Hades/Gameplay

Hades is the scheming and uncaring god of the Underworld as well as a major antagonist in the Olympus Coliseum in the first three currently-released Kingdom Hearts titles. He can only be encountered in boss battles such as in the final seed of the Hades Cup in Kingdom Hearts and in the Hades Paradox Cup in Kingdom Hearts II. He is also the final boss of the facsimile version of the Olympus Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Kingdom Hearts
Hades appears as the tenth seed of the Hades Cup. The arena where you fight Hades is an octagonal one with tree-shaped pillars, meaning reduced space. Damage cannot be dealt until after he has done flare.

Hades's moves consist of

Temper Flame: Hades will spray flames in front of him, and then to the side. These flames are almost always directed towards Sora.

Flare: Hades summons a revolving wall of fire from his hands.

Fire Shot: Hades will fire a small flame bullet at you.

Fireball Pitch: Hades will throw fireballs at you.

Claw: Hades will get enraged and will claw you with flamed hands. (Sometimes he will hit you more then once.)

He starts off with Temper Flare (indicated by the line "Take that!") - here, it is recommended that Sora use Dodge Roll to avoid the flames at first, and once the flames disperse, Sora can attack him from the front. Another helpful strategy is to stay near the flames (but just out of reach) and wait until the flames extinguish, then attack him with all you've got, then quickly Dodge Roll away from him when he says Take that!. You can also hit Hades with Blizzaga, since it will extinguish the flames and deal him some damage, giving you the opportunity to attack him. It is nearly impossible to go to Hades' back and attack him because Hades will almost always face Sora. You may very well be in luck if Hades does his Temper Flare attack on Donald or Goofy - take that opportunity to hit him.

When Hades says "Feel the heat!", be on your guard - he will turn red and go to the center of the arena and start his Flamethrower attack - a revolving wall of flames (similar to Larxene's wall of thunder in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+). It takes about four seconds for him to execute this attack; use this time wisely. The best way to stay away from the wall of flames is to head to one of the pillars in the front or the back of the arena (distinguishable by the gates on either side of the arena) - the flames do not reach these areas. However, it can be difficult to distinguish the front/back of the arena from the sides, so if this is a problem, go to option two immediately, and in the end Sora should hopefully be unhurt. DO NOT go to the sides of the arena when Hades unleashes his wall of flames, because the flames do extend to those areas.

Then there is option two, alternatively you may Dodge Roll in a circular motion out of Hades' wall of flames, but do so quickly. If your button-mashing speed is rather slow, then it is best to stay at the front/back of the arena.

There is also a third option when Hades uses this move. It being the exact opposite of option two, you instead stand really close to him (not too close) and start running in the direction Hades is spinning. If you are too close you have a chance of running into the wall in front of you, or if you are too far away you may get hit with the wall behind you. This is a risky option, and should only be used if you can time your run well.

When Hades says, "That's it!", this indicates that he is about to use Fireball Pitch. This is the cue for you to use Guard to deflect those fireballs. Casting Aeroga will deflect his Fireball Pitch right back at him, stunning him for a few seconds. The same applies when you use Guard a few times.

While he's still red hot, he will use his Claw attack - try evading that with Dodge Roll.

When Hades cools down and reverts to blue, he'll repeat his first attack - and the entire sequence of attacks mentioned above will repeat itself. Hades' attacks are rather predictable, so attack him in the same sequence until his HP is depleted.

Every now and then, use physical attacks on him, and use Blizzaga - that works well.

Sora's Story
Hades does about the same attacks as he does in Kingdom Hearts, albeit in a more unpredictable manner. Also, the arena is not the octagonal one with tree-shaped pillars; it is a full-sized square arena with invisible barriers, giving slightly more room for Sora to move around. There is no proper sequence to his attacks, so be on your guard. Be sure to have Cure cards and 0 cards stocked up in the deck, as well as a sufficient amount of Card Points, and use Dodge Roll whenever necessary. Using Sleights is highly recommended, lest Hades break Sora's single-card attacks.

It is recommended for Sora to use either Blizzaga (three Blizzard cards) or Blizzard Raid (one Blizzard card + two attack cards), as these work well against him. Also, try not to use Donald's Friend Card, because there is a risk of Donald casting Fire on Hades, causing him to recover. You might consider using a Blue Rhapsody card to increase the damage dealt by Blizzard attacks, if you wish.

Reverse/Rebirth
You fight in the same arena as you did in Sora's story.

The best way to get around this would be to attack in sleights every now and then (do not do it all the time, otherwise many of your cards will not be reloaded), because Hades attacks in sleights. Getting the King Mickey card or turning into Dark Mode is a plus - with Holy Burst/Inverse Burst and several attack sleights from Dark Mode, you can finish him off quickly without having to use an enemy card.

Kingdom Hearts II
The following strategy is for Sora's first encounter with Hades, where he will be aided by his party members.

The best way to fight him is to have a full magic meter, and definitely have some Ethers in the pocket, because you can truly damage him by using Aura Sphere and with magic. Try to keep Donald in so that you can go to Wisdom Form and have extra magic power, or the Master Form so that you can use endless magic combos.

Stay close to Hercules when he charges up Aura Spheres, and be sure to lock on to Hades so that they will be deflected to his direction. Towards the end of the battle, when Hades releases a huge ball of fire that spreads on to the arena, you might consider staying at Hercules's side and using the Reaction Command to activate a shield. When he says "That's it" stay away from Hades because he will unleash a fire wall around him making him red and invincible. When he says "Is that all ya got?" all he does is teleport to a different part of the arena, but after a while he will come to you to summon the fire wall, so stay on your guard.

In the last seed of the Hades Paradox Cup, where Hades is the enemy, Sora will not be aided by his party members. The only friend who comes to his aid is Hercules. Use the same strategy as before and heal whenever necessary. Note that you cannot use Drives (with the exception of Limit Form in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix) because your party members are not around.

For those of you who are playing Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, try reverting to Limit Form and use Ragnarok on Hades - this works really well. Also, you can use physical attacks on Hades every now and then. Just be prudent about Hades' attacks: they are not as predictable as in Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Hades appears as a boss along with Ice Colossus in Aqua's story, and he is also a boss in the Mirage Arena alongside Zack. The fight with Hades seems easier than in the original Kingdom Hearts. Hades attacks have not changed from previous games; he retains most of the moveset from Kingdom Hearts, but they can be avoided easier due to the abundant space in the arena. First take out the Colossus, as its ice shards can be lethal to Aqua's HP, then attack Hades while dodging or guarding his fire attacks. With the proper Command Style, Shoot Lock, or Dimension Link, both Hades and the Colossus should fall easily.