History Main / EverybodyHatesHades

->''"Oh and you think I enjoy this? I'm sick and tired of always being the bad guy! What I do has to be done!"''

* The [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Disney version]] of Hades is an unseen character in ''Fanfic/BadAlertTheExtreme''. Though still a villain, [[spoiler: [[{{SubvertedTrope}} he is directly responsible for the deaths of four of the villains]]]].

* Hades in the ''JLA Watchtower'' universe was first class. Yes, the whole thing was an EvilPlan to get Athena off the throne of Olympus; he believed that, as he was eldest of Chronus and Rhea, he should have been in charge anyway. His tactics during the plan were appalling, however. Mind-wiping and seducing Omen? Blatantly cheating during the Titans' challenge of his heroes versus them? Forcing Nightwing into a fight to the death [[spoiler: and making sure Nightwing lost]]?! Killing [[spoiler: Arsenal]] ''after'' the Titans won despite the cheating, then sending in a ZombieApocalypse as a last resort? Yeah, good thing he got his in the end...

* In ''Literature/TheRedAbbeyChronicles'', the crone aspect of the goddess is as revered as her maiden and mother aspect, but the protagonist fears the crone and [[spoiler: when the crone calls to her]] does everything in her power to have nothing to do with that aspect of the goddess, as it represents death, among other things. The fact that her little sister died in a famine winter may have something to do with it.

* Subverted in the ''Literature/{{Shadowmarch}}'' series; the god Kernios is a pretty blatant counterpart to Hades (he's a god of death, darkness, and the underworld, and his brothers are a sky god and a sea god to boot) and it's heavily hinted throughout the books that he's the mysterious supernatural entity who is manipulating the mortal villains. [[spoiler: Nope- Kernios is in hibernation and has been for millennia. The BigBad is Zosim the trickster god, who'd been impersonating him.]]

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology''. During the War of Troy part of the campaign, the Trojan's god of choice is Hades, at one point the protagonists must escape [[FireAndBrimstoneHell Erebus]] and during a dream where Arkantos joins his enemies and attacks Atlantis, you play as an Hades worshipper. But at no point does Hades actively try to stop the heroes (nor does he help them, either). The real BigBad of the game turns out to be [[spoiler: Poseidon]].

* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura''. Arronax is a {{Satan}} figure, an ancient elf from the Age of Legends who had been banished to the Void by Nasrudin, and his worshippers are planning to bring him back and [[FantasticRacism exterminate or enslave all non-elves]]. [[spoiler: Arronax isn't behind any of this, and in fact has been trapped in a shell for thousands of years. Kerghan the Necromancer has been impersonating him, and Kerghan's goal is to [[OmnicidalManiac end]] ''[[OmnicidalManiac all]]'' [[OmnicidalManiac life on Arcanum]], because [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans the afterlife is a place of peaceful rest for all]]. He's an enemy of all life, but a reasonable guy for all that, and can be [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath convinced to abandon his plan and die instead]].]] Note that in Arcanum, [[OurGodsAreDifferent "godhood" seems to be in the eye of the beholder]], except for the Old Gods (who are only known through their blessings and curses). [[spoiler: Kerghan is worshipped as a god, and is [[PersonOfMassDestruction powerful enough to annihilate all life on Arcanum]], ergo he is a god.]]

** The original Hassan-i-Sabbah, [[spoiler: Grand Assassin]], also goes by Azrael, the name of an Abrahamic angel of death, and [[CreepyGood while a bit too eager to execute others, he is overwhelmingly on the protagonist's side]].

** The subversion is undone in the PSP title ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarGhostOfSparta Ghost Of Sparta]]'', where Thanatos, [[EldritchAbomination a death god whose existence is said to preempt that of Olympus,]] is a right bastard, who goes to significant lengths to keep Kratos from [[spoiler: finding his brother]], and when that fails [[spoiler: kills Deimos, and constantly mocks Kratos the entire boss fight]]. This implies that Hades is not so much the god of death as he is of the afterlife (which was his actual role in Myth/GreekMythology).

* In ''Immortal Throne'', the expansion to ''VideoGame/TitanQuest'', Hades is cast as the villain. [[spoiler: The reason being that after the connection between the godly realms and earth was severed in the first game and Typhon was destroyed, Zeus decided that the Olympian gods would take this as an opportunity to depart from the world and leave humans to their own affairs as they had proven themselves capable of such. Hades went rogue, formed a demon army, and started to assault the overworld, and it was the lot of the player to put an end to Hades, of whom Zeus had predicted his actions and actually set the player on the right path to deal with him.]]

* While Queen Odette, ruler of the Underworld in ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' isn't directly based on a real mythological figure, she's still treated as the DesignatedVillain, [[GreyAndGrayMorality though not without reason]]. Despite her sadistic tendencies, such as torturing the Pooka who enter her realm without pause and not caring for the state of her subjects regardless of their sins in life, she still makes it clear that everyone needs to stop traipsing in and out of her domain and stealing her magic crystals to make Psyphers, which pervert the natural order of life, and to try and bring people back to life. If everyone would just stay out of the Underworld, they'd never even have to deal with her, unless your name is Oswald, thanks to a DealWithTheDevil he didn't even have a say in. [[spoiler: In fact, when she's finally KilledOffForReal, it allows King Gallon, who she's kept locked up this whole time for being too big a threat, to take over the Underworld in her place and try to kill living being in Erion in one of the biggest NiceJobBreakingItHero moments of the game. Then again, she's partially to blame for making him an immortal regenerating corpse that can only be killed by her power to begin with.]]

* [[spoiler:Izanami]] is revealed to be a villain in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''. Somewhat appropriate in that she ''is'' kind of a villain in Shinto myth. It's also hard to tell whether this character is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality particularly good or evil]], as [[spoiler: the reason behind everything is that Izanami is testing humanity to grant its apparent wish depending on who wins: Adachi (Emptiness), Namatame (Despair) or the protagonist (Hope). When the protagonist wins and defeats her, Izanami accepts her defeat and congratulates him]].

* In ''VideoGame/TooHuman'', a CyberPunk adaptation of Myth/NorseMythology, Hel is a MadScientist who cybernetically reanimates the corpses of the dishonored dead that she is entrusted with as cannon fodder, [[spoiler: including Baldur's beloved wife]], and is loyal to her father Loki.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' seemingly both [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0737.html discusses and subverts]] this trope with a good deal of ShownTheirWork. [[spoiler: Though the arguments put forward are kind of ruined by the revelation that the character making them is a vampire whose god demands mortal sacrifices.]] And then following on from the spoiler above, [[spoiler: Hel turns out to be looking to try a KlingonPromotion, by having everything reset from scratch and letting her usurp Odin]].

* ''Website/{{Springhole}}'': Brought up and subverted in ''[[https://www.springhole.net/writing/common-misconceptions-about-old-mythologies-and-religions.htm Common Misconceptions About Old Mythologies & Religions]]''. It's stated that many underworld gods (including Hades himself) weren't particularly evil.

* Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', where Hades might as well be {{Satan}}, [[spoiler: and is possibly Wonder Woman's father]]. Subverted in a later episode when it is revealed he never wanted to leave Tartarus in the first place, he just wanted Diana's mother. When he is rescued from a usurper due to the Balance being disturbed, he comments on it when Diana frees him.

* Parodied in Music/JacquesOffenbach's ''Orphée aux Enfers'' (''Orpheus in the Underworld''). Although the operetta plays with the Mephistophelian on a few occasions, Pluton is portrayed more as a lovable lech who is in many ways more sympathetic than big hypocrite Jupiter. Also the Underworld is shown to be [[AHellOfATime much more of a fun place]] than stolid Olympus. In case you didn't know, ''the'' characteristic piece of music associated with the "Can-Can" dance is from this piece (it's formally called the ''Galop Infernal'').

* ''Manga/CaseClosed'': 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.

** '''Norse''': Mostly untouched (Loki's a bad guy), but Hel (goddess of the dishonorable dead)'s bad side is turned UpToEleven: She's an AxCrazy OmnicidalManiac who wants to ally herself with the Mechanoids (who are borderline [[Series/DoctorWho Dalek]] expies) to exterminate all humanoid life in TheMultiverse.

** He's the primary antagonist of the prequel, ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas''. [[spoiler:Or so it seemed until near the end, when it was revealed that his human host was simply ''pretending'' to have been possessed, while Hades was really still in deep slumber inside of his soul; Hades does awaken and takes over after said host's ultimate defeat, though.]]

** 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 its 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]]

* Averted in ''Videogame/FateGrandOrder'' in the fifth Lostbelt storyline, which deals with the Olympians defeating the threat that destroyed them in "Proper Human History". After said event, the Gods had a civil war determining whether or not they should continue their rule or allow humanity to rule themselves, with Hades leading the faction that favored the latter (and ending up dead for it).

* In ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors'', Hades is not only evil like the other Greek gods, but he's also depicted as demonic, with satanic horns, burning red skin, smoke breath and black flames on his hands. He's also said to be the greatest of the false gods of the Greeks, [[ZeroEffortBoss but he's defeated almost effortlessly by the Prayer Warriors once they pray to God]]. [[note]]This is actually AdaptationalVillainy, as the original Percy Jackson series averts the Everybody Hates Hades trope.[[/note]]

* Zig-zagged in ''Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', which threw out the book's original plot (which actually had Hades played ''right'') and made Hades an antagonist; however, he is merely ChaoticNeutral and not the ''main'' villain. They even gave him the ability to turn into a huge demonic entity, complete with flames. He is also ''hilarious''. Being played by Creator/SteveCoogan certainly helps.

** Discworld's Death in general is a pretty nice guy, likes humanity, and is [[Literature/{{Hogfather}} usually on the hero's side]] or [[Literature/ReaperMan one of the main heroes himself.]][[note]]He also seems fond of cats; his discovery of a sack of drowned kittens was one of the few times he's been shown to be actually angry.[[/note]] [[Literature/ThiefOfTime He even convinced the other Horsemen to ride out for humanity instead of against it once.]]

** In ''The Lightning Thief'', Hades is the prime suspect of the theft of the master bolt in order to overthrow the gods. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a subversion. It's not him; he thinks it was Percy and only wants the bolt so he can ''return'' it, along with his stolen helmet. The real thief? [[GambitPileup Ares, being manipulated by Luke, being manipulated by Kronos.]]]] Humorously, this version of Hades mentions on his [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170822070549/http://www.rickriordan.co.uk/hades profile page]] on the official ''Percy Jackson'' site that Disney's ''Hercules'' is one of his favorite films. He even claims to like being portrayed as the bad guy for the movie; his only gripe was the blue flaming hair. (It's possible he's being sarcastic.) Percy even starts to feel a little bad for him as he sees him as the Olympian BlackSheep due to his job as lord of the dead, pointing out their treatment of him would make anyone bitter.

* ''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. Of course, he has good reason to be so serious: the consequences of him screwing up would be truly dire. Most of the good guys though, don't hate Mandos. It would be more accurate to say that everyone is scared of Mandos: as well they should be.

* Hades made his debut in Ichiei Ishibumi's light novel series High School DxD, and services as the main antagonist throughout Volume 11 and Volume 12, aiding Khaos Brigade's Old Satan Faction and Hero Faction behind the scenes in a scheme to destroy the Devils and Fallen Angels. He commands a legion of Grim Reapers.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Literature/SkinGame'' when Harry Dresden comes face to face with the man(/god) himself. Dresden is terrified that he's about to be annihilated since he is, in strict terms, ''robbing'' Hades, but Hades makes the deliberate decision to [[SacredHospitality invite him]] into his sanctum for a chat. They have a brief discussion about Hades's role in modern culture, and shift to [[NotSoDifferentRemark noting that they're not so different]], as Hades himself is a ConsummateProfessional and a decent guy, Cerberus turns out to be a BigFriendlyDog (not unlike Harry's own oversized pooch Mouse but with more heads). Persephone even willingly eloped with him rather than being kidnapped (Hades blames empty-nest syndrome on Demeter's part for the myth, with Hecate intentionally leading her on a wild goose chase to give the newlyweds a proper honeymoon). Harry notes that, Persephone notwithstanding, Hades was a guy who simply did the job he ended up with and that (unlike Zeus and Poseidon) there are no myths about Hades being unfaithful to his wife or messing with mortals just for the hell of it, although Hades does warn him not to badmouth the other gods too much, as they are family, after all. [[spoiler:Oh, and he's in on Queen Mab's plot to ruin Nicodemus.]]

** Subverted with the [[Myth/AztecMythology Aztec]] deities Mictlāntēcutli and his wife Mictēcacihuātl. While they are terrifying (granted, most if not all of the Aztec pantheon would be scary to a modern person) they were still revered. Even after being Christianized, the Mexica people worshipe them in the modern form of Dio de los Muertos.
** Zig-zagged with the [[Myth/MayanMythology Maya]] deities of Xibalba. The surviving Spanish conquistador documents about them mention that most death gods are an example of DarkIsNotEvil, however some like Ah Puch were evil and hated even by ancient Mayan peoples.

* [[TastesLikeDiabetes The song Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm sing]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' episode "No Biz Like Show Biz" starts off lampshading this:

''It's all about the devil and how I learned to hate him so.''

* In ''Film/ShredderOrpheus'', Hades and Persephone are portrayed as evil broadcast managers who brainwash and enslave the masses via their TV network.

* Simular to Hades and Persephone above, Nergal and Ereshkigal from Myth/MesopotamianMythology have been depicted in most pop culture as outright demons instead of just [[JerkassGods flawed and amoral deities]]. Then again, plenty of other ancient Mesopotamian deities also get turned into [[MesopotamianMonstrosity horrific abominations]].

* Zig-Zagged in the DC/Vertigo universe. In the ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman Sandman]]'' books, Death is a pretty, peppy goth girl who is, out of all the Endless, generally the ''nicest'' and most friendly. Other DC personifications of Death play the trope straighter. The ''actual'' Hades does show up at one point, when Gaiman retells the myth of Orpheus. He mostly follows the beats of the myth, but his mocking smile implies he knew Orpheus would fail the [[OnOneCondition one condition]] that would let Eurydice be rescued.

* While Disney did go a bit over the top, [[TropeNamers Hades]] was ''not'' a favorite god of the Greeks, who didn't even like to [[SpeakOfTheDevil say his name]] and would avert their eyes when sacrificing to him, as they worried about attracting his attention. He was said to "enrich himself with our sighs and our tears" by Creator/{{Sophocles}}. In Homer's ''[[Literature/TheIliad Iliad]]'', Agamemnon described him saying, "Hades who is utterly unyielding--and hence he is, of all gods, the one most hateful to mankind." This was a result of how Greeks observed the results of their prayers. You could pray to other gods for success in war, a safe journey, or a good harvest, and those prayers could seemingly be granted. But no matter how much you pray, nobody is coming back from the dead. While he was not considered out-and-out evil, being a death god put the kibosh on him ever becoming ''that'' popular. Though under his titles/aliases such as "Hades Pluton" "Chthonic Zeus"(which emphasized his place as Zeus' subterranean counterpart), "Clymenus", and others, he found more open worship, as they tended to focus more on his role as keeper of the earth's wealth/fertility and/or his roll as the keeper/guardian of souls. In these cases his more positive aspects were also played up, including his role as a god of justice for the dead and emphasizing his magnanimous nature.

How specifically he was treated depended largely on the source, however. Homeric hymns, epic poetry, and most Hellenic literature depicted him as TheDreaded, not evil, but certainly feared. Orphic hymns identified him with Zeus as a sort of Messianic figure, and highly revered his wife Persephone; Pythagorean thought, which has a variety of similarities to the Orphic cult, depicted him as a god of great significance (on par with Zeus, far more so than Poseidon).\\
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The perception of Hades, and his negative treatment in myth, was rooted in how the Greeks looked at death. To put it simply, while not a SatanicArchetype by any means, he was certainly considered a grim and terrifying figure. The modern perception of him in a more positive light actually owes itself to three things. First: the push-back against adaptations showing him as a GodOfEvil. Second: a change in the perception of death. In modern times, while ''dying'' is still roundly feared, death is primarily associated with peace and rest (whether you believe in religion or not). For the Greeks, death meant bleak oblivion. Third: what the ancient Greeks feared about Hades actually appeals to modern readers: he was inexorable. To the Greeks, this meant he was merciless, cruel, and unmoved by compassion; to us, it means he was fair and lacked the capriciousness that makes the other Olympians seem like JerkassGods.

** 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]]

* While Disney did go a bit over the top, [[TropeNamers Hades]] was ''not'' a favorite god of the Greeks, who didn't even like to [[SpeakOfTheDevil say his name]] and would avert their eyes when sacrificing to him, as they worried about attracting his attention. He was said to "enrich himself with our sighs and our tears" by Creator/{{Sophocles}}. In Homer's ''[[Literature/TheIliad Iliad]]'', Agamemnon described him saying, "Hades who is utterly unyielding--and hence he is, of all gods, the one most hateful to mankind." This was a result of how Greeks observed the results of their prayers. You could pray to other gods for success in war, a safe journey, or a good harvest, and those prayers could seemingly be granted. But no matter how much you pray, nobody is coming back from the dead. While he was not considered out-and-out evil, being a death god put the kibosh on him ever becoming ''that'' popular. To be fair, making Hades a "Good Guy" god in the eyes of modern audiences would require you to whitewash some aspects of his character and background, especially concerning how Persephone becomes his bride...[[note]]Though even this isn't cut-and-dried; [[AbductionIsLove kidnapping women to marry them]] was commonplace in ancient Greece, and some versions of the original myth have Persephone voluntarily eating the pomegranate seeds after falling in love with Hades.[[/note]]\\

How specifically he was treated depended largely on the source, however. Homeric hymns, epic poetry, and most Hellenic literature depicted him as TheDreaded, not evil, but certainly feared and despised. Orphic hymns identified him with Zeus as a sort of Messianic figure, and highly revered his wife Persephone; Pythagorean thought, which has a variety of similarities to the Orphic cult, depicted him as a god of great significance (on par with Zeus, far more so than Poseidon).\\
\\
The perception of Hades, and his negative treatment in myth, was rooted in how the Greeks looked at death. To put it simply, while not a SatanicArchetype by any means, he was certainly considered a grim and terrible figure. The modern perception of him in a more positive light actually owes itself to three things. First: the push-back against adaptations showing him as a GodOfEvil. While it is fair to criticize these portrayals, it probably goes too far to allege Hades was actually ''nice.'' Second: a change in the perception of death. In modern times, while ''dying'' is still roundly feared, death is primarily associated with peace and rest (whether you believe in religion or not). For the Greeks, death meant bleak oblivion. Third: what the ancient Greeks feared about Hades actually appeals to modern readers: he was inexorable. To the Greeks, this meant he was merciless, cruel, and unmoved by compassion; to us, it means he was fair and lacked the capriciousness that makes the other Olympians seem like JerkassGods.
** Hades' wife, Persephone, was equally feared by Ancient Greeks for being his queen, and was called things like "The Dread Queen." Nowadays she's often seen as the nicer half of the pair, while in mythology she could be reactive and jealous, as Minthe learned.

[[TropeNamers Named after]] the [[Myth/GreekMythology Greek God of the Underworld, Hades]], who is often a victim of this in modern times.

* In ''Film/ShredderOrpheus'', Hades and Persephone are portrayed as evil broadcast managers who brainwash and and enslave the masses via their TV network.

** The subversion continues in the sequel series (''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' and ''Literature/TrialsOfApollo''.) When Hazel, the daughter of Hades's Roman aspect, Pluto, is introduced, nobody dislikes her at all for her parentage and are surprisingly chill. After all, Hades ''is'' the god of mineral wealth - and his Roman name, Pluto, is actually derived from the word "Wealth". The only thing about Hazel that others are careful about are the gems she summons being cursed.

* ''Legends of Valhalla: Thor''. Here Hel is the big villainess. (Maybe the makers read the Marvel comic entry above?) A particularly embarrassing example, since it's an Icelandic film -- basically, this trope has become so widespread that writers feel even the need to apply it to their own culture.

* ''Odysseus: Voyage to the Underworld'' portrays 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]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}''

** In ''The Lightning Thief'', Hades is the prime suspect of the theft of the master bolt in order to overthrow the gods. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a subversion. It's not him; he thinks it was Percy and only wants the bolt so he can ''return'' it, along with his stolen helmet. The real thief? [[GambitPileup Ares, being manipulated by Luke, being manipulated by Kronos.]]]] Humorously, this version of Hades mentions on his [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170822070549/http://www.rickriordan.co.uk/hades profile page]] on the official ''Percy Jackson'' site that Disney's ''Hercules'' [[ActuallyPrettyFunny is one of his favorite films.]] He even claims to like being portrayed as the bad guy for the movie; his only gripe was the blue flaming hair. (It's possible he's being sarcastic.) Percy even starts to feel a little bad for him as he sees him as the Olympian BlackSheep due to his job as lord of the dead, pointing out their treatment of him would make anyone bitter.

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' portrays Death himself as a BadassBiker who always goes by his word. However, he's a bit of a JerkAss and sometimes a cheater in sports (using his powers to try to win a Bowling Tournament despite the rules saying no powers). But he's also solidly a good guy, having came to the aid of the Park several times over and is rather amicable with Mordecai and Rigby, especially since they're the only babysitter's who've consistently been able to put his son, Thomas, to sleep at the end of Death's and his wife's dates. The only person he doesn't seem to like is Muscle Man. He also wants to reap Skips, who has eternal youth as part of an arrangement with eternal beings, and collect his soul but at worst he seems to treat that particular interest as going after a WorthyOpponent more than anything.

** The subversion continues in the sequel series (''Heroes of Olympus'' and ''Trials of Apollo''.) When Hazel, the daughter of Hades's Roman aspect, Pluto, is introduced, nobody dislikes her at all for her parentage and are surprisingly chill. After all, Hades ''is'' the god of mineral wealth - and his Roman name, Pluto, is actually derived from the word "Wealth". The only thing about Hazel that others are careful about are the gems she summons being cursed.