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Leo, listen to me. Fire is a tool, like anything else, but it's more dangerous than most. You don't know your limits.

–Esperanza to Leo, in The Lost Hero.

Esperanza Valdez was a human Hispanic American mechanic and the mother of Greek demigod Leo Valdez, whom she had with Hephaestus. Esperanza was also the sister of Rosa Valdez.

History[]

Hephaestus

Hephaestus, Esperanza Valdez's lover.

Esperanza Valdez received a college degree in mechanical engineering, but didn’t received a job in that field because she was never taken seriously as a mechanic due to being a woman, resulting in Esperanza starting up a machine shop. Sometime in 1994/1995, Esperanza had a relationship with Hephaestus, resulting in the birth of Leo Valdez. From 1997 to 2000, the Queen of the Gods, Hera (in the form of Tía Callida) came to her house and babysat her young son to prepare him for his life as a demigod. Esperanza was enraged by this, insisting that Leo was far too young, that he was still her baby. It was stated by Leo that while Esperanza did not have a lot in life and lived in poor conditions, she was always happy, because she had Leo.

Death[]

Leo Valdez-Viria

Leo Valdez, her son.

Three years after the departure of Hera, Esperanza Valdez was killed in a fire at the machine shop caused by Gaea, when the Mother Earth faced eight-year-old Leo Valdez. Her death resulted in Leo running away, and his eventual enrollment in Wilderness School after he was rejected by his aunt Rosa Valdez, who blamed him for the death of her sister. Leo believed he had caused her death for a long time.

The Heroes of Olympus[]

The Lost Hero[]

Her story is told by Leo to his two friends, Piper McLean and Jason Grace.

The Mark of Athena[]

Esperanza is seen in Leo's flashback, which he shares with Hazel Levesque on board the Argo II. She is carrying Baby Leo, showing him to Leo's great grandfather Sammy Valdez. Leo also mentions how, after the death of Esperanza, her sister Rosa had turned against her nephew, blaming him for being the cause of her death.

The Blood of Olympus []

When Leo, Jason, and Piper are bringing Gaea up into the sky, he launches insults to Gaea saying, "Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!"

Personality[]

Esperanza was a kind and heart-warming woman who was very protective over her son, Leo Valdez, someone she loved and cared for very deeply. She was fairly optimistic despite having been rejected and shamed upon by others in her life. She even held a level of determination and was tenacious as she was able to open up a machine shop after not being taken seriously as a woman, so that she could support both her and Leo. When Leo first met Hephaestus in his dream in The Lost Hero, it's implied by Hephaestus that she might've had somewhat of a sharp tongue as he compared Leo to Esperanza after Leo insulted him out of "complete annoyance." Before she died, she was stated to be very happy as long as she had Leo by her side.

Appearance[]

In The Lost Hero, Esperanza was said to have a beautiful face, curly dark hair, and kind eyes with deeply etched lines around them because of working hard all the time, making her look older than she actually was.

In The Mark of Athena, when Hazel was sharing her flashback with Leo about Sammy Valdez, a young Esperanza was seen wearing a turquoise blouse and jeans. She had black hair styled in a short wedge, and while she was pretty, she was also described as "not delicate" as she had well-muscled arms and calloused hands. She also had brown eyes that "glinted with amusement."

Trivia[]

  • Esperanza always called Leo "mijo" (me-ho), which is an endearment term used for males in the Spanish language. It is often used by parents to address his or her son; as well as other close family relations. It is a contraction of "mi hijo", meaning "my son".
  • In Spanish, Esperanza means "Hope."
  • She is similar to Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson's mother and a lover of Poseidon in the aspect of only wanting their son's father around to be with their respective children, not for themselves.
  • She may have the ability to see through the Mist because she fell in love with Hephaestus and she knew Tía Callida was Hera.
  • Her favorite band is The Rolling Stones.
The Heroes of Olympus
Core Series: The Lost Hero | The Son of Neptune | The Mark of Athena | The House of Hades | The Blood of Olympus
Main Characters: Jason Grace | Piper McLean | Leo Valdez | Percy Jackson | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Annabeth Chase | Iapetus/Bob | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Nico di Angelo | Gleeson Hedge
Secondary Characters: Hylla Ramírez-Arellano | Dakota | Tyson | Ella | Octavian | Halcyon Green | Dr. Howard Claymore | Alabaster C. Torrington | Lamia
Minor Characters: Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Grover Underwood | Thalia Grace | Clarisse La Rue | Fleecy | Mrs. O'Leary | Kinzie | Arion | Calypso | Lou Ellen Blackstone | Chiron | Will Solace | Tristan McLean | Don | Julia | Jacob | Michael Varus | Burly Black | Medea | Midas | Lityerses | Phineas | Otrera | Echo | Narcissus | Sciron | Pasiphaë | Lycaon
Olympian Gods: Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Hades | Ares | Demeter | Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Hephaestus | Aphrodite | Hermes | Dionysus
Minor Gods: Achelous | Aeolus | Asclepius | Boreas | Eurus | Hecate | Iris | Hypnos | Keto | Khione | Kymopoleia | Mithras | Nemesis | Nike | Notus | Phorcys | Serapis | Thanatos | Triptolemus | Zephyros
Roman Gods: Jupiter | Juno | Neptune | Pluto | Mars | Minerva | Ceres | Lupa | Bellona | Fortuna | Janus | Terminus | Vulcan | Mercury | Apollo (Roman) | Diana | Venus | Bacchus | Pomona | Aquilon | Hercules | Cupid | Auster | Favonius | Letus | Victoria
Giants: Enceladus | Porphyrion | Alcyoneus | Polybotes | Ephialtes | Otis | Damasen | Clytius | Mimas | Orion | Hippolytos | Thoon | Periboia
Undead: Gray | Zombie
Primordial Gods: Gaea | Tartarus | Ourae | Nyx | Chaos | Ouranos | Akhlys | Hemera | Elpis | Spes
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Cynocephali | Gorgon | Gryphon | Harpy | Basilisk | Lycanthrope | Gegeines | Cyclops | Katobleps | Unicorn | Giant Eagle | Ichthyocentaur | Satyr/Faun | Storm Spirit | Laistrygonian Giant | Lares | Mania
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Haley Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide | The Demigod Files | The Demigod Diaries | The Son of Sobek | The Singer of Apollo | The Staff of Serapis | Percy Jackson's Greek Gods | Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians | Demigods of Olympus | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection
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