Zagreus
Son of Hades
Character Source: Hades (2020)
Spent Essence: 4350
Affinities: Immortal
Character Behavior: Cordial Opportunist
Zagrius is generally good-natured, and prefers to make friends more than enemies. Even when fighting for his life, Zagreus is sure to make casual conversation, and may even try to help you work through your issues. That having been said, Zagreus also doesn't like to open up. His upbringing with his father has been a challenging one, and one that didn't reward emotional vulnerability. As such, he keeps his cards close to his chest, not to trick others around him, but to protect himself. Seriously, he's really nice. Even upon defeating his enemy, or being defeated, he says a good-natured farewell.
This contrasts with his fighting style. Zagreus is a survivor, and will use anything at his disposal to defeat his aggressors. Because of his special connection with the Olympians, he is able to prepare and adapt to certain battles with time. This makes him an unexpected opponent. One day, he'll be sprinting around, giving you many cuts with a bloodstained sword - other days, he'll throw a spear that crackles with lightning. Furthermore, he likes to use the environment to do his work for him, collapsing pillars and walls.
Physical Description:
Zagreus is a 5'11" male with mostly normal human anatomy. He has a lean-muscled body, lithe but strong. His skin is ashen grey, and pale enough to be corpselike. While he normally has bright green eyes, his right eye will flare with red light under duress. He has ruffled charcoal hair that sticks every which way, which is barely contained by a laurel wreath. The most unusual physical trait is his feet, which are constantly burning - notably, this seems to be a purely aesthetic fire, and doesn't actually do any damage to the floor he steps on. (Definitely burns right though any shoes he might wear though)
His outfit alludes to his divine status more clearly. He wears a loose blood-red himation that reveals his upper right torso, and stops just above his knees. Under it, he wears red trousers. The himation is held up by a pauldron made of two bestial skulls. Other skulls decorate various parts of his outfit, namely his belt and shinguards. The laurel wreath he wears almost looks like it's composed of fire, turning from dark red at the bottom to simmering yellow at the top. Finally, he has some red string tied neatly around his right forearm, and has two gold bracelets on his left forearm.
Character History:
The game's events begin because Zagreus (with the secret help of Nyx and the other members of the Underworld's high court) discovers that his mother is in the mortal realm. He decides to break the Underworld's laws and escape to the mortal realm. Well, he attempts it. The Underworld is treacherous and the entire realm is devoted to keeping things inside. However, he has (with Nyx's help) reached out to the Olympians. They send what little blessings they can to the Underworld, hoping Zagreus will find them and put them to good use. With their help (and the help of some of the Underworld’s residents), Zagreus finally managed to escape the Underworld, slaying his own father (temporarily, of course) and stepping foot in the living world.
After the spoiler-filled events of his brief time in the surface world, Zagreus collapsed. After all, he was a Cthonic God, and the laws of the cosmos demanded that he not step foot in the realm of the living. He died, melting into blood as he always does, and was carried down the Styx back home. But in another world, Zagreus’ remains were carried somewhere else. When he awoke, he wasn’t in the grim halls of Hades, but in the dense jungles of Kraw.
SPOILERS FOR HADES:
Zagreus is the son of Hades and Persephone. In this version of the myths, Persephone willingly left Olympus, joined Hades in the Underworld, and they married because they loved each other. Their happy (though secret) life changed when they had Zagreus. Zagreus was stillborn, devastating his parents. Persephone believed that this was because of her and Hades' clashing divine essences - Hades was a god of death, and Persephone was a goddess of life. She ran away, leaving a letter to the already heartbroken Hades.
Nyx, the goddess of night, was distraught at seeing Hades so depressed, and asked the Fates to revive Zagreus. It worked, but it was too little, too late. By law, nobody could leave the Underworld, and Persephone had not elaborated exactly where she had gone. All anyone knew was that she would be in the mortal realm. To make things worse, Hades insisted that nobody ever mention Persephone again. He did this to protect Persephone's privacy - if word got out that Persephone was in the mortal realm, the Olympians would surely come to collect her and drag her back to Olympus. Nyx became Zagreus' foster mother, and to everyone's knowledge, was his birth mother.
Zagreus ended up (after many attempts) circumventing the defenses of the Underworld, even defeating his own father in a fight to the death. He escaped the Underworld and met his mother. Zagreus wasn't able to survive long in the land of the living, being an entity of the Underworld, but after many conversations with his mother, Zagreus convinced Persephone to return to her station as Queen of the Underworld. A banquet with the Olympians later, the Underworld was in harmony.
Nyx, the goddess of night, was distraught at seeing Hades so depressed, and asked the Fates to revive Zagreus. It worked, but it was too little, too late. By law, nobody could leave the Underworld, and Persephone had not elaborated exactly where she had gone. All anyone knew was that she would be in the mortal realm. To make things worse, Hades insisted that nobody ever mention Persephone again. He did this to protect Persephone's privacy - if word got out that Persephone was in the mortal realm, the Olympians would surely come to collect her and drag her back to Olympus. Nyx became Zagreus' foster mother, and to everyone's knowledge, was his birth mother.
Zagreus ended up (after many attempts) circumventing the defenses of the Underworld, even defeating his own father in a fight to the death. He escaped the Underworld and met his mother. Zagreus wasn't able to survive long in the land of the living, being an entity of the Underworld, but after many conversations with his mother, Zagreus convinced Persephone to return to her station as Queen of the Underworld. A banquet with the Olympians later, the Underworld was in harmony.
Misc Notes: Zagreus can hear his own narrator in his head. It is unclear why he can do this, and he rarely acknowledges this. He takes care to NEVER interact with the narrator when he is around other people he talks to, and if caught doing so, will deflect and say that he was just talking to himself. Whenever he talks to the narrator, he calls the narrator “old man”. The narrator, for his own part, rarely acknowledges Zagreus’ snide comments. This effect will almost never give him an edge in combat, and the narrator seems to have control over what Zagreus can hear. In other words, this effect usually happens for jokes, not to disrupt dramatic irony. It wouldn't give Zagreus any information he wouldn't have within reason - if it does, it's because Zagreus should've noticed it (that idiot).
Furthermore, while it isn't consistent with English standards, the narrator will use "[adjective] [proper name]" in line with Classical Greek epithets. (see: "rosy-fingered dawn" or "god-like Achilles") This effect was used to great effect in the original game, and I intend to do the same.
Consumables:
Call: Zeus
Damage Rank 10
-Ranged [+50]
-Affects Multiple [+50]
-Indirect [+100]
-Ongoing [+100]
-Chaotic [-50]
-Indiscriminate [-50]
Total: 3000
Zagreus calls upon the power of Zeus. A small lightning storm generates above Zagreus, causing lightning to wildly and very frequently strike the ground around him. This storm is centered on Zagreus and follows him. The lighting bolts do massive damage in an area, and even seem to strike THROUGH solid surfaces to reach its target. Unfortunately, the storm doesn’t distinguish between friend or foe - it strikes completely randomly.
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