WMG / Hades II

We will see Zagreus again

The new protagonist is Zag's sister. There's a lot we don't know so far about age differences or whether they even know the other exists, which creates room for a lot of fun sibling dynamics. They could be rivals, allies, maybe Zag is a Superboss, etc.

• Zagreus will be this game's version of Thanatos, showing up to help with a randomly chosen Zagreus Aspected Weapon.
• Zagreus will be this game's version of Meg, the first boss, showing up with a randomly chosen Zagreus Aspected weapon and speedrunners WILL LEARN TO FUCKING LOATHE HIM!
  • Jossed as far as being the first boss is concerned...

Zagreus and Persephone were captured too.

That's one reason why they can't help Melinoe...

• Seemingly Confirmed in the tech preview; whatever happened to Hades, Zag and Persephone also disappeared alongside him.

Hecate raised Melinoe after her birth for some reason.

Perhaps to hide her from Chronos/train her to defeat him?

Other gods that will support Melinoe

So far, we've only seen two new gods helping Melinoe: Apollo and Nemesis. This makes one wonder what other gods will grant her their Boons.

• Asclepius: The god of medicine. Could grant status effect immunity as well as bolstered healing abilities.
• Nike: The goddess of victory. Perhaps this could have snowballing effects where Melinoe gets stronger the more bosses she's defeated in a single run.
• Iris, goddess of rainbows and messenger. She could function similarly to Hermes.
• Hephaestus, god of the forge, either as someone focused around straightforward buffs to your base stats or a mechanic similar to Daedalus's hammers.
  • Confirmed; he appears as a boon-granting Olympian, with a focus seemingly on tanking and dishing out massive hits.
• Hera, goddess of marriage. She could have a mechanic where you get massive buffs after taking damage as a reference to her constant attempts at seeking revenge after Zeus's many infidelities.
• Hestia, goddess of the hearth and the home. She could be an inversion to Demeter's boons, instead granting Melinoe fire-based abilities.
  • Confirmed, including the fire.
  • Both Hera and Hestia are especially likely, given that unlike the situation with Zagreus, their father is now involved. Hestia's assistance here would make more sense than in the first game, since Melinoe's goal is to safe her father (and probably protect the Underworld/her home in the process), unlike Zag, who tried to break out of it.
  • Demeter could also show up in summer mood, granting fire abilities - which would also give a convenient explanation for Persephone's absence: she's currently stuck on Mount Olympus. This would leave defense boons for Hestia.
    • Fire-based Demeter is jossed; she's back to grant more boons but she retains her winter theming from the first game.
• Morpheus: God of Sleep and Dreams, his attacks could likely have a stunning or disorienting effect on enemies, or a debuff that makes them move and attack slower.
• Pan, god of the wilderness. He could give Melinoe's attacks a poison debuff like Dionysus.
• Eris, goddess of strife, who had an Aspect of the Rail in the first game.
• Chaos from the first game will return to support Melinoë, but will be the only one to do so out of the deities from the first game.
• One of the nine Muses, such as Calliope, Orpheus's mom, or Terpsichore, the muse of dance and presumably dance battling.
• Pasithea, Hypnos' wife and goddess of rest, relaxation, and hallucinations.

Greek Heroes appearing in this title.

Like in Hades, Hades II is likely to include many other well-known or not-so-known Greek heroes as supporting cast members. While there are no characters currently confirmed, we can assume that they'll be associated with the story's overall theme; while in Hades, the heroes were those like Theseus, Sisyphus, and Orpheus, who all tried and failed to overcome the limitations of death, in Hades II, the focus will most likely be on witchcraft and sacrificing oneself for others.

• Odysseus and Circe: Circe is, by far, the quintessential witch in Greek mythology, and is an absolute shoo-in for a story focused around witches, even without being the very daughter of Hecate. Odysseus is unquestionably linked to her, and with his fellow heroes of the Trojan War Achilles and Patroclus appearing in the previous game as well as him potentially being Skelly, it's not out of the question that he'd appear here.
  • Confirmed; Odysseus is one of the characters you can talk to in the Crossroads.
• Jason and Medea
• Perseus, to contrast Medusa's implied prominence in the first game.
• Prometheus
• Heracles should be a no-brainer, given that he's the most famous Greek Hero; bonus points if his appearance also allows for the presence of Prometheus, as it was Heracles who freed him during his labors.
• Atalante, as a stand-in for Thanatos.
• Castor and Pollux/Polydeuces, who could be a Dual Boss for Melinoë.
• Tiresias, the blind seer who was part of several important Greek myths and could be tied with the themes of prophecy and fate from the last game. Melinoë could meet him in Asphodel, and it'd be an interesting reference to The Odyssey, in which Odysseus also meets Tiresias' soul in the Underworld to consult his prophetic abilities.

Chronos will force Hades to fight Melinoe.

Nothing worse than going to save your dad only to be forced to kill him.

Rhea, not Chronos, organized the events of the game.

• Alternatively, it was Hyperion, who Hades notes in the first game to be even worse than his own father.

Hecate will be either the first area boss or the Final Boss.

The first game had you interacting with several bosses in the Hub Level, including Hades, who turned out to be the Final Boss. We also see them fighting in the trailer. This could go one of two ways, either she's the boss of the first area to test if Melinoe is ready for what lies ahead. Or, Hecate is a Treacherous Quest Giver and has ulterior motives for sending Melinoe against Chronos, and is the real final opponent. However, after beating the main storyline she'll undergo a Heel–Face Turn, and all future fights are friendly sparring matches. (They have to justify the postgame somehow)

• Confirmed: She's the first boss.

The game takes place in a "Groundhog Day" Loop until you get it right.

• Given the catastrophic scale of Chronos' plans if you fail and his control over time, maybe Melinoe can use the latter against him to trap them both in a loop until she wins.

Melinoe's cast will be a vengeful spirit.

What little is known of Melinoe in mythology is that she is the Cthonic goddess of ghosts and funerary rites (and nightmares, in some versions). So instead of launching crystalised blood like Zagreus, she'll send ghosts to haunt her enemies.

• Jossed, it's a binding spell to hold enemies in place for a short time.

Dora used to be known as Pandora.

Much like how Dusa is heavily implied to be the severed head of Medusa, Dora will at the very least be implied to be Pandora, the first mortal woman.

• This seems too obvious to be incorrect. It even uses the same naming pattern as Dusa (ie just dropping the first syllable).

Rhea is the story's Big Good

In direct opposition to her ex-husband, Rhea will turn out to be the one who tasked Hecate with training Melinoe so that she can rescue the Gods from his clutches. Perhaps late in the game, Hecate will suffer Mentor Occupational Hazard and be captured by Chronos, prompting Rhea to step in to give Melinoe protection and guidance herself.

Characters who might return from the previous game

• Achilles and Patroclus: They helped Zagreus, now they'll help Melinoe.
  • They could be the current champions of Elysium, becoming the boss for that region (assuming it returns in any way).
• Charon: The underworld literally can't function without him, so he'd be around. You also have new siblings of his to snark about him.
  • Confirmed. Charon returns to run his shop, but the upheaval of the Underworld has affected him too; the shop looks less put together and Poseidon snips that he's "turned to the life of piratical smuggler".
• Dusa: Perhaps as a brief or extended cameo in the Underworld, lamenting how quiet things have gotten after the royal family was captured.
• Nyx: Can't imagine that Chronos can do much to her. Or perhaps he can and she was captured alongside Hades?
• Chaos: Chronos definitely can't touch them. They'll likely serve the same role they did originally.
• Megaera (and her sisters): Whether Chronos would even want to go after the Furies (since he probably wouldn't see them as a threat) is unclear, but if they're present, they'd probably act as both allies and obstacles to Melinoe, just as they did for her brother.
  • One of the Arcana cards is named "The Furies", but it remains to be seen whether they'll make an in-person appearance.
• Thanatos: Because time cannot stop death.
• Orpheus could potentially reappear since he's also said to be a magician in mythology, even creating temples of Hecate.
• Artemis: she'll return not as a god that delivers boons, but an NPC in the hub world that Melinoe can speak with. This is justified by Artemis's nature as a hunter who spends most of her time away from Olympus with her companions. Also now that Apollo is a boon-giver, she can have some snarky dialogue towards her brother should the topic come up.
  • Confirmed: She assists Mel as an old friend in the middle of the first area, in a role similar to Thanatos.

Just as Zagreus was nicknamed "Zag", Melinoe will be nicknamed "Mel" or "Meli".

Just 'cause it'd be cute.

• Confirmed; Dora calls her Mel.

"Dora" is Metrodora

Because Pandora would be too obvious.

The game takes place centuries after the first game.

As the characters are immortal, a few centuries wouldn’t be that much time for them.

Zagreus doesn't appear at first because he got swallowed by Kronos.

He can't leave the Underworld for long, so he wouldn't have been able to get away when Kronos (presumably) took over. Melinoe doesn't mention rescuing him in the trailer either, so she may believe that her brother is dead. However, anyone who knows Greek mythology would know that getting eaten by Kronos doesn't always kill you. So during the final fight against him, there's a point where he's forced to vomit Zagreus up.

Melinoe's ghost arm is what's keeping her from being pulled into the Underworld

Since it was established that Hades and Zagreus can't be out of the Underworld for too long before dying, Melinoe would have the same problem. To train her outside, Hecate did a spell that left Melinoe's arm in the Underworld so a part of her would always be tied to it.

The other Titans will appear in some form

The Titans were mentioned throughout the first game, Hyperion and Theia specifically by Demeter and Hades. Now that Kronos has returned, some Titan antagonists like Theia, Hyperion, Krios, Phoebe, or Iapetus might show up to stop Melinoe as bosses before she meets the Titan of Time himself.

Metrodora will be the new Narrator

To go with a new female protagonist there will also be a new female narrator. The identity of this new narrator will be Metrodora mentioned above.

• Jossed by the technical preview; the Narrator from the first game returns.

Potential bosses/superbosses

• Any of the Olympians except maybe Hestia.
• Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon at the same time.
• Nyx or Thanatos.
• Atlas, or any of the other Titans.
• Zagreus
• The Typhon
• Echidna
• Pirithous, Theseus' companion who tried to abduct Persephone and got eternally glued to a chair
• Orthrus, Cerberus's brother

Asphodel will return to its original state and won't be a Lethal Lava Land anymore

In the first game, the Asphodel Meadows had been flooded by the river Phlegethon before the events of the story, turning what were once flourishing, peaceful and verdant plains for the unremarkable and uneventful people into a lava-filled, barren wasteland engulfed in a sea of fire and ash. In the trailer for the sequel, we can see Melinoë in a gloomy and purple field with gnarled trees and souls roaming around, which can be Asphodel restored to its original shape, closer to the original myths.

Melinoë was on the surface because of the prophecy that caused the first game

The prophecy that the Fates gave went that Hades would never have a living heir; perhaps when Melinoë was born Hades and Persephone took steps to ensure that she wouldn't get involved in the family business and potentially become an heir to the House of Hades, i.e. by sending her to the surface to study under Hecate.

Chronos is using Zagreus to fuel his escape.

• The first game established the Titans were scattered in pieces, with Hyperion punched out of history, but Zag's domains are blood and life. Chronos used his escapades to very slowly regenerate himself, maybe speeding up the process with his time powers.

Hades III will involve Macaria and Plutus.

Their mission will be to calm Gaia, the personification of the Earth.

Either Nemesis or Moros is The Mole for Chronos and a Corrupted Character Copy of Meg and Than, respectively.

If true, they may get a redemption arc.

Apollo will reference his past attempt at dating Persephone

He'll try to convince Melinoe that he TOTALLY went out with her mom, something Melinoe will be justifiably skeptical of. Then Artemis will reveal that he tried to date Persephone, but Demeter scared him off before he could.

Erebus will appear.

Out of the original Protogenoi (Nyx and Erebus, Gaea, Tartarus and sometimes Eros) Erebus is by far the least explored in fiction or the myths itself. Plus in the original myths, Erebus is the husband to Nyx, who's a major character here. Either Hades II or a possible sequel could allow us to see the god of darkness be characterized for perhaps the first time.

• Confirmed by the Technical Preview; Erebus is the first section of the game, much like Tartarus is in the first game.

Melinoë was born during the time Persephone's on the surface.

The first game revealed that Zagreus' birth complications came about because Persephone, a surface-born, gave birth in the Underworld. With the fact that she now goes into her famous seasonal cycle going back and forth between the two worlds, it wouldn't be illogical for Hades and Persephone to plan the conception so that Melinoë's birth takes place while Persephone's bringing spring to the world.

Chronos tricked Zagreus into helping him escape

The first game was all about patching up the family bonds both within Zagreus' own small family and with the extended family of Olympus. Zagreus kept visiting his mother despite her warnings that it might end badly if the Olympians find out about her location. It wouldn't be out of character for Zagreus to try and mend the bridges with his Titan Relatives and Chronos took advantage of that.

Hades and/or Persephone will be a Sixth Ranger to the other gods aiding Melinoë like Demeter in the first game

Perhaps getting to Chronos will allow them to use up enough of their power to give Melinoë boons. Hades's boons could use the Boiling Blood mechanic from his bossfight and Persephone's could be about springing up flowers that damage enemies.

Cerberus will be a boss this time.

And it will be a very sad case of Shoot the Dog even though he'll be okay.

• Alternatively, Cerberus's two-headed brother Orthrus will be the dog to dread.

The phases of the moon will play a part in gameplay.

The first time you lose a run, Hecate notes that it was to be expected, as the moon was in its 'New' phase. All the weapons are placed on top of symbols that represent the phases of the moon, as do the gathering tools. Perhaps certain weapons are more powerful per phase, or you are more likely to get a certain reagent/resource depending on each phase of the moon?

Hephaestus and Aphrodite will have Teeth-Clenched Teamwork in their duo boon lines

Mythologically speaking they are exes that broke up after Aphrodite cheated on him with Ares, so its unlikely they are on the best of terms even while Olympus is being attacked.

Melinoe's domains will be part of gameplay mechanics.

In mythology Melinoe is goddess of ghosts and nightmares. A gameplay mechanic could be going into dreams and waking people up by either dispelling or causing nightmares—likely starting with Hypnos as a tutorial mechanic.

A Greek witch from myth will be a boss fight.

This is to compare with Zagreus fighting Theseus/Asterius, with the witch aspect specifically because of Melinoe. Possible candidates included:

• Medea. We already have a witch boss fight with Hecate, but it would still be thematically appropriate
• Circe. See above.

Zagreus has been permanently killed by Chronos.

I really hope this one isn't true, but it would be the exact sort of Player Punch that would make a player want Chronos dead yesterday. Also, when Melinoe looks at the unfinished portrait, she always speaks in the second person - "what they did to you", etc, and as bad as what happened to her is, it almost sounds like she's speaking to someone else.

Sisyphus allowed for the rise of Chronos.

Think about it. There is a reference in the play-test to traitors. Maybe they were talking about Sisyphus, who acted like Zagreus' friend throughout the first game and was plotting the whole time. Mythologically, Sisyphus is known to be extremely cunning and cheated death twice. Whose to say he wasn't putting on an act in the first game? Leading to this one, he'll be a boss fight, possibly a paired boss fight with Bouldy to contrast Theseus and Asterius.

Penelope, Telemachus or both will appear in the game.

Odysseus is here, so why not? Maybe Melinoe will reunite them.

There will be some sort of twist regarding Melinoë's parentage

It is very much par for course for Greek mythology and going by the previous game. Melinoë, by her own admission doesn't really remember anything about her early childhood and her family, her main evidence for the claim is an unfinished portrait (who says that it actually depicts her?), and Hecate does lay it on a bit thick with the whole "you must avenge your family" spiel. There is obviously something more going on there.

Even more so when going Melinoë's most common depiction in the Greek mythology Orphic Hymns, where she is indeed depicted as daughter of Persephone, but her father is Zeus by way of performing a Bed Trick by disguising himself as Hades. And seeing how Supergiant Games handled Zagreus' character, if they aren't using this tale an outright plot point, there will at at least be some sort of reference to it.

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