- "Be seeing you."
- —Ares' last words to John Wick in sign language.
Ares is the surname of the mute right-hand woman of the Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio, for whom she works as both a bodyguard and an assassin. She is the secondary antagonist and one of the primary opponents in John Wick: Chapter 2.
History
Events of John Wick: Chapter 2
Recruiting of John Wick
Ares accompanies Santino when he goes to the house of legendary hitman John Wick, where the Italian wants to hire Wick for a mission. When John refuses the job, Santino destroys his house shortly afterward with a grenade launcher. Wick eventually agrees to accept Santino's mission to meet his guilt the following day and wants to meet him at a museum. Before he can meet Santino, however, he is detained by Ares and felted on weapons. The bodyguard finds nothing and lets Wick move on. After John has accepted the order to murder Gianna D'Antonio in Rome, Ares follows him to the Italian city and secretly observes each of his steps.
When John finally strikes the next night and - as suggested by Santino - enters the catacombs to punch through to Gianna, Ares watches from the shadows. When he returns to the catacombs to escape through them, he is confronted by Ares and realizes that she must have come to remove open ends. Ares confirms this in sign language before her stooges rush up and they pick up the pursuit of John, who flees into the catacombs. John, however, is prepared and makes use of the precautionary weapons stationed in the catacombs, killing Ares' entire team, leaving only her behind. The right-hand woman of Santino later confronts John at the Continental Hotel, where she is not allowed to kill him due to the hotel's rules. Still, she makes the motions for "Be seeing you" in sign language, meaning that she promises John that she will be the one to kill him.
Hunting down the Boogieman and Death
Ares returns to New York, where she apologizes to Santino for her failure. Shortly thereafter, Santino holds a celebration in his museum to celebrate his ascent to the High Table, but the party is stormed by John, who has come to seek revenge. When Ares is informed, she goes to the museum with additional guards to protect Santino and stop Wick. She and her henchmen storm the "Reflections of the Soul" exhibit of the museum in which Santino has entrenched himself. While Ares' team fight Wick, the mute assassin comes up behind Santino, winks at him and leads him out of the room to bring him to safety. The two disappear deeper into the exhibition, but John has survived Ares' henchman and resumes the persecution.
Finally, Ares and Santino reach the exit and Ares charges Santino to disappear while she wants to stay behind to finish things off. She pulls out a knife and rushes back into the hall of mirrors and confronts John. She wounds the surprised John with her blade, engaging him in a fight. Despite seeming to have the upper hand, John is able to incapacitate her by stabbing her chest through her hand, but unlike his fight with Cassian, in which John spares the man by tying the blade, John rips the blade out of Ares' heart. While she dies, Ares mockingly signs "Be seeing you" at John.
Skills and Abilities
Throughout the events of John Wick: Chapter 2, Ares was built up as a mute figure of looming danger, following John's every move and ordering around squads of Santino's henchmen.
Her unfaltering loyalty to Santino was displayed at the museum, where she stayed behind to handle John and allow Santino to escape.
However, though bold enough to challenge him in hand-to-hand combat, she proved to be no match and was ultimately defeated and left for dead after a rather short fight, stabbed through the chest with her own push dagger.
Trivia
- Ares is never referred by her name in the film. The name is only revealed in the credits to be Ares, though it also appears next to a photograph of her earlier in the film, in the Bowery King's headquarters. In Greek Mythology, Ares is the God of War.
- Ares was possibly based on the character of Lee Weathers from the 2016 film Morgan as evidenced by their similar appearance.
- It was rumored that Ruby Rose would have returned as Ares in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum because her death was not very explicit but this turned out to be wrong. However, we can see the photography of her from John Wick: Chapter 2 in the Bowery King's headquarters in this film.
- After John fatally stabs Ares, she sits down and signs, "Be seeing you, John." This mirrors the climax of John Wick, where after John fatally stabs Viggo Tarasov, he sits and says the same phrase.