Empusa

Empusa

Empusa is a melee monster in God of War: Ascension.

Greek Mythology

Empusa is a demi-godess of Greek mythology. In later incarnations she appeared as a species of spectres commanded by Hecate (known in English as an Empusae).

She is often associated or grouped with the demigoddesses Lamia and Mormo, who were likewise related as types of spectres in later mythology (the lamias and mormolyceas, respectively).

As a demi-goddess, Empusa was the beautiful daughter of the goddess Hecate and the spirit Mormo. She feasted on blood by seducing young men as they slept, before drinking their blood and eating their flesh. Empusa is pictured as wearing brazen slippers and bearing flaming hair. By folk etymology, her name was said to mean "one-footed". This gave rise to the iconography of a one-legged hybrid, with a donkey's leg and a brass prosthetic leg.

In later Greek mythology, her role was reduced to a species of spectre called an empuse or empusa (pl. empusae). The empusae were sent by Hecate to guard roads and devour travelers (Hecate was also the goddess of roadsides). According to Philostratus, empusae ran and hid, uttering a high-pitched scream, at the sound of insults. The empusae are best known for their appearance in Aristophanes's The Frogs, in which they scared Dionysus and Xanthias on their way to the underworld.

God of War: Ascension

empusa

Empusa is a female monster with purple spikes instead of limbs. She also has fire instead of hair.The Empusa is an enemy in God of War: Ascension. She's a very agile and strong enemy, as well as seductress. She will crawl towards Kratos on her four limbs but can also become bipedal. She's able to overbend her joints to the point of breaking and thus twist herself into many inhuman shapes. Kratos finishes her by slamming her on the ground, twisting her leg and piercing her upper body with the said limb.Killing her this way seems to release blue and red orbs.Empusa is the only monster that does not make an appearance in the Multiplayer.  

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Kratos kills Empusa

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Trivia

• Some consider the empusae to be creations and servants of Hecate, the goddess of magic, witchcraft and the moon (not like Artemis, but more specifically one of the phases of the moon). The presence of these monsters indicates that she can be present at some point of the game, or even her daughter, Circe, a minor goddess (or a very powerful sorceress) that liked to transform enemies or those that offended her into animals.
• As shown in the Dev Diary, the early designs varied from half woman, half centipede to a womanlike creature with four arms and two pair of breasts.