The following article contains spoilers from DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #3, on sale now from DC Comics.
Ever since the anti-life virus was introduced to the DCU, there has been a question that has never been answered: Who or what is controlling it? There has been plenty of evidence that the virus has some kind of intelligence, as shown by how its victims can speak, and the tactical use of more powerful people to infect more innocents. Now, DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #3 (by Tom Taylor, Trevor Hairsine, Andy Lanning, Rain Beredo, and Saida Temofonte) has finally answered the question as to who is the mastermind behind the virus.
The issue ended with Ares, the God of War, revealing that the being in command of the anti-life virus is Erebos, the God of Darkness. This is a startling revelation for the DCU, as Erebos has never been introduced to its mythos before. Based on the warning Ares gave however, Erebos will be a threat greater than anything the surviving heroes have ever faced before.
Who Is DCeased's Erebos In Real World Mythology?
Due to never having been seen in the DCU until now, Erebos is something of a blank slate. As such, it is difficult to guarantee what kind of threat he represents, but it is clear from the outset that he is a force to be reckoned with. The same can be said about his real life counterpart in Greek mythology.
Much like DC's iteration, Erebos is something of a blank canvas in the real world as well. Not much is actually known about him in all that has been recorded about Greek mythology. Accounts differ on his exact origins and his place within the genealogy of the Greek gods, but most sources agree on this much: Erebos is one of the primordial deities, one of the first beings ever to be born from the void of Chaos. As such, this makes him exceptionally powerful. As a primordial deity, Erebos isn't so much a physical entity as he is a function of the world, being the very darkness itself. The world as people understand it could not exist without his presence.
What Erebos Could Become In the DCeased Universe
Essentially, DC has been handed free rein over how to portray Erebos. Even though the history of the DCU has never been strictly accurate with Greek mythology, with Erebos they have a blank slate that can be written as the story requires. What little can be inferred states that he is already incredibly powerful, but motivation and personality are entirely in the hands of the story creators. Given what has been revealed though, it is already clear that Erebos desires the death of this entire universe.
As Ares revealed, Erebos predates this version of the DCU entirely, representing the darkness that encompassed existence within it. In a strange way, this makes Erebos similar to the Great Darkness, which watches over the multiverse. Yet, the Great Darkness is appreciative of existence, whereas Erebos is not.
In addition, Erebos' progenitor, Chaos, was the central antagonist of Wonder Woman's "Trial of the Amazons" (by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Jordie Bellaire, Vita Ayala, and Joelle Jones). In that story, the Amazons united were able to defeat Chaos, but Ares' warning implies that Erebos is something far worse. In the order of divine power, Chaos should supersede Erebos, yet this version of the entity is set up as something even greater than what has been inferred in real world mythology.