Tristan McLean

"Blades. They had a machine with so many blades. They had six arms..."

- Tristan McLean

Tristan McLean is a famous film star of Cherokee descent. He was one of Aphrodite's lovers and is the father of Piper McLean. He appeared on a King of Sparta movie theater poster, being the star of the movie. The poster is present in Aphrodite's cabin as it is extremely famous. Although he is one of Aphrodite's lovers, he is not aware that she is a goddess, as he wouldn't be able to handle such information.

The Lost Hero
Tristan McLean was held hostage by the giant Enceladus, who blackmails his daughter, Piper, to lead a group of demigods into a trap. Although he is not seen for most of the book, Piper has many flashbacks to times when they were together. The first time Tristen is brought up is when Leo makes a comment about how if the popular girls at the Wilderness School knew who her father was, they would be worshipping Piper and saying things like "We're not worthy." It is later learned that Tristen is a popular movie star and played many important parts, one of his first being the King of Sparta. He thought the movie poster looked funny, but it became very popular and sold many copies. When Piper arrives at Camp Half-Blood, there is a poster of him hanging up on the wall, but is later torn down by Drew after learning that Piper was his daughter. In one of Piper's flashbacks, she remembers when he told her why he didn't play any Cherokee parts, as it would be to close to home. He also doesn't believe in any god(s) as if he knew they did exist, he would always blame them if things went wrong. In another flashback, he finds out from his assistant Jane that Piper stole a BMW, but instead of talking to her about it, he goes along with everything that Jane says and sends her to the Wilderness School.

Eventually, Medea uses charmspeak to control Jane, who tells Tristen that her daughter is in danger and he needs to go to San Francisco to save her. He does, but is captured by Enceladus and chained. Piper has a dream about his capture and tries to call him with no success. When she calls Jane to find out were he is, she brushes her off and reveals that even if she doesn't know where he is, she has yet to call the cops or file a missing persons report. Piper, Jason Grace, and Leo Valdez make it to the layer of the giant to save Piper's dad, who is chained and beaten in the far corner of the room. While Piper sets him free, Jason and Leo fight off the giant and his Earthborn. As the Earthborn hold a grudge against Jason, Encaladus says that McLean is Jason and the ogres want to kill him. Though Leo has attempted to kill most of the Earthborn, the most powerful charges at Leo, but Piper for the first time uses her knife and kills the monster. The heroes manage to win the fight with some help from Zeus. Tristen if lifted to a nearby airport where he is almost driven mad by the idea that gods are real and the torture the giant inflicted on him. Using the potion given to her by her mother, Aphrodite, the Olympian goddess of love, Piper erased her father's memory of the past days in which he was captured. Coach Hedge takes care of him and acts as his new bodyguard oncehe recovers. Tristen also fires Jane after she failed to call the police while he was missing. He hire Mellie as his knew assistant a short time later. He calls Piper using a webcam while she is at camp and wants to know if he likes her knew school (having forgotten about her being a demigod and the gods themselves), which she says she does.

Appearance
He is described as a handsome man of Cherokee descent with a perfect smile, dimpled chin, twinkly dark eyes and closely cropped black hair. When in the captivity of Enceladus he is described as wearing torn slacks, with bare, mud-caked feet. While he was held hostage, his chest was scratched and his hands were handcuffed behind his back.

Personality
Tristan cares about his daughter, Piper and he loves Aphrodite deeply. He is very busy with his work, but tries to keep in contact with Piper as much as possible, even letting her help with his research for a movie role. He does not however believe in any kind of god or gods as if he did, he would always be looking for someone or something to blame for things. Even though he cares for his daughter, he is scared of making mistakes and will leave the tough choices to Jane, his assistant.