Demeter

Demeter is the Olympian Goddess of Seasons and mother of Persephone. Demeter was once benevolent, hardworking, strong-willed, and protective goddess. However, her pain and grief over losing her beloved daughter Kore resulted in the infamous "Endless Winter," causing her to take on a more wintry appearance and bitter personality. As a mother, she was kind but overly controlling, keeping her daughter on a tight leash out of fear for her safety. Due to Persephone's mortal heritage, she saw her as fragile, and refused to consider her feelings, not even listening when she tried to tell her about Hades and this overprotection led to a rift between them. Her interactions with the other Olympians are shown to be despising them and unfoundedly blames the mortals for daughter's disappearance. She is quite imperious, spiteful and only seems to hold her daughter and later Zagreus in high regard. They respect her and are cautious around her, fearing what one of the eldest of the Olympians might do. Even the most inflexible of the Olympians appeared to yield to Zagreus, despite her 'steel-like gaze,' reluctance and distrust of everyone. However, gradually, she opens up and reciprocates the young man's captivating kindness, seeing in him 'something "familiar" to her eyes' and reminding her of happier times when she used to have a soft heart and aids him in his escape from the Underworld. At first, she seems to act as a kind of icy matriarch, always rigid and sour in Zagreus' presence. She bitterly advises Zagreus never to fall in love with a mortal, as such cases are doomed to failure. When she discovers that Zagreus is actually her grandson, she warms up in his presence, and acts more reasonably with all. Demeter starts to soften with him by affectionately calling him "little sprout" and undoing her eternal winter with Persephone's return, slowly warming her frozen heart. However, she makes it clear that she hasn't forgotten the incident, leaving a part of the Underworld's surface entrance frozen as a perpetual reminder of that fact. Demeter's appearance is themed around winter and ebbing life. She is an elderly woman with blue lips and silvery-white hair worn in twin braids that cross her chest and loop back over the opposite shoulder. Six shoots of pale blue wheat frame her head, and she wears icicle-like earrings and ornaments that resemble snowflakes above her head. Her blue robe is flecked with a frost-like pattern on the abdomen, and her cape is made of snow with large blue snowflakes on its shoulders. Her forearms are mostly covered in ice, with only her digits and small parts of her forearms having visible skin, and she wears a small ring or bit of snow on her left ring finger. The only bits of green on her person are her eyes and the green ribbon she holds, which looks much like Persephone's hair ribbon. A cornucopia, covered in snow and containing no food, appears behind her. Demeter now has tied her hair and now wears armor. She maintains a winter motif in her clothes, but now it seems it fades into an autumm motif in some points. Demeter is the daughter of the titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Hestia, Hera, Helios, Selene and Eos. Together with her sisters, Hestia and Hera, she joined Zeus' side and helped him defeat the Titans. During the war she wielded the Twin Fists of Malphon in battle and personally defeated her father Hyperion in combat. She once fell in love with a mortal farmer and the two conceived a daughter named Kore. However her mortal lover passed away, leaving her alone to raise their daughter. She lived with her daughter on Mount Olympus until one day she disappeared. Demeter searched the world for her missing daughter but her search proved fruitless. With her daughter lost, she concluded that all of humanity must suffer for it, creating the infamous Endless Winter that caused devastation through plant death, famine, and drought for mortals. Demeter appears to Zagreus after he reaches the surface for the first time and lends Zagreus her boons to help him escape the Underworld. When Hades learns of Demeter aiding Zagreus, he's fearful of her and is one of the reasons why he is keeping Persephone's existence a secret, partially out of fear of what she would do if she knew the truth about Persephone's disappearance, this is due to Zeus, who took her by surprise and without consulting her or Hades. Even if Persephone wanted to join Hades, whom her mother doesn't like and would blame for everything, Demeter would not accept hearing that her daughter made that choice on her own account. Not even Zeus could contain her fury if Demeter found out the whole truth. When she finally learns that Persephone is the Queen of the Underworld and that Zagreus is her grandson, she takes it relatively calmly. Although she disagrees with Persephone's choice of suitor, she accepts that their hearts do what they want. She lifts the endless winter upon the world except for the entrance to the Underworld. Demeter lends her granddaughter Melinoë her boons once she becomes aware of her existence like the rest of the Olympians to stop Chronos.