Riordan Wiki:Featured Articles/Leo

Leo Valdez is one of the main protagonists in The Heroes of Olympus series. He is also a hero of the Prophecy of Seven. He is a son of Hephaestus and Esperanza Valdez. Leo is currently the head counselor of the Hephaestus' Cabin.

Leo was born in Houston, Texas to mechanic Esperanza Valdez. When he was little, he had a babysitter named Tia Callida, whom later was discovered to be Hera in disguise. She was watching Leo because she knew of his destiny as one of the seven in the prophecy. She tried to "kill" him by putting him in an active fireplace and by letting him play with knives. She 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 a flying boat with a bronze dragon head as the masthead in crayon at the age of five and just as Leo was going to sign his name on the picture, it was blown away by the wind. Tia convinced him to use his abilities to start a fire to "warm these old bones," and he ended up burning his fingerprints into the table.

At the age of eight, Leo was visited by Gaea, the Earth goddess, whom intended to break his spirit, after being notified by Medea that he would have a part to play in her downfall. Horrified, Leo tried to use his pyrokinetic abilities as defense to save his mother and himself, but lost control and started a fire, burning the mechanic shop. His mom died in the fire, and none of his relatives would take him in, thus forcing him to be sent to several foster homes.

The death of his mother haunted Leo for years. The emotional strain caused him to run away from multiple foster homes. After running away for the sixth time, Leo was sent to the Wilderness School, where he met Piper McLean, who unbeknownst to him, was a daughter of Aphrodite. When Hera switched Percy Jackson and Jason Grace, she manipulated the Mist so Leo would think Jason was his best friend, although they became real friends later on. (more...)

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