Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)

Phobos
Name	Alexander "Alex" Aaron
Current Alias	Phobos
Aliases	Alex, Alexander Ares-Son, Billy, Ares, God of Dread, God of Fear, God of War
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Formerly Secret Warriors/Caterpillars; Amatsu-Mikaboshi
Relatives	Ancestors: Gaea (great-great-grandmother) Ouranos (great-great-grandfather, deceased) Cronus (great-grandfather) Rhea (great-grandmother) Grandparents: Zeus (paternal grandfather) Hera (paternal grandmother, deceased) Parents: Ares (father, deceased) Unnamed mother Siblings: Phobos, Deimos, Monstro, Kyknos, Drakon Ismenios (half-brothers) Hippolyta, Harmonia, Antiope, Lysippe, Melanippe, Orithya, Penthesilea (half-sisters) Other Relatives: Hercules, Hermes, Apollo, Dionysus (uncles) Hestia and Demeter (great-aunts) Artume (half-niece, deceased)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′1″ (1.55 m)
Weight	95 lbs (43.09 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Blond
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Olympian/human hybrid (demigod); became a God after drinking Mikaboshi's blood
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Death	Gehenna, New Zealand
Cause of Death	Killed by Gorgon
Personal Information
Identity	Known to Authorities
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Secret Agent, Adventurer, God of Fear; formerly God of War
Base of Operations	Elysium Formerly the Nick Fury's Safehouse; Bronx, New York City
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Michael Avon Oeming, Travel Foreman
First	Ares #1 (January, 2006)
First	Ares #1 (January, 2006)
Death	Secret Warriors #22 (November, 2010)
Death	Secret Warriors #22 (November, 2010)

Hear me clearly, Norman Osborn: You do not #$%$ with Nick Fury. And you do not $%^& with the god of fear.

—Phobos[source]

Alex Aaron, later known as Phobos, was the son of Ares and a human woman. While being raised as a mortal by his father, Alex was taken by the evil Japanese god Amatsu-Mikaboshi. After drinking Amatsu-Mikaboshi's blood, Alex was given Mikaboshi's sword Grasscutter and nearly killed his own father Ares with it, but Zeus' last magic freed Alex from Amatsu-Mikaboshi's control.

Father and son became at odds when Phobos joined Nick Fury's Secret Warriors and Ares joined Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers. Nevertheless, their bond was stronger. Phobos was accepted among the gods of Earth as a true god of fear, not just a demigod, and Ares returned to Phobos the sword Grasscutter, which had turned red from Ares' blood. However, during the Secret Warriors' conflict against the High Council of Hydra, Phobos was slain by the Gorgon, who wielded Godkiller. In death, Phobos found peace with his father in Elysium.

History

With Amatsu-Mikaboshi

Amatsu-Mikaboshi

Alexander Aaron was the son of Ares, the Olympian god of war, and a mortal woman. Ares had left Olympus because the other Olympians, including Ares' own mother Hera, saw him as a savage instrument of war. Renouncing his role, Ares attempted to raise Alex in a mortal life in a mortal world, though he refused to let Alex see his mother. Despite Ares' efforts to conceal his nature, Alex's tendencies for fighting, or more accurately defending, were displayed as early as third grade.

Alex being freed from Amatsu-Mikaboshi's control, after stabbing his father with Grasscutter

When Amatsu-Mikaboshi, an evil Japanese entity, assaulted Olympus, Zeus attempted to force his son Ares back into action by kidnapping Alex, but Mikaboshi stole Alex from Zeus' custody. Mikaboshi revealed to Alex his father's true identity and the Greek pantheon's long history of patricide, intending to use Alex to take on Ares' role. Mikaboshi gave Alex cups of his own blood, which awakened Alex's inner divinity and allowed Mikaboshi to control Alex. Mikaboshi then trained the boy in swordsmanship and gave Alex his prized sword called Grasscutter. Sent into battle, Alex under Mikaboshi's control critically wounded Zeus, and he personally stabbed Ares with Grasscutter, staining the blade red. In Zeus' final moments, he released Alex, who then cried at what he had done. Alex seemingly slayed Mikaboshi, ending the battle, and Alex and Ares reunited as gods. Months later, they returned to the human world once more.

Secret Warriors

With the Secret Warriors

As a member of Nick Fury's Secret Warriors, Alex was given the code name Phobos and was trained alongside Jerry Sledge (Stonewall), J.T. James (Hellfire), Yo-Yo Rodriguez (Slingshot), and Sebastian Druid (The Druid). One of their first missions was to take out the Dard'van, a religious sect of Skrulls leading an invasion of Earth. Alex and the team had a final showdown with the Skrulls in Central Park. The heroes won and the Skrulls were banished from Earth. After the battle Alex and the team struggled to deal with the fallout of the invasion.

Hydra

Fury's Secret Warriors were sent to an old S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Texas to observe activity there. They discovered Hydra operatives there. In defiance of their orders to observe only, Slingshot, The Druid, and Stonewall engaged the terrorists. After joining the team, Phobos bonded with the others over dinner and told them their futures. Among the predictions he made were Slingshot losing her arms, and the death of Hellfire. Despite telling Hellfire that he was going to die, they became friends. When the Secret Warriors arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. base Red Worm, they saw the Kraken, and a revived Gorgon executing agents. They attacked and even Phobos is unable to use his powers against him, but they are able to escape. J.T. Slade went through Fury's stuff, but was found by Phobos.

Instead of stopping him, he helped him. They both manage to find were Fury keeps his Life Model Decoy. When J.T. and Phobos were on monitor duty. Then they intercept a message from Black Widow, requesting immediate extraction much to their joy. The team are attacked by the Dark Avengers and H.A.M.M.E.R. But working together they are able to escape.

Judged by the Gods

A conflict occurred ages ago between both Olympians and Japanese gods, Zeus and Amatsu-Mikaboshi both asked a blind blacksmith to forge weapons for them. Thus, the blacksmith forged the swords Godkiller and Grasscutter respectively for the two gods. The latter was given to Alexander to kill his father Ares.

Phobos celebrating with Ares after being accepted by the Godheads

He managed to get around the brainwashing Mikaboshi inflicted on him and realized what he had done. Eleven months later in Burkina Faso, Ares and Alex debated over the issues of war, good and evil and honor. Fury met with Ares, asking for his help in breaking into Avengers Tower. In exchange, he promised the God of War to bring his son for judgement before the other gods. He did and Ares brought his son to another plane of existence, where he was given back his samurai armor and Grasscutter, stained with Ares' blood. Phobos was told that he would be judged before Balder the Brave, Hera and Quetzalcoatl. He was eventually found worthy of the title God of Fear because he showed none. As the gods celebrated, Ares told Phobos that he was not a god or demigod and that to become a true god, his son must die so that he may one day be reborn.

In Providence, Fury Secret Base #21, the team played cards. When both he and Hellfire made unhappy comments towards Quake for dismissing Druid, she admitted that Fury didn't think he was good enough. However, Stonewall was completely opposed to this, commenting about how seeing his father reminded him of how damaged and alone he'd been. But because of Fury, they all had a purpose and they should be working as a family. Everyone but Phobos voted for bringing Druid back. Phobos explained that he was a pragmatist and Fury wouldn't care. Nonetheless, Quake decided to do it anyway.

Death and Elysium

Phobos' last stand against Hydra

Phobos and the team were taken to Heaven's Hell, a secret base in orbit. There, Fury explained the plan for the main team to hit Hydra, while the other teams take on the last Leviathan bases. Using Eden's portal they traveled to Gehenna, where they attempt to blow it up, but they were expected. And worse, once the bomb was armed, Baron Strucker had the team cornered with an army of Hydra soldiers. With the timer on their bomb near the end of its countdown, the Secret Warriors were forced to flee but Phobos stayed behind. He was slain in battle against the Gorgon and reunited with his proud father in Elysium.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Empathic Fear Generation: Alex can cause fear in others by looking into their eyes.

Precognition: Alex can receive impressions of the future.

Olympian Heritage: As the child of an Olympian god, Alex will presumably have all the powers of an Olympian god upon reaching maturity. It is unknown at what level those powers manifest in a child but he was shown to be immune to Gorgon's gaze.

Abilities

Gifted Intellect: Alex is highly intelligent for a child.

Phobos vs. the Gorgon

Expert Swordsman: Amatsu-Mikaboshi trained Alex to be an excellent swordsman. Phobos later displayed incredible skills with a sword during his time with the Secret Warriors, being able to easily take on a contingent of secret services operatives on his own with relative ease. He could contend with Hydra's most skilled swordsman, the Gorgon.

Hunting: Alex was taught bow hunting by his father.

Alex is shown to be very proficient with videogames, but only chooses to play in multiplayer modes partly due to his divine powers (he states it is too easy to play against the CPU, because he feels like he knows what it will do).

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Grasscutter: A gift from Amatsu-Mikaboshi. It turned red when Mikaboshi controlled Alex to stab Ares.

Notes

Alex's original hair color is red

• Alex's hair is red in Ares but it inexplicably became blond in all of his subsequent appearances. Also, when the events of Ares is shown in flashbacks in Secret Warriors #10, Alex's hair is colored blond.
• The Olympian god Phobos was a separate entity (and Alex's brother), but Ares saw the original Phobos as more of his "spawn" than his son.

See Also

• 46 appearance(s) of Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)
• 6 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)
• 7 minor appearance(s) of Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)
• 9 mention(s) of Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)
• 4 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)
• 41 image(s) of Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)
• 3 quotation(s) by or about Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)
• 1 item(s) used/owned by Alexander Aaron (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Alexander Aaron on Wikipedia.org