Hephaestus

Lame One, Deformed One, Divine Blacksmith, Smith of Olympus, Techno-Boi, Mad Scientist God, Olympus Residental Hot Greek

## Relationships

### Ancestors

Khaos (Progenitor)
Ouranos (Ancestor)
Gaia (Ancestor)
Kronos (Grandfather)
Rhea (Grandmother)

### Parents

Zeus (Father)
Hera (Mother)
Thetis (Foster Mother)

### Siblings

Ares (Younger Brother)
Enyo (Younger Sister)
Eileithyia (Younger Sister)
Hebe (Younger Sister)
Paternal Half-Siblings

### Romances

Aglaea (Wife)
Aphrodite (Ex-Wife)
Aetna, Cabeiro, Esperanza Valdez, Dona Goodwin...

### Children

**Immortal Sons**
Kabeiri, Palaci, Eros (Adopted/Stepson)
**Mortal Sons**
Archimedes, Cacus, Charles Beckendorf, Erichthonius, Harley Keener, Howard Stark, Jake Mason, Leo Valdez, Mamurius Veturius, Servius Tullius, Thomas Farriner...
**Immortal Daughters**
Eucleia, Eupheme, Euthenia, Philophrosyne, Pandora
**Mortal Daughters**
Heloise Stark, Nyssa Barrera

## Personal Status

### Groups

Younger Olympians
Twelve Olympians (9th)

### Affliations

Mount Olympus
Olympian Deities
Greco-Roman Deities
Greco-Roman Pantheon

### Abilities

**Ethereal Energy*** Fire Manipulation
* Forge Manipulation
* Weapon Manipulation

### Power Scale

**Rank**: D-Ranked
**Class**: Primordial-Class

## Portrayal

### English VA

Jason Liebrecht

**Hephaestus**, also called **Vulcan**, is the God of Fire, Blacksmiths, and the Forges from Greco-Roman mythology. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Crowned Prince of Mount Olympus.

## Overview

**Hephaestus** is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes. Hephaestus's Roman counterpart is Vulcan.

In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was either the son of Zeus and Hera or he was Hera's parthenogenous child. He was cast off Mount Olympus by his mother Hera because of his lameness, the result of a congenital impairment; or in another account, by Zeus for protecting Hera from his advances, in which case his lameness would have been the result of his fall rather than the reason for it.

As a smithing god, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and was worshipped in the manufacturing and industrial centres of Greece, particularly Athens. The cult of Hephaestus was based in Lemnos. Hephaestus's symbols are a smith's hammer, anvil, and a pair of tongs.

## Appearance

In contrast to popular beliefs, Hephaestus appears as a shockingly handsome young man with a muscular and athletic build. He has short red hair, shaved sides, and cyan-blue eyes. He has multiple tattoos over his body, from two black stripes around his neck, three black horizontal stripes on his shoulders, two on his upper arms, and one stripe on his left forearm.

True to Greek myths, however, he is a disabled man whose legs and right arm from his elbow down are Celestial Bronze prosthetics. His prosthetic legs are blade-like, while his arm prosthetic both appear and feel like an actual arm. Prior to the invention of prosthetics, however, he used to move around on a wheelchair, which he still does sometimes, or occasionally walked with a clear limp.

He is commonly seen wearing an orange-colored jumpsuit, a tool belt around his waist, a white belt and white skull as the buckle, black boots, and thick gloves. Under the jumpsuit, he wears a white T-shirt with black outline.

## Personality

Hephaestus is often depicted as an aloof, pragmatic, and cynical god who has a fatalist point of view toward others, especially toward his fellow Olympians. He has the tendency to be gruff, as well as bitter and disappointed in people and, perhaps, in all organic life forms in general. Hence, he preferred to put his faith in machines instead of people, as to him, machines will never disappoint, and even when they were broken, they could still be fixed, unlike people.

As the domains he holds patronage over carry immense importance toward human's advancement, he is an extremely busy, diligent, and hard-working god, often spending weeks working on his divine duties without much caring about himself. In the modern day, due to mankind's dependency on technology, his responsibilities have grown greater and greater in comparison to his fellow Olympians, to the point where he would have to spend months non-stop trying to finish his loads of paperwork.

He has a soft spot for those who were abandoned at a young age and feels compelled to help ease their pain. He has an eye for detecting people's intentions based on basic interactions, allowing him to see past their lies and know their true colors, which only increases his disappointment in gods and men alike. Similar to his parents, he can be manipulative at times, being capable of using his wit to get people to do what he wants without them ever realizing it.

He is known for having a brutal and violent temper when angered, which is so intense that his head catches on fire and he unconsciously triggers volcanoes into eruption, with the destruction of Pompeii being an example for one of his "bad days". According to Poseidon, he inherited his temper from both of his parents, though his is multiplied tenfold.

As a crafter, he is confident of his own craftsmanship, calling it "the only thing special" about himself. He holds himself as the Olympians' royal blacksmith very seriously, believing that it is the only reason he should be on Mount Olympus. According to him, if he ever lost the position or his creations ever decreased in quality, he believes he will be immediately kicked out, now that he had lost all of his worth.

As such, it comes to no one's surprise to discover his abysmally low self-esteem, mainly due to his disability and his history of parental abandonment. Ever since he started to live on Mount Olympus, he became more bitter toward all things beautiful, including his own family. After his marriage with Aglaea, he turned to a new leaf and started to appreciate the beauty in life, though with her death, he started to wallow in self-hatred once again for being unable to protect her.

## Trivia

* Hephaestus' attributes are his heavy hammer, the ax, the anvil, and a pair of tongs.
	+ His sacred animals are the donkey, the dog, and the crane.
* Hephaestus' favorite music is punk, with a lot of distortion.
* Hephaestus likes grilled vegetables and spicy food, and he dislikes sugary food.
* Hephaestus' forge/workshop was often mentioned in Greek mythology to be located under a volcano, and the work he did within it caused frequent eruptions.
* According to Greek mythology, Hera gave birth to Hephaestus alone as she was envious of Zeus for having Athena.
* The prominent Roman Plebeian *gens*, the *Caecilia* claimed descent from Hephaestus through his son Caeculus, who founded the city of Praeneste in the region of Latium.
* The Vulcanalia, A festival falling on August 23rd, the period of greatest drought and highest fire risk in Italy, was named after Vulcan.
* The word "volcano" and "volcanic" is derived from the name of Isola Vulcano - a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name originated from Hephaestus' Roman name Vulcan.
	+ The minor planet 2212 Hephaistos was named after him.
	+ The sooty grunter (*Hephaestus fuliginosus*), is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish found in northern Australia that is named after him.
	+ The name "Vulcan" has been used for various other fictional planets, with the most famous one being the planet Vulcan from Star Trek.
	+ The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan) was a high-altitude strategic bomber operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984.
* A Vulcan Statue located in Birmingham, Alabama is the largest cast-iron statue in the world.
	+ A 12-foot tall and 1,200 pound Vulcan statue at California University of Pennsylvania (CAL U) serves as the school's mascot.