Who didn’t fall in love withHades' cast of characters? There was truly a person for everyone from Megaera to Tisiphone, Thanatos to Dionysus, representing a whole spectrum of personalities bundled into a colorful take on the Greek underworld pantheon. It makes perfect sense with the setting and mechanics of the story, of course — a game set entirely in the Underworld should be focused on it, with the exception of Zagreus’s family members andthe boons they provided.
But maybe, for the upcoming sequel Hades 2, it’s time to take a different approach: exploring the mortal plane of existence. According to some of the imagery in the trailer, that might just be happening…
Hades 2 will be centered on Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld and daughter of Hades, and her relationship with her mentor, the Greek goddess Hecate. In Greek mythology, Hecate is a Chthonian Goddess of Witchcraft. She was well-known for the boons she handed out as she saw fit, and was one of the only deities allowed to aid people freely without Zeus’s express permission; many sources claimed that the King of the Gods even acknowledged her as the only deity more powerful than he.
It seems like a huge opportunity would be missed in ignoring this portion of Hecate’s mythos. Sure, the main antagonist will be Chronos (though it seems as though the game has combined Chronos, the Greek god of time, and Kronos, the Titan and father of Zeus and Hades, into one being), but Hecate’s status as the Goddess of Witchcraft and her inherent link to aiding mortals seems to be the perfect opportunity to branch further into the mortal realm of the Hades universe. WhileMelinoë’s brother, Zagreus, is unable to leave the Underworld, Hecate’s immense power could be used to explain away why Melinoë herselfcouldleave the Underworld.
Changing the location entirely is the perfect opportunity to create brand-new dungeons with new mechanics as training fields for Melinoë in her quest against her grandfather, but more than that, it would open up a whole new realm of possibility for new characters. Apollo has already been confirmed for Hades 2, so who would be better to introduce along with him than Cassandra, a psychic who was cursed by the God of Prophecies himself to never be believed, even though her prophecies were always correct?
Homer’s Odyssey also contains a wealth of potential new characters. Circe, an enchantress famous for ensnaring Odysseus for an entire year during his voyage home, would be an excellent choice; in some versions of the mythos, she’s Hecate’s daughter, which would tie her directly to Hades 2’s storyline. Odysseus could easily be worked in, too; it’s hinted in Hades that he escaped the Underworld, making him the perfect go-between for the two realms. Charybdis and Scylla could make an incredible boss battle (even though that might require a journey out to the middle of the ocean); the latter is even the daughter of Apollo and Hecate in some myths, intertwining her perfectly with the already announced characters.
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And of course, it’s never too late to hope we see some familiar faces. If Apollo is making his grand debut, chances are we’ll see his twin Artemis and other members of the Olympic Pantheon return with all-new interactions with Melinoë.Zagreus could even appearto give his sister a boon of his own, and maybe he’ll bring one of his partners along with him so we can get a little canon relationship update. Personally, I’m hoping that new additions Moros, Doom Incarnate, and Nemesis, Retribution Incarnate, are Hades II’s romanceable characters — they’d definitely be hard to pass up!
If the reveal trailer is anything to go by, Hades II is branching out into the unknown. I’m excited to see where exactly the story takes us, and I’m absolutelyobsessedwith the Halloween aesthetic of the dungeon they’ve teased. It can’t come soon enough.
