#i find it fun how zagreus knows better not to fall into blind hate and rage

[its-jason]

i did like this post a lot. made me go a little bit bananas actually. I’m gonna add a little more onto Op because they have some RREEAAALLY great points URGH especially about hades.

I truly think it is absolutely wonderful that the main protagonist of Hades is genuinely such a Kind hearted person. Honestly, you just wouldn’t expect it from the aesthetics of the game and, like op mentions, how cold and unhappy everybody is when you’re playing the first few hours of the game. Zagreus is a snarky character with his quips but he never really displays actual distain to people he fights, even to theseus he’s just incredibly sassy lmao.

The only time Zagreus gets serious is with his father, but I always ALWAYS think about that one conversation with Zagreus and Persephone and how Zagreus can’t bring himself to Hate. It’s what makes him so fundamentally different to Hades, he’s not someone who can wallow in self pity, frustration, bitterness- he’s someone who actually Wants to change and improve. The game really makes it clear how much stronger Zagreus is compared to Hades because being kind is a CHOICE.

“Out of all the things your Father taught you, I’m glad he didn’t teach you to hate. For your sake if not his.” by Persephone followed up by Zagreus’ “Sometimes I think he tried” SERIOUSLY KILLS ME.

Hades trying desperately to get Zagreus to fit into the mold, the family is so broken- it’s so much easier to hate. Hades trying to teach him hate to give him a solution, because it’s the solution he’s been comfortable with all this time. Hades wants Zagreus to Hate him, because he is so fucking aware of how pathetic of an excuse he is for a father and instead of trying to fix himself, he wants his son to at least behave in at least One way that’s similar to him. To hate like he does.

(hades always pushing zagreus to do the things that he’s comfortable with, another example being doing administration but that didn’t work out either)

But Zagreus isn’t that kind of person. He resents his Father definitely but Zagreus is smart enough to understand that hatred will get him absolutely Nowhere. He wants change and to do that, it WILL hurt so much. But he’s so much stronger than Hades for being kind.

I just think zagreus is awesome and cool and the best. I fucking LOVE hades so much for making a genuinely kind character flawed and actually emphasising the hurdles it takes to Choose kindness. Normally, characters who are kind are reduced to being really precious when Zagreus is not. He can get his goddamn hands dirty damn it!!!! and OP explains this SO WELL!!!!!

Guys, I'm sorry that everytime I have a big thoughtᵀᴹ about something I come and spew it on here, it's in my blood to overthink (ha, get it?? in my blood? like the hades in the blood song, because I'm going to talk about hades???)

But among all the things I like about the game, it's Zagreus characterization. When it comes to the delicate and nuanced subject of having a character trying to either free themselves from a long cycle of suffering or, trying to break the cycle of suffering altogether (which they are both the objective of Zagreus), it's very easy to fall into the slippery slope of victimizing said character. I don't blame people who do this, it's very hard to build and pinpoint exactly what you want your character to do, while maintaining their personality in adverse situations you put them in.

But Zagreus is such a good example. He is kind, and polite, yes. But he is also kind of dumb sometimes, impulsive, he is hotheaded and stubborn. And that's fine. Like, it's fine. Zagreus doesn't have to be perfect to be lovable or to break the cycle that the House of Hades is suffering. All of them have their flaws and that doesn't make them any less of deserving love and second chances.

I really like the fact that the game emphasizes that breaking said cycle is going to hurt. It's going to be ugly, and gruesome. You're going to have to destroy somethings to build them properly. And that the truth hurts. To you and everyone else. Breaking cycles is not a kind little thing where everyone holds hands and says: "maybe the happiness was us all along". No, you're going to get your hands dirty. You're going to have doubts. You're going to ask yourself if you're even doing the right thing. Seeing everybody so comfortable in deep sadness nauseates you. Why do they have to live like this? It's not your job to save them, but maybe you can help them understand and look into themselves and forgive whatever ugly thing that they're ashamed of.

Not only that, but you're going to have to recognize that your actions influenced by said cycle hurt a lot of people, and that they're your own actions as well. There are going to be rocky, and you will say things that will hurt them, and they will say hurtful things back. But bonds are not perfect. Friendships and bonds are not pure or innocent. Sometimes they're going to be strained, but you can fix them with the help of people. If the other wants to help; you can both heal.

I'm not saying that you have to repair every single thing. No, you have to give them their own space, their own time to think and consider things. Maybe things will change, but that doesn't mean it's for nothing. When it comes to Zagreus, that has quite literally a lot of people against him (consciously or forced), he recognizes that he's going to have to fight back. That he's going to have to strike back. And sometimes we are afraid to show how gruesome it can be to shake the foundations of a cycle that we're so comfortable in. Because we are not alone in said misery, and nobody really tries to do anything but push forward.

Meagera being a constant enemy is not her being evil. She's hurt, and angry, and confused but also being pushed to this. She doesn't really want to, but she grinds her teeth. Your father doesn't understand you, and blocks your path. Not because he doesn't love you, but because he doesn't know any other fucking way. He doesn't like killing you, he doesn't like having you blood melting the snow, but how else is he going to protect both Persephone and you? How else is he supposed to keep peace? He was swallowed by his father, and then, you were born, and you were such a tiny, little thing. And his hands are big and rough, and he doesn't want to hold you because how is he going to raise you? He doesn't know anything about children or godlings. And he can't stop from biting at your spirit, and maybe he's just like his father. Eating you away. He is distant and close in the most horrible ways. He appoints Nyx to care for you, because she knows. And she can love you, in ways that he can't.

And you don't know how to change because you're knee deep in this black goop of stupid spirals of anger and sadness. And your son is so different, and you can't, you can't look at him. He's like her, he is just like her. And you feel the sting of tears in your eyes when you're alone in your bedroom looking at her portrait. He is just like her, and like you too. And by everything you want to understand him, but you have no fucking idea.

And Zagreus doesn't want to kill his father. He doesn't want to raise his sword and cut him in halves. He doesn't want him to fall on his knees and be swallowed by the river, you've been there, and you know how horrible it is. Washed up by the stairs, with emptiness of coming back. To crumbling walls and crying shades.

You don't want to kill your father, you don't want to kill Meg, you don't want to scathe Thanatos with your words. But you have to, you're going to have to stain your hands. And make them hate you a little, because that's how it is. You hated them a little, and then you understood.

Breaking cycles is ugly, and full of angryness and pain and wandering in circles. Stepping forward, stepping back. But when everyone understands, they all sigh in relief. The house is still the same; but it's a little warmer, a little better. And little more lovable.

You can talk to each other without biting back. Without stepping on glass. Without pulling out knives, waiting to parry an attack.

Sometimes there's going to be a second chance. Sometimes it's not. Breaking cycles it's not about forgiving everything and moving past it. In the game, they all have to gulp down the bitterness and sting of their own words. In the game they are still trying to coexist. It's not perfect, it's not pretty. Old hurtful habits come to us when it's all peaceful, because now that things are changing they creep out, trying to pull us back. But it really is beautiful how Zagreus is constructed. He is not perfect. He is impulsive, and sarcastic and he bites back, he can strike back and he will. He dislikes people. And he's also kind, and witty and funny and polite. And loves so so much. He is allowed to make mistakes and fail. All of us are. He doesn't have to be perfect to be loved. Nobody has.

Zagreus really is one of my favorite characters because of how complex he is. And how well balanced the bonds in the game are. I know it can be exasperating to have Thanatos say hurtful things or have Meg being cold. But you have to remember that they are all used to the misery. And they are not perfect either. They are kind too, and love and have their ways of expressing it, but they're also allowed to be sad, and angry. Everyone is. Sometimes you're going to fuck up, sometimes you're going to make a mistake and you'll have to swallow your own hurtful words and feel how they stung the other person. And that's okay. That's totally fine. That's life.