Hekate is, mainly, the goddess of magic and crossroads (in a what do you want to do with your life way). She is described as having three faces and is the Switzerland of gods (completely neutral in any conflict)
You got it kinda right with Arachnea she was both either as good as Athena or better than her, but the main reason she got turned into a spider was that in her Hubris she went to far and made a tapestry of all the wrongs ever committed by the gods, which was a fucking power move, like ma girl just called them out for their bull, but she did kind of make it in front of the 1 goddess who didn't want to see an accurate depiction of her family boning everything on two legs
I didn’t read Demeter’s new design as a thawing myself. I read it more as a return BACK to winter. Like, she’d HAD a thaw, she’d got her daughter back, she got to connect with her grandson and to heal from loss; there had BEEN a summer. Now she’s gradually descending BACK into that cold and desolate place as the war continues. It’s not the beginning of spring, it’s the end of autumn
Artemis confidence comes from how you encounter her, she isn't a summon. She is physically here with you, you are meeting her WHILE she is hunting. She looks more comfortable because you are seeing her in her element.
Also she's probably just naturally more comfortable around women I feel. And since you are playing as one this go around she might just naturally come off as more welcoming.
@Bobogdan258 Sorry to say this to you, but Artemis is one of the few gods that doesn't want to have any type of carnal intercourse or even marital relation, so I don't think so
As an autistic person, i feel like a lot of Artemis's newfound sense of confidence could just be that she's talking to someone she's more familiar with. Zagreus was a stranger to her, but she's known Melinoe her whole life, so maybe that uncertain and awkward vibe isn't there because she's a lot more comfortable around Mel
You have a very interesting theory there. My first thought about Artemis and Melinoe's interactions is that Melinoe is both a girl, and on a hunt (after Chronos' head). Artemis is a virgin goddess by oath, and... well, Zagreus is Hot Boy Material TM. Artemis being not used to interacting to men in general made sense in my head, which makes her awkward around Zagreus while Melinoe is very much within Artemis's domain of expertise and therefore within her comfort zone. But what you said also makes a lot of sense, and now I wonder which or how much of which theory is the "canon" answer here.
yeah in hades 1 she very much looks uncomfortable and out of her element, even with her posture she looks like shes trying to be small. Shes phonically there in hades 2, leaving out some of the godly glow. She also looks a bit younger, which is interesting as she may be able to choose how old she looks. She may have grown a bit, too. learned to take care of herself. Although i do feel like her design may change as development goes on.
One thing about Aphrodite is that she's not the goddess of sex, that would be Eros, she's primarily the goddess of love and beauty. The way I see it, her being completely naked is not so much a way to sexualize her (even if she obviously is sexy) but rather to show the beauty of the human body.
Even more so given her relationship with Ares. And worst of all is that we get that on the same game in wich her husband Hephaestus is first featured, too @@Ridlay_
Zagreus being much more laid back and friendly like Persephone, while Melinoe is more pragmatic and severe like Hades is such a fun dynamic. Mama’s Boy Zagreus and Daddy’s Girl Melinoe :D
Now I can’t wait to see Melinoe interact with Hades. If they run with the Daddy’s girl aspect, it’s probably going to be adorable! Plus I can see a “she’s definitely your daughter” joke from Persephone.🤣
Thank you, yes she's a triple goddess. My only complaint is keys are so important as a symbol of her and its nowhere in her design. However the labyrinth is a big symbol they include that I love.
@@heatth1474 Well my gues is that we can assume she has another face on her other shoulder that we cant see well because of the angle and stance she takes in this particular model art. The third face than I would be her actual face.
The way that Aphrodite is being portrayed now gives me strong feelings they might be playing up her connection to Sparta. She was an import god, that had originally landed in Sparta, and like many gods Sparta worshipped she was treated as very much a war goddess. The war paint also gives that strong feeling, as well as giving her a connection to Ares’ design from Hades. She also refers to you as kin, another connection to Ares from the first game in that he always called Zagreus ‘kin.’
Lil note about Hephaestus: He and his brother Ares are Zeus's only two legitimate sons, meaning that by ancient greek inheritance rites they both get an equal share of Zeus's holdings, AKA: Everything. When Hera threw baby Hephaestus off of Olympus she was echoing a (heartbreaking) IRL practice expected of mothers of ensuring the family line was strong by getting rid of sickly infants. There's also a parable in there that's been lost over time: Hephaestus is a master craftsman and makes wondrous things, where as Aeries is a temperamental fail-kid that only stirs up trouble. As one of my classics professors inferred: They threw the wrong kid off the mountain. Very curious what Hephestus's relationship with Hera is going to be in these games: he has her peacock eyes (tattooed?) on his arm.
Also want to see his interactions with aphrodite, if she's going to flirt with him or be pensive. In the myths he forced Hera to marry them so i wounder if it's going to be the same in game. Part of me wants them to have a healthy relationship but i doubt they will lol
You'll notice how the Olympians are all dressed up for war now. Makes sense since Olympus is currently under siege. Also you're dead on on Melinoe's personality. Being raised in exile and in time of war, knowing the family you never got to know is out there suffering, trained all your life to fulfill a task meant to save the world... all of that would result in a more dour and serious person. EDIT: Also Artemis isn't a daughter of Selene. Her and Apollo are children of Zeus and Leto, a local patron goddess of a region of southern Anatolia.
The only reason Artemis has moon patterns is because she is often seen as the goddess of the moon, whilst selene *is* the moon, or at least the moon personified.
While that's true, Hades as the game is very loose on who's parent to whom. They're trying their best to untie Olympians from one another to avoid that whole incest thing going on. I mean, Zagreus himself is proof of that. Persephone, too, is not Zeus's daughter anymore, and Demeter is for some reason not related to the Olympians. So who knows, maybe they'll change the parents to Artemis and Apollo, too. Just as a theory ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@bthsr7113Hephaestus would be the blacksmith of the Gods, making sure their weapons and armour are kept at 100%. He would in the backline rather than out in the field like the other Gods.
Hecates abs being super shredded instead of a naturally big and strong makes her look somewhat skeletal which connects her to the dead and cthonic gods.
A small detail I really like about Hephaestus is the lighting in his portrat, the lightsource is bellow and to his side, the highlights get bigger, redder and hotter the closer they are to the source, that's the light of his forge. It's sooooooo well done, we don't see a hint of the thing, it's only implied but it's done so expertly that we don't even notice it at first glance, it's perfectly natural, it's correct.
That's the thing about Dionysus. Physically he does have different interpretations. I believe older ones tend to portray him as older, fatter, with a beard, and even having goat horns. But more modern, well as modern as ancient Greek mythology gets, depict him as handsome and youthful, with one myth having him get kidnapped by sailors because they thought he was prince due to his beauty.
He's the golden child for me, perfect mind, perfect body, lazy and hedonistic because he's gifted and doted on He's the grapes on the vine, prime to get picked to be made into wine
Absolutely, also the symbols on his sash are a pair of shears, a spool of thread, and some other implement I’ve seen a picture of before but don’t remember the name of
@@dinomaster420 maybe? i think it’s one of those spin-y things they use to make thread, though, i just don’t remember what it’s called. a spindle, maybe?
@@dinomaster420 maybe? i think it’s one of those spin-y things they use to make thread, though, i just don’t remember what it’s called. a spindle, maybe?
25:20 I personally interpreted this as a needle! it has a thread/rope over it, implying that Moros, as Doom, is someone who is in contact/contract with Moirai, three Fates spinning the thread of life.
Umm spoilers for those that don’t want to know this is not the comment for you. You have been warned. So I will ignore all complaining about spoilers. …. …. In the Technical test. Moros does appear before Mel after a run. He directly states that the sisters of fate sent him to deliver a message to her. He IS working with the sisters of Fate. Or at least did an errand run for them. If I recall both him and the Fates are children of Nyx.
that’s what i thought of too! I hadn’t known anything about the character but his blade reading like a sewing needle to me indicated some intrinsic link with the fates in my mind. I actually have a character of my own who wields a similar weapon, though its size and shape lend itself more towards a two handed/claymore-like form factor. His whole gimmick is being able to shrink down to small sizes so i had fun incorporating enlarged versions of tiny household objects as tools for him to work with. The idea of a sewing needle sword was so damn specific and situational, seeing it get used literally anywhere else was a shock lmao
As tempting as revenge can be, indeed. The word nemesis is associated with vengeance and retribution after all. Which is a very tempting thing at its core.
she seems to hold onto her femininity, which i like. you don;t have to be masculine to be strong. She still keeps her long hair, probably has some type of corset under he armor and PAINTS HER NAILS. probably paints them with the blood of her enemies
The thing about Selene (and her brother Helios) is that while Artemis is the Goddess of the Moon and Apollo is the God of the Sun, they are not *the* Moon and Sun while Selene and her brother Helios are. Selene is The Moon and Helios is The Sun.
Same kind of how Chaos is not a god, but still is an immensely powerful being. Powerful like the god but a distinct kind of existence… I guess maybe you could compare her to the Weavers of Fate? Powerful beings that are explicitly not gods, but still are involved in divine matters.
@@supersanttu7951 It's similar to Hypnos and Thanatos; they aren't the Gods of Sleep and Death, they _are_ Sleep and Death personified. Same with Moros in this one; he's not a bringer of Doom, he _is_ Doom, so whenever someone meets a doomed fate, he's there by default.
It's the difference between being the literal manifestation of a concept and being worshipped for your connection to it Hades is not the dead, for example, but his rule over the Underworld makes him the god of the dead.
There are many versions of Arachne's story but it mostly boils down to: Arachne loudly proclaims she is the best weaver in the world, even better than Athena. Now, the greek gods where thought of being the reason why mortals where good at things, therefore saying you are better at something than the god who gave you the power to be good at something is hubris. Then Athena comes to challenge her and depending on the story, and if your name is Ovid or not, arachne looses and in her sadness tries to k*ll herself and is transformed by Athena to save her life, or Arachne wins and Athena transforms her as punishment
Also I think in one of the tellings there was a wager where the loser would never be able to use a loom again so Athena turned her into a spider since they don't need to use a loom to weave
Another story is that Arachne and her brother Phalanx were both trained by Athena, but she found out/caught them committing incest and turned them into spiders in disgust
I'm still at the beginning of the video but Artemis, Selene and Hecate share common symbols as they all represent aspects of the moon in mythology (crescent moon, full moon, new moon).
The funny thing is that Melinoe is also a goddess of night and moonlight (which is why she has a cresent moon symbol on her forehead), so Hades II is headlined by a bunch of goddesses who are some variant of witchy goth girl.
It also extends to Nemesis because she’s a child of Nyx, the goddess of night. She’s not lacking in character design echoes with her mother and siblings.
One thing i like about Aphrodite's new design is she has the same eye makeup/paint thing as Ares in the first game. I think it's a link to their connection as on and off lovers in the mythology
@@BrazenLunatic Her eye painting links her to Ares and she and Ares wehre worshipped in ancient sparta together as gods of war. He was the male war god, she was the female one. And with the shield, the spear and being mostly naked else, it also links her designe to the spartans of 300.
@@BrazenLunatic Aphrodite Areia is her war aspect. She started in Sparta and if you want a good video about it, overly sarcastic production has the best video in the history of Aphrodite.
@@derkrischa3720 aphrodite's design is kinda the worst art design of all of them. if your going to make an attractive art work, then at least make it look perfect. this looks like some budget stripper in armor.
Hecate's shoulder masks could be references to her three faces, that also represent the phases of the moon. Full, crescent, new - maiden, matron, distinguished elder lady. That may also be supported by the three different teal glowing moon symbols on her forehead and over her two shoulders respectively. So effectively maybe she wears her other two faces as masks while masking her true face?
I know this is early access art so I hope that they somehow cycle through the three masks on her face to signify different moveset every time you fight her
actually hecate isnt tradtionally a maiden matron and crone figure, that's often misattributed to her by neo-pagan movements, she is a triple goddess though, which is probably where the confusion comes from.
EDITED: The dagger and sickle(especially with those crescent moons on the hilt) are commonly used tools in witchcraft ceremonies to this day. One (the boline/sickle) for harvesting magical herbs, one (the athame/dagger) for channeling energy.
The thing with Artemis is that a lot of her new design is shown in the old. The tassels, colours, and crop top aren't new, her original pose just didn't display them outright. Plus, Artemis in the first game was literally just meeting Zagreus and his quest. She had no idea how to relate to him. Now with the war and with experience, she knows how to talk to Melinoe on less awkward footing. Also autistic people can be confident and personable. Artemis enjoys her solitude, but she also runs around with a gang of feral huntresses. Heck, Melinoe being a woman might be exactly why she's more sociable.
Hi Greek/Roman Mythology nerd here ! Moros is Doom incarnate (just like Thanatos is Death incarnate, Hypnos sleep incarnate etc...); basically they don't cause what they embody they are only here as messengers of what they represent. Also fun fact, the greek name of Moros means "violent death" and his symbol is a fucking Tornado (according to Wikipedia).
@@Ash-re8tg It's off that they decided that Nemesis wouldn't look the same, then (with the hair at least, the skin seems maybe grey). Granted we don't get a good look at Charon, but he seems to have the grey skin at least.
I really liked Dionysus' portrayal in the last game. He felt the ideal of indulgence. As a god, he isn't about the consequences of indulging, he only exists as the pleasure and the ideal of it. Some of the gods feel trained and built to be fit and hot, some just do it effortlessly
Hera got mad that Zeus got Athena all alone so she said "I can have a children alone too!". So she with power of will conceived Hephaestus. He was ugly and deformed. So she trew him out of a window. He fell in te ocean, and a group of water nyphs take care of him till he was adult. He lived in a under water volcano, forging things for their mothers, till he was ready to comfort his blood mother. I love Hephaestus man.
He wasn't actually ugly. He was just born with a clubbed foot, but that meant he wasn't perfect and Hera wanted her whole "immaculate conception" thing. We need to push back against the Quasimodification of Hephaestus because he was never described as ugly, just disabled and it's centuries of ableism morphed him into a "monster"
I think that Artemis’ new design does convey confidence, especially in the context of the game. As of the technical test, rather than getting a message from her with a boon, she meets you in person out in the forest, where she is MOST comfortable. She’s in her element out in the wilds partaking in the hunt herself
I think it's funny that you mention Nemesis' looks as strong part of her characterization since I also think physical attractiveness plays well into possibly being another manifestation of hubris, leading people into thinking they could ever possibly chat up Nemesis without getting straight up decapitated. Also she's got the Stygian blade of Nemesis that Zagreus used in the first game!
I also noticed that you didn't mention Hephaestus' hammer, specifically how he holds it, but I think it's such a cool part of his character. It's this big, massive fuck-off hammer used for forging in intense heat, and yet he holds it up with a single finger. For Hephaestus, forging and smithing isn't neccessarily about brute strength and burliness, and so for him his hammer is a delicate tool meant for art, being affected by the slightest movements of his fingers.
@@Victini1734I also noticed how simple it is in design. It’s not adorned with gems and intricate details, it’s the hammer he uses in his work. It also shows that his power isn’t necessarily in the hammer/tools he wields but the creations he makes with those tools. It’s exemplified by his prosthetic leg and wheelchair being quite intricate and beautiful!
the reduction in harsh shadows is very interesting. It added a sinister edge to thing and losing that hurt zues alot. the old art makes him look like a titan blotting out the sun with the weight of his presence. but now he gives the vibe of a gentle nice old man in silly armor and technocloth. meanwhile aphrodite just had this massive black void between her body and hair that stole so much attention away from her being hot. it took me tens of hours before I noticed she was naked in hades 1 because she was sandwiched between 2 more visually appealing things.
38:20 regarding Dionysus, if you look up old depictions of him he is first portrayed as more middle-aged and bearded and then gets progessively younger until he is basically a perpetual 18 y/o with a clean shave. plus he is only made god of indulgences later on, one of his older portfolios is that of madness and his followers would try to reach a state of divine madness through heavy drinking of undiluted greek wine. and for context: the greeks usually diluted their wine cause it was hella strong.
Speaking as An Official Autist, Artemis' design makes perfect sense to me in that she's clearly close to Melinoe at the start. She was introducing herself to Zagreus in the first game so she had the mask on, even if she does eventually open up to him there's only one art so it doesn't change. With Melinoe that relationship is already there, so she doesn't need to mask around her, and that is a very joyful thing when you're autistic. She's found her people, she's got her friendship bracelets, she's happy and confident with who she is.
Nemesis is usually considered one of Nyx's daughters, so I think that's what the crescent moon on her head symbolizes... Maybe Melinoe also has it bc, like Zag, she was raised by her
Mel’s ghost arm is such a cute and subtle nod to her (sometimes? mostly?) being known as the goddess of ghosts, and I hope they touch more on it in the full game! In the tech test we have already seen the Tablet of Peace which allows you to send shades back to the crossroads (which is the House of this game) and I just love that connection for Mel 🥰 about the gods, I’m in the “Artemis’s portrait is still a wip” camp because she seems to have a bigger role in the story than last time and there’s no way Supergiant would leave her as plain and undecorated as she is, especially with all the moon imagery and connections in this game. (Also Artemis and Apollo are twin children of Zeus and Leto, and they are the deities of the sun and moon respectively. But Selene and Helios are titans who ARE those celestial bodies, as in Selene pulls the moon and Helios pulls the sun, whereas Apollo and Artemis are just associated with them! The twins are my favorites can you tell 😅) I do agree that Aphro is much hotter in this game as well and I absolutely adore the subtle nod to her and Ares being a thing because she’s wearing his facepaint from the first game! She’s also apparently very heavily connected with Sparta and was worshipped there as a war goddess so I hope that also plays into her character as well!
4:30 it’s worth noting that Melinoe has blonde hair like Persephone and grey skin like Hades, whereas Zagreus has black hair like Hades and pale skin like Persephone
One thing that I noticed with the olympian gods who appeared in the first game is that their nrew designs now incorporate more reds and warm colors as accents. I see it as a signifier of sorts for the reconciliation that happened between them and Hades in the last game. Like they're now incorporating motifs more associated with Hades, now that the plot of this game is rescuing them from Chronos
Hephaestus, yes! They really got my number with that design, and I was so happy that they just keep expanding on all the different ways in which people can be sexy. Also, that might just be the most beautiful fantasy wheelchair I've ever seen. Also also, I'm not even into women, but that new Demeter design is very hot, which is especially notable because I can't even remember the last time I saw a foxy old lady that actually looks like an old lady in a game.
Ultimately, many of the questions about design are likely able to be filled in by studying the mythical origin of the characters, which is a bit of a task.,but supergiant is doing a decent job at making those connections.
absolutely! i know a lot abt the greek mythos and skyen missed a bit haha. but it isnt entirely his fault bc u kinda have to study an entire mythology pretty deeply to get all the details
An interesting detail I didn't see you bring up is that Aphrodite's "make-up" as you call it is the same shape of the sun running across Ares' face in Hades 1 Which makes sense as she used to be a Goddess of War
Something additional that’s quite obvious on Melinoë’s design: she’s wearing orange, which instantly distances her from the House of Hades. She clearly doesn’t see herself as someone who is upholding/carrying on the family traditions. Whether she was sent away or ran away I don’t know yet, but it’s interesting for sure!
She wear orange because that color is related to her name. Melinoë probably derive from the Greek word mēlinos (having the colour of the fruit quince).
@@BlackFeds that’s cool! I’d argue that’s still an active design choice for her colour though. They could’ve given her the same style of outfit as Zagreus but given her orange hair, for example - but they didn’t. It’s VERY deliberate that the only thing tying her to her family are natural things she cannot change, like her eyes - but everything she CAN control (her wardrobe) has nothing to do with her family.
Dunno if anyone has clarified but Artemis is Zeus's daughter and the older twin to Apollo. They are opposites, sun and moon and all, but still care deeply about eachother, share a love of hunting and absolutely adore their mother Leto.
for selene and hecate whole stick yes they are connected, in the myth they are considered the three moon goddesses, selene is the full moon hecate is fall (or dawn) moon and artemis is the crescent moon, they are a triad, like at the same time hecate have ben rappresented with three maiden that they are always her rappresenting past presents and future and the three way to choose how to live youre life this is the real mithology parallel in the game idk how they gonna use that but the fact that all three of them are in the game well interesting
Welcome to Hades, oh-oh. Check out our sick décor, the spirits leaven, oh! Please keep your brimstone off the floor. We've got the best and brightest, the politest of the lot. AND EVERYONE IS HOT!
I think that a big part of why aphrodite is so hot in this game is not at all to due with the changes in accessories, but just the posing. In Hades I she has her left arm in front of her body and she's leaning forward, whereas for Hades II she's vey butt out, shoulders back, and also her right leg is forward which opens her up more to the viewer and presents her standing proud and looking a bit down towards you. In the first game, she is straight up more covered by the framing, and now she looks at you like you're her little plaything.
I think the spear and warpaint help convey that confidence, but I'm not sure if the other new accessories are doing much on the hotness front, they are good characterization though. except the grieves, the grieves are hot. they need no deeper reason.
1:24:30 that little war paint eye makeup is the same as Ares. and that kind of makes me happy. 🥰 also considering she was much closer to Ares' depiction, she used to be a war goddess (Aphrodite Areia), I am really hoping they'll lean into that aspect of her.
1:01:37 From what I remember, Arachne's story is indeed one with several variations, due to the Greek City states. Texts found seem to imply that if you're in Athens (where Athena is most prominent) Arachne is vain and challenges Athena, therefore, she is punished "fairly" for her hubris, but rival cities prefers versions where Athena is jealous and petty.
In the version I heard, Arachne's competition with Athena was specifically make a tapestry depicting the gods and Arachne decided to make her piece a satire; Zeus' infidelity, Aphroditie's vanity, Aries' brutality, and other less-than-flattering depictions(including a jab at Athena). Athena did not appreciate this and transformed her.
@@screeno42 The usual difference in the depictions is if the punishment is for showing up Athena's skills, or for wasting her skills by not understanding her audience. The "How dare you be better than me" versus "What a shame, you have such talent but you misuse it so." The "How dare you be better for me" seems to trace largely through Ovid who, uh, given as he had issues with authority at the time, tends to go pretty heavy on making the gods (the ultimate authorities) look even worse than usual, while it *seems* like (though I can't swear by it) the older versions were the "just as you had the hubris to claim to be better than the gods, your hubris blinded you to the fact that the gods, as the judges of your work, would rule against you for insulting them to their faces" version.
F-CK YEAH HEPHAESTUS love to see body type variety while also making him gorgeous and also the disability rep he usually doesn't get in other adaptations
I think you're onto something about Melinoë being the mirror of Zagreus since Zag definitely takes after his mother in terms of personality, being very easy going and laidback. Whereas Melinoë seems to take after their father with her very dour expression and no-nonsense attitude.
Now that I get to see all of the designs, I notice a shared detail that begets a theory in me. The quatrecolored rope shared by Melinoe, Hecate, Selene and Artemis. Orange, Black, Blue, and Green. The girlies of the night might be doing a mischief together!
54:40 exactly that! Apollo isn't the sun, but he is associated with Helios, who drives the sun chariot; and so Selene is associated with Artemis, and she is literally depicted in her moon chariot here.
@@panpan4757 that happened because Helios an Selene are on Titan gods group and some people forget them and just fused them with newer more popular gods that had similar roles. So later on Apollo just became the Sun god and got some of his stories and Artemis being his twin also turn into the Moon goddess but cause some contractions with the stories because she being asexual and Selene liking men.
When you mentioned you weren't using Melinoe's in game key art, I decided to look at it myself and noticed a cool detail: Zag's normal pose has him with his hand outstretched towards the camera, open, palm-up, whereas Melinoe's has one hand in the background and the skeletal hand literally drawn close to her chest, only the back of it facing the camera. It definitely ties into the whole mirror image thing mentioned. Looking at footage of the game, I also noticed that her poses seem to change more drastically compared to Zagreus'. This could honestly just be due to a larger budget and thus less need to reuse artwork, but I like to think it implies a sort of restlessness with Melinoe, like she's always light on her feet ready to go even in casual conversation.
Fun fact Aphrodite is originally a war god as well as in hades 2 the eye make up matches Ares eye make up which ties back to the fact that ares is the god she continually has an affair with in mythology.
Hypnos laying on a bed of flowers kinda makes me think of a funeral. You know how for open casket services they are usually decorated with a bunch of flowers surrounding it, this reminds me of that.
the cool thing about hephaestus is that there's a precident for him making prosthetics in greek myth with him making a replacement shoulder for pelops out of ivory
Selene in Hades 2 is a Titaness. So, she was an older divine being than the Olympian and the Chthonic gods. The boon she gave is also different than other gods. It made sense that her portrait was really extravagant which reflected in her greater divinity.
The difference with Artemis this time is that we meet her actually "out there" in the wilderness. She always said how much she hates being stuck around Olympus, and how much she prefers the company of Forest Nymphs, and the woods themselves. This is best exemplified with her conversations with Zagreus where she describes what she's been up to. When she's talking about the other Olympians, she's generally a bit blunt and disinterested. Compare that to when she's talking about Callisto, or hunting, or the woods, and she's almost a completely different person! She's much more confident and energetic.
Btw something to note, Skelly and Schelemeus are most likely actually the same character, there's a few dialogue moments in Hades 1 where Skelly tells Zagreus he used to be a powerful man named Schelemeus but ended up playing it off as a "lmao got you" moment. Schelemeus being in Hades 2 makes me believe he was actually speaking the truth to Zagreus but just wanted to fuck with him as hes been doing that with practically every dialogue moment hes had. He kinda acts like a bit of a leader and a teacher when talking to you in Hades 2 but then halfway through switches to his iconic "hey boyo" speaking.
As someone who is half Greek Hades 1 and 2 make me so incredibly happy with how much love and effort they put into these games with all the myths and all the designs I remember actually getting a bit emotional when people became more interested in a part of my culture because of this game thank you so much Supergiant Games💞 Edit: Just fixing some typos
I also love how they portray Hades. A lot of the time people make him the bad guy because he's the god of the dead but all my favourite stories have him be some absolute gigachad who loves with all his heart and performs his duty to his best ability
For me Moros and the hair almost gives a feeling of quickness. Like he arrived so quickly and is just THERE now and looming over someone like the impending doom he represents.
On the difference with Artemis, she also acted very different in the parts I saw of her the live stream. Spoilers as to how: Artemis was much more friendly / familiar with Melinoë then she was with Zagreus, with her first line being "It has been to long Sister." Greg also states that Artemis and Melinoë "seams to know each other, perhaps more then she knows the other Olympians". Melinoë also notably has her smiling portrait on while talking to her and that one seamed rare. With them being far closer, it felt right to have the pose and vibe change from carefully approaching Zag in the first game to confidently approaching a friend she is comfortable around in the second.
17:02 it’s worth noting that I think she has the face on both sides, the one on her right has the sun above its head, while the one on the left has the crescent moon, like melinoë perhaps showing she’s also a more well rounded witch 25:30 While it does look like a rapier, Moros is also the brother of the sisters of fate, who weave the threads of fate, meaning that it’s odd shape is actually because it’s a big sowing needle. 28:30 Also the amount of melanin in one’s skin is directly related to how much time they spend in the sunlight, so of course the god of the sun would have very dark skin 38:00 another thing is the ratio of sword size to shield size shows a much more offensive type of warrior, but in particular the buckler means she’s someone who would parry attacks, which works for the goddess of retribution 46:25 Also Odysseus is a messy ragged journeyer, but he’s also a king, which shows through that golden circlet on his head, kind of adding that regality the contrasts the rest of his design 50:45 The way Hephaestus is lit is also really cool, the low angle warm lighting evoking he’s peeking hole still sitting and looking from his forge, showing another bit of his devotion to his craft. 58:16 Her hair also evokes the sea or clouds all things that are associated with the moonlit night sky, but noticeably lacks stars, which is something you don’t find often in moon based designs 1:01:30 The story often goes that her design in a contest against Athena was resplendent and on the same level of Athena’s, but it mocked the gods and when Athena got mad at her for mocking the gods directly and ripped the tapestry she tore it apart, and when in Shame Arachne died, she was transformed into a spider so she could keep weaving webs. 1:08:06 Yeah Zeus definitely feels a bit underdesigned, but I do enjoy the neon lightning bolts on his armor which also outlines his ribs 1:12:30 The way her right hand is holding the Cornucopia and the sickle seems like she’s ready to gather as well, so I wonder if she’ll be gathering wheat, or more likely, the head of whoever dared to harm her daughter 1:15:35 I also just love the way he’s facing directly at you, it makes for a nice contrast from his hades 1 design, where he’s more casual looking away, shows he’s now more focused and ready for War 1:17:40 I think the messier style of Hades 1 benefitted her a lot mainly because she supposed to be the huntress, and now she lost a lot of the details that made her more associated with the wild. However, she’s also the goddess of the moon as well, and her design now having much more association with the moon perhaps means that aspect of her is now what’s standing out, as the moon has become much more important in this game. 1:24:30 The war paint definitely connects her to Ares, but I also think the Hades 1 made her almost seem like someone who just woke up from a night of pleasure, and had her messy hair showing her more casual side, while now, she’s ready to go out, she’s straightened her hair, and she still has her curls, but they’re all for,ed very specifically in the form of a heart, showing a more intentionality in her presentation 1:28:20 The way the poppies and the cloak that are holding him up almost reminds me of like a person who had to be moved in his sleep. Like a child who couldn’t wake in time to get ready for a road trip 1:31:30 For skelemeus, I think another thing is his eyes are much more symmetrical and soft compared to the more crazy eyed version in Hade 1 which adds to the refinement
From what I've read, the earthquakes thing is basically because the sea encircles the land, he can basically use the sea to cause earthquakes because the earth is in his metaphorical grip
- Hecate has faces on her shoulders because she's often depicted as a triad deity or with three faces. - I love how Nemesis face is similar to her mother. -While Apollo and Artemis are gods of the sun and the moon, Helios and Selene are thr sun and moon themselves (although Apollo's popularity grew too much sometimes he was considered the sun too) - I think Artemis feels more confident because now we find her hunting, and i kinda like that. - while not very well known by most people, Aphrodite was also seen as a war goddess, and i really love how that fits her new design. - Death to Chronos!
One small detail I like about Artemis is the aromantic colors on her arrows (heh). Not quite the flag itself, but with Artemis being on the three virgin goddesses, I can't imagine thats not on purpose
ancient historian who specialises in greek myth here! just a few notes. moros isn't so much a 'god of doom' as he is a personification of it. but in that sense, still very much a neutral force. and he is by no means a significant figure, he's only a mentioned a few times and often by later authors. so honestly the designers can just go nuts on it, free reign. apollo's design works but hits one of my pet peeves lmao. because apollo was really not much of a sun god outside of some niche hellenistic period contexts. to appeal to popular culture tho, it works. he is more a god of shining light if anything, but 'the sun' communicates that well. the bow/harp is particularly effective, because apollo was simultaneously an artistic god, and a protector from/deliverer of death. god of healing and plagues in equal measure. the hair also does work. you see apollo with hair of that style/texture in general, but also in coins minted in north african settlements (which plays into the discussion you have about skin colour/geography)
thoughts #2: something to note is that the one piece of impressive ornamentation to Odysseus is his headband/diadem. despite being a roguish adventurer he is also a king! and that headpiece is symoblic of kingship in ancient greece. it would generally be a ribbon, but the gold here is a more communicative choice. Hephaestus is also an interesting discussion. I would have liked them to lean more into him being conventionally unattractive (which to many people IS hot), but I can see why it would be troublesome to associate that with your only fat/disabled character. imo i think thats why it would be more interesting for dionysus to have a dad bod like you say, or for ARES to have a prosthetic limb (as he represents violent heedless battle, it would make sense for him to have battle injuries while athena does not). either way, a pretty complex discussion but i can agree that hephaestus is hot as hell and absolutely my type lol so im not complaining too much
It’s so crazy how on point you are with sussing out their personality based on their character design. Whenever you get a chance to play hades 2 you should totally rewatch this video to see how close you got it.
Really cool tiny detail on Moros is the skull on his belt has coins in its mouth, in ancient Greek and Roman burials the family of the deceased would lay coins on the lips or inside the mouths of the dead to pay for their trip, to pay Charon, so it links Moros to his sibling and also to death itself
to clarify with artemis and apollo, they were actually not associated with the sun and moon by the greeks, the first evidence of that association came about with the romans. helios and selene were the greeks sun and moon gods. i feel like apollo has definitely been defined by his sun god status to the point that people take it for granted, though based on seeing many pop culture portrayals i feel artemis tends to be more thought of as a hunter goddess first and foremost then a moon goddess. artemis' roman counterpart, diana, also has a lot of witchy moon stuff going on and i wonder if the team knew about this/incorporated it into the game
omg my feelings about Aphrodite are just SAME. When I saw her war-version for the first time, my jaw just dropped. I was literally twirling my hair around my finger and saying hi hello how are you :D She is beautiful and gorgeous in the first part of the game but they just NAILED Dite Areia version. This war paint she clearly borrowed from Ares just makes me feral. And the spear....pls, have mercy on me, goddess
I very much recommend applying for the technical test. Runs end at the first boss and, after just a few "wins", the game locks you out of playing any additional runs, so you can't really obsess over it more than 3-4 hours lmao
Moros’ design almost gives me Alucard Castlevania vibes in a way- not in how he looks, but in his poise, his statuesque beauty, like to touch him would be to sully him. The antlers are so interesting as well, they make me think of pride and strength, a weight to be carried. The hair draped over them shows a level of care in his appearance that goes beyond practicality and into vanity, which I think is interesting because it stands in direct contrast to his brother Thanatos (who he is an obvious expy of), who cut his hair because it got in the way of his work. I think the bared chest also plays into that as well- there really aren’t very many characters in either game (so far) with fully bared chests, now that I think about it. He’s actively showing off. He’s competent and serious and no-nonsense, but he’s beautiful as well. Also (VERY SMALL SPOILER) he refers to himself as The Bearer of Bad News, which I think is so fucking funny. At least he’s having some fun.
Also, about Melinoë's weapons she has in her promo art... While you could say that they are placed in that way to contrast Melinoë's duality of life and death, with the dagger being death and the sickle being life and Persephone's side of her, I think there's more to that. That dagger looks like a Parazonium, which was used by the greeks, and therefore connects her to that side of the artwork, the side of life/Olympus. Meanwhile, the sickle IS a symbol of death as well. Death is usually depicted as the Grim Reaper, which is, well, a figure that reaps souls with a scythe. We already have that in the form of Thanatos with his scythe, so Melinoë having a sickle reflects that as well. (Also, Death from Puss in Boots also used sickles for this reason, it's a less cliché form of a reaping tool). I think we can see the sickle connecting to death in the form of "death to those whose time has reached its end and the reaping of their lives", just like crops, while the dagger is "premature death to those who still have more to live". The dagger is an unfair end to life, and the sickle is the natural consequence of death. Furthermore, the sickle also has a crescent moon shape (and has moon decorations), connecting her more to Hecate and the death aspect of her design. AND the dagger's blade is way more ornate, which is more inclined to Olympus's indulgent behaviour (as opposed to the sickle being simple and efficient, closer to a more practical side of things with Hecate).
As a greek my self. I agree 101% greeks are not pale white. We have a huge range of pigmentation specialy during the summer where we tan . Some of us to an extreme extend. I slightly disagree that the presentation of greek gods would be outside the norm of the greeks that created them. Egyptian , Persian and Hindu influence existed. But not in the representation. Mostly on there epithets.
I think partially why Aphrodite also feels hotter is the pose. Like there's so much more confidence in her new art work In the first she was more in a seductive pose, yes. But it felt also like she was curled up a bit more, making here smaller. In the second it's like BOOM I'm here ready for a fight!
You know you’ve made a game with good character designs when someone makes an hour long video describing each character design in detail and their origins.
I’m not sure if this is the same in other countries so excuse me if you already know this, but poppies in Britain are the flower we use to remember fallen soldiers of the world wars, and modern wars now too. They’re both a solemn and kinda morbid flower, like a blot of blood on a field. So to me Hypnos sleeping in a bed of poppies is like he’s becoming more connected to his brother as a symbol of death. Also the way he’s surrounded by them is like he’s been ‘laid to rest’, his sleep becoming death-like in its length.
In Greek mythos, poppies are usually associated with death and sleep. They'd be used as offerings to the dead because of the affects of their seeds and because of the red color. Morpheus is often associated with poppies because of the sleeping affect of the seeds. There's also apparently a mythological guy named Mecon who was a lover of Demeter and got turned into a poppy.
gotta say, i absolutely love every single new and updated design in hades 2. every single one of them have such fantastic visual storytelling and are all so immaculately attractive in their own ways. my only hope is that we get some more awesome nonbinary characters, like chaos in the first game
My playthrough of Hades 1: czcams.com/play/PLKTj6PrgxBv_DWCaKZpryz8G2-eRVPjS0.html
Hekate is, mainly, the goddess of magic and crossroads (in a what do you want to do with your life way).
She is described as having three faces and is the Switzerland of gods (completely neutral in any conflict)
Being connected to the fates the slender sword with rope on it is a clear tie to the fates. Its a needle with thread attached to it
You got it kinda right with Arachnea she was both either as good as Athena or better than her, but the main reason she got turned into a spider was that in her Hubris she went to far and made a tapestry of all the wrongs ever committed by the gods, which was a fucking power move, like ma girl just called them out for their bull, but she did kind of make it in front of the 1 goddess who didn't want to see an accurate depiction of her family boning everything on two legs
goddess with three faces.
Maiden, mother, crone.
this should interest you bc, as you said, her main face is hidden. so which one is she wearing?
also, jesuuuus! i must've skipped half an hour of your incoherency while the war mommys were on screen
Okay bisexuals, you've had your fun, now it's bisexual's turn.
When bisexuals have fun, everybody one wins!!!
We sapphics are having fun too, the lesbians are EATING OUT tonight
@@Nikowo1610 Hell yeah we are, sis~
@@Nikowo1610first of all, YES WE ARE 🎸🎸🎸
second of all, PHRASING
As an asexual, I'm not eating, but my god the food looks good
In myth Hecate is the goddess of crossroads. In Hades II she’s the goddess of CrossFit.
I read it as a croissant and was intrigued by this bit of mythology i was not aware of
@arximportuna3051 insert croissant meme. Now I cannot not imagine her also being a memelord on the side. Edgy as hell but also down to meme
H A okay you win for this comment that’s amazing
@@TempRawryup! She's mother maiden and crone
@@arximportuna3051 That crescent moon on her armor? Not actually a moon ;D
I didn’t read Demeter’s new design as a thawing myself. I read it more as a return BACK to winter. Like, she’d HAD a thaw, she’d got her daughter back, she got to connect with her grandson and to heal from loss; there had BEEN a summer. Now she’s gradually descending BACK into that cold and desolate place as the war continues. It’s not the beginning of spring, it’s the end of autumn
Yeah, the brown leaves falling definitely give off fall into winter. Spring would be small green buds. Plus! The sickle! She is ready to Reap!
Artemis confidence comes from how you encounter her, she isn't a summon. She is physically here with you, you are meeting her WHILE she is hunting. She looks more comfortable because you are seeing her in her element.
Honestly she has the best character design in the entire game by far and I am not biased at all as a lesbian, I NEED to cosplay her
I also think she might be a romantic interest
Also she's probably just naturally more comfortable around women I feel.
And since you are playing as one this go around she might just naturally come off as more welcoming.
@Bobogdan258 Sorry to say this to you, but Artemis is one of the few gods that doesn't want to have any type of carnal intercourse or even marital relation, so I don't think so
@@Bobogdan258 probably not consider both mel and zag call her cousin
"you would not believe the number of gay guys that would go absolutely feral for Hephaestus" -Skyen speaking directly about me
Oh yeah, I also said HIIIII, it is I, gay guy going absolutely feral for Hephaestus
It’s me I’m gay guys too
Bisexual guy here and yep
The bisexuals are going to feast when this game drops.
Feast? They are going to *gorge* all. of. them.
We were fed beautifully with Hades 1, too. This is just borderline gluttony and I'm here for it
True! I'm in heaven!
Yes we will!!
Its a greek mithology game, of course we'll feast
As an autistic person, i feel like a lot of Artemis's newfound sense of confidence could just be that she's talking to someone she's more familiar with. Zagreus was a stranger to her, but she's known Melinoe her whole life, so maybe that uncertain and awkward vibe isn't there because she's a lot more comfortable around Mel
You have a very interesting theory there.
My first thought about Artemis and Melinoe's interactions is that Melinoe is both a girl, and on a hunt (after Chronos' head). Artemis is a virgin goddess by oath, and... well, Zagreus is Hot Boy Material TM. Artemis being not used to interacting to men in general made sense in my head, which makes her awkward around Zagreus while Melinoe is very much within Artemis's domain of expertise and therefore within her comfort zone.
But what you said also makes a lot of sense, and now I wonder which or how much of which theory is the "canon" answer here.
Artemis is not autistic, but good theory nonetheless.
op never said Artemis was autistic. They are just using their own experience to relate and hypothesize about the character.
yeah in hades 1 she very much looks uncomfortable and out of her element, even with her posture she looks like shes trying to be small.
Shes phonically there in hades 2, leaving out some of the godly glow. She also looks a bit younger, which is interesting as she may be able to choose how old she looks.
She may have grown a bit, too. learned to take care of herself. Although i do feel like her design may change as development goes on.
@@whatever2045they only brought up being autistic because he brought up how her behavior reads as autistic coded in the video.
One thing about Aphrodite is that she's not the goddess of sex, that would be Eros, she's primarily the goddess of love and beauty. The way I see it, her being completely naked is not so much a way to sexualize her (even if she obviously is sexy) but rather to show the beauty of the human body.
"The tits stay out during war" is so funnyy😭 also love her matching makeup with Ares, iconic behaviour
Big “If I’m gonna get maimed, at least I’m gonna get maimed while looking fucking fierce” energy.
I didn't even notice the Ares' makeup before you said that, that's cool
Even more so given her relationship with Ares. And worst of all is that we get that on the same game in wich her husband Hephaestus is first featured, too @@Ridlay_
Zagreus being much more laid back and friendly like Persephone, while Melinoe is more pragmatic and severe like Hades is such a fun dynamic. Mama’s Boy Zagreus and Daddy’s Girl Melinoe :D
Now I can’t wait to see Melinoe interact with Hades. If they run with the Daddy’s girl aspect, it’s probably going to be adorable! Plus I can see a “she’s definitely your daughter” joke from Persephone.🤣
@@corvidaegudmund1186 Or the joke comes from one of the uncles?
I take the masks on Hecate as a representation of her three faced nature in Greek Mythology
Same. It is actually the first thing I looked for in the design. I noticed she just had one face so I looked for the other 2.
I was just about to say that! All mythology nerds think the same =w=
Mayhe the thrid is on her other shoulder and it the child. She is liertally hiding her child side i.e. her inner self from you @@heatth1474
Thank you, yes she's a triple goddess. My only complaint is keys are so important as a symbol of her and its nowhere in her design. However the labyrinth is a big symbol they include that I love.
@@heatth1474 Well my gues is that we can assume she has another face on her other shoulder that we cant see well because of the angle and stance she takes in this particular model art. The third face than I would be her actual face.
The way that Aphrodite is being portrayed now gives me strong feelings they might be playing up her connection to Sparta. She was an import god, that had originally landed in Sparta, and like many gods Sparta worshipped she was treated as very much a war goddess. The war paint also gives that strong feeling, as well as giving her a connection to Ares’ design from Hades. She also refers to you as kin, another connection to Ares from the first game in that he always called Zagreus ‘kin.’
Not to mention, the goddess that Aphrodite was imported/adapted from was very much a war goddess as well as her domain of beauty and fertility.
ah yeah, Aphrodite Areia, the best Aphrodite
@@Derenyxand what godess was that, can you yell us the name?
@@CRSB00the comment right above yours says it
@@CRSB00wasn't it Astarte?
Lil note about Hephaestus: He and his brother Ares are Zeus's only two legitimate sons, meaning that by ancient greek inheritance rites they both get an equal share of Zeus's holdings, AKA: Everything. When Hera threw baby Hephaestus off of Olympus she was echoing a (heartbreaking) IRL practice expected of mothers of ensuring the family line was strong by getting rid of sickly infants. There's also a parable in there that's been lost over time: Hephaestus is a master craftsman and makes wondrous things, where as Aeries is a temperamental fail-kid that only stirs up trouble. As one of my classics professors inferred: They threw the wrong kid off the mountain.
Very curious what Hephestus's relationship with Hera is going to be in these games: he has her peacock eyes (tattooed?) on his arm.
It depends on the myths I'm pretty sure ; in some of them Hephaestus is said to be conceived by Hera alone and that explains his difformity
Ohhhh would love some interesting story between them, thanks for pointing that out, I haven't noticed that :DD
tbskyen just called me out on the gays mouth watering over bear daddy hephestas like a moth to a flame
@@ashes2ashley230 How can we not? That hint of a treasure trail poking out from the blanket? He's hairy and will pound out the flaws from our *****.
Also want to see his interactions with aphrodite, if she's going to flirt with him or be pensive. In the myths he forced Hera to marry them so i wounder if it's going to be the same in game. Part of me wants them to have a healthy relationship but i doubt they will lol
You'll notice how the Olympians are all dressed up for war now. Makes sense since Olympus is currently under siege. Also you're dead on on Melinoe's personality. Being raised in exile and in time of war, knowing the family you never got to know is out there suffering, trained all your life to fulfill a task meant to save the world... all of that would result in a more dour and serious person.
EDIT: Also Artemis isn't a daughter of Selene. Her and Apollo are children of Zeus and Leto, a local patron goddess of a region of southern Anatolia.
The only reason Artemis has moon patterns is because she is often seen as the goddess of the moon, whilst selene *is* the moon, or at least the moon personified.
While that's true, Hades as the game is very loose on who's parent to whom. They're trying their best to untie Olympians from one another to avoid that whole incest thing going on. I mean, Zagreus himself is proof of that. Persephone, too, is not Zeus's daughter anymore, and Demeter is for some reason not related to the Olympians. So who knows, maybe they'll change the parents to Artemis and Apollo, too. Just as a theory ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hephaestus isn't dressed for war though.
@@bthsr7113Hephaestus would be the blacksmith of the Gods, making sure their weapons and armour are kept at 100%. He would in the backline rather than out in the field like the other Gods.
@@kitnal4143 now the games out, it seems all the characters wearing the moons are part of the "silver sisters"
Hecates abs being super shredded instead of a naturally big and strong makes her look somewhat skeletal which connects her to the dead and cthonic gods.
A small detail I really like about Hephaestus is the lighting in his portrat, the lightsource is bellow and to his side, the highlights get bigger, redder and hotter the closer they are to the source, that's the light of his forge. It's sooooooo well done, we don't see a hint of the thing, it's only implied but it's done so expertly that we don't even notice it at first glance, it's perfectly natural, it's correct.
I saw Dionysus as a frat bro so I never questioned his lack of a gut but I understand Skyen's vision
Yeah, he is a party animal. But in the way of a dumb frat boy that just wants to drink and make sure everyone is having a good time
That's the thing about Dionysus. Physically he does have different interpretations. I believe older ones tend to portray him as older, fatter, with a beard, and even having goat horns. But more modern, well as modern as ancient Greek mythology gets, depict him as handsome and youthful, with one myth having him get kidnapped by sailors because they thought he was prince due to his beauty.
He's the golden child for me, perfect mind, perfect body, lazy and hedonistic because he's gifted and doted on
He's the grapes on the vine, prime to get picked to be made into wine
Mr Doom having a sewing needle as a sword seems very in line with the Fates as weavers.
Absolutely, also the symbols on his sash are a pair of shears, a spool of thread, and some other implement I’ve seen a picture of before but don’t remember the name of
@@pigeon160 maybe a pincushion?
@@dinomaster420 maybe? i think it’s one of those spin-y things they use to make thread, though, i just don’t remember what it’s called. a spindle, maybe?
@@dinomaster420 maybe? i think it’s one of those spin-y things they use to make thread, though, i just don’t remember what it’s called. a spindle, maybe?
25:20 I personally interpreted this as a needle! it has a thread/rope over it, implying that Moros, as Doom, is someone who is in contact/contract with Moirai, three Fates spinning the thread of life.
Umm spoilers for those that don’t want to know this is not the comment for you.
You have been warned. So I will ignore all complaining about spoilers.
….
….
In the Technical test. Moros does appear before Mel after a run. He directly states that the sisters of fate sent him to deliver a message to her.
He IS working with the sisters of Fate. Or at least did an errand run for them.
If I recall both him and the Fates are children of Nyx.
oh yeah, that's a needle, note that the tassels of his belt likewise bear the respective emblem of the fates
Finally. Gwen 2: The Twunkening
*NAIL*
I'm sorry but hollow knight kicking in
that’s what i thought of too! I hadn’t known anything about the character but his blade reading like a sewing needle to me indicated some intrinsic link with the fates in my mind. I actually have a character of my own who wields a similar weapon, though its size and shape lend itself more towards a two handed/claymore-like form factor. His whole gimmick is being able to shrink down to small sizes so i had fun incorporating enlarged versions of tiny household objects as tools for him to work with. The idea of a sewing needle sword was so damn specific and situational, seeing it get used literally anywhere else was a shock lmao
I like Nemesis being at least a little conventionally attractive because it feeds into her role as the embodiment of hubris. She's tempting.
As tempting as revenge can be, indeed. The word nemesis is associated with vengeance and retribution after all. Which is a very tempting thing at its core.
she seems to hold onto her femininity, which i like. you don;t have to be masculine to be strong.
She still keeps her long hair, probably has some type of corset under he armor and PAINTS HER NAILS. probably paints them with the blood of her enemies
@Has-uo1lq that duality is my favorite thing about her design. You can be big and strong and still embody femininity. She's serving. God I love her 😭
@@aubleServing and Slaying (literally), as she should 😤 💅
My favorite bit about Odysseus is that he just looks like someone’s DND OC. Which. Yeah that checks out.
roll to seduce
The thing about Selene (and her brother Helios) is that while Artemis is the Goddess of the Moon and Apollo is the God of the Sun, they are not *the* Moon and Sun while Selene and her brother Helios are.
Selene is The Moon and Helios is The Sun.
Same kind of how Chaos is not a god, but still is an immensely powerful being. Powerful like the god but a distinct kind of existence… I guess maybe you could compare her to the Weavers of Fate? Powerful beings that are explicitly not gods, but still are involved in divine matters.
@@supersanttu7951 It's similar to Hypnos and Thanatos; they aren't the Gods of Sleep and Death, they _are_ Sleep and Death personified. Same with Moros in this one; he's not a bringer of Doom, he _is_ Doom, so whenever someone meets a doomed fate, he's there by default.
It's the difference between being the literal manifestation of a concept and being worshipped for your connection to it
Hades is not the dead, for example, but his rule over the Underworld makes him the god of the dead.
There are many versions of Arachne's story but it mostly boils down to: Arachne loudly proclaims she is the best weaver in the world, even better than Athena. Now, the greek gods where thought of being the reason why mortals where good at things, therefore saying you are better at something than the god who gave you the power to be good at something is hubris. Then Athena comes to challenge her and depending on the story, and if your name is Ovid or not, arachne looses and in her sadness tries to k*ll herself and is transformed by Athena to save her life, or Arachne wins and Athena transforms her as punishment
Also I think in one of the tellings there was a wager where the loser would never be able to use a loom again so Athena turned her into a spider since they don't need to use a loom to weave
Another story is that Arachne and her brother Phalanx were both trained by Athena, but she found out/caught them committing incest and turned them into spiders in disgust
@@appelofdoom8211 that shit rules as story telling point of view
Another version is Athena tuns Arachne into a spider, not for winning, but for depicting Zeus' many adulteries in her tapestry.
Conclusion the specifics are vague besides Athena turned a talented weaver into a spider.
I'm still at the beginning of the video but Artemis, Selene and Hecate share common symbols as they all represent aspects of the moon in mythology (crescent moon, full moon, new moon).
I think they are some sisterhood
"Oh, they were moonmates"
The funny thing is that Melinoe is also a goddess of night and moonlight (which is why she has a cresent moon symbol on her forehead), so Hades II is headlined by a bunch of goddesses who are some variant of witchy goth girl.
@@GiovanniBoss Amazing comment, gold star.
It also extends to Nemesis because she’s a child of Nyx, the goddess of night. She’s not lacking in character design echoes with her mother and siblings.
One thing i like about Aphrodite's new design is she has the same eye makeup/paint thing as Ares in the first game. I think it's a link to their connection as on and off lovers in the mythology
Could also represent her origins in Sparta too
@@heistingcrusader_ad3223just curious how does the eye paint connect to sparta exactly?
@@BrazenLunatic Her eye painting links her to Ares and she and Ares wehre worshipped in ancient sparta together as gods of war. He was the male war god, she was the female one. And with the shield, the spear and being mostly naked else, it also links her designe to the spartans of 300.
@@BrazenLunatic Aphrodite Areia is her war aspect. She started in Sparta and if you want a good video about it, overly sarcastic production has the best video in the history of Aphrodite.
@@derkrischa3720 aphrodite's design is kinda the worst art design of all of them. if your going to make an attractive art work, then at least make it look perfect. this looks like some budget stripper in armor.
Hecate's shoulder masks could be references to her three faces, that also represent the phases of the moon. Full, crescent, new - maiden, matron, distinguished elder lady. That may also be supported by the three different teal glowing moon symbols on her forehead and over her two shoulders respectively. So effectively maybe she wears her other two faces as masks while masking her true face?
I know this is early access art so I hope that they somehow cycle through the three masks on her face to signify different moveset every time you fight her
actually hecate isnt tradtionally a maiden matron and crone figure, that's often misattributed to her by neo-pagan movements, she is a triple goddess though, which is probably where the confusion comes from.
EDITED: The dagger and sickle(especially with those crescent moons on the hilt) are commonly used tools in witchcraft ceremonies to this day. One (the boline/sickle) for harvesting magical herbs, one (the athame/dagger) for channeling energy.
Going back to ancient Greece rather than modern paganism/wicca, I think they'd probably be a harvesting sickle and sacrificial dagger.
30:30 "Here is Nemesis, who was made for me, I think." Wow, so many lesbians would like a word now, Skyen!
If only nemesis... Less nemesis
The thing with Artemis is that a lot of her new design is shown in the old. The tassels, colours, and crop top aren't new, her original pose just didn't display them outright.
Plus, Artemis in the first game was literally just meeting Zagreus and his quest. She had no idea how to relate to him. Now with the war and with experience, she knows how to talk to Melinoe on less awkward footing. Also autistic people can be confident and personable. Artemis enjoys her solitude, but she also runs around with a gang of feral huntresses. Heck, Melinoe being a woman might be exactly why she's more sociable.
Oh my god those two little ghosties holding up Hypnos' hammock are just so adorable.
Omg, Hephaestus hair looks like a eurupted volcano.
Hi Greek/Roman Mythology nerd here ! Moros is Doom incarnate (just like Thanatos is Death incarnate, Hypnos sleep incarnate etc...); basically they don't cause what they embody they are only here as messengers of what they represent.
Also fun fact, the greek name of Moros means "violent death" and his symbol is a fucking Tornado (according to Wikipedia).
It's also a neat design connection of the incarnates that all of them have grey skin and white hair.
It would make sense if he is the male romancable person then- a counter to Thanatos and the peaceful death.
A TORNADO?! Holy shit that's fucking badass
@@kaygirl10101 That's also probably because they are siblings.
Nyx's children are Hypnos, Thanatos, Moros, Nemesis and Charon.
@@Ash-re8tg It's off that they decided that Nemesis wouldn't look the same, then (with the hair at least, the skin seems maybe grey). Granted we don't get a good look at Charon, but he seems to have the grey skin at least.
1:01:09 the reminder that according to the first game, Demeter's weapons of choice were the Twin Fists of Malphon. Hestia had the exagryph machine gun
Hilarious that the two grammas use those LOL
I really liked Dionysus' portrayal in the last game. He felt the ideal of indulgence. As a god, he isn't about the consequences of indulging, he only exists as the pleasure and the ideal of it. Some of the gods feel trained and built to be fit and hot, some just do it effortlessly
Hera got mad that Zeus got Athena all alone so she said "I can have a children alone too!". So she with power of will conceived Hephaestus. He was ugly and deformed. So she trew him out of a window. He fell in te ocean, and a group of water nyphs take care of him till he was adult. He lived in a under water volcano, forging things for their mothers, till he was ready to comfort his blood mother. I love Hephaestus man.
depends on the myth as some just have him as zeus and heras son
@@panpan4757 Mythology, I'm I right? Haha
He wasn't actually ugly. He was just born with a clubbed foot, but that meant he wasn't perfect and Hera wanted her whole "immaculate conception" thing. We need to push back against the Quasimodification of Hephaestus because he was never described as ugly, just disabled and it's centuries of ableism morphed him into a "monster"
@@winterpink7478 I thought his body went a bit fucked up on account of being thrown down a mountain.
@thechainwarden that's what I understood, he wasn't ugly to beg in with but being hurled from a mythological mountain did a number on him.
I think that Artemis’ new design does convey confidence, especially in the context of the game. As of the technical test, rather than getting a message from her with a boon, she meets you in person out in the forest, where she is MOST comfortable. She’s in her element out in the wilds partaking in the hunt herself
I think it's funny that you mention Nemesis' looks as strong part of her characterization since I also think physical attractiveness plays well into possibly being another manifestation of hubris, leading people into thinking they could ever possibly chat up Nemesis without getting straight up decapitated. Also she's got the Stygian blade of Nemesis that Zagreus used in the first game!
I also noticed that you didn't mention Hephaestus' hammer, specifically how he holds it, but I think it's such a cool part of his character. It's this big, massive fuck-off hammer used for forging in intense heat, and yet he holds it up with a single finger. For Hephaestus, forging and smithing isn't neccessarily about brute strength and burliness, and so for him his hammer is a delicate tool meant for art, being affected by the slightest movements of his fingers.
@@Victini1734I also noticed how simple it is in design. It’s not adorned with gems and intricate details, it’s the hammer he uses in his work. It also shows that his power isn’t necessarily in the hammer/tools he wields but the creations he makes with those tools. It’s exemplified by his prosthetic leg and wheelchair being quite intricate and beautiful!
@@Victini1734 He was also a patron god of jewellers, so yeah, he built things both sturdy, and beautiful.
the reduction in harsh shadows is very interesting. It added a sinister edge to thing and losing that hurt zues alot. the old art makes him look like a titan blotting out the sun with the weight of his presence. but now he gives the vibe of a gentle nice old man in silly armor and technocloth.
meanwhile aphrodite just had this massive black void between her body and hair that stole so much attention away from her being hot. it took me tens of hours before I noticed she was naked in hades 1 because she was sandwiched between 2 more visually appealing things.
38:20 regarding Dionysus, if you look up old depictions of him he is first portrayed as more middle-aged and bearded and then gets progessively younger until he is basically a perpetual 18 y/o with a clean shave. plus he is only made god of indulgences later on, one of his older portfolios is that of madness and his followers would try to reach a state of divine madness through heavy drinking of undiluted greek wine. and for context: the greeks usually diluted their wine cause it was hella strong.
Hecate is the kind of witch who you will get all magic protection you can, and then she sucker punches you and kicks you in the face with knee
Hecate casts fireball and it's just her running at you and clocking you with a flaming fist
The very personification of 'I cast FIST!'
Well in the game she does clock you in the jaw with her staff.
When the goddess of magic reminds you that her domain includes battle mages and spell swords!
Speaking as An Official Autist, Artemis' design makes perfect sense to me in that she's clearly close to Melinoe at the start. She was introducing herself to Zagreus in the first game so she had the mask on, even if she does eventually open up to him there's only one art so it doesn't change. With Melinoe that relationship is already there, so she doesn't need to mask around her, and that is a very joyful thing when you're autistic. She's found her people, she's got her friendship bracelets, she's happy and confident with who she is.
Those feathered wings floating over Nemesis' shoulders also connect her to her brother Hypnos ❤
Nemesis is usually considered one of Nyx's daughters, so I think that's what the crescent moon on her head symbolizes... Maybe Melinoe also has it bc, like Zag, she was raised by her
Nemesis is one of Nyx's daughters in the game. Melinoe meanwhile is a student of Hecate, one of the gods of the moon and goddess of witchcraft
Mel’s ghost arm is such a cute and subtle nod to her (sometimes? mostly?) being known as the goddess of ghosts, and I hope they touch more on it in the full game! In the tech test we have already seen the Tablet of Peace which allows you to send shades back to the crossroads (which is the House of this game) and I just love that connection for Mel 🥰 about the gods, I’m in the “Artemis’s portrait is still a wip” camp because she seems to have a bigger role in the story than last time and there’s no way Supergiant would leave her as plain and undecorated as she is, especially with all the moon imagery and connections in this game. (Also Artemis and Apollo are twin children of Zeus and Leto, and they are the deities of the sun and moon respectively. But Selene and Helios are titans who ARE those celestial bodies, as in Selene pulls the moon and Helios pulls the sun, whereas Apollo and Artemis are just associated with them! The twins are my favorites can you tell 😅) I do agree that Aphro is much hotter in this game as well and I absolutely adore the subtle nod to her and Ares being a thing because she’s wearing his facepaint from the first game! She’s also apparently very heavily connected with Sparta and was worshipped there as a war goddess so I hope that also plays into her character as well!
4:30 it’s worth noting that Melinoe has blonde hair like Persephone and grey skin like Hades, whereas Zagreus has black hair like Hades and pale skin like Persephone
How did I miss that? All I saw was the mirrored eye colours.
One thing that I noticed with the olympian gods who appeared in the first game is that their nrew designs now incorporate more reds and warm colors as accents. I see it as a signifier of sorts for the reconciliation that happened between them and Hades in the last game. Like they're now incorporating motifs more associated with Hades, now that the plot of this game is rescuing them from Chronos
Odysseus legit looks like how have of all animators draw him in Epic the Musical animatics, especially his face.
I know right! Totally agree!
Hephaestus, yes! They really got my number with that design, and I was so happy that they just keep expanding on all the different ways in which people can be sexy. Also, that might just be the most beautiful fantasy wheelchair I've ever seen. Also also, I'm not even into women, but that new Demeter design is very hot, which is especially notable because I can't even remember the last time I saw a foxy old lady that actually looks like an old lady in a game.
Skelly does mention he used to be a general called Schelemeus in the first game, but it's passed off as a prank and that he's making it up
Ultimately, many of the questions about design are likely able to be filled in by studying the mythical origin of the characters, which is a bit of a task.,but supergiant is doing a decent job at making those connections.
absolutely! i know a lot abt the greek mythos and skyen missed a bit haha. but it isnt entirely his fault bc u kinda have to study an entire mythology pretty deeply to get all the details
An interesting detail I didn't see you bring up is that Aphrodite's "make-up" as you call it is the same shape of the sun running across Ares' face in Hades 1
Which makes sense as she used to be a Goddess of War
Hephaestus give such a Dungeon Meshi's Senshi vibe, I love it.
48:47 On behalf of the bear community, thank you TBSkyen :)
Didn't I see you chasing somebody in the woods?
Something additional that’s quite obvious on Melinoë’s design: she’s wearing orange, which instantly distances her from the House of Hades. She clearly doesn’t see herself as someone who is upholding/carrying on the family traditions. Whether she was sent away or ran away I don’t know yet, but it’s interesting for sure!
She wear orange because that color is related to her name. Melinoë probably derive from the Greek word mēlinos (having the colour of the fruit quince).
@@BlackFeds that’s cool! I’d argue that’s still an active design choice for her colour though. They could’ve given her the same style of outfit as Zagreus but given her orange hair, for example - but they didn’t. It’s VERY deliberate that the only thing tying her to her family are natural things she cannot change, like her eyes - but everything she CAN control (her wardrobe) has nothing to do with her family.
In the Orphic Hymn n°71 she is described wearing a saffron color dress.
@@lx-icon i can't elaborate more, because, if you didn't see the game stream i could give you an unwanted spoiler
@@BlackFeds appreciate it! Yeah I don’t know as much about her lore-wise, still interested to see how it plays out!
Dunno if anyone has clarified but Artemis is Zeus's daughter and the older twin to Apollo. They are opposites, sun and moon and all, but still care deeply about eachother, share a love of hunting and absolutely adore their mother Leto.
for selene and hecate whole stick yes they are connected, in the myth they are considered the three moon goddesses, selene is the full moon hecate is fall (or dawn) moon and artemis is the crescent moon, they are a triad,
like at the same time hecate have ben rappresented with three maiden that they are always her rappresenting past presents and future and the three way to choose how to live youre life
this is the real mithology parallel in the game idk how they gonna use that but the fact that all three of them are in the game well interesting
the moon has been always connected to witches
i saw a post and i found the real english word hecate is the new moon
Hecate conceals her face but reveals her abs which is a vulnerable area of attack is so interesting
Is her abs so vulnerable considering the torches she whacks people with though? Hahaha
Vulnerable? Have you SEEN those abs? 😂
I wonder if that's some kind of taunt. Like she's daring her enemies to try to get close enough to hit her where she's vulnerable
Welcome to Hades, oh-oh. Check out our sick décor, the spirits leaven, oh! Please keep your brimstone off the floor. We've got the best and brightest, the politest of the lot.
AND EVERYONE IS HOT!
The Greeks believed looks meant divine favour to the point some one used it in an argument for why they would not have done blasphemy
@@burningbronze7555 If the tits are legit, you must acquit!
I think that a big part of why aphrodite is so hot in this game is not at all to due with the changes in accessories, but just the posing. In Hades I she has her left arm in front of her body and she's leaning forward, whereas for Hades II she's vey butt out, shoulders back, and also her right leg is forward which opens her up more to the viewer and presents her standing proud and looking a bit down towards you.
In the first game, she is straight up more covered by the framing, and now she looks at you like you're her little plaything.
I think the spear and warpaint help convey that confidence, but I'm not sure if the other new accessories are doing much on the hotness front, they are good characterization though.
except the grieves, the grieves are hot. they need no deeper reason.
1:24:30 that little war paint eye makeup is the same as Ares. and that kind of makes me happy. 🥰 also considering she was much closer to Ares' depiction, she used to be a war goddess (Aphrodite Areia), I am really hoping they'll lean into that aspect of her.
1:01:37
From what I remember, Arachne's story is indeed one with several variations, due to the Greek City states.
Texts found seem to imply that if you're in Athens (where Athena is most prominent) Arachne is vain and challenges Athena, therefore, she is punished "fairly" for her hubris, but rival cities prefers versions where Athena is jealous and petty.
In the version I heard, Arachne's competition with Athena was specifically make a tapestry depicting the gods and Arachne decided to make her piece a satire; Zeus' infidelity, Aphroditie's vanity, Aries' brutality, and other less-than-flattering depictions(including a jab at Athena). Athena did not appreciate this and transformed her.
@@screeno42 The usual difference in the depictions is if the punishment is for showing up Athena's skills, or for wasting her skills by not understanding her audience. The "How dare you be better than me" versus "What a shame, you have such talent but you misuse it so."
The "How dare you be better for me" seems to trace largely through Ovid who, uh, given as he had issues with authority at the time, tends to go pretty heavy on making the gods (the ultimate authorities) look even worse than usual, while it *seems* like (though I can't swear by it) the older versions were the "just as you had the hubris to claim to be better than the gods, your hubris blinded you to the fact that the gods, as the judges of your work, would rule against you for insulting them to their faces" version.
Some great analysis here; i am also so ready for OSP to dissect these designs with their almost encyclopedic knowledge of Greek myth
F-CK YEAH HEPHAESTUS love to see body type variety while also making him gorgeous and also the disability rep he usually doesn't get in other adaptations
WAIT MY BOI ODYSSEUS?! I didn't know we were getting him in the game, and I LOVE the design
With aprodite she isnt just lust, but also love. And you would feel comfortable being naked in front of each other both physically and emotionally
I think you're onto something about Melinoë being the mirror of Zagreus since Zag definitely takes after his mother in terms of personality, being very easy going and laidback. Whereas Melinoë seems to take after their father with her very dour expression and no-nonsense attitude.
Now that I get to see all of the designs, I notice a shared detail that begets a theory in me.
The quatrecolored rope shared by Melinoe, Hecate, Selene and Artemis.
Orange, Black, Blue, and Green.
The girlies of the night might be doing a mischief together!
54:40 exactly that! Apollo isn't the sun, but he is associated with Helios, who drives the sun chariot; and so Selene is associated with Artemis, and she is literally depicted in her moon chariot here.
i thought it was that helios drove the chariot across the sky until the Olympians came into power which then apollo took over from helios
@@panpan4757 that happened because Helios an Selene are on Titan gods group and some people forget them and just fused them with newer more popular gods that had similar roles. So later on Apollo just became the Sun god and got some of his stories and Artemis being his twin also turn into the Moon goddess but cause some contractions with the stories because she being asexual and Selene liking men.
"There's been thirsting for this character already. I think because of the antlers"
Yes. And yes and yes. And yes. 🤩
When you mentioned you weren't using Melinoe's in game key art, I decided to look at it myself and noticed a cool detail: Zag's normal pose has him with his hand outstretched towards the camera, open, palm-up, whereas Melinoe's has one hand in the background and the skeletal hand literally drawn close to her chest, only the back of it facing the camera. It definitely ties into the whole mirror image thing mentioned.
Looking at footage of the game, I also noticed that her poses seem to change more drastically compared to Zagreus'. This could honestly just be due to a larger budget and thus less need to reuse artwork, but I like to think it implies a sort of restlessness with Melinoe, like she's always light on her feet ready to go even in casual conversation.
Hypervigilance
Fun fact Aphrodite is originally a war god as well as in hades 2 the eye make up matches Ares eye make up which ties back to the fact that ares is the god she continually has an affair with in mythology.
But yes Aphrodite was originally worshiped as a war god so I love the addition of the spear and shield overall I love this design
Hypnos laying on a bed of flowers kinda makes me think of a funeral. You know how for open casket services they are usually decorated with a bunch of flowers surrounding it, this reminds me of that.
The two poor shades that have to carry him for all the time XD
the cool thing about hephaestus is that there's a precident for him making prosthetics in greek myth with him making a replacement shoulder for pelops out of ivory
Selene in Hades 2 is a Titaness. So, she was an older divine being than the Olympian and the Chthonic gods. The boon she gave is also different than other gods. It made sense that her portrait was really extravagant which reflected in her greater divinity.
The difference with Artemis this time is that we meet her actually "out there" in the wilderness. She always said how much she hates being stuck around Olympus, and how much she prefers the company of Forest Nymphs, and the woods themselves.
This is best exemplified with her conversations with Zagreus where she describes what she's been up to. When she's talking about the other Olympians, she's generally a bit blunt and disinterested. Compare that to when she's talking about Callisto, or hunting, or the woods, and she's almost a completely different person! She's much more confident and energetic.
Btw something to note, Skelly and Schelemeus are most likely actually the same character, there's a few dialogue moments in Hades 1 where Skelly tells Zagreus he used to be a powerful man named Schelemeus but ended up playing it off as a "lmao got you" moment.
Schelemeus being in Hades 2 makes me believe he was actually speaking the truth to Zagreus but just wanted to fuck with him as hes been doing that with practically every dialogue moment hes had.
He kinda acts like a bit of a leader and a teacher when talking to you in Hades 2 but then halfway through switches to his iconic "hey boyo" speaking.
As someone who is half Greek Hades 1 and 2 make me so incredibly happy with how much love and effort they put into these games with all the myths and all the designs I remember actually getting a bit emotional when people became more interested in a part of my culture because of this game thank you so much Supergiant Games💞
Edit: Just fixing some typos
I also love how they portray Hades. A lot of the time people make him the bad guy because he's the god of the dead but all my favourite stories have him be some absolute gigachad who loves with all his heart and performs his duty to his best ability
@@syrusalder7795 Yes!!!!!
For me Moros and the hair almost gives a feeling of quickness. Like he arrived so quickly and is just THERE now and looming over someone like the impending doom he represents.
On the difference with Artemis, she also acted very different in the parts I saw of her the live stream.
Spoilers as to how:
Artemis was much more friendly / familiar with Melinoë then she was with Zagreus, with her first line being "It has been to long Sister." Greg also states that Artemis and Melinoë "seams to know each other, perhaps more then she knows the other Olympians". Melinoë also notably has her smiling portrait on while talking to her and that one seamed rare.
With them being far closer, it felt right to have the pose and vibe change from carefully approaching Zag in the first game to confidently approaching a friend she is comfortable around in the second.
I can hear the sound of a thousand artists hurriedly drawing that relationship, platonic or otherwise 😊
If I remember correctly Artemis prefers woman as company with her hunting pack. That might be part of sisterhood?
@@KopfdesRiesen there definitely is that, too
17:02 it’s worth noting that I think she has the face on both sides, the one on her right has the sun above its head, while the one on the left has the crescent moon, like melinoë perhaps showing she’s also a more well rounded witch
25:30 While it does look like a rapier, Moros is also the brother of the sisters of fate, who weave the threads of fate, meaning that it’s odd shape is actually because it’s a big sowing needle.
28:30 Also the amount of melanin in one’s skin is directly related to how much time they spend in the sunlight, so of course the god of the sun would have very dark skin
38:00 another thing is the ratio of sword size to shield size shows a much more offensive type of warrior, but in particular the buckler means she’s someone who would parry attacks, which works for the goddess of retribution
46:25 Also Odysseus is a messy ragged journeyer, but he’s also a king, which shows through that golden circlet on his head, kind of adding that regality the contrasts the rest of his design
50:45 The way Hephaestus is lit is also really cool, the low angle warm lighting evoking he’s peeking hole still sitting and looking from his forge, showing another bit of his devotion to his craft.
58:16 Her hair also evokes the sea or clouds all things that are associated with the moonlit night sky, but noticeably lacks stars, which is something you don’t find often in moon based designs
1:01:30 The story often goes that her design in a contest against Athena was resplendent and on the same level of Athena’s, but it mocked the gods and when Athena got mad at her for mocking the gods directly and ripped the tapestry she tore it apart, and when in Shame Arachne died, she was transformed into a spider so she could keep weaving webs.
1:08:06 Yeah Zeus definitely feels a bit underdesigned, but I do enjoy the neon lightning bolts on his armor which also outlines his ribs
1:12:30 The way her right hand is holding the Cornucopia and the sickle seems like she’s ready to gather as well, so I wonder if she’ll be gathering wheat, or more likely, the head of whoever dared to harm her daughter
1:15:35 I also just love the way he’s facing directly at you, it makes for a nice contrast from his hades 1 design, where he’s more casual looking away, shows he’s now more focused and ready for War
1:17:40 I think the messier style of Hades 1 benefitted her a lot mainly because she supposed to be the huntress, and now she lost a lot of the details that made her more associated with the wild. However, she’s also the goddess of the moon as well, and her design now having much more association with the moon perhaps means that aspect of her is now what’s standing out, as the moon has become much more important in this game.
1:24:30 The war paint definitely connects her to Ares, but I also think the Hades 1 made her almost seem like someone who just woke up from a night of pleasure, and had her messy hair showing her more casual side, while now, she’s ready to go out, she’s straightened her hair, and she still has her curls, but they’re all for,ed very specifically in the form of a heart, showing a more intentionality in her presentation
1:28:20 The way the poppies and the cloak that are holding him up almost reminds me of like a person who had to be moved in his sleep. Like a child who couldn’t wake in time to get ready for a road trip
1:31:30 For skelemeus, I think another thing is his eyes are much more symmetrical and soft compared to the more crazy eyed version in Hade 1 which adds to the refinement
The part about Poseidon's sea horse crown, it's probably because Poseidon is also the god of Horses!
He's also the god of earthquakes for some reason
From what I've read, the earthquakes thing is basically because the sea encircles the land, he can basically use the sea to cause earthquakes because the earth is in his metaphorical grip
- Hecate has faces on her shoulders because she's often depicted as a triad deity or with three faces.
- I love how Nemesis face is similar to her mother.
-While Apollo and Artemis are gods of the sun and the moon, Helios and Selene are thr sun and moon themselves (although Apollo's popularity grew too much sometimes he was considered the sun too)
- I think Artemis feels more confident because now we find her hunting, and i kinda like that.
- while not very well known by most people, Aphrodite was also seen as a war goddess, and i really love how that fits her new design.
- Death to Chronos!
One small detail I like about Artemis is the aromantic colors on her arrows (heh). Not quite the flag itself, but with Artemis being on the three virgin goddesses, I can't imagine thats not on purpose
ancient historian who specialises in greek myth here! just a few notes. moros isn't so much a 'god of doom' as he is a personification of it. but in that sense, still very much a neutral force. and he is by no means a significant figure, he's only a mentioned a few times and often by later authors. so honestly the designers can just go nuts on it, free reign. apollo's design works but hits one of my pet peeves lmao. because apollo was really not much of a sun god outside of some niche hellenistic period contexts. to appeal to popular culture tho, it works. he is more a god of shining light if anything, but 'the sun' communicates that well. the bow/harp is particularly effective, because apollo was simultaneously an artistic god, and a protector from/deliverer of death. god of healing and plagues in equal measure. the hair also does work. you see apollo with hair of that style/texture in general, but also in coins minted in north african settlements (which plays into the discussion you have about skin colour/geography)
thoughts #2: something to note is that the one piece of impressive ornamentation to Odysseus is his headband/diadem. despite being a roguish adventurer he is also a king! and that headpiece is symoblic of kingship in ancient greece. it would generally be a ribbon, but the gold here is a more communicative choice. Hephaestus is also an interesting discussion. I would have liked them to lean more into him being conventionally unattractive (which to many people IS hot), but I can see why it would be troublesome to associate that with your only fat/disabled character. imo i think thats why it would be more interesting for dionysus to have a dad bod like you say, or for ARES to have a prosthetic limb (as he represents violent heedless battle, it would make sense for him to have battle injuries while athena does not). either way, a pretty complex discussion but i can agree that hephaestus is hot as hell and absolutely my type lol so im not complaining too much
It’s so crazy how on point you are with sussing out their personality based on their character design. Whenever you get a chance to play hades 2 you should totally rewatch this video to see how close you got it.
7:11 He can't stop thinking about Hecate's very defined 6-packs
Man is thirsting like crazy this episode and I can't blame him, there's so many women that are his type in this game lol
12:31 Hecate shows her abs:
"Here to look at the library, mortal?"
*confused bi-horniness*
Really cool tiny detail on Moros is the skull on his belt has coins in its mouth, in ancient Greek and Roman burials the family of the deceased would lay coins on the lips or inside the mouths of the dead to pay for their trip, to pay Charon, so it links Moros to his sibling and also to death itself
to clarify with artemis and apollo, they were actually not associated with the sun and moon by the greeks, the first evidence of that association came about with the romans. helios and selene were the greeks sun and moon gods. i feel like apollo has definitely been defined by his sun god status to the point that people take it for granted, though based on seeing many pop culture portrayals i feel artemis tends to be more thought of as a hunter goddess first and foremost then a moon goddess. artemis' roman counterpart, diana, also has a lot of witchy moon stuff going on and i wonder if the team knew about this/incorporated it into the game
omg my feelings about Aphrodite are just SAME. When I saw her war-version for the first time, my jaw just dropped. I was literally twirling my hair around my finger and saying hi hello how are you :D She is beautiful and gorgeous in the first part of the game but they just NAILED Dite Areia version. This war paint she clearly borrowed from Ares just makes me feral. And the spear....pls, have mercy on me, goddess
I very much recommend applying for the technical test. Runs end at the first boss and, after just a few "wins", the game locks you out of playing any additional runs, so you can't really obsess over it more than 3-4 hours lmao
But then you just wanna keep playing more. This is the first hit is free for the open beta.
Moros’ design almost gives me Alucard Castlevania vibes in a way- not in how he looks, but in his poise, his statuesque beauty, like to touch him would be to sully him. The antlers are so interesting as well, they make me think of pride and strength, a weight to be carried. The hair draped over them shows a level of care in his appearance that goes beyond practicality and into vanity, which I think is interesting because it stands in direct contrast to his brother Thanatos (who he is an obvious expy of), who cut his hair because it got in the way of his work. I think the bared chest also plays into that as well- there really aren’t very many characters in either game (so far) with fully bared chests, now that I think about it. He’s actively showing off. He’s competent and serious and no-nonsense, but he’s beautiful as well.
Also (VERY SMALL SPOILER)
he refers to himself as The Bearer of Bad News, which I think is so fucking funny. At least he’s having some fun.
Also, about Melinoë's weapons she has in her promo art... While you could say that they are placed in that way to contrast Melinoë's duality of life and death, with the dagger being death and the sickle being life and Persephone's side of her, I think there's more to that.
That dagger looks like a Parazonium, which was used by the greeks, and therefore connects her to that side of the artwork, the side of life/Olympus.
Meanwhile, the sickle IS a symbol of death as well. Death is usually depicted as the Grim Reaper, which is, well, a figure that reaps souls with a scythe. We already have that in the form of Thanatos with his scythe, so Melinoë having a sickle reflects that as well. (Also, Death from Puss in Boots also used sickles for this reason, it's a less cliché form of a reaping tool).
I think we can see the sickle connecting to death in the form of "death to those whose time has reached its end and the reaping of their lives", just like crops, while the dagger is "premature death to those who still have more to live". The dagger is an unfair end to life, and the sickle is the natural consequence of death.
Furthermore, the sickle also has a crescent moon shape (and has moon decorations), connecting her more to Hecate and the death aspect of her design. AND the dagger's blade is way more ornate, which is more inclined to Olympus's indulgent behaviour (as opposed to the sickle being simple and efficient, closer to a more practical side of things with Hecate).
As a greek my self. I agree 101% greeks are not pale white. We have a huge range of pigmentation specialy during the summer where we tan . Some of us to an extreme extend.
I slightly disagree that the presentation of greek gods would be outside the norm of the greeks that created them. Egyptian , Persian and Hindu influence existed. But not in the representation. Mostly on there epithets.
I think partially why Aphrodite also feels hotter is the pose.
Like there's so much more confidence in her new art work
In the first she was more in a seductive pose, yes. But it felt also like she was curled up a bit more, making here smaller.
In the second it's like BOOM I'm here ready for a fight!
You know you’ve made a game with good character designs when someone makes an hour long video describing each character design in detail and their origins.
comments from a greek + mythology fan
I’m not sure if this is the same in other countries so excuse me if you already know this, but poppies in Britain are the flower we use to remember fallen soldiers of the world wars, and modern wars now too. They’re both a solemn and kinda morbid flower, like a blot of blood on a field. So to me Hypnos sleeping in a bed of poppies is like he’s becoming more connected to his brother as a symbol of death. Also the way he’s surrounded by them is like he’s been ‘laid to rest’, his sleep becoming death-like in its length.
In Greek mythos, poppies are usually associated with death and sleep. They'd be used as offerings to the dead because of the affects of their seeds and because of the red color. Morpheus is often associated with poppies because of the sleeping affect of the seeds. There's also apparently a mythological guy named Mecon who was a lover of Demeter and got turned into a poppy.
gotta say, i absolutely love every single new and updated design in hades 2. every single one of them have such fantastic visual storytelling and are all so immaculately attractive in their own ways. my only hope is that we get some more awesome nonbinary characters, like chaos in the first game