History Main / EverybodyHatesHades

** Subverted with Hades himself. Although Hades has an [[BigBad antagonistic role]] and is a [[AbusiveParents verbally abusive father]] who [[ArchnemesisDad frequently mocks and belittles his son Zagreus, the protagonist]], he's more of an overworked bureaucrat who happens to be an asshole in his personal life than an ambitious villain, and he has good reasons for trying to stop his son's attempts to escape the underworld. When it comes to his duties as the god of the dead, he takes them very seriously, even if it sometimes comes off like he’d rather be doing anything else.

** Subverted with Hades himself. Although Hades has an [[BigBad antagonistic role]] and is a [[AbusiveParents verbally abusive father]] who [[ArchnemesisDad frequently mocks and belittles his son Zagreus, the protagonist]], he's more of an overworked bureaucrat who happens to be an asshole in his personal life than an ambitious villain. When it comes to his duties as the god of the dead, he takes them very seriously, even if it sometimes comes off like he’d rather be doing anything else.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': Death is actually just an ancient elemental spirit that feeds on the energy of death as opposed to an actual {{psychopomp}}, and he seeks to resurrect Dracula ([[DragonWithAnAgenda without really owing him any loyalty]]) simply to feed on the carnage he leaves in his wake.

* In ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', Death is {{Dracula}}'s [[TheDragon Right Hand Man]]. And while Hades is not present in this series, his wife Persephone is a villainous NinjaMaid. ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' ends up expanding and justifying this: Death is actually just an ancient elemental spirit that feeds on the energy of death as opposed to an actual {{psychopomp}}, and he follows Dracula ([[DragonWithAnAgenda without really owing him any loyalty]]) simply to feed on the carnage he leaves in his wake.

** Subverted with Hades himself. Although Hades has an [[BigBad antagonistic role]] and is a [[AbusiveParents verbally abusive father]] who [[ArchnemesisDad frequently mocks and belittles his son Zagreus, the protagonist]], he doesn't quite hit "evil" territory and is otherwise portrayed as taking his duties as the god of the dead very seriously, even if it sometimes comes off like he’d rather be doing anything else.

* ''Odysseus: Voyage to the Underworld'' potrays Persephone as a wicked, power-hungry queen who was banished from the Underworld and sealed away by a magic cross; once freed, she plans to TakeOverTheWorld with her and Hades' children [[spoiler:and Odysseus's]].

* ''Odysseus: Voyage to the Underworld'' potrays Persephone as a wicked, power-hungry queen who was banished from the Underworld and sealed away by a magic cross; once freed, she plans to TakeOverTheWorld with Her and Hades' children [[spoiler:and Odysseus's]].

* In Sarah Rahl's ''Eurydice'', the Ruler of the Underworld is portrayed as an unpleasant literal ManChild and stalker who coerces Eurydice to wipe her memory in the waters of Lethe. Persephone is not present in the play.

* In-universe as a plot point in ''VideoGame/{{AFK Arena}}'' with the God of Death Annih. He was originally just doing his job, but mortals scorned him and flocked to [[BigGood Dura, the Goddess of Life]]. As a direct result, he decided to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil become exactly what the mortals thought of him]], [[DeathTakesAHoliday abandoned his post]], created the [[TheLegionsOfHell Hypogeans]], and declared war on Esperia.

** In ''Videogame/KidIcarusUprising'', [[spoiler:Hades makes his debut as the ''true'' leader of the Underworld Army. Thanatos, the actual god of ''Death'', shows up as well, but Hades manages to both outrank and out-evil Thanatos. His only motivation for anything he does in the game is to cause death and destruction to expand his realm. His role as the Lord of the Underworld is that he's supposed to guide the souls of the dead on to peaceful rest and eventual reincarnation, but he's perverted that role by intentionally instigating wars to increase the influx of souls and using those souls as [[HumanResources resources to create the monsters for his army]] or [[SoulEating just as a decent snack]]. The only times he does anything beneficial are when the gods [[EnemyMine team up]] to fight an AlienInvasion, and he makes it clear it's only because [[PragmaticVillainy he won't let anyone else destroy the planet before him]] and he still can't help but [[ForTheEvulz drop a few enemies and traps on Pit for shits and giggles]]. The game is a bit of a tangled web regarding who hates who, but, true to the trope, everyone hates him... [[LaughablyEvil except the player maybe]]]].

* ''Anime/DragonBall'': Gods of Destruction are feared by all mortals through the universes as impossibly strong forces of... Well, of destruction. However, they play a crucial role in the maintenance of the cosmos by making sure there aren't too many planets for the universe to sustain - and while they're usually haughty, bullyish, violent and capricious, they do not have an evil nature.

* In ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', Death is {{Dracula}}'s [[TheDragon Right Hand Man]]. And while Hades is not present in this series, his wife Persephone is a villainous NinjaMaid.

* Death, TheGrimReaper himself, acts as the servant of [[BigBad Dracula]] throughout the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series. ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' ends up expanding and justifying this: Death is actually just an ancient elemental spirit that feeds on the energy of death as opposed to an actual {{psychopomp}}, and he follows Dracula ([[DragonWithAnAgenda without really owing him any loyalty]]) simply to feed on the carnage he leaves in his wake.

** In the movie ''Warriors of the Holy Battle'', the heroes face [[Main/{{Satan}} Lucifer]] himself.

* The main antagonists of ''WesternAnimation/OnyxEquinox'' are the Aztec gods of the Underworld. That said, they are both [[AntiVillain sympathetic]].

* In ''Film/ShredderOrpheus'', Hades and Persephone are portrayed as evil broadcast managers who brainwash and attempt to kill the masses.

** The Christian New Testament of ''[[[Literature/TheBible'' (being written originally in Greek) plays with this trope, too. Since "Hades" was the name of the underworld as well as it's patron God, a decent chunk of the times you see "{{Hell}}" in your English New Testament, it actually said Hades in the original Greek text.[[note]]The rest of the time it's usually a translation of [[UnholyGround Gehenna]][[/note]]

* ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': [[ZigZaggingTrope Played around with]] with Mandos. While he's completely in line with the will of Eru Ilúvatar (like the rest of the Valar), he tends to be a little harsh regarding the interpretation, something of a "devil's advocate".

** Death isn't even really his thing per se (though he does live where the Elves wind up when they die). His actual "hat" is to speak prophesy; it's implied that unlike most of the Ainur, he was paying ''attention'' during the Music, so he knows all things that have happened or are going to happen, though he keeps his mouth shut about the future unless Manwë asks him. And of course those he does give harsh dooms to certainly seem to deserve it.

** The 3rd edition splatbook ''Deities & Demigods'' lists Hades as NeutralEvil largely so they could give him levels in the assassin PrestigeClass. The book specifically notes that he isn't actively hostile or vicious, and that he mostly just ''is''; everyone dies eventually, and someone has to run the afterlife. However, a [[WordOfGod clarification from the writers]] later on is that Hades is listed as NeutralEvil because of the oldest class-based [[TheArtifact artifact]] in D&D's history: Hades has the class [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Assassin, which requires the person with it to be evil]], if the DM removes a deity's class stats ([[LordBritishPostulate which they should]]), Hades would be be somewhere between LawfulNeutral and TrueNeutral. Anubis on the other hand was listed as LawfulNeutral. Hel, of course, gets the "evil" treatment (and one that affects her personality more, likely due to her being half rotting corpse), despite being by far the least antagonistic of Loki's children in the original myths. Ironically, ''Loki'' has a strange case of this: in the section on Norse deities, the book tells the DM that if the setting is before the slaying of Baldr, Loki, despite being ChaoticEvil, would not be actively evil.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': The SerialKiller and MadBomber [[ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming Hades]] Sabara is the ArcVillain of the Holmes' Revelation arc. He had previously murdered people who hound him for money and his friends whom advised him to invest on stock market, making him bankrupt when he was trying to raise money to pay for a life-saving surgery for his mother. He also blew up hospitals that refused to help his mother. While his FreudianExcuse is some-what sympathetic, he doesn't have a code of honor. During the time he blew up the hospitals, he sent riddles that gave clues to his {{Evil Plan}}s, however, when [[spoiler:Yusaku Kudo]] solved the riddle regarding the second hospital, [[KickTheDog Hades blew it up anyway]], thus Conan and his company have to stop him before Hades can notice that he's found out.

* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'' do this with Anubis, who is summoned by the fellow god Apep (AKA Apophis), and turns an entire research facility into werewolves. He is clearly portrayed as evil here, willing to aid Apep in unleashing the Ultimate Evil.