Ares

Ares states in The Lightning Thief that he considers the U.S "the best thing since Sparta" as ordinary citizens are allowed weapons and the constitution allows more freedom when it comes to punishment by law. As revealed in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Ares was the first Olympian ever put on trial by his fellow Olympians gods for murder (of Poseidon's son Halirrhothius). However, since Ares was defending his daughter's honor, he was ultimately acquitted. The trial is said to have taken place on the Areopagus Hill in Athens. Ares' name is believed to be derived from the Greek word ἀρή (arē), meaning "bane, ruin". Ares has an intense fear of jars, as a result of his ordeals at the hands of the Aloadae Giants. Ares uses sunglasses to cover his eyes, which are actually hollow sockets filled with flames. Ares' aluminum baseball bat is actually his sword/spear in disguise. Ares' preferred form for his chariot is a motorcycle. In The Demigod Files, it says his hometown is Mount Olympus, but under his bumper sticker reads: "I wasn't born in Sparta but I got here as fast as I could." As mentioned in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Ares was very venerated by the Spartans, who would worship him through human sacrifices. The Spartans also had a massive and chained up statue of Ares in the city's center. According to legend, as long as the statue remains chained, Ares will remain the patron god of Sparta, granting its citizens victories. This statue later re-appears in The Blood of Olympus. Ares was often associated with the northern region of Thrace, whose native peoples were viewed by the Greeks as barbaric and war-like. Thrace was believed to be the god’s birthplace, and many of the native tribes claimed to be descended from him. According to Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Ares is Zeus' least favorite divine son. As revealed in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Ares is the Amazons' most worshipped Olympian god, since the greatest Amazon warriors were always his demigod daughters.

Ares' symbols were his bloodstained shield and spear, while his sacred animals were the wild boar (due to its penchant for viciously charging at anything and it being extremely hard to kill), the vulture (due to its penchant to feast on corpses after a battle), the Stymphalian Birds, and the venomous snake. He also has his own gloomy iron fortress in the mountains of Thrace, where he kept his numerous spoils of war.

Ares is aloof, cruel, impetuous, proud, and violent; an easily angered bully who seems to care only about fighting and killing. He is also very sadistic, roaring with laughter whilst fighting Percy and blowing up mortal cops during their duel in The Lightning Thief. Because of this, he is disliked by many gods and mortals. However, Ares does have a loving relationship with Aphrodite, and is good friends with Thanatos, since the god of war does not enjoy bloodshed without Death, and personally freed him after Sisyphus chained Thanatos up. Also, despite their occasional quarrels, Ares was usually on good terms with Poseidon, who spoke up for Ares when the latter was imprisoned and humiliated by Hephaestus. Ares was dominantly experienced and knowledgeable in all military tactics arts, making him a dangerous enemy to cross. However, because of his arrogant and brutal nature, Ares can be extremely reckless, overconfident, narcissistic and foolhardy, leading to him making crucial mistakes in a confrontation. He is supremely confident in his abilities, to the point of believing that he is invincible. This means that, despite being an excellent battle strategist and a fierce warrior, his reckless nature sets him apart from other Olympians like Athena, who is more calculative and precise in battle and does not make mistakes out of recklessness or overconfidence, her being the Goddess of Wisdom. Ares also appears to value physical strength in a fight, as opposed to astute strategy, and enjoys bloody wars - he saw that family feuds were the most vicious and therefore the most exciting.

Ares is described as a huge, muscular man with a belligerent attitude and a vicious sneer. He typically wears black jeans, combat boots, a black leather duster, and a red muscle shirt under a bulletproof vest (his shield in disguise). He also has a large hunting knife strapped to his thigh. In the official artwork, he wears a necklace made from a heavy padlock and thick chain. He wears red-tinted wraparound sunglasses to cover his flame-filled eye sockets. His features are handsome, but in a cruel and brutal way, with knife-scarred cheeks and an "oily" black crew cut. To complete his thuggish biker guise, his spear and shield become an aluminum baseball bat and a bulletproof vest respectively. His war chariot also takes the shape of a black Harley Davidson motorcycle "the size of a baby elephant" with a flame pattern paint job on the gas tanks. The seat is apparently made from "Caucasian human skin", and loaded shotgun holsters are riveted to the motorcycle's sides. In its true form, Ares' chariot is red-and-gold (decorated with pictures of grisly deaths in war), and pulled by four fierce, fire-breathing horses. In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Ares wears Imperial Gold armor, that "burned with harsh light." According to Percy, when a bloodthirsty Ares rode into a battlefield wearing his golden war helmet, "he was too scary for most mortals to look at, much less fight." His golden shield is described as always smeared and dripping with blood and gore. According to ReadRiordan, Ares usually wears his leather-clad biker unless he goes to war, where gleaming armor and a helmet that strikes fear in his enemies’ hearts.

Ares is one of the few children of the Olympian gods Zeus and Hera. He developed a love of violence that surpassed that of any other Olympian, which made him the perfect candidate for being the god of war. It also made him unpopular among his fellow deities who despised him for his overt love of war regardless of there not being a reason to fight at all. Despite this, he was given a place on the Olympian ruling council possibly due to his parentage. As the god of war, Ares would often participate in mortal conflicts, but he would often fare poorly in divine contests. He would lend strength to whatever side he favored but was known to be somewhat fickle and change sides in the middle of a battle. The blessing of Ares is known to give invincibility in battle. Despite his great strength and fighting ability Ares often fared poorly in battles with other supernatural enemies. His half-brother Hercules is noted to have stalemated him in battle twice. At one point he stripped Ares of his armor and another time defeated Ares and one of his children with the aid of Athena. The Alodai giants (Otis and Ephialtes) defeated Ares and imprisoned him within an airtight bronze jar. During the Trojan War Ares sided with the Trojans despite promising Hera he would aid the Greeks. For his actions, he was wounded by the mortal hero Diomedes with the aid of Athena. After Zeus allowed the Olympians to participate openly in the war he challenged Athena, only to again be defeated by her, and forced to flee the battlefield. Apollo also defeated him in a boxing match during the first Olympic games. Ares also fled in fear of the giant Typhon when the monster first attacked Olympus, though most other Olympians (other than Zeus) did as well. Even though Ares was the god of war, some say he disturbed the gods with his loud bellows when he lost. Despite these setbacks, Ares fought bravely in the Gigantomachy and defended Olympus successfully against several other enemies.