Demigod

**Demigods**, also called **Half-Bloods**, are divine hybrids born between gods and humans. They possess human souls and are mortals, though their divine blood also endows them with ethereal powers from their godly parent.

## Overview

A **demigod** or **demigoddess** is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (spiritual enlightenment).

An immortal demigod (-dess) often has tutelary status and a religious cult following, while a mortal demigod (-dess) is one who has fallen or died, but is popular as a legendary hero in various polytheistic religions. Figuratively, it is used to describe a person whose talents or abilities are so superlative that they appear to approach being divine.

## Summary

Demigods have always been a part of history and have existed since the birth of humans, when the immortal gods first began to lust after attractive mortals. Since archaic times, they have been revered as legendary heroes and mythical founders of great cities, kingdoms, and civilizations, with many demigods even achieving *apotheosis* through millennia-worth of worship.

Due to the ancient laws established by the Council of Godheads following the Angelos Concordat, the gods are forbidden from directly interact with the mortal world, and thus, the gods require their demigod children to serve as their agents and interact with the greater courses of history. As such, demigods have always been crucial to human history, with many legendary and historical figures being secret demigods.

However, this doesn't mean that demigods are always treated well by their respective pantheons. In many cases, they are very distant with their godly parents, most have never met them, much less interact with them. This often results in the demigods becoming bitter toward their godly parents and group together to form communities of their own.

Although most gods claim this is due to the ancient laws, the reality is that most gods aren't parental beings with little care for their children, with some even forgetting ever siring demigod children in the first place. And while there are exceptions to this such as the Celtic Pantheon or Hindu Pantheon, the general census is that most gods are very neglectful to their demigod children until they need them to do something for them.

## Characteristics

Demigods are the end result of a god and a human having a child together, and because of their divine blood, they are superior to ordinary humans in terms of physical capabilities, magical powers, attractiveness, as well as inheriting some powers over the domains that their godly parent holds the divine authority over.

Depending on the pantheon/mythology that their godly parent belonged to, the powers the demigod can inherit may vary. For example, the Greco-Roman Pantheon's demigods can inherit multiple powers from their godly parent whereas the Mayan Pantheon's demigods can only inherit *one* power from their godly parent as too many powers are dangerous to them. In addition to their godly parent's origins, their ranking in their pantheon's hierarchy and their nature as a god are also factors in determining their demigod children's powers.

While most demigods are born much like regular humans, certain gods can give birth to their demigod children in unnatural ways. For example, Greek myths portraying her as being born from Zeus' head, humans' collective consciousness imbued Athena with the power to "give birth" to her demigod children with her mind without the need for sexual intercourse. It should also be noted that all gods are capable of impregnating their lover and be impregnated by them vice versa, regardless of their gender.

When a demigod reaches a certain age - normally around the time they enter puberty - they will release a scent that attracts monsters, daemon, and demonic beasts, though for more powerful demigods, their scent can appear anytime in their childhood, from 3-6 years old. Depending on their godly parent's position on their pantheon's hierarchy, their scent may be weaker or stronger when it comes to attracting dangerous beasts. For major gods, especially chieftain gods or god-kings, their scent acts as a beacon to attract monsters. For divine spirits, minor and/or unnamed gods, however, their scent is significantly weaker and, depending on how powerful the demigod is, can be overlooked by monsters entirely.

For the most part, they tend to inherit something more from their godly parents other than just their powers, such as physical traits or personality quirks. However, due to the gods' preference to mortals who share the same interests as them, their characteristics can also be attributed to a combination of both nature and nurture.

According to Azazel, due to their immense potential as half-humans and half-gods, the system of Entelecheia has made it so that the demigods are born... "broken" so as to not disturb the natural order too much. This "brokenness" manifests often as either physical handicap, medical issues, or mental disorders, as the blood of humans and gods are not meant to be mixed. Despite this, however, not all of their disabilities can be identified by mundanes due to the effects of the Mist, and thus, lead to them often being misdiagnosed by doctors.

## Sub-Species

### Divine Legacy

**Divine Legacies**, also called **Godly Scions**, are the children and descendants of demigods. They sometimes inherit some of their godly ancestors' power, though not every legacy has any superpower due to the divine blood becoming more diluted after every generation, though if a legacy's parents are powerful enough, then the legacy's abilities will likely be on-par with their demigod ancestors.

According to Chiron, however, what determines the power of a legacy is not how pure or divine their lineage is, but rather their own will and determination. In addition, he also mentioned that certain items or spells can be used to awaken the dormant ethereal energy inside legacies, though these items are very rare and sought-after while only master sorcerers can perform the needed spells without imposing danger on the legacy in question.

### Spirit Inheritor

**Spirit Inheritors**, also called **Heirs of Soul**, are the reincarnations of legendary demigods from mythology who can use a portion of the divine powers of their past self. According to Chiron, unlike their past-self, the parental bonds between them and their godly parents aren't biological, but rather spiritual, as they helped create their essence and current physical body.

## Trivia

* The duration of a demigod pregnancy varies from divine parent to divine parent, though for most parts, the duration pregnancy for male demigods tends to range somewhere between 3-7 months, while the one for female demigods tends to be significantly shorter.
	+ Due to the gods' power to split their consciousness into multiple bodies, it is possible for the goddesses to carry multiple pregnancies simultaneously.
	+ In addition, Mother Earth Goddesses can actively control the length of their pregnancy, accelerating or decelerating it so as to not disturb/freak out their mortal lover.
* According to Vision, he sees them as humans surrounded by "a powerful ultraviolet aura."
* Because demigods are commonly referred to as "half-bloods", certain people whose parents aren't the same race tend to take offense to the name.
* Even though all demigods were capable of great achievements, in the original classical myths not all of them were gifted with special abilities, and when they did, it was because their divine parent willed it so, like a blessing. An example of this was Euphemus, one of the Argonauts, whose father, Poseidon, granted him the power to walk on water.
* The earliest recorded use of the term "demigod" appears in texts attributed to Homer and Hesiod. Both described dead heroes as *hemitheoi*, which did not mean a divine heritage, but instead referring to those with "strength, power, good family, and good behavior", and after death, they could be called *hemitheoi*, a process that was referred to as "heroization".
	+ Pindar also used the term frequently as a synonym for "hero".
	+ The Latin word for them is *semideus*, which the poet Ovid also used to refer to less important gods such as dryads.