Don Leon Fortalejo

Don Leon Fortalejo is the patriarch of the Fortalejo family at the beginning of the series. He is known to be a very shrewd business man who built the empire of the family. He established the ancestral home of the family, Villa Kristine, in Paso de Blas, Palawan. He is the progenitor of the many Fortalejo members that will be the main characters of the series.

Don Leon is also known as the 'Lawin' (Hawk) of Paso de Blas.

Leon has a younger brother named Rafael Fortalejo, a character written within the same series by another PHR writer. Don Rafael was only featured in book 3 and 5 of Kristine Series which tells the story of his two daughters.

Leon was married to the love of his life Kristine Esmeralda Fortalejo, whom he had two children with, Romano and Margarita. At the beginning of the series, Don Leon is estranged to his son and heir, Romano. He also had two other children from other women, Bernard de Silva-Fortalejo and Zandro Fortalejo.

He made Bernard as his legal heir upon his death. It was revealed that Leon was the real father of Bernard with Alicia who he believed to have had a hero worship for him. For years however after the tragedy between the Fortalejo and de Silva family, Leon had doubted Bernard's parentage when Alicia confessed that Alfon raped her. In Jewel, Black Diamond, Bernard mentioned that Leon was only able to confirm that he is Bernard's real father when they found out when Alfon started raping Alicia, almost a month after they've learnt of her pregnancy. It was stated that Romano also knew of Bernard's real father but protected Leon's secret as a last show of loyalty.

Leon lost his hand when Ernesto de Silva attacked him with a knife to avenge Romano's apparent jilting of Alicia starting the two decade feud between the two families.

Leon vowed to only give his name to only one woman, his wife Kristine Esmeralda, but through the years after the latter's death it is known that he had many relationship with different women, some purely sexual while others with possible emotional ties. One of which was with Andrea de Lara, Leon's long time secretary. Most of the first generation characters teased the two elderly with this fact but it's not confirmed whether they really knew that the two had a relationship. The relationship itself was merely hinted by Andrea but was never discussed after Andrea's retirement.

In Villa Kristine, Zandro Fortalejo, another son, of Leon was introduced. He fathered Zandro with Clarita, a daughter of one of the tenants in Paso de Blas. Zandro is older than Bernard and was said to look like Leon the most from all his progeny. Clarita refused to give Zandro up to Leon when he offered so she could take hold of the money Leon had put on the bank for Zandro once his son turns 25.

In Hasta La Proxima Vez (Til Next Time), a young Leon was introduced through the eyes of Dana, Diana's daughter, who time traveled upon staying at her grandmother Isabelita's ancestral home. Leon was then a college student living in the basement of the ancestral home.

In Leon Fortalejo: Ang Simula ng Pagwawakas (Leon Fortalejo: The Beginning of the End), the story of Leon and how he met Kristine Esmeralda.

Leon was also a mentor and a good friend to Franco Navarro. He was the one who taught the younger man on how to deal with Jerome during their younger years. It was said that Franco's breakthrough in the business world was ushered by Leon's patronage as the Hacienda Kristine's meat business was one of the first clients of Franco's canning factory. He liked Franco enough that he had wanted Franco's blood be married into his family, something that was later fulfilled in Zandro and Jenny.

To his family, Leon is very controlling and known to manipulate the lives of people around him as well as his children and grandchildren. Most of the people in his family are thorn between loving and hating him for the schemes he plays in their lives. Despite his many negative characteristics, he inspires great respect from the people who knew him.

Leon loved his grandchildren and it can be said that the affection he was not able to show his own children directly were poured to them. He was especially fond of Jewel. He wasn't aware that Jewel was not a real daughter of Romano, a fact that made him oppose the budding relationship between Bernard and Jewel.

Aside from already being frail and ill, finding out that Bernard and Jewel had consummated their relationship caused a fatal heart attack and subsequent death of Leon Fortalejo minutes after he revealed to Julia the location of the last part of his last will and testament.