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Biography

Ares is a major recurring character and villain-turned-anti-hero on the tv series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Young Hercules, based on the god of war in Greek Mythology. He was played by the late Kevin Tod Smith (the New Zealand actor, not the American director). Ares is the Greek God of War and violence, who has a strong rivalry with his half-brother Hercules, and a love-hate relationship with Xena. He took Xena under his wing as his protege, sometime after she first met with Caesar. He also gave her the Chakram, sometime after she left Chin and headed towards the Norselands. He continues to follow her throughout the series, tempting her back to her old ways, but eventually gives up and turns into more of a hinderance than an enemy because he falls in love with her. As the god of war, Ares is violence. He is primarily the patron God of Sparta, but armies from all city-states offer prayers to him before going into battle. Though Ares represents the physical aspect of war, he is far from some mindless thug. He is in fact a brilliant strategist, preferring to plan his battles carefully rather than going into a fight with his proverbial guns blazing. Whenever possible, he seems to like the methods of getting other people to do his work for him or finding ways to get his enemies to destroy themselves. The latter is something he repeatedly attempts with Hercules, knowing that he cannot kill his half-brother without suffering the wrath of Zeus. Despite the often chaotic results of Ares' worshipers' actions, he sees himself as a subtle strategist, as befits the God of War, rather than the God of Brawling. He also exhibits curious mix of sportsmanship and cheating when convenient for him. As an Olympian God, Ares has all of the typical powers of an Olympian. As God of War, Ares represents hatred and anger. Ares frequently used his powers to benefit those that waged war, and as a result he was often the object of worship for warlords and their armies. In case Ares loses his power, people with little self control are quick to anger. Aphrodite and Ares share a link that balances their powers of love and war respectively. If one of them loses their godhood the other will be affected as well, because love must be balanced by war, and vice versa. The limit of Ares' divine powers was unknown, but seemed to weaken when not having been worshipped for a long time, or when his favor from those around him is lessening as mentioned in Deja Vu All Over Again. He specialized in abilities that were often violent and destructive, however, he was also able to use them for more practical instances that suited his schemes.