Nikandreos

"YOU ARE NOT A GOD""- Zeus to Nikandreos before throwing a bolt of lightning at the latter and casting him out of Olympus"

Nikandreos is the protagonist and playable character of Apotheon.

Etymology
"Nikandreos" means "He who excels" or "A victorious man".

Plot
''The following article contains spoilers about the end of Apotheon. If you have not completed the game, please do not read the entirety of this article.''

Nikandreos' parents died when he was born. He was taken in by other soldiers, though no one ever knew who is parents were.

Nikandreos is, as mentioned before, the playable character for Apotheon. He is a Greek villager when he is first introduced, knocked out during a bandit raid. He takes up arms against the invaders and defends his city.

Upon successfully defending his city, he is met with an apparition of Hera, who informs Nikandreos that the Greek gods have abandoned mankind, leaving them to their own devices. Without the Greek gods, mankind has no hope of survival. So she sends Nikandreos on a quest to Olympus, telling him to strip the Greek gods of their powers and bring them back to Earth, so that mankind may once again be prosperous.

The first three gods that Nikandreos must retrieve items from are Demeter, Apollo, and Artemis. While Demeter willingly assisted Nikandreos in his endeavour, Apollo and Artemis are not so willing, ultimately perishing at the hands of Nikandreos.

Upon retrieving these items, Nikandreos is confronted by Zeus, Hera at his side, her telling Zeus that Nikandreos is the usurper, causing Zeus to become angry and force Nikandreos back down to the Village of Dion, which he discovers is once again under attack, this time by soldiers of Ares, guided by Athena, after Poseidon brought unstoppable waves down on the city.

After beating back the soldiers of Ares, Hera reveals herself to Nikandreos once again, telling him that she needed to make Zeus think she was on his side. She sends Nikandreos back to Mount Olympus, this time to retrieve items from Ares, Athena, and Poseidon. Athena puts Nikandreos to a mental test, surrendering her Aegis without a fight after her test has been toppled. Ares and Posiedon are much more reluctant to give up their powers, and are killed by Nikandreos.

After doing everything Hera instructs him to, Nikandreos is sent by Hera up to the very top of Olympus to face Zeus. After defeating Zeus' many guards and gaining access to his chambers, he finds that Hera is in chains, the result of Zeus finally finding out about Hera's traitorous alliance with Nikandreos. He battles with Zeus after refusing to surrender the powers of the other gods and eventually, Zeus is defeated at last. Hera rejoices and commands Nikandreos to free her. He, however, refuses to do so.

Nikandreos returns to the Village of Dion after killing the last of the Olympian guards who try to hinder him. To his surprise, Zeus is awaiting him, fully armed, and informs him that he escaped from Tartarus to try and finish off Nikandreos once and for all. At this, Nikandreos suddenly grows taller and taller until he finally transforms into a God. Zeus roars his displeasure and they battle again, with Nikandreos again being the victor. Zeus is at last dead. Nikandreos proceeds to create a human man out of a mound of soil and gives his creation life. The man stands up and looks at his creator. Humanity is finally safe from harm.