Mars

"I’m the god of Rome, child. I am the god of military might used for a righteous cause. I protect the legions. I am happy to crush my enemies underfoot, but I don’t fight without reason. I don’t want war without end."

- Mars to Percy Jackson

Mars is the Roman counterpart of Ares. As Mars, he becomes more disciplined as well as even more militaristic and warlike, which is shown by his focus on martial victory rather than sheer conflict. In his Roman form, Mars wears a uniform of the Canadian Special Forces. The Greeks envisioned Ares as a brutal and fearsome being. The Romans considered Mars Ultor, meaning "Mars the Avenger", to be the greatest of the gods after Jupiter. The planet Mars was named after him.



History
Mars is the god of war, and one of the most prominent and worshiped gods. He is the son of Jupiter and Juno. According to some sources, Mars is the father of Romulus and Remus by the Vestal Rhea Silvia. Because he was the father of these legendary founders of Rome, and thus of the Roman people, the Romans styled themselves 'sons of Mars'.

The fiercest and most ravenous creatures were consecrated to Mars: the horse, for his vigor; the wolf, for his rapacity and quickness of sight; the dog, for his vigilance; and he delighted in the pyre, the cock, and the vulture. He was the reputed enemy of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and arts, because in time of war they are trampled on, without respect, as well as learning and justice.

As the god who strode with warlike step to the battlefield, he was called Gradivus (from gradus, a step), it being popularly believed by the Romans that he himself marched before them to battle, and acted as their invisible protector. As the presiding deity over agriculture, he was styled Sylvanus, whilst in his character as guardian of the state, he bore the name of Quirinus.

Representation
Ancient monuments represent this deity as of unusual stature, armed with a helmet, shield, and spear, sometimes naked, sometimes in a military habit; sometimes with a beard, and sometimes without. He is often described riding in a chariot, drawn by furious horses, completely armed, and extending his spear with one hand, while, with the other, he grasps a sword imbued with blood.

The Son of Neptune
Mars appeared after the War Games to claim Frank Zhang in person, and to give him the quest to go to Alaska and free Thanatos, the god of death. He also includes Percy Jackson in the quest, saying Percy needed to learn respect for him. He appears to be different from Ares, because he only likes war if it is for a reason, and disliked endless carnage, something Ares appears to thrive on. He also appears to be more of a strategist, as seen when he gives Frank "The Art of War", a famous book on war strategies.

The Mark of Athena
After a possessed Leo Valdez fired on New Rome, Frank was plagued by voices from the two aspects of his father: Mars and Ares. Mars continually demands that Leo pay for treason against Rome, urging Frank to kill the son of Hephaestus.

The House of Hades
It is revealed that as soon as the fighting had broke out in Camp Jupiter, the two war god's voices would continuously yell in Frank's head. Ares and Mars would continuously yell at each other and only agreed on few things like, killing Leo and Triptolemus. To save Hazel and Nico di Angelo Frank asked his father for a snake to repair Triptolemus' chariot. The gods refused claiming Frank needed to show he was worthy of the god's favor. Frank decided to rid Venice of the Katoblepones to earn the snake.

After Frank defeated all the Katoblepones in Venice, Mars appears claiming Frank's act of bravery brought peace to both of his forms for a short period of time. He gives Frank a Burmese python then tells him to hurry back to his friends. Shortly after departing Mars suffers a terrible headache and explodes in a red mushroom cloud.

Appearance
Mars has a flat-top hair cut. His face is covered with knife scars and he wears night-vision goggles that glow from the inside or sun glasses to cover his flame filled sockets. Mars wears military uniforms of various countries.

Abilities

 * As a son of Jupiter, Mars is a very powerful god:


 * Prowess in Battle: As the God of War, Mars is a fierce warrior, and a master of both armed and hand-to-hand combat, which is one of the reasons why he starts his own fights. He successfully fought in the first Gigantomachy.
 * Warfare: Mars is an expert in all areas of warfare.
 * War Manipulation: The ability to manipulate war, strife, combat and other forms of conflict Mars as God of War has the power to influence all forms of conflict including mental, physical, spiritual and conceptual ones, regardless of the area and numbers involved, control how they progress and draw power both from the conflict alone as well as the dying. Mars is naturally, extremely skilled in all form of fighting, weapons and both strategy and tactics as well as statistics of war. Mars can start conflicts by influencing people or events, rise personal and fanatical armies, control and create weapons of every kind and even grant others extensive abilities of combat. Mars has the incredible power to invoke war and chaos within an enormously large radius, ranging from a city to an entire continent. With this power he has full control over the city or continent that is in war and chaos at the time.
 * Telumkinesis: As the God of War, Mars has a great amount of control over weapons.
 * He can conjure and use any weapon. He knows everything about a weapon when he sees it.
 * He boasts that his physical strength is infinite.
 * He can curse weapons.
 * He can disarm his opponents.
 * Odikinesis: Mars has control over feelings and emotions of war (such as hate and rage), and frequently induces them in order to start fights.
 * Pyrokinesis (limited): Mars is shown to have some control over fire, especially whenever he makes his appearances. It is unknown to what extent he can control fire.
 * Necromancy (limited):  The losing side of each war has to give Mars a fraction of their dead.
 * Mars's Blessing: Mars's blessing gives the person blessed near invulnerability. He gives his blessing to people who showtactics and leadership than just sole battle skills . He blessed his son Frank in The House of Hades, when he kills all the katobleps in Venice.

Personality
Mars despises war without reason and fighting with skill alone. He uses strategy in battle and urges his children to do the same. He is more mature then his Greek form, and has a sense of honor.

Demigod Children

 * Frank Zhang
 * Romulus Silvia
 * Remus Silvia

Immortal Children

 * Cupid
 * Timor
 * Metus

Trivia

 * Martes and Mardi, meaning Tuesday in Spanish and French respectively, were named after the god of war.
 * In The Son of Neptune, Mars claims that he can't recall his fight with Percy as Ares, yet he later recounts Percy's being told his fatal flaw by Athena, something only Ares could have overheard. It is possible, however, that he knows this merely because he's a god of war, making fatal flaws his business.
 * The planet Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. It has been named after Mars, the god, because of its blood-red color and Mars being the god of War.
 * The month March is from ancient Rome and is named after Mars.