| Hermes | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| In-Game Information | ||
| Alias/es: | Messenger of the Gods | |
| Gender: | Male | |
| Birthplace: | Mount Cylene | |
| Species/Race: | God | |
| Misc. Information | ||
| Family Member/s: | *Zeus (father)
| |
| Current status: | Alive | |
| Location: | {{{location}}} | |
| Behind the Scenes | ||
| Voiced by: | Greg Ellis | |
| Appears in: | God of War II | |
| “ | I thought Spartans fought with honor. And yet you seek to kill me when I have no way to defend myself? Not fair! But you have your own sense of honor, right, Kratos? And what has that honor brought you? Nothing but nightmares of your failure. Today you may defeat me, but in the end, Kratos, in the end you'll betray only yourself. | ” |
Hermes is the Greek god of travelers, messengers, thieves, commerce, sports, athletics and speed. He is the son of Zeus and Maia.
Contents[]
Greek MythologyEdit[]
In Greek mythology, Hermes (Ἑρμῆς), is the great messenger of the gods and additionally a guide to the Underworld. As an Olympian god, his sphere of influence was vast; he was the patron of boundaries (and the travelers who cross them), shepherds and cowherds, thieves and liars (and their cunningness), orators and wit, literature and poets, athletics and sports, weights and measures, invention, general commerce, profit and good luck. He also acted as the messenger of Hades, guiding departed souls to their final resting place and carrying messages between the Underworld and Olympus. Another of his duties was to take Dreams from the God Morpheus and deliver them to the mortals.
His symbols include the tortoise, the rooster, the winged hat, the caduceus and the most recognizable of all, his winged sandals. He was the son of Zeus and thePleiades Maia, a daughter of the mighty Titan Atlas. His Roman counterpart was Mercury.
In the God of War SeriesEdit[]
Wager of the GodsEdit[]
Hermes, much like his brethren, was briefly seen competing in the wager of the gods, a contest in which each god chose one mortal to represent themselves in a search for Ambrosia. He was later seen with Poseidon, watching as Kratos, Ares' champion, slaughtered many enemies in his path. His confidence in his own champion, Danaus, proved infallible, as he continually taunted his fellow gods about his champion being the one to steal the Ambrosia. Unfortunately for Hermes, Danaus later met his end at the hands of Hades' champion, Alrik.
Ceryx' DeathEdit[]
Hermes' son Ceryx faced Kratos in battle, and was killed. Hermes himself seemingly did not appear, although one theory about the identity of assassin who killed Argos, claims that he was Hermes himself in disguise, since the Greek myths detailed it was he who slew Argos in the name of Zeus. If this theory is correct, it means nearly all the gods of Olympus plotted against Kratos.
First TitanomachyEdit[]
During the Great War, Hermes is one of the gods who fought the Titans and is seen dodging a boulder thrown at him by one of them. After Kratos saved the Titans by traveling back in time, the second Great War began with the Titans scaling Mount Olympus. Amongst the onlooking gods was Hermes, standing between Hades and Helios.
Second TitanomachyEdit[]
- Kratos: "To catch a fly from the ass of Zeus is not worth my time, Hermes."
- Hermes: "A coward's words, Kratos. You don't try to catch me, because you know you can't!"
- ―Hermes and Kratos conversing.
Hermes was one of the Gods who battled Kratos and the Titans. When the Titans ascended Mount Olympus, Hermes leaped from the balcony, and began running straight down the mountain itself. He was not seen since.
While in the Labyrinth, Kratos encountered Hermes directly, who taunted him about his quest for vengeance and boasted his own speed. After trading insults with Kratos, Hermes ran up the Chain of Balance linking the Underworld and Olympus, and saw Kratos pursue him. [1]Kratos killing Hermes.Added by Stan AlexandruReappearing in the Chamber of the Flame, Hermes again taunted Kratos about his lack of speed. He then lead Kratos around the outside of the Olympian Citadel on a perilous chase, with Kratos dodging incoming projectiles. Eventually, Kratos cornered Hermes by launching a boulder from a catapult, chaining himself to the boulder with his blades. The boulder then smashed into an Athena statue, which Hermes had perched himself on, and left him wounded after crashing down on a building.
Unable to escape, Hermes attempted to defeat Kratos in combat, using his formidable speed and agility to his advantage. Unfortunately for him, his wounds from the crash left him exhausted, as he continually stopped to catch his breath. Upon his defeat, Hermes mocked Kratos one last time, dying when Kratos chopped the god's legs off to take his winged boots. Hermes' corpse dissolved into a swarm of disease-carrying fliesthat covered the land.
PersonalityEdit[]
| “ | What makes you think you can ever catch me? | ” |
Hermes is shown as being playful and childish. He is greatly arrogant and boastful of his own speed, thinking that Kratos has no chance of defeating him. He acts quite laid-back most of the time, frequently flipping his coin when idle. He is also fairly talkative, taunting Kratos about his tendency to kill family members, his quest for vengeance, and his inability to match Hermes' speed. However, it appears that this light-hearted demeanor masks a seething hatred, which occasionally becomes evident in his dialogue with the Spartan and especially manifests itself when he is forced to confront Kratos in battle. Like most of the gods defeated in the game, he remains defiant to the end, laughing at Kratos' "own sense of honor" and insisting that the Ghost of Sparta will only betray himself in the end.
Powers & AbilitiesEdit[]
Immortality - As a God, Hermes was naturally immortal and was capable of living forever.
Superhuman Strength - Hermes was capable of increased physical strength, as he was able to easily strike Kratos with enough power to force him backwards.
Superhuman Durability - While Hermes clearly wasn't one of the more powerful of the gods, he was still far more powerful than a regular mortal. Due to this, he possessed a great resistance to various forms of damage, although it is clear that he wasn't invincible, as after being wounded by Kratos only a few times, he eventually fell to his knees, showing clear signs of exhaustion.
Superhuman Stamina - Hermes had superior stamina and energy to that of mortal. This allowed him to remain physically active for an indefinite period of time.
Superhuman Agility - His already impressive agility was only enhanced by his winged boots. With his boots, he was given the ability to run at near light speed. This resulted in the ability to defy gravity by running up walls, down mountains, along thin ropes, and to jump incredible distances and reach immensly high altitudes.
Pyrokinesis - Hermes may also have the power of conjuring the elements, as seen at the end of God of War II, Hermes had fire protruding from his hair and winged sandals. However in God of War III Hermes has bright light for hair that sometimes is seen in flames.
TriviaEdit[]
- He is voiced by Greg Ellis.
- He is a grandson of Atlas, since his mother, Maia, who is one of the Pleiades, is Atlas' daughter.
- In Greek mythology, Hermes wore winged sandals which allowed him to fly. However, in the God of War Series, not only does he wear boots instead of sandals, but they appear to only give him the power to speedily run along any surface. This is noted when Hermes runs along a rope to the Statue of Athena which he perched himself on, and when Kratos smashed into the Statue with the boulder, which Hermes tried to cling onto desperately. In both instances, Hermes should have been able to fly. At first, on top of the statue, and secondly, to stop himself from crashing. However, it is possible he was trying to keep his game between him and Kratos fair enough to his liking and that the boots can indeed grant flight, as evidenced by Kratos using the boots to perform aerial evasions in conjunction with the Wings of Icarus.
- Hermes also lacks a caduceus, a wand that most depictions of Hermes are always seen with. Instead, Hermes possesses a gold coin, which he occasionally flips with his fingers, and which can also be collected as an item. Even though the caduceus wand itself is missing, you can still see its symbol on Hermes' chest. He may have passed it down to his son, as Ceryx was seen with it, and was destroyed along with Ceryx himself. In the novel, Hermes does posses a caduceus and uses it to create an image of Kratos who is about to jump from the Suicide Bluffs, thereby warning Athena of her pet mortal.
- Hermes' coin is one of the Godly Possessions and, if collected, can grant ten times the collected amount of orbs in a follow up playthrough in Bonus Play.
- The evil from Pandora's box that Hermes was likely infected with was Pride. He displays these traits by his constant taunting and boasting towards Kratos while still refusing to fight him. Hermes is also appears to be vain, as he speaks of himself as the most handsome of all the gods in the novel.
- Hermes is one of the easier bosses in the game due to the fact that he uses speed, and not strength. And although he is fast, he can be attacked from a distance, somewhat making the fight easier.
- In one of the early trailers for God of War: Chains of Olympus, when the sun disappears, Hermes along with Zeus, Athena, and Poseidon, can be seen sitting on the clouds.
- In the novel, it is shown that Hermes is somewhat attracted to Athena. He does, however, state that he was just bantering with his favorite sister, although he describes her as the most beautiful of the goddesses.
- He is mentioned in Chains of Olympus by Eos, who wishes Kratos to "Go with the speed of Hermes".
- Hermes is the only God in God of War III that Kratos kills with The Blades of Exile.