Seraphim

* Demon
* Human

*"Your eyes are full of hate. That's good. Hate keeps a man alive. Gives him strength."*
―**Seraphim** to **Heron** in *The Raid*.
****Seraphim**** is one of the major antagonists from the *Blood of Zeus* series. He is son of King Periander of Corinth, and Queen Electra. Due to unprecedented events that followed his birth, he was taken care of by Ariana, a servant and friend of Queen Electra. He is the half brother of Heron, who himself is son to Zeus and Electra. He is the temporary wielder of Hades' bident and leader of the demons.

## History

Seraphim is the son of King Periander and Queen Electra of Corinth. Prior to his birth, his mother had an affair with the god Zeus and ended up pregnant with twins, one of which was Seraphim and the other, his half-brother Heron. While Seraphim was the son of Periander, Heron was Zeus' child and this enraged Hera, Zeus' wife. Enlisting the Oneiroi to alert Periander of his wife's infidelity, he threatened to kill whatever child she bore that was not his. Seraphim was born first, temporarily relieving the king, but Electra was still in pain. The king was swiftly informed that there were two placenta, which two placentas meant there were two fathers. Shortly after, Heron was born. Before Periander could execute Heron, Zeus arrived and stopped him. Electra then killed Periander before he could hurt Heron, before she and Heron were taken to safety by Zeus, leaving Seraphim behind.

Despite Zeus assuming Seraphim would be better off amongst his father's kin, he underestimated his uncle Acrisius' greed. Acrisius forced the servant Ariana to keep the story surrounding Seraphim's birth a secret and then threw his newborn nephew off of a cliff to ascend the throne himself. Seraphim survived, despite having taken fall damage, and was taken away by Ariana to be raised in secret. Procuring her sister's aid, Ariana fled. Eventually, she was forced to take shelter in a bear's cave where she prayed for gods help. Zeus heard this prayer and, trying to make some sort of amends for his misjudgment, compelled the bear sow who dwelled there to nurse Seraphim alongside her own cubs.

Ariana raised Seraphim, and he was led to believe she was his natural mother. He and Ariana befriended the bears of the area, and Seraphim had them as playmates and companions. One day, Acrisius' sons managed to track Ariana down after they tortured and killed her sister's family. Together with the bears, Seraphim tried to save Ariana but failed. After receiving a scar from one of his cousins, Seraphim was about to be killed until Zeus arrived in the form of a bear to save him. Taking refuge along the eastern shores of Melidoni, Seraphim became consumed with vengeance.

Years later, Seraphim tracked down his adoptive mother's killer and viciously murdered him. When armed guards pursued him, he fled and came upon the remains of a giant washed ashore one a beach. Though he did not know it, this evil began poisoning him after he came into physical contact with the giant and he was compelled into consuming its flesh. Feasting on the giant's flesh, Seraphim was transformed into a monstrous creature and he came into the possession of Hades' Bident, which was sheathed in the giant's flesh. He singlehandedly killed twelve men and after the last three begged for their lives, swearing fealty to him, he spared them and forced them to become a "demon" like him. Ever since then he began hunting Acrisius and his sons.

### Throughout the Series

In "Past is Prologue," a pregnant Electra is seen being seated on the chair, in pain and worried that Periander will kill her baby, which would later be born first and named Seraphim. King Periander was content with Seraphim and was beginning to believe what the Oneiroi and Hera told him in his dream was a lie. Ariana told him that there was a second placenta, meaning there were two fathers. This enraged Seraphim's father, who was ready to kill who would later become Seraphim's maternal half-brother Heron. It only got worse when he saw that Heron's eyes were blue and not brown. Before King Periander could further hurt Heron, Zeus flies in and causes Periander to die from falling from a high place and being stabbed in the eye by Queen Electra.

Seraphim is separated from Heron and his mother and is left in the hands of his uncle Acrisius and Ariana.

In "The Raid," the villagers of Heron's childhood town are running for the mines as the demons and Seraphim are scouring the town for Alexia and Heron. The two began to lag behind after Seraphim commanded a three-headed dog to chase after them (which is later killed by them). As Alexia and Heron get away, the two are headed towards Electra who they assume is in or headed for the mines as well. However, Heron is caught by Seraphim and a fight ensues between the two. Unbeknownst to Seraphim, Heron is helped by Zeus in order to save Heron's life who wanted to continue to fight Seraphim.

Seraphim then turns his attention towards the mines and Alexia, blocking the path with other demons. He introduces himself, dubbing himself the leader of Melidoni. He is looking for Alexia, who has valuable information. The noble, Aratus, brings himself forward after Seraphim explains he will spare his family and land if he points him towards the girl. Seraphim immediately recognizes Aratus, and the two exchange a bit of lore that would reveal that Aratus is cousins with King Acrisius. Knowing this now, Seraphim also tells Aratus that his cousin happened to give him the scar on his eye. He tells Aratus that nothing pleases him more than watching nobles die. Unfortunately for Aratus, a demon scout relays to Seraphim that they have a lead on Alexia.

Aratus Theogonis is swiftly killed, as Seraphim decides that he does not need the noble anymore. The demons head out towards the lead, but Zeus interferes once more and hides Alexia in a tree by covering the opening with rose bushes. Hera also interferes and causes the demons to go after Electra by following Alexia's cape. The gods get into an altercation because of this, arguing that a law is being broken. While they do that, the demons and Seraphim catch up to Electra, and Seraphim begins interrogating Electra.

Electra does not know where Alexia is, and is beat on. Heron is hiding in the brush, angered at the abuse of his mother. He decides to interfere at once, and fails. Seraphim gives Heron and his mother an ultimatum, which is join them or perish. Sadly, Heron does not concede the defeat and Electra dies as he is taken captive by Seraphim.

In "A Monster is Born," Seraphim finally catches up to who he believes is Alexia. Later, when he has her cornered, it is revealed that Alexia is not who she says she is **(in this episode, which is worth noting)** due to the bident cutting her cheek and it heals perfectly. Alexia transforms into Hera, who is willing to "manipulate" and negotiate with Seraphim, in a sense. Hera sees this as a fair game if Zeus is allowed to help Heron, which is still unbeknownst to Seraphim the entire time. She has a hard time getting Seraphim to kneel before her, but he kneels reluctantly after getting hurt by her.

She takes this opportunity to expose Zeus and all that he has done to Seraphim by using her powers to manipulate his backstory. She shows Seraphim how Zeus contributed to the death of his father, King Periander. Hera justifies his anger towards Acrisius, who she also shows him dropping baby Seraphim down a waterfall in order to ascend to the throne. Ariana was the one who saved Seraphim, as she is the one who took him and ran to a bear's cave. There, Hera shows Seraphim that she was the one who saved him whenever he was in trouble and commanded the bear to yield to the two. In this episode, Seraphim and Ariana are also attacked by Acrisius' sons in later years who had recently tortured and killed Ariana's family after Ariana's sister gave away Ariana's location. The result of this is deadly, several people including Ariana are among the fatalities, despite the bears who they had befriended defending Seraphim and his adoptive mother. Seraphim sustains an injury on his left eye, making him partially blind. This event takes an emotional toll on Seraphim, which he makes a vow to hunt and kill his cousins and Acrisius himself. Until then, he settles on the shores of Melidoni.

Seraphim is successful in this by the aide of the Giants remains that beckoned him, and he promptly consumed. He was being chased by the guards who had been sent out due to Seraphim's brutal murdering of one of his cousins in an alleyway who participated in the homicide. He killed all but three who swore his loyalty to him in turn for their lives, who became what the main antagonists are; Demons. He killed a total of twelve men in the cave near the remains. Once Seraphim had this newfound power, he found Acrisius in a cave with the help of his griffon-like lion. Acrisius knew that Seraphim would find him. Little words are exchanged before major gore commences. Acrisius dies by blunt force trauma.

But in the same breath, Hera tells Seraphim that Ariana is not his real mother. She reveals that the woman he had killed, Electra, was his real mother. This makes Seraphim unimaginably upset. Hera does not give a definitive answer to Seraphim as to why she would want to turn him against Zeus. She only tells Seraphim that true vengeance would come from killing Zeus, who she blames for Seraphim not becoming king.

In "Escape or Die,"

Hera tells Seraphiim to go Heron with the sword Zeus made for him.

In "Back to Olympus,"

Seraphim is harangued by Hera for failing to kill Seraphim.

In "The Fields of the Dead,"

Zeus tell Seraphim where Acrisius is. Seraphim kills Acrisius. Seraphim than retrieves the Cauldron of Darkness. Seraphim than offers Heron the choice of joining him, but Heron refuses so Seraphim attempts to kill him.

In "War for Olympus,"

Seraphims join in the assault on Olympus. He later joins the Giants in betraying Hera and the gods that sided with her. Heron than kills him. Later in the underworld where Seraphim as a wraith meets Hades who tells him to kneel causing Seraphim to scream no in anger.

## Personality

Seraphim is a man driven by revenge, making most of his decisions based around hunting down Acrisius and his sons. Due to his hatred of Acrisius, he hates nobles in general and enjoys watching the life drain from them. He tends to show that he refuses any sign of weakness in his subordinates, going as far as killing one to, "cull the weak." Seraphim believes that hatred is necessary to be strong, saying as much to Heron. While portrayed as merciless, he is family-oriented, and is shown to care for Heron, giving him a chance to side with him. He also shows regret for killing Electra upon discovering that she was his mother.

## Physical Appearance

* Human
* Demon

As a child, Seraphim had long dark brown hair and brown eyes with tanned skin. He wore a black cloth around his waist for pants due to his lack of proper clothing from living in the forest. After the attack of Acrisius’s sons, Seraphim gains a scar on his left eye turning his pupil white. He also has visible scars on his chest and both shoulders.

In Seraphim’s current appearance, he has white tied hair with a thick golden streak going down it that rests on his shoulder. Both of his eyes have black sclera and red pupils but due to the scar on his left eye the outside of his sclera has a gold band around it. His skin is a gray color with red marks spreading around. He has spikes growing out from his head, arms, and back. His clothes consist of a black cape draping off of his left shoulder with leather bands wrapped around his shoulders and a black ragged cloth wrapped around his waist being secured by leather bands that hold metal plates on his sides. He formerly carried around a golden bident with black and red spreading to the tip of the blade that belongs to Hades.

## Powers and Abilities

Upon consuming the flesh of a Giant, Seraphim underwent a transformation which altered his physical features and endowed him with superhuman physical capabilities that seemed to exceed his followers, as he was the first Demon.

* **Superhuman Strength:** Seraphim's strength was augmented considerably, allowing him to easily overpower several well-built human soldiers, bash his uncle Acrisius' head to a pulp, and even hold his own against his demigod half-brother Heron.
* **Superhuman Durability:** Seraphim could endure a great deal of physical stress and even survived being hurled a considerable distance by Hera's telekinesis.
* **Claws:** Seraphim had claws with which he could easy rend through human flesh.

## Weaknesses

* **Mortality:** Despite his powers, Seraphim is still mortal and can die the same ways as an ordinary human (blood loss, decapitation, old age, etc.).

## Equipment

* **Hades' Bident:** (formerly) Seraphim discovered his signature bident in the back of a giant, and later learned it originally belonged to Hades. After consuming the giant's flesh, he became able to mentally influence the bident's movements at will, apparently by manipulating the giant's blood that tainted its grooves. Upon Seraphim's physical death, Hades took back his bident.
* **The Adamantium Sword:** (temporarily) Seraphim temporarily wielded Zeus's sword that was crafted for Heron. After Heron became frustrated with his father and discarded the sword, it was retrieved by Seraphim upon being sent by Hera.

## Appearances

#### Season 1

* *A Call to Arms*
* *Past is Prologue*
* *The Raid*
* *A Monster is Born*
* *Escape or Die*
* *Back to Olympus*
* *The Fields of the Dead*
* *War for Olympus*

## Trivia

* Seraphim and his brother Heron are twins born with different fathers; this is an extremely rare occurrence known as heteropaternal superfecundation. Thus genetically, they are half-siblings.
* Like the Greek heroine Atalanta, Seraphim suckled off a bear.
* Ironically, Seraphim are a kind of angel from Abrahamic religion/myth, but this character bearing the name here is a demon in a work based on Greek Mythology.
* The three-headed dog he can command seems to be a reference to the Guardian of the Underworld and the three-headed dog Cerberus.
* Heron and Seraphim both have a type of scar on the same side of the face, which is one thing they have in common despite their obvious differences and reasons. The lore behind them receiving their scars is different, as Heron received his due to bullies and not his cousins.

## Gallery

* Promotional Material
* Concept Art
* Screencaps