What is a war god?

   War God, in anthropology, the personified spirit of tribal war; a deity supposed to watch over tribal or national interests in times of war. In some cases the war god seems to have been the chief deity; in classic times the war gods (Ares and Mars) were among the superior gods; the Jews seem to have conceived that the function of a war god was a fitting attribute of Jehovah (II Sam. XVII: 45); and traces of this mode of thought linger in the familiar expression, The God of battles.