God Design Changes In Hades 2

Highlights

A lot of time has passed in Hades 2, with Melinoe growing up and Olympian Gods getting new designs to show it.
Characters like Aphrodite, Artemis, Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hypnos, and Skelly have all undergone detailed design changes.
These changes in character design reflect the storyline progression and the different roles they play in Hades 2's unfolding narrative.

A lot of time has passed in-universe between the events of the original Hades game and Hades 2. For one, Melinoe was born from Persephone and Hades and has now basically fully grown up. Two, Chronos has overtaken the House of Hades and (assumably) taken Melinoe's family hostage. And three, the rest of the Greek Pantheon has been fighting against Chronos or working directly with Hecate and the rest of the rebels at the Crossroads to aid Melinoe in her impossibly difficult task.

screenshots from Cursed Crew, Nova Drift, and Ravenswatch

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To show that a lot of time has passed in Hades 2, Supergiant Games has put the work in to change up the designs of basically all of the returning characters, primarily the Gods of Olympus. So let's go over all the returning characters (though the new characters are also fantastic) seen in the Technical Playtest so far and talk about how exactly their designs have changed.

The video above comes from FoolJuice on Twitch.

7 Aphrodite

Goddess of Love

Let's start with the least clothed Goddess first, Aphrodite. It might seem basically impossible to really switch up the design of a character who is quite literally wearing zero clothes, but Supergiant managed to not only prove this wrong, but they also nailed it. To go over the differences between Aphrodite's design in the original Hades and her design in Hades 2:

Her hair is mostly the same, but her left part is more pronounced and the heart shapes of her curls are slightly different.
There's more ornamentation in her hair overall.
She has a spear with her this time as well as a shield, showing she's ready for battle.
Aphrodite has Ares' matching white war paint across her eyes and she also has lipstick on now.
She has more jewelry and accessories on as well (more bracelets and the collar).
And finally, she has the hint of leggings or leg armor peaking up at the bottom of her portrait.

Overall, Aphrodite looks ready for battle, seems to be on better terms with her husband based on the fact she's copying his war paint over the eyes, and seems to be more confident than ever based on her pose.

6 Artemis

Goddess of the Hunt

Artemis is another character that already seems to be getting a lot more focus on her in Hades 2 than in the original game. She quite literally is one of the only Greek Gods to actually appear in the flesh, in-game, rather than through portrait art after activating their Boons.

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Artemis and Hermes seem to be two Gods who are working quite closely with the rebels of Crossroad, and it seems like this has only been beneficial to Artemis' design and general demeanor:

Artemis is now rocking double braids kept in the front instead of one long one thrown over her back.
She has even more moon iconography on her than before with her waistband as a great example.
This Goddess also has the black, orange, blue, and green patterned band around her waist as well, which is likely a way to signify a character's allegiance to Hecate's cause.
In the first game, she had a bow in hand in her portrait, now it seems to be a staff of some sort.
Artemis is wearing mostly the same clothes as the first game. But, instead of her outfit consisting of a simple dress, it's now broken into two parts (a top wrap of sorts and a skirt).
The Goddess of the Hunt has a new arm and leg bracer, with the leg one being covered with crescent moons.
She has removed her face paint, specifically the 'crosshair-like' green paint over her eye.
What used to be a fur collar is now essentially a full fur cloak.
Thankfully, the adorable three little birds still seem to be with her in her new design.

While the changes to Artemis' design are small individually, they add up to a pretty big change in design overall. This new depiction of Artemis seems a lot more confident not only in herself but in her abilities.

5 Zeus

God of Lightning & King of the Olympians

Now, for anyone who knows a lot of Greek Mythology, Zeus isn't exactly the most relatable guy (granted, not many of the Greek Gods are), but in Hades, he's generally pretty okay. Compared to his design in the original game, Zeus doesn't really have a lot of intricate parts of his design that can be changed. However, these are the changes they still managed to make:

He's a bit more clean-shaven, with his sideburns being cleaned up and his beard being a lot less pronounced compared to his hair than before.
Zeus is more 'gaunt' overall. He's still incredibly muscular but his face is a bit more sullen (likely due to the current conflicts).
He's no longer shirtless but is instead wearing a full golden chest plate (as well as new robes underneath).
His hair is less yellowish-white and now more pure white, with his hair and beard combining into this billowing stormcloud of courts behind him. In the first game, this made his hair and beard look like peaceful clouds, but now in Hades 2 his hair and beard give off the impression of an incoming storm cloud.
His Lightning-Bolt crown is still mostly the same, though he did put a headband of sorts on.

Overall Zeus has probably had the least amount of change done to his design, but the changes that were made are enough to show that he hasn't just been sitting on his hands between the first Hades game and now.

4 Poseidon

God of the Sea

Honestly, compared to all of the other Greek Gods who have had adjustments and changes made to their designs, Poseidon's design has mostly just been improved by the changes. Every single aspect of his design seems to be more developed than it was in the original game, such as:

His trident is much more elaborate in its design both in terms of colors and linework.
Poseidon's shawl and/or collar has a lot more intricate patterns on it as well as green frills.
His waistcloth is more simplified but more 'regal' than it previously was.
The cloth covering the God of the Sea's hips and upper legs is also more intricately designed now.

Overall Poseidon just looks like a happier, more intricate, and more cohesive design in Hades 2 (and his design in Hades 1 was already incredibly good).

3 Demeter

Goddess of the Seasons

Of all the Greek Gods, Demeter has absolutely gone through the most changes in her design between the first Hades game and now. In the original Hades, Demeter had the appearance of a regal queen or noble in every sense of the word, it gave off this air of her being elegant yet completely unapproachable.

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But, Demeter in Hades 2 has now gone full into the unapproachable side of things and dropped the elegant air about her entirely. In this game, she is suited up and ready to throw down with whoever as long as it helps get her daughter back. With a basket in one hand and her sickle in the other. To go over these changes a bit more in-depth:

The biggest change is Demeter putting her hair up. Can't have her hair getting in the way during a scuffle.
She has a new crown on, one that's likely also helping to hold her hair up.
The wreath of foliage behind her has now basically died. Previously it was a full wreath of off-white leaves, but in Hades 2 it's basically just branches with a few dead leaves hanging on for dear life.
Demeter traded out the snowflake-patterned dress for standard body armor (which does still have some snowflakes on it).
Her overcoat of snow is now much more of a mantle or cape with a lot less snow on it overall.
Her Cornucopia basket is now in her hands instead of behind her, and there's no snow on it.
She has a sickle in hand (with an odd grip on it too) and likely uses this as her weapon of choice.

there's not much more to say about Demeter, she's always come off as a bit cold and as someone who 'means business'. Now, in Hades 2 it seems Demeter is determined to back up that 'means business' attitude.

2 Hypnos

God of Sleep AKA Sleep Incarnate

Poor Hypnos. As the last God on this list, Hypnos has gone through some design changes as well, but these changes are likely not of his own choosing. It's not entirely clear in the available content of Hades 2, but it seems like Hypnos has been in an eternal slumber for quite some time:

His hair is a whole lot longer to denote the passage of time.
The winged ornaments that seemed to be keeping his quilt-like cloak afloat before are now just staying in the air around his sleeping face.
His sleep mask has the same basic design but with different colors (as well as smaller pupils on the eyes of the mask as well).
Also, the hammock that he's being eternally kept in is filled with all sorts of flowers (the same one that Melinoe has on her waistband in her flashback), hopefully, more as a kind gesture from Persephone and not as a funeral procession.

Overall, since Melinoe is the God of Nightmares (among other things), it's very likely she'll be the one to wake Hypnos up, but when that will be, only time will tell, as we didn't get an answer to this in the Technical Playtest.

1 Bonus: Skelly And/Or Commander Schelemeus

From Training Dummy to Training Master

And finally, as the last inclusion (though not a God), Skelly is back! Now going by Schelemeus, Skelly has gone through quite a few drastic changes between the first game and now. Most of these are very easy to see, but let's break them all down for anyone who might've missed the smaller details:

For one, the beard, the guy has a glorious beard now (likely fake).
Skelly is finally wearing clothes, though it basically just amounts to a skirt, a cape, and a headband.
He's got some medals pinned to his chest (who knows how), with one having the crescent moon symbol on it, one having this wooden-looking spiral pattern, and the last one having the House of Hades insignia on it.
Schelemeus' hair is now somehow more majestic, as it's actually flowing in the breeze instead of just 'being there'.
He's using a walking stick, unclear if he needs it or if that just adds to his new image.
And lastly, the gold coin is no longer visible in his mouth, though it's probably still there.

Going from Training Dummy to Training Master seems to have convinced Skelly that he needs to reinvent his image, and so he did. So much so, in fact, that a lot of people thought that this was an entirely new character instead of good ol' Skelly.