Hades (Once Upon a Time) (2024)

Hades is a major antagonist in Once Upon a Time.

Based on his Disney counterpart, he is the god of death and ruler of the Underworld who rules over the souls of the departed and takes pleasure in using other villains as his suppliers of souls. He is the younger brother of Zeusand uncle ofHercules, and is the second oldest character in the entire series, being the god of death.

He seeks to keep as many people trapped there as possible, leaving them with "unfinished business" for all eternity, however he has a hidden agenda in the form of restarting his heart, granting him the ability to leave the Underworld and gain absolute power over the realm of the living, along with using the Olympian Crystal, a weapon that is said to destroy souls and can even erase gods from existence.

He was portrayed by Greg Germann, who models his performance after Hades' aforementioned Disney counterpart.

Personality[]

Able to scare even Rumplestiltskinwith a smile and a laugh, Hades's reputation as the merciless God of the Underworld always precedes him, striking terror into whomever is unlucky enough to cross his path. He carries himself with an air of supreme arrogance and smugness due to his status as a god and makes full use of his terrifying presence at every opportunity.

Contrary to his terrifying and dangerous reputation, Hades always greets everyone with a kindly smile and loves to make jokes in conversations with them both to throw his opponents off balance and because he literally has no reason to fear anyone as god of the Underworld. Even when he is defied he considers it more funny than irritating though he is quick to punish said defiance regardless of his outer mood.

However, underneath his mocking and contemptuous smile, Hades is supremely evil, petty, cruel, sad*stic, and manipulative about the souls in his realm and has no qualms whatsoever about tricking, extorting, blackmailing or torturing (implied physically with Cora andpsychologically Gold and Belle) to achieve his ends. While he does appear to have real love for Zelena (otherwise True Love's Kiss would not have worked), he is entirely shameless in being dishonest to even her about "doing everything for her", when in actuality he plans on dominating the living world and surpassing his brother using the Crystal.

Powers and Abilities[]

• Immortality: Hades, as God of the Underworld, does not age at all, is unaffected by illness and disease and cannot die by any known means, the one true exception being the Olympian Crystal (which can erase anything and anyone, even a god such as himself or Zeus).
• Omniscience: Hades is fully aware of everything and everyone in his domain right down to the smallest micro-detail. He also has the power to control the appearance of the Underworld, able to model it after Storybrooke (even if he can't suppress details proper to the essence of the Underworld who is like he said himself a place of destruction (like the broken clock and the red sky)).
• Magic: As a god,Hades wields near-incalculable magical power that far outstrips most other OUAT characters. Hades is so powerful that only his older brother Zeus is known to be capable of defeating him, and Rumplestiltskin with the power of the combined Dark Ones, could match him. His powers include but are not limited to:
  • Unikinesis: He is able to manipulate the elements and matters of the Universe with his mind only.
    • Advanced Telekinesis/Psychokinesis: He can move objects with his mind.
    • Pyrokinesis: He can generate and manipulate fire at will.
    • Reality-Warping: He can warp reality in the use of a deal.
  • Conjuration: He can make objects appear out of nowhere.
  • Teleportation: He can teleport himself in an erosion of blue flames.
  • Super-Strength: He is far stronger than normal humans.
  • Projection: The ability to manipulate reality.
  • Power Neutralizing: In his domain, he prevented the heroes from using their magic powers.
  • Telepathy/Mind-reading
  • Summoning
  • Apportation: He is able to teleport objects from one place to another.
  • Umbrakinesis: The ability to manipulate shadows and darkness.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Hades cannot be hurt or harmed in any known way by any known means, save for the Olympian Crystal, which can dissolve gods such as himself and Zeus. Aside from the Olympian Crystal, only Divine Magic and Light Magic can affect him to a degree as Light Magic was capable of preventing from entering the Underworld version of the Sorcerer's Mansion and Zeus, his older brother and the only one who holds superior power over him, could stop his heart using Divine Magic.

Weaknesses[]

-Divine Magic: Zeus was able to defeat Hades when he tried to use the Olympian Crystal to erase him out of existence and then curse him to make his heart cease to beat. Said curse was apparently unable to be lifted by Hades despite his enormous power. Zeus was also the one who cast Hades out of Olympus.

-Witchcraft: other magical beings can hinder or harm Hades using magic; depending on their power level. It was shown that beings with god-like magic; I.e. recipients of the chalice of the gods aka the Holy Grail’s magic can affect him. For example, The Sorcerer Merlin, who was the most powerful Light Magic user was able to keep Hades out of his Mansion even in his own Domain of the Underworld.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

• His casting call describes him as "a mysterious, dangerous and vindictive God-like figure known obscurely as 'The Distinguished Gentleman' or 'DG'". He is also described as "a mysterious figure with god-like powers who is always clad in a perfectly tailored suit", someone who can "strike fear into people just by being friendly", and "the last person you ever want to share a drink with".
• His attire resembles one of Mr. Gold's suits that he wore during the first season.
• Hades, being a god, is one of the most powerful Once Upon a Time villains. His abilities far exceed those of almost any other being. Only Zeus, his older brother, is known to hold superior power over him, having been the only one who had ever truly defeated him in terms of power, having managed to stop Hades from using the Olympian Crystal to destroy him and then cast him out of Olympus after defeating him and cursing him to make his heart cease to beat. In addition, aside from possibly Zeus,the Olympian Crystal is the only thing able to kill him. The only other known being capable of contending with Hades’ power was Rumplestiltskin with the combined power of everyone Dark One, which made Hades consider him a rival to his throne and even acknowledged his power. Overall, Zeus and Rumplestiltskin are the only two beings that can contend with Hades in terms of magic power.
• Hades is the Bigger Bad in the first half of Season 5.
  • He also counts as a Bigger Bad for the whole series because he has existed longer (with the possible exceptions of Gothel who is thousands of years old and the Black Fairy depending on how much time passed in the Dark Realm while she was there) and is more dangerous than any other villain, also collecting every soul killed by every main antagonist before him, claiming that these villains act as his "suppliers".
• Hades is the first character in OUAT to not only outdo Mr. Gold in exploiting contract loopholes but consequently putting Gold in debt to him as well.
• Although Hades may not be Pure Evil, seeing as his love for Zelena appears to be genuine (True Love's Kiss worked), he is not above manipulating the one he loves most for more power over both the town and presumably his brother Zeus, and he still counts as the series' most dangerous villain, being a god as well as having power over the most dangerous weapon in existence, placing him above all other villains (Pure Evil villains included) on the danger scale.
• Hades' goal to go back in time and defeat Zeus is similar to Zelena's goal in Season 3 (which was to go back in time and make sure that she was never given up and thus eliminate Regina from existence) however he changed his plan to using True Love's Kiss to escape the Underworld and forge the Crystal and gain revenge on everyone.
• He notably gives off audible breathes.
• According to Hades, he is not Lucifer though many people mistakenly believe he is whenever they first meet him implying that there is actually a Devil in the Once Upon a Time universe.

External Link[]

• Hades on the Once Upon a Time Wiki.

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