The Children of Ares are several fictional characters appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as recurring adversaries of the superhero Wonder Woman. Primarily based on eponymous Greek mythological figures, they are malevolent progeny of Wonder Woman's nemesis, the war god Ares. Three in particular – Deimos, Phobos and Eris – have emerged as especially enduring characters, appearing in every era of Wonder Woman's comic book adventures since debuting in 1969's Wonder Woman #183. Beginning in the Silver Age of Comic Books, these three characters have often been presented as Ares’ principal legates in his campaigns for universal conquest, and have also confronted Wonder Woman on their own, individually as well as with one another, as antagonists independent of their father.
As the narrative continuity of Wonder Woman comics has been adjusted by different writers and artists through the years, various versions of Deimos, Phobos and Eris (with various personalities and physical appearances) have been presented. The trio's longest running incarnation, co-devised by writer Greg Potter and writer/artist George Pérez, was as grim classical deities with gruesome features, clad in fantastical Greco-Roman armor. In DC Comics' current post-Rebirth continuity, they are presented as more human figures with more contemporary personalities.
Several other of Ares' progeny – Eros, Harmonia, Hippolyta "Lyta" Milton and the Crow Children – have featured in the Wonder Woman mythos at various points in its history. Of these, only Eros has spanned multiple continuities, appearing in the Bronze Age, Modern Age, New 52 and post-Rebirth eras. Harmonia, Lyta Milton and the Crow Children are all specific to the post-Crisis period of DC's Modern Age continuity, and have not appeared outside of it.
Context
Nomenclature
There is no group known as "the Children of Ares" in any DC Comics continuity; the term has never been used as an in-story proper team name, such as "Justice League" or "Suicide Squad". However, during DC's post-Crisis continuity, the trio of Deimos, Phobos and Eris were designated as "Ares’ Children" in an illustrated encyclopedic entry by that title in 1999's Wonder Woman Secret Files and Origins #2. Several years later, a similar entry titled "Children of Ares" grouped the same three characters in Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess, a Wonder Woman encyclopedia published in 2003 in conjunction with DC Comics. Though Wonder Woman uses the phrase "children of Ares" to address the Crow Children in 2010's Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #41, she is not naming them properly but rather indicating her knowledge of their parentage and fealty.
Golden Age progenitors
Though Deimos, Phobos and Eris have functioned as a coterie of generals in service to Ares in Wonder Woman comic books dating back to the Silver Age of Comics, they are, in fact, the second trio characters to do so. The convention began in Golden Age stories written in the 1940s by Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston, who penned three other figures to serve as the chief operatives of the war god: the Duke of Deception, Lord/Count Conquest and the Earl of Greed. A fourth figure, General Destruction, makes a single background appearance as Mars' aide-de-camp in Wonder Woman #2, but is never seen again.
The Duke of Deception would strike out on his own to become one of Wonder Woman's principal mid-century foes, though Lord/Count Conquest and the Earl of Greed would reappear to complete the triumvirate for minor appearances in both the Silver and Bronze Ages.
Deimos and Phobos
Deimos is based on the eponymous Greek mythological god of terror and Phobos on the eponymous god of fear. They are brothers, both sons to Ares and Aphrodite, and have been paired as a collaborative duo for most of their DC Comics appearances. Since 2017, they have been presented as identical twins, always in one another's company.
This Deimos is a distinct character from the wicked sorcerer of the same name who is an enemy of the DC Comics hero Warlord.