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getthehellouttahell) wrote2020-10-01 09:56 pm
getthehellouttahell) wrote2020-10-01 09:56 pm
Personality
Zagreus both is and is not the kind of person youād expect as the Prince of the Underworld and the son of Hades. The rebellious son of Hades and, unknowingly, Persephone; but raised by Nyx, he is largely defined by his persistence, good humor and wit, and his kindness. Despite his skull-laden, flame-touched appearance, the young prince is a poster boy for charisma: charmingly polite and generally considerate to others. He has very little trouble getting along with people (when he wants to) and usually behaves with tact and proper demeanor. His jovial, if somewhat-insubordinate nature allows him to easily befriend the many people he encounters.
Surprisingly soft spoken and polite, but loquacious to a fault, he likes to talk to people and regularly chats with the members of the House of Hades on his stopovers between his attempts to escape. While he is respectful of his elders (aside from his father), especially his fellow gods, Zagreus breaks from their traditional mold in that he treats people of lower status as his equals, willing to help them with almost whatever problems he can along the routes of his escape attempts. Everyone in the House gets along with him to varying positive degrees (save for his father, Hades) and Zagreus, likewise, is very friendly to them.
There are some who arenāt thrilled with him, but they still converse with him whenever he initiates conversation. Even the people he regularly kills / is killed by on his escapades usually put up with him at least (since death is pretty much meaningless to those living in the realm of Hades). Despite his martial prowess and aggressive determination to fight his way out of Hades, the young prince at least tries to make a point of reaching a diplomatic solution to an altercation before jumping into the fray, suggesting a small pacifistic streak if he can go that route. Though this is more likely him just trying to get by without another painful death in his belt. Hey, it never hurts to ask, right? Of course, this is when heās going against a sentient creature who can be reasoned with; monsters and others beyond talk usually get a quip and then itās off to battle again.
The other side of this is his mouth. Zagreus runs that thing plenty. He wonāt hold his tongue for anything, even when heās obvious outmatched by his next opponent or in a perilous situation. Heāll tell people vastly more powerful than him exactly what he thinks of them and where they can take their whatever and shove it. Authority and power donāt mean anything to him; screw if it ends up in a very gory death with all the pain heās used to. He isnāt one to be intimidated by anything. What are they going to do, kill him? Like heās never been through that before. Still, while heās very proud of his skills and confident in himself, Zagreus will show respect and politeness to people whom he feels deserves his respect, and is often shown to be both humble and good-humored.
One of his more endearing traits is his rapier wit. While Zagreus is amiable company and carries himself with composure, as he has no problem teasing people, cracking some jokes if he feels the situation calls for is (and yes, he feels it does very often), or indulging in his mischievous side and fondly pranking others. This guy is quick and always has something to say to any given circumstance, event, or person. His wit ranges from the often-tossed dry sarcasm to backhanded compliments to subtle jabs to outright insults. However, even the lattermost one is still couched in his normal genteel decorum, coming across as an almost warped sense of self-detached humor.
Zagreus is the kind of guy who leaves people not sure if theyāve just been insulted or complimented. His flippancy comes with a certain world-weariness due to all the times heās died, a noticeable lance of self-depreciation due to his fatherās continued disgrace and treatment towards him, and thereās a slight air of tiredness in his tone from all heās experienced. But thatās merely because heās been talking with these people forever and a lot of them give him plenty of grief as well. Even his father is not saved from his tongue and Zagreus will feign respectfulness to him while still sliding in barbs and disrespect during their conversations. Not that Hades treats his ābratā any different.
Thatās not to say he actively tries to make enemies. The Prince of the Underworld is very positive and optimistic. He tries to see the best in himself and others (excluding his father, Lord Hades, whom he feels is a lost cause). No matter how many times heās killed, he returns with the same drive to escape from his determined imprisonment. Though he can fall into the occasional reserved brooding when things begin to weigh heavily on him, bad moods donāt last long around him. Even when things are going poorly, he often searches for the proverbial silver lining in any given situation, the ostensible sarcastic quip or witty comment coming upon finding it. Zagreus is very easy going and adaptable of just about any situation, no matter how strange. Once the bad situation has passed, he bounces right back and keeps going forward.
He is fiercely protective of his friends and loved ones, and goes out of his way to defend them with little regard toward status or societal expectations. He often leverages his own influence to improve the lives of others. However, Zagreus is sometimes shown to be somewhat blasĆ©, which has led him to offend the people around him or act without thinking of the consequences, including unintentionally hurting peopleās feelings. However, he often reflects on this when these incidents are either brought to his attention or realizing his mistakes later and is quick to apologize when he oversteps.
Zagreus is, contrary to someone who lives in the bowels of Tartarus, actually very compassionate young man. Many a time in his quest, he goes out of his way to not only talk to and befriend people, but to also compliment them on their skills and duties. Heās fond of offering gifts to people he likes (provided he finds any to give) and will take the time out to do favors for people who them of himāthough some of these are barters to further a relationship or gain a boon. Reuniting family, competitive games, locating lost items, all these things are favors heāll embark on to help his friends. After all, heās got plenty of time and chances to go running through the realm. Why not make things even more interesting and bring something nicer to this dour place he and his call home? Of course, it would be remiss to speak of friends and not mention Zagreusā friendship with Cerberus. After all, the Hound of Hell is a very good boy, or perhaps three very good boys, and Zagreus always has pets to give his favorite boy.
Despite this glowing report, the little godling has his share of cons in his personality. The biggest of these is his determination and stubbornness. His determination is impressive, as he literally and figuratively goes through hell to see his quest through. Whether heās maimed, crushed, stabbed, shot, burned or generally mangled to the point of death, no matter how many times he falls, Zagreus wakes back up, shakes it off with a shrug, and trues again. Failure is no deterrent to him and heāll come back from anything. But the dark side of this determination is the stubbornness in his spirit. Once Zagreus latches onto an idea, he refuses to give up on it, or even consider that he might be wrong (for him). He'll just keep on ramming his face a problem until it's solved. It's difficult to convince him to give up on something even if doing so is actually a good idea.
Having spent most of his immortal life bearing the brunt of his father Hades' repressed frustration and rage, he grew up feeling distant and out of place from the other denizens of gods of the underworld, partially due to his failing to meet the heavy expectations of his father, and partially his apparent inability to contribute to the running of the Underworld. When his discovers the truth of his parentage, he decides to attempt to escape the realm of the dead to seek out his long-lost mother. Despite all the trials and many deaths he faces, he never wavers in pursing his goal, never once showing any sign of doubt in his efforts, even in the face of his father's wrath, and when his own mother at one point tells him not to seek her out anymore.
Powering this bullheadedness is the unfortunate reality that Zagreus is selfish. Not only is the young prince willing to completely disregard the laws set forth by his father with all the rebellious spirit of a teenager in full spurt, be he ultimately has no care about who or what may get in trouble for his actions. Mind you, he does care enough to check on them, but not enough to stop doing what heās doing. Zagreus has many friends in the Underworld, including family figures and close companions. But when he decides to escape, all of those relationships take second place to anything else. Heāll throw them all away if he means getting out of there. The first person he faces as a proverbial ābossā on his escape is his former tutor and friend, but that doesnāt stop either of them from brutally murdering each other over and over again with every escape attempt. As far as Zagreus is concerned, if he never sees these connections again, it means heās succeeded and heās free.
Howeverā¦ these relationships are not so easily given up, as heāll come to find out. One of the laws of the Underworld is that those born of Darkness must remain in Darkness. Even Hades, lord of this domain, cannot escape this rule. And not even his son can escape it. Thatās why Zagreus cannot stay in the mortal realm for long and inevitably is returned to the Underworld by the River Styx, even if he succeeds in his quest. But that doesnāt mean he comes back empty-handed. And all those friends and family figures are once again there with him, renewing those ties. Itās an interesting conclusion of sortsā¦
Zagreus also face some personal doubts about himself on the occasional introspection. For one thing, his godhood is sometimes called into question. Zagreus grew up in the House of Hades thinking he was the son of Hades and Nyx. It wasnāt revealed to him until recently that he was a quarter mortal thanks to his grandfather being mortal, something that isāleast to sayāa MASSIVE shock for any Grecian god to find out. The Olympian gods donāt help either. Dionysus comments that Zagreus is his favorite "demigod", while Aphrodite refers to him a "little godling", and Artemis calls him a "half-god", all implying that Zagreus is not seen by the Olympians as a true god, possibly because Nyx is not seen as a true goddess (there is A LOT of division between Olympian Gods and Chthonic Gods). While he never really shows all of this bothering him externally, itās one of those pesky doubts that occasionally weighs down on him during his quest, something he ultimately takes it in stride, even though the entire mess is stillā¦ thereā¦
Another area he states is a sore topic for him, is that Zagreus isnāt explicitly the god of anything. Unlike other deities, like Nyx the Embodiment of Night or Ares the God of War, the Underworld Prince doesnāt have a ādomainā over anything. His more impressive abilities, those outside his basic martial and magical prowess, are boons given to him from other gods as upgrades. On the one hand, itās likely that Zagreus, having lived his life without direction or purpose for all this time, simply hasn't fully explored the depths of his powers and has yet to identify the domain over which he is āGodā of. Also, despite Zagreus' insistence that he is not "the god of anything", Achilles maintains that every god, by definition, must be the god of something. As such, he theorizes that Zagreus might be the God of Blood and, by extension, Life.
Finally, some amusing facets. Due to his sheltered upbringing, having grown up and lived his entire life (currently) in the Underworld, Zagreus is often shown to be ignorant of the world outside of the Underworld. He has absolutely no experience with things in the mortal realm and usually relies on others (which often come with their opinions) to relay information about the outside world. Natural phenomena like weather, the sun, snow, mortal realm flora and fauna, are things he has no experienced knowledge on and only understands through factual knowledge gained from the stories and tales of other gods and shades around him. Modern technology and real-life living mortals are utterly unfamiliar to him. He doesnāt even know what birds are. Should he ever successfully reach the surface, with enough life left to actually survive there, heāll be completely confused and have SO MANY questions. This can occasionally lead to him coming across as somewhat foolish or oblivious when compared to mortals who have lived on Earth (or other places) for far longer than heās been there.
Surprisingly soft spoken and polite, but loquacious to a fault, he likes to talk to people and regularly chats with the members of the House of Hades on his stopovers between his attempts to escape. While he is respectful of his elders (aside from his father), especially his fellow gods, Zagreus breaks from their traditional mold in that he treats people of lower status as his equals, willing to help them with almost whatever problems he can along the routes of his escape attempts. Everyone in the House gets along with him to varying positive degrees (save for his father, Hades) and Zagreus, likewise, is very friendly to them.There are some who arenāt thrilled with him, but they still converse with him whenever he initiates conversation. Even the people he regularly kills / is killed by on his escapades usually put up with him at least (since death is pretty much meaningless to those living in the realm of Hades). Despite his martial prowess and aggressive determination to fight his way out of Hades, the young prince at least tries to make a point of reaching a diplomatic solution to an altercation before jumping into the fray, suggesting a small pacifistic streak if he can go that route. Though this is more likely him just trying to get by without another painful death in his belt. Hey, it never hurts to ask, right? Of course, this is when heās going against a sentient creature who can be reasoned with; monsters and others beyond talk usually get a quip and then itās off to battle again.
The other side of this is his mouth. Zagreus runs that thing plenty. He wonāt hold his tongue for anything, even when heās obvious outmatched by his next opponent or in a perilous situation. Heāll tell people vastly more powerful than him exactly what he thinks of them and where they can take their whatever and shove it. Authority and power donāt mean anything to him; screw if it ends up in a very gory death with all the pain heās used to. He isnāt one to be intimidated by anything. What are they going to do, kill him? Like heās never been through that before. Still, while heās very proud of his skills and confident in himself, Zagreus will show respect and politeness to people whom he feels deserves his respect, and is often shown to be both humble and good-humored.
One of his more endearing traits is his rapier wit. While Zagreus is amiable company and carries himself with composure, as he has no problem teasing people, cracking some jokes if he feels the situation calls for is (and yes, he feels it does very often), or indulging in his mischievous side and fondly pranking others. This guy is quick and always has something to say to any given circumstance, event, or person. His wit ranges from the often-tossed dry sarcasm to backhanded compliments to subtle jabs to outright insults. However, even the lattermost one is still couched in his normal genteel decorum, coming across as an almost warped sense of self-detached humor.
Zagreus is the kind of guy who leaves people not sure if theyāve just been insulted or complimented. His flippancy comes with a certain world-weariness due to all the times heās died, a noticeable lance of self-depreciation due to his fatherās continued disgrace and treatment towards him, and thereās a slight air of tiredness in his tone from all heās experienced. But thatās merely because heās been talking with these people forever and a lot of them give him plenty of grief as well. Even his father is not saved from his tongue and Zagreus will feign respectfulness to him while still sliding in barbs and disrespect during their conversations. Not that Hades treats his ābratā any different.Thatās not to say he actively tries to make enemies. The Prince of the Underworld is very positive and optimistic. He tries to see the best in himself and others (excluding his father, Lord Hades, whom he feels is a lost cause). No matter how many times heās killed, he returns with the same drive to escape from his determined imprisonment. Though he can fall into the occasional reserved brooding when things begin to weigh heavily on him, bad moods donāt last long around him. Even when things are going poorly, he often searches for the proverbial silver lining in any given situation, the ostensible sarcastic quip or witty comment coming upon finding it. Zagreus is very easy going and adaptable of just about any situation, no matter how strange. Once the bad situation has passed, he bounces right back and keeps going forward.
He is fiercely protective of his friends and loved ones, and goes out of his way to defend them with little regard toward status or societal expectations. He often leverages his own influence to improve the lives of others. However, Zagreus is sometimes shown to be somewhat blasĆ©, which has led him to offend the people around him or act without thinking of the consequences, including unintentionally hurting peopleās feelings. However, he often reflects on this when these incidents are either brought to his attention or realizing his mistakes later and is quick to apologize when he oversteps.
Zagreus is, contrary to someone who lives in the bowels of Tartarus, actually very compassionate young man. Many a time in his quest, he goes out of his way to not only talk to and befriend people, but to also compliment them on their skills and duties. Heās fond of offering gifts to people he likes (provided he finds any to give) and will take the time out to do favors for people who them of himāthough some of these are barters to further a relationship or gain a boon. Reuniting family, competitive games, locating lost items, all these things are favors heāll embark on to help his friends. After all, heās got plenty of time and chances to go running through the realm. Why not make things even more interesting and bring something nicer to this dour place he and his call home? Of course, it would be remiss to speak of friends and not mention Zagreusā friendship with Cerberus. After all, the Hound of Hell is a very good boy, or perhaps three very good boys, and Zagreus always has pets to give his favorite boy.
Despite this glowing report, the little godling has his share of cons in his personality. The biggest of these is his determination and stubbornness. His determination is impressive, as he literally and figuratively goes through hell to see his quest through. Whether heās maimed, crushed, stabbed, shot, burned or generally mangled to the point of death, no matter how many times he falls, Zagreus wakes back up, shakes it off with a shrug, and trues again. Failure is no deterrent to him and heāll come back from anything. But the dark side of this determination is the stubbornness in his spirit. Once Zagreus latches onto an idea, he refuses to give up on it, or even consider that he might be wrong (for him). He'll just keep on ramming his face a problem until it's solved. It's difficult to convince him to give up on something even if doing so is actually a good idea.
Having spent most of his immortal life bearing the brunt of his father Hades' repressed frustration and rage, he grew up feeling distant and out of place from the other denizens of gods of the underworld, partially due to his failing to meet the heavy expectations of his father, and partially his apparent inability to contribute to the running of the Underworld. When his discovers the truth of his parentage, he decides to attempt to escape the realm of the dead to seek out his long-lost mother. Despite all the trials and many deaths he faces, he never wavers in pursing his goal, never once showing any sign of doubt in his efforts, even in the face of his father's wrath, and when his own mother at one point tells him not to seek her out anymore.Powering this bullheadedness is the unfortunate reality that Zagreus is selfish. Not only is the young prince willing to completely disregard the laws set forth by his father with all the rebellious spirit of a teenager in full spurt, be he ultimately has no care about who or what may get in trouble for his actions. Mind you, he does care enough to check on them, but not enough to stop doing what heās doing. Zagreus has many friends in the Underworld, including family figures and close companions. But when he decides to escape, all of those relationships take second place to anything else. Heāll throw them all away if he means getting out of there. The first person he faces as a proverbial ābossā on his escape is his former tutor and friend, but that doesnāt stop either of them from brutally murdering each other over and over again with every escape attempt. As far as Zagreus is concerned, if he never sees these connections again, it means heās succeeded and heās free.
Howeverā¦ these relationships are not so easily given up, as heāll come to find out. One of the laws of the Underworld is that those born of Darkness must remain in Darkness. Even Hades, lord of this domain, cannot escape this rule. And not even his son can escape it. Thatās why Zagreus cannot stay in the mortal realm for long and inevitably is returned to the Underworld by the River Styx, even if he succeeds in his quest. But that doesnāt mean he comes back empty-handed. And all those friends and family figures are once again there with him, renewing those ties. Itās an interesting conclusion of sortsā¦
Zagreus also face some personal doubts about himself on the occasional introspection. For one thing, his godhood is sometimes called into question. Zagreus grew up in the House of Hades thinking he was the son of Hades and Nyx. It wasnāt revealed to him until recently that he was a quarter mortal thanks to his grandfather being mortal, something that isāleast to sayāa MASSIVE shock for any Grecian god to find out. The Olympian gods donāt help either. Dionysus comments that Zagreus is his favorite "demigod", while Aphrodite refers to him a "little godling", and Artemis calls him a "half-god", all implying that Zagreus is not seen by the Olympians as a true god, possibly because Nyx is not seen as a true goddess (there is A LOT of division between Olympian Gods and Chthonic Gods). While he never really shows all of this bothering him externally, itās one of those pesky doubts that occasionally weighs down on him during his quest, something he ultimately takes it in stride, even though the entire mess is stillā¦ thereā¦
Another area he states is a sore topic for him, is that Zagreus isnāt explicitly the god of anything. Unlike other deities, like Nyx the Embodiment of Night or Ares the God of War, the Underworld Prince doesnāt have a ādomainā over anything. His more impressive abilities, those outside his basic martial and magical prowess, are boons given to him from other gods as upgrades. On the one hand, itās likely that Zagreus, having lived his life without direction or purpose for all this time, simply hasn't fully explored the depths of his powers and has yet to identify the domain over which he is āGodā of. Also, despite Zagreus' insistence that he is not "the god of anything", Achilles maintains that every god, by definition, must be the god of something. As such, he theorizes that Zagreus might be the God of Blood and, by extension, Life. Finally, some amusing facets. Due to his sheltered upbringing, having grown up and lived his entire life (currently) in the Underworld, Zagreus is often shown to be ignorant of the world outside of the Underworld. He has absolutely no experience with things in the mortal realm and usually relies on others (which often come with their opinions) to relay information about the outside world. Natural phenomena like weather, the sun, snow, mortal realm flora and fauna, are things he has no experienced knowledge on and only understands through factual knowledge gained from the stories and tales of other gods and shades around him. Modern technology and real-life living mortals are utterly unfamiliar to him. He doesnāt even know what birds are. Should he ever successfully reach the surface, with enough life left to actually survive there, heāll be completely confused and have SO MANY questions. This can occasionally lead to him coming across as somewhat foolish or oblivious when compared to mortals who have lived on Earth (or other places) for far longer than heās been there.