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Creator/DCComics version of the Greek God of War from Myth/ClassicalMythology and one of the most prominent members of ComicBook/WonderWoman 's RoguesGallery.[[note]] ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} is the only one who surpasses him in terms of prominence and media appearances with ComicBook/{{Circe}} as his next closest competition.[[/note]]
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Creator/DCComics version of the Greek God of War from Myth/ClassicalMythology and one of the most prominent members of ComicBook/WonderWoman 's RoguesGallery.[[note]] ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} is the only one who surpasses him in terms of prominence and media appearances with ComicBook/{{Circe}} Circe as his next closest competition.[[/note]]
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* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Some of his kids take their old man (Phobos, Deimos, and Eris) take but others such as Eros, Harmonia, and Lyta (his daughter with ComicBook/{{Circe}}) show no signs of his villainy and are portrayed as good-natured individuals.
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* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Some of his kids take their old man (Phobos, Deimos, and Eris) take but others such as Eros, Harmonia, and Lyta (his daughter with ComicBook/{{Circe}}) Circe) show no signs of his villainy and are portrayed as good-natured individuals.
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* AdaptationalRelationshipOverhaul: Mythological Ares wasn't an enemy of the Amazons, he was their ''father'', and he was actually shown to be a pretty good dad by Greek God standards (not a lot of competition there, but still). He was even something of a [[PoliticallyCorrectVillain proto-feminist]]; he was proud of his daughters (and he was ''[[PapaWolf fiercely]]'' [[PapaWolf protective of them]] as Alirrothios found out), treated Aphrodite gently and with respect, and was always trying to win [[MommasBoy the love of his mother]], Hera. In the DC canon, he's the Amazons' arch-nemesis, and is basically the GodOfEvil of the Greek pantheon.
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[[center: [- [[Characters/WonderWoman Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/WonderWomanTheCharacter Wonder Woman]] | [[Characters/WonderWomanAllies Wonder Woman's Allies]] | [[Characters/WonderGirl Wonder Girl]] | [[Characters/WonderWomanVillains Villains]] ([[Characters/WonderWomanCheetah Cheetah]]) | [[Characters/WonderWomanGods Gods]] ('''Ares''') ]]-]
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* CoolHelmet: His iconic item is his indestructible helm, which is usually blued and horned. He will occasionally change up it's appearance to fit with whatever form he's chosen at the moment this change is always temporary.
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* CoolHelmet: His iconic item is his indestructible helm, which is usually blued and horned. He will occasionally change up it's appearance to fit with whatever form he's chosen at the moment this change is always temporary.
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* ''ComicBook/DarkCrisisOnInfiniteEarths''
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* ''ComicBook/DarkCrisisOnInfiniteEarths''
''ComicBook/DarkCrisis''
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* ''ComicBook/DarkCrisis''
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* ''ComicBook/DarkCrisis''
''ComicBook/DarkCrisisOnInfiniteEarths''
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* TheDreaded: He's the most hated and feared of the Olympians, and many of which fear him because he's grown stronger from the warfare over the years instead of weaker from lack of worship like his fellow gods.
* EvilIsPetty: He went out of his way to cause a lover's spat between Zeus and Hera by playing on Zeus' ego and lust, which ended in Hera sinking Themyscira out of spite.
* EvilIsPetty: He went out of his way to cause a lover's spat between Zeus and Hera by playing on Zeus' ego and lust, which ended in Hera sinking Themyscira out of spite.
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* PragmaticVillainy: With a little help from Wonder Woman, he realized that, thanks to nukes, starting WorldWarIII would destroy the world and leave no one left to fight his wars. He eventually focused his efforts to becoming the "God of Conflict", making him more powerful and more dangerous than before.
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* PragmaticVillainy: With a little help from Wonder Woman, he realized that, thanks to nukes, starting WorldWarIII would destroy the world and leave no one left to fight his wars. He eventually focused his efforts to becoming the "God of Conflict", making him more powerful powerful, devious, and more dangerous than before.
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* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Firmly Averted and then Subverted. [[spoiler:Post-Crisis Ares originally started off as considerably powerful by feeding off the warfare of mankind over the centuries and tried to kickstart World War III to make himself supremely powerful among the Gods. When Diana defeated him by showing him that such a war would render him powerless by killing everyone on Earth, Ares modernized himself to become the ''God of Conflict'', making him one of the top three most powerful gods on Olympus after Zeus and the rest of the former Big Three lost power due to lack of worship or activity in their domains, to the point Wonder Woman was no longer a threat to him. He later went about killing Hades to secure his place as God of the Underworld and Conflict, meaning he could now kill off everyone on Earth like originally planned and become stronger for it by taking everyone's souls. Feeling secure, Ares went about trying to kill off all the Amazons and Wonder Woman's coterie to remove any threats to his next scheme. However, despite his newfound power, he still somehow ended up being killed by an axe to the head by an already injured Wonder Woman.]]
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* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Firmly Averted and then Subverted. [[spoiler:Post-Crisis Ares originally started off as considerably powerful by feeding off the warfare of mankind over the centuries and tried to kickstart World War III to make himself supremely powerful among the Gods. When Diana defeated him by showing him that such a war would render him powerless by killing everyone on Earth, Ares modernized himself to become the ''God of Conflict'', making him one of the top three most powerful gods on Olympus after Zeus and the rest of the former Big Three lost power due to lack of worship or activity in their domains, to the point Wonder Woman was no longer a threat to him. He later went about killing Hades to secure his place as God of the Underworld and Conflict, meaning he could now kill off everyone on Earth like originally planned and become stronger for it by taking everyone's souls.souls into his domain. Feeling secure, Ares went about trying to kill off all the Amazons and Wonder Woman's coterie to remove any threats to his next scheme. However, despite his newfound power, he still somehow ended up being killed by an axe to the head by an already injured Wonder Woman.]]
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* AdaptationalBadass: This Ares is leagues more competent in sowing discord and carnage amongst mankind than his DumbMuscle PaperTiger mythological counterpart.
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* BloodSplatteredWarrior: Lacks the macho-ness you would expect the God of War to have, but the blood stains on his clothes make a decent substitute.
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* ''ComicBook/DarkCrisis''
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[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote: Out of Armor:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1066492_ares_001.jpg]]
[[/labelnote]]
[[/labelnote]]
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* BlondeBrunetteRedHead: When he's taken a mortal form and has a visible face, he's had all three over the years. Pre-Crisis: Red Head, Post-Crisis: Blonde, New 52: Red Head in his younger days, Rebirth: Brunette and Blonde.
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* BlondeBrunetteRedHead: When he's taken a mortal form and has a visible face, he's had all three over the years. Pre-Crisis: years;
** RedHead, Post-Crisis: Blonde, Head: Pre-Crisis, New 52: Red Head in his younger days, Rebirth: Brunette and Blonde.52
** Blonde: Post-Crisis, Rebirth
** Brunnette: Rebirth
** Red
** Blonde: Post-Crisis, Rebirth
** Brunnette: Rebirth
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Over the years Ares has become a somewhat frequent fixture in media adaptations that involve Wonder Woman in some form. He's been a playable character in several video games such as VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs and as the antagonist of the [[WesternAnimation/{{DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies}} direct to DVD original movies]] ''WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009'' film. He made his live-action debut in 2017's ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' as part of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, played by Creator/DavidThewlis.
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Over the years Ares has become a somewhat frequent fixture in media adaptations that involve Wonder Woman in some form. He's been a playable character in several video games such as VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' and as the antagonist of the [[WesternAnimation/{{DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies}} direct to DVD original movies]] ''WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009'' film. He made his live-action debut in 2017's ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' as part of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, played by Creator/DavidThewlis.
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Ambiguity Index wick cleaning.
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* BlondesAreEvil: Starting with Greg Rucka's run, Ares when out his armor was depicted with blonde hair.
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** ''ComicBook/Injustice2''
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* TheFaceless: Up until Greg Rucka's run, he was never seen without his helmet that obscured all but eyes. After Rucka he would switch-up between having the helmet on or off.
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* ''ComicBook/{{Injustice Gods Among Us}}'' (2013 - 2016)
* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'' (2014 - 2016)
* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'' (2014 - 2016)
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* ''ComicBook/{{Injustice Gods Among Us}}'' (2013 - 2016)
Us}}''
** ''ComicBook/Injustice2''
* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman''(2014 - 2016)
** ''ComicBook/Injustice2''
* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman''
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* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanHistoriaTheAmazons'' (2021-present)
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* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanHistoriaTheAmazons'' (2021-present)
''ComicBook/WonderWomanHistoriaTheAmazons''
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* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'' Vol. 1 (1942 - 1986)
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* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'' Vol. 1 (1942 - 1986)1986) [[note]] As "Mars" [[/note]]
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Not to be confused with Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/{{Ares}}
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Not to be confused with Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/{{Ares}}
ComicBook/{{Ares|Marvel}}
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* ''ComicBook/{{Injustice Gods Among Us}}'' (2013 - 2016) [[note]]Prequel comic to the titular video game[[/note]]
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* ''ComicBook/{{Injustice Gods Among Us}}'' (2013 - 2016) [[note]]Prequel comic to the titular video game[[/note]]2016)
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* ''ComicBook/{{The Legend of Wonder Woman|2016}}'' [[note]]Unseen in person in the story but similar to the ComicBook/TheGoldenAge he acts through mortal agents on Earth.[[/note]]
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* ''ComicBook/{{The Legend of Wonder Woman|2016}}'' [[note]]Unseen in person in the story but similar to the ComicBook/TheGoldenAge he acts through mortal agents on Earth.[[/note]]
Woman|2016}}''
* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanHistoriaTheAmazons'' (2021-present)
* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanHistoriaTheAmazons'' (2021-present)
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** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' (2021) [-played by-] Nick [=McKinless=] and David Thewlis [[note]]There's more footage of him in this version, and he battles Darkseid instead of Steppenwolf. [=McKinless=] was a body double here, with Thewlis' face added via DigitalheadSwap.[[/note]]
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** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' (2021) [-played by-] Nick [=McKinless=] and David Thewlis [[note]]There's more footage of him in this version, and he battles Darkseid instead of Steppenwolf. [=McKinless=] was a body double here, with Thewlis' face added via DigitalheadSwap.DigitalHeadSwap.[[/note]]
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Badass Mustache and Badass Beard are being merged into Manly Facial Hair. Examples that don't fit or are zero-context are removed. To qualify for Manly Facial Hair, the facial hair must be associated with masculinity in some way. Please read the trope description before readding to make sure the example qualifies.
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* BadassBeard: War personified has worn a long beard in a few of his chosen forms, including a red one that he allowed to decay into grey.
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Over the years Ares has become a somewhat frequent fixture in media adaptations that involve Wonder Woman in some form. He's been a playable character in several video games such as VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs and as the antagonist of the [[WesternAnimation/{{DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies}} direct to DVD original movies]] WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009 film. He made his live-action debut in 2017's ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' as part of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, played by Creator/DavidThewlis.
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Over the years Ares has become a somewhat frequent fixture in media adaptations that involve Wonder Woman in some form. He's been a playable character in several video games such as VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs and as the antagonist of the [[WesternAnimation/{{DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies}} direct to DVD original movies]] WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009 ''WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009'' film. He made his live-action debut in 2017's ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' as part of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, played by Creator/DavidThewlis.
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** Not so much anymore in ComicBook/New52.
* MrFanservice: Believe it or not, he's quite handsome when out of his armor. Modern artists starting around the 2000s began following Ancient Greek depictions of Ares by making him something of a pretty boy.
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* ShadowedFaceGlowingEyes: As pictured above, he is depicted as this with his armor.
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* ShadowedFaceGlowingEyes: As pictured above, he is depicted as this with when in his armor.
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* WarGod: Obviously
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* WarGod: Obviously[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Obviously]]
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* BlondesAreEvil: Starting with Greg Rucka's run, Ares when out his armor was depicted with blonde hair.
* CameBackWrong: In Creator/GailSimone's run, Diana finally killed Ares after his involvement in the creation of [[GenericDoomsdayVillain Genocide]]. Ares' ghost returns with his head poorly stitched together from the killing blow he received from Diana and has a far more creepy characterization than he had before dying.
* CameBackWrong: In Creator/GailSimone's run, Diana finally killed Ares after his involvement in the creation of [[GenericDoomsdayVillain Genocide]]. Ares' ghost returns with his head poorly stitched together from the killing blow he received from Diana and has a far more creepy characterization than he had before dying.
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* {{Archenemy}}: One of the top three classic contenders for the title, alongside Circe and the various incarnations of ComicBook/{{Cheetah}}. Of the three of them, he's easily the most powerful, with the furthest reaching plans. This makes his Post-Crisis relationship with Diana not unlike that of R'as Al-Ghul and Batman or Darkseid and Superman--he's not her most frequent adversary, but when he does show up it's on a whole other scale.
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* {{Archenemy}}: ArchEnemy: One of the top three classic contenders for the title, alongside Circe and the various incarnations of ComicBook/{{Cheetah}}. Of the three of them, he's easily the most powerful, with the furthest reaching plans. This makes his Post-Crisis relationship with Diana not unlike that of R'as Al-Ghul and Batman or Darkseid and Superman--he's not her most frequent adversary, but when he does show up it's on a whole other scale.
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!!! '''First appearance''': ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' #1 (June !942, as Mars)
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!!! '''First appearance''': ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' #1 ''[[ComicBook/WonderWomanNumberOne Wonder Woman #1]]'' (June !942, 1942, as Mars)
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** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' (2021) [-played by-] Nick [=McKinless=] [[note]]There's more footage of him in this version, and he battles Darkseid instead of Steppenwolf.[[/note]]
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** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' (2021) [-played by-] Nick [=McKinless=] and David Thewlis [[note]]There's more footage of him in this version, and he battles Darkseid instead of Steppenwolf.Steppenwolf. [=McKinless=] was a body double here, with Thewlis' face added via DigitalheadSwap.[[/note]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwarestv_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Ares on the cover of ''Wonder Woman'' #6 (vol. 2), 1987. Art by Creator/GeorgePerez]]
!!! '''Species''': Olympian God
!!! '''First appearance''': ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' #1 (June !942, as Mars)
->''"I'd love it if you would sign it for me. Something like 'To my archenemy, may you burn forever in Hades.'"''
-->-- Ares, ''Wonder Woman'' #199 (Vol. 2), written by Creator/GregRucka
Creator/DCComics version of the Greek God of War from Myth/ClassicalMythology and one of the most prominent members of ComicBook/WonderWoman 's RoguesGallery.[[note]] ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} is the only one who surpasses him in terms of prominence and media appearances with ComicBook/{{Circe}} as his next closest competition.[[/note]]
Ares, sometimes sporting different names over the years, has since remained one of the character's most long-lasting foes and as Wonder Woman herself has undergone several shakeups and a many ContinuityReboot, so too has the role Ares has played in Wonder Woman's mythos. More often than not as her BigBad but has occasionally taken on the role of an ally, or even a mentor figure in some continuities.
Over the years Ares has become a somewhat frequent fixture in media adaptations that involve Wonder Woman in some form. He's been a playable character in several video games such as VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs and as the antagonist of the [[WesternAnimation/{{DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies}} direct to DVD original movies]] WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009 film. He made his live-action debut in 2017's ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' as part of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, played by Creator/DavidThewlis.
Not to be confused with Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/{{Ares}}
[[AC:Notable Appearances]]
[[AC:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'' Vol. 1 (1942 - 1986)
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}}'' Vol. 2 (1987 - 2005)
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|2006}}'' Vol. 3 (2006 - 2011)
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|2011}}'' Vol. 4 (2011 - 2016)
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|Rebirth}}'' Vol. 5 (2016 - present)
[[AC: Other Notable Comic Books and Elseworld Stories]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Injustice Gods Among Us}}'' (2013 - 2016) [[note]]Prequel comic to the titular video game[[/note]]
* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'' (2014 - 2016)
* ''ComicBook/{{The Legend of Wonder Woman|2016}}'' [[note]]Unseen in person in the story but similar to the ComicBook/TheGoldenAge he acts through mortal agents on Earth.[[/note]]
[[AC:Live-Action Film]]
* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse
** ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' (2017) [-played by-] Creator/DavidThewlis
** ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' (2017) [-played by-] Nick [=McKinless=]
** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' (2021) [-played by-] Nick [=McKinless=] [[note]]There's more footage of him in this version, and he battles Darkseid instead of Steppenwolf.[[/note]]
[[AC:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls'' [-voiced by-] Creator/FredTatasciore
[[AC:Western Animation]]
* Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' [-voiced by-] Creator/MichaelYork
* ''WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009'' [-voiced by-] Creator/AlfredMolina
[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' [-voiced by-] J.G. Hertzler
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Tropes Applying to More Than One Incarnation of Ares]]
* AdaptationalIntelligence: Ares in [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]] was a DumbMuscle bruiser who left the thinking to Athena, and occasionally got his rear handed to him by mortals. While not a GeniusBruiser, Ares in most continuties displays more intelligence and cunning than his mythological counterpart ever did.
* AdaptationalModesty: Mythological Ares wasn't a big believer in clothes. At all. He often wore a helmet, maybe added a cape, carried a shield and called it good. Aside from a few instances, DC's Ares is usually fully covered in layers of armor.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Ares wasn't exactly beloved by the Ancient Greeks but he also wasn't a GodOfEvil has often has been his role in the comics.
* AnimalMotifs: Unlike most of the gods who get whittled down to one correlated animal, the various animals associated with Ares from mythology and history have appeared in the comics across the continuities:
** Snakes, carrying over from the original mythology where snakes often adorned his shield, were one of his sacred animals and one of his beloved daughters was turned into one. In some of his earliest DCU appearance in the Golden Age there were snakes on his breastplate and later his iconic helmet has a snake motif down each side wrapped around the spikes and horns. ComicBook/DCRebirth upgrades this to twisting living snakes like those on his son Demios' helmet.
** Vultures show up the least often, but he uses them to aid Diana after she defeats him and he swears not to try to destroy humankind again.
** Dogs were one of his sacred animals in mythology and is often accompanied by a pair, who are the chosen form of his sons, the gods of terror and fear, Deimos and Phobos.
** ComicBook/New52 have now made Rams one as well that continues into ComicBook/Rebirth. [[spoiler:His helmet prior to his imprisonment under Themyscira being modeled after a Ram's head. Bulls as well with the addition of bull-like horns to his iconic blue helmet.]]
* {{Archenemy}}: One of the top three classic contenders for the title, alongside Circe and the various incarnations of ComicBook/{{Cheetah}}. Of the three of them, he's easily the most powerful, with the furthest reaching plans. This makes his Post-Crisis relationship with Diana not unlike that of R'as Al-Ghul and Batman or Darkseid and Superman--he's not her most frequent adversary, but when he does show up it's on a whole other scale.
** Not so much anymore in ComicBook/New52.
* BigBad: The biggest bad in the pre-New 52 comics, and the man behind more than a few major arcs.
* BlondeBrunetteRedHead: When he's taken a mortal form and has a visible face, he's had all three over the years. Pre-Crisis: Red Head, Post-Crisis: Blonde, New 52: Red Head in his younger days, Rebirth: Brunette and Blonde.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: He's not human and doesn't think like one, even if he might pretend to for a brief while.
* GodOfEvil: Frequently comes off as this given his juxtaposition to Diana and the Amazon's
* HotConsort: In most continuities save the ''ComicBook/New52'' long before Diana was born her grandmother Queen Otrere's hot consort was the scantly clad war god Ares. They had a few daughters together including Diana's mother Queen Hippolyta.
* HumansAreBastards: Ares has a low opinion of humans across pretty much all continuities.
-->'''Ares:''' God of War? HAH! I am '''quaint'''! A mere dabbler compared to these modern men!
* PublicDomainCharacter: As with the rest of the Greek Pantheon and Amazons in general. Comes with being OlderThanFeudalism
* SadlyMythtaken: All versions who have appeared differ in some form or another from the Ares of Myth/ClassicalMythology in both major and minor details. See the respective versions below for specifics. Most notably however is Ares mythological parentage of Hippolyta is either usually completely excised or rarely brought up.
* ShadowedFaceGlowingEyes: As pictured above, he is depicted as this with his armor.
* TheStrategist: Oddly a twist on the original myth, since Ares was said to encompass brute force and untempered violence. Mars on the other hand was something of a strategist in the myths, but was also heroic and revered rather than the unloved Ares usually acts as.
* TinTyrant: Has frequently adopted this look, his most iconic being the layered blued armor covered in spikes and occasionally adorned in skeletal motifs from ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}}''
* WarGod: Obviously
* WarIsGlorious: He will occasionally espouse such views but it's always either a sign that he's up to something or that his sanity is slipping because at his core he's of the opinion that WarIsHell, and he revels in it even if some things which occur during wars disgust him. He also feels that mankind's best and worst can only be seen in war.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mars (Pre-Crisis)]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwmarsga.png]]
[[caption-width-right:331:]]
* AffablyEvil: ''Only'' in relation to his interactions with Aphrodite, whom he seems to have a degree of respect for and whom he never acts directly against nor sends any of his minions against instead targeting her acolytes and allies. She's willing to lounge around and debate their differing schools of thought with him without any protection for herself whatsoever, and she doesn't need any.
* AncientGrome: Goes by Mars rather than Ares and usually drawn to more resemble a Roman general or gladiator. In-line with the rest of the more loose interpretations and mashup of other Greek and Roman deities of Myth/ClassicalMythology in Golden Age/Pre-Crisis Wonder Woman.
* BigBad: He is and has been the most consistent and dangerous foe of Diana, Aphrodite and the Amazons.
* CompositeCharacter: Of his Greek and Roman mythological counterparts. He has the name Mars but unlike in Roman mythology, where was seen as a more noble and positive figure, he has the short-sightedness and TheBrute-like nature that's truer to how the Greeks saw Ares.
* EvilRedhead: Mars is a redhead hellbent on entangling humans in a forever war.
* GodEmperor: He's the King of Mars, and the God of War.
* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: [[MarsAndVenusGenderContrast This version provides the page image]]. Under Marston, the war-loving shortsighted Mars served as a metaphorical representation of violence and patriarchy. Even rules over the actual planet of Mars.
* SadlyMythtaken: Mythological Mars was not thought to rule an oppressive kingdom on the planet Mars as this one does.
* SnakesAreSinister: Golden Age BigBad Mars has snakes painted on his armor.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: While the Golden Age Olympians have very little to do with the Classical Myths their names came from several of their familial realtionships are maintained. However Ares and Aphrodite are not related on DC's Earth-Two, even though she's his great-aunt in the more popular of her mythological origins and his sister in one of the less circulated ones.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ares (Post-Crisis)]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwarespc.png]]
* AbusiveParents: While he was, up until his character revamp with ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis,'' written as the only Olympian to avert this in a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' crossover he sentenced three of his kids (Phobos, Deimos, and Eris) to punishment and imprisonment in Hades after they attempted to poison him.
* AxCrazy: But slightly less ax crazy, since Wonder Woman made him see with her Lasso of Truth that destroying the human race, including his own worshipers, would effectively lead to his own disappearance. Now instead of trying to start WorldWarIII, Ares sticks to smaller goals such as trying to overthrow his fellow gods on Mount Olympus.
* ColorMotif: His armor is predominately colored blue, a fitting color since blue is traditionally associated with masculinity.
* CoolHelmet: His iconic item is his indestructible helm, which is usually blued and horned. He will occasionally change up it's appearance to fit with whatever form he's chosen at the moment this change is always temporary.
* ConsummateLiar: Wonder Woman calls him the Deceiver for a reason. Here's a lovely spiel he sprouts when he walks as a guest into Hades to murder Hades and take the throne, managing to threaten ''everyone'' present with Hades and Poseidon thinking he's still allied with them and keep them from realizing his timing just saved Diana's life, and his forces grabbing Cassie and Ferdinand is to save their lives as well:
-->'''Ares:''' Dear naive Cassandra, there's a reason Diana calls me "Deceiver". Now pay '''attention''' because you and the man-beast are next. Uncle... pray continue.
* DeadpanSnarker: When Ares snarks it's often gold, for example:
-->'''Aphrodite:''' If you ache for something to hold, you'll find I'm much more yielding than that axe of yours.
-->'''Ares:''' Softer, perhaps, but my axe is ''marginally'' less dangerous.
--->--''ComicBook/WonderWoman'', Vol 2 #214.
-->'''Ares:''' Oh, good. I made it in time for the murder.[[note]]He's making it sound like he's there to witness Hades killing Diana, when instead he's about to casually stroll up and murder Hades[[/note]]
--->--''ComicBook/WonderWoman'', Vol 2 #217.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: Was both the source of both his motivation and defeat in the opening story line of Wonder Woman's Post-Crisis history. In ancient times he proposed conquering humanity outright to prevent them from falling out of worshiping Olympus and almost started WorldWarIII in the modern times before Wonder Woman caused him to realize that starting such a conflict would only give him a short term power boost. If everyone is dead, there will be no more war and he would eventually fade into nothing. Ares eventually found a way around this by reinventing himself as a ''God of Conflict'' and overthrowing Hades to become the God of the Dead too. As the dead in the Underworld are all his worshipers, he was safe to try to and trigger World War III again.
* HatesTheirParent: Ares has made multiple attempts on his father Zeus' life, and while they both hate each other Ares is the only one of the two who will happily explain ''why'' he loathes dear old dad while Zeus usually tries to act as if he's just disappointed and doing what his position dictates he needs to in reaction to Ares' behavior.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Ares has had a rather complex history with Wonder Woman in post crisis. During the Perez run, she was able to convince him that starting World War 3 was a bad idea and he left her with the task of "saving mankind from themselves". During the Messner-Loebs run, he returned as a villain and was possessing the body of a criminal who sold weapons for gang wars. During the Rucka run, he reinvented himself as the "God of Conflict" and was more of a neutral character. He also served as a mentor of sorts to Cassie Sandsmark for a time. The Simone run saw him as an out and out villain again post crisis.
* HijackedByJesus: In George Perez's run Ares plays TheDevil--a diabolical figure with his own domain called the Areopagus, and a powerful threat to his sibling Olympians.
* KillAllHumans: Came within a few minutes of starting a world-ending nuclear war before Diana pointed out the flaws in that plan. Did it again years later when he didn't need to worry about running out of people to worship him by becoming the God of the Underworld.
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Some of his kids take their old man (Phobos, Deimos, and Eris) take but others such as Eros, Harmonia, and Lyta (his daughter with ComicBook/{{Circe}}) show no signs of his villainy and are portrayed as good-natured individuals.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: In the ComicBook/PostCrisis continuity Ares was not aware he was Hippolyta's father until centuries after her reincarnation, as she took a new name after being brought back in a new immortal body as the Queen of the Amazons by the goddesses. He had no way of knowing without Hippolyta (or the patron goddesses) informing him that she was his daughter brought back in a new body, and she's implied to have been his daughter Alcippe in her previous life.
* ManipulativeBastard: While not to the degree of other figures like Athena and Circe, as a part of his AdaptationalIntelligence he's shown he can be just as a good as a behind-the-scenes player as a warrior on the battlefield. Most notably when played the part of a loyal ally to Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus following Athena's takeover of Olympus only to end up literally stabbing Hades in the back and thus takeover the Underworld.
* ModernizedGod: In Rucka's run when he became the "God of Conflict", he changed his TinTyrant look to a pair black pants and open black shirt. He only wore his armor for certain occasions.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: A pre-emptive version in "Gods & Mortals" when he sees what will happen if his plan to start a nuclear war succeeds.
* {{Necromancer}}: Became it after killing Hades and inheriting his powers.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: [[spoiler: What Diana does in [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 Vol 3]] after the whole Genocide affair by grabbing a battle axe and splitting his head open.]]
* PetTheDog: Has his moments
** A taste of the fact that he's more than he seems is given early on with the revelation that he has afforded his daughter Harmonia luxurious lodging in his domain even though she opposes him and he loves and cares for her as his daughter and respects her for standing up for her beliefs even if he does not share them.
** Ares was part of the group that restored the Amazons when they were turned to clay, to the shock of the other Olympians, because his daughter and granddaughter were among them.
** When Athena had her champion Diana, who was blind and recovering from serious injuries at the time, fight against Zeus' champion, the EldritchAbomination Hekatonkheires, Ares strolled in to try and interfere. While he was stopped by Aphrodite he still made biting comments at Athena to try and get her to aid her champion.
** When Cassie lost her powers, Ares offered to restore them. Instead of a DealWithTheDevil, all he wanted in return [[spoiler: was for her to call him brother and to say "I love you" to him]]. Though this was kind of subverted when it turned out that his powers were driving her crazy. Though he may not have known that, so it could still count.
* PossessionBurnout: He doesn't ''have'' to kill mortals who allow him to possess them in order for him to interact with the mortal realm, but he prefers to as he despises the type of human that would generally call him up to make such a deal. When he's done with them he'll set their flesh to boiling and leave a pile of smoldering bone and bubbling fluid for their corpse.
* PragmaticVillainy: With a little help from Wonder Woman, he realized that, thanks to nukes, starting WorldWarIII would destroy the world and leave no one left to fight his wars. He eventually focused his efforts to becoming the "God of Conflict", making him more powerful and more dangerous than before.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Easily mistaken as the god of evil and often has glowing red eyes when they're not pitch black pits. Even when he's in a suit with cropped hair and otherwise looks human his eyes are usually solid red. In a twist when he has human looking eyes it's best to just run since this generally only happens when he tries to turn good, which turns him into a horrific KnightTemplar.
* SadlyMythtaken: While it's par the course given that part of the Amazon's backstory is that the myths are twisted versions of what "truly happened" Ares gets hit hard here, especially since his parentage of Hippolyta and Antiope was later retconned back in. Here it is he who drives Heracles to attack the Amazons rather than Hera, though her driving Heracles mad is given a mention. This means Ares orchestrated the rape and enslavement of his own daughters, which goes quite contrary to his mythological counterpart for whom his dedication to his children was his only redeeming quality. For mythological Ares the rape or attempted rape of his children was also a BerserkButton, and he didn't much get on with Heracles since the hero killed one of Ares' murderous cannibalistic children.
* SmugSnake: Under Greg Rucka's pen at least.
* VillainsBlendInBetter: Unlike most of the other Gods and even Wonder Woman herself, he has quickly adjusted to the modern world and is comfortable with wearing modern clothing if the situation calls for it. By Rucka's run, he and Athena had taken on roles to better fir the modern age, in his case becoming more a "God of Conflict" rather than just war.
* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Firmly Averted and then Subverted. [[spoiler:Post-Crisis Ares originally started off as considerably powerful by feeding off the warfare of mankind over the centuries and tried to kickstart World War III to make himself supremely powerful among the Gods. When Diana defeated him by showing him that such a war would render him powerless by killing everyone on Earth, Ares modernized himself to become the ''God of Conflict'', making him one of the top three most powerful gods on Olympus after Zeus and the rest of the former Big Three lost power due to lack of worship or activity in their domains, to the point Wonder Woman was no longer a threat to him. He later went about killing Hades to secure his place as God of the Underworld and Conflict, meaning he could now kill off everyone on Earth like originally planned and become stronger for it by taking everyone's souls. Feeling secure, Ares went about trying to kill off all the Amazons and Wonder Woman's coterie to remove any threats to his next scheme. However, despite his newfound power, he still somehow ended up being killed by an axe to the head by an already injured Wonder Woman.]]
* VillainRespect: He tells the Amazon, Io, he'll kill her if she insists on trying to prevent him from reaching his daughter, but he just knocks her out when she fights him anyway. He later says it's because he respected her fighting abilities and her attempts to protect one of his children even if he thinks it misguided to protect his kids from him.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: In Greg Rucka's run, whenever he wasn't sporting his blue armor, He would lounge about and snark in black dress pants and a open button-up black shirt. It's part of the understated more human look he adopts, and the open shirt is just as much about showing off his chiseled good looks as it is about the quiet threat of all the thin scars on his torso.
* WouldHitAGirl: Hasn't shown any compunction against going a few rounds with Diana on account of her gender.
* WorfEffect: [[spoiler: Even after becoming a God on the equal level of Zeus, he still ends up being killed by an axe to the head by Wonder Woman.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:War (New 52)]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwaresnew52_70.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote: In His Younger Days:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwaresnew52_2.png]]
[[/labelnote]]
* AdaptationalHeroism: Although neutral, he's much more of an ally than an enemy in ComicBook/New52. Also tends to come off better in comparison to his mythological counterpart.
* ArmyOfTheAges: Is able to summon the ghosts of soldiers from all across human history. Used in his fight against The First Born.
* BadassBeard: War personified has worn a long beard in a few of his chosen forms, including a red one that he allowed to decay into grey.
* CynicalMentor: He was one to Diana when she was younger, but not for that long, kicking her out when she refused to kill someone.
* EvilOldFolks: Not so much "evil" as extremely violent, but effectively the same by the modern era.
* GrandpaGod: He's an old man with a long white beard.
* PetTheDog: After helping Diana rescue Zola's baby he leaves, making it seem like he had kidnapped the kid for his own purposes, but it turns out he went straight back to Zola to give the kid back.
* SadlyMythtaken:
** He makes comments that suggest he's either not Zeus' son or doesn't consider himself as such. It's kind of unclear which it is, but Apollo at least refers to Zeus as "our" father when speaking to Ares, so it might just be Ares disowning Zeus.
** His relationship with the Amazons is quite different from the original myths where he was their patron god, consort to their queen Otere, the father of Hippolyta and her sisters and [[PapaWolf furious]] when any of his children were killed.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ares (Rebirth)]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dodsonares.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote: While in Prison:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dcrebirthares2_5.png]]
[[/labelnote]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Pre-Imprisonment Version:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aresrebirth3.png]]
[[/labelnote]]
* AdaptationalHeroism: Continuing on from the New 52, Ares here is a more sympathetic figure than he was in most prior incarnations. He was originally, willfully, imprisoned under Themyscira as humanity's constants wars drove him near-insane. Continues on after he is reincarnated and released and tries to be an ally to Diana, initially at least.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Displays this when he tries to rebrand himself as the "God of Justice". His idea of justice being to punish everyone with the same equal severity.
* CompositeCharacter: Of essentially two previous versions of himself; the Post-Crisis and New 52 versions. Starting out life as a mad WarGod like his Post-Crisis version but overtime mellowing out and sometimes being an ally to Diana like his New 52 incarnation. His armor from his pre-imprisonment days even looks like a fusion of his two armored forms from his prior incarnations.
* DumbBlonde: Not dumb ''per se'' but is sporting blonde hair during his initial attempt at being an ally of Diana and displays a very simplistic, and extreme, view of justice and punishment.
* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler: The ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' Wonder Woman series has been implying the New 52 Ares and the rest of the Olympians were not the real deal, and that Ares is still one of Diana's enemies. The ''Year One'' storyline has Diana explicitly tell Barbara Minerva that the Amazons have never considered Ares an ally, saying "His is the way of madness." Ares then appears before Diana for what is supposedly their first meeting ever, saying he's waited aeons to meet her, effectively subverting all the tropes pertaining to New 52 Ares as lies and misdirection aimed at Diana. It helps that his appearance is once again similar to the blue armor George Perez designed. It's later revealed this ''[[SubvertedTrope also]]'' wasn't the real Ares, but Phobos and Deimos using his image. The real Ares has pulled a HeelFaceTurn inside his prison in Themyscira.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Starting with DC Rebirth it's revealed that [[spoiler: Ares was imprisoned on Themyscira. At some point in the past, Ares became consumed by war and was straight up AxCrazy. The other gods realized that he needed to be stopped so Hephaestus forged binding manacles similar to the Golden Perfect (the lasso of truth) which could hold Ares. Aphrodite was the one to place them upon Ares and in doing so also suffused them with her love of him (items touched by gods become god-touched and imprinted with their power). The manacles not only bound Ares but power of Aphrodite's love dispelled his madness. He even held her and cried TearsOfRemorse afterward. In modern times, he's still imprisoned but by choice, wanting to spare the world his power unchecked and unrestrained.]]
* KnightTemplar: When he attempts to pull a HeelFaceTurn he instead turns into a horrific pastiche of "justice", judging all crimes as equal and worthy of punishment by death. He's at his best when he tries to just stay apathetic.
* SealedEvilInACan: Subverted; [[spoiler: Long before Diana' time, he willingly went into imprisonment under Themyscira after being driven near insane by humanity's constant wars and kept sane by chains forged by Hephaestus and powered by Aphrodite's love.]]
[[/folder]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Ares on the cover of ''Wonder Woman'' #6 (vol. 2), 1987. Art by Creator/GeorgePerez]]
!!! '''Species''': Olympian God
!!! '''First appearance''': ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' #1 (June !942, as Mars)
->''"I'd love it if you would sign it for me. Something like 'To my archenemy, may you burn forever in Hades.'"''
-->-- Ares, ''Wonder Woman'' #199 (Vol. 2), written by Creator/GregRucka
Creator/DCComics version of the Greek God of War from Myth/ClassicalMythology and one of the most prominent members of ComicBook/WonderWoman 's RoguesGallery.[[note]] ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} is the only one who surpasses him in terms of prominence and media appearances with ComicBook/{{Circe}} as his next closest competition.[[/note]]
Ares, sometimes sporting different names over the years, has since remained one of the character's most long-lasting foes and as Wonder Woman herself has undergone several shakeups and a many ContinuityReboot, so too has the role Ares has played in Wonder Woman's mythos. More often than not as her BigBad but has occasionally taken on the role of an ally, or even a mentor figure in some continuities.
Over the years Ares has become a somewhat frequent fixture in media adaptations that involve Wonder Woman in some form. He's been a playable character in several video games such as VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs and as the antagonist of the [[WesternAnimation/{{DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies}} direct to DVD original movies]] WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009 film. He made his live-action debut in 2017's ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' as part of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, played by Creator/DavidThewlis.
Not to be confused with Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/{{Ares}}
[[AC:Notable Appearances]]
[[AC:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'' Vol. 1 (1942 - 1986)
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}}'' Vol. 2 (1987 - 2005)
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|2006}}'' Vol. 3 (2006 - 2011)
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|2011}}'' Vol. 4 (2011 - 2016)
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|Rebirth}}'' Vol. 5 (2016 - present)
[[AC: Other Notable Comic Books and Elseworld Stories]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Injustice Gods Among Us}}'' (2013 - 2016) [[note]]Prequel comic to the titular video game[[/note]]
* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'' (2014 - 2016)
* ''ComicBook/{{The Legend of Wonder Woman|2016}}'' [[note]]Unseen in person in the story but similar to the ComicBook/TheGoldenAge he acts through mortal agents on Earth.[[/note]]
[[AC:Live-Action Film]]
* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse
** ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' (2017) [-played by-] Creator/DavidThewlis
** ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' (2017) [-played by-] Nick [=McKinless=]
** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' (2021) [-played by-] Nick [=McKinless=] [[note]]There's more footage of him in this version, and he battles Darkseid instead of Steppenwolf.[[/note]]
[[AC:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls'' [-voiced by-] Creator/FredTatasciore
[[AC:Western Animation]]
* Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' [-voiced by-] Creator/MichaelYork
* ''WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009'' [-voiced by-] Creator/AlfredMolina
[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' [-voiced by-] J.G. Hertzler
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Tropes Applying to More Than One Incarnation of Ares]]
* AdaptationalIntelligence: Ares in [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]] was a DumbMuscle bruiser who left the thinking to Athena, and occasionally got his rear handed to him by mortals. While not a GeniusBruiser, Ares in most continuties displays more intelligence and cunning than his mythological counterpart ever did.
* AdaptationalModesty: Mythological Ares wasn't a big believer in clothes. At all. He often wore a helmet, maybe added a cape, carried a shield and called it good. Aside from a few instances, DC's Ares is usually fully covered in layers of armor.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Ares wasn't exactly beloved by the Ancient Greeks but he also wasn't a GodOfEvil has often has been his role in the comics.
* AnimalMotifs: Unlike most of the gods who get whittled down to one correlated animal, the various animals associated with Ares from mythology and history have appeared in the comics across the continuities:
** Snakes, carrying over from the original mythology where snakes often adorned his shield, were one of his sacred animals and one of his beloved daughters was turned into one. In some of his earliest DCU appearance in the Golden Age there were snakes on his breastplate and later his iconic helmet has a snake motif down each side wrapped around the spikes and horns. ComicBook/DCRebirth upgrades this to twisting living snakes like those on his son Demios' helmet.
** Vultures show up the least often, but he uses them to aid Diana after she defeats him and he swears not to try to destroy humankind again.
** Dogs were one of his sacred animals in mythology and is often accompanied by a pair, who are the chosen form of his sons, the gods of terror and fear, Deimos and Phobos.
** ComicBook/New52 have now made Rams one as well that continues into ComicBook/Rebirth. [[spoiler:His helmet prior to his imprisonment under Themyscira being modeled after a Ram's head. Bulls as well with the addition of bull-like horns to his iconic blue helmet.]]
* {{Archenemy}}: One of the top three classic contenders for the title, alongside Circe and the various incarnations of ComicBook/{{Cheetah}}. Of the three of them, he's easily the most powerful, with the furthest reaching plans. This makes his Post-Crisis relationship with Diana not unlike that of R'as Al-Ghul and Batman or Darkseid and Superman--he's not her most frequent adversary, but when he does show up it's on a whole other scale.
** Not so much anymore in ComicBook/New52.
* BigBad: The biggest bad in the pre-New 52 comics, and the man behind more than a few major arcs.
* BlondeBrunetteRedHead: When he's taken a mortal form and has a visible face, he's had all three over the years. Pre-Crisis: Red Head, Post-Crisis: Blonde, New 52: Red Head in his younger days, Rebirth: Brunette and Blonde.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: He's not human and doesn't think like one, even if he might pretend to for a brief while.
* GodOfEvil: Frequently comes off as this given his juxtaposition to Diana and the Amazon's
* HotConsort: In most continuities save the ''ComicBook/New52'' long before Diana was born her grandmother Queen Otrere's hot consort was the scantly clad war god Ares. They had a few daughters together including Diana's mother Queen Hippolyta.
* HumansAreBastards: Ares has a low opinion of humans across pretty much all continuities.
-->'''Ares:''' God of War? HAH! I am '''quaint'''! A mere dabbler compared to these modern men!
* PublicDomainCharacter: As with the rest of the Greek Pantheon and Amazons in general. Comes with being OlderThanFeudalism
* SadlyMythtaken: All versions who have appeared differ in some form or another from the Ares of Myth/ClassicalMythology in both major and minor details. See the respective versions below for specifics. Most notably however is Ares mythological parentage of Hippolyta is either usually completely excised or rarely brought up.
* ShadowedFaceGlowingEyes: As pictured above, he is depicted as this with his armor.
* TheStrategist: Oddly a twist on the original myth, since Ares was said to encompass brute force and untempered violence. Mars on the other hand was something of a strategist in the myths, but was also heroic and revered rather than the unloved Ares usually acts as.
* TinTyrant: Has frequently adopted this look, his most iconic being the layered blued armor covered in spikes and occasionally adorned in skeletal motifs from ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}}''
* WarGod: Obviously
* WarIsGlorious: He will occasionally espouse such views but it's always either a sign that he's up to something or that his sanity is slipping because at his core he's of the opinion that WarIsHell, and he revels in it even if some things which occur during wars disgust him. He also feels that mankind's best and worst can only be seen in war.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mars (Pre-Crisis)]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwmarsga.png]]
[[caption-width-right:331:]]
* AffablyEvil: ''Only'' in relation to his interactions with Aphrodite, whom he seems to have a degree of respect for and whom he never acts directly against nor sends any of his minions against instead targeting her acolytes and allies. She's willing to lounge around and debate their differing schools of thought with him without any protection for herself whatsoever, and she doesn't need any.
* AncientGrome: Goes by Mars rather than Ares and usually drawn to more resemble a Roman general or gladiator. In-line with the rest of the more loose interpretations and mashup of other Greek and Roman deities of Myth/ClassicalMythology in Golden Age/Pre-Crisis Wonder Woman.
* BigBad: He is and has been the most consistent and dangerous foe of Diana, Aphrodite and the Amazons.
* CompositeCharacter: Of his Greek and Roman mythological counterparts. He has the name Mars but unlike in Roman mythology, where was seen as a more noble and positive figure, he has the short-sightedness and TheBrute-like nature that's truer to how the Greeks saw Ares.
* EvilRedhead: Mars is a redhead hellbent on entangling humans in a forever war.
* GodEmperor: He's the King of Mars, and the God of War.
* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: [[MarsAndVenusGenderContrast This version provides the page image]]. Under Marston, the war-loving shortsighted Mars served as a metaphorical representation of violence and patriarchy. Even rules over the actual planet of Mars.
* SadlyMythtaken: Mythological Mars was not thought to rule an oppressive kingdom on the planet Mars as this one does.
* SnakesAreSinister: Golden Age BigBad Mars has snakes painted on his armor.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: While the Golden Age Olympians have very little to do with the Classical Myths their names came from several of their familial realtionships are maintained. However Ares and Aphrodite are not related on DC's Earth-Two, even though she's his great-aunt in the more popular of her mythological origins and his sister in one of the less circulated ones.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ares (Post-Crisis)]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwarespc.png]]
* AbusiveParents: While he was, up until his character revamp with ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis,'' written as the only Olympian to avert this in a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' crossover he sentenced three of his kids (Phobos, Deimos, and Eris) to punishment and imprisonment in Hades after they attempted to poison him.
* AxCrazy: But slightly less ax crazy, since Wonder Woman made him see with her Lasso of Truth that destroying the human race, including his own worshipers, would effectively lead to his own disappearance. Now instead of trying to start WorldWarIII, Ares sticks to smaller goals such as trying to overthrow his fellow gods on Mount Olympus.
* ColorMotif: His armor is predominately colored blue, a fitting color since blue is traditionally associated with masculinity.
* CoolHelmet: His iconic item is his indestructible helm, which is usually blued and horned. He will occasionally change up it's appearance to fit with whatever form he's chosen at the moment this change is always temporary.
* ConsummateLiar: Wonder Woman calls him the Deceiver for a reason. Here's a lovely spiel he sprouts when he walks as a guest into Hades to murder Hades and take the throne, managing to threaten ''everyone'' present with Hades and Poseidon thinking he's still allied with them and keep them from realizing his timing just saved Diana's life, and his forces grabbing Cassie and Ferdinand is to save their lives as well:
-->'''Ares:''' Dear naive Cassandra, there's a reason Diana calls me "Deceiver". Now pay '''attention''' because you and the man-beast are next. Uncle... pray continue.
* DeadpanSnarker: When Ares snarks it's often gold, for example:
-->'''Aphrodite:''' If you ache for something to hold, you'll find I'm much more yielding than that axe of yours.
-->'''Ares:''' Softer, perhaps, but my axe is ''marginally'' less dangerous.
--->--''ComicBook/WonderWoman'', Vol 2 #214.
-->'''Ares:''' Oh, good. I made it in time for the murder.[[note]]He's making it sound like he's there to witness Hades killing Diana, when instead he's about to casually stroll up and murder Hades[[/note]]
--->--''ComicBook/WonderWoman'', Vol 2 #217.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: Was both the source of both his motivation and defeat in the opening story line of Wonder Woman's Post-Crisis history. In ancient times he proposed conquering humanity outright to prevent them from falling out of worshiping Olympus and almost started WorldWarIII in the modern times before Wonder Woman caused him to realize that starting such a conflict would only give him a short term power boost. If everyone is dead, there will be no more war and he would eventually fade into nothing. Ares eventually found a way around this by reinventing himself as a ''God of Conflict'' and overthrowing Hades to become the God of the Dead too. As the dead in the Underworld are all his worshipers, he was safe to try to and trigger World War III again.
* HatesTheirParent: Ares has made multiple attempts on his father Zeus' life, and while they both hate each other Ares is the only one of the two who will happily explain ''why'' he loathes dear old dad while Zeus usually tries to act as if he's just disappointed and doing what his position dictates he needs to in reaction to Ares' behavior.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Ares has had a rather complex history with Wonder Woman in post crisis. During the Perez run, she was able to convince him that starting World War 3 was a bad idea and he left her with the task of "saving mankind from themselves". During the Messner-Loebs run, he returned as a villain and was possessing the body of a criminal who sold weapons for gang wars. During the Rucka run, he reinvented himself as the "God of Conflict" and was more of a neutral character. He also served as a mentor of sorts to Cassie Sandsmark for a time. The Simone run saw him as an out and out villain again post crisis.
* HijackedByJesus: In George Perez's run Ares plays TheDevil--a diabolical figure with his own domain called the Areopagus, and a powerful threat to his sibling Olympians.
* KillAllHumans: Came within a few minutes of starting a world-ending nuclear war before Diana pointed out the flaws in that plan. Did it again years later when he didn't need to worry about running out of people to worship him by becoming the God of the Underworld.
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Some of his kids take their old man (Phobos, Deimos, and Eris) take but others such as Eros, Harmonia, and Lyta (his daughter with ComicBook/{{Circe}}) show no signs of his villainy and are portrayed as good-natured individuals.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: In the ComicBook/PostCrisis continuity Ares was not aware he was Hippolyta's father until centuries after her reincarnation, as she took a new name after being brought back in a new immortal body as the Queen of the Amazons by the goddesses. He had no way of knowing without Hippolyta (or the patron goddesses) informing him that she was his daughter brought back in a new body, and she's implied to have been his daughter Alcippe in her previous life.
* ManipulativeBastard: While not to the degree of other figures like Athena and Circe, as a part of his AdaptationalIntelligence he's shown he can be just as a good as a behind-the-scenes player as a warrior on the battlefield. Most notably when played the part of a loyal ally to Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus following Athena's takeover of Olympus only to end up literally stabbing Hades in the back and thus takeover the Underworld.
* ModernizedGod: In Rucka's run when he became the "God of Conflict", he changed his TinTyrant look to a pair black pants and open black shirt. He only wore his armor for certain occasions.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: A pre-emptive version in "Gods & Mortals" when he sees what will happen if his plan to start a nuclear war succeeds.
* {{Necromancer}}: Became it after killing Hades and inheriting his powers.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: [[spoiler: What Diana does in [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 Vol 3]] after the whole Genocide affair by grabbing a battle axe and splitting his head open.]]
* PetTheDog: Has his moments
** A taste of the fact that he's more than he seems is given early on with the revelation that he has afforded his daughter Harmonia luxurious lodging in his domain even though she opposes him and he loves and cares for her as his daughter and respects her for standing up for her beliefs even if he does not share them.
** Ares was part of the group that restored the Amazons when they were turned to clay, to the shock of the other Olympians, because his daughter and granddaughter were among them.
** When Athena had her champion Diana, who was blind and recovering from serious injuries at the time, fight against Zeus' champion, the EldritchAbomination Hekatonkheires, Ares strolled in to try and interfere. While he was stopped by Aphrodite he still made biting comments at Athena to try and get her to aid her champion.
** When Cassie lost her powers, Ares offered to restore them. Instead of a DealWithTheDevil, all he wanted in return [[spoiler: was for her to call him brother and to say "I love you" to him]]. Though this was kind of subverted when it turned out that his powers were driving her crazy. Though he may not have known that, so it could still count.
* PossessionBurnout: He doesn't ''have'' to kill mortals who allow him to possess them in order for him to interact with the mortal realm, but he prefers to as he despises the type of human that would generally call him up to make such a deal. When he's done with them he'll set their flesh to boiling and leave a pile of smoldering bone and bubbling fluid for their corpse.
* PragmaticVillainy: With a little help from Wonder Woman, he realized that, thanks to nukes, starting WorldWarIII would destroy the world and leave no one left to fight his wars. He eventually focused his efforts to becoming the "God of Conflict", making him more powerful and more dangerous than before.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Easily mistaken as the god of evil and often has glowing red eyes when they're not pitch black pits. Even when he's in a suit with cropped hair and otherwise looks human his eyes are usually solid red. In a twist when he has human looking eyes it's best to just run since this generally only happens when he tries to turn good, which turns him into a horrific KnightTemplar.
* SadlyMythtaken: While it's par the course given that part of the Amazon's backstory is that the myths are twisted versions of what "truly happened" Ares gets hit hard here, especially since his parentage of Hippolyta and Antiope was later retconned back in. Here it is he who drives Heracles to attack the Amazons rather than Hera, though her driving Heracles mad is given a mention. This means Ares orchestrated the rape and enslavement of his own daughters, which goes quite contrary to his mythological counterpart for whom his dedication to his children was his only redeeming quality. For mythological Ares the rape or attempted rape of his children was also a BerserkButton, and he didn't much get on with Heracles since the hero killed one of Ares' murderous cannibalistic children.
* SmugSnake: Under Greg Rucka's pen at least.
* VillainsBlendInBetter: Unlike most of the other Gods and even Wonder Woman herself, he has quickly adjusted to the modern world and is comfortable with wearing modern clothing if the situation calls for it. By Rucka's run, he and Athena had taken on roles to better fir the modern age, in his case becoming more a "God of Conflict" rather than just war.
* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Firmly Averted and then Subverted. [[spoiler:Post-Crisis Ares originally started off as considerably powerful by feeding off the warfare of mankind over the centuries and tried to kickstart World War III to make himself supremely powerful among the Gods. When Diana defeated him by showing him that such a war would render him powerless by killing everyone on Earth, Ares modernized himself to become the ''God of Conflict'', making him one of the top three most powerful gods on Olympus after Zeus and the rest of the former Big Three lost power due to lack of worship or activity in their domains, to the point Wonder Woman was no longer a threat to him. He later went about killing Hades to secure his place as God of the Underworld and Conflict, meaning he could now kill off everyone on Earth like originally planned and become stronger for it by taking everyone's souls. Feeling secure, Ares went about trying to kill off all the Amazons and Wonder Woman's coterie to remove any threats to his next scheme. However, despite his newfound power, he still somehow ended up being killed by an axe to the head by an already injured Wonder Woman.]]
* VillainRespect: He tells the Amazon, Io, he'll kill her if she insists on trying to prevent him from reaching his daughter, but he just knocks her out when she fights him anyway. He later says it's because he respected her fighting abilities and her attempts to protect one of his children even if he thinks it misguided to protect his kids from him.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: In Greg Rucka's run, whenever he wasn't sporting his blue armor, He would lounge about and snark in black dress pants and a open button-up black shirt. It's part of the understated more human look he adopts, and the open shirt is just as much about showing off his chiseled good looks as it is about the quiet threat of all the thin scars on his torso.
* WouldHitAGirl: Hasn't shown any compunction against going a few rounds with Diana on account of her gender.
* WorfEffect: [[spoiler: Even after becoming a God on the equal level of Zeus, he still ends up being killed by an axe to the head by Wonder Woman.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:War (New 52)]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwaresnew52_70.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote: In His Younger Days:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwaresnew52_2.png]]
[[/labelnote]]
* AdaptationalHeroism: Although neutral, he's much more of an ally than an enemy in ComicBook/New52. Also tends to come off better in comparison to his mythological counterpart.
* ArmyOfTheAges: Is able to summon the ghosts of soldiers from all across human history. Used in his fight against The First Born.
* BadassBeard: War personified has worn a long beard in a few of his chosen forms, including a red one that he allowed to decay into grey.
* CynicalMentor: He was one to Diana when she was younger, but not for that long, kicking her out when she refused to kill someone.
* EvilOldFolks: Not so much "evil" as extremely violent, but effectively the same by the modern era.
* GrandpaGod: He's an old man with a long white beard.
* PetTheDog: After helping Diana rescue Zola's baby he leaves, making it seem like he had kidnapped the kid for his own purposes, but it turns out he went straight back to Zola to give the kid back.
* SadlyMythtaken:
** He makes comments that suggest he's either not Zeus' son or doesn't consider himself as such. It's kind of unclear which it is, but Apollo at least refers to Zeus as "our" father when speaking to Ares, so it might just be Ares disowning Zeus.
** His relationship with the Amazons is quite different from the original myths where he was their patron god, consort to their queen Otere, the father of Hippolyta and her sisters and [[PapaWolf furious]] when any of his children were killed.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ares (Rebirth)]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dodsonares.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote: While in Prison:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dcrebirthares2_5.png]]
[[/labelnote]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Pre-Imprisonment Version:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aresrebirth3.png]]
[[/labelnote]]
* AdaptationalHeroism: Continuing on from the New 52, Ares here is a more sympathetic figure than he was in most prior incarnations. He was originally, willfully, imprisoned under Themyscira as humanity's constants wars drove him near-insane. Continues on after he is reincarnated and released and tries to be an ally to Diana, initially at least.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Displays this when he tries to rebrand himself as the "God of Justice". His idea of justice being to punish everyone with the same equal severity.
* CompositeCharacter: Of essentially two previous versions of himself; the Post-Crisis and New 52 versions. Starting out life as a mad WarGod like his Post-Crisis version but overtime mellowing out and sometimes being an ally to Diana like his New 52 incarnation. His armor from his pre-imprisonment days even looks like a fusion of his two armored forms from his prior incarnations.
* DumbBlonde: Not dumb ''per se'' but is sporting blonde hair during his initial attempt at being an ally of Diana and displays a very simplistic, and extreme, view of justice and punishment.
* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler: The ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' Wonder Woman series has been implying the New 52 Ares and the rest of the Olympians were not the real deal, and that Ares is still one of Diana's enemies. The ''Year One'' storyline has Diana explicitly tell Barbara Minerva that the Amazons have never considered Ares an ally, saying "His is the way of madness." Ares then appears before Diana for what is supposedly their first meeting ever, saying he's waited aeons to meet her, effectively subverting all the tropes pertaining to New 52 Ares as lies and misdirection aimed at Diana. It helps that his appearance is once again similar to the blue armor George Perez designed. It's later revealed this ''[[SubvertedTrope also]]'' wasn't the real Ares, but Phobos and Deimos using his image. The real Ares has pulled a HeelFaceTurn inside his prison in Themyscira.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Starting with DC Rebirth it's revealed that [[spoiler: Ares was imprisoned on Themyscira. At some point in the past, Ares became consumed by war and was straight up AxCrazy. The other gods realized that he needed to be stopped so Hephaestus forged binding manacles similar to the Golden Perfect (the lasso of truth) which could hold Ares. Aphrodite was the one to place them upon Ares and in doing so also suffused them with her love of him (items touched by gods become god-touched and imprinted with their power). The manacles not only bound Ares but power of Aphrodite's love dispelled his madness. He even held her and cried TearsOfRemorse afterward. In modern times, he's still imprisoned but by choice, wanting to spare the world his power unchecked and unrestrained.]]
* KnightTemplar: When he attempts to pull a HeelFaceTurn he instead turns into a horrific pastiche of "justice", judging all crimes as equal and worthy of punishment by death. He's at his best when he tries to just stay apathetic.
* SealedEvilInACan: Subverted; [[spoiler: Long before Diana' time, he willingly went into imprisonment under Themyscira after being driven near insane by humanity's constant wars and kept sane by chains forged by Hephaestus and powered by Aphrodite's love.]]
[[/folder]]
