Max Palacios-Balcazar

Maximiliano Palacios-Balcazar or Max for short, is a son of Aphrodite and Conner Palacios-Balcazar and older brother to Vanessa. He came to camp at nine years old

## Basic Stuff

### Alias

Aphrodite, Matchmaker, Lover boy, Max, Maxie Boy, Boy with a long name, America's favorite fighting Mexican, The Mexorsist,

### Residence

Camp Olympia (Currently)Des Moines, Iowa (Formerly)

## Family

### Biological Family

* Aphrodite (Mother)
* Conner (Father)
* Vanessa Palacios-Balcazar (Younger sister)
* Angelica Charity, Primrose White (Half-sister)
* Aeneas, Phobos, Deimos, Eros, Hermaphroditus, Anteros, Priapus and Hedylogus, Tyche, Herophile, Beroe, Harmonia, (immortal half-siblings)
* The Titans, Elder Cyclopes, and Hekatonkheires, (Uncles and Aunts)
* Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus,
* Original 12 titan children (Ya know Kronos Rhea, etc, cousins)

## Items

### Weapons

* Dagger
* Sword
* Shot gun

## Appearance

### Outfit

* Usually dark colors, minor pink
* Jeans
* Champion leather jacket
* White shirt with pink sleeves
* Black and pink sneakers
* Square glasses

## History

### Early Life

Maximiliano Palacios-Balcazar or Max to all of his friends was born to Conner Palacios-Balcazar, a clear mortal and movie star, and Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, love, desire, passion, sexuality, pleasure, and fertility on February 5th, 2004. His little sister, Vanessa was born on October 13, 2008, when Aphrodite came back in her Roman form, Venus. Conner was a young Latino wizard who had moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and was relatively good-looking and happened to catch the eye of none other than Aphrodite herself. Aphrodite disguised herself as a young woman to try and seduce Conner, however instead of Conner just straight jumping in bed with the goddess, he took the time to get to know Aphrodite, which surprised the goddess of Love. Aphrodite continued to visit Conner and Aphrodite got pregnant and had Max. Four years later, Aphrodite came back as Venus and had their daughter, Vanessa.

Max had gotten his name from his mother, saying it was a strong, handsome, and charming name and was fitting for a son of Aphrodite. His grandmother noted his strong voice and taught him many Mexican songs. As opposed to many other children of Aphrodite in history and his sister, Max was never very focused on his looks, often wearing whatever felt the most comfortable to wear. At one point, he helped his actor father research Greek mythology (for a role his father was about to take on in a film) and learned quite a bit of information that he found interesting. His grandmother would tell him Mexican stories such as *La Llorona.* From time to time, Max and his father would play a game called "Any Three Questions," in which Max would ask his father any three questions of his choice and he had to answer them without lying. His main intention was to find out more about his mother who left after Vanessa was born but was never able to find anything.

### Going to School

In addition, Max has always had the ability to charm speak and uses it (not knowingly) to gain his father's attention by "borrowing" things from schools. When he was in kindergarten and when his teachers would play “Simon Says” he was confused about how he was so good at the game. Max would also unknowingly use his charm speak to have other kids give him their toys. Max would also get people working with his dad to give him and his sister some of the props for movies to play with. When the two would get caught, their father would scold them for taking the props. In the first grade, he once got in trouble for taking a book from the book fair without paying, he managed to charm speak the teacher into thinking he didn’t, which worked. Max wasn’t very popular in school and was often called “ugly” by other girls, which had an impact on his life, causing him to have insecurities at an early age. In the second grade, Max was often bullied and so was Vanessa.

While Max could take the bullying, he was very protective of his sister. Max would often use his charm speak to make the girls bullying Vanessa do some embarrassing stuff, such as pouring milk on themselves. While Vanessa was grateful for Max, stepping up for her, Max was often in trouble with many teachers because of his ADHD. Max was often sent out of class with the teachers scolding him for “disrupting the class” and then he would get scolded by his father. Max often resented his father, who never really paid attention to him and his sister and would often use his charm speak to take some of his father’s things, hide them and try to help his dad find them which was his way of bonding with his dad. The last straw was when Max was nine and his sister was five. The two were sent to a boarding school in California

### Coming to Camp

After about four months of being at the boarding school, Max and Vanessa had managed to find a way out with the help of their charm speak to distract the security and they were wandering the streets of California for five weeks. One day, the two were attacked by a monster and were chased to Camp. They were guided by the voice of their mother, who told them which way to go to Camp Olympia Max was a bit skeptical of the voice but followed it so that way he and his sister would be safe. After a few hours, the two made it to Camp Olympia and just stood in front of the border, confused and skeptical about what they should do. The two were found by a random camper who took them to Zoe and they stayed in the Hermes Cabin for a few weeks before getting claimed by Aphrodite. When they were claimed, they were given Aphrodite’s blessing which made them very beautiful and handsome. Max hated receiving the blessing however Vanessa loved it

## Personality

He, like Aubrey, is a nice person. Unlike his sister, he is not vain or arrogant and he doesn’t *normally* care about his looks, however, because of being body-shamed as a kid he cares about how much he eats, and can sometimes be shown as caring about what he wears. He also gives relationship advice if it is Toxic and knows the best way to get out of them. Much like his mother, Max is temperamental, crafty, flirtatious, smart, and free as the wind. He is shown to have a deep grudge against those who have "perverted" notions of love, such as the self-absorbed Narcissus. Despite his temperamental nature, Max can be truly sweet, loving, and passionate, and he has a faith in love that is absolute and true. He can also be gentle and gracious to those he trusts. Presiding over the most powerful of human feelings, Max has great insight into mortal emotions, as well as mortal nature by extension. It is nearly impossible to disagree with him. He is also shown to be good-natured and cheerful, looking at the bright side of most, if not all, situations. While he can come off as sweet, he does love to have fun and at times he can be a bit rough. Max isn't as much as a ladies man as one might commonly associate with Aphrodite children. Whilst, yes, it is true that he enjoys flirting with people, he is for the most part loyal and monogamous with a dislike to cheating. Although some just pin this down to him being a great guy, Max thinks it's more down to the fact that he saw his father and mother (when she came back as Venus to have Vanessa) had a close relationship that caused him to have a desire to emulate it the best he could. Max continues to break the stereotype further because, although looking and doing things like a stereotypical jock would do, Max acts the opposite and is known to be rather sensitive and not have thick skin. Albeit most of the time Max is dismissive with his feelings, some things do hurt him deep down and subsequently he has been known to hold grudges and cut people out of his life should he find them toxic

### Fatal flaw

Max's fatal flaw is his insecurities. While yes, it is normal to have them, Max tends to let these insecurities get to him and often beats himself up for them, but his friends show that who he is okay

## Appearance

Max is described to be a “very handsome” boy seventeen year old boy of Hispanic descent. He has tanned skin, unnatural pink-colored eyes, messy dark brown hair, usually gelled and swept to the side with. He is normally shown to be wearing jeans, a Champion leather jacket, a white shirt with, and square glasses. He has also dyed the tips of his hair pink.

## Powers and Abilities

### Aphrodite Kid Powers

* He has the ability to alter and control makeup, perfume, clothing, jewelry, and other beauty products (hairbrushes, combs, curlers, straighteners, etc).
* He has absolute control over amokinesis, the ability to manipulate love and desire
* He can curse two people to love each other for a limited amount of time.
* He can influence the feelings of love.
* He is naturally skilled in Love Magic.
* He can tell when a person has a crush on someone that isn't being reciprocated.
* He can change his physical features like hair color, eye color, skin, ect.
* He can read people's emotions, just by looking at them from close by or from a distance.
* He can change his clothes at will.
* He has the ability to use Permanent Makeup on others, which can last for few days, weeks or even months. The makeup is impossible to remove in the time period that it lasts.
* He can communicate with doves, geese, ducks, dolphins, and swans.
* He can tap into the powers of any of the Erotes, as his mother is the mother of the Erotes. For example: charmspeak and functional wings as the Erotes can do so
* He has an love aura about them at all times
* He has the power of Charmspeak, the ability to make people do whatever he wants just by using the strength of his voice. However, those with a strong enough will, higher deities, and chaos deities are able to put up some resistance and/or are immune to its effects
* He can influence strong emotions such as hate, desire, and desperation.
* He has enhanced battle abilities due to the fact Aphrodite was also a war goddess
* He has enhanced senses of sight and/or hearing due Aphrodite’s associations with gossip.
* He radiates beauty. Making everything and anything look stunning on him.
* He can curse someone so they will feel unloved, ugly, and the effects of a heartbreak.
* He can curse a piece of jewelry or clothing.
* He has a higher resistance to charmspeak. He is able to know when it’s being used it but aren’t fully resistant to it
* He can know the true intentions of a person.
* He is able to cause a mist made of perfume and/or cologne to blind and/or stop the attacks of his opponents.
* He can influence the thoughts of others so they would only think of himself.

### General Abilities

* ADHD: Max's supernatural alertness and keen senses that keep him ready for, and alive, in battle.
* Fighting skills: Max is a natural fighter
* Superhuman strength: Being a demigod, Max is stronger than the average mortal. Even when battered and exhausted.
* Superhuman durability: Being a demigod, Max is more durable than a regular human
* Superhuman reflexes: Max has incredible reflexes, which is proven throughout his life
* Superhuman agility: Being a demigod, Max has shown countless times his amazing agility
* Will power: Max has amazing will power
* Knifeman ship: Max is good at using a knife/dagger in battle
* Marksmanship: As said before, Max is good at using his father's shotgun
* Spanish: As Max is Latino and his father taught him, Max is fluent is Spanish

## Relationship

### Romance

#### Ryan Anderson

Max is portrayed in the series as Ryan's best friend and primary love interest. When the two met, the two started off as great friends and the two often hung out. After their second quest, Ryan has had a not-so-secret crush on Max, for three years, and blushed whenever he was around. As for Max, he liked Ryan back and flirted with him when ever he had the chance, though Ryan just thought Max was messing with him. When Max confessed his feelings to Ryan, Ryan was confused about the flirting thing and asked "So, you really were flirting with me?" to which Max just kissed him. The two have been dating since the first war

### Friends

#### Isaac Reynoso

Isaac is one of Max's closest friends in their friend group.

#### Leo Guzman

Leo is one of Max's best friends Like the friendship between Leo and Isaac, two are often seen laughing and making jokes with their other friends like Carlos, who is a son of Demeter. Max is the kind of friend to bounce off of Leo's humor and make the situation funnier.

#### Carlos Rodriguez

Carlos is another one of Max's closest friends. While Carlos is often seen as a push over, Max is one of the only people who can get Carlos to show his more chaotic and fun-loving side.

#### Melody Potvin

The girl who made the group happen is sorta the "mom friend" of the five. Max (as well as the others) often go to her for emotional support and Melody knows she can count on them to help her out in a time of need.

### Family

#### Aphrodite (Mother)

Aphrodite particularly favors her children who follow in her footsteps but Max seems to be the exception. Max often looks up to her mother and does her best to make her proud. However, that's easier said than done when she has several siblings who also try to attain their mother's approval. Although, it should be noted that Aphrodite is not necessarily a *good* mother, often using Max as a sort of trophy and only acknowledging her for her own personal gain. It's no surprise that all her children are divinely beautiful, so Aphrodite uses them to her advantage. They're merely but one of her many excuses to *brag.* Their mother can also be very problematic at times and a lot of pressure is put onto her children. The family has an infamously bad reputation among gods and mortals alike, so they don't really have any ties with others*.* Max has faced the same stress throughout the duration of her life, along with her siblings, and is rather fed up with it.

#### Conner (Father)

Max's father is Conner Palacios-Balcazar a well-known actor with a powerful position and is Latino. His father is always at work and busy. Max and his sister wanted to feel recognized by him which was why they got in trouble and "steals" things with their charm speaking. The two share a moment during the summer break, where he explained that while he does love Max and his sister, he tried to keep them away from him so he (Max) wouldn't be drawn into his crazy celebrity life. From then on, Max is more understanding of his dad and accepts that he may not have as much time for him as he would like.

#### Vanessa (Younger sister)

Vanessa is Max's younger sister, born to Venus and their father, making her a roman demigod. Like most siblings, the two often argue, since Vanessa is often vain and arrogant, and Max is the opposite. Though Max is shown to care for his sister.

## Etymology

Maximiliano is a masculine name of Latin origin, with its derivation from the Latin word "Maximum", which literally translates to **"greatest"**. In fact, as a byproduct of imperialism, the name has become very common in Latin America and rivals that of its notability in the Iberian Peninsula.

Palacios is derived from the Spanish word "Palacio," meaning a "**palace**," and as a surname, was no doubt taken on by someone who lived near a palace or mansion, or perhaps by someone who worked there.

Balcazar is a topographic name derived from alcázar '**castle**' and bal a variant of valle 'valley' or perhaps bello '**beautiful**'.

## Trivia

1. His relationship with Ryan Anderson may be a reference to the marriage of Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Her friendship with Leo may also be a reference to the not-so-secret infidelity of Ares and Aphrodite, although it is not romantic. They also shared the same half-siblings, Phobos and Deimos.
2. Max only has a mortal half-sibling, who is Aeneas, the rest are immortal
3. Max has two pet doves named Achilles and Patroclus
4. Max owns a shotgun that used to belong to his father
5. Max has some similarities to Aubrey
	* Both are children of a love goddess
	* Both are children of movie stars
6. Max's middle name is Amado, which means "Beloved by God"
7. In battle, he wears pink and red armor which Caspian says makes him look like a "Guerrilla Warfare Barbie."
8. Leo and Max’s friendship kind of mirrors Patroclus and Achilles. Achilles refused to fight, so his lover (in most Greek mythologies about them they are lovers, in a few, they're not stated as lovers) Patroclus led the Greeks in Achilles' armor. Hector of Troy killed Patroclus and in rage for what happened to him, Achilles joined the fight and dragged Hector's lifeless body around in his chariot. Max disguised himself as Leo, was almost killed (got knocked out), only then did Leo rejoin the fight, defeating and dragging the drakon around.