Hestes

***Hestes is an Olympian god and the main protagonist of the* *Power of the Gods* *franchise.***

If you had to describe Hestes in one word, the ideal one would be “**pure**.” The forgotten son of Zeus and Hestia, Hestes is the legendary **Thirteenth Olympian**. Known as the ***god of goodness***, Hestes was trained by the war goddess Athena, and by combining both wisdom and strength, was the one to defeat the evil Chaos from wiping out the Greek Gods. Because of this, he earned the unconditional love of all his kin, much like his own mother.

After tragedy struck the Olympians, causing them to go extinct, Hestes was the only one who volunteered to stay behind and be reborn as a mortal, in order to save humanity from suffering the same fate as well as to become their protector. For thousands of years, Hestes has been reincarnated into different forms, each time getting more and more wise.

In modern times, Hestes has taken on the identity of **Dr. Henry King**, currently working at Apollius Hospital. For years, he has worked in peace, hoping to continue the legacy of his late relatives. But recent events have forced him to come out of hiding, and to prove that he is worthy of living up to his family’s legacy...

*“Every god and mortal deserves the right to enjoy the gift of life.”*

                                                                                                      - Hestes’ Philosophy

## History

### Early Life

###### **Note: This is the origin story given to Hestes in the Power of the Gods prequel, *The Son of Hestia*.**

Hestes was born thousands of years ago in the heavenly realm of Mount Olympus. He was the sole son of the gods Zeus and Hestia. Despite being her biological son, Hestia made up the myth that she had sculpted him out of the ashes of a hearth, in order to protect her son from the wrath of Zeus’s jealous wife Hera. As he grew older, he became well-liked by his family members, due to his easy-going and forgiving nature.

As an adult, Hestes had initially taken on the role of god of the hearth (a title similar to his mother). Despite this, he was also interested in learning to fight, and was trained by Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom. Over time, the two gods developed romantic feelings for each other, something which greatly pleased Zeus (who considered the two his favorite son and daughter, respectfully.)

Nihil War

Hestes was one of the gods tasked with fighting against the primordial entity Chaos. Along with Ares, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis, Hestes headed off to the farthest reaches of the universe. There, they encountered Chaos, devouring a planet, before turning its attention towards them. The evil being managed to subdue all the Olympians, except for Hestes, who’s soul contained some sort of anti-energy vulnerable to Chaos, which weakened it, allowing the gods to retaliate. Defeated, Chaos fled to the edge of the cosmos.

End of the Gods

But peace wouldn’t last for the Olympians. Knowing it was unable to do it itself, Chaos had created its own dark gods to wipe the gods once and for all. Among them stood their leader, Nihlos, the dreaded god of nihilism and destruction. He tricked the gods into going after him, while he sent his evil siblings on a mission to poison Gaia with the Rot Plague, which would kill all life on Earth. His plan successful, Nihlos gloated at his victory, laughing at seeing both gods and mortals slowly and painfully die.

Unfortunately for Hestes, he was one of the first gods to succumb to the virus. As he prepared to die, he saw a vision of a weakened Mother Earth, who told him she had saw what he had done and was sure he was the perfect wielder of her “gift.” She resurrected him, and granted him the legendary Golden Heart, instructing him to jab it deep within the Earth’s surface. Hestes then came back to life, and as instructed, inserted the heart within the Earth, curing the world of the plague.

Although the Earth had been saved, its inhabitants were still doomed to die. The only way to save them was to spread the Golden Heart’s energy with them. This however required the owner to become one with the heart, giving up their own life in the process. Having the heart permanently bonded to his chest, Hestes had no choice but to throw himself into the Earth’s core, becoming one with Mother Earth herself, thus ending the age of the gods, but ensuring mankind’s survival.

Rebirth

Having been restored to her healthy state, Gaia was able to resurrect Hestes, albeit now as a regular human no longer possessing his godly powers. Now a mortal, Hestes woke up in an empty field, having no memories of his past life as an Olympian god. He stood up alone, embracing his new life.

Throughout the centuries, Hestes would continue to die and be reborn each time as a different person. Some of his most notable reincarnations included a student of the famed philosopher Aristotle, a warrior fighting in the Trojan War, and a messenger of King Midas. Little did the people he worked around with know that they were in fact interacting with the forgotten Olympian lost in their mythology.

Modern Day

By the 21st century, Hestes now resided in Appleton, Wisconsin, and was now known as Doctor Henry King, a high-ranking medic working at Apollius Hospital. Unbeknownst to him, the owner of the hospital, Andrew Coronis, was secretly the god Asclepios, the god of healing and medicine and the son of Apollo (one of Hestes’ closest siblings). Recognizing the doctor was in fact his uncle in disguise, Asclepios warmly lectured Henry on becoming a great medic, inputting great knowledge within him.

*Power of the Gods: The Thirteenth Olympian*

Meeting Drake

Henry continued to work in the big, busy hospital. Although he was very occupied, he was nevertheless happy that he was able to help out, especially getting the chance to save their lives.

One day, a boy by the name of Drake Esterwood was taken to Apollius. Drake had been badly burnt after saving an old blind lady from burning to death. Henry was the doctor assigned to him, so he quickly made it is job to make Drake feel better, as he would do with all his patients. Henry was moved by Drake’s situation; having learned that his patient had risked his own life to save the life of another, Henry admired the young boy’s selflessness. He kept sharing things with Drake up until the boy had recovered completely.

Losing his Job

A few weeks after Drake’s departure, Henry was back treating new people in need of his aid. Unfortunately, his usual routine would be cut short when a prominent lawyer by the name of Sire D. Iscord would put a case against the hospital’s safety, claiming that it was “too old”, and that its staff were “outdated.” Unfortunately, her case proved successful, and subsequentially resulted in the hospital getting shut down. Devastated, Henry tearfully waved goodbye to what he considered his “home away from home”. On his way out, however, Iscord eyed him carefully; it was almost as if he had been someone who she had known before. She asked him what his name was, and after answering, she let him go.

Bonding with Drake

In the meantime, Henry began working as a substitute teacher at Appleton High School, where he quickly became a favorite of the teachers. To his surprise, one of the kids in his class was Drake, the same boy he had met a while back. Happy to see his former patient again, Henry explained to the boy what had happened to him. Feeling bad, Drake agreed to be his helper.

New Job

Eventually, Henry managed to find a job as a museum curator, guarding over the Appleton Museum of History. Henry had always been a big fan of historical artifacts. Though he enjoyed seeing everything there was, his favorite area was the mythology section. He had always been a big fan of Greek mythology (completely unaware that *he* was a character in it).

Attack of the Chimera

One busy day, Henry continued to clean the dusty statues he was assigned to. Suddenly, he heard a lot of loud noises coming from outside the museum, and alarmed, he went outside to find its source, only to witness a horde of people running in panic. Confused, Henry asked one of them, a police officer, what was it that they were all running away from. The officer told him that some sort of “strange, terrifying monster” was attacking innocent bystanders. Although he knew it was logical to run away, Henry was far more intrigued, if not angered, at the fact that the creature was laying waste to his home. He ran towards the origin of the screams and came face-to-face with a nightmare: a giant lion with the head of goat in the middle and a snake for a tail. Henry immediately recognized the monster: the Chimera, a ferocious beast that had terrorized the ancient state of Lycia and who could breathe fire. Noticing that Henry was the only human left in its sight, the Chimera tried to strike him with its clawed paw but missed due to the man’s agility. As the beast was about to kill him, it was suddenly stopped by a blast of energy coming from its right. It turned to that direction, and standing there was Andrew, Henry’s former boss and great friend. However, Andrew looked different, as he was now taller, more muscular, and was glowing in a bright light. Andrew instructed Henry to leave, but he couldn’t just leave his old friend to die. Andrew battled the creature; they were evenly matched for the majority.

## Hestes

### Aliases

Hestes of OlympusThe Thirteenth OlympianThe Son of HestiaThe Lord of the HearthThe ForgottenDr. Henry King

### Relatives

Zeus (father) Hestia (mother) Hera (aunt/stepmother) Demeter (aunt) Hades (uncle) Poseidon (uncle) Kronus (grandfather) Rhea (grandmother) Ouranos (great-grandfather) Gaia (great-grandmother) Ares (half-brother) Hephaestus (half-brother) Eris (half-sister) Enyo (half-sister) Hebe (half-sister) Eileithyia (half-sister) Angelos (half-sister) Athena (half-sister) Apollo (half-brother) Artemis (half-sister) Hermes (half-brother) Dionysus (half-brother) Aphrodite (half-sister) Heracles (half-brother) Perseus (half-brother)

## Personality

Hestes can be best described as the ultimate paragon of the Greek gods. He is extremely brave, resilient, and persistent, as well as being equally compassionate and reasonable. Unlike many of his family members, Hestes wasn’t proud of his powers, and instead felt out of place with the rest of the Olympians. Due to his humble nature, practically every other god respected Hestes. Artemis described him as “the humblest god I had ever met”. Ares described him as “the only sibling I genuinely enjoyed spending time with.” Even Hera, who was infamous for hating any of her stepchildren, spared Hestes from her wrath.

His greatest defining trait is his immense love for human beings, being the god who admired them the most. So much he loved humanity, that he gave his own life for them to continue existing. Indeed, even Zeus admired his son’s great philanthropy, despite the latter’s own questionable misanthropic tendencies.

Having had lived alongside humanity for so long made Hestes understand mortals on a profound level, indeed being the god who understood them the best. Although he acknowledged that they were capable of doing heinous things, such as murder and theft, he also understood they had the capacity to be the best of themselves.

Despite often being seen as very tolerable and forgiving, Hestes was indeed more than what met the eye. He could be quite wrathful at times; however, he never took his anger out on anyone. He is also extremely overprotective of his allies, getting enraged after one of his enemies hurt them. He was also devastated after thinking the boy he considered his son had perished. The truth is, like any living being, he had the capacity to feel all emotions known to man. All in all, Hestes was a paragon to both mortals and godkind.

## Appearance

Hestes is a tall, muscular, handsome man with thick blond hair and bright blue eyes. He has a lightly shaved beard and mustache. In battle, he wore golden armor including a hoplite skirt and blue boots. He carried his signature sword and shield in his back.

As Dr. Henry King, Hestes is now much shorter and less bulkier, resembling a man in his thirties. He wears a blue long-sleeved shirt underneath a lab coat and black pants and wears glasses.

## Powers and Abilities

Hestes is an Olympian god, and thus possesses several attributes that put him high above any human. He possesses the basic characteristics that define the other Olympians, such as super strength, super speed, increased stamina, and increased durability.

As the son of Zeus and Hestia (two of the original six Olympians), Hestes is among one of the most powerful gods in existence. Thanks to his mother, he possesses control over the element of fire, a skill which was further augmented from the teachings of Hephaestus, the god of fire. He can also heal himself and others from any injury, although he cannot revive people.

After being fused with the Golden Heart, Hestes became virtually omnipotent: he had increased senses that allowed him to detect everything around him. He may have been the most powerful being in existence at the time; however, absolute power corrupts. Because of this, he soon gave up his new-found power and gave the heart to the Olympians for safekeeping.

Other than his natural innate Olympian abilities, Hestes is also a master fighter (having been trained by the goddess of war) and is able to go toe-to-toe with gods like Ares and Athena. Indeed, even Athena commented that she “may have taught him a bit *too* well.”

## Equipment

-**Sword of Hestia**: A powerful blade able to generate intense bursts of fire. Forged during the Titanomachy, it was given to Hestes’ mother Hestia to fight off the Titans. After the conflict ended, Hestia was horrified with the deaths the war caused, and stored the sword away until Zeus gave it to their son. Also known as the *Sword of Hestes*.

-**Shield of Hestia**: Similar to the sword of Hestia, this shield was also forged during the early days of the Olympians. Just like the sword, it is made of the mystical element of adamantine, making it virtually indestructible. The shield was hidden in the Temple of Hestia (along with the sword) until it was found by Hestes. Also known as the *Shield of Hestes.*

-**Golden Heart**: The most powerful artifact Hestes wields. Created by Gaia/Mother Earth herself, this enigmatic relic wields the power of life, able to bring inanimate objects to life as well as resurrecting the dead. Additionally, it has the power to turn humans into gods, and was responsible for creating the Prime Gods.

-**Lightning Bolts**: During his time in the AllSoul, Hestes was given his father’s legendary lightning bolts in order to practice for his eventual return to Earth. Hestes would eventually use these weapons during the Fallen War.

## Quotes

“I am Hestes of Olympus, son of Zeus and Hestia. And I am here to put an end to your madness.”

“Hello there little buddy. My name is Dr. Henry King. I will be your caretaker until you recover.”

“Andrew? What is going on? Why aren’t you running? And I why are you dressed like that?”

“I am an Olympian god? The son of the king of the gods Zeus and the goddess of the hearth Hestia?! But how come! Hestia was a virgin goddess, there is no way she could have a son. Unless history…forgot about him? Forgot about…me?”

“You must be Autolycus. I’ve heard great things about you…as well as not so-great things too.”

“These are the Olympians, the gods whom I resided with on Mount Olympus. For eons, we ruled the Earth in peace, until Chaos created a weapon strong enough to kill us.”

“While modern mythology portrays Artemis as a virgin, this is inaccurate. The truth is, Artemis had a demigod son with the human hunter Orion. She named him **Bryndor**. During a fight against. Now, I believe Bryndor is trapped in these coordinates, and we must free him.”

“Hermes! I require your assistance.”

“Once again Nihlox, you have failed…but this time, I will make sure you never try again…”

“You are an unskilled warrior, trained for mindless battle. You think brute strength is all it takes to gain victory. But if there is one thing that Athena has taught me, is that strategy comes a long way in achieving your victory.”

“You would want that, wouldn’t you? I pity you, Odinson. But you have hurt my family, my friends, my people…and I cannot allow you to continue.

“I only ask one thing of you guys: keep smiling the brightest of smiles.”

## Trivia

- Although Hestes himself is an original character, elements of other gods can be found in him. Appearance-wise, he resembles how Apollo is often portrayed. His attire is also similar to what Athena and Ares would wear. Personality-wise, he is essentially a male version of his mother: calm, peaceful, and humble.

- Hestes is forever worshipped by the Brotherhood of New Light, an ancient Hellenic cult who is trying to resurrect the original religions practiced in Greece. They believe he is the one who will save the world from total darkness.

- Hestes is one of the two main Greek gods who lacks a Roman name, the other being Apollo.

- In *Power of the Gods: The Official Godly Handbook*, a lot of Hestes’ interests are revealed, including:

* His favorite color is blue.

* He is a dog person.

* He is a vegan.

* He is a huge fan of the Olympic games, which makes *a lot* of sense.

- Hestes is very similar to Jesus Christ of Judeo-Christian myths, to the point he can be considered the “Greek mythology equivalent/version of Jesus Christ.”

* The most obvious similarity being that both characters are well-known for their extreme love for humanity, and both sacrificed themselves so that mankind could live on.

* Their mothers are both considered virgins in their respective beliefs (Mary for Jesus, Hestia for Hestes)

* Both their fathers are considered the main leaders of their respective pantheons (God for Jesus, Zeus for Hestes)

* Furthermore, they both have their own group of followers (apostles for Jesus, the Hestians for Hestes) and are worshipped by a religion (Christianity for Jesus, Brotherhood of New Light for Hestes).

- Hestes is the antithesis to his sworn enemy Nihlox, with him representing light, life, and creation, while Nihlox represents darkness, death, and destruction.

- Originally, Hestes held the title of god of the hearth, a title he shared with his mother. After being resurrected by Mother Earth, he was given the new title of god of goodness, due to showing great virtue and morality.

- It has been shown that Aphrodite has feelings for him, although Hestes hasn’t shown any interest in her.

- Zeus has openly admitted that Hestes is his favorite son.