Chapter Text
CRYPTID DEMIGODS
ANON TRANSCRIPT:
(Super long bc I kinda Info dumped sorry)
If you didn’t mind could you maybe talk about what demigods look like/cryptid demigod hcs
I’m probably wording this wrong but I saw a tiktok saying that kids of gods would have cryptid features for example children of hades or underworld gods in general having vampire features, children of sea gods having scales or webbed fingers, maybe children of Zeus or wind gods get feathers,children of Athena can do 360 head turns like owls, Hecate kids having a visible functioning third eye on their forehead that shows them spirits(and probably vampire features Hecate does do necromancy stuff), Hermes kids getting winged feet, children of Apollo having glowing eyes (I think this is somewhat canon) tbh the list goes on
It’s reasonable to think that demigods look somewhat uncanny they are literally half god and it would probably be covered by the mist to mortals anyways
Even if you don’t wanna do a full series on this I’m just curious to ur opinion on it and ideas you have for other gods
ANSWER:
Alright, here’s my own take if we’re going off the Greek demigods having uncanny features:
- Zeus: The children could have feathers but also considering them being like the air and clouds. Like their presence can be loud and forceful like high winds or practically invisible like the air around us, or how they seem to float as they walk, their feet never really touching the ground. However, when they get angry, their form shifts and they become this angry grey, stormy cloud, crackling lightning and thunder, their voice distorting like booming thunder as their presence whips around you and threatens to tear you apart. Their hands when they touch you spark and electrocute you, and you can smell and taste the ozone around them. They look down at you with eyes like an eagle.
- Poseidon: I would wager they have a sleek appearance to them and everything seems okay. So maybe when they smile, you see some unnervingly sharp teeth like a shark. However, when they enter the water, your eyes can't tell if the water is distorting their shape, but you swear you see something else that makes you remember that we know more about space, then our own ocean; making you both amazed and afraid at what the abyss contain…or don't allow you to see because they won't let you resurface at all.
- Hecate: While a third eye is cool, that’s more of an Asian mythological feature (I.e. Hindu, Buddhism, Taoism), however, I can see them having three faces that they can change according to that face’s personality, or true to Hecate’s mythos, where Hecate changes forms from a young girl to an oldy lady according to the time of day, their children faces/personality changes according to the time of day. In a moment of peak battle or power, all three faces appear all at once.
The Vampiric features also work as well in this case, but you could also go with something ghoulish or ghostly. From the distance, their appearance to you is half invisible like a rolling mist.
Another trait that a child of Hecate could have is serpentine qualities, relating them to Lamia, who has a connection with the goddess. So imagine a child of Hecate with skins with the scales of a snake, a forked tongue, and limbs that move too fluidly in a way that makes you think they don’t have normal human bones. - Hades: we already see references to it with Nico, but the ghostly, pale appearance would be made more true. Representing the domain of death, they would have cold skin, their eyes are dark like shadows, Or part of the Riches of his domain, you'll see how their eyes twinkle like jewels gold or their teeth, nails shimmer like diamonds. They seem alive to you but if you watch them carefully, you notice their skins shimmer as if their see-through or made out of precious gems, but then you realise, you really haven't seen them breath. Not in the way of the living. Their chests don't move unconscious and almost seem forced, like they have to remember to move their chests up and down. In fact you've seen them stand way too still, with chests freezing yet they're still moving.
- Athena: I think her kids not only can turn their necks pretty much around like an owl, but have you considered they really have good hearing, and moving practically invisible? There's a reason why owls are considered the silent hunters/death. Their grey eyes looking wide and bright at you, but as you move, you notice their eyes following you as if you're a mouse moving among a field. Their heads and neck tilting just so that makes your own neck feel severed.
- Demeter: Ever heard the metaphor “Hair like corn”? Each child of demeter has qualities that reflect nature, crops, or anything to do with plant life. When they laugh, it either sounds like branches brushing against each other from the wind or the sound of wood creaking and cracking as the bark and flesh of the wood breaking. Or when you see a child of Demeter fight during the wars and you see their blood or flesh fly. When it lands on the ground, you watch as it sprouts into another version of themselves like fungi; you realise if the child of Demeter you've been talking to is the original or just another body of them with the same mind and soul?
- Aphrodite: We know Aphrodite's appearance will reflect what the person's ideal version of beauty or who they love is reflected off her. Now imagine her kids having the same thing, their faces resembling everyone's love, preference, their ideal features (button nose, thin lips), but when you come to actually describing their entire face, you suddenly can't. You have an idea of their features but they're in fragments. You try to piece them together and form their face but you can't. You can't remember their faces at all. You start to think you don't know their face at all, you never have, and they're just a mirage in your mind. You don't remember their faces because you can't. You've never seen them, have you?
- Ares: Out of them all, they seem the most human-like. War and violence is a part of human nature and it's reflected in them. They hold qualities that make you sweat and stiffen, the way they look at you makes you want to either fight or flight. A side of humanity you don't want to admit that is in our nature and life.
- Dionysus: There's a quality to them that seems a bit off to you, but you can't help getting drawn in. Their eyes are maniacal and don't stare in the eyes too long or you find your mind drifting off. Or how they move like a jaguar, their appearance alluring but very deadly as they stalk towards you. Nonetheless, your eyes will deceive you as you try to look at them, their forms not exactly what they seem to be and if you try to dissect what they look like, you’re not going to like what you see.
- Hermes: Their feet may have wings that allow them to fly and go about speeds. However, much like the Aphrodite children, you see the faces of a traveller. They've been to places and seen things you haven't seen before, but when you try to think of their faces, you can't remember. They made an impression on you yes, but when you try to remember their features, you can't really remember and they are only a figment in your memory. Yet you can’t forget them or their sweet, honey layered and silver tongued words, even if you know its a lie, you find yourself believing in them and take their words as the truth.
- Hephaestus: The children of Hephaestus’ eyes burn and glow with hot coals, flaming hot. Their features are almost sculpted like marble statues, both soft yet rigid. Their veins underneath their skin have a thin glow of heat like the veins of a volcano as they bend the physical shape of something in something else. A limb of theirs moves rather rigidly, like it was a limp but as it moves, you are reminded of the joint of a machine, moving in a certain way that isn’t like a muscle. When their skin is reflecting the heat of the forge, you are reminded that their skin looks like stone or metal.
- Apollo:We already know about the glowing eyes part, but I wanna say there’s a bit more to that. How light follows them, how they embody it. You can see them but you can’t stare directly at them for too long before your eyes start to burn like staring directly into a lightbulb. Their form seems to shimmer and bend with the light, before you realise you may not be able to touch them more than you can touch the sunlight. Then you also start to realise the shadows around them seem more darker, more of a void then you thought it could be, moving, swirling beneath their feet. As you take notice of the shadows behind them, how it seems to wrap around them like a second skin, the shadow then moves on its own, differently from it’s host, as it raises its finger over where the mouth should be, before you see it actually smile. You may not be able to touch the light and shadows, but it can certainly touch you, prying your darkest truths and secrets from your own shadow betraying you. You learn that the children of Apollo don’t naturally have shadows because they’re made out of light, so where is their darkness?
Going off a bit more of the whole concept though: It’s not the first time nor the last time someone who has those kinds of ideas as humans do. The only reason the Greek and Roman demigods have ‘human’ features is because of how the gods are perceived, where in Ancient Greek people believed the Gods looked like regular mortals, but were absolutely perfect in their appearance as they were above mortals and their features reflect peak perfection of our human appearance, and we cannot perceive their true form because it is outside of our mortal realm. I believe that’s why the gods turning into their true form is deadly to mortals for that reason.
So the Greek/roman demigods would have the godly qualities to them, that are still mortal but just a little bit different, a little out of this world. We actually see Rick Riodan reference these features in the book like Percy’s Sea Green eyes or Thalia and Jason’s Electric Blue eyes. Those weren’t metaphors or similes. They just lean more towards beyond human then cryptid realm.
However, it wouldn’t be unusual to attach some non-human features to the gods as we constantly attach their symbols to them. Specifically the animal parts relating to the gods, it’s one of the reasons Egyptian gods are depicted with animal features; as the animal parts to represent their personalities or specific traits that were important to their purpose. For example, Anubis the God of Death is depicted with the head of a jackal as the animal was associated with death in ancient Egypt. So if these Egyptians gods had demigods, we can only assume they would have these features too.
I believe in the Riordan verse, there are the Mayan gods and the Mayan demigods, Godborns, are the opposite of their Greek/Roman counterparts where the Godborns have a sort of physical handicap, disability, or some medical or mental issue. This is because people believed the blood of humans and the supernaturals were never meant to be mixed.
So go have one with your ideas! Be wild! Test the realm between mortals and the supernatural.