharian warriors, which they did not in real life.
* BlackVikings: This version of the Achaemenid Empire has Sub-Saharian warriors, which they did not in real life.
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* ILoveTheDead: A understated but no less of an creepy example when she decapitate a captured Greek soldier and proceeds to kiss his head, which [[EvenEvilHasStandards disturbs her surrounding officers]].
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* ILoveTheDead: A understated but no less of an creepy example when she decapitate a captured Greek soldier and proceeds to kiss his head, which [[EvenEvilHasStandards disturbs even her surrounding officers]].
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* AmbiguouslyHuman: After the mask of one of them is knocked away in the film, he is revealed to be either a very disfigured human or an orc-like humanoid creature. Interestingly, this doesn't happens in the graphic novel, where it is never revealed what they are.
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* AmbiguouslyHuman: After When the mask of one of them is knocked away in the film, he is revealed to be either a very disfigured human or an orc-like humanoid creature. Interestingly, this doesn't happens in the graphic novel, where it is never revealed what how do they are.look under the masks.
* BodyHorror: For a creepy revelation. Even without taking off their masks, they show long, sharp nails.
* AnAxeToGrind: Uses a throwing one.
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* TheBerserker: He's brought chained to the battlefield and released in order to wreak havoc. However, unlike many examples of the trope and what his chains could make believe, the Uber Immortal seems actually in control and uninterested in attacking his own mates (although the first thing he does after regaining his freedom is chokeslamming a random fellow Immortal aside in contempt).
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* TheBerserker: He's brought chained to the battlefield and released in order to wreak havoc. However, unlike many examples of the trope and what his chains could make believe, the Uber Immortal seems actually in control and uninterested in attacking killing his own mates (although the first thing he does after regaining his freedom is chokeslamming a random fellow Immortal aside in contempt).
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Inverted. Ironically given his barbarism, he's the only land-based Immortal who wears shoes.
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* ShoutOut: His character and his fight with Leonidas remind strongly of the Carthaginian mercenary Larus and his duel against Lucius Scipio during the UsefulNotes/PunicWars.
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* ShoutOut: His character and his fight with Leonidas remind strongly of the Carthaginian mercenary Larus and his duel against Lucius Scipio during the UsefulNotes/PunicWars.in Silius' ''Literature/{{Punica}}''.
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* BaldOfEvil: Has no hair.
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* AGodAmI: Deified by Persians and considers himself as a god. Leonidas still intends to prove that a "god" like him can bleed.
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* GodEmperor: Persians venerate him as a God-King. His "resurrection" in ''Rise of an Empire'' is implied to have given him some kind of divinity, although that never translates into any kind of superhuman attribute, bar maybe being exceptionally talled (when compared to Leonidas).
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* AGodAmI: Deified by Persians and considers himself as a god. Leonidas still intends to prove that a "god" like him can bleed.
* GodEmperor: Persians venerate him as a God-King. His "resurrection" in ''Rise of an Empire'' is implied to have given him some kind of divinity, although that never translates into any kind of superhuman attribute, bar maybe being exceptionallytalled tall (when compared to Leonidas).
* GodEmperor: Persians venerate him as a God-King. His "resurrection" in ''Rise of an Empire'' is implied to have given him some kind of divinity, although that never translates into any kind of superhuman attribute, bar maybe being exceptionally
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* GodEmperor: Persians venerate him as a God-King. His "resurrection" in ''Rise of an Empire'' is implied to have given him some kind of divinity, although that never translates into any kind of superhuman attribute, bar maybe being exceptionally talled (when compared to Leonidas).
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* DisproportionateRetribution: Leonidas commits Sparta to a brutal and draining war by killing the messenger because he was impolite to him and his wife.
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* DisneyVillainDeath: He gets kicked to a very huge well. Even if he survived, there's very low chance he would escape from there, not to mention whether the Spartans would let him out.
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* DisneyVillainDeath: He gets kicked to into a very huge well. Even if he survived, there's a very low chance he would escape from there, not to mention whether the Spartans would let him out.out.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Leonidas commits Sparta to a brutal and draining war by killing the messenger because he was impolite to him and his wife.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Leonidas commits Sparta to a brutal and draining war by killing the messenger because he was impolite to him and his wife.
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* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Real life Persians were mostly Zoroastrian and believed in the divinity of a single deity, Ahura Mazda, not that of their king. Being a religious man himself, Xerxes never proclaimed himself a god; this was actually a confusion by the Greek themselves.
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* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Real life Persians were mostly Zoroastrian and believed in the divinity of a single deity, Ahura Mazda, not that of their king. Being a religious man himself, Xerxes never proclaimed himself a god; this was actually a confusion by the Greek themselves. In real life, Xerxes was only deified in Egypt due to holding the title of Pharaoh.
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* DisproportionateRetribution: Leonidas commits Sparta to a brutal and draining war by killing the messenger because he was impolite to him and his wife.
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* CompositeCharacter: Though a historical figure herself, she is given here the role of several other real characters from the Achaemenid court, most notably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardonius_(general) Mardonius]] (as she is Xerxes' second in-command) and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demaratus Demaratus]] (as she is a Greek who sided with the Persians).
* CompositeCharacter: According to the film's story, he was offended by Greek democracy and started the war in order to overthrow it. This effectively conflates him with his brother [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artaphernes Artaphernes]], who in real life was the one who started the conflict against Greece by demanding Athens to reinstate a deposed tyrant.
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* BlackVikings: He is a Persian, meaning of Iranian ethnicity, yet is portrayed by a black actor. Possibly justified because Persia controlled Egypt at the time, meaning he might be credibly a black Nubian, although none of this is ever mentioned due to him being a minor mook (also, this version of the Persian empire is shown to reach to Sub-Saharian Africa anyways).
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* BlackVikings: He is a Persian, meaning of Iranian ethnicity, yet is portrayed by a black actor. Possibly justified because Persia controlled Egypt at the time, meaning he might be credibly believably a black Nubian, although none of this is ever mentioned due to him being a minor mook (also, mook. (Also, this version of the Persian empire is shown to reach to Sub-Saharian Africa anyways).anyways.)
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* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Possibly. Judging by his age, he is probably meant to be the historical Artaphernes II, who fought in Marathon and later in Xerxes's invasion of Greece. However, the real Artaphernes was actually Xerxes's blood cousin, something that is never mentioned in ''Rise of an Empire''. Thus, whether he is still so in the film is unknown.
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* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Possibly. Judging by his age, age and rank, he is probably meant to be the historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artaphernes_(son_of_Artaphernes) Artaphernes II, II]], Xerxes' own blood cousin, who fought in Marathon and later in Xerxes's invasion of Greece. However, the real Artaphernes was actually Xerxes's blood cousin, something that this family relationship is never mentioned in ''Rise of an Empire''. Thus, whether he is still so in the film is unknown.
Empire''.
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The humongous army of the Achaemenid Empire. They are led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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The humongous army of the Achaemenid Empire.Empire and its humongous army. They are led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persians sure have an impressive variety of warriors which they are happy to throw against their enemies, alongside monstrous beasts of battle and archaic grenades. However, they end up backfiring when fighting against the Spartans, because none of them are able to overcome the Greeks's training, toughness and weapons.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persians sure have an impressive variety of warriors which they are happy to throw against their enemies, alongside monstrous beasts of battle and archaic grenades. However, they end up backfiring when fighting against the Spartans, because none of them are able to overcome the Greeks's training, toughness and SimpleYetAwesome weapons.
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300uberimmortal.jpg]]
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The Immortals's shock troop, a giant of a man who faces Leonidas in battle.
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The Immortals's shock troop, "beast", a giant of a man who faces Leonidas in battle.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persians sure have an impressive variety of warriors which they are happy to throw towards their enemies, alongside monstrous beasts of battle and archaic grenades. However, they end up backfiring when fighting against the Spartans because none of them are able to overcome the Greeks's training, toughness and weapons.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persians sure have an impressive variety of warriors which they are happy to throw towards against their enemies, alongside monstrous beasts of battle and archaic grenades. However, they end up backfiring when fighting against the Spartans Spartans, because none of them are able to overcome the Greeks's training, toughness and weapons.
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!!Persian Empire
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The humongous army of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. They are led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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The humongous army of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. They are led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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'''[[center: [- [[Characters/ThreeHundredGreeks Greeks]] - Persian Empire -]]]'''
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'''[[center: [- [[Characters/ThreeHundredGreeks Greeks]] - | Persian Empire -]]]'''
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'''[[center: [- [[Characters/ThreeHundredGreeks Greeks]] - Persian Empire -]]]'''
----
----
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* TheChainOfHarm: She was enslaved and raped by Greeks, so she inflicts RapePillageAndBurn upon Greek cities.
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* NoWomansLand: Played with. The Persian messenger is offended to see that the Spartans allow women (or at least, the queen) to speak at a council, and some of the women in Xerxes' [[RoyalHarem harem]] were shown to be heavily disfigured, likely for his sick titillation. They also like to threaten Greeks about [[MadeASlave the fate of their women]] should they win the war. The second movie subverts this by depicting Artemisia as an top commander and mastermind behind Xerxes.
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* NoWomansLand: Played with. The Persian messenger is offended to see that the Spartans allow women (or at least, the queen) to speak at a council, and some of the women in Xerxes' [[RoyalHarem harem]] were shown to be heavily disfigured, likely for his sick titillation. They also like to threaten Greeks about [[MadeASlave the fate of their women]] should they win the war. The second movie subverts this by depicting Artemisia as an a top commander and the mastermind behind Xerxes.the rise of Xerxes and the invasion of Greece.
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The humongous army of the Achaemenid Empire. They are led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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The humongous army of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. They are led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/persians.jpg]]
The humongous army of the Achaemenid Empire led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
The humongous army of the Achaemenid Empire led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/persians.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300persians.jpg]]
The humongous army of the AchaemenidEmpire Empire. They are led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
The humongous army of the Achaemenid
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300messenger.jpg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
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* NoNameGiven: He's simply addressed by his job.
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* NoNameGiven: He's simply addressed by his job.job, never by his name.
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->'''Played by:''' Creator/RodrigoSantoro
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->'''Played by:''' Creator/EvaGreen, Caitlin Carmichael (8 years old), Jade Chynoweth (13 years old)
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->'''Played by:''' Yigal Naor
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->'''Played by:''' Creator/PeterMensah
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->'''Played by:''' Ben Turner
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%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
!!!'''Played by:''' Ben Turner
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->'''Played by:''' [[Wrestling/{{Kurrgan}} Robert Maillet]]
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->'''Played by:''' Leon Laderach
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The forces of the Achaemenid Empire led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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The forces humongous army of the Achaemenid Empire led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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'''[[center: [- [[Characters/ThreeHundred Main Character Index]] -]]]'''
Characters from the Persian Empire in ''Film/ThreeHundred'' and ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire''.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/persians.jpg]]
The forces of the Achaemenid Empire led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
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[[folder:Persians in General]]
* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persians sure have an impressive variety of warriors which they are happy to throw towards their enemies, alongside monstrous beasts of battle and archaic grenades. However, they end up backfiring when fighting against the Spartans because none of them are able to overcome the Greeks's training, toughness and weapons.
* BeastOfBattle: Rhinos and WarElephants are deployed into battle against the Spartans... With catastrophic results.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: They encompass nearly every non-Greece place in the Old World from Persians, Africans, Far Asians and countless tribes. And they wouldn't mind accepting Greeks into their ranks if they knelt to their supremacy.
* TheEmpire: Thousand nations united under an GodEmperor's banner.
* HordesFromTheEast: They originated from Western Asia and Dilios explicitly refers to them as "Asian hordes".
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The Persian Empire is portrayed as an endless horde of FacelessGoons, monsters and other inhuman evils following the will of an deified tyrant. In reality, they were extremely cultured and rather progressive compared to the Greeks: women were more liberated and independent, and while slavery still existed, they never went out to mass enslave entire peoples like the Egyptians or Babylonians did, and the number of free people in the empire outweighed the slaves. Also, due to practicing Zoroastrianism, their emperor most definitely didn't consider himself divine as this would have been blasphemous.
* NoWomansLand: Played with. The Persian messenger is offended to see that the Spartans allow women (or at least, the queen) to speak at a council, and some of the women in Xerxes' [[RoyalHarem harem]] were shown to be heavily disfigured, likely for his sick titillation. They also like to threaten Greeks about [[MadeASlave the fate of their women]] should they win the war. The second movie subverts this by depicting Artemisia as an top commander and mastermind behind Xerxes.
* RapePillageAndBurn: They partake in this. In the first movie, a single scout party razes an innocent village offscreen and nail their inhabitants to a tree for [[ForTheEvulz no reason]] except maybe to send a message. And in the second movie, they manage to pillage Athens with a couple of Persian soldiers carrying off an hapless Athenian woman to a FateWorseThanDeath.
* SlaveMooks: There are way more slaves than warriors in their ranks, best exemplified when Xerxes' barbarian tribes march on the second day with slavemasters behind whipping their backs.
* WeHaveReserves: Against the Greeks, sheer numbers are always on the Persians' side and Xerxes has no reservations about sacrificing them for victory.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Xerxes]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xerxes.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/RodrigoSantoro
The god-king of Persia.
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* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: He is more composed and serene in the graphic novel, even if he is just as grandiloquent, and it takes a lot more to make him lift an eyebrow. In contrast, his film version gets visibly irritated at Leonidas' very first rebuttal in their talk, and later shows some maniac facial expressions.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Subverted. This version of Xerxes is still Persian of birth, and he is actually shown as a tanned white man in his young days, but his godly transformation turned his skin much darker.
* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Real life Persians were mostly Zoroastrian and believed in the divinity of a single deity, Ahura Mazda, not that of their king. Being a religious man himself, Xerxes never proclaimed himself a god; this was actually a confusion by the Greek themselves.
* BadBoss: Admits being one in order to intimidate Leonidas, saying that if he is willing to kill his own men for victory, his enemies can only expect a much worse fate. He shows he isn't kidding when he executes his generals for failing him.
* BaldOfEvil: He's bald and submits entire countries through RapePillageAndBurn when they don't bend the knee.
* BigBad: His invasion of Greece drives the plot of the movies and the graphic novel. The second movie subverts this when its revealed he owes everything he is to [[DragonInChief Artemisia]], who is pretty much using him for her personal revenge.
* {{Brownface}}: A strange subversion. Santoro is Brazilian of European descent (namely Italian and Portuguese) and has olive skin, which gives him a similar appearance to a lot of Persians/Iranians, but for some reason his skin was digitally darkened as Xerxes.
* ColdHam: While not as obviously scenery-chewing as Leonidas, he nonetheless presents himself in visually grandiose but elegant expressions, and although his voice is soft, it nonetheless carries an air of authority.
* DecoyAntagonist: The second film opens with his origin story, one that darkly mirrors that of Leonidas, but it's Artemisia who is the primary villain of the movie.
* TheEmperor: He's referred to as a "king", but still rules an empire, technically.
* EvilIsBigger: Literally: he apparently grew a head taller after becoming an insane conqueror.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He has a deep and smooth voice.
* AGodAmI: Deified by Persians and considers himself as a god. Leonidas still intends to prove that a "god" like him can bleed.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He is usually soft-spoken and civil, but becomes scary and vociferous when enraged.
* {{Foil}}: To Leonidas. Xerxes is king of an empire composed by many nations instead of a city-state actively opposed to alliances like Sparta. Also, while Leonidas fights along with his warriors and acts like a father to them, Xerxes never leaves his throne during the battles and is gleefully willing to sacrifice every single of his men to accomplish his goals.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Artemisia wanted him to become an evil conqueror who believed himself to be a god. And it worked, only that it meant he would not hear the advice of a puny mortal like Artemisia anymore.
* KneelBeforeZod: Expects Leonidas to eventually do this. In fact, he expects ''every country on his path'' to do this.
* LargeAndInCharge: He is monumentally tall and just as buff as a Spartan, only not as ripped.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: He was a TallDarkAndHandsome man with long hair prior to his [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane "mythical" transformation.]]
* MachoCamp: He's never stated to be interested in men (or women, despite owning a creepily diverse harem), but his mannerisms and imagery, while still coming from a mountain of a man, are of a clear sissy cut in contrast to the classically manly Spartans.
* TheManBehindTheMonsters: Although ''300'' usually plays BeautyEqualsGoodness straight, presenting the Persian army, the Ephors and Ephialtes as a parade of grotesque, villainous monsters, Xerxes subverts this by being their supreme leader yet at the same time a relatively handsome man. For extra irony, he even sports the spectacular physique associated to the Greek heroes of the films.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In ''300: Rise of an Empire'', the mystic ritual he performs to become a god somehow changes his skin's color and makes him grow at least a head taller. He has yet to display any supernatural power, but he's still apparently more than a regular human.
* MightyWhitey: Subverted. Xerxes doesn’t stop being Persian-white until he’s “corrupted by evil powers.” Or it could be inverted... maybe... Better not to think about it too hard.
* NonActionBigBad: He would make undoubtedly a fearsome opponent given his size, and he once wields a big axe to behead a corpse, but he never fights.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Makes a very simple offer to Leonidas: [[KneelBeforeZod kneeling before him]], accepting the submission of Greece to the Persian Empire, and he can become insanely rich and command the Persian armies. Should Leonidas refuse, he will be killed and Sparta annihilated.
* PuppetKing: Artemisia killed all of his advisors and did her best to manipulate him and push him to go to war against the Greeks again despite Darius' advise, thinking she can control him. The climax of ''300: Rise of an Empire'' proves it's not quite the case, as he considers himself above Artemisia and it is his own judgement the one he trusts the most.
* PureIsNotGood: His transformation left him a wickedly stainless and sincere creature, stripped of all deceit, doubt, fear, and pity.
* PyrrhicVillainy: He eventually defeats the 300 Spartans, but it cost him lots of CannonFodder and only turns them into martyrs, which leads the entire Greece to eventually trump his invasion.
* SissyVillain: Not in a classically effeminate sense, despite usual promotional materials describing him as such. However, his terse talk, his skimpy BDSM-like attire and his violation of Leonidas's personal space are clearly meant to evoke a threat to the traditional "macho" masculinity the Greeks represent in those films.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: He ''severely'' underestimates the Greeks.
* VillainProtagonist: Of the ''Xerxes'' mini-series, a sister story to ''300'' which details his rise to power and how his actions will eventually create Alexander the Great, who will oppose his successors.
* VillainousBreakdown: Though he momentarily loses his cool as Leonidas mocks him too many times, it is as Persian casualties begin to pile up when Xerxes ''completely flips his shit''. He hits his absolute low during the climax when Leonidas proves that he can still bleed, and he looks completely aghast at seeing his own blood and the realisation he is not immune to death.
* VillainousValor: He trekked through the harsh Persian desert for days without food or water and underwent a ritualistic drowning to become a god, so as to instil the necessary awe in his subjects to make them willing to wage war against the Greeks, who managed to kill their previous king.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Excluding the flashbacks of ''300: Rise of an Empire'', where he is seen in regular Persian military attire, he goes around wearing only a golden speedo. Then again, so does almost everybody else in these films.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Artemisia]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/artemisia_6.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/EvaGreen, Caitlin Carmichael (8 years old), Jade Chynoweth (13 years old)
The Greek-born commander of the Persian fleet, and the one behind Xerxes' rise and the second Persian war against the Greeks.
----
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: She has a no-nonsense attitude at best. At worst, she could be AxCrazy.
* TheBaroness: Artemisia has a brutal and domineering personality due to her troubled past. While she tries to seduce Themistocles into defecting to the Persians side, she attempts to sexually dominate him in their brief and rough tryst, even abruptly grabbing his throat in midst of her sweet talk.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: She's a terrific archer and a formidable fencer.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Her whole family was slaughtered by Greek hoplites when she was 8 years old, and she was raped by the latter. Then she was enslaved and continuously raped on Greek ships and discarded like trash in the streets until the Persian Messenger found her, took her with him and trained her.
* DeathByAdaptation: The historical Artemisia survived the Battle of Salamis.
* DragonInChief: Even though she serves as Xerxes' general, she is also TheManBehindTheMan for his rise to godhood and the events of the first movie.
* DualWielding: She fights using two swords during her FinalBattle with Themistocles.
* FoeRomanticSubtext: She and Themistocles are clearly attracted to each other, even having sex at one point.
* HiddenDepths: Some of her dialogue implies she is not comfortable with being MarriedToTheJob, and she certainly later gets attracted to Themistocles, whom she sees as a WorthyOpponent. Her reaction to Ephialtes's revelation that Themistocles is alive also implies her attraction for him is sincere.
* ImmigrantPatriotism: She admits to a captured soldier being Greek by birth, but her heart is Persian just before she executes him.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Artemisia is pretty much responsible for setting Xerxes down in the warpath with Greece in order to get her revenge. The real life Artemisia is not attributed with such thing, merely serving as one of Xerxes' generals. Its also extremely doubtful she was as psychotic as the movie depicts, given that her reign as the queen of Caria was a relatively reasonable one.
* ILoveTheDead: A understated but no less of an creepy example when she decapitate a captured Greek soldier and proceeds to kiss his head, which [[EvenEvilHasStandards disturbs her surrounding officers]].
* LadyMacbeth: Non-romantic example, but she is the one that pushed Xerxes to ascend to godhood and invade Greece.
* MarriedToTheJob: She's way too devoted to his job to find time for romance. She then develops a FoeRomanticSubtext with Themistocles, who is basically the same.
* {{Master Swords|man}}woman: She became a formidable sword fighter.
* TheQuisling: A sympathetic example, since the abuse she endures at the hands of her own countrymen is what drives her to side with the Persians.
* RapeAsBackstory: Being made a SexSlave by her own countrymen at a very young age is what made her side with the Persians.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: A very beautiful woman with pale skin and black hair.
* RecruitedFromTheGutter: She was thrown in the streets after being enslaved and raped. Xerxes' Messenger saved her from it, and raised her as a warrior and prime servant of the Persian cause.
* {{Revenge}}: Given her DarkAndTroubledPast, no wonder why she wants to conquer Greece.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: She underestimates the Athenians' craftiness when sending her humongous fleet against them.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Punishes the officers who failed her by death.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Darius I]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darius_3.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Yigal Naor
The king of Persia at the time of the battle of Marathon, and father of Xerxes.
----
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The real Darius did not die because of an arrow wound he received at Marathon; he wasn't there, and actually died four years after the battle.
* MadeOfIron: Somehow, he survived with an arrow in his chest long enough to die at his palace in Persepolis, several thousands of kilometers far from Marathon. It took ''months'' to make such a trip in the ancient world and it's unlikely a normal human would survive this long without blood infections or without bleeding to death (and in the improbable case he managed to survive, he would be all healed up by the time he reached the city).
* PosthumousCharacter: Dead before the events of the two films.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Just before dying, he urges his son Xerxes not to go to war against the Greeks again, if only because they are so tough and dangerous. Artemisia then makes sure Xerxes won't listen.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Messenger]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/PeterMensah
Xerxes's emissary, who gets kicked into a well by Leonidas.
----
* BelatedBackstory: He's the first film's StarterVillain and gets killed immediately. Turns out he's the one who saved and mentored the second film's main antagonist.
* BlackVikings: He is a Persian, meaning of Iranian ethnicity, yet is portrayed by a black actor. Possibly justified because Persia controlled Egypt at the time, meaning he might be credibly a black Nubian, although none of this is ever mentioned due to him being a minor mook (also, this version of the Persian empire is shown to reach to Sub-Saharian Africa anyways).
* DisneyVillainDeath: He gets kicked to a very huge well. Even if he survived, there's very low chance he would escape from there, not to mention whether the Spartans would let him out.
* NonActionGuy: He's a messenger, so his official task is giving messages and get occasionally killed in the process. (Ironically, Peter Mensah trains multiple martial arts in real life.) However, flashbacks in the sequel give him the chance to show he is a trained warrior as well.
* NoNameGiven: He's simply addressed by his job.
* PetTheDog: He saves Artemisia after she is left for dead by her Greek captors, adopts and raises her and trains her to be a formidable warrior.
* RetiredBadass: Heavily implied. He's introduced as a messenger in the first film who got killed easily, but the second film's flashbacks show him training the latter film's main antagonist and looks pretty sharp at it.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The StarterVillain of the first film revealed in the second as the one who trained the latter film's main antagonist.
* SoProudOfYou: A non-verbal example, but he gives Artemisia a satisfied smile when she bests him in her combat training as a teenager, and again when as a young woman she presents Darius with the severed heads of multiple defeated enemy kings.
* StarterVillain: He's the very first antagonist of the inaugural film.
* StrawMisogynist: Subverted. He is painted as one in the original movie when he scolds Leonidas for letting Gorgo speak among the men. The second movie shows he really isn't, considering he took Artemisia as a surrogate daughter and trained her as a warrior and general.
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: In the first movie, he is the first one of Xerxes' minions to get killed and [[NominalImportance we don't even get his name]]. We find out in the second movie that he was a ParentalSubstitute to Artemisia.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Artaphernes]]
->'''Played by:''' Ben Turner
Artemisia's second in command in the Persian navy.
----
* TheDragon: Artemisia's own, even although she is already TheDragon to Xerxes.
* MookLieutenant: He receives more characterization that the rest of Artemisia's shipmates: we could see he is amusingly unfazed by Artemisia's antics, as well as somewhat more sensible than the other admirals, yet still not very good at strategy himself. However, nothing more is shown about him.
* TheStoic: Especially compared to Artemisia and her generals. He is possibly the only high-ranked Persian that never hams up.
* TheUnfought: Subverted in that he does take part in the Battle of Salamina along with Artemisia, but he never takes an active military role, unlike his colleagues Bandari and Kashani.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Possibly. Judging by his age, he is probably meant to be the historical Artaphernes II, who fought in Marathon and later in Xerxes's invasion of Greece. However, the real Artaphernes was actually Xerxes's blood cousin, something that is never mentioned in ''Rise of an Empire''. Thus, whether he is still so in the film is unknown.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Immortals]]
[[quoteright:329:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/immortals.jpg]]
The Persian kings's royal guard and elite troops.
----
* AmbiguouslyHuman: After the mask of one of them is knocked away in the film, he is revealed to be either a very disfigured human or an orc-like humanoid creature. Interestingly, this doesn't happens in the graphic novel, where it is never revealed what they are.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The real Immortals were a unit of 10,000 Persian warriors (their name was derived from the fact they immediately recruited new soldiers when their members were killed in battle or retired), armed and armored (or not as the case may have been) almost identically to just about every other Persian in Xerxes's massive army. Needless to say, they were humans, and even included members of the Persian royal family.
* CoolMask: Wear Japanese ''menpo''-style masks of a silvery metal, and what they hide behind is ugly enough to wish they don't take them off.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: They go barefoot, which contrasts with their heavily clothed appearance. On the other hand, the Immortals in the Persian navy do wear boots.
* DualWielding: In the film, instead of the lances and shields they carry in the comic, they wield two curved swords at once.
* TheDreaded: They are said to be the strongest and evilest Persian warriors, and it's no bluff.
* EliteMooks: Played with. In accordance to their reputation, the Immortals score the first Spartan deaths in their first deployment and manage to drive Leonidas and his lieutenants to their very limits, but they are eventually defeated and forced to withdraw without making a big difference. However, after Ephialtes's treason hands Xerxes the Spartan rear, the resultant mix of tactical superiority and fighting skill is finally enough to overpower the Greeks and win the battle.
* GlassCannon: Their armored suits don't really make a difference against the Greek blades, and in the film they don't even carry shields, but they are wickedly fast and sneaky, and their swords can find a way around an enemy shield with ease. Even although their own losses end up being probably not much lesser than the regular Persian infantry, they score the first Spartan kills and manage to make Leonidas and company look human for once.
* KnightOfCerebus: Relatively. While they don't instantly make the film darker than it already is and are actually bested in their first skirmish, their arrival marks the point in which it is revealed the Persians have soldiers capable to draw Spartan blood after all. Fittingly, they are the ones who finally destroy the Greeks's hopes to resist in the pass after Ephialtes shows them the way at the end of the film.
* PraetorianGuard: They serve as the personal bodyguard to the kings of Persia.
* ScaryBlackMan: They are the most feared army in the ancient world, and their skin, while probably not African brown, is almost black.
* SilentAntagonist: None of them ever talks or emotes verbally aside from grunts.
* WeakButSkilled: Though not very durable, they are quick and nimble and have some surprising martial arts moves.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: One of them nails a Spartan with a dropkick as soon as the fight begins.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Uber Immortal]]
->'''Played by:''' [[Wrestling/{{Kurrgan}} Robert Maillet]]
The Immortals's shock troop, a giant of a man who faces Leonidas in battle.
----
* BaldOfEvil: Lacks both hair and eyebrows.
* TheBerserker: He's brought chained to the battlefield and released in order to wreak havoc. However, unlike many examples of the trope and what his chains could make believe, the Uber Immortal seems actually in control and uninterested in attacking his own mates (although the first thing he does after regaining his freedom is chokeslamming a random fellow Immortal aside in contempt).
* BloodKnight: Can be seen eagerly putting his hands forward to get his chains cut, undoubtedly wishing to start chopping heads.
* BodyHorror: He's covered in scars and his teeth have been turned into fangs.
* TheBrute: Plays this role among the Immortals.
* CanonForeigner: Was created for the film.
* EyeScream: Leonidas shoves a spear tip into his eye. It doesn't take to kill him.
* LightningBruiser: Huge but surprisingly fast of movements, and very skilled with throwing weapons.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: He gets Leonidas' sword planted right in his biceps and receives the tip of a spear in his eye, and all of his reaction is pulling both out mildly disgruntled.
* OffWithHisHead: How Leonidas ''finally'' manages to bring him down. Bonus points for decapitating the guy with his own sword.
* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: In a symbolic way. He has all the traits of the Immortals amped up (disfiguration, strength, weapons skill, wrestling moves), but is so aggressive they have to carry him chained.
* ShoutOut: His character and his fight with Leonidas remind strongly of the Carthaginian mercenary Larus and his duel against Lucius Scipio during the UsefulNotes/PunicWars.
* UnskilledButStrong: Subverted. While he may look like a regular SmashMook, the axe he throws to Leonidas goes with such accuracy that the Spartan king narrowly escapes with his head on.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Wears the Immortal black pants along with aditional boots, but nothing on his upper body.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: As mentioned, he uses a chokeslam.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Executioner]]
->'''Played by:''' Leon Laderach
An executioner seen in Xerxes's army.
----
* AgonyOfTheFeet: As seen briefly, his feet were amputated and apparently replaced with wood stumps.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Both of his arms have been amputated and replaced with serrated blades, and they seem to be attached to his bones.
* BodyHorror: He's obese, disfigurated and horribly handicapped.
* CanonForeigner: Was created for the film. In the comic, his role is played by a regular big guy with an axe.
* FatBastard: Has a wicked expression in his face.
* LoinCloth: Wears one along with some piercings and chains, which makes him ironically resemble Xerxes himself in a twisted way.
* NonActionGuy: Despite his terrifying imagery and equipment, he's not a warrior, so he's never faced by the Spartans.
[[/folder]]
----
Characters from the Persian Empire in ''Film/ThreeHundred'' and ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire''.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/persians.jpg]]
The forces of the Achaemenid Empire led by the god-king Xerxes, who's determined to conquer Greece.
----
[[folder:Persians in General]]
* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persians sure have an impressive variety of warriors which they are happy to throw towards their enemies, alongside monstrous beasts of battle and archaic grenades. However, they end up backfiring when fighting against the Spartans because none of them are able to overcome the Greeks's training, toughness and weapons.
* BeastOfBattle: Rhinos and WarElephants are deployed into battle against the Spartans... With catastrophic results.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: They encompass nearly every non-Greece place in the Old World from Persians, Africans, Far Asians and countless tribes. And they wouldn't mind accepting Greeks into their ranks if they knelt to their supremacy.
* TheEmpire: Thousand nations united under an GodEmperor's banner.
* HordesFromTheEast: They originated from Western Asia and Dilios explicitly refers to them as "Asian hordes".
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The Persian Empire is portrayed as an endless horde of FacelessGoons, monsters and other inhuman evils following the will of an deified tyrant. In reality, they were extremely cultured and rather progressive compared to the Greeks: women were more liberated and independent, and while slavery still existed, they never went out to mass enslave entire peoples like the Egyptians or Babylonians did, and the number of free people in the empire outweighed the slaves. Also, due to practicing Zoroastrianism, their emperor most definitely didn't consider himself divine as this would have been blasphemous.
* NoWomansLand: Played with. The Persian messenger is offended to see that the Spartans allow women (or at least, the queen) to speak at a council, and some of the women in Xerxes' [[RoyalHarem harem]] were shown to be heavily disfigured, likely for his sick titillation. They also like to threaten Greeks about [[MadeASlave the fate of their women]] should they win the war. The second movie subverts this by depicting Artemisia as an top commander and mastermind behind Xerxes.
* RapePillageAndBurn: They partake in this. In the first movie, a single scout party razes an innocent village offscreen and nail their inhabitants to a tree for [[ForTheEvulz no reason]] except maybe to send a message. And in the second movie, they manage to pillage Athens with a couple of Persian soldiers carrying off an hapless Athenian woman to a FateWorseThanDeath.
* SlaveMooks: There are way more slaves than warriors in their ranks, best exemplified when Xerxes' barbarian tribes march on the second day with slavemasters behind whipping their backs.
* WeHaveReserves: Against the Greeks, sheer numbers are always on the Persians' side and Xerxes has no reservations about sacrificing them for victory.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Xerxes]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xerxes.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/RodrigoSantoro
The god-king of Persia.
----
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: He is more composed and serene in the graphic novel, even if he is just as grandiloquent, and it takes a lot more to make him lift an eyebrow. In contrast, his film version gets visibly irritated at Leonidas' very first rebuttal in their talk, and later shows some maniac facial expressions.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Subverted. This version of Xerxes is still Persian of birth, and he is actually shown as a tanned white man in his young days, but his godly transformation turned his skin much darker.
* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Real life Persians were mostly Zoroastrian and believed in the divinity of a single deity, Ahura Mazda, not that of their king. Being a religious man himself, Xerxes never proclaimed himself a god; this was actually a confusion by the Greek themselves.
* BadBoss: Admits being one in order to intimidate Leonidas, saying that if he is willing to kill his own men for victory, his enemies can only expect a much worse fate. He shows he isn't kidding when he executes his generals for failing him.
* BaldOfEvil: He's bald and submits entire countries through RapePillageAndBurn when they don't bend the knee.
* BigBad: His invasion of Greece drives the plot of the movies and the graphic novel. The second movie subverts this when its revealed he owes everything he is to [[DragonInChief Artemisia]], who is pretty much using him for her personal revenge.
* {{Brownface}}: A strange subversion. Santoro is Brazilian of European descent (namely Italian and Portuguese) and has olive skin, which gives him a similar appearance to a lot of Persians/Iranians, but for some reason his skin was digitally darkened as Xerxes.
* ColdHam: While not as obviously scenery-chewing as Leonidas, he nonetheless presents himself in visually grandiose but elegant expressions, and although his voice is soft, it nonetheless carries an air of authority.
* DecoyAntagonist: The second film opens with his origin story, one that darkly mirrors that of Leonidas, but it's Artemisia who is the primary villain of the movie.
* TheEmperor: He's referred to as a "king", but still rules an empire, technically.
* EvilIsBigger: Literally: he apparently grew a head taller after becoming an insane conqueror.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He has a deep and smooth voice.
* AGodAmI: Deified by Persians and considers himself as a god. Leonidas still intends to prove that a "god" like him can bleed.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He is usually soft-spoken and civil, but becomes scary and vociferous when enraged.
* {{Foil}}: To Leonidas. Xerxes is king of an empire composed by many nations instead of a city-state actively opposed to alliances like Sparta. Also, while Leonidas fights along with his warriors and acts like a father to them, Xerxes never leaves his throne during the battles and is gleefully willing to sacrifice every single of his men to accomplish his goals.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Artemisia wanted him to become an evil conqueror who believed himself to be a god. And it worked, only that it meant he would not hear the advice of a puny mortal like Artemisia anymore.
* KneelBeforeZod: Expects Leonidas to eventually do this. In fact, he expects ''every country on his path'' to do this.
* LargeAndInCharge: He is monumentally tall and just as buff as a Spartan, only not as ripped.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: He was a TallDarkAndHandsome man with long hair prior to his [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane "mythical" transformation.]]
* MachoCamp: He's never stated to be interested in men (or women, despite owning a creepily diverse harem), but his mannerisms and imagery, while still coming from a mountain of a man, are of a clear sissy cut in contrast to the classically manly Spartans.
* TheManBehindTheMonsters: Although ''300'' usually plays BeautyEqualsGoodness straight, presenting the Persian army, the Ephors and Ephialtes as a parade of grotesque, villainous monsters, Xerxes subverts this by being their supreme leader yet at the same time a relatively handsome man. For extra irony, he even sports the spectacular physique associated to the Greek heroes of the films.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In ''300: Rise of an Empire'', the mystic ritual he performs to become a god somehow changes his skin's color and makes him grow at least a head taller. He has yet to display any supernatural power, but he's still apparently more than a regular human.
* MightyWhitey: Subverted. Xerxes doesn’t stop being Persian-white until he’s “corrupted by evil powers.” Or it could be inverted... maybe... Better not to think about it too hard.
* NonActionBigBad: He would make undoubtedly a fearsome opponent given his size, and he once wields a big axe to behead a corpse, but he never fights.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Makes a very simple offer to Leonidas: [[KneelBeforeZod kneeling before him]], accepting the submission of Greece to the Persian Empire, and he can become insanely rich and command the Persian armies. Should Leonidas refuse, he will be killed and Sparta annihilated.
* PuppetKing: Artemisia killed all of his advisors and did her best to manipulate him and push him to go to war against the Greeks again despite Darius' advise, thinking she can control him. The climax of ''300: Rise of an Empire'' proves it's not quite the case, as he considers himself above Artemisia and it is his own judgement the one he trusts the most.
* PureIsNotGood: His transformation left him a wickedly stainless and sincere creature, stripped of all deceit, doubt, fear, and pity.
* PyrrhicVillainy: He eventually defeats the 300 Spartans, but it cost him lots of CannonFodder and only turns them into martyrs, which leads the entire Greece to eventually trump his invasion.
* SissyVillain: Not in a classically effeminate sense, despite usual promotional materials describing him as such. However, his terse talk, his skimpy BDSM-like attire and his violation of Leonidas's personal space are clearly meant to evoke a threat to the traditional "macho" masculinity the Greeks represent in those films.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: He ''severely'' underestimates the Greeks.
* VillainProtagonist: Of the ''Xerxes'' mini-series, a sister story to ''300'' which details his rise to power and how his actions will eventually create Alexander the Great, who will oppose his successors.
* VillainousBreakdown: Though he momentarily loses his cool as Leonidas mocks him too many times, it is as Persian casualties begin to pile up when Xerxes ''completely flips his shit''. He hits his absolute low during the climax when Leonidas proves that he can still bleed, and he looks completely aghast at seeing his own blood and the realisation he is not immune to death.
* VillainousValor: He trekked through the harsh Persian desert for days without food or water and underwent a ritualistic drowning to become a god, so as to instil the necessary awe in his subjects to make them willing to wage war against the Greeks, who managed to kill their previous king.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Excluding the flashbacks of ''300: Rise of an Empire'', where he is seen in regular Persian military attire, he goes around wearing only a golden speedo. Then again, so does almost everybody else in these films.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Artemisia]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/artemisia_6.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/EvaGreen, Caitlin Carmichael (8 years old), Jade Chynoweth (13 years old)
The Greek-born commander of the Persian fleet, and the one behind Xerxes' rise and the second Persian war against the Greeks.
----
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: She has a no-nonsense attitude at best. At worst, she could be AxCrazy.
* TheBaroness: Artemisia has a brutal and domineering personality due to her troubled past. While she tries to seduce Themistocles into defecting to the Persians side, she attempts to sexually dominate him in their brief and rough tryst, even abruptly grabbing his throat in midst of her sweet talk.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: She's a terrific archer and a formidable fencer.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Her whole family was slaughtered by Greek hoplites when she was 8 years old, and she was raped by the latter. Then she was enslaved and continuously raped on Greek ships and discarded like trash in the streets until the Persian Messenger found her, took her with him and trained her.
* DeathByAdaptation: The historical Artemisia survived the Battle of Salamis.
* DragonInChief: Even though she serves as Xerxes' general, she is also TheManBehindTheMan for his rise to godhood and the events of the first movie.
* DualWielding: She fights using two swords during her FinalBattle with Themistocles.
* FoeRomanticSubtext: She and Themistocles are clearly attracted to each other, even having sex at one point.
* HiddenDepths: Some of her dialogue implies she is not comfortable with being MarriedToTheJob, and she certainly later gets attracted to Themistocles, whom she sees as a WorthyOpponent. Her reaction to Ephialtes's revelation that Themistocles is alive also implies her attraction for him is sincere.
* ImmigrantPatriotism: She admits to a captured soldier being Greek by birth, but her heart is Persian just before she executes him.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Artemisia is pretty much responsible for setting Xerxes down in the warpath with Greece in order to get her revenge. The real life Artemisia is not attributed with such thing, merely serving as one of Xerxes' generals. Its also extremely doubtful she was as psychotic as the movie depicts, given that her reign as the queen of Caria was a relatively reasonable one.
* ILoveTheDead: A understated but no less of an creepy example when she decapitate a captured Greek soldier and proceeds to kiss his head, which [[EvenEvilHasStandards disturbs her surrounding officers]].
* LadyMacbeth: Non-romantic example, but she is the one that pushed Xerxes to ascend to godhood and invade Greece.
* MarriedToTheJob: She's way too devoted to his job to find time for romance. She then develops a FoeRomanticSubtext with Themistocles, who is basically the same.
* {{Master Swords|man}}woman: She became a formidable sword fighter.
* TheQuisling: A sympathetic example, since the abuse she endures at the hands of her own countrymen is what drives her to side with the Persians.
* RapeAsBackstory: Being made a SexSlave by her own countrymen at a very young age is what made her side with the Persians.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: A very beautiful woman with pale skin and black hair.
* RecruitedFromTheGutter: She was thrown in the streets after being enslaved and raped. Xerxes' Messenger saved her from it, and raised her as a warrior and prime servant of the Persian cause.
* {{Revenge}}: Given her DarkAndTroubledPast, no wonder why she wants to conquer Greece.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: She underestimates the Athenians' craftiness when sending her humongous fleet against them.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Punishes the officers who failed her by death.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Darius I]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darius_3.jpg]]
->'''Played by:''' Yigal Naor
The king of Persia at the time of the battle of Marathon, and father of Xerxes.
----
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The real Darius did not die because of an arrow wound he received at Marathon; he wasn't there, and actually died four years after the battle.
* MadeOfIron: Somehow, he survived with an arrow in his chest long enough to die at his palace in Persepolis, several thousands of kilometers far from Marathon. It took ''months'' to make such a trip in the ancient world and it's unlikely a normal human would survive this long without blood infections or without bleeding to death (and in the improbable case he managed to survive, he would be all healed up by the time he reached the city).
* PosthumousCharacter: Dead before the events of the two films.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Just before dying, he urges his son Xerxes not to go to war against the Greeks again, if only because they are so tough and dangerous. Artemisia then makes sure Xerxes won't listen.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Messenger]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/PeterMensah
Xerxes's emissary, who gets kicked into a well by Leonidas.
----
* BelatedBackstory: He's the first film's StarterVillain and gets killed immediately. Turns out he's the one who saved and mentored the second film's main antagonist.
* BlackVikings: He is a Persian, meaning of Iranian ethnicity, yet is portrayed by a black actor. Possibly justified because Persia controlled Egypt at the time, meaning he might be credibly a black Nubian, although none of this is ever mentioned due to him being a minor mook (also, this version of the Persian empire is shown to reach to Sub-Saharian Africa anyways).
* DisneyVillainDeath: He gets kicked to a very huge well. Even if he survived, there's very low chance he would escape from there, not to mention whether the Spartans would let him out.
* NonActionGuy: He's a messenger, so his official task is giving messages and get occasionally killed in the process. (Ironically, Peter Mensah trains multiple martial arts in real life.) However, flashbacks in the sequel give him the chance to show he is a trained warrior as well.
* NoNameGiven: He's simply addressed by his job.
* PetTheDog: He saves Artemisia after she is left for dead by her Greek captors, adopts and raises her and trains her to be a formidable warrior.
* RetiredBadass: Heavily implied. He's introduced as a messenger in the first film who got killed easily, but the second film's flashbacks show him training the latter film's main antagonist and looks pretty sharp at it.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The StarterVillain of the first film revealed in the second as the one who trained the latter film's main antagonist.
* SoProudOfYou: A non-verbal example, but he gives Artemisia a satisfied smile when she bests him in her combat training as a teenager, and again when as a young woman she presents Darius with the severed heads of multiple defeated enemy kings.
* StarterVillain: He's the very first antagonist of the inaugural film.
* StrawMisogynist: Subverted. He is painted as one in the original movie when he scolds Leonidas for letting Gorgo speak among the men. The second movie shows he really isn't, considering he took Artemisia as a surrogate daughter and trained her as a warrior and general.
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: In the first movie, he is the first one of Xerxes' minions to get killed and [[NominalImportance we don't even get his name]]. We find out in the second movie that he was a ParentalSubstitute to Artemisia.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Artaphernes]]
->'''Played by:''' Ben Turner
Artemisia's second in command in the Persian navy.
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* TheDragon: Artemisia's own, even although she is already TheDragon to Xerxes.
* MookLieutenant: He receives more characterization that the rest of Artemisia's shipmates: we could see he is amusingly unfazed by Artemisia's antics, as well as somewhat more sensible than the other admirals, yet still not very good at strategy himself. However, nothing more is shown about him.
* TheStoic: Especially compared to Artemisia and her generals. He is possibly the only high-ranked Persian that never hams up.
* TheUnfought: Subverted in that he does take part in the Battle of Salamina along with Artemisia, but he never takes an active military role, unlike his colleagues Bandari and Kashani.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Possibly. Judging by his age, he is probably meant to be the historical Artaphernes II, who fought in Marathon and later in Xerxes's invasion of Greece. However, the real Artaphernes was actually Xerxes's blood cousin, something that is never mentioned in ''Rise of an Empire''. Thus, whether he is still so in the film is unknown.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Immortals]]
[[quoteright:329:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/immortals.jpg]]
The Persian kings's royal guard and elite troops.
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* AmbiguouslyHuman: After the mask of one of them is knocked away in the film, he is revealed to be either a very disfigured human or an orc-like humanoid creature. Interestingly, this doesn't happens in the graphic novel, where it is never revealed what they are.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The real Immortals were a unit of 10,000 Persian warriors (their name was derived from the fact they immediately recruited new soldiers when their members were killed in battle or retired), armed and armored (or not as the case may have been) almost identically to just about every other Persian in Xerxes's massive army. Needless to say, they were humans, and even included members of the Persian royal family.
* CoolMask: Wear Japanese ''menpo''-style masks of a silvery metal, and what they hide behind is ugly enough to wish they don't take them off.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: They go barefoot, which contrasts with their heavily clothed appearance. On the other hand, the Immortals in the Persian navy do wear boots.
* DualWielding: In the film, instead of the lances and shields they carry in the comic, they wield two curved swords at once.
* TheDreaded: They are said to be the strongest and evilest Persian warriors, and it's no bluff.
* EliteMooks: Played with. In accordance to their reputation, the Immortals score the first Spartan deaths in their first deployment and manage to drive Leonidas and his lieutenants to their very limits, but they are eventually defeated and forced to withdraw without making a big difference. However, after Ephialtes's treason hands Xerxes the Spartan rear, the resultant mix of tactical superiority and fighting skill is finally enough to overpower the Greeks and win the battle.
* GlassCannon: Their armored suits don't really make a difference against the Greek blades, and in the film they don't even carry shields, but they are wickedly fast and sneaky, and their swords can find a way around an enemy shield with ease. Even although their own losses end up being probably not much lesser than the regular Persian infantry, they score the first Spartan kills and manage to make Leonidas and company look human for once.
* KnightOfCerebus: Relatively. While they don't instantly make the film darker than it already is and are actually bested in their first skirmish, their arrival marks the point in which it is revealed the Persians have soldiers capable to draw Spartan blood after all. Fittingly, they are the ones who finally destroy the Greeks's hopes to resist in the pass after Ephialtes shows them the way at the end of the film.
* PraetorianGuard: They serve as the personal bodyguard to the kings of Persia.
* ScaryBlackMan: They are the most feared army in the ancient world, and their skin, while probably not African brown, is almost black.
* SilentAntagonist: None of them ever talks or emotes verbally aside from grunts.
* WeakButSkilled: Though not very durable, they are quick and nimble and have some surprising martial arts moves.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: One of them nails a Spartan with a dropkick as soon as the fight begins.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Uber Immortal]]
->'''Played by:''' [[Wrestling/{{Kurrgan}} Robert Maillet]]
The Immortals's shock troop, a giant of a man who faces Leonidas in battle.
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* BaldOfEvil: Lacks both hair and eyebrows.
* TheBerserker: He's brought chained to the battlefield and released in order to wreak havoc. However, unlike many examples of the trope and what his chains could make believe, the Uber Immortal seems actually in control and uninterested in attacking his own mates (although the first thing he does after regaining his freedom is chokeslamming a random fellow Immortal aside in contempt).
* BloodKnight: Can be seen eagerly putting his hands forward to get his chains cut, undoubtedly wishing to start chopping heads.
* BodyHorror: He's covered in scars and his teeth have been turned into fangs.
* TheBrute: Plays this role among the Immortals.
* CanonForeigner: Was created for the film.
* EyeScream: Leonidas shoves a spear tip into his eye. It doesn't take to kill him.
* LightningBruiser: Huge but surprisingly fast of movements, and very skilled with throwing weapons.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: He gets Leonidas' sword planted right in his biceps and receives the tip of a spear in his eye, and all of his reaction is pulling both out mildly disgruntled.
* OffWithHisHead: How Leonidas ''finally'' manages to bring him down. Bonus points for decapitating the guy with his own sword.
* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: In a symbolic way. He has all the traits of the Immortals amped up (disfiguration, strength, weapons skill, wrestling moves), but is so aggressive they have to carry him chained.
* ShoutOut: His character and his fight with Leonidas remind strongly of the Carthaginian mercenary Larus and his duel against Lucius Scipio during the UsefulNotes/PunicWars.
* UnskilledButStrong: Subverted. While he may look like a regular SmashMook, the axe he throws to Leonidas goes with such accuracy that the Spartan king narrowly escapes with his head on.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Wears the Immortal black pants along with aditional boots, but nothing on his upper body.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: As mentioned, he uses a chokeslam.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Executioner]]
->'''Played by:''' Leon Laderach
An executioner seen in Xerxes's army.
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* AgonyOfTheFeet: As seen briefly, his feet were amputated and apparently replaced with wood stumps.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Both of his arms have been amputated and replaced with serrated blades, and they seem to be attached to his bones.
* BodyHorror: He's obese, disfigurated and horribly handicapped.
* CanonForeigner: Was created for the film. In the comic, his role is played by a regular big guy with an axe.
* FatBastard: Has a wicked expression in his face.
* LoinCloth: Wears one along with some piercings and chains, which makes him ironically resemble Xerxes himself in a twisted way.
* NonActionGuy: Despite his terrifying imagery and equipment, he's not a warrior, so he's never faced by the Spartans.
[[/folder]]
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