Leo Valdez

"See, lady, that's what happens to snow in Texas. It-freaking-melts."

- Leo

Leo Valdez is a son of Hephaestus and Esperanza Valdez. Although Jason can not remember it, Leo tells him that he is his best friend, though Jason thinks his "best friend" is weird. It is clear that Jason and his friendship was a trick of the Mist since Gleeson Hedge stated that Jason has never before been in his class and everything the others think seems to be manipulation of the Mist.

Description
Leo is described to look like a "Latino Santa's elf", with curly black hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face, and a mischievous smile. He is of normal height with a slim build. At one point Will calls him "Mr. Spock" because the Roman name for Hephaestus is Vulcan, and he responds, "And I'm not a Vulcan!"

History
Leo had a babysitter when he was little named Tía Callida, who was actually Hera/Juno. She was most likely watching Leo because she thinks he is vital for the quest. She tried to "kill" him by putting him in an active fireplace and by letting him play with knives and also tried to make him poke a rattlesnake, which he refused to do. This was done to help train Leo to be strong at a young age. He once drew a picture of the flame boat with crayon, but it floated away and he began crying. Leo ran away from home six times, possibly because of a bad relationship with his mortal foster parents. His real mother got killed in a fire accident that was caused by him under the threatening of Gaia. Leo is the only living son of Hephaestus that can manipulate fire. He fixed the bronze dragon and named it Festus (which means happy in Latin). Jason called it Happy the Dragon.

The Lost Hero
Leo goes to the Wilderness School with Piper and Jason. He partners up to complete their assignment with Jason on their field trip to Grand Canyon. As a storm starts, all the kids flee from the Grand Canyon's sky-walk except for Jason, Leo, Piper, Dylan and Coach Hedge.

Dylan reveals himself to be a venti and attacks the others with the help of two other venti. Leo is thrown off the sky-walk and slams into one of the canyon walls. While Jason and Piper try to fight Dylan, Hedge, who turns out to be a satyr sent to protect Leo and Piper, rescues Leo. Hedge manages to get Leo back onto the sky-walk, where Dylan tries to abduct him. This is prevented in the last moment by Hedge, who is then abducted instead.

Leo is one of the three campers to go on the quest to save Hera.

Throughout the series, Leo saves Jason's and Piper's lives with his fire-wielding ability. He keeps it a secret for a period of time because the other Hephaestus cabin-mates say it normally preludes trouble, being very rare and dangerous.

Since Leo can wield fire, he fought the snow princess Khione. He just had to touch her on her arm in order to wield.

Personality
Leo likes to play pranks on others, especially Coach Hedge, for which he uses his technical abilities to manipulate Hedge's megaphone to frequently say "The cow says moo" and similar things. He has fun creating small wonders. He also makes fun of other people by imitating them. Inside however, he is emotionally scarred from the loss of his mother. He keeps the pain and memories away by using humor.

He is also known to fall in love with any beautiful girl who is way out of his league, such as in the case of Khione and Thalia. It is possible that this characteristic comes from his father, Hephaestus.

It is also said he's "not the trusting type but would trust Jason with his life"

Flaw
Leo's Fatal flaw is probably his inferiority. He thinks he needs ﻿to prove himself, and often feels inferior to Jason.

Abilities

 * Leo has ADHD, like all demigods, which is manifested by his hyperactivity and superhuman senses.
 * He has amazing mechanical abilities (even for children of Hephaestus); he can manipulate a microphone to say "The cow says moo" and build a working helicopter out of pipe cleaners. He was able to fix the dragon, Festus, even though the rest of the Hephaestus cabin thought it was beyond repair and had to be destroyed. He even added wings to the dragon so it could fly. He can understand machinery and has the ability to operate machines he has never had experience with.
 * Because Leo is a demigod child of Hephaestus, he can fly or drive any mechanical vehicle. Including cars, trains, or helicopters.
 * He discovers he is fireproof when he is a small baby and Hera (in the form of Tia Callida, his insane babysitter) puts him in an open flame and he is completly comfortable. Many other things like this follow.
 * He is also the first demigod child of Hephaestus in hundreds of years to master their natural ability of Pyrokinesis, the ability to generate and manipulate fire. His pyrokinesis is supposedly a curse, but he is determined to interpret it as a gift. His pyrokinetic abilities can go as far as to shoot white hot flames high in the air that could burn through a metal chain link. He was able to hold his own against the snow goddess Khione for a long time and caused her to retreat. However, sometimes he has trouble controlling his pyrokinesis when he gets excited or scared, beginning to heat up and smoke.
 * Leo's mother taught him Morse code, a skill he has retained, and he was therefore able to understand Festus' last wish.

Weapons/Items

 * He has a magical tool belt that he uses constantly. He can pull practically any tool he needs from the toolbelt, including the mechanical tools he needs, as well as food, medical supplies, and breath mints. The belt is seemingly endless and he doesn't know where it all comes from. However, larger items, especially things that don't have to do with mechanics require the belt to recharge. It is also known that big items, such as chain-saws, or weapons, like Jason's sword, Ivlivs, cannot be pulled out of the tool belt.
 * Festus the Metal Dragon was repaired and managed by Leo after his discovery of Bunker 9. He supported Leo, Jason, and Piper, all the way to Midas's mansion, where he was destroyed. Leo is currently working on attaching his head to the upcoming Argo II.