Maria di Angelo

Maria di Angelo
Biographical information
Gender	Female
Alias	Lover of Hades Mother of Nico and Bianca di Angelo
Family	Mr. di Angelo (father) Mrs. di Angelo (mother) Bianca di Angelo (daughter) Nico di Angelo (son)
Affiliation	Hades
Residence	Venice, Italy (formerly) Washington, D.C. (formerly) Elysium
Status	Deceased
Physical description
Eye	Dark Brown
Hair	Black
Species	Human
Behind the scenes
Appearances	The Demigod Files (mentioned) The Last Olympian (in vision) The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure (in a dream)

“	Certamente. We will stay together. Zeus is un imbecile.	”
–Maria di Angelo talking to Hades about Zeus' orders in The Last Olympian.

Maria di Angelo was an Italian woman, and the mother of Greek demigods Bianca and Nico di Angelo.

History

Maria was born in Italy to a diplomat and eventually attracted the attention of Hades due to her clear sight. They had a daughter and son together.

During the time Maria and Hades were together, the Great Prophecy had been spoken and World War II was beginning, with some of his other demigod children involved on the side of the Axis Powers. Hades wanted to hide Maria and their children in the Underworld so that Zeus wouldn't be able to find out about them. However, Maria refused to raise her children there as they would be away from her family.

While she was in a hotel, Zeus destroyed it, killing Maria. Hades was only quick enough to shield their two children, Bianca and Nico. Hades had wished to revive her in his loss, but Alecto, a Fury, reminded him that as an immortal, he had to respect the forces of life and death.

A devastated Hades then told Alecto to bring Nico and Bianca to the River Lethe to have their memories wiped, then to the Lotus Hotel and Casino, where time stands still. Maria's tragic death caused Hades a lot of devastation and bitterness towards his family, which in turn led him to the curse the Oracle, who warned Hades to hide his children sooner.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Demigod Files

The Sword of Hades

While searching for Ethan Nakamura in the Underworld, Melinoe, the goddess of ghosts, appears before Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace, and Nico di Angelo to torment them with visions of people they had lost. While she appeared to Thalia as her mother, she showed herself to Nico as Maria di Angelo.

The Last Olympian

When trying to summon Maria, Nico instead finds out much information about his mother through the ghost of his sister, Bianca di Angelo.

Nico was able to partially use the memory of his mother's last moments to convince Hades to fight with the other Gods: he told Hades that Maria was right about families sticking together and his father should prove himself to be more than what his siblings thought of him.

The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

Maria and Bianca appear to Nico in a dream, explaining that although they have both moved on, they were granted one last visit with him by Hades who proves that he is real. Hades reveals that he's the one who sent Nico after Iapetus, causing Maria to frown when Nico mentions that Hades had once told him that he was annoyed that Nico wasn't as good of a demigod as Bianca. On Maria's prompting, Hades explains that Percy Jackson had changed a lot of things for the gods, making them rethink their priorities, standards and behaviors, causing Hades to have second thoughts after he sent Nico the prophecy and realized that it put Will Solace in danger too. However, Nico had made Hades incredibly proud so he decided to break the rules and show him how proud he is by allowing his son to see Maria and Bianca. Nico's family express their pride in him and tell Nico to go and be happy with Will for himself. Nico is finally able to let his mother and sister go, noting that they seem completely at peace as they vanish.

Appearance

Maria was described to be a very beautiful woman, whom both of her children resemble, especially her daughter. She had dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and a smile similar to Bianca's.

In The Sword of Hades, Percy described Maria as a woman in an old-fashioned black velvet dress with a matching hat. She wore a string of pearls and white gloves, and her hair was tied back.

In The Last Olympian, Maria wore a black dress, gloves, and a black veiled hat like a star from an old 1940s movie.

Abilities

Clear Sight: Maria is one of the few mortals with the ability to see through the Mist.

Relationships

Love Interests

Hades

Hades, her lover.

Maria was one of those rare few who saw Hades' kind and generous side. She speculated that if the other Olympians saw it as well, they wouldn't spurn and fear him nearly as much. They had two children together and continued to see each other until Bianca and Nico were about 5 and 3 years old, respectively.

​​​​​​It is evident that Hades had loved Maria dearly; gods rarely revealed their true nature to a mortal, even if it was one he or she loved and had children with. He was prepared to disregard Persephone (his own wife) by promising to build his family a palace of gold to live in if she would agree to go to the Underworld with him. Unfortunately, while she was in a hotel, Zeus destroyed it, killing Maria. Hades was only quick enough to shield Bianca and Nico. Hades was left devastated while witnessing Maria's death and wished to revive her in his loss, but Alecto, the Fury, reminded him that as an immortal, he had to respect the forces of life and death. Maria's tragic death caused Hades a lot of pain and bitterness towards his family, which in turn, lead him to the curse the Oracle.

Children

• Nico di Angelo
• Bianca di Angelo

Nico di Angelo, her son.

Nico lost all of his memories about Maria because Hades had Nico and his sister taken to the Lethe to have their memory wiped. He was so eager to discover more information about his mother from Hades, who uses this to his advantage. He even went as far as attempts to summon Maria despite Bianca warning him that he should not do that.

In his attempt to summon his mother, Nico presented a memory which discusses the terms of the agreement after World War II and how Hades defied it. He watched as Hades and Maria discuss how Hades can bring her to safety, though his offer of building a palace for Maria to live in with her children is declined. He then saw Zeus destroy the hotel they were staying at in an attempt to kill him and Bianca. Hades was only quick enough to protect Nico and Bianca but his mother didn't survive. During the Second Titan War, Nico was able to partially use the memory of his mother to convince Hades to fight with the other Gods: he told Hades that Maria was right about families sticking together and his father should prove himself to be more than what his siblings thought of him.

Bianca di Angelo, her daughter.

Like Nico, Bianca lost all of her memories about her mother because Hades had her and her brother Nico taken to the river Lethe to have their memories wiped.

However, prior to being bathed in the Lethe, she is shown to have a loving parent-child relationship with Maria.

Etymology

• Maria is the Latin variant of “Mary”.
• Di Angelo means "From the angel."

Trivia

• Maria di Angelo and Marie Levesque, the mother of Hazel Levesque, have a lot in common:
  • Both were at one point lovers of Hades/Pluto.
  • Maria and Marie were both killed by an immortal ( Zeus and Gaea respectively).
  • Their daughters were both killed (Bianca was killed by one of Hephaestus' defective automatons, Talos, and Hazel, in order to stop Alcyoneus' rise, sacrifices herself).
  • Their daughters' time was reserved and then brought back to life or for example, Bianca being stuck in the Lotus Hotel and Casino and hadn't even noticed seventy years passed by.
  • Both women have a connection with the Mist (Marie's ability to manipulate it and Maria's ability to see through it).
  • Their first names are similar and a variant of Mary.