What happened to that happy and hopeful Hades community from the first game? Back when the OG Hades was fully unleashed onto the world in 2020, fans were in love with its character designs. No one claimed that there was 'forced' diversity or cared that Zagreus was bisexual, but if only that were the case with its 2024 sequel.

Hades 2 has only just entered Early Access, and while its place at the top of the Steam charts proves it's anything but a case of "go woke, go broke," that hasn't stopped some pretty ugly critiques being thrown in the mythological roguelike's direction. Supergiant Games can't catch a break, and neither can Aphrodite.

The Hades Aphrodite controversy explained

The Hades Aphrodite controversy shows no signs of slowing down, and whaddya know, it's someone's looks that are an apparent cause for concern. The Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty appeared in the first Hades and raised a few eyebrows due to her seductive look.

Like most of the characters, Aphrodite has been fine-tuned for the sequel, wearing equally as little clothing but now ready for war against Chronos, the Titan of Time, with a spear and shield. You'll also notice that Aphrodite now has war paint similar to Hades' Ares, which is a nice nod to their relationship as lovers in Greek Mythology. 

Apparently, this battle-ready Aphrodite is too 'manly', with some accusing Supergiant of turning her into a trans character. We'd like to point out that this has never been stated by the devs, and so what if she was trans anyway? While this is a minor complaint from an even small group of gamers, the Aphrodite controversy is only getting more volatile. 

Hades 2 fans 'fix' Aphrodite

Over on X (formerly Twitter), fans have taken it upon themselves to 'fix' Aphrodite amid complaints she has a "man face." One critic said, "Yo actually wild they legit tried to make her look trans," while another added, "She finally looks like a woman" after seeing the 'fixed' design.

Others have taken it even further and created a mod that completely removes Aphrodite's portrait from the game. We saw a similar level of hate about changes made to Hestia, and it seems as soon as the haters quiet down about one Hades 2 character, they find another to drag across the coals of the Underworld. 

There were thankfully plenty of Aphrodite supporters, as someone wrote, "Genuinely trying to understand what part of hades Aphrodite looks like a man to people. Like, I'm genuinely trying to see what's so clearly masculine about her. That's straight-up a woman. is it gay to like women now ? Is that the public consensus?"

In the wake of the Stellar Blade controversy and the idea that protagonist Eve was simply designed with jiggle physics in mind, it's interesting that those same few who are ogling Eve and signing petitions for her to wear even less clothing suddenly have a problem with Aphrodite. Sigh, another day, another grubby discourse.