#which is why Zagreus and Melinoë look way better

[givemaycoffee]

Happy Holidays!

Designs based on these art pieces:

Felix | Sylvain | Zagreus (and sword) | Melinoë

[naarlar]

Okie so hot take: I don’t think Melinoë is as good of a protagonist as Zagreus. And here’s why.

It all comes down to motivation. Why did Zag go through the events of Hades 1? Because he was living in an abusive and volatile household and had to find some way to make things better for not just himself but his house. Otherwise he surely would have lost his mind having to deal with the abuse he got (remember at the beginning of the game basically only Nyx and Achilles were helping him. Everyone else is either neutral towards him or outright hostile). He needed answers, he needed to find out who and what he was by trying to find Persephone. And in the end he succeeded and was able to create a better life for himself and his house. Hell, even his relationship with his dad improved.

Now let’s look at Mel (yes this criticism is only addressing Early Access Hades 2). Why is she going through the events of Hades 2? Because… she’s been groomed since basically birth to kill Chronos. She doesn’t really have any other motivation than because it is what is expected of her essentially. She even says during her confrontation with Chronos, AFTER HE THREATENS TO HURT HER FAMILY, what do I care I barely know them (yeah sure she could just be bluffing to Chronos but that is still a very chilling thing to say when supposedly all of this is to save them and it makes her reunion with Hades lowkey ring hollow or weak). In another scene she even says the same thing to Hecate and says Hecate is more her mother than anyone else. Heck even in the flashback scene with young Mel and Hecate (which was very cute I’ll admit) she says she would want her mother to come back so Hecate isn’t sad. This makes all her motivations to kill Chronos and save the Underworld seem very… disconnected from the main component of the game? Being saving the house of hades and her family??

Like it’s expected of her and she was raised at birth to basically be prepared for this but she doesn’t have any personal reasons for doing any of this than just not letting Hecate and the others in the Crossroads down. Hell when she comes back from killing Chronos for the first time it honestly feels like Hecate is more interested and invested in what happened than Mel herself.

It makes her a really weird protagonist especially when comparing to her brother and how effective he was as a protagonist. Think about it, with Zag we got really in depth and character revealing moments where as the player we understand why he is doing all of this and so it is easy to go along for the ride because we like Zag and want to help him. Mel says she cares a lot about what is going on and wants revenge, but it all feels surface level (and which is understandable she doesn’t know these people, all she can say is “the titan took my family” when let’s be real she sees the people in the crossroads as more of her family). It honestly just seems like because she is expected to kill Chronos since she could think, she feels she has to do all this. It feels weird how she is disconnected from the core point of the game being to save the house of hades when Zag was so integral to that same core point in the first game.

I dunno, just my thoughts, I’m curious to see what everyone else thinks.

Edit: just fyi cause I feel with the comments I’ve been getting from my posts, I like hades 2 I am excited especially for the official release. I recognize my criticism/analysis could be wrong or out of date since the game isn’t finished yet. These are just my initial thoughts.

[thevermilionwitch]

Okay, this has been living in my head rent free

Imagine Makaria and Melinoë in the Hades game

So, imagine that Hades has that class game where you get to choose which class you will choose in a save file. Instead of one character, you can choose either of the three for the rest of the game that fits your style.

CONTAINS GAME SPOILER!!!!! LOOK AWAY IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE GAME

Makaria, the goddess of blessed death

Class: Mage or Sorceress. Any class title that uses magic.

Makaria is the calmest and soft spoken, maybe shaken up to her father's stern voice and grown accustomed to it over time. She works in Elysium to accommodate the shades there and comes home through Charon. Amongst the three, she has the most share of face from Persephone, almost like a splitting image of her. Golden locks, green eyes, which brings a lot of pain for Hades to look at and just quickly sent her forth to Elysium for her responsibilities. She rarely see her siblings and she felt like she doesn't belong in the family for her looks and capabilities.

Makaria would be working along side with Thanatos, of course. Her main arsenal would be a scythe (or nothing) and uses magic based from the boons. Unlike Zagreus, whose boons empowers his physical aspect and weaponry, she has spells and summonings that fights for her (e.g. Poseidon boons would give her the ability to send a tidal wave etc). Instead of using the Daedalus hammer to empower her arsenal, she uses Hekate's torch. She can probably romance Thanatos or help him to get together with Zagreus. It's not Hades if you didn't reunite or counsel some couples in your House.

There are exclusive boons that can only be attained in her run. Maybe:

Apollo - gives boons that could blind or stun enemies

Eros - boons that can make enemies fight for you temporarily

Melinoë, the goddess of nightmares and madness

Class: assassin or rogue. She is probably has the highest based offense stats but, squishy af

Melinoë has the same trait as Zagreus. Having the heterochromia but the opposite. Identical and having that twinsies vibe with him. She is probably closer in terms of relationship with Zagreus and probably the first one to be heartbroken when Zagreus decided to leave.

The most vicious among siblings, Melinoë would be working along side with the Furies sisters, which punishing to those who committed the heaviest acts. She would wield whips or dual handed weaponry. The boons would empower her weaponry and physique much like Zagreus. However, she can wield two different boons in the same attack type (e.g. You can have Curse of Agony and Heartbreak Strike at the same time). However, if you are going to change or sell your attack boons, you'll lose both of it. This can only apply on the attack slot. Instead of using Daedalus hammer to upgrade your weapons, Melinoë is using Hephaestus' anvil. She can probably romance Meg or help her get together with Zagreus instead.

There are exclusive boons that could only be attained in her run. Maybe:

Eris - boons that can confuse enemies and strike others instead

Hestia -boons involving pyrokinesis

Why would these two escape? Despite having decent jobs in the House (and probably doing better than Zagreus), they would get sick of their father's neglect and striving for perfection in the House. Melinoë would jump in to defend Zagreus about her father's treatment on him. Makaria would want to talk the sense out of his father but, only to be shut down. So, what is the perfect way to speak about what you feel? Wreck your father's place to get his attention of what you want to say.

How would they be born? Remember about Dusa?

They have the similar situation, but only the three was successfully saved by Nyx. They thought it was only Zagreus but, the Fates had some twisted intentions to it. The two came from Zagreus blood and came forth, forming their own bodies and mind. So Nyx decided to saved the three and bounded into the Underworld. The prophecy did said that Hades will not have an heir of his throne. It is because that Melinoë and Makaria are already doing best with what they were doing. They would probably would not like the throne even if their father forced it upon them.

The siblings would be NPCs in each other's runs (or save file) of course. I would imagine it be like:

In Zagreus route, he will try to fix and creating a bond with his sisters, especially to Melinoë who is heartbroken with his attempts to escape.

The sisters would either be a boss (Melinoë in Tartarus along side with the Furies, and Makaria being a mini boss in Elysium just like Asterius. She wanted to see if you are ready for the champions and for Hades up ahead.) Or, helpful chamber NPCs (like the keepsakes at the end of each boss fights, they bring weapons for Zagreus to change in mid run. They are all over the Underworld and hard to find. Most likely, Makaria would be the one bringing Zagreus the weapons.)

Melinoë's keepsake would be a dagger or a necklace. Whilst Makaria's keepsake would be a bracelet with white butterflies (opposed ro Thanatos' purple butterfly keepsake.

Zagreus as the sisters' miniboss would be similar to Makaria. He wanted to see if his sisters are actually capable of facing their father. Zagreus as an NPC is, ofc, being his sisters' weapons. He is 100% supportive of the escape but, he wanted to see if they are actually ready for it.

Zagreus' keepsake for them is similar to the 3 headed shoulder pad he has on. (SIBLING SHOULDER PADS!!)

They all have different reactions when they learned about their birthmother. Melinoë would be furious at Nyx but, subsided quickly and apologize. Makaria would be confused and feel a bit distant to Nyx, but recovered quickly as she helped her escape

Hades' interactions will be different to each sibling. He is both disappointed in them though, since they were perfectly fine and just decided to escape. Makaria would have some tame and heartfelt interactions with Hades. Saying that she looked like her mother and how it pains him to see her everyday, and decided to shut her down entirely, repeating the same thing what he did to Persephone. Melinoë would be harsh but, tame too. Insults left and right, and downright saying he is weak for letting fear getting the best out of him.

Persephone would recognize them cause of their fiery feet since it is how she remembered her stillborn child before she left. She learned the truth when the sisters spoke about Zagreus, the name Persephone had given to her son.

After she learned that she actually have three children, she was so heartbroken to know she actually left not only 1 but, 3 of them. Melinoë would be definitely feel awkward and sheepish around Persephone while Makaria feels so loved and warm.

This give the sisters a purpose to go back there whatever it takes, leaving their purpose and jobs entirely to know the truth.

Once the siblings knew the truth, they find ways to help one another.

I finally let it out oml. This will stop haunting me at night.

Feel free to add more! This could be a potential fanfiction but, my writing skills are not the best of it. I can only give ideas