Hades Cup

The Hades Cup is the fourth and longest-running tournament at Olympus Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts. After the cup, Phil puts up the trophy in the Lobby. There is a boss in every tenth seed, and defeating each boss sets up a checkpoint allowing the party to continue from that seed in the event that they lose the cup.

The Hades Cup also reappears as a mandatory tournament in Kingdom Hearts II, during Sora's second visit.

Kingdom Hearts
After Sora seals the Final Keyhole at Hollow Bastion, Hades opens the Hades Cup as his final gambit to eliminate the Keyblade wielder. As Sora and company advance through the rounds, Hades himself appears on the tenth round to take Sora out personally, but falls. Eventually, Sora and friends conquer the Hades Cup.

Kingdom Hearts II
After the Underdrome is accidentally opened by Sora, Hades begins preparations for the second Hades Cup. During Sora's second visit to Olympus Coliseum, Hades forces everyone to participate in the cup, including the weakened Hercules. Hades had also stolen Auron's free will in order to force him to kill Hercules and Sora, but Sora manages to reclaim Auron's free will, and the heroes defeat Hades together. Much later on, Hades opens up the Paradox version of the Hades Cup, which has the traditional fifty seeds.

Strategy

 * Yuffie: Dodge Roll to avoid Yuffie's shuriken or Guard to reflect them back at her. Then pound her with Ars Arcanum or regular combos. Winning this match rewards Goofy with the Genji Shield.
 * Behemoth: The only strategy employable against a Behemoth is to use Ars Arcanum and combos on the horn, which is reachable by jumping on its back. After dealing enough damage the Behemoth will lower its head and the party can strike it from the ground but after its horn begins to glow blue it will get back and launch lasers from the sky. The laser attack is very difficult to avoid so just get on its back again and pound away. Defeating the Behemoth earns the party a Blizzard upgrade.
 * Cerberus: Dodge Roll to avoid the spouts of darkness and energy balls and use Strike Raid to inflict good damage and stay out of danger for the majority of the battle. Also, jump on his back to avoid spouts of darkness, use Aero(-ra, -ga), and allow Goofy and Donald to attack while Sora supports them and himself. Cerberus's downfall upgrades the party's Thunder spell.
 * Cloud & Leon:Focus on taking down Cloud first [his hp bar is lower], by avoiding the attacks from their swords, which is easily accomplished by jumping or dodge rolling, and slamming him with Ars Arcanum and combos. Matching sword strokes with Leon and Cloud gives Sora the Lionheart keychain.
 * Hades: Hades has a hidden sixth HP Bar, so keep whacking him until the purple bar starts going down. Hades has a multitude of attacks. First, he can swing fire across his front, which is avoidable by staying away from him. He can shoot fire balls similar to Cerberus, but these are avoided in the same manner. He shoots flame pillars from his hands, which are avoidable by running in the same direction he is spinning. It should be noted that casting Blizzard magic is enough to end most of his attacks. When the Lord of the Underworld goes down, the party will acquire a Gravity upgrade and Ansem's Report 8.
 * Rock Titan: The only real danger from the Rock Titan is the shock waves it gives out when it steps, but those are easily avoidable by jumping. At the start of the battle lock onto one of its massive feet and attack with any ability in Sora's arsenal. Eventually, the Titan will fall and the party can attack the head. The head tends to swing, so jump to avoid that. Also, if Sora has extra MP, cast Aerora/ga on the party for extra damage. Continue this procedure until it dies and for defeating the monster and the Coliseum, the party will win the Trinity Limit ability.