Kronos is the Titan God of Time, the husband of Rhea, and the father of Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Kronos was said to be the most feared tyrant in the cosmos, but was dethroned by his children when they lead a rebellion against him known as the Titanomachy. After his defeat, he was imprisoned in Tartarus. His flashback debut occurs in Episode 25.
Kronos returns 2 millenniums later using the bodies of Hermes, Hades, and others, all in an attempt to capture Persephone and use her powers as a fertility goddess to help him rise back to power.
Appearance[]
Kronos' skin and hair resemble the night sky, being black and dark blue overall with speckles of white and light blue across. His hair is long and wild, often appearing to float of its own accord. He has a pointed nose, a trait he shares with two of his sons, Hades and Zeus. Kronos is frequently shirtless, displaying a muscular and toned physique, and wears a wrap around his waist. When enraged, Kronos's blue features can turn red and his mouth becomes larger and jagged.
While possessing other beings, their eyes become completely black with a white pupil. While using Hermes, Kronos darkens the skin of his body, slicks back his hair, displays eerie black eyes, and wears a black waist wrap. While using Hades' body, Kronos shortens his hair and shows his eyes.
Personality[]
Kronos is said by others to have been a tyrant, feared by mortals and immortals alike. Hades believes there must have been a time when Kronos was kind and compassionate, as he saw how much his mother loved him. If he was indeed ever truly kind, he lost this side of himself over time, later falling into complete insanity due to Gaia’s prophecy.
Kronos is power-hungry and obsessed with control. Despite his seemingly genuine love for his wife Rhea, he mainly married her so that he could use her power as a fertility goddess to overthrow his father Ouranos. Kronos’ obsession with power and maintaining his tyrannical rule would eventually drive him insane. He became especially paranoid due to a prophecy that stated his sons would be his downfall. As a result, he ate them one by one without hesitation or remorse to prevent the prophecy from happening, caring more for power than his family. He did not realize his actions towards his sons are what caused the prophecy to come true.
When attempting to fool Persephone into believing he is Hades, Kronos is forceful and disregards Persephone' pain and reluctance. He also shows a lecherous side to his personality, telling Persephone she is too covered up and that he can't see her properly.
Relationships[]
Romantic[]
Rhea[]
Kronos and Rhea in the past.
Rhea was Kronos' wife. While he seems to have genuinely loved Rhea, Kronos mostly married her so that he could use her Fertility Goddess power to rule the cosmos. Despite everyone’s protests, Rhea also wanted to be with him, as she saw the good in him that no one else did. Despite not wanting heirs, Kronos sired three sons with Rhea. However, due to his paranoia over a prophecy that their children would overthrow him, he only allowed her to keep them for short periods of time. Rhea tried hiding their sons from him, continually lying to him about their whereabouts. Kronos remarked that motherhood had made her weak. He ate a frightened Hades in front of Rhea, not caring that it would hurt her.
During the last years of Kronos' reign, Rhea appeared to Zeus severely weakened and close to disappearing. Rhea told Zeus that she had allowed Kronos to use her power because she once believed in him, but realized that she was wrong. She then beseeched Zeus to search for Metis, another Fertility Goddess, in the hopes he could put an end to Kronos. Kronos had sapped the last of her power, causing her to dissolve into ashes and enter a deep hibernation, from which she has still not recovered from. It can be assumed that Kronos had no care left for his wife, as she no longer had use to him.
Hera[]
Hera's nightmare of Kronos.
Hera is Kronos's daughter-in-law and once, his fake lover. During the war and after Rhea had entered hibernation, Zeus and Hera came up with a plan to be able to defeat him. This plan involved Hera seducing Kronos, gaining his trust, and slowly poisoning him over time. Although many, including Hades and Hera's mother Metis, disapproved of the plan, Hera insisted on going through with it. After Kronos discovered her deception, he was filled with rage. Finding her on the battlefield, he grabbed her and tore her in half. Her sacrifice allowed his defeat. However, Hera was greatly traumatized by these events, and it took her many years to recover. Many also looked down on the plan she had used to deceive Kronos, resulting in Hera being given the nickname "Golden Traitor,” which has followed her throughout the years.
In the present day, Hera is still traumatized by Kronos, although she keeps this to herself. She has often stared at herself in the mirror, feeling the scar he gave her. Eventually, Hera has a vivid nightmare about Kronos, where he makes his anger clear to her, calling her "Zeus' deceptive little bitch" and telling her he can "see her." After waking up screaming and crying in pain, Zeus consoles her, telling her Kronos cannot hurt her. However, both are shocked when her wound suddenly reopens years after the war.
This is the beginning of a curse Kronos uses to put her into a coma for eight years. After Kronos is defeated and resealed in Tartarus by Persephone, Hera is still plagued by him. He is able to physically manifest and speak to her, although nobody else is able to see him. When Kronos takes control of Tartarus after his defeat, he says he will allow no one to enter unless they bring him his golden traitor.
Children[]
Hades[]
A comparison of Kronos and Hades' alternate form.
Born as Aidoneus, Hades is Kronos and Rhea's firstborn son. Out of the three sons, Hades was the most traumatized by him. On Hades' 6th birthday, Kronos ripped him away from Rhea, whom he was very close to, and consumed him. Hades was trapped alone within Kronos for 13 years. Kronos would occasionally speak to Hades, although this was only to taunt and verbally abuse him. When Hades was set free by Zeus, Kronos attempted to keep Hades from escaping by biting him multiple times, leaving Hades with scars all over his body. As it took Hades an unusually long time to heal from his injuries, he believed that Kronos had cursed him.
After his eventual defeat at the hands of the 6 Traitors Dynasty, a considerably weakened and docile Kronos was given to Hades by Zeus; he was to receive the "prize" of overseeing Kronos' imprisonment, as he was the one who had suffered the most by his hands.
At the start of the story, Hades has successfully kept Kronos sealed in Tartarus, but he is still haunted by his father. He often has nightmares about the day Kronos consumed him. After falling in love with Persephone, Hades has a nightmare of Kronos eating her. Hades greatly resembles Kronos, especially in his true form. This is a source of great insecurity for him and was used against him by his ex-girlfriend Minthe.
After Persephone is banished to the Mortal Realm, Kronos uses his old curse to infiltrate Hades' mind; the start of a gradual possession. When Kronos takes over Hypnos' Realm and puts the inhabitants of the Underworld into a sleep they can't wake up from, this includes Hades. Kronos later uses Hades' possessed body in an attempt to deceive Persephone into marrying him, although the stark difference in their behavior keeps her from being fooled.
Poseidon[]
Poseidon is Kronos and Rhea's middle child. Rhea told Kronos that Poseidon was simply "a very ugly bird" to prevent him from consuming him. However, like Hades, he was eventually eaten, albeit at an older age. Kronos kept Poseidon and Hades separated from each other. After being freed by Zeus, Poseidon adapted to the outside world quicker than Hades, apparently retaining less trauma over his ordeal. Like Hades and other members of the 6 Traitors Dynasty, Poseidon was scarred by Kronos while being rescued from inside him; he received a scar across his left eye.
Kronos used the curse of the scar to put Poseidon into a coma for three years.
Zeus[]
Zeus is Kronos and Rhea's youngest son. After Kronos ate Hades and Poseidon in front of Rhea, she couldn't bear for her infant son Zeus to suffer the same fate. She gave him up to a group of nymphs to raise, so that he would be safe. Eventually, he led the war effort against Kronos. During the war, Zeus and his love interest Hera formulated a plan to defeat Kronos. This involved Hera seducing him and unknowingly poisoning him. Although the plan worked, it worked too well for Zeus' liking, and he became jealous. After Hera was severely injured by Kronos when he discovered her deception, Zeus was unable to comfort and relate to her, as he was the only traitor who had not been physically scarred by him.
When the war was done, Zeus "rewarded" Hades with the task of imprisoning Kronos in Tartarus.
When Zeus rescues Persephone while she is being attacked by Kronos, Kronos taunts him, calling him "the runt of the litter" and delighting in his incompetency. Persephone notes that he appears afraid after the encounter. Despite his clear fear of his father, Zeus later sacrifices himself to protect Persephone from him. Kronos impales him in the chest with a finger, finally scarring him physically.
Other[]
Persephone[]
Kronos knows of Persephone's status as a fertility goddess due to the divine tree she created during her escape from Tartarus. He therefore wants to use her to reinstate his rule over the cosmos. Kronos treats her like an object and does not mind injuring her during his pursuit of her. He shows undisguised desire towards her, telling her she will "look so pretty sitting at [his] feet" and being disappointed in her choice of attire because it covers her up. Despite this apparent attraction, he shows no inclination of wanting to actually get to know Persephone, nor does he care about her wellbeing. He sees her as nothing but a tool he must convince in order to be used.
When Persephone sees through his disguises and makes a fool of him, Kronos stops attempting to convince her to be his wife, instead claiming he can simply consume her to utilize her power. Although he backs her into a corner, Persephone is able to consume the Underworld Pomegranate, become Queen of the Underworld, and fight him with power on par with his own. Although Kronos attempts to verbally abuse Persephone, claiming her trauma makes her weak, he is easily subdued by her and resealed into his prison by her hand.
History[]
Kronos was the son of the Primordial Gods Ouranos and Gaia, the first rulers of the cosmos. However, he desired to rule the cosmos himself, forming a union with the Titan and Fertility Goddess Rhea. With the help of her powers, Kronos was able to overthrow Ouranos, gaining a reputation as a tyrannical ruler. Several years into his rule, Gaia warned Kronos that he would sire a child that would one day overthrow him. In an attempt to thwart this prophecy, Kronos devoured his children Hades & Poseidon before they could oppose him. His wife Rhea managed to save her youngest son Zeus from Kronos’s imprisonment by replacing him with a boulder. Zeus, years later, managed to free his captive brothers from their father.
After their recovery and with the assistance of the daughters of Metis, the sons of Kronos led a rebellion against Kronos and the other Titans known as the Titanomachy. Kronos was defeated by his children (fulfilling Gaia’s prophecy) and imprisoned within Tartarus. After his defeat his kingdom was split between his sons.
Kronos makes a physical appearance in Episode 148 of Lore Olympus, imprisoned within the depths of Tartarus but in a skeletal state and in chains. He becomes alert when he notices droplets of divine power from the roots of the tree grown by Persephone in Tower 4, intrigued and surprised.
Over the course of the timeskip, Kronos takes over the realm of sleep and dreams and begins possessing the sleeping bodies of those in the Underworld to assist in his escape from Tartarus. This also involves him putting all the members of the 6 Traitors Dynasty that he had scarred and cursed into comas. When Persephone enters the Underworld to find out what is happening, Kronos accosts her using the body of Hermes before being chased away by the arrival of Zeus. He later uses the body of Hades, all in an attempt to capture her and use her powers as a fertility goddess to help him rise back to power.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He is currently in Tartarus.
- It is revealed in Episode 90 that Hades can take on alternate form that greatly resembles him. It's clear Hades is not fond of this form, because it resembles his father so much, and prefers to avoid taking on this form in front of others.
References[]
https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/episode-25/viewer?title_no=1320&episode_no=27