Hades

"Hello Father, you're looking... young."

- Hades

Hades (Άδης in Ancient Greek), the god of the Underworld and the dead, whose Roman couterpart is Pluto. He is the son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea and the husband of Persephone. He has two known demigod children, Bianca and Nico di Angelo, with a mortal woman named Maria di Angelo. In some myths he is the father of Morpheus, the god of dreams. Among the Big Three, he is the only god who hasn't broken his oath (supposedly) since Nico and Bianca di Angelo were born during World War II, which was a surprise to the other gods.

History
Hades spent his childhood in his father's stomach, along with most of his brothers and sisters: Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera.

Hades was lonely, and wanted a wife. He spied Persephone one day, in the fields with her mother Demeter, and decided he would have her, admiring her (though in other cases, Hades was riding his chariot over the Earth. When Eros saw him, he shot a golden arrow into Hades. Pershephone was the first one he saw, resulting in ' love at first sight'). He soon fell in love with her, and plotted on how he would get her. After obtaining the permission of Zeus he decided to kidnap her. Persephone was innocently picking flowers with some Nymphs in a field in Enna when Hades came to abduct her, bursting through a cleft in the earth. Later, the Nymphs were changed by Demeter into the Sirens for not having interfered. Life came to a standstill as the devastated Demeter, goddess of the Harvest, searched everywhere for her lost daughter. Helios, the Titan god of the Sun, who sees everything, eventually told Demeter what had happened. She then stopped working the Earth, and the land didn't flourish. Hades was determined to make Persephone love him, and tried in many ways. She hated him at first, for snatching her away from her mother, but she soon reveled that her mother wasn't around, as she had never been away from her before. He very much wanted her love and tried to buy it with many gifts at first, but then took to spending all of his day with her, trying to make her happy.

Finally, Zeus, pressed by the cries of the hungry people and by the other deities who also heard their anguish, forced Hades to return Persephone. However, it was a rule of the Fates that whoever consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Before Persephone was released to Hermes, who had been sent to retrieve her, Hades convinced Persephone to eat six pomegranate seeds, knowing they would eternally connect her to return to the Underworld and force her to return for six months each year. This explains why we have winter. Some versions of the myth have Persephone eventually fall in love with her new husband in return, and other at least say that she respected him and her new powers as Queen of the Underworld.

When Demeter and her daughter were united, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for six months each year, when Persephone returned to the Underworld, Demeter mourned and the earth once again became a barren realm, thus creating seasons.

Pluto
Hades can change his appearance and turn into his Roman counterpart, Pluto. As Pluto, he becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. He might have more children at the Roman Camp Half-Blood near San Francisco if the pact made by the gods at Percy Jackson's request after the last Titan War is relevant to the Roman demigods.

The Lightning Thief
Hades had sent the Minotaur to abduct Sally Jackson and use her as a bargaining chip at the time when Percy Jackson was accused of stealing Zeus' Master bolt. Percy and his friends traveled to California to enter the Underworld when Percy thought that Hades stole Zeus' Master bolt. It turned out that Hades' Helm of Darkness was also stolen. After Percy defeated Ares (who was responsible for placing the Master bolt stolen by Luke in Percy's bag) and reclaimed the Helm of Darkness, Percy gave the Helm of Darkness to the Furies (who saw and heard what happened) whom returned to the Underworld with it. Thus, Hades was able to uphold his end of the bargain by returning Sally to her apartment unharmed.

The Titan's Curse
After about 70 years, Hades had the Fury Alecto get his children Bianca and Nico di Angelo out of the Lotus Hotel and Casino as he hoped that one of them could be the child in the Great Prophecy, shortly before the events of this book.

The Demigod Files
A new weapon of power is being made for Hades. A sword that contains a key to free and capture souls into and out of the underworld. The weapon has been made by Persephone without his knowledge. The sword has been stolen by Ethan Nakamura and retrieved by Thalia, Percy and Nico. In exchange for having the sword returned, Percy makes Hades swear on the river Styx not to use the weapon against the gods. Afterward Hades agrees and leaves angrily, now realizing that Persephone disobeyed him and made the sword against his wishes.

The Last Olympian
Originally, Hades didn't want to help his fellow Olympians, saying that they had never helped him, and stayed in the Underworld with Demeter and Persephone. However, eventually persuaded by his son, he arrived to save Olympus and fight off his father, Kronos, with his son and wife. However, despite his efforts, the Titan Army fought their way into the Empire State Building, and Kronos made it to the throne room. However, he was stopped by the efforts of Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Hestia. He was later welcomed amongst the gods, for his bravery in battle, a feeling he hadn't felt in quite a while. He also sat in the Throne Room, despite the fact that he was only allowed during the Winter solstice, while his son sat at his feet beaming. He became angered at Percy, when the hero seemed to suggest that he was a Minor God, which Percy quickly denied and went on to say that he too should gain a Cabin at Camp Half-Blood. He also agreed to "streamline the application process" of the hunters who had died in battle, sending them straight to Elysium instead of waiting in the E-Z Death line.

Persephone
When Hades fell in love with Persephone, and kidnapped her, she did not want to stay with him, and wanted to be rescued, but over time, she fell in love with him and was relieved to be free from her mother Demeter's bossiness, nagging, and smothering for a time. He was very kind, and he didn't ever nag, boss, or smother her. He very much wanted her love and tried to buy it with many gifts at first, but then took to spending all of his day with her, trying to make her happy. Persephone was tricked and ate the six pomegranate seeds, so she had to stay with Hades for the first six months of the year. This came at a cost, as Demeter never could accept that her daughter had married Hades, and left 'her poor mother'. The nagging of Demeter increased with this action, but Persephone got to stay with her husband this way. She respects and loves him, calling him 'my lord'.

Hades loves his wife, but during the time when she is away from him, he does not like to be alone. He seeks out mortal women during this time. Persephone hates hearing of his affairs, his extremely few demigod children, and of Maria di Angelo especially. Hades is apologetic about his girlfriends with Persephone, but she is displeased when they are mentioned. He has the fewest demigod children of the Big Three, not even having any mentioned in the old myths, due to his strong (For a god) devotion to his wife. Hades marriage to her also means, ironically, that Zeus is his father-in-law.

Immortal family
His relationship with his family has always been a little "difficult" due to his duties and his position as the loner in the family, but after the great prophecy was set, Hades distances himself even more from his siblings especially Zeus, whom he develops a grudge against. This is because the prophecy said that a child of the Big Three would destroy the Olympians. So, Zeus ordered Hades to hand over any of his children to Camp Half-Blood to be "trained" for there own protection but Hades had a fairly good idea what that meant. His suspicions proved to be true when Zeus demolished the building that Hades, the children (Bianca and Nico) and their mother Maria where in. Hades was barely able to detect the attack and managed to save the children but Maria was killed instantly, something that up until recently Hades never forgave his brother for. It was also the incident that almost destroyed Delphi as it was she who gave the prophecy and it was she Hades focused his rage on cursing her to be trapped within her current host until it withered to nothing effectively killing her. The only act of protection Hades could offer his children was to wipe their memories and hide them for there own protection in the Lotus casino.

His grudge with Zeus in part led to the first death of Thalia after it was discovered she was a child of Zeus, effectively meaning she was a living risk and Zeus had broken an oath on the River Styx. Being a god Zeus got off of it lightly, but Hades was angered by both this and the death of Maria, and he unleashed all the worst monsters in the Underworld to kill Thalia, leading to her sacrifice herself in order protect the other demigods she was traveling with, though Zeus managed to keep Thalia from ending up in the Underworld by turning her into a tree.

Initially coming off cold and vindictive Hades is not evil like his father but rather distant and bitter due to past tragedies which leads him to behave the way he does, though he doesn't show it, Nico pointed out. This does change after the the events in The Last Olympian, as he was accepted because he saved Olympus.

Mistress and children
Hades must have loved Bianca and Nico's mother, Maria di Angelo, very much if he had two separate (as opposed to twins) children with her. When Maria di Angelo was killed by Zeus, the Oracle appeared telling him that he should not leave Bianca and Nico in the Lotus Hotel just so one of them could be part of the prophecy. He was angry and cursed the Oracle so that no one else could replace her until he and his children were respected and treated as heroes. He also seems to feel affection for his children, as described by Percy In The Sword of Hades in The Demigod Files: "Hades turned back to Nico. His gaze softened just a little, like rock soft rather than steel." That shows he must love Nico, 'just a little.' According to the list of children of Hades, many of them are of Italian heritage, which would imply, that he is mostly interested in Italian women. He seems to love his daughter Bianca, a little more then Nico, because in The Last Olympian, Hades tells Nico that "his sister would have done a better job". One of these reasons could be she resembles so much like her mother Maria.

Demigod
In the Lightning Thief," Percy says that "the Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen of Napoleon, or Adolf Hitler, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma."
 * Bianca di Angelo (deceased)
 * Nico di Angelo

WWII was a big fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon and the sons of Hades. Hades' children (the Axis leaders) lost. Stalin fought with the Allies, against the Axis, in WWII.

Symbol of Power
Hades' symbol of power is the Helm of Darkness, which allows him to become a shadow. This means he can pass through walls and melt into shadows, not be touched, seen or heard, and radiate fear so intense that it can make a person go insane or stop their heart. In some story, the Helm of Darkness is also known to give the person wearing it the power to control hell flame.. In The Sword of Hades in The Demigod Files, it is revealed Persephone forged him a new weapon of power in the form of a sword.The sword has a key of death embedded in its hilt, so the wielder can raise the dead from the deepest corners of Tartarus or send a soul to the underworld by one touch of the blade.

Film
In the film The Lightning Thief, Hades is portrayed by Steve Coogan. He made an appearance in one of the early trailers where Percy and the others encounter him in the Underworld. He was seen with his wife, Persephone, on the sidelines, bargaining for the Master Bolt for Percy's mother, Sally Jackson.

In a recent image Hades was revealed to be dressed more casually than his brothers, who are dressed in traditional Greek armor. He was seen dressed in black, Goth-like clothing with singes and tears across the shirt. He was also wearing silver and other metallic jewelry and neckwear. In a recent clip it was shown that Hades is a proficient shapeshifter and has a bit of a sense of humor. This was shown in the clip when Grover comments in surprise that Hades does not look like they pictured him. Hades morphs into a giant flaming demonic figure, and Grover asks him to stick with "the Mick Jagger thing.".

His personality is much more sinister here, taking the place of both Ares and Kronos' in their involvement in the theft of the Master Bolt. Here Persephone is held against her will all the time and hates him. As he plans to use the bolt to replace Zeus as king of the gods, he is blasted by her in anger.

Powers
In the underworld, Hades has dominion over the dead and demons. He is one of the Big Three rivaled only by his brothers Zeus and Poseidon. He naturaly wields all demonic power and is able to use it for many effects including throwing black fireballs, summoning endless waves of the dead to fight for him, shadow minipulation, ect. Hades' son, Nico di Angelo, is able to use many different underworld powers, Hades has the same powers, but extremely more advanced. Many times he is shown using dark energy as a shield or an attack. He is immune to electricity, being geokinetic. He is able to manipulate Stygian iron, like his son Nico. Has all the natural abilities shared by all gods, immortality, superhuman strength, speed, senses, durability, agility, healing, endurance, flight and invulnerability (except to Celestial Bronze, Stygion Iron and Imperial Gold).

Personality


Hades is noted to be a particularly honorable and just, though stern, god. He respects oaths, the laws of morality. This is most obvious in that he never broke the oath concerning the birth of demigod children of the Big Three as well as when he allowed Sally Jackson to return to the mortal realm after his Helm of Darkness was recovered, something he was not bound to do.

Despite his honorable habits, there is a harsh and darker side to Hades. Although he was the one to make a compromise with Demeter, he was indeed the one to trick Persephone into staying in the Underworld. He also carries grudges for a long time, a trait he passes onto his children, Bianca and Nico di Angelo. This is most obvious when he attempts to kill Thalia when Zeus breaks his vow, something that may have been further provoked by Zeus' attempted murder of his youngest children in World War II, ultimately resulting in the death of Maria di Angelo; it should be noted that he did not have the same murderous intent in regards to Percy, despite similarly being the result of the broken vow as a son of Poseidon. Additionally, he is a harsh father and is often demanding and critical of Nico, who he constantly compares to Bianca, though he does care for him.