Leo Valdez ⚙ Son of Hephaestus (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
morsecodes) wrote2012-10-06 10:24 pm
morsecodes) wrote2012-10-06 10:24 pm
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Profile Meme
[Character Name] Leo Valdez
[Canon] Heroes of Olympus
[Point Taken from Canon] post-Mark of Athena
[Age]15 16
[Gender] male
[Sexual Orientation] VERY Hetero
[Eye Color] brown
[Hair Color] brown
[Height]short 5'6"
[Other] He's described as looking like a very mischievous santa elf
[Background]
History here!
[Personality]
When you first meet Leo, the first thing you take in is his carefree attitude. He seems to care about having a good time, having a laugh, and backing out when things get tough. But really, this is only the surface of Leo Valdez, brought on as a coping mechanism for his life.
See, Leo's mom died when he was young. He blames himself for her death, because he lost control of his fire powers and the warehouse they were in burnt down. His resistance from fire protected him, but she didn't make it. Rest of Leo's family didn't want anything to do with him, so he went into the foster system, jumping from house to house. It was because of what happened with his mom that he started to run away. He found running from his past made it easier to deal with. Running got him away from the pain. The jokester attitude appeared as another way to hide the pain, but also as he learned to handle himself around others. As he put it, "if you cracked jokes and pretended you weren't scared, you usually didn't get beat up. Even the baddest gangster kids would tolerate you, keep you around for laughs." It wasn't until he found Camp-Half Blood and was accepted in, even with his power over fire, that he realized he didn't want to run anymore.
But Leo gets scared. Ghosts and dying were two big things that unnerve the kid, even though he hides it fast, especially by cracking jokes. He does this on many occasions, but twice specifically. First, when he learned his bunk in Cabin 9 belonged to a previous dead counselor, and second when he volunteered to go on the quest with Jason. He acted all high and mighty, but in reality, he was scared out of his mind.
However scared he gets, Leo is extremely loyal to those he cares about. He still takes the blame for his mother's death, even though he was just trying to protect her from Gaea. And even after all this time, he's constantly thinking about her and what she taught him. As he grows closer with Jason and Piper, he does everything he can to protect them. When they were attacked by the cyclops, he could have easily turned and ran, but he stood and fought, even if he technically hid and put machines to work. He jumped into action again when they confronted Enceladus, taking out six Earthborn by himself, using the construction equipment to his advantage. Even when Khione tried to seduce him, he resisted, saying she would just throw him aside when she was done with him. He fought her, even when he had previously been all into her. His friends were more important than a pretty girl, and that was saying something. The same applies when he meets Frank, Hazel, and Percy. While they don't all get off on the right foot at first, Leo does everything he can to save them. In doing this, too, he accepted Nemesis' deal, knowing full and well he would have to accept the consequences by losing something in exchange. What he didn't expect was that to mean they would lose Percy and Annabeth. He blamed himself after they fell into the Tartarus, thinking he messed up, even though he saved Frank and Hazel. He even sacrificed some of Archimedes' spheres to save the two, what was really saying something for him.
The first time Leo is mentioned in the book, he's described as having "a mischievous smile that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects." Right away, you learn just how mischievous he is. Besides making a megaphone sound like Darth Vader, he doesn't actually pull any pranks during the book (but to be honest, a lot of serious stuff was going on). However, you do hear all about pranks he has pulled. He replaced whipped cream with shaving cream, he put tacos in people's socks and sleeping bags, made up inappropriate lyrics to songs, and more.
He is capable of being serious, even if it's not very common. While he loves a good prank or joke, when he was put in charge of building The Argo II, he put that all aside. Not only did he have a lot of pressure on him to build the ship and have it ready by a certain time, he actually...cared. The Argo II was the first project he had worked on that he put his heart and soul into. He wanted it to be perfect. As he put it, it was his masterpiece. That isn't to say he lost his sense of humor, because it was still there, it just was much less prominent until the ship was finished. (And he then proceeded to insist they should paint a huge smiley face on the bottom of the hull with the word "WHAZZUP," not to mention the fact that his ship was controlled with a Wii remote and a sound board).
Often, Leo acts cocky and obnoxious, but it's just a show, almost like his joking habit is. In reality, he doesn't think all that highly of himself. He thinks he's lame, unlucky, ugly, and has no chance of having a girl ever like him. He gets jealous easily, even with his best friends. When under the spell of Medea, he even voices some of this. He goes on about how Jason is always the star, while he's always taken for granted. Even when Jason and Piper appear to be having feelings for each other, Leo gets jealous - but not because he likes Piper. He doesn't like feeling left out, like a third wheel. He's happy for his friends, and he wants them to be happy, but he also wants to feel needed. And when he is needed, he's always surprised, even if he doesn't doubt his abilities. His feelings only get worse when the seven demigods embark on their journey on the Argo II, where Leo was the seventh wheel. He felt like he was the outsider, like he wouldn't ever really belong. It didn't help, either, when most of the crew was mad at him for attacking New Rome, even though he was possessed when he did it. Him and Frank take the longest to get along, mostly due to the fact that Frank was afraid Hazel and Leo would start liking each other. Hazel had to step in on multiple occasions to stop the two from arguing, and even argued with Frank a couple of times. Leo ragged on Frank because he was intimidated by the male, not realizing Frank was just as afraid of him, if not more.
Leo can't sit still. He's one that needs to be constantly doing something. Annabeth commented once that, even by demigod standards, Leo was very ADHD. If there's a pause in action-- and sometimes even when something is going on, he has a habit of fiddling with things. Gears, knuts and bolts, and other mechanical related objects tend to be what he goes for, but when those are available, he'll go for what he can get, such as pipe cleaners. And if he can't get his hands on anything? Then he'll just keeping moving. He'll drum his fingers on things, fiddle with his clothes, you name it. He just can't be still. When he does have something to work with, he doesn't even think about it. Believe it or not, more often than not, he doesn't have to think about it. Machines comes so naturally to him, he can fix them without consciously thinking it through. While he does know what he's doing, he doesn't have to sit there and think every little process through. He just knows what to do.
Leo's got a severe problem when it comes to girls. See, whenever he sees a girl, and not just any girl, one that is completely out of his league, he falls madly in love with him. Granted, yes, he admits being able to fall for any girl, it's those special ones that don't pay him a lick of attention that he falls the hardest for. One such example was with Thalia, Jason's older and immortal sister. She is one of Artemis' Hunters, meaning she made a pact never to love a man, yet the moment Leo saw her, he was head over heels in love. He even tried flirting with her, and when she shot him down, all he did was insist she was just in denial, or that she was just hiding her true feelings. It was the same with Khione, the goddess of snow. He even commented that the water Naiads were worth drowning for. He does know where to draw the line, though. When he meets Hazel, yeah, he thinks she cute and nice, but he knew Hazel and Frank were together. He knew not to mess that up, even though he wasn't even sure what he felt towards her.
Another thing about Leo is that he gets along better with machines than 'organic life forms,' something he gets from his dad. Since his dad is Hephaestus, the god of the forge, it only makes sense that Leo has a knack for machines, but it comes to the point that sometimes he would rather spend his time with those machines and not his friends. Frank commented that Leo cared more about his ship than his friends, and Leo couldn't deny it. He cared about his friends, yeah, but it was different. He even makes a bond with a metal dragon he fixes, which he affectionately names Festus, which he considers to become one of his best friends. It practically destroys him when Festus is blown up, to the point where he actually cries. He begs his father to allow him to at least reuse the dragon, and Hephaestus transports the dragon's head back to Camp Half-Blood, where Leo uses Festus' head as the masthead. He grows attached to a three-legged table named Buford, as well, and is pretty distraught when the table runs away on him.
[Specialties/Abilities]
Like with most halfbloods, Leo comes with major ADHD and dyslexia. In reality, the ADHD is a built in fighting mechanism. It allows him to analyze and respond in battle quickly, but it's been stated that even by demigod standards, Leo is extremely ADHD. The dyslexia is his brain being hardwired to read Ancient Greek and Latin rather than other languages, though he's never been overly good at this.
Being the son of Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and fire, he has a keen ability for working with machines. There isn't much he can't fix if he knows what to do, and sometimes, even when he doesn't know what he's doing, he can make things subconsciously. His most major accomplishments include fixing a rabid metal dragon and giving it wings, and building the Argo II, a giant flying Greek battle ship, and inventing a holographic scroll. He can also 'sense' traps, and is able to find them and disarm them when no one else can even see them. As for fire, he inherited the ability of pyrokinesis. Not only is he resistant to fire, only feeling a slight tingling when touching the element, he is able to control it and make it do his will, to the point that his whole body will be in flames and the surrounding area will heat up. This happens sometimes on accident. When he gets overly emotional (like when he's really angry, and when he's really excited), his body heats up and flames will appear, and he won't even notice. He can also sense fire and heat that is around him, the same way he can with traps.
Besides abilities he gained from his father and by being a halfblood, Leo is able to speak both English and Spanish fluently and has been known to switch between the two without realizing it, and also knows Morse Code. He also learned what he called "Creak and Squeak", meaning he learned to understand Festus the automaton dragon.
He also carries a ~*magical toolbelt*~ that is able to pull from a wide variety of tools, most of which would be easily found in a workshop. Leo's been able to pull out others things, too, such as food, pots and pans (he's shown the ability to cook!), medical supplies, and even breathmints. Nothing overly big or magical can be summoned through it, and when he does pull something out it of, it takes time for it to "cool down," so he's unable to use it again right away. The bigger the object, the longer it takes it "cool down." The primary weapon he tends to summon for himself is a three-pound club hammer.
[Affection]
Leo loves the ladies! He stated once that he could fall in love with any girl, SO EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN. Flirting? AWWH YEAH. Hugging/kissing/etc is all okay! I'd be totally into building relationships, but talk to me first!
[Fighting]
LEO CAN'T FIGHT. He will try, but he's more of a flailing in the background while everyone else does the fighting sort of guy. But that doesn't mean he won't try, so bring it on!
[Other Permissions]
I'm pretty much okay with everything, but if it's anything big or invasive, just talk to me first!
[Canon] Heroes of Olympus
[Point Taken from Canon] post-Mark of Athena
[Age]
[Gender] male
[Sexual Orientation] VERY Hetero
[Eye Color] brown
[Hair Color] brown
[Height]
[Other] He's described as looking like a very mischievous santa elf
[Background]
History here!
[Personality]
When you first meet Leo, the first thing you take in is his carefree attitude. He seems to care about having a good time, having a laugh, and backing out when things get tough. But really, this is only the surface of Leo Valdez, brought on as a coping mechanism for his life.
See, Leo's mom died when he was young. He blames himself for her death, because he lost control of his fire powers and the warehouse they were in burnt down. His resistance from fire protected him, but she didn't make it. Rest of Leo's family didn't want anything to do with him, so he went into the foster system, jumping from house to house. It was because of what happened with his mom that he started to run away. He found running from his past made it easier to deal with. Running got him away from the pain. The jokester attitude appeared as another way to hide the pain, but also as he learned to handle himself around others. As he put it, "if you cracked jokes and pretended you weren't scared, you usually didn't get beat up. Even the baddest gangster kids would tolerate you, keep you around for laughs." It wasn't until he found Camp-Half Blood and was accepted in, even with his power over fire, that he realized he didn't want to run anymore.
But Leo gets scared. Ghosts and dying were two big things that unnerve the kid, even though he hides it fast, especially by cracking jokes. He does this on many occasions, but twice specifically. First, when he learned his bunk in Cabin 9 belonged to a previous dead counselor, and second when he volunteered to go on the quest with Jason. He acted all high and mighty, but in reality, he was scared out of his mind.
However scared he gets, Leo is extremely loyal to those he cares about. He still takes the blame for his mother's death, even though he was just trying to protect her from Gaea. And even after all this time, he's constantly thinking about her and what she taught him. As he grows closer with Jason and Piper, he does everything he can to protect them. When they were attacked by the cyclops, he could have easily turned and ran, but he stood and fought, even if he technically hid and put machines to work. He jumped into action again when they confronted Enceladus, taking out six Earthborn by himself, using the construction equipment to his advantage. Even when Khione tried to seduce him, he resisted, saying she would just throw him aside when she was done with him. He fought her, even when he had previously been all into her. His friends were more important than a pretty girl, and that was saying something. The same applies when he meets Frank, Hazel, and Percy. While they don't all get off on the right foot at first, Leo does everything he can to save them. In doing this, too, he accepted Nemesis' deal, knowing full and well he would have to accept the consequences by losing something in exchange. What he didn't expect was that to mean they would lose Percy and Annabeth. He blamed himself after they fell into the Tartarus, thinking he messed up, even though he saved Frank and Hazel. He even sacrificed some of Archimedes' spheres to save the two, what was really saying something for him.
The first time Leo is mentioned in the book, he's described as having "a mischievous smile that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects." Right away, you learn just how mischievous he is. Besides making a megaphone sound like Darth Vader, he doesn't actually pull any pranks during the book (but to be honest, a lot of serious stuff was going on). However, you do hear all about pranks he has pulled. He replaced whipped cream with shaving cream, he put tacos in people's socks and sleeping bags, made up inappropriate lyrics to songs, and more.
He is capable of being serious, even if it's not very common. While he loves a good prank or joke, when he was put in charge of building The Argo II, he put that all aside. Not only did he have a lot of pressure on him to build the ship and have it ready by a certain time, he actually...cared. The Argo II was the first project he had worked on that he put his heart and soul into. He wanted it to be perfect. As he put it, it was his masterpiece. That isn't to say he lost his sense of humor, because it was still there, it just was much less prominent until the ship was finished. (And he then proceeded to insist they should paint a huge smiley face on the bottom of the hull with the word "WHAZZUP," not to mention the fact that his ship was controlled with a Wii remote and a sound board).
Often, Leo acts cocky and obnoxious, but it's just a show, almost like his joking habit is. In reality, he doesn't think all that highly of himself. He thinks he's lame, unlucky, ugly, and has no chance of having a girl ever like him. He gets jealous easily, even with his best friends. When under the spell of Medea, he even voices some of this. He goes on about how Jason is always the star, while he's always taken for granted. Even when Jason and Piper appear to be having feelings for each other, Leo gets jealous - but not because he likes Piper. He doesn't like feeling left out, like a third wheel. He's happy for his friends, and he wants them to be happy, but he also wants to feel needed. And when he is needed, he's always surprised, even if he doesn't doubt his abilities. His feelings only get worse when the seven demigods embark on their journey on the Argo II, where Leo was the seventh wheel. He felt like he was the outsider, like he wouldn't ever really belong. It didn't help, either, when most of the crew was mad at him for attacking New Rome, even though he was possessed when he did it. Him and Frank take the longest to get along, mostly due to the fact that Frank was afraid Hazel and Leo would start liking each other. Hazel had to step in on multiple occasions to stop the two from arguing, and even argued with Frank a couple of times. Leo ragged on Frank because he was intimidated by the male, not realizing Frank was just as afraid of him, if not more.
Leo can't sit still. He's one that needs to be constantly doing something. Annabeth commented once that, even by demigod standards, Leo was very ADHD. If there's a pause in action-- and sometimes even when something is going on, he has a habit of fiddling with things. Gears, knuts and bolts, and other mechanical related objects tend to be what he goes for, but when those are available, he'll go for what he can get, such as pipe cleaners. And if he can't get his hands on anything? Then he'll just keeping moving. He'll drum his fingers on things, fiddle with his clothes, you name it. He just can't be still. When he does have something to work with, he doesn't even think about it. Believe it or not, more often than not, he doesn't have to think about it. Machines comes so naturally to him, he can fix them without consciously thinking it through. While he does know what he's doing, he doesn't have to sit there and think every little process through. He just knows what to do.
Leo's got a severe problem when it comes to girls. See, whenever he sees a girl, and not just any girl, one that is completely out of his league, he falls madly in love with him. Granted, yes, he admits being able to fall for any girl, it's those special ones that don't pay him a lick of attention that he falls the hardest for. One such example was with Thalia, Jason's older and immortal sister. She is one of Artemis' Hunters, meaning she made a pact never to love a man, yet the moment Leo saw her, he was head over heels in love. He even tried flirting with her, and when she shot him down, all he did was insist she was just in denial, or that she was just hiding her true feelings. It was the same with Khione, the goddess of snow. He even commented that the water Naiads were worth drowning for. He does know where to draw the line, though. When he meets Hazel, yeah, he thinks she cute and nice, but he knew Hazel and Frank were together. He knew not to mess that up, even though he wasn't even sure what he felt towards her.
Another thing about Leo is that he gets along better with machines than 'organic life forms,' something he gets from his dad. Since his dad is Hephaestus, the god of the forge, it only makes sense that Leo has a knack for machines, but it comes to the point that sometimes he would rather spend his time with those machines and not his friends. Frank commented that Leo cared more about his ship than his friends, and Leo couldn't deny it. He cared about his friends, yeah, but it was different. He even makes a bond with a metal dragon he fixes, which he affectionately names Festus, which he considers to become one of his best friends. It practically destroys him when Festus is blown up, to the point where he actually cries. He begs his father to allow him to at least reuse the dragon, and Hephaestus transports the dragon's head back to Camp Half-Blood, where Leo uses Festus' head as the masthead. He grows attached to a three-legged table named Buford, as well, and is pretty distraught when the table runs away on him.
[Specialties/Abilities]
Like with most halfbloods, Leo comes with major ADHD and dyslexia. In reality, the ADHD is a built in fighting mechanism. It allows him to analyze and respond in battle quickly, but it's been stated that even by demigod standards, Leo is extremely ADHD. The dyslexia is his brain being hardwired to read Ancient Greek and Latin rather than other languages, though he's never been overly good at this.
Being the son of Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and fire, he has a keen ability for working with machines. There isn't much he can't fix if he knows what to do, and sometimes, even when he doesn't know what he's doing, he can make things subconsciously. His most major accomplishments include fixing a rabid metal dragon and giving it wings, and building the Argo II, a giant flying Greek battle ship, and inventing a holographic scroll. He can also 'sense' traps, and is able to find them and disarm them when no one else can even see them. As for fire, he inherited the ability of pyrokinesis. Not only is he resistant to fire, only feeling a slight tingling when touching the element, he is able to control it and make it do his will, to the point that his whole body will be in flames and the surrounding area will heat up. This happens sometimes on accident. When he gets overly emotional (like when he's really angry, and when he's really excited), his body heats up and flames will appear, and he won't even notice. He can also sense fire and heat that is around him, the same way he can with traps.
Besides abilities he gained from his father and by being a halfblood, Leo is able to speak both English and Spanish fluently and has been known to switch between the two without realizing it, and also knows Morse Code. He also learned what he called "Creak and Squeak", meaning he learned to understand Festus the automaton dragon.
He also carries a ~*magical toolbelt*~ that is able to pull from a wide variety of tools, most of which would be easily found in a workshop. Leo's been able to pull out others things, too, such as food, pots and pans (he's shown the ability to cook!), medical supplies, and even breathmints. Nothing overly big or magical can be summoned through it, and when he does pull something out it of, it takes time for it to "cool down," so he's unable to use it again right away. The bigger the object, the longer it takes it "cool down." The primary weapon he tends to summon for himself is a three-pound club hammer.
[Affection]
Leo loves the ladies! He stated once that he could fall in love with any girl, SO EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN. Flirting? AWWH YEAH. Hugging/kissing/etc is all okay! I'd be totally into building relationships, but talk to me first!
[Fighting]
LEO CAN'T FIGHT. He will try, but he's more of a flailing in the background while everyone else does the fighting sort of guy. But that doesn't mean he won't try, so bring it on!
[Other Permissions]
I'm pretty much okay with everything, but if it's anything big or invasive, just talk to me first!