Over time, playing Hades it becomes a ritual – there is a cadence to move through the underworld and defeat the same enemies repeatedly. You start to expect things to work out in a certain way, especially after hours of fun. So when the game suddenly goes dark with the ring of a distant bell, it looks sinister.
You’ve never seen it before, and by now you’ve probably spent many hours playing the game. What is happening? And then he appears: death incarnate, sickle in hand. Thanatos. Oh shit, you may think. Who is it? Am I going to have to fight him? I’m not prepared for that! But as soon as you are mentally preparing for a scream, it hits you with an amazing dialogue.
“You left, without even saying goodbye,” he says. “I suppose you knew that I would reach you sooner or later, is that it? Without escaping death and all? “
I came to Hades late, so when I met Thanatos, I had already been exposed to much of the sending and fan art on social media. I considered Thanatos’ disapproval to be the words of a rejected lover who was pissed off because Zagreus, the protagonist, was trying to leave him behind. Spicy!
Supergiant Games’ creative director, Greg Kasavin, told Polygon that the dialogue did not mean that the two had an existing love relationship before the events of the game, although this may develop over time. Zagreus, said Kasavin in a telephone interview, “did not have many friends”, except Thanatos when he was growing up. But Zagreus’ escape attempts are a “catalyst for his feelings to intensify,” he said.
But, regardless of how you interpret this introduction, it is evocative. Despite being just a few lines, you get the feeling that there are story there, and Zagreus has little reason to feel guilty.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22238254/than.jpeg)
Image: Supergiant Games via Polygon
“A good story is one that makes you imagine, much more than the story itself,” says Kasavin. The subtext, in this case, is more powerful than the actual text. But Thanatos is not memorable just because of a few lines. It is what happens next that really closes the deal. Whenever you encounter a new character on the field, you prepare for a fight. Except in this case, Thanatos shows up, punishes you for being an idiot, and then challenges you to a competition. No other encounter in the game works that way.
Technically, he’s there to help you beat the wave of enemies that Hades, your father, sends after you. But the game also keeps track of how many enemies Zagreus kills against Thanatos. And when the battle begins, the stakes seem high – Thanatos is a beast.
“It only deals with the classic Final Fantasy 9,999 [damage]”Kasavin said. Worse, it can be an area of effect that simply makes enemies disappear. Accompanying the god of death is no easy task. Sometimes you do. At other times, Thanatos mops the floor with Zagreus.
Whatever happens, however, the dynamic between the two remains juicy and charged. You want to beat this guy, but also, maybe you want to kiss this guy. There is something inherently hot and audacious about trying to show your own death.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22238258/zag.jpeg)
Image: Supergiant Games via Polygon
Thanatos, said Kasavin, was one of the first characters they put in the game, and one of the ones that changed least with development. Part of what excited him, he said, was that there is little myth about Thanatos that left the Supergiant team with fertile ground to build. What we do know is that Thanatos must be a “peaceful death”, which is why the team chose voice actor Chris Saphire to portray a more “kind” version of the Reaper.
To get to know him, the player needs to reach Elysium, the kingdom of champions, which is one of the last parts of the Hades. The other prerequisite is to beat Meg the Fury enough for her sisters to start showing up too. The idea, said Kasavin, is that Meg has failed her job so many times that Hades calls for reinforcements, so that word of Zagreus’ escape attempts will reach Thanatos. But there is also only a 50% chance that Thanatos will appear during a race, which means that some fans can spend a lot of time before meeting him. Although potentially frustrating, the rarity is intentional.
“From a gameplay standpoint, what was really exciting was the idea that this character could just appear on you at any time,” said Kasavin. “Because normally with the structure of the game, you go from camera to camera and you know what to expect, right? Because you choose your reward. “
“But with a roguelike game,” he continued later in the conversation, “you want there to be that variety, you don’t want it to become too predictable.” Kasavin said the team looked at the second Lord of the Rings movie, The two towers, which features a competition between Gimli and Legolas, as inspiration for the meeting with Thanatos.
Whatever the outcome of the fight, Thanatos will say something taciturn and then disappear. It may appear again during other races, but there is never a guarantee. Part of that design choice comes from Supergiant’s broader attempt to portray characters who have lives beyond that of the protagonist. But it is also just an effective device that leaves fans in doubt.
“We conveniently gave him his teleportation ability in an instant so that he can just go off in a rage and leave the conversations hanging,” said Kasavin. The player wants more because, all the time, Thanatos makes you feel like there is “unfinished business with him”.
It’s no surprise, then, that Zagreus and Thanatos are the most popular pair within the fandom. Hell, I would go so far as to say that Thanatos is one of the most memorable encounters I’ve ever had in a video game. It is no small feat, given the speed with which Thanatos instills a sense of fascination and mystique for Hades.
“I suspected that the players would become attached to him,” said Kasavin.