Children of Ares

Across DC Comics publication history, the label groups figures described as offspring or lieutenants of the war god Ares/Mars who serve as his agents in campaigns of conflict. The composition and depiction of these children have shifted with editorial reboots: early Silver Age stories introduced Deimos and Phobos (debuting in Wonder Woman #183, 1969) while later Bronze/Modern Age and post-Crisis revamps (notably the Greg Potter/George Pérez reboot beginning with Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #2, 1986) established a darker triad including Deimos, Phobos and Eris and added other named progeny (Eros, Harmonia, Hippolyta "Lyta" Milton, the Crow Children) at various points. The phrase "Children of Ares" is primarily an extratextual/encyclopedic descriptor rather than an in-story formal team name; sources note there is no unified in-continuity team officially called "the Children of Ares."

Visual portrayals vary by era and creative team. In Silver Age appearances (beginning 1969) Deimos and Phobos were depicted wearing Greco-Roman robes with human features and a sinister bearing, at times leading demonic forces called the "Beast Men." The Greg Potter/George Pérez post-Crisis redesign rendered Deimos and Phobos with grotesque, mythic features—Deimos given a snake-bearded aspect and a cool, calculating bearing and Phobos as hulking and brutish—clad in fantastical Greco-Roman armor. In later continuities (including post-Rebirth) the characters have sometimes been rehumanized, presented as more human-looking figures or as identical twins kept in close company. Other named progeny are attested in sources though specific visual details for each are not consistently detailed in the cited material.

Abilities and roles vary by continuity but consistently center on acting as Ares' legates: leading armies, carrying out campaigns of conquest, and serving as recurring antagonists to Wonder Woman. Silver Age stories portray Deimos and Phobos commanding demonic forces (the "Beast Men"). Post-Crisis depictions emphasize distinct temperaments that inform tactics—Deimos depicted as coolly calculating and manipulative, Phobos as rash, petty and deceitful, and in at least one storyline Phobos creates a nightmarish entity called Decay. The siblings operate both collectively and individually, confronting Wonder Woman as proxies of Ares or in their own schemes; in the post-Crisis account they have been associated with Ares' other-dimensional stronghold called the Areopagus.