This guest post is written by Lauryl Fischer.
“Hades II” brought with it significant hype and high expectations. In particular, people wondered how Supergiant was going to follow up on the lovable rogue and smart-ass Zagreus. But Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld, won me over with “Hades II’s” first trailer. As soon as I saw her Sister Blades winking in the moonlight, fire sizzling at her feet, and madness sparking in her eye, I fell in love. She is more than a heroine, more than a warrior — she is a witch.
Since then, while “Hades II” has received rave reviews for its art, gameplay, and music, I’ve seen people criticize Melinoë’s story for not being as personal as Zagreus’s. In the 2020 roguelike hit, Zagreus was on a rebellious quest to reunite with his mother and (ultimately) repair his broken relationship with his father, the rest of the Underworld be damned.
In comparison, Melinoë deals with world-ending stakes: her grandfather, Chronos, has kidnapped her family, upended time itself, and laid siege to Olympus. As the sole survivor of Chronos’s vengeful plan, she has been raised as a weapon. Many have read her as following the Chosen One archetype — either she embraces her destiny or the world will literally end.
But as I played through “Hades II”, I saw Melinoë following a different archetype: That of the eldest daughter. (To be clear, yes, Melinoë is Zagreus’s little sister, but she is also the only daughter of Hades and Persephone, and she is raised by Hecate as an only child. She qualifies!) Read through this lens, I’d argue the burdens she carries are both personal and communal.
Melinoë as Goddess of Ghosts, Nightmares, and Eldest Daughters
Haven’t heard of this trope before? Here’s the TL;DR: The eldest daughter often fulfills the role of a second parent, carrying additional domestic and emotional responsibilities. Melinoë slots right into that identity.
As an eldest daughter myself, I recognized so much of myself in Melinoë. She must be the reliable, responsible, and disciplined one. Her relationships with others at the Crossroads exemplify the extent of this role. Most notably, Hecate positions Melinoë as the favored champion over Nemesis, who trained beside her. While Nemesis constantly abandons her assigned post as a Crossroads’ guard to pursue her personal vendetta of vengeance, Melinoë cannot do the same; she is bound to her duty, not her desires, and must resist Nemesis’s mockery.
In fact, Melinoë’s provides steady emotional support for those in the Crossroads. While Eris litters and taunts Melinoë to get her to “loosen up,” Melinoë remains level-headed. Instead, she pushes Eris to reconsider living in constant “strife” with those around her. Melinoë also provides a patient ear for Dora while she uncovers her memories. She serves others before herself because that was how she was raised; she carries the expectations of everyone around her, especially Hecate. And those expectations have made her an anxious perfectionist because failure is not an option.
I appreciate how Melinoë’s upbringing manifests in little personality quirks, like keeping her bedroom tidy (contrasting with Zagreus’s messy bedroom) and picking up whenever Eris litters. Furthermore, she volunteers to take on the domestic role of improving the Crossroads, which serves as the home of the Unseen, a resistance for the greater good, as well as hundreds of lost shades. This choice contrasts with Zagreus’s work with the House Contractor, which is a responsibility initially thrust upon him.
Melinoë’s Extended Family
While Zagreus’s quest helped him discover his true place in the Underworld, Melinoë works to not only free the gods, but the shades weaponized by Chronos (as the goddess of ghosts) and to restore the balance between the Underworld, the Crossroads, and Olympus. This quest is every bit as personal as Zagreus’s because Melinoë’s upbringing as the eldest daughter expands her understanding of family far beyond her bloodline.
The gameplay affirms this. Her ability to walk multiple paths — surviving in both the Underworld and on the surface — is a genius one from a gameplay perspective since it offers even more freedom for players to customize their runs. But it’s also reflective of these responsibilities and the expectations that Melinoë navigates, as a dutiful daughter, reliable sister, responsible homemaker, and emotionally mature therapist to those around her.
Melinoë’s Arcana cards are another way in which the gameplay reflects her multiplicity. Rather than the Mirror of Night’s strict linear, binary progression system (players access red or green updates only), the Arcana are highly customizable and rely heavily on resource gathering to update and activate the abilities— for example, Origination only kicks in once Melinoë gains two curse effects from different Olympian gods. Thus, Melinoë achieves her true potential by drawing on her network. She must manage her resources, just as she manages the Crossroads, her destiny, and those around her.
The Arcana reinforces how Melinoë thrives through community. For example, her closeness with Artemis is seen through singing and ranged target practice, or her friendship with Arachne, whose gifts of silken fineries can be used as armor or power-ups—an awesome way to literally weaponize femininity. Not to mention her connection to animals; Melinoë’s ability to bond with different animal familiars is another way in which the game pays homage to witchcraft and to Melinoë’s expansive definition of community — working with the natural world rather than conquering it.
The more time I spent with Melinoë, the more I felt her story was a true celebration of the feminine and the femme experience, and the gameplay is made better for it. To reduce such a story to the “Chosen One” narrative cheapens those many creative and logistical choices, favoring a patriarchal reading of “Hades II’s” themes. Instead, embracing a feminist lens lets Melinoë stand on her own, excavating her myth from obscurity and redefining her as an icon in her own right.
Image Credit: “Hades II,” Supergiant Games
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