Zagreus

**Zagreus** *(pronounced: "Zag-ree-us")*, or **Zack**, is a Hercules fancharacter and the son of Persephone and the canon villain, Hades.

He's a demigod with the freedom to traverse Olympus and the world of the living, but as Hades' son, people rather not have him around. Every so often, the Olympians argue with him or his father on whether he's eligible for entry, but they always manage to insert doubt by using believable, though unsubstantiated reasoning.

In truth, Zack is in the same position as pre-hero Hercules; and not "worthy" to be amongst the gods. Since he wasn't born a fullblood god, there's no trial he can take to earn official entry.

He's mainly being smooth-talked in as to benefit Hades, who's no longer welcome in certain locations after he tried to take over Olympus in the original movie. Zack is his messenger and courier amongst people and places he can't show himself anymore. While constantly put to work, Zack does it gladly if it means meeting people.

He was conceived on June 28, 2021, and Wiki exclusive artwork made public at Tumblr on December 22.

## Personality

Despite his appearance, Zack is an optimistic, harmless fun-lover, though can be more accurately described as a careless troublemaker. He's intrusive and extremely confident in everything he does, if only because the worst possible end result comes with no consequences for him. He tends to get murdered on a daily basis, which is seen as par for the course, since he possesses the blood of an Underworld deity and always resurrects after a short amount of time.

His antics can be as inoffensive as approaching women who are way out of his league -or their husbands- to starting serious conflicts by heckling powerful mythical beasts.

While he seems fearless and does little to keep himself out of lethal danger, he once confided in his mother that the pain of dying is unbearable and the resurrection process not much better. At the same time, his Underworld blood inflicts constant pain on his theoretically mortal body, and Zack lets himself get killed in order to experience a moment of release, though short.

He can be very coy with his father, but only meets with physical punishment whenever he's somewhat lippy to his mother, or just perceived to be. Hades likes throwing him into the Pit of Death, where Zack rapidly ages and dies every time. It's shrugged off as a running gag.

While not tied to any series or fanfiction, Zack is a comically self-aware character and the former drives his main goal of "finding a story for himself". Having that said, his pastime of intruding people's spaces is part of a larger quest to find a purpose, and he hopes to set some kind of adventure in motion for him to star in, no matter the genre.

He's had no success and those he meets prefer to kill him over his behaviour or after learning he's the son of the villainous Hades.

As a half-human, he's argued unable to inherit his father's throne as lord of the Underworld, though he's said not to care and lacks the desire to be on top of anything, making him very different from Hades.

## Appearance

Zack has yellow eyes, stubby fangs, a prominent chin, thin pointed nose, messy blue hair, and lips and eyelids with a cadaverous dark shade. He has the general body shape of his father, but a fuller face with larger ears.

He often carries an expression of contentedness and takes on a posture that makes one assume he's either scheming or recalling a funny joke. A common remark people make about his face is that it looks "punchable".

He wears a short black robe with a diagonally cut skirt, black sandals with a small green gemstone imbued, and a blue side-ways cape with a half-skull emblem, of which the other side represents the snake of eternity, wrapped around a ghostly green gem. The latter allows him to teleport back to the Underworld.

As a born demigod with a tall father, he's close to 7 feet/2 meters tall.

## Abilities

Zack possesses a few supernatural powers and traits:

> ### Resurrection
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> Zack is mortal in theory, but possesses the blood of a lord of death, which imbued his soul with special privileges. The Underworld is unable to claim it and no Thread of Life exists for the Fates to snip. Because of this, the laws of nature are forced to reinstate his body whenever he gets lethally harmed. No matter the severity of his death, Zack will always return, though his human half makes his deaths look gruesomely legit.
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> It's implied that his immortality, in combination with his half human body, will have him grow up to become a decaying zombie/walking skeleton in the distant future.
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> ### Tentacles
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> Zack can spawn long, smoky tentacles to grab things, but only for roughly 2 seconds.
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> ### Emotional fire
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> When extremely upset, red flames emerge from his body, burning him as it happens. It's not something he can control, but as it's a divine ability, the damage it causes is stronger than that of regular fire and can be useful in certain situations. Nevertheless, there's the chance Zack instantly pulverizes himself.
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> ### Physical strength
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> Zack's raw strength surpasses that of the common human, but isn't comparable to his cousin's.
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## Trivia

* Zagreus is based on the same character from Greek mythology.
* In a room inside the Underworld is a plate with fire which Hades once claimed to be Zack's younger sister, Melinoë, supposedly born with the resurrection ability, but also a bodily flame that never rests;
	+ Excuses are made as to why Persephone denies it, and it's not sure if it's a prank;
	+ Regardless, Zack routinely visits it to talk to it.