Line #13 ComicBook/SonsOfAres


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/redrisingsoa01covacypress.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:200:Break the chains.]]
3
4	''Sons of Ares'' is a graphic novel series from Dynamite Comics by Pierce Brown. The series serves as a prequel to his ''Literature/RedRising'' novel series, focusing on the origins of the rebel group known as the [[LaResistance Sons of Ares]].
5
6	The series is told from the point of view of Fitchner au Barca, the Gold who will eventually become the rebel warlord Ares, and focuses on the events that lead him down that path.
7
8	For tropes applying specifically to the original trilogy, see [[Literature/RedRising here.]]
9
10	Volume one, consisting of six monthly issues, was released between May 10th, 2017 and October 25, 2017.
11
12	Volume two, ''Wrath'', containing six chapters, was released on February 18th, 2020.
13
14	Volume three, ''Forbidden Song'', was released digitally in March 2023 and physically in April.
15
16	Because this is a prequel, all spoilers for the original series remain unmarked.
17
18	----
19	!!The series contains examples of:
20	* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: Done intentionally by the Golds, as they terraformed the solid planets and moons in the solar system to be more like earth, with being less earth-like the farther out from the sun you go.
21	* AnArmAndALeg: As the novels indicated, Bryn lost her leg in the collapse of the Lovelock Engine on Triton. [[spoiler: Fitchner also lost an arm helping the survivors out of the water]].
22	** [[spoiler: And Arturius cuts off his right hand during his escape from the Board of Quality Control]].
23	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Quicksilver blackmails Fitchner by threatening to expose his marriage to Bryn.
24	* AscendedExtra:
25	** Fitchner's wife, Bryn, who was already dead before the original series even began, appears in person and gets more development.
26	** Specifically in the comics, [=ArchGovernor=] Nero au Augustus, the BigBad of the first novel, appears as a cameo in the first 2 issues of volume 1, but returns for a more expanded role in the third volume.
27	** Volume 3 features a cameo from Tiberius and Julia au Bellona, neither of whom had many significant in-person appearances in the novels before Volume 3 released.
28	* BadassAndBaby: Fitchner and baby Sevro in the final issue.
29	* BetrayalByInaction: Arturius [[spoiler: gives up on offering Fitchner a job after they graduate from the Institute when his mother threatens to disown him.]]
30	* BigBad: Arturius is set up as this when it's revealed that [[spoiler: He's the one responsible for Bryn and Fitchner's abduction]].
31	* BigFancyHouse: A common trait among high-ranked Golds.
32	** The Vardan estate in the second issue's flashback portion.
33	** Arturius' home in Volume 2 also qualifies.
34	** The Bellona and Augustus' estates in Volume 3.
35	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler: Cylax throws himself off a building in Agea to escape Arturius' lurchers]].
36	* BittersweetEnding: By the end of the first volume, [[spoiler: Arturius has Bryn executed, but he allows Fitchner and the Sons of Ares to leave wit Sevro as a warning, and after Bryn's funeral, Fitchner dons the mantle of Ares and begins the rebellion against Gold]].
37	** The third and final volume ends on one as well: [[spoiler: Fitchner accomplishes all of his objectives, and events leading up to the beginning of the original novel have been set in motion. But Ryanna cannot handle losing so many people to Fitchner's cause and leaves the Sons to return to Triton]].
38	* BloodierAndGorier: While the novels were very violent and bloody, the comics feel gorier by virtue of the fact that the series' CrapsackWorld is being presented in a visual medium for the first time.
39	** On a lesser note, the flashback panels indicate that Fitchner's year at the Institute was ''even more violent'' than what Darrow's class experienced, and ''that'' year was the one with cannibalism and crucifixions.
40	* BoomHeadshot: In the second issue, [[spoiler: Ryanna executes Varus with a gunshot to the head when Doran accidentally lets slip Fitchner's name]].
41	** [[spoiler: Fitchner also kills one of Varus' Obsidian bodyguards this way after brutally beating them in the head with their own gun.]]
42	* BrokenPedestal: How Fitchner felt when [[spoiler: he realized that Arturius was willing to give up on his attempts to set Fitchner up with a job when his mother threatened to disown him]].
43	* CallForward:
44	** In solidifying their plans for revolution, Fitchner tells Quicksilver "you don't tie two boats together in a storm," a saying that would later be used in the novels to convince Darrow of Quicksilver's allegiance to the Sons of Ares.
45	** In the third volume, Fitchner comments that the Sons of Ares would kill him if they learned he was a Gold, alluding to the fact that Harmony will one day sell him out to the Jackal upon learning his true identity.
46	** Fitchner takes lessons from Matteo in how to speak like a high-class Gold, much like Darrow will do in ''Red Rising''.
47	* TheCameo: Nero au Augustus makes a brief cameo in a flashback giving his opening speech to the incoming students of the Institute.
48	** He appears again at the graduation ceremony in the second issue.
49	* {{Cliffhanger}}: The first issue ends with Varus' Obsidian bodyguards preparing to surrounding the warehouse to free their master.
50	* ColonizedSolarSystem: Just like in the novels. The present day story is set on Mars, with flashbacks set on Mars and Triton.
51	* ContinuityNod:
52	** Just like his son in the original novel, Fitchner was set up to die in the Passage, only to surprise everyone by killing his opponent instead.
53	** Augustus gives the same speech in the first issue as he does in the original novel.
54	** The third volume features a flashback to the feud between House August and Bellona from [=ArchGovernor=] Nero's childhood and his subsequent courtship with Iona au Bellona that were both referenced in ''Golden Son''.
55	* CoolMask: The early Sons of Ares all wear ancient Greek theater masks to conceal their identities.
56	* CrapsackWorld: It's Red Rising. What did you expect?
57	* CrazyJealousGuy: [[spoiler: Arturius hates the fact that Fitchner married a Red]].
58	* DistinguishingMark: All Peerless Scarred Golds have a small scar under their right eye.
59	* DomedHometown: Large portions of Tirton are under protective domes because of the incomplete terraforming.
60	* DoomedByCanon: The present-day storyline focuses on Fitchner racing to save his wife from the Board of Quality Control. Fans of the Red Rising trilogy already know how that will go.
61	* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Fitchner fakes Prospera's death so that he can collect information from her mother without actually having to kill her]].
62	* FatSlob: Fitchner's father appears quite sloppy in his single appearance.
63	* GladiatorGames: Hecuba au Rhodes is a fan of watching Obsidians fight in these.
64	* GoldDigger: Ficthner's parents expect him to use his newfound status as a Peerless Scarred to boost their social standing.
65	* {{Fingore}}: Fitchner cuts Varus' hand in half in order to make him cooperate.
66	* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler: Varus is killed when Doran accidentally reveals Fitchner's name]].
67	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Bryn stays behind to face capture and execution so that Fitchner and Sevro can escape]].
68	* InMediasRes: The story begins after [[spoiler: Bryn]] is taken by the Board of Quality control, and each issue flashes back to show part of the story of how they got there.
69	* IrislessEyeMaskOfMystery: The masks worn by Fitchner and the early Sons of Ares.
70	* LaResistance: The titular Sons of Ares.
71	* LastStand: The Sons of Ares prepare to do this at the beginning of Issue 6 to buy Fitchner time to escape with Bryn.
72	* AManIsAlwaysEager: Implied, given that Fitchner's father is show watching porn ''while his wife is sitting right next to him.''
73	* MeaningfulEcho: [[spoiler: Fitchner says Augustus' line "Be proud, for you tower above your fellows" to the original Sons of Ares when they volunteer to hold off Whitehold's security teams so he can go ahead to rescue his wife]].
74	* MutualKill: [[spoiler: Hecuba au Rhodes and her daughter Prospera kill each other in Volume 2, Chapter 4]].
75	* MythologyGag:
76	** The frame story is set in Agea, Mars' capital city.
77	** Martian [=ArchGovernor=] Nero au Augustus gives the exact same speech to Fitchner's class at the Institute as he does to Darrow's in ''Red Rising''.
78	** In the second issue of Volume 1, fans finally get to witness the graduates of the Institute receiving the mark of the Peerless Scarred, something that only ever occurred off-screen in the books.
79	** The flashback portion in the third issue of Volume 1 takes place on Triton. Fitchner mentioned in the novels that this was where he met his wife.
80	** In the final issue of volume 1, [[spoiler: Bryn sings the iconic Reaping Song from the first novel to calm baby Sevro as they escape from Whitehold]].
81	** Volume 3 ends with Fitchner becoming the Proctor of House Mars at the Institute, the job he has in the original novel.
82	* OddlySmallOrganization: Since the Sons of Ares are still in their infancy, the resistance group consists of a single cell made up of two Reds, a Gray, a Green, and Ares himself.
83	** Subverted in Volume 3, which focuses on Fitchner and Ryanna growing the small ragtag band with individual codenames into a massive army.
84	* OnceMoreWithClarity: Issue 5 of Volume 1 brings the flashbacks full circle to the beginning of the first issue.
85	* PapaWolf: Fitchner
86	* {{Prequel}}: Set sixteen years before ''Red Rising''.
87	* RedBaron: Ares. This series is about how he became this.
88	* The Reveal:
89	** Ryanna [[spoiler: Is Bryn's sister, and Sevro's aunt.]]
90	** When Bryn was abducted by the Board of Quality Control, [[spoiler: they took Sevro as well]].
91	** Bryn's capture [[spoiler: was ordered by Arturius, as part of an effort to protect Fitchner from the consequences of his actions in the hopes of convincing him to accept a job on the Board of Quality Control]].
92	** Kavax was the one who got Fitchner hired as the Proctor of House Mars at the Institute.
93	* RichBitch: Arturius' mother looks down on Fitchner for his low social station.
94	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: Issue 5 is Fitchner doing this through the headquarters of the Board of Quality Control]].
95	** The first 2 chapters of Volume 2 focus on [[spoiler: Fitchner seeking revenge on Arturius au Vardan for Bryn's death]].
96	* SavedByCanon: [[spoiler: Issue 4 ends with Whiltehold carvers about to vivisect baby Sevro]]. Fans of the novel know that he'll be fine.
97	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: When the Lovelock Engine at Triton's north pole fails, protocol dictates that Fitchner be evacuated first while the expendable Reds are left to fend for themselves. [[spoiler: Instead, Fitchner runs straight for ground zero to help evacuate the engine crew]].
98	* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: [[spoiler: Ryanna decides she's done with the rebellion after Fitchner kills her lover Roran and other Sons of Ares in order to maintain his cover]].
99	* SettlingTheFrontier: Triton and most celestial bodies beyond the orbit of Saturn are considered the frontier of the solar system.
100	* SherlockScan: Varus au Celinius is able to piece together small clues (Red slang and the stench of oil used by Greens in implants) to determine the Colors of his captors.
101	* SkyscraperCity: Agea, the capital city of Mars.
102	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Ryanna is the only woman on Fitchner's strike team.
103	* SpaceBase: Locus Folium 9, a shipyard hidden in the asteroid best where Quicksilver is constructing [[ColonyShip Colony Ships]] in secret.
104	* {{Terraform}}: A staple of the series is that most of the planets and moons in the solar system have been altered to be more earth-like.
105	** Because of it's tectonic activity, the terraforming of Triton is an ongoing process.
106	* TimeCompressionMontage: The first issue features a montage of the construction of Agea.
107	** The second opens up with a montage of Fitchner's time at the Insitute after the Passage.
108	* TookALevelInBadass: Arturius returns in Issue 4 as a leader of the Board of Quality Control.
109	* UndyingLoyalty: [[spoiler: Cylax Nexiti was part of Fitchner's terraforming crew on Triton,]] and is also part of the team racing to rescue Bryn.
110	** [[spoiler: Ryanna and Fitchner may argue and disagree over the difficulty of having to maintain their family's secret, but both will do whatever it takes to keep Bryn safe]].
111	** [[spoiler: Doran was a coworker of Ryanna's and Bryn's when they moved to Mars.]]
112	* UnreliableNarrator: The comics reveal that Fitchner ommitted some key details about his past when he explained his story to Darrow in ''Golden Son''.
113	* VillainousRescue: A squad of Obsidian bodyguards shows up at the end of the first issue to rescue Varus.
114	* WeHaveReserves: In flashbacks on Triton, the terraforming administrators comment that Reds are cheaper to replace than spare parts.
115	* WhamEpisode:
116	** Volume 1, Issue 4. [[spoiler: Doran is dead, and the Board of Quality Control, under the direction of Arturius, has taken both Bryn and Sevro.]]
117	** Volume 1, Issue 5. [[spoiler: Arturius is the one responsible for Bryn and Sevro's abduction, trying to convince Fitchner to accept a job at the Board of Quality Control by offering to "erase his mistakes"]].
118	** Volume 1, Issue 6. [[spoiler: Bryn manages to get Sevro to Fitchner before she's re-captured, but Arturius arrives and forces Fitchner to leave with Baby Sevro, sparing father and son as a gesture of love before sending Bryn to her execution]].

Context ComicBook / SonsOfAres