Ares is an unseen chupacabra in CliffSide whose entire presence lives in creator notes and concept posts rather than finished frames. However, the character still matters: he was framed as Yannis’s best friend, a smaller creature who rode on her back in early outlines, and whose off‑screen fate explains why that partnership never reached the screen. Therefore, Ares functions as a compact piece of worldbuilding—evidence that the series once toyed with monsters pairing up, and that production choices can pivot the tone from creature‑feature mischief to the cosmic menace embodied by Death Itself.
Personality and key traits
| Trait | Description |
|---|---|
| Unseen but canonical | Then the character exists through creator commentary and franchise documentation rather than on‑screen scenes. As a result, he is treated as “real” in the lore while remaining visually undefined in the pilot. |
| Chupacabra cunning | In addition, the species is described as sly, word‑twisting liars. Therefore, Ares inherits a manipulative, fast‑talking profile by species association rather than direct scenes. |
| Best‑friend loyalty | Next, he is explicitly called Yannis’s best friend, which implies trust and routine cooperation, not mere utility. Consequently, his removal helps explain Yannis’s later reliance on a different partner. |
| Mount dynamic | Meanwhile, he rode on Yannis’s back, flipping the usual predator‑prey framing into an inter‑monster duo. As a result, the gag potential (banter versus brutality) gave way to a darker replacement. |
| Fate as theme | Finally, his death at Cordie’s hands functions as a tonal note: in CliffSide, even monsters die abruptly, and personal bonds don’t guarantee plot protection. |
Story arcs and development
Arc 1 — Companion concept (early drafts). Start: Ares begins as a named chupacabra slotted as Yannis’s best friend, designed to ride her back and amplify her aerial threats with ground‑level schemes. Then the notes foreground that duo as a working idea, where a talkative trickster complements a blunt‑force flier. As a result, analysts can map an alternate pilot rhythm—less metaphysical, more monster‑buddy chaos—where Yannis plays ringleader and Ares supplies the patter and scouting. Even so, the pair remains entirely offscreen, establishing him as a lore‑only figure from the outset.
Arc 2 — Offscreen death (Cordie). Start: The same commentary marks Ares for an early death—Spoiler, Cordie kills him. Then that beat compresses a whole backstory into a single pivot: removing the smaller accomplice changes Yannis’s support system and narrows the town’s monster social web. As a result, Ares becomes shorthand for CliffSide’s cruelty; bonds can end in a punchline with teeth, and Cordie’s lethality extends beyond humans, signaling her capacity for chaotic escalation even before the pilot’s events.
Arc 3 — Replaced by Death Itself. Start: The production explores a stronger antagonist and reframes Yannis as a mount for Death instead of a senior partner to a chupacabra. Then Death’s arrival shifts the series from creature‑gang hijinks to cosmic indifference—time stutters, physics break, and the town acquires a grim sheriff. As a result, Ares’s absence becomes legible as a design choice; the show wants the tension of a mute, reality‑warping force rather than a chatty mini‑monster. Consequently, the tone tilts darker, and Yannis’s function reorients around loyalty to a primordial boss.
Arc 4 — From unreleased to analytical anchor. Start: After the pilot premieres, Ares remains unseen yet documented, living only in concept posts and the franchise’s character taxonomy. Then fandom and analysts use him as a control variable—“What would the Yannis scenes look like if a fast‑talking chupacabra rode her back?” As a result, Ares turns into a diagnostic tool for understanding CliffSide’s edits: when the show favors Death, it chooses scale and inevitability; when it imagines Ares, it hints at quips, scams, and more creature politics.
Relationships with other characters
| Character / Entity | Role vs. Ares | Dynamics |
|---|---|---|
| Yannis | Best friend / partner | Ares rode on her back in early outlines, implying trust and coordination; his removal pushes Yannis toward a new alliance and a bleaker tone. |
| Cordie | Killer / rival predator | Spoiler: lore states she killed Ares, turning a monster‑monster rivalry into a lethal punchline and foreshadowing her habit of upending pecking orders. |
| Death | Replacement / tonal contrast | The cosmic figure occupies the companion slot that Ares once filled in drafts; the swap elevates the threat from cunning creature to metaphysical force. |
| Waylon | Indirect catalyst | The unseen chupacabra never meets him on screen, yet Waylon’s presence drives Cordie–Yannis–Death collisions—the arena where Ares’s absence is most obvious. |
| Jo | Moral and tactical foil | No direct link to Ares, but Jo’s competence against monster politics highlights why a chatty companion concept didn’t survive to screen. |
| Chupacabras (species) | Context / trait carrier | Species notes frame them as manipulative and sly; Ares inherits those implications, giving the “best friend” label sharper edges. |
| CliffSide (the town) | Ecosystem / consequence | The setting’s lethality explains why an offscreen death can define a character’s entire biography: the town eats plans and partnerships alike. |
Appearance, symbols, and recurring motifs
Visually, Ares lacks an official on‑screen model, which matters for analysis. However, the species tag does heavy lifting: chupacabras in CliffSide read as intelligent, duplicitous predators—stealthy, persuasive, and opportunistic rather than brute‑force brawlers. Therefore, when notes place the chupacabra on Yannis’s back, the silhouette hints at a satirical totem: fast talk riding brute speed, trickster perched atop brawler. Next, absence becomes its own recurring motif: Ares’s name surfaces only when the show explains why Death rides Yannis now, or when fans excavate development pages to map the road not taken. As a result, the character operates as a symbol of editorial gravity: ideas that don’t reinforce the pilot’s central contradiction—swagger versus consequence—get cut, even if they would have been fun to animate.
Fandom and alternative names
- Ares — canonical name used in franchise materials.
- Ares (unseen) — status shorthand emphasizing that he never appears on screen.
- Ares (unreleased) — tag used when discussing concept‑only characters.
- Ares the Chupacabra — species‑marked variant common in summaries.
- Yannis’s best friend — descriptive alias that often stands in for a lack of scenes.
- Арес — Russian transliteration in localized discussions.
Interesting details and quotes
- He is explicitly labeled unseen and associated with unreleased material, which is why no episode frame features him.
- Notes identify him as male and a chupacabra, and place him as Yannis’s best friend rather than a disposable minion.
- Spoiler: Cordie kills Ares offscreen, a darkly comic capstone consistent with the pilot’s appetite for abrupt reversals.
- The species bible describes chupacabras as “sleazy politicians with fur,” a line that sets tone and expectations.
- Ares was replaced by Death Itself in the mount/partner role, a single change that steered the pilot toward supernatural stakes.
- Because his biography lives in posts and images, fan reconstructions often chart “what if” versions of the chase and standoff scenes with Ares aboard Yannis.
- Analysts use Ares as evidence of iterative writing: the show prioritized clarity and escalation over monster‑ensemble banter.
Fun fact: in early drafts of the pilot, Yannis had a Chupacabra best friend named Ares… He… was also brutally murdered by Cordie.
These intelligent creatures are sleazy politicians with fur—the stealthiest word‑twisting compulsive liars you’ll ever meet.
