Based on the eponymous Greek mythological figure, he is the Olympian god of war and major recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman.

He has been featured significantly as a persistent foe throughout every era of Wonder Woman's comic book adventures, and in many adaptations of her stories in other media.

[1] He would be known by that name (with sporadic exceptions) for the next 45 years, until creative team George Pérez and Greg Potter restored the Greek name Ares as part of their reboot of the Wonder Woman comic book mythos in 1987.

[2] As the narrative continuity of Wonder Woman comics has been adjusted by different writers and artists throughout the years, various versions of Mars/Ares (with various personalities and physical appearances) have been presented, though most have been depicted wearing Greek hoplite or Roman gladiator armor.

The character's longest-running look, designed by George Pérez, is that of a red-eyed Greek warrior clad in black and indigo battle armor, face hidden by an Attic helmet.

After DC's continuity was rebooted in 2011 (an event known as The New 52), the character cycled through several divergent visual interpretations (including one inspired by the physical appearance of then-writer of Wonder Woman, Brian Azzarello[3]) before returning to his Pérez-inspired warrior design.

His visual depiction remained faithful to Harry G. Peter's original design throughout the Golden and Silver Ages: a brawny, clean-shaven figure in Greco-Roman battle armor with entwined serpents emblazoned across the breastplate.

His debut appearance sees Mars seeking to realize his vision of eternal war and conflict in the world of man.

He uses Mars as an interplanetary headquarters, supplementing the enslaved Martian population with the spirits of the dead he collects from war zones on multiple planets, including Saturn and Earth.

[7] From this base, he seeks to defeat the Allied cause in World War II, sending thoughts of conquest, deception, and greed into the Axis leaders via astral projection, but he finds himself repeatedly thwarted by the Amazon champion Wonder Woman.

The Earl of Greed is sent and enlisted German aid, along with convincing the Dean of Holiday College to rob it, but was imprisoned after failing.

The Count of Conquest gains Italian help and, by trickery, succeeds in shackling Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor and brings them to Mars.

However, with the help of Etta Candy's spirit form, Wonder Woman escapes and overpowers Mars, whose Iron Palace is destroyed by his weapons, though he survives.

The Duke of Deception tries many times to defeat Wonder Woman, but fails despite his cunning and incredible technology, and Mars finally strips him of his mighty appearance, showing him to be a weak, toothless man.

His final scheme before the history-changing battle of Crisis on Infinite Earths is to ally with Hades and the Anti-Monitor to subdue the Gods of Olympus.

As Wonder Woman engages him in final battle, Steve Trevor frees the gods, and Hades' wife Kore appeals to her husband with a message of love, leaving Mars isolated.

His plot is to instigate a nuclear war between the United States and Russia, but Diana traps him in her magic lasso and shows how this would lead to his own disappearance, with no one to worship him.

Other gods such as Athena, Aphrodite, and Ares began to gain more power due to the appearance of the computer age, love never diminishing, and conflict remaining consistent.

In one story, the Teen Titans are thrown 10 years into the future, where Cassie has inherited the mantle of Wonder Woman after Diana's death.

Angered, Ares commands a son of Poseidon to cause a swarm of deadly sea creatures to attack Themyscira and the new island nation of Thalarion.

[17] Appearing to Wonder Woman in an apparition, counselling her on the ongoing conflict with the First Born, he tells her not to call him War anymore, as that is her name—she refers to him instead as Ares.

They have been infected with the Maru virus, which causes them to lash out in homicidal rage, though Diana and Steve Trevor defeat them, and Barbara Ann Minerva discovers Sear is an anagram of Ares.

He reveals his desire to spread the virus across the world in major locations with the hope of turning most of the human population into warring killers to fuel his power.

Accepting her new role to save mankind, Diana, with the help of the patron gods in animal form, subdues Ares with the Lasso of Truth.

[19] Years later, the mysterious tree that had been growing on Themyscira is teleported to the false island that Wonder Woman had originally thought was her home.

The gods alter Diana's memories to make her think she has returned to the island so she could never try to find the real Themyscira, thereby granting access to darker forces.

Once his sons have been defeated and bound by the Lasso of Truth, Ares reveals Isadore cannot leave without being split from her physical and astral forms.

Moreover, he is a master of conflict and strategy with centuries of experience in the field, and has complete telekinetic command and mastery over any weapon or armor.

Pertaining to his being a war god, violent actions and emotions such as anger, hate, death and bloodshed make him stronger and heal any wounds he may receive, as his soul is able to absorb the psychic energy created by such events.

At one time, he was also recognized as the Death God of the Greek Pantheon, having control over the dead and able to resurrect and command a whole army of undead from the Underworld to do his will, and then send them back whenever he wished.