Melinoe: The ‘Hades 2’ protagonist, explained

Hades 2, the highly anticipated sequel to 2020’s Hades (a.k.a. one of the indie games of the decade), is on its way and with a brand new protagonist. 

The first game starred Zagreus, the (hot) son of Hades, as he tries to escape the underworld over and over again. As Zagreus, players interact with other familiar mythological characters and die — and we mean, like, a lot — as they work on solving the mystery at the center of Zag’s quest to escape.

After the events of Hades, it wouldn’t make sense for Zagreus to be the main character in the sequel. This time around, his sister, Melinoë, will be fighting against an evil unlike any we saw in the first game: Chronos, the Titan of Time. The roguelike gameplay and aesthetic look to be the same but a character like Melinoë is already a big change from Zagreus. 

Who is Melinoë in Hades 2? 

Even if you’ve delved into Greek mythology, there’s a chance you haven’t heard of Melinoë before Hades 2 was announced. The game reveal trailer implies Melinoë is the daughter of Hades and in some myths, this is true.

In the Greek myths, Melinoë is the daughter of Hades and Persephone, but in the Orphic religion, she is the daughter of Zeus and Persephone. In that tale, Zeus disguises himself as Hades before impregnating Persephone (Zeus really makes an ass out of himself in the majority of these myths, doesn’t he?). To make things even more confusing, followers of Orphism once believed Zeus and Hades were the same being, which means Melinoë is the child of Zeus, Hades, and Persephone.

While Hades did occasionally play with a darker tone, Melinoë’s backstory would make for a more serious plot, but it’s possible it won’t go the “Zeus is her dad” route. Zagreus is also a son of Zeus in Orphic mythology but the first game didn’t explore that angle. The sequel may go in a different direction as well. During the technical test, Supergiant points out Melinoë is “believed to be connected to Hades as potentially his daughter” so they may be intentionally keeping it open-ended.

Parents aside, Melinoë is the goddess of ghosts, nightmares, and madness according to the Orphic Hymns. She’s described as being “saffron-veiled” and her body is half black and half white, to reflect her godly heritage; her skeletal arm in Hades 2 is a cool take on her mythical appearance. 

In Greek Mythology, Melinoë was often associated with Hecate and a witch in her own right. While the two goddesses have separate identities, Melinoë is sometimes described as a manifestation of Hecate. It will be interesting to see how her relationship with Hecate unfolds in Hades 2; will the student outpace the master? Are the two connected in a deeper way? A release date can’t come soon enough.