Hecatonchires
the Hundred-Handed Ones
The Hecatonchires were three giants of immense strength born of Ouranos and Gaia, mightier even than the Titans they helped to overthrow. One of their number, Aegaeon, was transformed by the Furies into a vast living prison for those who broke a blood oath with the gods.
The Hecatonchires, the Hundred-Handed Ones, were three giants of incredible strength and ferocity born of Ouranos and Gaia. Mightier even than the Titans, they aided the gods in overthrowing them and were afterward set to guard the gates of Tartarus, where the defeated Titans were chained. One of their number, Aegaeon, would meet a far stranger fate.
Origin#
The Hecatonchires were among the very first children born of the union of Ouranos and Gaia, brought into being alongside the Cyclopes and the twelve Titans. They were three creatures of monstrous form, each bearing a hundred arms and fifty heads. Their names were Aegaeon, also called Briareus, Cottus, and Gyges. Seeing his offspring as hideous monsters, Ouranos cast them down into the depths of Tartarus soon after their birth, where they remained imprisoned.
The Great War#
When the gods rose against the Titans, the Hecatonchires were freed to serve as allies, for their strength surpassed that of any Titan. During the Great War they hurled rocks as large as mountains, a hundred at a time, overwhelming the Titans and helping to secure the victory of the gods. With the Titans defeated and banished to Tartarus, the Hecatonchires were set as guardians over its gates.
Aegaeon the prison#
After the Great War, Aegaeon swore a blood oath to Zeus, only to betray it. Such a crime did not escape the notice of the Furies, the ancient guardians of honor and the keepers of blood oaths, who held that mere death would be too merciful a punishment. They transformed Aegaeon into a vast living prison, a Titan-sized creature built within and around his own body, where he would be both an example to all and a cage for those who followed him in breaking their oaths to the gods. Even so transformed, Aegaeon remained alive within his torment.
The breaking of the prison#
When Kratos broke the blood oath that bound him to Ares, having been tricked into slaying his own wife and child, he too was sentenced by the Furies to a life of madness within the prison of the damned built from Aegaeon. As he sought a way out, the Fury Megaera loosed her parasites into one of the creature's arms, and the fingers mutated and split until a tusked monster burst from the palm. Kratos pressed deeper through the countless grasping arms as the body of Aegaeon slowly transformed around him, until at the creature's head he faced Megaera as she warped the giant's skull and tried to make it devour him. Tricking the head into biting one of its own mutated arms, Kratos seized the opening and killed the Fury. Her death brought about the death of Aegaeon as well, ending the centuries of torment the Hecatonchires had endured.
Frequently asked questions
- What were the Hecatonchires in God of War?
- The Hecatonchires were three giants of incredible strength and ferocity born of Ouranos and Gaia, each possessing many arms and heads. They surpassed even the Titans in might and helped the gods overthrow them, after which they were set to guard the gates of Tartarus where the Titans were imprisoned.
- Who was Aegaeon the Hecatonchires?
- Aegaeon, also called Briareus, was one of the three Hecatonchires. After the Great War he swore a blood oath to Zeus and then betrayed it. As punishment the Furies transformed him into a colossal living prison, the Hecatonchires, in which those who broke their own oaths to the gods were tormented without end.
- How did Kratos free Aegaeon?
- Imprisoned within the body of Aegaeon for breaking his oath to Ares, Kratos fought his way through its countless mutating arms while pursued by the Fury Megaera. When he finally killed Megaera at the creature's head, Aegaeon died with her, ending the Hecatonchires' centuries of torment.
Sources
- WikiHecatonchires — God of War Wiki entry
- WikiAegaeon — God of War Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
Aegaeon: the Hecatonchires made a prison
Aegaeon was one of the three Hecatonchires, a giant of many hands who broke a blood oath with Zeus and was punished by the Furies. His vast body was transformed into the living dungeon called the Prison of the Damned, in which Kratos was once chained.
Cyclops
The Cyclopes were a species of burly, one-eyed giants, once peaceful herders and stonemasons banished to the Underworld before Zeus freed them to fight the Titans. In time they became beasts of war in the armies of the gods, their near-divine strength enough to threaten even demigods.
Megaera
Megaera was one of the three Furies, the Physical Fury who tormented her victims with brute force and parasitic monsters. After Kratos severed her arm in an earlier clash, she tortured him in the Prison of the Damned, until his escape led to her death and the recovery of the Amulet of Uroborus.
The Furies
The Furies were an ancient trio of sisters born of primordial rage who hunted those who broke their blood oaths to the gods. Once fair judges, they were corrupted by Ares and set upon Kratos after he renounced his bond, until the Spartan saw through their illusions and destroyed all three.
Ares
Ares was the first Olympian God of War, the eldest son of Zeus and Hera and the most hated god on Olympus. Coveting his father's throne, he tricked Kratos into killing his own family to forge the perfect weapon, and so set in motion the fall of the Gods before dying at that same Spartan's hand.
Gaia
Gaia was the Primordial Goddess of the Earth, mother of the Titans and grandmother of the Olympians. She raised the infant Zeus, mourned the fall of her children, and bound her fate to Kratos in a war of vengeance that ended with both betrayed.
Mentioned in12 entries
Aegaeon: the Hecatonchires made a prison
Aegaeon was one of the three Hecatonchires, a giant of many hands who broke a blood oath with Zeus and was punished by the Furies. His vast body was transformed into the living dungeon called the Prison of the Damned, in which Kratos was once chained.
Alecto
Alecto was the Queen of the Furies and the Goddess of Anger, the sister who ruled the trio that hunted Kratos. She mated with Ares to bear the disowned Orkos, ensnared her victims in illusion and black goo, and transformed into a monstrous sea creature before falling to the Spartan's blades.
Cyclopes: the one-eyed giants of Greece
The Cyclopes were a race of burly, one-eyed giants of the Greek world. Once peaceful shepherds and master craftsmen, they were banished underground, freed by Zeus to fight in the Great War, and bred thereafter as beasts of war.
Gaia
Gaia was the Primordial Goddess of the Earth, mother of the Titans and grandmother of the Olympians. She raised the infant Zeus, mourned the fall of her children, and bound her fate to Kratos in a war of vengeance that ended with both betrayed.
Hyperion
Hyperion was the Titan of the Sun and Light, eldest and wisest of the sons of Ouranos, who first bore the Power of the Sun before his son Helios. He fell with his kind in the great war, and the gates that bear his name still cross the world.
Megaera
Megaera was one of the three Furies, the Physical Fury who tormented her victims with brute force and parasitic monsters. After Kratos severed her arm in an earlier clash, she tortured him in the Prison of the Damned, until his escape led to her death and the recovery of the Amulet of Uroborus.
Ouranos
Ouranos was the primordial god of the sky and the first true ruler of all creation, who shaped the heavens and fathered the Titans with Gaia. His tyranny and his banishment of his monstrous children led his son Cronos to castrate and overthrow him.
Starkaðr: the eight-armed giant Odin feared
Starkaðr the Mighty was an eight-armed Jötunn warrior whose strength surpassed even Thor. Fearing that Starkaðr might one day lead the Giants as their general, Odin had him slandered throughout the realms and brought down by the combined armies of the Aesir, Vanir, and Midgard.
Tartarus
Tartarus was the primordial abyss born of Chaos and the deepest part of the Underworld, a prison where the Titans were bound after the first Titanomachy. Kratos descended into it twice, escaping its depths and later slaying Cronos within it.
The Furies
The Furies were an ancient trio of sisters born of primordial rage who hunted those who broke their blood oaths to the gods. Once fair judges, they were corrupted by Ares and set upon Kratos after he renounced his bond, until the Spartan saw through their illusions and destroyed all three.
Titanomachy
The Titanomachy, also called the Great War, was the long war between the Titans led by Cronos and the Olympians led by Zeus for mastery of Greece and all mortals. It ended in victory for the gods and the imprisonment of the Titans.
Titans
The Titans were the second generation of Greek deities, born to Gaia and Ouranos on the Island of Creation. They ruled the cosmos through the Golden Age until Zeus and the Olympians cast them down into Tartarus, and ages later they rose one final time at the side of Kratos.
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.