Opinion
A LOOK AT LORE: IS ARES
REALLY CUT OUT TO DEFEND?
By Allison Jain
W
hat do you imagine
when you first think
of Ares? An armored,
shackle-shooting, chain-pulling
badass with a shield that emits
flames, of course! In SMITE Ares
is the quintessential “Beads
check,” a diabolical damagedealer, and possesses one of the
most dreaded ultimate abilities
in the game with “No Escape”.
He is labeled a Guardian in the
game, his pros being high crowd
control and incredible defense.
In SMITE, Guardians are tanks;
they leap into battle to soak up
damage and peel off enemies to
protect their team. Ares does just
that with brute force: burning his
foes with the flames that erupt
from his shield to herd them off,
shackling them to prevent them
from escaping an untimely death
Issue 1 • May 2014
and, most notably, reeling in his
adversaries with those dreaded
chains to ensure there really is
no escape. Ares does this all in
the name of guarding his allies
from danger.
“Guarding?
Who
said
anything about guarding?
There are people to kill!”
Wait just one second. Ares
protecting people? Wouldn’t he
sooner use an ally as a weapon
than consider protecting them?
Ares is the Greek god of war. He’s
insatiable in battle, destructive,
man-slaughtering. Would it not
make more sense for him to be in
the front lines slicing and dicing
a la Tyr? Let’s dive a bit further
into his lore.
Though his role is somewhat
limited in mythology, what
we do know tells us that Ares
was ruthless and dangerous,
often contrasted with his sister,
Athena, who symbolizes the
strategy and generalship side of
war. His value as a war god was
even thrown into doubt as, in the
Trojan War, he was on the losing
side. What the Greeks did not
doubt, however, was his physical
prowess and ability to be a lethal
warrior. He enjoys war for its own
sake and revels in the bloodshed
and destruction of it all.
In the Iliad, Ares was portrayed
as not even favoring a side: he
once gave his word to Hera and
Athena that he would fight for
the Achaeans but later, upon
Aphrodite’s request, sided with
the Trojans. Later on, after
overhearing Athena and Zeus
speaking about the death of his
son, Ascalaphus, Ares wanted to
62 • GameOn Smite Community Magazine