General Hadias

Evil Spirit General Hadias (悪霊将軍ハ-ディアス, Akuryou Shougun Haadias^?), also referred to as General Hardias or Evil Spirit Battalion Commander Hardius (悪霊将軍ハーディアス), is a fictional character, a supervillain and warrior from the anime and manga series Great Mazinger (8 September 1974 – 28 September 1975). He is commander of the Spectral Battle Beasts, one of the Seven Armies of the Mikene Empire. He resembles a gigantic skeleton wearing a ragged cloak with an upside-down skull for a head. His true face is mounted on his chest in the original anime version. In his redesign for the Mazinkaiser OVA, his true face is hidden in darkness inside his cloak (only the glowing eyes are visible) while the skull is now covered in blue flames. He wields a scythe as his weapon of choice in both versions.

According to his profile included in the Mazinkaiser VS the Great General of Darkness OVA, he is a master of psychological warfare and enjoys terrifying and demoralizing his victims before killing them. According to the translation of the Great Mazinger manga, Hadias possesses remarkable psychic powers and has the ability to breathe fire from the head on his hand.

History

Like the other members of the Mikene Empire, General Hadias survived beneath the surface of the earth in the form of a hideous Warrior Beast. Possibly thousands of years old, he and the other Generals plotted their eventual return to the surface world they once ruled under the supreme command of the mighty Great General of Darkness.

Their chance came when an ambitious megalomaniac named Dr. Hell usurped their technology and created his Mechanical Beasts in order to conquer the world. At first content to let the upstart human do the dirty work for them (and very likely planning to overthrow him once he succeeded), the Generals quickly realized that the surface world was not completely helpless when Mazinger Z (nicknamed the Castle of Black Iron) proved capable of repelling attack after attack. When Dr. Hell was finally vanquished by Mazinger, the Great General finally ordered a full scale attack. Though Mazinger Z was overcome, the even more powerful Great Mazinger appeared shortly thereafter and put a halt to their advance.

Hadias' Spectral Battle Beast Army was the fewest in number among the Mikene armies, but they played a special role in the Mikene Empire's ambitions as they were adept at instilling fear in their opponents and possessed bizarre psychic abilities that gave a tough time for Great Mazinger.

Hadias makes his last appearance in the penultimate episode of Great Mazinger, where he is the final line of defense for the Mikene Empire flagship Demonika. After it is grounded by Mazinger Z, the Great Marshall of Hell summons him to protect the vessel. Despite putting up a good fight, he is cut in two by his own sickle then hurled into the Demonika by Mazinger Z's Rust Hurricane. During the fight Hadias was capable of using his scythe like a boomerang, could teleport, levitated, and separated his legs and head with the ability to combine his legs into a club.

Other appearances

General Hadias also appeared in Deathmatch! Mazinkaiser VS the Great General of Darkness. He battled the Mazinger Army member Venus A in Australia along with his Battle Beast army. He easily defeated it, but unknowingly failed to kill the pilot Jun Hono when he ripped her control vehicle out of Venus' head.

He and his forces later joined General Draydou and General Julius Caesar at the ruins of the Photoatomic Research Lab at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Together, they intended to kill Kouji Kabuto before he could find and activate sea bass. The Generals knew from observing his battles with Dr. Hell that the Super Robot would be a major threat to their conquest of the surface world.

They were forced to resort to killing Kouji when their surprise attack on the Lab failed to produce Mazinkaiser. The Battle Beasts even ripped a gigantic crater into the ground, trying to dig up its underground facility, but were unable to find it. The mystery of Mazinkaiser's location was solved when Kouji managed to board the Kaiser Pilder and began flying upwards towards space, apparently on collision course with an incoming meteor. To their horror, the three Generals realised the meteor was actually Mazinkaiser, which had been stored in space beyond their reach.

Despite their best efforts, they were unable to prevent Kouji from docking in. After the destruction of their entire force within seconds, the three Generals attempted to face Mazinkaiser themselves. However, after General Julius Caesar was disintegrated by the Super Robot's Rust Tornado attack, Hadias apparently became a victim of his own weapon: fear. A terrified whimper was all that escaped him as he fruitlessly attempted to block Mazinkaiser's Reitou Beam with his scythe, only to be frozen solid then broken into pieces.

Hadias also appeared in the Super Robot Wars, specifically Super Robot Wars Alpha 2 alongside General Julius Caesar, General Birdler, the Great General of Darkness, the Great Marshall of Hell and the Emperor of Darkness himself.