Why Zagreus is such a good character

Hades has been recommended to me some of my closest friends multiple times, praising its characters and story. I remember seeing some tumblr mutuals of mine posting so much about Hades a while ago and I still vividly remember my first reaction to the protagonist (which was rather skeptical and something along the lines of: “ooh okay, a sexy character here? 🤨 Cool design though!”).

And oh boy, back then I didn’t think I’d love this guy as much as I do now.

So around two months ago, I started playing this game, trying to see what all of this is about. I went in expecting the main character to be an attractive edgelord with no common sense, but… what I eventually got is the most polite and wholesome fictional dude ever.

I wanna get deeper into what kind of person he is in detail because. Holy shit. The writer here really was onto something.

Obligatory Hades spoiler ahead!

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Zagreus is so, so, so interesting from a meta perspective. While his design certainly went into the “attractive bad boy” direction, he is not your usual hyper-masculine protagonist.

Definitely not!

It starts off with his physique, which is not that of a tall, beefy body builder, but more of an ancient greek athlete; at least in comparison to e.g. Theseus or maybe Achilles. He is also shorter than most other Gods, of average size by mortal standards, and doesn’t take kindly to people making fun of his height.

I find these fascinating character design choices to make. From there, let’s continue with his personality.

His temperament is sanguine; he is a ray of sunshine and loves to share all the warmth that rests in his heart. It may sound corny, but that’s who he is. It’s also a fascinating trait to have as Prince of the Underworld, who is veiled in Darkness by Mother Night, Nyx, herself. The following Berserk quote comes to mind: “He who bears light exists in the deepest shadow”.

There is a big conceptual overlap between Hades and Berserk (Anime & Manga in general, actually), but I’ll just leave it at that for this post.

Prince of the Underworld

Zagreus is a sociable, extroverted, high-energy type who values family and bonds over everything and is respectful and polite. At the same time he is grateful, genuine and kind and does not hold back showering people with it (the good kind of charm, by the way). He has an optimistic attitude, is mindful choosing his words and has a strong desire to get along with everyone and make them comfortable around him, maybe even in a people-pleaser way.

He is resilient and stubborn, for better or worse; if someone turns him down, he’s just going to try again! There is a certain patience that comes with that, which is interesting considering he can’t hold still even if he tried. You’d think he’s impatient, but to my surprise, he isn’t, at least not in particular. Instead, he seems to be willed to give people space and time to adjust to him as well and aid them in whatever process they may be going through internally.

What I also like a lot about him is the fact he is smart, thoughtful, challenges ideas and asks important questions, much to his father’s disapproval. He does not judge people and lets them be whoever they want to be, while still trying to find common ground.

Zagreus carries himself with a certain grace—if that is the right choice of words—and his noble spirit are befitting of a prince. Despite of that, he is a down-to-earth person and does not care much for status. There are moments in the game where he is shown to have an affinity to tell stories and then, tends to exaggerate and can be a little histrionic doing so. In plenty of instances he is shown to be compassionate and empathetic. While he does hold resentment to the Gods who actively hate him (Alecto and Hades in the beginning), he does not hold heavy grudges and appears open for reconciliation in principle.

This light-heartedness and open-mindedness allows him to form meaningful relationships and connect to others in a deep way. With him finding joy and excitement in collecting Cthonic companions, that are essentially plushies that symbolize the bonds he forged, his relationships appear something he holds in highest regard. Ergo, Zagreus canonically is an avid plush collector (aw).

I like that his good qualities also show through his actions. Here are a few instances, supplied with some screenshots I made (I only started collecting them after my first run unlocking the credits, so please bear with me and the lack thereof).

When you first beat Hades, he asks Zagreus to tell Persephone that Cerberus is doing well. Zagreus instead demanded an answer for a question in exchange of telling her. However, this question was left unanswered as Hades was taken by the Styx before he could reply. Later on, because Zagreus is a good-natured person and knows his priorities, picking his mother’s needs over the grudge he could hold against his father, he tells Persephone anyways.

What I also find noteworthy is that he cannot bear seeing people growing apart, which likely originates from the sadness and regret over being unable to bond with his biological mother for so long, as evident from the following dialog with Achilles.

There are moments in the game where he is sensitive, observant and catches up on social cues very quickly. I guess that is one benefit of his quick-wittedness. He listens to others and apologizes to them when he feels like he may have overstepped a boundary, such was the case when Thanatos berated him for allowing Orpheus to visit his muse Eurodyce and meddled into their affairs without their consent that way. Below is a collection of screenshots of Thanatos ending up snooping into Zagreus’ business himself later on (much to Zagreus’ and my own amusement).

Sometimes Zagreus appears to have troubles expressing what he feels, or is perhaps insecure or anxious to express it (particularly when interacting with Meg, who is rather intimidating). But despite his hesitations and fears I think he is still doing a good job at it.

A protagonist who is kind and can communicate how he feels in a reasonably well manner?

I am absolutely sold.

Judging from a brief conversation with Alecto, he appears to know how to form healthy habits and deal with difficult situations in a productive, nurturing manner (the fact that 1. Alecto doesn’t take kindly to his attempts at getting along and 2. Zag doesn’t like her for it, is kinda funny to me).

Judging by what happened between him and Megaera, it appears he wasn’t always this mature and went a long way learning from his mistakes. His confidence (arrogance can emerge from this) and his running mouth probably were one of his flaws from when he was less experienced (hesitant to use the word “young” here considering he’s immortal). However, once he adjusted and learned, he evidently is cautious with his words and humble in his expectations and self-image. I’m deeply impressed with Zagreus’ emotional intelligence and maturity. His apology to Magaera was quite a moment.

I have very good people skills and can get down to the core of a person or character very quickly, and I must say that Zagreus gives me an endless list of big green flags. I fucking love this dude.

A Prince with Daddy Issues

In the beginning of the game, it’s clear Zagreus’ relationship to his father is tense. At the same time it was weird to me because Zagreus really cared for Cerberus and the hell hound appeared to like him in return, considering he trashed the lounge being upset at Zag’s plan to escape the Underworld. Also: dogs liking someone is a huge green flag to me. So this made me think this grudge must mostly come from Hades himself.

This was my first impression of the situation here, which was only cemented later after getting to know Zagreus as a character better. Why is Hades so mean to his kind and sensitive son?

Now as I kept on playing the game and eventually reached post-ending dialogs, I started to understand why Hades acted that way:

“Radiance”, eh?

Both Zagreus and Persephone have radiant, nurturing and charming personalities. Is it possible Hades projected the pain of losing Persephone onto his son, taking all his frustration out on him… simply because his son reminded him of her? It makes sense Hades could start changing the tone of his relationship to his son the moment his Queen (who he still loved) returned to the Underworld and gave him some incentive to change. This however, is not something that is ever pointed out to us in the game, but something you can read between the lines.

Even when Hades up to a certain point was consistently mean-spirited and standoffish to Zagreus, he himself stated that he could never hate his father, even though he does carry some resentment for him.

During their frequent fights, Hades takes note of all that pent up rage and frustration in multiple occasions. Zagreus is more than eager to let it all out on him for understandable reasons. This I find fascinating because not a single time he lets his anger and frustration out on anyone verbally. He could have used people as his punching bag, like his father did. But he didn’t.

Even when Zagreus gets to meet Megaera during his escape attempts, he makes it clear that he only fights her because he needs to pass and holds no grudge against her. At some point when trying to romance her, she clarifies that she, as well, only fights him because she has to.

Now what’s also fascinating is that Zagreus, while his biological father isn’t very receptive of him, still has a male role model: Achilles, his mentor and trainer, whom he seeks out regularly for moral and emotional support. The soft-spoken fallen soldier does not mind to provide. According to the codex, he, a “mere shade”, appreciates Zagreus for treating him with kindness and respect, despite the latter being a God; Gods who tend to be rather boastful, merciless and unpredictable.

Now Patroclus and Zagreus are also an interesting pair: Patroclus keeps him at quite a distance, treating him like a stranger. However, the Prince does not appear to mind, just goes with the flow and still approaches him in a respectful and understanding manner.

This is all ignoring the fact you can romance Thanatos, but I’ll leave it at just that.

I think the fact Zagreus does have healthy relationships with his male peers shows it is not necessarily his fault when it is not the case. Which puts some of Megeara’s remarks towards Zagreus regarding healthy relationships or family into perspective…

Face Your Fears

What appears to have been a clutch to the Prince of the Underworld for a long time was his lack of confidence and faith in himself. As you will see, this is part of a bigger theme, with Zagreus posing as the poster child: When he finally met his mother, she eventually returns to the Underworld. Afterwards, when he asks her what spurred her change of mind, she tells him that this is something she learned from him: her son relentlessly struggled to escape the Underworld and the judgemental pressure of his father, just to see his mother for a few brief moments; perhaps he did this with a sense of despair, looking for a place where he could feel safe and accepted.

The fact he did all of this for someone (Persephone) he knew needed in his life is what makes this character so damn precious to me. The moment when Zagreus returns to Persephone despite her sending him away because of the risks involved, and her being so touched at him showing up regardless, marveling at his relentless efforts to reunite her and Hades (despite of the hard feelings he may have for his father), is probably one of my favorite moments in all of gaming.

He tried so hard so many times and eventually, it paid off.

What is also genius in terms of game design is that both the player and the protagonist’s efforts are conjoined with their repetitive attempts to get out of the Underworld. This consistent “4th wall-breaker” component in this game and how it also affects the story is worth exploring in another article, however.

Following the example of her son, Persephone too, eventually takes up responsibility for her actions, namely disappearing from Olympus to escape into the Underworld without a trace. Eventually she succeeds mending their rocky relations in a clever ploy once the player reaches the epilogue.

Interestingly, this theme is everywhere and applies to most characters in Hades. To a degree it transpires with Megaera and her complicated relationship with her sisters. Even Thanatos, while being harsh and mean to his brother Hypnos at first, at some point helps him organize himself with visible results, because Zagreus had called him out on that prior.

To face and work on difficult relationships rather than running away from them is essentially the message of the whole game. Relationships indeed can be improved with a little bit of work and dedication. Generally spoken, I believe a few salvage attempts to improve them have a tendency to be worth it. At the same time I also think that realistically, being aware of how horrible some humans can be, there are relationships that can not be salvaged no matter how hard someone may try. Naturally, it works in Hades as a piece of fiction because most characters are generally reasonable, relatively open-minded, and tend to respect boundaries.

It’s amazing that most of these characters, protagonist included, grow and change over the course of the game and have such vivid relationships. Because they are growing and developing along with their relationships, they feel alive and real.

A Diamond covered in Mud…

…or maybe I should say “blood”.

What I find a bit tragic is the fact how underestimated Zagreus is by other characters. His efforts often seem downplayed or attributed to someone else. Interestingly enough he’s not even taking credit for certain actions he did (I remember adding some tombstone decoration to the House of Hades, which apparently caused the Shades to move in line and move faster, but this was wrongly attributed to Hypnos in dialog; at the same time it may have triggered people being more welcoming to Hypnos’ efforts to improve his terrible work performance, so I guess that was still a good thing). If Zagreus really was this boastful, full of himself and only out for social points, he’d take his tiniest doing and never shut up about it (I knew a few people like this in person). From what I gathered, even when he does boast about his achievements, his theatrical demeanor appears to exaggerate these events, but if you look at what he says, he remains relatively close to the facts still. His charming words appear to be discarded as flattery (particularly by Meg), even though they appear to be more genuine kindness and sweetness to me personally. But this is something only the player will see and understand. It’s kind of tragic because the people around him may think he’s just a babble mouth full of empty words—when in reality, he isn’t.

He is a bubbly boy by nature and means it!

Only his mother appears to resonate with him and reciprocates in a for him nurturing and adequate manner.

In other words, Zagreus has little benefit to keep up being polite, kind and grateful, as it often is not taken seriously nor appreciated, but he’s doing all of these things anyway.

What I also like about him is the fact that despite of being so easy-going and an overall pleasant person to be around with, he’s not gullible, enforces his boundaries and can also dish out ruthlessly if necessary.

The God of Blood and Masculinity

There is something else that struck me when unlocking this dialog with Dusa here.
If youre familiar with fake-gurus of masculinity such as Andrew Tate (I feel dirty just mentioning that name) and their opinions, what Zagreus says here might sound every familiar.

“Real men” aren’t supposed to smile, right?

Wrong.

Let my boy smile as much as he wants, dammit!

Now with Hades you got this protagonist who is an absolute sunshine, a genuinely kind person who’s social and empathetic, giving his all to improve himself and help people; while he is devoted to his community, serving the people around him as much as he can, he is competitive too, but not in an unhealthy way.

And then on the other hand there are these self-proclaimed gurus of masculinity with their terrible expectations of how men and boys should be like, promoting absolutely ludicrous ideas and views of success, women or how relationships should work, often entirely self-serving, discarding ideas of community or cooperation.

So which of these two would you consider the healthier role model, or maybe I should say ideal, to stick to?

Zagreus is not less of a man because of the radiant and kind person he is. Quite the opposite so. Masculinity is not defined by e.g. selfishness or destructive competition, which often stem from a lack of empathy and role models. I believe that both masculinity and femininity at their roots are divine, nurturing love, with each individual manifesting as a different mix of these two energies. To access this power is to set aside all preconceptions of who you should or shouldn’t be (also regarding gender norms), laying your soul bare for everyone to see. Have your heart at your sleeve and act on it! Follow your heart!

Which is something I think Zagreus is doing by simply being his unfiltered, optimistic self. He is not trying to fulfill any gender roles in any shape or form, simply embracing the bonds he has for what they are (also why he’s bisexual and polygamous and I fully support him in that). He does what feels natural to him, lives in the moment, perceives the contribution of others and is appreciative of it, no matter how small. Those are all such good habits or qualities in a person (or character) to have and are worthy to strive for.

I remember a conversation while trying to bond with Dusa when Zagreus seemed upset at her notion he may only started talking to her for romantic reasons, which he instantly denied, so he does not appear to have any ulterior motives.

I think in a world that focuses so much on shallow appearances and physical pleasures, or just the fact that so many men genuinely act like the value of a woman lies how well she fulfills modern beauty standards or in the potential sexual pleasure she can give to them, to put so much emphasis on bonds between two people as people (regardless of gender, or in Dusa’s case, status), and just let them be in whatever shape that bond may take—this is such an important message to present in media.

Relationships or bonds primarily help you grow as a person and secondarily find a soul mate or partner along the way as a result of that growth.

I believe it is absolutely necessary that protagonists like him exist and we honestly do need more like him: as these shine a different light on nurturing masculinity and what it can be, to an individual and a community alike. Considering how so many other protagonists typically are characterized (stoic, alone, depressed, never say a word) this is such an unusual way to write a male one.

As such Zagreus really stands out.