Hephaestus

Hephaestus (Ήφαιστος in Ancient Greek, also spelled Hephaistos) is the god of forges and fire and blacksmith to the gods. His Roman counterpart is Vulcan, sometimes Mulciber.

Physical description
He appears as a "huge lump" of a man with his shoulders at different heights and a bulging, misshapen head and his leg in a steel brace, with a wild black beard that sparks fire. Inside his workshop, he wears a jumpsuit smeared with grime and oil with the name Hephaestus embroidered over the chest pocket. In the fourth book, when Percy meets Hephaestus, he stated that he (Hephaestus) had "cleaned up" when he went to Olympus.

History
Due to Zeus' giving birth to Athena, Hera was angry at his actions. She then gave birth to Hephaestus. He was an ugly and deformed child. A rumor was spread by Hera that Zeus threw him from Mt. Olympus at birth due to his ugliness, when it was really Hera herself.

The goddess of love, Aphrodite, was causing a lot of problems in Olympus due to her radiant beauty. Zeus decided to wed her to Hephaestus to keep her off the market, though she still had multiple affairs with Ares. Though these days the affair is considered old news and every one just accepts it but Hephaestus still tries to find ways to publicly embarrass his wife and her lover in front of the other gods with elaborate traps and tricks. The most famous one and the first one was when he caught the two lovers in a magical net and then invited the other gods to come and laugh at the unfortunate.

He also took part in creating the metal giant Talos, the Trojan Horse, and other various automatons.

The Lightning Thief
Hephaestus doesn't appear in this book, but Percy and Annabeth get caught in a trap made by him, intended for Ares and Aphrodite, in Waterland while trying to retrieve Ares' shield.

The Titan's Curse
Hephaestus has a minor appearance in this book. His wife Aphrodite mentions him to Percy, warning him to be careful in his junkyard, because her husband is 'touchy about his little toys'.

When the Hunters and Campers are going through his junkyard, Bianca picks up a little statue of Hades because it is the only Mythomagic statue her brother dosen't have, and this causes one of his automatons to attack the group. They attempt to defend themselves, but the automaton is too big and strong, and Bianca decides to go up its foot and to shut it down from the inside. (Percy volunteered, but Bianca insisted after Percy pointed it out to her) When she shuts it down, the robot falls to the ground and Bianca dies. Her little brother, Nico, later blames her death on Percy.

During the Winter Solstice, Hephaestus later voted to let Percy live, though he didn't remember him later.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
His first encounter with Percy Jackson and friends was during The Battle of the Labyrinth. He sent them on a mission to find out who was using one of his forges in Mt. St. Helens, the same mountain where the monster Typhon was held captive. He goes to retrieve Percy, who had been marooned on Calypso's island for weeks. He was also the one who told Percy about how Hera likes her "perfect family" a certain way. Hephaestus also gave them information on what happened to Daedalus, though very little.

The Last Olympian
His most well-known and famous demigod child is Charles Beckendorf who dies in early on, in order to destroy Princess Andromeda.

Hephaestus was also in the fight between the gods and Typhon. However, he was hit by Typhon and "was thrown from the battle so hard he created a new lake in West Virginia."

Hephaestus is angry at Percy for happening to jump on his throne during his battle with Kronos/Luke, but says he forgives him. ;Hephaestus later votes to abide by Percy's wishes in claiming all of their demigod children by the time they turn thirteen years old.

Personality
Hephaestus tends to be gruff, and disappointed in life and in people. When he was a child, his mother wanted nothing to do with him, and tried to kill him merely because he wasn't a good looking baby. His wife Aphrodite, is unfaithful to him. He is very bitter about his life, and says that he puts his faith in machines rather then people, as machines can't let you down. Hephaestus is said to have greatly admired Daedalus.

Powers/Abilities
He is god of the forges and can forge anything in a short amount of time. He is a master blacksmith and can make anything with the materials around him. He is the god of fire so can control fire and lava. Like the other gods he can teleport using shadow travel. He presumabley posseses the standard power of a God.

Children

 * Charles Beckendorf
 * Jake Mason
 * Two unnamed others
 * Leo Valdez

Film
Hephaestus is played by Conrad Coates in the film version of The Lightning Thief.