Perseus

Half-Siblings: Heracles, Helen, Minos, and Dionysus

**Perseus** was an ancient and legendary Greek and Roman hero while also being the demigod son of Zeus/Jupiter. His mother was Danae, the daughter of Acrisius, the king of Argos.

When a prophecy revealed to Acrisius that his grandson would kill him, Acrisius imprisoned his daughter Danae to keep her chaste. Zeus, however, fooled Acrisius' precautions by entering the prison disguised as a shower of gold. When Acrisius discovered that Danae had given birth to Perseus, he had the mother and the son thrown into the sea in a chest of wood.

Luckily they reached the island of Seriphos where the king Polydectes offered them hospitality and protection. Perseus was secretly raised on the island and became a courageous young man. Polydectes pretended to marry the daughter of his friend. Everybody had to bring a wedding present, including Perseus. However, Perseus, being poor, had not brought anything, and Polydectes pretended to be furious. After a heated discussion, Perseus said he would bring him anything the king would ask; so Polydectes asked for the head of the Gorgon Medusa.

Perseus set forth on his adventure; he wandered for days, searching for the Gorgons lair. One night, in an unknown country he realized how hopeless things were. Medusa was a horrible creature, who had snakes growing out of her head instead of hair, and a terrifying gaze that literary petrified anyone who would look into her eyes.

In his despair, a tall woman and a young man with winged sandals appeared and introduced themselves as Athena and Hermes. Hermes said that they were all siblings as Perseus was in fact the son of Zeus, so they would help him in his quest; so Hermes offered him his winged sandals and the sickle that was used by Cronus to castrate Uranus; while Athena gave him her shield, so that Perseus would not have to look straight into Medusa's eyes. They also gave him further information on how to find the lair of Medusa.

So Perseus went to the cave of the Graeae, who would lead him further in his adventure. The Graeae were three women who shared a single eye among them. So, when one of them was about to give the eye to one of the others, Perseus grabbed it and blackmailed them to aid him. So, the Graeae informed him that he should find the Nymphs of the North to get the Cap of Darkness which would make him invisible, as well as a magic bag.

After getting these two items, Perseus eventually went to the lair of Medusa and her sisters, whom he found sleeping. He wore the Helm of Darkness, and unseen managed to kill Medusa using the sickle; he then used the shield to carry the head and place it into the magic bag, for even though it was dead, the head still have the potential to turn someone into stone. Medusa's sisters woke up and attacked Perseus, but he flew away using his winged sandals. On his way back to Seriphus, he had many adventures; in one of them, he came across the Titan Atlas, who was condemned to carry the heavens on his shoulders. To release him of his pain, Perseus turned him into stone using Medusa's head, so that he would no longer feel the weight of his burden.

Later on, he saw what looked like a statue chained to a rock, so he went to investigate. He saw that it was not a statue, but a woman, and asked her why she was chained to the rock. "My name is Andromeda", she replied, "and I have been punished because of my vain mother. She boasted that I was more beautiful than the Nereids. Poseidon was angered and said that I must be sacrificed to a sea monster," she said. Even as she spoke a monster rose from the sea. Perseus pulled Medusa's head out of the bag; the sea monster turned to stone and crumbled to pieces. Perseus cut Andromeda's chains and took her to her father, King Cepheus of Phoenicia. When Perseus asked Andromeda's hand in marriage, Cepheus gladly agreed. So, Perseus and Andromeda set off for Seriphus.

## Powers and Abilities

**Demigod Physiology:** Perseus can gain the powers and traits of demigods; beings who are part-god and part-mortal, possessing a partial, or lesser form of divinity that they gain by either through inheriting or by unlocking a dormant power in a species.

**Enhanced Stealth:** Perseus possesses incredibly extensive knowledge and skill in many types and ways of stealth tactics, enabling them to easily slip in and out of areas undetected. Their abilities in all manners of stealth are so refined they appear as mere illusions to those who have been lucky to spot Perseus. Perseus with this ability can move throughout even the most guarded of areas and act in true discretion.

**Monster Slayer:** Perseus can kill a monster of any form or kind, being able to fight the monsters no matter how strong they may be. Perseus also gains resistance to their powers and traits, whatever they may be.

**Power via Object:** A power or a set of powers is delivered to a character who possesses or uses an empowering object, which itself is supernatural and/or advanced technology. The level of power will vary substantially depending upon the object with some objects bestowing limited Physical Augmentation and other objects, particularly those of Divine Power, enabling vast destructive power and Reality Warping. If the user of an empowered object already possesses supernatural abilities, the object may enhance these powers in addition to grant new abilities.

**Transcendent Weaponry:** Perseus can create and/or wield any kind of weapon that possesses incredible god-like power, surpassing that of any and all forms of mundane weaponry, and can strike down those who are of a higher existence. The weapon in question can be of any origin: science, magic, techno-magic, spatial, spiritual, cosmic, temporal, divine, demonic, etc.