Ares (called Mars by the Romans) was the ugliest of the three children Zeus and Hera had together. Ares is never involved in a kind thing or considered good, but rather always a villain. Ares is the god of war and his favorite animal is the vulture, fittingly enough. You may wonder why Aphrodite choose him as one of her many lovers, what she saw in him, and why she continued on with their affair, as the children he fathered with her took after Ares in their appearance and character. Ares is usually pictured as bloodstained with a murderous expression on his fac, but he is occasionally described as good-looking in a sinister way. The Romans saw him in a better light, perhaps because they saw more glory in war rather than horror. He was never viewed as a coward to the Romans, just invincible and strong, and his special animal was the dog, not the vulture.