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Characters / Stray Gods

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The characters of Stray Gods.

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    Main Characters 

Grace

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stray_gods_grace_6.jpg
Voiced by: Laura Bailey

The protagonist, a young college dropout trying to find her way through life when she is given the powers of a Muse.

  • All-Loving Hero: She can be played this way for the Charming trait, especially if the player consistently picks Green options. She is empathetic toward everyone, including several initially antagonistic characters, such as Persephone, Medusa and even the main antagonist, Athena, and goes out of her way to be gentle and understanding toward their pains and wants.
  • Amateur Sleuth: Grace is tasked by the Idols to solve Calliope's murder in order to prove her own innocence. She spends a large majority of the game questioning every Idol and picking up clues and information relating to the deceased Muse.
  • Audience Surrogate: Serves this role to any player with little to no familiarity with Greek mythology as she's introduced to the Idols and their history.
  • Coming of Age Story: The game is one for Grace, and no matter how you progress she'll come into her own.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She can have a playful sense of humor. It's also more pronounced whenever she's flirting with other characters.
  • De-power: Grace can optionally sacrifice her power as a Muse to Freddie in the Underworld. This is the only way to bring Freddie back to life. This persists through the rest of the story, and Freddie becomes the source going forward if the cast starts singing.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Grace is unsure of herself and her future after college. This is further elaborated if she's honest with herself, feeling she's floating "adrift" with no destination. She finds a kindred spirit through Calliope, who comforts her by saying she feels the same.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: Her possible reaction to Persephone lying to her to reclaim the throne. This could be the very thing that breaks their romance if Grace had taken romantic options before this point. Considering her best friend just died and she might soon follow, it's understandable she's upset Persephone used the opportunity for her own gain.
  • Face Death with Dignity: When faced with the Furies the second time, she says her piece and closes her eyes, awaiting her fate. Bonus points if she says not to let anyone else die on her behalf. Fortunately, it turns out unnecessary in the end.
  • Glowing Eyes: Grace's eyes glow yellow whenever she uses her Muse powers.
  • Guile Hero: Blue 'Clever' options tend to play out this way, with Grace getting ahead with wits and guile, combined with good deductive reasoning and intuition.
  • The Heart: Green options will push Grace to be more empathetic, understanding and gentle with others.
  • Hell-Bent for Leather: Grace wears a black leather jacket and shows her rebellious, assertive, and boisterous side if the 'Kickass' trait options are chosen.
  • Hot-Blooded: Red options tend to have Grace become open, direct and courageous, if often a little lacking in tact.
  • Leitmotif: "Adrift", a song about feeling lost and purposeless. Gets a Triumphant Reprise near the climax, or a less triumphant reprise if she gave her power to Freddie, where once more Grace feels alone and lost as she is forced to walk toward what might soon be her death.
  • Magic Music: Her powers of a Muse enables Grace to have people around her sing "from the heart."
  • Perky Goth: Grace wears piercings, black jeans, combat boots, and a leather jacket and can be occasionally moody, but still is a very emotional person. This is especially true if the player consistently picks Green options, where Grace is consistently friendly and warm.
  • Reality Warper: Grace's Muse powers can not only enable people to sing and dance, but change the environment around them to reflect on what's their innermost desires.
  • Touched by Vorlons: Calliope passes her singing powers to Grace, which turns the latter into a Muse.
  • Tough Love: Many Red-coloured options play out this way. Grace is a good person at heart. That doesn't mean she'll be nice about it.

Freddie

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stray_gods_freddie.png
Voiced by: Janina Gavankar

Grace's best friend and roommate, as well as the leader of the band they're both in.

  • Aerosol Flamethrower: Brandishes it when confronting Medusa.
  • Back from the Dead: Grace can potentially revive Freddie from the Underworld if she passes her eidolon to her.
  • Best Friend: Freddie to Grace. They are best friends from the very start, though it is later revealed that they were drifting apart prior, and Freddie is always there for Grace, up to and including giving her own life to save her best friend.
  • Bookworm: Very knowledgeable of mythology and literature. Additionally, she gets very excited whenever she sees books. Her reaction to witnessing Hecate's library leaves her rambling her love for them.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: She's this option if you choose to romance her. If Grace chooses to sacrifice her powers as a Muse to save her from the Underworld, Freddie gets very upset because she sacrificed herself for Grace out of romantic love, which she had felt for years, and coupled with the fact that she was briefly dead, Freddie now doesn't know how to act around Grace. A Charming Grace can admit that she knew, and suspected as much when Freddie called her out of nowhere to start the band as an excuse to hang out more.
  • Crazy-Prepared: If Grace has enough affinity with her when confronting Medusa, Freddie will show up with a backpack full of miscellaneous stuff, including a mace and an improvised flamethrower. Considering how dangerous Medusa can be, her preparations were justified.
  • Do Not Call Me "Paul": Referenced in Freddie's profile, where Grace comments that the only person to call her Farishta is her grandmother. By the time Grace finds her in the Underworld, she pleads with her to come back to life by using her given name.
  • Dork Knight: Freddie is loyal, courageous and dependable, always ready to throw herself into danger to come to her friend's aid. She is also geeky, bookish and passionate about nerdy interests like tabletop gaming, mythologies and books, so much that she is fast friends with Hecate. Even Grace calls Freddie a dork.
  • First Girl Wins: Grace's childhood friend, the first of the romance options introduced, can potentially get together if she's revived from the Underworld by the end.
  • A Friend in Need: Being Grace's best friend, Freddie is ready and willing to leap into an unfamiliar world to help Grace out, accompanying her to Hecate's reliquary and potentially the more dangerous Medusa's lair, culminating in giving her own life to save Grace.
  • Gay Option: The female Freddie is a potential love interest for Grace.
  • Genre Savvy: Freddie is a huge mythology buff and if Grace allies with her, she offers to help with logistics and gives advice on what she knows about characters from the myths.
  • Go Through Me: Freddie's last action before she's killed. When she and Grace are being chased by the Furies in the Reliquary, she attempts this and receives swift death in return.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Freddie dies by saving Grace from the Furies and gets stabbed to death as a result.
  • Jealous Romantic Witness: She's secretly in love with her best friend Grace and becomes very prickly whenever she sees her being affectionate to her other potential suitors while in front of her.
  • Jumped at the Call: Freddie immediately jumps into the fray to help Grace after finding about the existence of the Idols and her powers, even dubbing herself as her "High Priestess."
  • Leitmotif: "If Only", if Grace romances her, a song about Freddie lamenting she didn't have the courage to confess her feelings to Grace, who shares her feelings all along. Gets two Triumphant Reprise, once during the Trial where Freddie joins Grace in trying to reason with Athena, and once in the ending, declaring that it wasn't too late after all.
  • Meaningful Name: Farishta means "Angel". Sure enough, she is a kind, dependable and loyal friend and ally to Grace, and in the end willingly giving her own life to save her best friend, being her guardian angel.
  • Motor Mouth: Once she starts gushing over books or mythology, she can ramble on in literal paragraphs.
  • Mr. Exposition: As a bookworm who "knows her Greek myth", Freddie provides exposition on basic knowledge of various figures in Greek mythology for Grace's benefit.
  • Muggle Best Friend: The only mortal character among a cast of immortals and fully supports and assists Grace throughout her adventures, though ironically she knows more about Greek Mythology than Grace does, which makes her more experienced in Grace's new world than Grace herself is. This can potentially change if she becomes the Last Muse through Grace passing over her eidolon, which ironically makes Grace the muggle best friend to her.
  • Properly Paranoid: Kind of. She is right that Pan is not exactly the most reliable guy and is hiding things, but he's nowhere near as bad as she thinks he is.
  • Shipper on Deck: She has full support of assisting Asterion into courting Hecate.
    Freddie: I'm so excited by this I can't even stand it.
  • Signature Headgear: A wide-brimmed green fedora, which she is seen wearing in most of her scenes. Becomes a memento should she die, which Grace keeps in her room from there on if Freddie isn't brought back.
  • Squee: Her utterly delighted reaction if Asterion successfully courts Hecate.
  • Token Minority: The only Indian character in the game. Also a twofer since she's sapphic.
  • Touched by Vorlons: She can be potentially revived from the dead if Grace passes her powers onto Freddie, turning the latter into the Last Muse.

Persephone

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stray_gods_persephone.png
Voiced by: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

The Goddess of Spring, former Queen of the Underworld, and the current proprietor of the nightclub Underworld.

  • Broken Bird: Life had not treated her well, leaving her icy, bitter and vindictive. Her romance arc revolves around putting the pieces of herself back together to make a new life she's happy with.
  • The Cynic: Persephone does not always have the most charitable interpretations of others, and is quick to assume personal slights against her, failings of their character or self-serving motives. Given her peers' general inaction toward Hades' abuse, one can see why she developed such a defensive approach to life.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: She is prickly, rude and prideful to near everyone, but she can become a fair and loyal ally to those who put in the work to prove themselves to her. Her romance arc is all about Grace seeing past her hard shell.
  • Domestic Abuse: Both Persephone herself and the latest incarnation of Persephone before she gained her Eidolon, the former at the hand of Hades, and the latter at the hand of a mob boss husband.
  • The Dreaded: Most of the remaining pantheon is scared of Persephone due to her icy demeanor and unwillingness to ever let go of grudges.
  • Gay Option: The female Persephone is a potential love interest for Grace.
  • Hypocrite: If Grace decides neither Persephone nor Orpheus can have the throne, then claims it for herself, Persephone calls Grace out for betraying her. This from someone who lied to Grace in the first place to reclaim her throne. To her credit, she at least looks ashamed of it when called out.
    Grace: I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, you're you... and I believed what I wanted to believe.
    Persephone: And neither of us will get what we want today.
    Grace: As opposed to your original plan, where that would have only been me.
  • It's All About Me: A flaw of hers, at times, which reaches its apex in the Underworld. Despite the journey being allegedly for Grace's benefit, whose best friend just died and whose execution may be coming soon, Persephone's main priority seems to be reclaiming the throne of Hades for herself. Grace has to remind her why they are really there in the first place. Indeed, Persephone knows full well she would not be able to contact the Fates or bring Freddie back (not with the throne anyway), so the journey being for Grace's benefit was a lie from the start (mostly).
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She is ruthless, vindictive, bitter and rude to a lot of people, including Grace, and even if she helps Grace in Act 3, she lies to sweeten the deal in order to achieve her own ends. Having said that, she is also capable of remorse and kindness, and will look out to the interest of others when she thinks they deserve it. She can even take in Medusa and helps her out in the ending.
  • The Lost Lenore: She was in love with Calliope and grieves her passing and that she never got to say farewell. If she romances Grace, the final option to break up with her has her wonder if she just likes Grace because she's all that's left of Calliope now.
  • Moral Myopia: When Orpheus accuses her of sharing in Hades's crime against him, she claims there was nothing she could do, as she too was powerless. That she accused Apollo of the same despite the fact that his own intervention might have also led to grave consequences never occurred to her, and she holds this grudge to this day.
  • Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Early on, the player is forced to choose between her and Apollo. The one the player does not pick will still play a substantial role in the plot, but they will be less of a companion to Grace, and she won't hear their perspectives on things or get directions from them nearly as much.
  • Never Got to Say Goodbye: Despite their falling out, Persephone deeply regrets being unable to say goodbye to Calliope, her former lover, before her death. Despite lying to Grace about bringing Freddie back and helping Grace contact the Fates, she is honest about at least granting Grace this privilege, something she thought she would never get to do with Calliope.
  • Pet the Dog: In the epilogue, if she takes Medusa in, Persephone proves to be a reasonable boss who seems to have faith in Medusa and treats her fairly.
  • Power Hair: The commanding nightclub owner Persephone sports short, styled hair.
  • Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: She does not have the most charitable response to Grace trying to take a peaceful approach toward her and is quick to dismiss diplomatic actions as naive and pointless. Persisting anyway can eventually win her over.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Even if you don't romance her, she grows kinder over the course of the game. After losing or reclaiming the throne of Hades and being able to say goodbye to Calliope, Persephone sides with and defends Grace in the confrontation with Athena and is on good terms with her and Apollo if the epilogue is any indication, as well as actively helping the other Idols once they reveal themselves to the world.
  • Tattoo as Character Type: The rebellious, rule-breaker is the only Idol with visible tattoos.
  • Til Murder Do Us Part: She killed Hades after realizing how much he put her down and manipulated her to keep her meek.
  • Worthy Opponent: If Grace chooses to respond to her aggression with even more aggression without holding anything back and eventually steamrolling her in the fight she started, Persephone is actually impressed with the fight in her, and willingly aids her despite previously believing she was responsible for Calliope's death and unworthy of her Eidolon.

Apollo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stray_gods_apollo.png
Voiced by: Troy Baker

The God of the Sun and Prophecy.

  • Bearer of Bad News: Because his prophecies almost always end up being bad news for those involved, Apollo is very reluctant to offer his help to Grace or anyone since it's most likely that they'll backfire horrifically.
  • Benevolent Boss: If Grace offers to get Medusa his help, Apollo will take her in and treat her well even after discovering she had a hand in the death of Artemis.
  • Cursed with Awesome: Apollo has the power of prophecy, and can see the future as a result. He has since learned this is not always a good thing. To know a prophecy is to be bound by it, and indeed, him capitulating to Athena's demand and telling her the prophecy involving Calliope is the very thing that pointlessly got her killed. No wonder he is not keen on using this power for anyone's benefit.
  • The Eeyore: Lampshaded. His status as a god known for giving a lot of bad news doesn't necessarily make him a sunny individual many centuries later.
    Grace: Tell me, is Apollo always so...?
    Oracle: Incredibly emo? Like a sack stuffed with sad?
    Apollo: I am standing right here.
  • Extreme Doormat: A flaw of his. Apollo is well-meaning and kind, but he is also reluctant to step out of his comfort zone and can capitulate to the demands of others and follow their wishes. Apollo submitting to Athena's demands to use his prophetic powers despite knowing better is what kickstarted the plot in the first place, and he must learn to step up to her authority as the story progresses, which he especially does if romanced.
  • Genre Savvy: Apollo knows how deceptive prophecies can be, and any effort to change your fate will simply backfire on you, so he prefers to not use his power at all. Unfortunately, Athena never learned this lesson, and her effort to save the Idols turn out to be entirely pointless, even after Apollo warns her not to take prophecies literally.
  • Glowing Eyes: During "Old Wounds," Apollo's eyes briefly glow gold with fury once Persephone pushed his buttons once too many times.
  • Hopeless with Tech: Apollo is the "Basic Understanding" type. He knows how to use a phone, but strongly dislikes it, citing that he doesn't like talking to people he can't see. According to Oracle, he's easily startled by ringtones every single time, and despite her best attempts, he still doesn't know what an ethernet cable is.
  • I Hate Past Me: Apollo regrets many of his actions as an arrogant god centuries past.
  • Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Early on, the player is forced to choose between him and Persephone. The one the player does not pick will still play a substantial role in the plot, but they will be less of a companion to Grace, and she won't hear their perspectives on things or get directions from them nearly as much.
  • My Greatest Failure: Apollo blames himself and his powers of prophecy for the War happening. He had foretold its coming and went to Ares, begging him to help stop it. Ares instead chose to escalate because Apollo told him the Idols were a lost cause. Ares revealed the existence of the Idols to the "jackbooted guys", leading to Aphrodite's capture, Hephaestus' sacrifice, and the Idols' exodus to the New World.
  • Surfer Dude: Downplayed. He looks like one and his current residence is a literal beach house, but personality-wise he's quite moody and serious. His current host was a mortal named Lucas, a surfer who tried to save his previous host from drowning.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: Apollo's default outfit is walking around with an open jacket wearing nothing underneath.
    Grace: You didn't say this was a fancy party. I feel a little underdressed.
    Apollo: Grace, look at me: I didn't even button up my shirt. It's fine.

Pan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stray_gods_pan.png
Voiced by: Khary Payton

An unusual, horn-headed immortal who takes keen interest in Calliope's death for unknown reasons.

  • The Atoner: Part of his motive for helping Grace out. He fears he might have unwittingly led to Calliope's murder.
  • Beneath Suspicion: Played with. Apollo and Persephone initially dismiss him as a murder suspect out of hand, as it doesn't fit his way of doing things, but Persephone soon changes her mind. He's not actually the killer.
  • Cool Shades: Wears a pair of purple-tinted shades at all times.
  • Deal with the Devil: "I Can Teach You" frames him this way. His goat horns can suggest Satanic imagery, he appears shifty and cunning, he stresses that he will one day call in this favour, Grace's best friend immediately mistrusts him and he and Freddie are positioned on opposite sides, as if they were angel and devil on her shoulder. This is subverted when it turns out, while indeed a trickster and perhaps a little self-serving, he is largely innocent, and he uses his favour to push Grace further along in her investigation.
  • Funny Background Event: His introduction plays out like this: he enters the house while Grace and Freddie are arguing over her absence last night, and it takes a few more lines of dialogue before Grace notices him drinking out of her kitchen tap.
  • Gruesome Goat: Pan's design invokes this, giving him horns, long floppy ears, and rectangular pupils. He is certainly the more ambiguous option in the initial choice between having his aid and Grace's best friend Freddie's. While he admits to being distrusted by the other Idols and admits to not telling Grace the entire truth right off the bat, he is not responsible for Calliope's death.
  • The Hedonist: Having a history of being a mischievous lust god lets Pan engage his life through many pleasures. It's very rare to see him not flippant throughout his interactions with everyone. He even propositions Grace during "Let's Have This Dance" to "live a little," even if she's pursuing another character.
  • Little Bit Beastly: Pan, traditionally half-human half-goat, is depicted as a man with goat horns and ears.
  • Horned Humanoid: Has a pair of horns, which he uses magic to hide when walking among mortals.
  • Indispensable Scoundrel: How most of the Olympus sees him: he's incredibly shady (Cool Shades aside), but most everyone owes him favours, which he spends to gather more favours.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the climax, even if he is not romanced, Pan can be the first person other than Grace's love interest to step up in defense of her, saying Athena would have to take both of them if she takes Grace. Athena is shocked that he would leap to another's defense in such a manner.
  • Snake Charmer: If you side with him as a Clever Grace, he shows up to save her from Medusa by using his pipes to charm her.
  • Stepford Smiler: Pan acts devil-may-care but inside he cares and hurts very deeply, especially if romanced. In his own words, "When faced with pain, I dance."
  • Sunglasses at Night: Wears the aforementioned shades even in the middle of the night, and indoors.
  • The Trickster: Pan being god of mischief leads him to tell half-truths and play pranks, such as spreading the rumor about Cupid being a winged baby, to Eros's displeasure.
  • Waistcoat of Style: Wears one under his suit.

    Idols 

In general

Idols are immortal beings who, once upon a time, were worshipped as gods in Ancient Greece; for this reason, they are sometimes referred to as gods. Every Idol has a "soul" called an eidolon, which can be passed on to another person, assuring an Idol's immortality.
  • Amnesia Loop: Every Idol undergoes it; after an eidolon is passed on, the new host has no memories of their past lives, until it all comes back to them after a few decades.
  • Deity of Human Origin: Not the Idols themselves, but their hosts, who start as ordinary mortals before becoming immortal.
  • The Fog of Ages: The more an eidolon is passed on, the more memories the Idol forgets; Persephone notes that at this point, none of them remember where they came from or how they originated, and Aphrodite recalls nothing before times of Ancient Rome.
  • Gender Bender: Many Idols don't think much of changing their gender and sex as they go from life to life; the current Hermes is non-binary where their predecessor was male, and the Muses would not care for their prospective hosts' identities, only their talents.
  • Jerkass Gods: In the past, they used to lord over and toy with mortals for their own vanity and amusement. Having several of them killed by mortals changed their tune. Of course, many of them still aren't the best people in the present, but their flaws are now more on a personal level.
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: For a given value of "mundane"; Grace speculates that the Idols may've originally been aliens who came to Earth.
  • Meaningful Rename: Most Idols eventually switch from their mortal name to the name of the eidolon they hold, as the centuries of memories of their past lives make them feel less like their mortal selves and more like part of an older entity.
  • Resurrective Immortality: After a fashion. A dying Idol can bestow their eidolon upon another person, ensuring that they will live on in a new body.
  • Willing Channeler: It's implied that most of the time, new hosts are prepared for some time before they receive an older Idol's eidolon.

Aphrodite

Voiced by: Merle Dandridge

The Goddess of Love, and one of the members of the ruling Chorus, though she doesn't speak much throughout.

  • Amnesia Loop: A self-inflicted case. Because it takes about two decades for a new bearer of an Idol's eidolon to remember their past lives, she passes hers on every twenty years so that she may forget the horrors she suffered a century ago. Inevitably, however, the memories return and grow unbearable again, and the cycle repeats. Grace can convince her to forego her latest resurrection.
  • Big Beautiful Woman: She's noticeably larger than other Idols, and as beautiful as the rest of them.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: While all Idols suffer from it to some extent, Aphrodite has it the worst. During World War II, she was captured and tortured by the Nazis, leading to her husband sacrificing himself to save her. She has never been the same since.
  • Love Goddess: Like in traditional mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love and exudes a calming, warm demeanor.
  • The Fog of Ages: Applies to all Idols, but Aphrodite exploits it. Because Idols lose a bit of their oldest memories every time they pass on their eidolons, she believes that with enough time, an iteration of her will no longer recall the events that traumatized her.
  • Star-Spangled Spandex: Her cape and dress look like the starry sky.
  • Simple, yet Opulent: Her dress is extremely elegant, despite its simple design.

Athena

Voiced by: Felicia Day

The Goddess of Wisdom and the leader of the Chorus.

  • All for Nothing: Athena's efforts to defend the Idols were all pointless in the end and she murdered the last muse for nothing, as the prophecy never said anything about the gods dying out, only that they cannot continue, which is fulfilled when they change their ways and join human society in the ending. Her realization of this, even if she is forgiven, causes her to exile herself in some endings.
  • Control Freak: As the game progresses, it becomes very apparent that she has an iron grip over the Idols, to the point where they have to ask her to even live outside of the Olympus. Some go with it, while others resent it. This ultimately turns out to be her fatal flaw. When presented with the prophecy, Athena tries to steer fate toward the path she believes it to be laying out, the price be damned, and ends up killing an innocent woman and trying to execute another for nothing because Athena was wrong about what it meant. The solution all along is to let the prophecy play out, which in the end turns out to be what the Idols needed all along, change.
  • Easily Forgiven: By others, if not herself. It is possible that for murdering another Idol and trying to get an innocent person framed and executed, she seemingly gets away without any formal punishment. However, even if others forgive her, once she realizes her error, Athena willingly surrenders authority and exiles herself anyway.
  • Genre Blind: Being part of Greek Mythology, Athena should know better than to take prophecies at face value, let alone to try to avert fate.
  • Good Old Ways: She embodies this; she's Hopeless with Tech and she dresses like how you'd imagine a Greek God, unlike other Idols who have adopted more modern outfits. Subverted in that she's not good - she's the killer, and the old ways she embodies is the very thing the Idols must move past to survive and get better.
  • Heel Realization: Seeing the Idols stand with Grace and against her, Athena suddenly realizes she had done something monstrous.
    Athena: There was a voice in me that shouted "Athena, you be strong," / "Be strong, no cost is great enough." / It was wrong, I was wrong.
  • Hopeless with Tech: Athena is "Completely Hopeless", by Hermes' account. According to them, Athena still calls cars "iron horses".
  • I Did What I Had to Do: How she justifies killing Calliope and trying to execute Grace. In her view, either Calliope dies, or all the Idols die, and someone must make the difficult choice.
  • Martyr Without a Cause: As part of being the leader, she's willing to shoulder everyone's blame. She uses this as a defense mechanism in the Trial by claiming she's shielding everyone else, but eventually realizes the only one to blame is herself.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: One of the Trial endings has her declare that she's a monster to herself, and she exiles herself in shame in some endings.
  • Team Mom: She is the leader of the Idols, and exudes a warm, grandmotherly demeanor towards everyone, even when she's proclaiming someone's impending execution.

Calliope

Voiced by: Ashley Johnson

The Last Muse, whose death kickstarts the plot of the game.

  • Been There, Shaped History: A look around her appartment reveals several works of art and photographs that imply she was the muse to various famous artists, including Elvis Presley.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: Stumbles into Grace's apartment to literally die in her arms.
  • Informed Attribute: People describe Calliope as argumentative and headstrong. Persephone even wonders if she had done anything to make enemies that would eventually lead to her death. Every time Grace sees her, she is kind, gentle and polite. This is justified, as Grace only met her on the last day of her life, and knowing her death may be coming might change a person's demeanor somewhat.
  • Last of Their Kind: While there were three muses once, by the time of the game's events, she is the last one left.
  • The Muse: One of the last Muses before her eidolon is transferred to Grace.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Has only one full scene (and one song) before her death.

Hermes

Voiced by: Erika Ishii

The herald of the gods, who whisks Grace away to Olympus following Calliope's death.

  • Adaptational Gender Identity: In Greek mythology, Hermes is expressed as masculine. Here, the latest Hermes is referred with they/them pronouns, with only their predecessor being referenced to by the traditional gender.
  • Baby Of The Bunch: Apart from Grace and possibly Venus, they're the youngest Idol, having only been Hermes for a year by the time the game begins. It might explain why they seem to be taking especially well to internet culture once the Idols reveal themselves to the world in the ending.
  • Keet: As expected from a god known for being fast, Hermes is cheery, fast-talking and full of energy.
  • Thinking Up Portals: Their Idol power allows them to travel instantenously between any two doorways, no matter how far apart they might be.

Eros

Voiced by: Abubakar Salim

Aphrodite's "son" and the God of Sex.

  • Big Beautiful Man: Noticeably stocky, and all the more beautiful for it.
  • Cuddle Bug: He's noticeably... tactile — his second-ever meeting with Grace begins with him pulling her into a bear hug — but it's wholly chaste, despite his godly title.
  • Leatherman: His outfit very much harkens to that archetype, to the point where Grace describes him in her notes as looking like a "Turkish wrestler who's taking a break from his BDSM dungeon".
  • Love Freak: Underplayed. He explains to Grace that he frequents the Underworld not to find hookups himself, but to see other people find each other, as he enjoys seeing the chemistry between them.
  • Navel-Deep Neckline: His shirt's cleavage nearly reaches his belly button - not that the see-through shirt itself leaves much to the imagination.

Hecate

Voiced by: Allegra Clark

The goddess of witchcraft and the night, Hecate lives in a Reliquary full of powerful artifacts, including a book that records all that will happen and has happened.

  • Affectionate Nickname: Asterion usually calls her Kate, and during Cast a Spell, "Katey".
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: While most of the (humanoid) Idols have natural skin tones, Hecate is grey.
  • Character Catchphrase: "It is written." referring to her Tomes of Prophecy and Fate. Freddie gets very giddy hearing it. Also, "There will be tea." her go-to welcome quote.
  • Commonality Connection: Hecate is initially hostile to Grace and especially Freddie for intruding upon somewhere mortals are not allowed to be. If certain choices are chosen, Freddie's love of knowledge can immediately endears her to Hecate, and the three of them discuss their interests over tea. Grace is a bit put out. In the ending, if she lives, Freddie is even on her way to becoming Hecate's apprentice, possibly making her the first sorcerous muse in history.
  • Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Though her size changes, if they get together, Hecate grows massive enough to at one point fit Asterion inside her palm as they celebrate a successful courtship.
  • Mystical White Hair: As befitting the goddess of magic, Hecate has flowing white hair.
  • Sizeshifter: Able to switch between a gigantic Titan form and a more humanoid size.
  • Solitary Sorceress: Subverted. She lives apart from the rest of the world, with Asterion.
  • Spock Speak: She has a particularly formal way of speaking.
  • Tomes of Prophecy and Fate: Hecate's library contains books where everything that will ever happen is written down. Hecate can gain knowledge from them she would otherwise have no way of knowing, such as recognizing Grace from her description after she jogs her memory, but is simultaneously bound by them; if the books say that Hecate only finds out about Asterion's feelings towards her at a specific point, she appears physically or mentally unable to know this before the book says she is allowed to know it. The books are not infallible, however; Hecate reveals that Calliope was meant to die eleven months from now in a car crash rather than be murdered. This is later exploited when Freddie and Grace hypothesize that Hecate would definitely notice them breaking into the Reliquary... unless, of course, it was written that she wouldn't.

Hades

Persephone's husband and King of the Underworld, who kidnapped her, made her his bride, and was horribly abusive to her. Eventually, she killed him for it.

  • Everybody Hates Hades: Not only did Hades kidnap Persephone like in the myth, he physically abused and mistreated her while they were married, leading her to murder him, and he explicitly tricked Orpheus into losing Eurydice during his quest, leaving Orpheus with a grudge against Persephone.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: For Persephone's story, Hades mistreating her led her to kill him and unintentionally lose the throne, leaving it open for Orpheus to claim.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Initially he doted on Persephone to win her affections before he let on that she was a possession to him. Persephone is ashamed she fell for his act for centuries.
  • Posthumous Character: Never seen on account of being dead and only talked about by others.

Ares

God of the brutality in war, he's responsible for the Idols' exodus by selling them out to the Nazis to escalate World War II. The rest of the pantheon killed him afterward.

  • Bald of Evil: A stained-glass window depicting him shows him as bald.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: For Aphrodite's story and the greater pantheon's, Ares selling the Idols out to the Nazis led to death, destruction, and Aphrodite being tortured, leading Hephaestus to sacrifice himself so the pantheon could escape. It's implied, and confirmed in Aphrodite's case, that the remaining Idols are decimated from the direct results of what happened.
  • Posthumous Character: Never seen on account of being dead and only talked about by others.
  • War Is Glorious: A believer. He escalated a coming war, leading to the death of a number of Idols, for this reason. If she's allied with him, Apollo admits to Grace that he told Ares about a prophecy that the Idols would not make it out of the war unscathed, implying that Ares might have considered the war a chance to go out in a blaze of glory rather than solely for its own sake.

Hephaestus

Aphrodite's long-suffering husband, who she never appreciated when they were together, but grew to love after he made a sacrifice that ensured she and the rest of the pantheon would be free from war.

  • Been There, Shaped History: The painting of him shown during Aphrodite's song suggests that the "secret weapon" he built for mortals to free Aphrodite was a nuclear bomb, making him part of Project Manhattan.
  • The Ghost: Never appears in the game proper, other than as a painting during Aphrodite's song. If asked, Eros explains that as part of the deal struck between him and "enemy's enemies" (most likely US government), he had to "leave", but Aphrodite still believes she will meet him again some day.
  • Love Martyr: Aphrodite never paid him any attention when they were together, frequently cheating on him if the myths are accurate. Despite this, he loved her so much that he made a sacrifice to ensure she would escape endless tortures at the hand of mortals. When Aphrodite realizes this, she feels awful about how she had treated him despite his devotion to her.

Artemis

Apollo's sister, the goddess of the hunt. She parted ways with the pantheon long ago, refusing to acclimate with civilization.

  • But Now I Must Go: When the pantheon left the Old World for civilization, she came over with the other Idols but ended up unable to abide by all of the new rules and disappeared, presumably into the wilderness. Medusa admits to having a hand in her death rather than Artemis just having disappeared, with a strong implication that Medusa ate her, and Apollo can find out depending on your choices.
  • The Ghost: She never appears in the game, only mentioned in dialogue through a bonded Apollo.

Dionysus

God of merriment and wine, he used to own the nightclub Persephone now runs, but had no idea how to run a business. Nowadays he secludes himself and drinks.

  • The Alcoholic: Spent and continues to spend all of his time plastered.
  • The Bet: Lost ownership of his club in a bet with Persephone, after which she kicked him out for not paying the tab.
  • The Ghost: He never appears in the game, only mentioned in dialogue through a bonded Persephone.

    Others 

Oracle

Voiced by: Kimberly Brooks

A snarky hacker teen who works with Apollo.

  • Ambiguous Situation: Oracle prefers to spend as much time as possible at "Paul's" place rather than home, but the why of it isn't elaborated on.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Teen, shorter than the rest of the cast, and decidedly bratty.
  • Get a Room!: Angrily tells Apollo and Grace that if Grace choses to flirt with Apollo in front of Oracle.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Less a jerk and more very bratty and rude, especially toward Apollo. Nonetheless, she acknowledges that he's a good guy, and if he is upset, she gets very defensive and tells Grace to leave him alone if she thinks Grace is responsible.
  • Mundane Solution: She is Apollo's Oracle and a hacker, but the one time she is asked to find something out, she just goes to google it. If only Apollo thought of that.
  • The Nicknamer: Nicknamed Apollo "Paul", not believing the man's assertions of being a god.
  • Playful Hacker: Digs out information out of computer systems for fun.
  • Spell My Name with a "The": Inverted; absolutely does not want to be called "the Oracle", which Apollo insists on doing, claiming that "Oracle" is just an online handle rather than a role.
  • The Thing That Would Not Leave: Discussed. Grace is a bit aghast to hear that Oracle has seemingly moved into Apollo's place full time, but he doesn't mind, as he always has an oracle that finds him wherever he goes. It's hinted that Oracle's home life isn't great, leading to her preferring to stay with Apollo. If Apollo is romanced, he mentions looking for somewhere else for Oracle to stay because he would like to have Grace move in with him.

Venus

Voiced by: Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer

A prospective mortal host for Aphrodite and a close friend of hers.

  • Meaningful Name: Aphrodite’s prospective new host is called Venus, which was her Roman pantheon name. Venus assures Grace that yes, that is her real name.
  • Nice Girl: Kind-hearted, friendly and understanding; pretty much everyone agrees that she's incredibly nice.
  • Secret-Keeper: She's a mortal who's well-aware of the world of Idols.
  • Willing Channeler: Unlike Grace, Venus knows full well what is going to happen to her and has been preparing to become Aphrodite for about half a year before the ritual party.

Asterion

Voiced by: Rahul Kohli

The ferocious man-eating Minotaur of legend, he has a secret, seemingly hopeless crush on Hecate.

  • Adaptational Intelligence: The Minotaur in the myths is normally depicted as a mindless man-eating beast. In Stray Gods, Asterion is highly eloquent and smart enough to outplay even Athena's gag order.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Subverted. In this game, he's also known by his actual name Asterion, and sometimes as "The Minotaur". Though the game subtitles still referes to him as simply "Minotaur".
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Despite the legends, he doesn't actually make a habit of eating people...with noted exception of Theseus, who was a bell-end.
  • The Nicknamer: Always refers to Hecate as "Kate", and sometimes refer to Grace as simply "Muse".
  • Not Even Bothering with the Accent: The Minotaur, from Ancient Greek, is voiced by Rahul Kohli, an English actor.
  • Open Mouth, Insert Foot: He really does not have a way with words, which is why he needed the help of a muse in the first place to make his feelings heard.
  • Our Minotaurs Are Different: The Trope Codifier himself. Though much clever than in the myth, he even outsmarts Athena's rules.
  • Shapeshifter Baggage: If Asterion does not win Hecate's heart, she offers to give him a human glamour so he can find love elsewhere. He asks if he can decide how he looks and she agrees, but that he will need to be larger because of his natural body mass.
  • Shy Finger-Twiddling: Does this quite often.

Medusa

Voiced by: Anjahli Bihmani

The snake-haired Gorgon of legend, Medusa sees herself as the monster she's claimed to be.

  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: A conversation with Grace reveals that she in truth considers herself a lost and cursed creature who's always one step away from the chopping block.
  • Horror Hunger: Part of her curse involves a craving for human flesh. She claims she's trying to work on it, but whatever she's doing doesn't seem to be helping.
  • Hypnotic Eyes: One of Medusa's powers. She explains it as a Required Secondary Power due to being unable to eat stone, so she uses this to hold people still for her to feed on them.
  • Lady in Red: Runs a seedy nightclub, is introduced almost seducing a man into letting himself be eaten, and wears a red sari.
  • Mirrors Reflect Everything: When meeting Medusa, Grace can decide to take a leaf out of Perseus' book and reflect Medusa's gaze back at her through her phone. Turns out it doesn't work that way, though, to Grace's disappointment. However, she can still use it to get Medusa to back off by pointing out her cursed appearance.
  • Monster Mouth: Her mouth has needle-point teeth, and there are lines extending from the corners of her lips suggesting it can open much wider than a human mouth would.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: The pupils of her eyes are always glowing red, and she tries to eat Grace the first time they meet.
  • Snakes Are Sexy: Medusa is introduced wearing a sari that bares her midriff and about to give a “kiss” to a human victim. Grace herself can admit that Medusa's kind of cute for a monster.
  • Snakes Are Sinister: Medusa is first mentioned as Athena's spymaster, and there is a brief span of time where Grace believes Medusa might have attacked Calliope. When you finally meet her, she was about to sink her teeth into a human and swiftly attempts to take Grace for dinner instead, admitting that hero's blood is a particular weakness of hers in a way that implies an addiction.
  • The Spymaster: Serves in this role to Athena, despite Athena herself being the source of her curse.

The Fates

Three immortal sisters who rule over destiny, the Fates are notoriously hard to talk to and impossible to budge.
  • Above the Gods: They are above the Idols in terms of power and thus aren't inclined to hear them out.
  • The Ghost: Only talked about, but never seen directly.

The Furies

Triplet goddesses of vengeance who predate the Idols, they relentlessly stalk anyone who breaks the divine rules.

Charon

The Ferryman of the Underworld. Once an imposing figure, he's now desperate for someone to talk to.
  • Fanboy: Of the Muses. Grace offering to give him some entertainment makes him Squee in a manner that doesn't require translation.
  • The Ferryman: Duh. Since most people stopped believing in Idols, though, he hasn't done much ferrying lately.
  • Gentle Giant: He is the largest character seen, but appears to be a sweet person who is just keen to be interacting with others again.
  • The Unintelligible: Persephone can understand him perfectly and has to translate for Grace and the player, who cannot.

Orpheus

Voiced by: Anthony Rapp

A talented bard who, long ago, went to the Underworld to plead with Hades and Persephone to bring his wife Eurydice back from the dead. Hades tricked him into leaving with nothing, and he's held a grudge ever since.

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