Hermes

**Hermes** is the Trickster God of Messengers, Travelers, Merchants, Athletes, and Thieves of the Greco-Roman Pantheon. He is also the God of Trade, Roads, Boundaries, Border-crossings, and Sports. He is the Messenger of the Gods, as well as the Psychopomp of the Greco-Roman Pantheon.

In Ancient Rome, he is worshipped as Mercury. In this form, he is more disciplined, militaristic, and war-like, much like the other Roman counterparts of gods. Although the Greeks saw Hermes as a crafty, cunning, and resourceful being, the Romans envisioned Mercury more as the god of commerce and trade rather than just being a god of thievery and travel.

He is a part of the Dii Consentes - The twelve most powerful and important gods of the Greco-Roman Pantheon, holding the Eleventh Throne and is responsible for the economic affairs of the Pantheon.

Like many of his Olympian brethren, Hermes also have several demigod children and legacies in both Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.

## Biography

Hermes (Greek: Ἑρμῆς), the youngest of the Twelve Olympians, is the messenger of the gods in the ancient Greece. He is the offspring of Zeus and Maia, and also recognized as the patron of travelers, commerce, athletics, literature and poets, sometimes of healing and invention, even of thieves and liars. He was well worshiped by the ancient Greeks and apparently his figure appeared in many of their myths.

As an infant, he created the first lyre, which he gifted to Apollo as compensation for stealing immortal cattle, who in return gave him the caduceus, a herald staff adorned with wings and entwined by two serpents, nowadays often used to symbolize medicine. His main task is to aid travelers in their journey, also to guide the dead to the Underworld, where he could enter or leave without any hindrance. He is also known to wear a winged cap and winged sandals.

Hermes is the analogue of the Roman god, Mercury.

### History

#### Mythology

##### Birth and abducting Apollo's cattle

Hermes was born sometime after the First Titanomachy, son of Zeus, king of the gods, and the Pleiad Maia. (The god's place of birth was, acording to many sources, Mount Kyllini in northeastern Aracdia). Being a god, he matured rapidly and within a few minutes of his birth stole the cattle of Apollo and invented the lyre. He even thought of a clever way to cover up his crime: tying bundles of grass to the cows' feet and leading them backward out of the pasture to make it look like something had been led into the pasture but not away from it.

Despite this, Apollo found out and went to Zeus for justice. When brought before his father on Mount Olympus, Hermes attempted to charm Zeus into letting him go by telling him he was just an innocent new born baby. Undeceived, but amused by the child's boldness and wit, Zeus instead forced him to compensate Apollo, which Hermes did by presenting him with the lyre. Apollo was instantly enchanted by the instrument and forgot about his anger immediately. Hermes also traded the shepherd's pipe (another invention of his) to Apollo in exchange for his golden staff (caduceus), sword, and knowledge of the art of prophecy. When he came of age, Hermes was made the messenger of the gods.

##### Chelone

Hermes was in charge of distributing invitations to the many guests of Zeus and Hera's wedding anniversary. Among them was the nymph Chelone, who had no desire to come to the celebration. An angry Hermes then lifted her house and hurled it at Chelone, transforming her into the first turtle.

##### Pandora

When his father Zeus decided to create the irresistible Pandora (in order to punish Epimetheus for his brother Prometheus' actions), Hermes helped by gifting the girl with cunning and deceitfulness, which was what greatly contributed to her finally opening her pithos.

##### Messenger of the Gods

As the messenger of gods, Hermes would often serve as the intermediary between the gods and the mortal world. As a result, Hermes became the only major Olympian that could freely enter the realm of any other god without an invitation. One of his tasks would also be to lead the souls of the deceased to Charon in the Underworld.

##### The First Gigantomachy

During the First Gigantomachy, Hermes brought down the Gigas Hippolytos with the help of the mighty demigod Heracles.

Hermes was also the one to reluctantly free Ares from the latter's 13-month long imprisonment in Otus and Ephialtes' Celestial Bronze jar.

##### Typhon

After Zeus' defeat in his first battle with the monstrous Typhon, Hermes found his father's disabled and immobilized body (since Typhon had ripped his divine tendons out), and carried it to a cave with the help of the minor satyr god Aegipan. After Aegipan managed to trick Typhon into returning Zeus' tendons, Hermes helped re-attach them to his father with careful zaps of the lightning bolts retrieved back from Typhon's bag. As a god, a very grateful Zeus healed almost instantly and requested that Hermes stay out of the way of his final grandiose battle with his colossal foe, Hermes being more than happy to comply.

##### Helping Perseus

When his demigod half-brother Perseus was given the seemingly impossible task of beheading Medusa, Hermes promptly arrived to help, bringing with him a magical expandable bag, a pair of winged sandals (similar to his own), and a replica of Hades' Helm of Darkness. Hermes then gave the demigod strict instructions on how to use these items and advised him to visit the Graeae first, as they were the only ones who knew the location of Medusa's secret lair. Which then Perseus, being grateful tried to give him a hug.

##### Trojan War

During the Trojan War Hermes sided with the Trojans and delivered Zeus' order to Achilles that the hero return Hector's body to his father, King Priam. When Priam sought to ransom Achilles to return Hector's body to him, Hermes guided him at night to the hero's tent.

Hermes later aided the hero Odysseus against Circe and later told Calypso to either let him go or face the wrath of Zeus.

#### Percy Jackson and the Olympians

##### The Sea of Monsters

Later, when Hermes brought Percy a letter from his father, Percy said that he's sorry that Luke wouldn't listen to him, and that they ended up trying to kill each other. Hermes comforted Percy and said that there was still time for Luke to change his mind, that "Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy", and there wasn't much anyone can do about it. He seemed to want Percy to defy Tantalus because he may have thought Percy could bring Luke to his senses.

##### The Last Olympian

Hermes forgave Percy but was still grieving over his son. When the Moirai take Luke's body, he gave him a final blessing and kissed his son on the forehead. When Percy forced the gods to swear that they will claim their children by age thirteen, Hermes gave Percy a list of his children outside of Camp Half-Blood and asked him to personally escort them to the camp; Percy promised that he will.
It was stated that one of his duties is to monitor interactions between the divine and mortal worlds and help mortals rationalize these interactions. This is because he is the messenger between the divine and mortal worlds. He seems bitter about this because he did not receive the glory and worship that the other gods had told him that he would get.

#### The Kane Chronicle

##### The Red Pyramid

When Carter and Sadie Kane met up with Thoth he mentioned that the Greeks confused Hermes as Thoth.

#### The Heroes of Olympus

##### The Mark of Athena

While the god did not appear, when Annabeth fell down a pit looking for the Athena Parthenos and broke her ankle, she found a crate belonging to Hermes Express. She initially thought it might be something useful, as Hermes delivers to gods, spirits, and demigods. Unfortunately, all she found was bubble wrap inside and became frustrated at the messenger god, hoping it would be something to help her on her quest. Annabeth soon changed her mind and uses the bubble wrap to make a cast for herself.

##### The Blood of Olympus

After the Gigantes' defeat, Hermes was seen attempting to flirt with Athena, though she promptly made him back off with her fearsome Aegis shield. He watched as Zeus hurled the Argo II back to Camp Half-Blood.

#### The Trials of Apollo

##### The Hidden Oracle

Apollo mentions that Hermes enjoys riding in the back of the Sun Chariot under the form of a bus.

## Appearance

As a deity, Hermes possesses the power of shapeshifting, which explain the different appearances he had taken.

In his original form, Hermes is a handsome, with effeminate looks and overwhelming charm. He is described as being slender and of medium height, with skinny arms and legs sticking out of his clothes, with orange-colored eyes and blond hair with flowing locks. He is also mentioned to have elfish features and a sly grin.

Hermes is described in The Sea of Monsters as appearing to resemble a middle-aged man with an athletic figure slim and fit with salt-and-pepper hair, as a jogger. He has been known to wear nylon running shorts and New York City Marathon T-shirt while jogging, an outfit similar to a mailman's when delivering mail with a pith helmet which sprout wings, and a suit. He carries a cell phone which turns into a caduceus. He has been known to sport winged shoes.

When Hermes becomes furious in The Last Olympian, he has a furrowed brow, his eyes get steely cold, and his facial expression hardens "like [he'd] turned into marble."

## Personality

Hermes is, unlike many of the other Olympians, a generally reasonable and helpful figure and he has a greater understanding of mortals (much like Artemis). Hermes is not prone to the overt arrogance of some like Zeus or Ares, nor the character quirks like Apollo or Aphrodite. Part of this may be due to part of his job being to help mortals rationalize divine events giving him a greater understanding of things beyond himself. He is shown to care a great deal for his children (especially Luke) and to be far more accepting of others. Both traits are not common among the other major Olympians.

Hermes' visits are often beneficial to gods and demigods alike, and often help them out, though this is frequently at the request of another god or personal motivations. Hermes tends to be one of the more clever and cunning of the gods, as he tricked Argus into falling asleep and even outsmarted Apollo when he was a child. Since another one of Hermes' jobs is to guide the souls of the deceased into the Underworld, he is one of the few Olympians to have been on good terms with Hades before The Last Olympian. In addition, as revealed in The Blood of Olympus, Hermes seems to have unrequited feelings for Athena.

However, as shown in The Last Olympian, Hermes can become very angry when crossed, or especially if someone implies that he does not care about his children. Nonetheless, Hermes takes his duties as a god very seriously, rather unlike Apollo and Dionysus, who take their duties and responsibilities in a much lighter manner. As a result, Hermes will not breach his divine duties, even to save his own children, since not even he can defy the Moirai, as attempting to do so would only make matters worse. All in all, Hermes is by far one of the most reasonable and beneficial Olympians.

## Mercury

Main article - Mercury

Hermes can change into his Roman counterpart of Mercury. As Mercury, he becomes more disciplined, militaristic, and warlike like most Roman counterparts of Greek gods become. He has children and perhaps descendants at Camp Jupiter in San Francisco. As shown in The Blood of Olympus, Mercury's children, much like Hermes', have a penchant for mischievous pranks and theft.

## Relationships

### Luke Castellan

 File:Luke Castellan.jpg  Despite all the mistakes Luke had made in his life, Hermes still considers him to be his favorite son. Being a god, Hermes could not interfere with Luke's fate and was forced to watch him grow without ever being able to talk to him. Luke, on the other hand, resented his father for never being there for him, especially when his mother was having one of her fits. When the two finally did meet, they only ended up arguing. Hermes knew that Luke would eventually turn against the gods, but couldn't tell him his eventual fate. Luke took this as Hermes not caring about him at all and turned away from his father, claiming that Thalia Grace and Annabeth were his new family and he didn't need him anymore.

As time passed, Hermes still tried to help his son and build him up to be a great hero. He asked Chiron to send a satyr to aid Luke in reaching Camp Half-Blood, which ended up being Grover Underwood. After years of training, Hermes had Chiron give Luke a quest to steal a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides. This only served to drive Luke further away from his father, as the quest was one that other heroes have done before. Luke's quest also ended in failure, leaving a large scar under Luke's left eye that served as a reminder of his failure.

Even after Luke officially joined the forces of Kronos, Hermes never gave up on him. Because he couldn't go to his son directly, he would ask for the help of other demigods in the hopes that they could save him. Even after ever failed try, he still never gave up hope. After Luke's death, Hermes gave his son a final goodbye and kissed him on the forehead as the Moirai took him away.

### May Castellan

May Castellan was one of Hermes many lovers. May's ability to see through the Mist was what originally attracted Hermes to her. Together, they eventually had a child together named Luke. However being a god meant that Hermes couldn't stay with May and was forced to leave. As time went on, May began to have visions as her ability to see past the Mist grew. She eventually decided that she would become the new Oracle of Delphi, as that is what she felt was her destiny. Hermes on the other hand tried to stop her, as the spirit of the Oracle hadn't successfully moved on to another mortal host in decades. May was driven mad in the process and was plagued with visions of the future, mostly about her son's eventually fate. When speaking with Percy, she mentions that Hermes comes to visit her, but it is unknown if it is really him.

Before failing to become the Oracle, May was happy raising their son and Hermes would visit her from time to time. One of his main objections to her becoming the Oracle was that if she did, he couldn't see her anymore. May however knew full well that Hermes would eventually move on, as he was immortal. When he went to protest, she asked that he not try to spare her feelings. Years after May's insanity, Hermes still feels horrible for what had happened and never forgets her.

### Percy Jackson

 File:Percy Jackson.jpg  Percy Jackson is one of the first demigods Hermes turns to when his son joins Kronos. He appeared before Percy as a jogger and convinced him to go on the quest anyway. While Hermes did hope Percy can save his son, he never told Percy this outright and Percy claimed that Luke can't be saved. Hermes, however. was still optimistic that Percy could talk sense into him. When this failed (with Luke and Percy almost killing each other), Hermes didn't get angry and told Percy you couldn't give up on family.

Despite Percy failing to save his son, Hermes held no grudge toward Percy and voted that he not be destroyed in The Titan's Curse. At the after party, Percy tried to tell him that Luke had (supposedly) died when Thalia kicked him over a cliff, but Hermes got a phone call and had to leave.

Percy and Hermes had a small falling out during The Last Olympian. With Luke now hosting the Titan Kronos, Hermes became angry at Annabeth for reasons Percy didn't understand. When Percy defended Annabeth and starts blaming Hermes for Luke's choices, Hermes almost blasted Percy into ash, if not for Percy being in the hands of the Moirai. The two reconciled after Luke's death, with Percy apologizing for thinking that Hermes was a bad father to Luke and Hermes apologizing to Percy for getting mad at him and Annabeth, when he was really mad at himself. Before they part ways, Hermes entrusted Percy to find a few of his demigod children and make sure they make it to camp.

### Annabeth Chase

 File:Annabeth Chase.jpg  Hermes also placed his hope in Annabeth, as she had known Luke longer than anyone else. When trying to convince Percy to board the Princess Andromeda to find Luke, Hermes also guided Annabeth to Percy in the hopes she would join him. Despite Annabeth and Percy failing to bring Luke back, Hermes held no ill will toward the girl. However, when Luke appeared on her door one night, asking her to run away with him before he did something terrible, she refused thinking it was a trap. This enraged Hermes as he had thought she could do what he couldn't and prevent Luke from becoming Kronos. Even after a full year, he still help resentment toward Annabeth and threw the events of that night back in her face, causing Percy to have to step between them. Even after Luke's death, Hermes admitted to Percy that he was really angry with himself and shouldn't have gotten mad at Annabeth.

However, the two still weren't on the best of terms during The Staff of Hermes, with Percy once again having to step between the two when they start to fight. After Annabeth helps get Hermes' caduceus back for him, the two had begun to become more civil around each other. Interestingly, as revealed in The Blood of Olympus, Hermes seems to have unrequited feelings for Annabeth's mother Athena.

## Powers & Abilities

As the son of Zeus and Maia - one of the Pleiades, Hermes is an extremely powerful god. Due to vast influence and countless domains, he draws on the worship and powers greater then most, if not all the Younger Olympians.

In the N.A.S.U Power Ranking System, Hermes is ranked as an A-Ranked Deity-Class being.

**Immense Divine Power:** Hermes is an immensely powerful god, being one of the most powerful deities of the Greco-Roman Pantheon. He can radiate an orange-colored aura that he can infuse with his weapons and attacks to raise their overall damage.

* **Advanced Telekinesis:** Like all other deities, he possesses the power of telekinesis - which allows him to control objects with only the forces of his mind.
* **Advanced Deus-Ergokinesis:** He can manipulate his divine energy, shaping it into various constructs such as swords and spears. In Chapter XXX, while fighting Typhon, he fired countless spears of divine energy at him, destroying the majority of Brooklyn in the process.
* **Power Bestowal:** He could grant various powers to individuals in the form of blessings, as long as these powers related to his domains.
* **Deification:** He can turn mortals into minor gods, with their domains being parts of those within his jurisdiction.
* **Teleportation:** He can teleport through a flash of gold light.
* **Astral Projection:** He can astral project himself, allows him to appear in multiple places at the same time.

**Immense Strength:** Hermes is an immensely powerful god, being regarded as one of the strongest within his generation of deities. He can lift over 500 tons of weight over his head single-handedly without any effort. He once through the house of the nymph Chelone after she refused to attend Zeus and Hera’s wedding anniversary.

**Immense Speed:** Hermes is considered one of the fastest gods in existence, capable of running at supersonic speeds with ease. When he wears his golden sandals Talaria, he can move faster than the speed of light itself and can run to locations faster than other gods’ teleportation. In Chapter XXX, Hermes moved at a speed that allowed him to collect every single weapon from the enemies’ hands within the battlefield, as well as drew mustaches on their faces at the same time, which was less than a second.

**Master Magician:** Hermes is an immensely powerful magic-wielder, knowing more than 1000 different Magic Systems, and mastered over 100,000 magic techniques. Personally trained by his step-mother Hera, he is one of the few non-Titans to be able to wield Titan Magic - an archaic Magic System that was created by the Titans and carries immense destructive powers.

* **Ancient Greek Alchemy:**  As the non-official Greco-Roman god of alchemy, he is extremely in-depth in the arts of alchemy, especially its Ancient Greek counterpart. He can create alchemical artifacts beyond the levels of even the most skilled alchemists and had created many works that revolutionized the art.
* **Potion:** He is a very skilled Potion Master, having created various types of magic potions, elixirs, and supernatural chemicals that are still widely used by the Greco-Roman Pantheon. One of his most notorious creations is the **Greek Fire**, which he later taught to his lover - Archimedes.

**Master Spearman:** Hermes is a very skilled spearman, using the tip of his Caduceus as a spear tip to attack against his opponents. His skill with the spear is said to be quite great, as he was able to defend against the combined attacks of both Ares and Enyo.

**Master Swordsman:** Hermes is very skilled with his divine sword Argeiphontes, and can defend against other War deities such as Ares and Athena with it.

**Master Thief:** As the god of thieves, Hermes is an extremely talented thief, capable of stealing and looting everything he desired. A few hours after his birth, he was able to successfully steal Apollon’s entire heard of cattle without said god ever noticed before it was too late.

* **Advanced Clauditiskinesis:** He can sense the internal structure and mechanisms of any kind of lock, both physical and digital, and is always able to make it unlock. He can also instantly identify curses and traps placed on locks, and deactivate them. In Chapter XXX, he unlocked the coded file on Circe’s laptop with just a wave of his hand.

**Master Inventor:** Hermes is an unbelievable master inventor, only be surpassed by his half-brother Hephaestus. He is the creator of the chelys lyre, the flute, the sports of racing and wrestling, and, apparently, the Internet.

**Master Athlete:** As the god of sports and athletes, Hermes is an incredible athlete, to the point where he was banned from the Divine Olympics just to give other competitors a chance to win.

**Advanced Communication Manipulation:** As the god of communication, Hermes has divine authority and control over communication - the act of conveying intended meanings from one to another, in all shapes and forms. He can also control the type of information being conveyed, altering it to his liking and even forbidden it to be conveyed by anyone weaker than him.

* **Pseudo-Omnilingualism:** He can understand, speak, and write any form of language, as long as they were created after his birth.
* **Divine Charisma:** He is an extremely charismatic deity, being the patron god of the art of eloquence. He can infuse his voice with divine energy, making whoever he is talking to fall under his charms and do whatever he commanded. However, if said person is strong-will enough, they will be able to resist his control. According to him, he developed this ability after personally saw how destructive and powerful Aphrodite’s Charmspeak can be.

**Keen Intellect:** Hermes is a very shrewd and cunning god, as he not only successfully stole Apollon’s cattle, and later on appeased his brother’s wrath through offering him the chelys, but he also acquired numerous magical artifacts from his brother by trading him the flute. He also gifted Pandora with slyness, cunning, and deceitfulness.

**Oikonomíakinesis:** As the god of commerce and trade, Hermes has divine authority and control over the economy. He can manipulate money, wealth, and anything related to them, such as properties and the stock market. In Chapter XXX, it was revealed that the Great Depression was entirely his fault, as he was angry that he lost to both Loki and Set several times in a row.

**Psychopomp Physiology:** As the Psychopomp of the Greco-Roman Pantheon, Hermes possesses all the standard powers of a Psychopomp.

* **Death Sense:** He can sense the upcoming presence of death, and the actual act of dying. He can also perfectly sense the deceased, their cause of death, and their exact locations. In Chapter XXX, he sensed the death of Team Sigma over 10,000 miles away.
* **Soul Conduction:** He can conduct the souls of the recently deceased to follow him to the Greco-Roman Realm of the Dead, as well as making sure they correctly arrived at their designated locations in Hades.
* **Afterlife Transportation:** He can teleport to any locations in Hades without any problems, and can give his blessing to whoever journey down there that will protect them from any dangers on their trip.

**Prophecy:** As one of the gifts he received from Apollon, Hermes can predict the future by throwing dice.

**Invulnerability:** Hermes is impervious to all mortal weapons as only supernatural weaponry is capable of affecting him.

* **Immunity:** He is immune to most poisons and curses, and all forms of diseases due to her divinity. He is, however, susceptible to immensely powerful poisons of supernatural origins such as Hydra's Venom or Echidna's Brood.
* **Immortality:** As a Pagan deity, he can live indefinitely unless he is faded. Even when his mortal form is destroyed, he can just reincarnate into another body as long as he still has enough divine power.
* **Advanced Generation:** He can regenerate every single part of his body down to every single cell in mere minutes, making it nearly impossible to cause permanent harm to him.

**Flight:** Hermes can fly, both with and without the use of his winged shoes.

## Equipment

**Caduceus:** Caduceus is Hermes’ Symbol of Power, symbolizing his duties as the Psychopomp of the Greco-Roman Pantheon, as well as his numerous domains, such as trading, commerce, merchants, the roads, border-crossings, travelers, etc. It is a golden spear-like staff with two snakes entwined and a pair of wings right underneath the pointed head. It is a reforged of Apollon’s previous golden rod **Kerykeion**, made from a mixture of Adamantine, Chthonic Steel, and Orichalcum.

* **Transformation:** It can change into various forms depending on Hermes’ current needs. Some of its forms are a modern phone, a high-voltage cattle prod, a laser pointer, etc.
* **Sleep Inducement:** It can make people fall asleep, both instantaneously and naturally. In his myth with Argus, he used this power to make the Giant’s other 50 eyes fell asleep.
* **Awakening:** It can unlock hidden powers within someone. It can also wake someone from their sleep or comatose state. In Chapter XXX, Hermes unlocked Kieran’s Sacred Gear with just a gentle tap of the staff on his forehead.
* **Dead Inducement:** It can induce dead energy into monsters and mortals alike, killing them off gently and instantly. In Chapter XXX, Hermes unleashed a wave of dead energy into the Gorgon Army, killing them instantly.
* **Youth Inducement:** It can grant eternal youth to other mortal beings, allowing them to stay in the prime of their life for eternity. One of the prime examples for this power is Archimedes - the famous Ancient Greek engineer and inventor, who Hermes personally gifted with eternal youth and is currently governing the Lotus Hotel in Las Vegas under his commands.

**Argeiphontes:** Argeiphontes is a golden sword made out of Adamantine, and was gifted to Hermes by his brother Apollon. It is an extremely sharp sword, capable of cutting through all obstacles on his paths. He later used this sword to slay the Hundred-Eyed Giant Argus and rescued the princess Io from her captives.

**Talaria:** Talaria is Hermes’ famous winged shoes. It is a pair of winged sandals made out of Imperial Gold, with each sandal has two wings, which made up a total of four wings. It allows its wielder to fly in the air and boosted his already immense speed by hundreds of times. In the Modern Age, Hermes charmed them to make them appeared as a pair of expensive-looking shoes.

**Cloak of Hades:** Cloak of Hades is Hermes’ special cloak that allows him to travel across the world without being detected by any supernatural beings. It appeared as a black hooded-coat with intricate designs.

## Trivia

* Most of the information about Hermes was taken from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and the Heroes of Olympus series.
* Hermes is the only god that can travel between the Realm of Hades, Olympus, and the mortal world freely.
* The caduceus is often confused with the Staff of Asclepius, which is a sign of healing, whilst the caduceus is not.
* Hermes is the fastest Olympian god.
* As he is the god of invention, Hermes claims that he invented the Internet.
* Hermes' proficiency in alchemy is connected with his other form known as Hermes Trismegistus ("Hermes Thrice-Greatest"), which is a form shared with the Egyptian god Thoth.
	+ He claimed the characters Edward and Alphonse Elric from the Fullmetal Alchemist series were created in their images.