Melinoe

"Everyone has ghosts, deaths that you regret."

- Melinoe

Melinoe is the Greek goddess of ghosts and is often confused with Hecate. She is the daughter of Hades and Persephone. She wandered the earth every night with a train of ghosts, scaring anyone in their path. This was said to be the reason why dogs bark at nothing at night.

The Sword of Hades
Melinoe shows Ethan Nakamura the way out of the Underworld, and on the appearance of Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson, and Nico di Angelo takes on the form of Thalia and Nico's mothers to confuse and torture them, but they do not fool Percy, who breaks the illusion. He swings at her with his sword and she dodges, only to be hit by Thalia with an arrow. She then vanishes into the fog.

Personality
Melinoe is dissatisfied with her father's rule over the Underworld, and the fact she cannot haunt the mortals of the human world by day. She opts for Kronos to rule, as she is promised that she will be able to haunt whenever she wants. Her somewhat nasty personality could have been brought on by the bitterness of her parents seeming to not take much interest in her. This could have also prompted her switching of sides.

Appearance
Melinoe is a strange goddess and her appearance is frightening. Her left side is black and hardened like a mummy and her right side is pale and chalky as if she were drained of all her blood. She wears a golden dress and a golden shawl, and her eyes are empty black voids. However, seeing her in this form is unlikely, as, being the goddess of ghosts, she can appear as whoever she wants, haunting people in their nightmares and in person if ever directly confronted. The illusion is so strong that even when normal, her immediate victims still see her as the ghost.

Abilities

 * She has the standard powers of a goddess.
 * Necromancy: As the goddess of ghosts, she has divine authority and absolute control over the dead, though to a somewhat lesser extent than Hades.
 * She can call forth endless waves of the dead to fight for her.
 * She can destroy Skeleton Warriors.
 * She can put the dead to sleep.
 * She can silence the dead with a gesture.
 * She can physically grab a ghost.
 * Emotional Shape-Shifting: She can take on the appearance of the dead people in a person's life, using guilt and anger from the person as an ally or as an advantage in battle. She then uses this to destroy them. She has been known to transform into Beryl Grace and Maria di Angelo, while confronting Thalia and Nico respectively.

Etymology

 * Her name means "Dark Thought" in Greek.Persephone.jpg, her mother]]

Trivia

 * Melinoe's appearance is similar to the Norse goddess Hel since one-half of their body is withered and the other half is pale. They also share scope as an Underworld goddess.