Game:Hades

Hades is the scheming and uncaring god of the Underworld as well as a major antagonist in the Olympus Coliseum in the Kingdom Hearts series. He can be encountered in boss battles such as in the tenth seed of the Hades Cup in Kingdom Hearts and in the thirtieth and final seeds of the Hades Paradox Cup in Kingdom Hearts II. He is also the final boss of the facsimile version of the Olympus Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Kingdom Hearts
Hades appears as the tenth seed of the Hades Cup. Hades is fought in an octagonal arena with tree-shaped pillars, meaning reduced space. Hades has more than five bars of HP, so at first, it will appear as if he is not taking any damage from attacks, since the extra HP does not show.

Hades uses the following attacks:
 * Flamethrower: Hades will spray flames in front of him, and then to the side. These flames are almost always directed towards Sora.
 * Temper Flare: Hades summons a revolving wall of fire from his hands.
 * Fira Shot: Hades will fire a small flame bullet at Sora.
 * Firaga Ball: Hades will throw fireballs at Sora.
 * Flame Claws: Hades will get enraged and will claw Sora with flamed hands. He will sometimes hit Sora more than once.

He starts off with Flamethrower (indicated by the line "Take that!")—it is recommended to use Dodge Roll to avoid the flames at first, and once the flames disperse, attack him from the front. Another helpful strategy is to stay near the flames (but just out of reach) and wait until the flames extinguish, and attack him as much as possible, then quickly Dodge Roll away from him when he says Take that!. Sora can also hit Hades with Blizzaga, since it will extinguish the flames and deal him some damage, giving another opportunity to attack him. It is nearly impossible get behind Hades and attack him because Hades will almost always face Sora. If Hades does his Flamethrower attack on Donald or Goofy—take that opportunity to hit him.

When Hades says "Feel the heat!", be on guard—he will turn red and go to the center of the arena and start his Temper Flare attack—a revolving wall of flames. It takes about four seconds for him to execute this attack; use this time wisely. The best way to stay away from the wall of flames is to head to one of the pillars in the front or the back of the arena (distinguishable by the gates on either side of the arena)—the flames do not reach these areas. However, it can be difficult to distinguish the front/back of the arena from the sides, so if this is a problem, go to another option immediately, and in the end Sora should hopefully be unhurt. DO NOT go to the sides of the arena when Hades unleashes his wall of flames, because the flames do extend to those areas. An alternative is to simply Dodge Roll around him in the direction he is rotating to avoid being hit by the flames, but not so close that Sora circles around him faster than he rotates, and the same for being too far away. If the flames are catching up to Sora, move closer, and vice-versa. As soon as he's done, attack him without having to rush over before he attacks again.

When Hades says, "That's it!", this indicates that he is about to use Firaga Ball. This is the cue to use Guard to deflect the fireballs back at him. A few deflected fireballs will stun him for a few seconds. Casting Aeroga will deflect his fireball right back at him, stunning him the first time.

While he's still red hot, he will use his Flame Claws attack—try evading that with Dodge Roll.

When Hades cools down and reverts to blue, he'll repeat his first attack—and the entire sequence of attacks mentioned above will repeat itself. Hades's attacks are rather predictable, so attack him in the same sequence until his HP is depleted.

Every now and then, use physical attacks on him, and use Blizzaga.

Sora's Story
Hades does about the same attacks as he does in Kingdom Hearts, albeit in a more unpredictable manner. Also, the arena is not the octagonal one with tree-shaped pillars; it is a full-sized square arena with invisible barriers, giving slightly more room for Sora to move around. There is no proper sequence to his attacks, so be on guard. Be sure to have Cure cards and 0 cards stocked up in the deck, as well as a sufficient amount of Card Points, and use Dodge Roll whenever necessary. Using sleights is highly recommended, lest Hades break Sora's single-card attacks.

It is recommended for Sora to use either Blizzaga (three Blizzard cards) or Blizzard Raid (one Blizzard card + two attack cards), as these work well against him. Try not to use Donald's Friend Card, because there is a risk of Donald casting Fire on Hades, causing him to recover. One might consider using a Blue Rhapsody card to increase the damage dealt by Blizzard attacks, if desired.

Reverse/Rebirth
Hades is fought in the same arena as he was in Sora's story.

The first thing one should do is to keep a small distance and continually break Hades's cards until Riku enters Dark Mode. It is advised to attack with sleights (be careful not to overuse sleights as the cards will not be reloaded), because Hades attacks in sleights. Getting the King Mickey card is a plus—with Holy Burst/Inverse Burst and several attack sleights from Dark Mode, Hades can be defeated without having to use an enemy card.

Kingdom Hearts II
During the first battle against Hades, Sora will be aided by his allies.

The best way to fight him is to have a full magic meter, and stock up on Ethers, as the best way to deal damage is by using magic and Aura Sphere. Keep Donald in the party and have Sora enter Wisdom Form and have extra magic power, or Master Form so Sora can perform endless magic combos.

Stay close to Hercules when he charges up Aura Spheres, and be sure to lock on to Hades so that they will be deflected in his direction. Towards the end of the battle, when Hades releases a huge ball of fire that spreads on to the arena, consider staying at Hercules's side and using the Reaction Command to activate a shield. When he says "That's it" stay away from Hades because he will unleash a fire wall around him making him red and invincible. When he says "Is that all ya got?" he just teleports to a different part of the arena, but after a while he will come to Sora to summon the fire wall, so stay on guard.

Hades is the final enemy in the last seed of the Hades Paradox Cup, Sora is only aided by Hercules. Use the same strategy as before and heal whenever necessary. Note that Drive Forms cannot be used (with the exception of Limit Form in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix) as Sora doesn't have access to his party members.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix/2.5 HD ReMix, enter Limit Form and use Ragnarok on Hades. To refill the drive gauge, attack Hades while invincible, but be sure to dodge his attacks. Also, use physical attacks on Hades every now and then. Just be prudent about Hades's attacks: they are not as predictable as in Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Hades appears as a story-line boss along with Ice Colossus in Aqua's story, and also as a boss in the Mirage Arena alongside a possessed Zack.

Hades's attacks have not changed much from previous games; he retains most of the moveset from Kingdom Hearts, but they can be avoided easier due to the abundant space in the arena. He retains his inflamed Claw attack, Fireball Pitch, and Flare attack. During the first fight with Hades and the Ice Colossus, target the Colossus first, as its ice shards can be lethal to Aqua's HP. Many of Hades's attacks are short-ranged, easy to dodge and guardable, but they do high amounts of damage. For the most part of the battle, Hades will keep his distance from Aqua, ordering the Colossus to attack with its ice shards. The ice shards do high amounts of damage. Once the Colossus is beaten, Hades will move in to attack. With the proper Command Style, Shotlock, or Dimension Link, both Hades and the Colossus should fall easily.

A Time To Chill
Hades, alongside the possessed Zack, appears as a boss in the A Time to Chill round of the Mirage Arena after waves of Unversed are defeated. During the battle with Hades and Zack, priority should again go to defeating Hades's partner Zack, as his attacks do lethal damage. Shotlocks are useful, as they have the potential to damage both Hades and Zack if they are close enough together. Once Zack falls, Hades should not be too powerful an obstacle, so long as the player avoids him when he turns red and becomes invulnerable.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
In Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, Hades is no less formidable than the fight before him, the Cerberus. Like Cerberus, his attacks can hit the party at once and deals a good amount of damage. To make things worse, HP and commands from the fight earlier won't be recovered. Besides attacking, he can also summon three Shadows to shield him. This Shadows-summoning move is actually quite useful since Hades won't attack after summoning them, giving one the chance to heal the party. These Shadows are also very weak, one hit should finish one of them. If possible, have Data-Sora beat the Shadows with a full-combo so Cloud and Hercules can attack Hades directly. Attack commands are still not recommended, and Licenses should be used if necessary. Regen License and Auto-Life License are still useful, and Strength License can be used to end the battle quickly. Focus on hitting at the right time to block and attack, and Hades should fall with ease.