Which Characters Can You Romance In Hades?

One of the most enjoyable aspects of Hades, other than its well-reviewed roguelike elements, is the act of slowly building your relationships with all the NPCs in the game, learning more about them, and growing along with them every step of the way.

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Almost every single character Zagreus interacts with can have a Bond formed with them thanks to constant gifts of Nectar, Ambrosia, or occasionally doing Favors for them. Basically, if they give you a Keepsake, you can max their Bond rank out. These Bonds range from legendary warriors, Olympic Gods, and even the personification of Death. But, only a select few Bonds can develop an even deeper connection with Zagreus to something more…romantic.

Disclaimer: You can romance all three of the potential characters at once with no repercussions, so there’s no need to do this in any particular order.

Megaera: The First Boss & Zag's First Love

Obviously, we’re going to start with one of the Fury Sisters, Megaera, given that she’s the first character to show romantic interest in Zag and vice versa (although at the start of Hades, their first attempt at a relationship had already gone sour). To max out Megaera’s Bond and take your relationship to the next level, it’s really quite simple:

1. Gift her one Nectar, to start her Bond and receive the Skull Earring.
2. As you go through runs, gift her five more Nectar one by one.
3. At Bond +6, you won't be able to progress her Bond further until you complete her Favor.
4. Keep playing until her Favor (described below as "Megaera's Favor")eventually triggers.
5. After this, you'll be gifting her Ambrosia instead of Nectar, one at a time (the first Ambrosia has her give you the Chthonic Companion "Battie" in response), until her Bond hits +10.
6. Then, at max rank, she'll invite you to have a private conversation, and you'll have the option to "Go To Her" or "Ease Off".
7. Obviously, pick "Go To Her" for the Romance route.
8. Otherwise, you can pick "Ease Off" with no consequences to your overall gameplay experience.

A lot of these Favors the NPCs in Hades ask of Zagreus are sort of involved or have a number of steps, but Megaera's is about a simple as it gets:

• Megaera's Favor: All you have to do is make sure you have the interaction where Meg gets her stuff from Zag's room, then just keep playing the game and beating the Fury Sisters until she shows up in Zagreus' room randomly. After this "scene", the Favor is done and you can continue progressing her Bond.

It’s safe to say that Megaera is one of the all-time fan-favorite characters in Hades, so it’s nice to see that eventually she and Zag can find happiness together.

Thanatos: How Can The Incarnation Of Death Be This Cute?

It's a bit strange that Zagreus, Thanatos, and Megaera were all raised by Nyx but can date each other. That's Greek mythology for you! Anyway, Thanatos, the incarnation of Death itself is another character Zag can romance, an LGBTQ+ relationship that feels very well-written and unsurprisingly so from an all-inclusive dev studio like Supergiant Games.

Personality-wise, Thanatos is very blunt, stoic, and can seem a bit cold at first. But, that isn’t to say that Thanatos is emotionless or uncaring, as players can easily figure out from his Bond conversations. Rather, he's sort of opposite to Zagreus in that he's very perceptive but has trouble connecting with others. To unlock to option to romance Thanatos, it’s very similar to Megaera’s process:

1. One Nectar starts his Bond and gets you the Pierced Butterfly (one of the games' best Keepsakes).
2. From then on, Than appears from time to time at the balcony area of the House of Hades, to the left of Achilles. Give him Nectar whenever possible until he gets to Bond +6.
3. Then, you'll need to complete his Favor.
4. After the Favor is done, give Thanatos one Ambrosia for the Chthonic Companion "Mort", then three more Ambrosia when possible to get him to Bond +10.
5. Finally, once the two of you talk in Zag’s room, Thanatos will ask if you meant what you said before. Here, you can either "Comfort Him" or "Ease Off"
6. The "Comfort Him" option is the Romance route, so pick this one if that's what you desire.
7. If not, you can pick "Ease Off" with no consequences to gameplay.
8. Additionally, if you managed to romance Megaera as well (or vice versa), you’ll randomly have both NPCs appear in your room. Pick the "Go To Them" option here to pursue a polyamorous relationship with both of them, or pick "Ease Off" if you'd prefer not to go down that route. Once again, there are no gameplay consequences for either choice.

• Thanatos' Favor: Another pretty simple one. Once you unlock his Favor, just make sure to beat Thanatos in yet another killing competition, and the Favor is completed.

Like Megaera, Thantos’ relationship with Zag is very well-written, believable, and adorable. Supergiant Games just seems to have such a knack for writing romance in general.

Dusa: The Most Likeable Floating Gorgon Head In Existence

Dusa the floating Gorgon Head is quite possibly the most innately lovable character in Hades, or possibly in all of gaming. She’s so incredibly sweet, so self-sacrificing, and such a great friend to Zagreus. Fans are still not entirely sure if she's the mythical Medusa, reduced to a floating head in the afterlife, but it very much seems that way. And, like Sisyphus, it seems like Tartarus has changed her for the better. Because of her likable demeanor, the fanbase was excited to see that Dusa has a romantic path as well that was eventually added to the game.

But, unlike the other two, Dusa’s path requires a bit more work:

1. Give her one Nectar to start her Bond and get the Harpy Feather Duster
2. Keep doing this until you unlock her Favor at Bond +6.
3. Unlock her Favor and complete it.
4. Give her one Ambrosia to get the Chthonic Companion Fidi and Bond +7.
5. Then, you'll have to give her larger and larger amounts of Ambrosia to get her to Bond +8, 9, and 10.
6. At Bond +10, you'll then get the option to have a conversation with Dusa privately. This conversation, unlike the other two, has no option and progresses on its own.
7. After this, your max Bond is forged with Dusa.
8. You can then have a conversation afterward with Dusa where she offers to return the staggering ten Ambrosia you gave her from Bond +7 to Bond +10.
9. Have no fear, there are no consequences for either option, you can get your Ambrosia back, or you can let her keep it if you want.

• Dusa's Favor: The final romance option's Favor revolves around helping her catch up on the Lounge Renovations. You must use the House Contractor to renovate 12 aspects of the Lounge specifically, and two of these renovations must include clearing up Cerberus’ Fur Tufts/Claw Marks as well as picking at least one new rug option. You’ll know you did it once the “A Place Of Revelry” Minor Prophecy is completed.

So, by now you’ve probably realized that Dusa’s “romance” path doesn’t actually end in romance like it implies it would in-game. There are a couple of key reasons for this:

• Dusa is literally a disembodied Gorgon Head, and Supergiant likely didn’t want to encourage the concept of “being romantic” with a floating head.
• Some of Dusa’s dialog has led fans to infer that she may be aromantic or asexual.
• Supergiant Games likely wanted to have a romance route where the player character isn’t rewarded with “romance” for showering an NPC with gifts, as well as showing that girls and guys can just be friends with no issues.

Dusa and Zag’s friendship is honestly one of the most well-regarded parts of Hades, and they talk about their platonic love for each other on multiple occasions. So, while this isn’t what you were likely expecting, it’s still incredibly worth it to pursue Dusa’s romance route.

NEXT: Hades: All Voice Actors From The Game & Who They Play

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