Reddit Is Deeply Divided Over The Best Blood Of Zeus Season 1 Character
The mythology surrounding the Greek pantheon is rife with multifaceted individuals. From the gods themselves to their half-human progeny, tales of the Greek gods are still remembered even to this day. The names of Hercules, Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Hades, Ares, and Apollo are immediately recognizable to many, including the most history-adverse people. As such, the dynamic between the Greek gods and their offspring (aka the demigods) is the stuff of legends, and absolutely perfect to form the basis of a popular Netflix show.
"Blood of Zeus" focuses on the protagonist Heron (Derek Phillips), one of the demigod sons of Zeus (Jason O'Mara). Considering his status as the son of quite literally The Greek God, Heron is significantly more powerful and resilient than a standard issue human being. However, he is far from the only interesting character in "Blood of Zeus," and the cast of colorful characters is rounded out with Electra (Mamie Gummer), Alexia (Jessica Henwick), Seraphim (Elias Toufexis), and Kofi (Adetokumboh M'Cormack) to just name a few. With the richness of lore and personalities, it appears as if fans on Reddit are struggling to crown the best character of the series.
Blood of Zeus fans appear to have two favorites, and neither is the main character
In an informal June 2021 poll posted to the subreddit r/BloodofZeus, Redditor u/Toe500 started things off by asking other users who their favorite character is and listed several options: Hera (Claudia Christian), Seraphim, Alexia, Heron, Apollo (Adam Croasdell), and Hermes (Matthew Mercer). To wit, U/Toe500 also lamented the fact that they couldn't put more characters in the poll. With this many options, one might think that the poll's results would be somewhat equal, but it looks like two characters rose to the top — and neither is the main character, Heron.
It turns out (at least according to this poll) that the two characters who earned the most favor with "Blood of Zeus" fans are none other than Seraphim and Hermes. The demonic-looking Seraphim was the winner of the poll with 93 votes, while the messenger of the Gods, Hermes, had 87. In third place was Apollo, followed by Hera, Alexia, and Heron in last place with just 26 votes. One Reddit user replied, "I knew Heron would be the lowest. TEAM SERAPHIM," while another added, "Forever and always #teamseraphim," which illustrates some of the fan sentiment regarding the characters. Unfortunately, there weren't many fan comments regarding Hermes or other runner-ups, but the results of the poll speak for themselves.
One of the showrunners argues the Greek gods are the original superheroes
In a November 2020 interview with Comic Book, series co-creator Charley Parlaparnides was asked about how "Blood of Zeus" can introduce elements of Greek mythology and characters to an audience that may or may not completely understand the references. Parlaparnides answered, "But if you look at the Olympians, they were the original superheroes. So the chance to bring the things that we always loved together — [an] anime-style show and Greek mythology — was just a dream come true. And so we feel just blessed." He continued, "We just thank God that Netflix is taking these creative shots and they're making these kinds of shows because we do think this is an underserved audience. We do think that the fandom is much bigger than maybe the majority of Hollywood realized."
Considering this comment, it seems as if the showrunners want to draw a direct connection between the modern-day obsession with superheroes and those they consider the original inspiration for augmented, powerful humans. This strategy seems to have worked because the show holds an impressive 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, thanks in part to the talented cast of voice actors and varied mythological and fascinating characters and plots.