Iapetus

"I choose to be more than Iapetus. You do not control me. I am not like my brothers."

- Iapetus to Tartarus

Iapetus (also known as Japetus) is the Titan of mortal life, the brother of Kronos, the father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius by Clymene.

History
He and three of his brothers were posted at the four corners of the world (Iapetus was in the West) where they seized hold of Ouranos and held him fast, while Kronos, hidden in the center, sliced him with his weapon. Iapetus' position as a pillar of the West was later taken up by his son, Atlas.

Iapetus was the former ruler of the Underworld, and was cast into Tartarus after the war along with his brothers. Being the Titan of Mortal-Life (or rather the mortal life span), his sons Prometheus and Epimetheus were represented as the creators of mankind and other mortal creatures. His last son, Menoetius, was the Titan of Rash Action.

Offspring
The sons of Iapetus were also described as possessing some of the worst of human traits: mostly on an intellectual level, Prometheus is overly sly and crafty, Epimetheus is a guileless fool, Atlas is overly daring and arrogant and Menoetius is prone to rash and violent actions. Their natural traits led each to their downfall. Iapetus and his family were regarded as the ancestors of mankind, a race which inherited the worst qualities of these four sons: crafty scheming, foolish stupidity, excessive daring, and rash violence.

The Sword of Hades
"I'm sure my brother Kronos will reward you. But now we have killing to attend to."

- Iapetus to Ethan Nakamura

Iapetus is first introduced as an enemy of the gods. He battles Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, and Thalia Grace; and appears to be winning, but Percy grabs Iapetus with the little remaining strength he has in his injured arm and pulls himself and Iapetus in the River Lethe, which is able to wipe out a person's memory. When Iapetus comes out, Percy convinces him that his name is "Bob" and that they were good friends. "Bob" notices Percy's wounded arm and grimaces "owie" and heals it with just a touch. When Percy confronts Persephone about the sword, Percy threatens to toss her in the River Lethe with Bob's help, which Bob gladly agrees to do.

Iapetus is later said to be given a job in the Underworld for the good of the Olympians this time.

The Lost Hero
He is indirectly mentioned by Annabeth Chase while she and Jason Grace were in the Hypnos' Cabin asking about losing memories and how to retrieve them.

The House of Hades
While Annabeth and Percy are in Tartarus hopeless, they start talking trying to calm themselves and boost each other morales. She asks Percy the name of Titan whom he had drowned in River Lethe. Percy replies saying that it was Iapetus who he had renamed Bob.

Later, they were attacked by five empousai, one of them being Kelli. While they were in no state to fight, they tried to talk and trick them in to leaving them. This worked partially as Kelli killed one empousa but still they were outnumbered. Just as two empousai were about to kill Percy, a shadow fell and a Iapetus(believing he was Bob) dropped out of the sky and stomped Kelli flat.

In Percy's description, he was described as:

''He was ten feet tall, with wild silver Einstein hair, pure silver eyes and muscular arms protruding from a ripped-up blue janitor’s uniform. In his hand was a massive push broom. His name tag, incredibly, read BOB.''

He used his broom to kill the other empousai. His broom could jut out a spear head from its end and could return to him as a boomerang if he wanted.

When he was asked how he came, he said that Percy called him. It is later known that when Percy left him, Hades and Persephone made him his servant. He used to sweep up bones and mop up tortured souls. This makes Percy feel guilty for not coming and visiting or even remembering about him. It is also revealed that Nico would come and tell him that Percy was a friend which also remind Percy that he also used to neglect Nico.

He seems to recognize Tartarus as he leads Annabeth and Percy. He recognizes a shrine telling Percy and Annabeth that it was Hermes When they stumble upon Hyperion(reforming), Iapetus sees how similar their features were which scares Annabeth even more. It is stated in Annabeth's description that "Take away Bob’s broom and his janitor’s clothes, put him in armour and cut his hair, change his colour scheme from silver to gold, and Iapetus would have been almost indistinguishable from Hyperion." However Percy makes Bob agree that Hyperion was a bad Titans even though he was his brother. Iapetus agrees saying that he was good as there was a single good creature everywhere- Monsters, Titans, Giants. After saying this, he destroys Hyperion's reforming bubble using his spear

Even though Bob slowly regains his memory throughout the process, he seems to be almost disgusted with who he had once been. He becomes friends with one of the cats raised from saber tiger's teeth from The Titan's Curse and names it "Small Bob." When they reach the doors, he makes a final decision to side with Percy, sacrificing himself so his allies can escape through the Doors of Death. He defying his brothers and his previous way of life. As a final request he asked Percy and Annabeth to say hi to the sun and stars for him, as he missed them after all his time in the Underworld. They promise they will and that Bob will forever be remembered as a hero by them and their descendants.

The first night after escaping Tartarus, Percy attempts to mend the trails of his friend with Nico, but fails. He later stands with Annabeth, looking to the stars and fulfills Bob's final wish.

As Iapetus
As Iapetus, he was very cruel and arrogant, just like his brothers. Although Kronos's orders were to return as soon as possible, Iapetus disobeyed it as he felt he could destroy the "weaklings" and start his vengeance. Before he could do so, Percy dragged him into the river Lethe, and wiped his memories. This erased all the effects of the Titan rule, and Iapetus was renamed as Bob.

As Bob
After losing his memories, Iapetus is told by Percy that he is his friend, Bob. As Bob, he became more friendly, gentle, amiable and somewhat childlike. In the House of Hades, he's shown to be bored of his new duties, as Hades always orders him to clean all the mess in the Underworld. Bob is shown to have good hearing as he was able to listen to Percy call his name all the way from Tartarus. Even though not even the gods go to Tartarus, Bob doesn't give second thoughts and jumps into the pit, saving Percy and Annabeth's lives from the empousai.

Bob consistently helps Percy and Annabeth throughout the journey (in fact, he was the main reason they remained alive). He is shown to be very sentimental, when he bonds with a kitten and names him Small Bob. His helpful nature earns Annabeth's admiration, (which is not very easy to win so quickly), and Percy is himself ashamed for not caring for him.

Towards the end, Bob meets his Titan brethren, gaining his full memories in the process. Despite this, Bob/Iapetus stands up against them, and later against Tartarus, stating that he chooses to be more than a Titan, and that he's not like his brothers. Ultimately, he forces Percy and Annabeth to the Doors of Death, and despite their protests, Bob decides to sacrifice himself, fighting against Tartarus.

Appearance
After escaping Tartarus, Iapetus wore a tattered orange prison jumpsuit, has gray hair that sticks up in every direction, a scraggly beard, pure silver eyes, and is very thin and haggard and is said to be ten feet tall.

However after having his memory erased and started working for the Olympians, "Bob" was described to be wearing a blue overalls janitor's suit and name badge saying "Bob." He also carried around a broom, as well as many tools and supplies befitting a janitor.

Trivia

 * Iapetus, the third largest moon of Saturn, is named after him.
 * Nico di Angelo had apparently been visiting him in the Underworld and told him how good a friend Percy was. Percy however feels bad about how bad a friend he was to Iapetus.
 * His brothers tease him because when they were restraining Ouranus he was kicked in the face.