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There are many Hades 2 characters to speak to, trade with, and get Boons from as you venture through the Crossroads, Underworld, and the Surface. Coming from all corners of Greek mythology, Hades 2 sees you entreating powerful Olympian gods, divine beings, and mighty mortals for new combat power-ups, extra abilities, and general help in your efforts. You’ll need their assistance too as you’ll have to fight your way past Titans and other monstrosities to reach the end of a run. Here are all the Hades 2 characters you'll meet and how they can help Melinoe.
This guide has major Hades 2 spoilers below, featuring the entire cast of new and returning characters and where they can be found. If you don't want any appearances or locations spoiled, do not continue reading.
Who is Melinoe in Hades 2?
The Hades 2 player character is Melinoe (Mel-in-OH-ee). She's the daughter of Hades and Persephone, younger sister of Zagreus, and Princess of the Underworld. Shortly after Melinoe was born, the Titan of Time, Chronos, escaped his imprisonment in Tartarus and brought ruin upon the House of Hades. Now he is imprisoning some of his previous captors and forcing many denizens of the Underworld to flee Tartarus, including Hecate who took Melinoe with her.
Hades 2 begins many years after these events with Melinoe living in Hecate's domain known as the Crossroads – an area that exists between the Underworld and the Surface that serves as a haven for House of Hades loyalists. Since saving Melinoe from Chronos, Hecate has been training the young goddess to bring the Titan down. Melinoe goes out each night to descend the Underworld, defeat Chronos, and save the family she doesn't remember, with the help plenty of figures from ancient Greek mythology.
All Hades 2 characters
Below you'll find lists of all the characters in Hades 2, including a little description detailing who they are and what they do in-game. This guide is also based on what is currently available in the Hades 2 early access build after the Olympic Update. Most but not all characters have completed portraits or artwork, so there are some placeholders. This guide will be updated with new images and character entries as they are added in future updates!
Hades 2 Gods and other divine entities
There are many Greek Gods in Hades 2, with each one capable of providing Melinoe with a Boon as a reward for finishing an Encounter. Giving them gifts of Hades 2 Nectar leads them to give you useful Keepsakes in return which you can equip on your runs.
- Aphrodite, Goddess of Love: Provides Boons to Melinoe that usually focus on dealing extra damage up close and applying the Weak effect to enemies.
- Apollo, God of Light: His Boons typically increase the size of Melinoe's abilities, apply Dazed to enemies, and grant buffs while avoiding or taking damage. Artemis is his twin sister.
- Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt: Artemis' Boons help with Melinoe's damage output by increasing the chances of dealing Critical damage and firing arrows at enemies hit with some of Melinoe's abilities. Artemis' Boons cannot be chosen as Encounter rewards as she appears randomly to assist Melinoe during Encounters instead. She can appear in the Underworld or on the Surface but not in every Region.
- Athena, Goddess of Wisdom: The noble and wise warrior goddess returns in Hades 2, offering Boons that typically bolster Melinoe’s defences and grant her the excellent Deflect status effect.
- Chaos, Primordial Originator: Sporting a new form for Hades 2, Chaos provides powerful Boons that activate after a certain number of Encounters has been completed. Before activating, the Boon instead has a negative effect. Chaos and their Boons can only be found through Chaos Gates, which require a chunk of Melinoe's health to enter, though you can dig up Hades 2 Thalamus while visiting.
- Charon, Stygian Boatman: The groaning ferryman of souls and child of Nyx opens his shop for Melinoe, offering divine Boons and other power-ups in exchange for Gold coins collected during your current run. Charon's shops appear in the Underworld and on the Surface, and later you can find Wells of Charon during Underworld runs and claim Gold Rewards from the Crossroads for your loyalty.
- Demeter, Goddess of Seasons: Demeter is the mother of Persephone and grandmother of Melinoe. She provides wintry Boons that can inflict Freeze on enemies, create Cyclones, and more.
- Dionysus, God of Wine: The hedonistic deity of wine-making and other festivity is also back in Hades 2 wearing far less clothes than before. His Boons bolster your abilities and leave enemies worse off thanks to the Festive Fog and Hangover effects respectively.
- Hephaestus, God of the Forge: Hephaestus' Boons add explosive blasts to Melinoe's various abilities. Some of his Boons also add more defensive buffs to Melinoe, including a flat damage reduction or even gaining temporary invulnerability at the start of each encounter.
- Hera, Queen of the Olympians: The Goddess of marriage and women provides Boons that usually focus on applying or enhancing the Hitch effect, linking enemies together to spread any damage they take.
- Hermes, God of Swiftness: Boons from Hermes improve Melinoe's dodging, speed up her abilities, and make her Omega Moves cost less Magick. He's also a spy for the Silver Sisters, helping in the fight against Chronos.
- Hestia, Goddess of Flame: Fiery Boons from Hestia typically let Melinoe apply Scorch to enemies in various ways, dealing lots of damage over time, and launch fire projectiles when using certain abilities.
- Poseidon, God of the Sea: With Poseidon's Boons, Melinoe can benefit from numerous watery knockback buffs to her abilities and gain extra loot or improve future rewards.
- Selene, Moon Incarnate: Selene's Gifts of the Moon offer Melinoe a selection of Hexes, which are special powers that can be used only after spending a certain amount of Magick during an encounter. You can have only one Hex per run, so later Selene also provides Paths of Stars, which are skill tree points that can be spent on improving your current Hex.
- Zeus, King of the Olympians: The God of thunder offers Boons to Melinoe that allow her to strike enemies with powerful lightning, either through lightning bolts, chain-lightning, or the Blitz effect.
Hades 2 characters found at the Crossroads
The Crossroads has a smaller cast of Hades 2 characters making camp, though not necessarily all the time. Make sure you speak to them between runs and to give them gifts, such as Bath Salts or Twin Lures, to enjoy the Crossroad's facilities together.
- Frinos the Frog: A croaking companion to confide in after runs, successful or not. Likely also the first Hades 2 Familiar you will unlock.
- Dora, Listless Shade: A ghostly shade that haunts Melinoe's tent but in a friendly way. You can also find her around the Crossroads offering redecorating services in exchange for Prestige and other resources. Dora is probably short for Pandora who, in Greek mythology, released all the evils of humanity from her box. Although Dora does not remember her living life, so it's hard to say for sure.
- Hecate, Witch of the Crossroads: The mysterious moon witch goddess is Melinoe's mentor, training her for the fight against Chronos. She also leads the Silver Sisters – herself, Melinoe, Selene, and Artemis.
- Nemesis, Retribution Incarnate: A moody warrior and daughter of Nyx who camps at the Crossroads. Because revenge and punishing hubris is her whole deal, she feels she should be doing Melinoe's job.
- Odysseus, Veteran Tactician: The Shade of the former King of Ithica and well-travelled, all-round hero found at the Crossroads, serving as a sort of military general.
- Hypnos, Sleep Incarnate: Unsurprisingly, he's asleep, although you can still give gifts to this son of Nyx.
- Schelemeus, Training Master: Skelly the training dummy from Hades 1 is back, now with a proper name! If you're ever unsure about what you could or should be doing while playing, it's worth checking in with him.
- Wretched Broker: A Shade that trades Bones for items and resources and sometimes vice versa. Seems awfully familiar.
- Moros, Doom Incarnate: Another child of Nyx and Emissary of the Three Fates. Moros looks over the Fated List of Minor Prophecies found in the Crossroads after casting the Fated Intervention Incantation at the Cauldron.
- Eris, Strife Incarnate: Appears occasionally in the Crossroads to gloat, moan, and be a general nuisance, especially by chucking junk all over the floor near where she stands.
Hades 2 characters found in the Underworld
Most of the following Hades 2 characters can be found exclusively in the Underworld regions – Erebus, Oceanus, the Mourning Fields, and Tartarus – as special vendors or bosses.
- Hecate, Witch of the Crossroads: The Guardian of Erebus and the first major boss you’ll face on the Underworld path, acting as a final test before leaving the Region. You will have to defeat Hecate in Hades 2 many, many times.
- Arachne, Silk Weaver: A spider and purveyor of Silken Fineries, Arachne has a chance to appear in Erebus offering Melinoe a selection of Outfits that provide limited protection in the form of Armor and some other buff. Once the armor has been destroyed, the Outfit and its buff are lost.
- Raki the Raven: A white raven who can be unlocked as a familiar by befriending them in the hidden fountain of Erebus.
- Nemesis, Retribution Incarnate: Occasionally, you might bump into Nemesis at various points on your journey through the Underworld while she tries to do your job for you. Nemesis often challenges you to kill competitions with Gold coin rewards or offers trades for Boons and other power-ups.
- Narcissus, Beautiful Flower: A man so obsessed with how beautiful he is that he can't stop looking at his own reflection in the pools of Oceanus. He offers a selection of Second-Hand Gifts, which are bundles of resources, Boons, or other useful items. Each gift consists of at least one item that will help you in your current run, such as a random Boon, and at least one crafting resource, such as a Mystery Seed.
- Scylla and the Sirens: The Guardians of Oceanus and the second major boss fight on the Underworld path. The Hades 2 Scylla fight can be tough as you must face three Sirens at once.
- Echo, Dispirited Nymph: A mountain nymph cursed to forever repeat the last words spoken to her that has a chance to appear in the Fields of Mourning. You can choose one of three Plaintive Echo buffs from her which have diminishing strength or allow you to get previously claimed rewards.
- Hecuba the Hound: One of Hecate’s own familiar’s, Hecuba is a large, black dog that you have a chance of encountering in the Fields of Mourning, and you can unlock her as familiar for yourself.
- Infernal Cerberus: The Guardian of the Fields of Mourning and the third major boss in the Underworld. Hades’ massive guard dog is repeatedly cursed with infernal power, making him a monstrous hellhound.
- Uh-Oh: A named boss that is an especially dangerous rat, who can appear in Oceanus as an Encounter boss.
- Hades, Prisoner of Time, and Cerberus: Father of Melinoe and a captive in his own house, joined by his loyal, three-headed hound. Hades has a chance of appearing in Tartarus and can give Melinoe a Boon of Hades that helps during the Chronos boss fight. You cannot pet Cerberus.
- Chronos, Titan of Time: The final boss of the Underworld path and main antagonist of Hades 2. He has taken over most of the Underworld, including the House of Hades, and has launched attacks against the Olympians, with the goal of creating a new Golden Age without the Olympians. He is the father of Hades, Zeus, Poseidon, and several other Olympian gods.
Hades 2 characters found on the Surface
The majority of these Hades 2 characters appear only in the Regions of the Surface path, which are the City of Ephyra, the Rift of Thessaly, and Mount Olympus. You'll obviously need to know how to reach the Surface in Hades 2 to meet these characters where they'll either offer help to Melinoe or get in her way on the path to Olympus.
- Heracles, Mightiest of Men: Has a chance of showing up at the start of an Encounter in the City of Ephyra to brood and kill enemies. Like Nemesis, Heracles challenges Melinoe to earn more Gold than him by killing more enemies, however, there currently doesn't seem to be much of a reward.
- Medea, Witch of Shadow: A close ally of Hecate who has a chance to appear in the City of Ephyra with Nightly Curses. These buffs directly affect enemies or provide Melinoe with bonuses for killing enemies and completing Encounters.
- Polyphemus, Infamous Cyclops: The Guardian of the City of Ephyra and first boss of the Surface path. Polyphemus is a cyclops who was blinded by Odysseus and loves to eat people and tend to his sheep.
- Toula the cat: A lone feline you’ll happen across in the wrecked Rift of Thessaly port once the Surface path has been unlocked.
- Icarus, Free Spirit: The shade of the son of Daedalus and the lad who flew too close to the sun can appear in the Rift of Thessaly Region, providing bombing run assists and Latest Invention buffs at the end of a warship Encounter that can substantially improve Melinoe's overall power.
- Circe, Witch of the Changing: Another witch ally of Hecate's, specializing in being able to transform others. She has a chance of appearing on her own island in the Rift of Thessaly, offering Changes and Fortunes to Melinoe. These can alter her Arcana or even let her grow physically larger or smaller in size.
- Charybdis the Devouring: A named sea monster boss that has a chance of getting in the way in the Rift of Thessaly.
- Eris, Strife Incarnate: The Guardian of the Rift of Thessaly and the second boss on the Surface path. Eris is another of Nyx's children and wields the Adamant Rail, which was one of the Infernal Arms Zagreus could use in Hades 1. With such firepower, the Hades 2 Eris boss fight isn’t easy.
- Prometheus, Titan of Foresight: The Guardian of Mount Olympus and final boss on the Surface Path, the Hades 2 Prometheus boss fight is therefore a serious challenge. Having been freed by Chronos, the infamous Titan and fire thief leads the attack on Mount Olympus as revenge for cursing him to an eternity of torture by eagle pecking. Though it seems he’s befriended the eagle, which now fights alongside him.
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