Hades

Stern and dutiful, Hades takes his job seriously but gets very little enjoyment out of it. He feels insulted that ignorant mortals believe him to be something feared, but he is opportunistic enough to capitalize on that myth just the same. The only thing Hades considers more sacred than his duty is his family and would do anything to keep them safe, especially seen in his love for Persephone and his son Dionysus.

Early History
As the Titans' influence and power grew, as mortals began to spread their legend across the land, the Titans no longer wished to spend time among the mortals and wished to dwell in the 'Haven', the impressive transdimensional residence and research station that Ouranos and Gaia had built for themselves atop Mt. Othrys. So to this end, the Titan Rhea discovered a way to extract the essence of the most powerful Titan, Kronos, and bestow that essence upon six of Kronos' most loyal mortal followers: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, and Hestia.

Hades was made to be the spymaster. He was given the powers of obfuscation and insight, allowing him to comprehend great mysteries and given a helmet that would make him unseen. In a sense, these six were now Kronos and Rhea's children and though unrelated in their mortal life, they were spiritual siblings, connected by the essence of their 'father'. These six were sent out to further the legend of the Titans and to handle the Titans' interest in the mortal world, leaving the Titans able to spend more time in their Haven on Othrys.

However, one by one, the six began to realize that their physical existence and metaphysical empowerment gave them potential that exceeded the Titans' own power. The first to realize this was Hestia and when she shared her findings, she was imprisoned in Tartarus, the dimensional prison that held Gaia. Hades and Demeter followed suit, as did Poseidon and Hera, until the youngest and least among the six, Zeus was the last remaining of Kronos and Rhea's stewards.

While Hades and his other siblings sat in Tartarus, Zeus evaded capture thanks to the help Rhea. For the next several years, Zeus built up an army consisting of his very powerful offspring. He spread the legend of the Olympians, building Zeus' powers until it had grown able to rival a Titan's. Then, Zeus decided to make a strategic strike against the Titans. Leading his children and some key allies in a raid, Zeus broke into Tartarus and freed his spirit siblings, including Hades.

After the prison break, Zeus had a powerful force to rival the Titans. He tasked his spirit siblings to aid him in furthering their own legends. Hades used the abilities given to him by Kronos to use as his spymaster to become invisible and spy on the Titans, gaining valuable intelligence to use against their enemy in the upcoming conflict.

Rise of the New Gods
When the heavily injured Ares and Hephaestus returned to camp with word of Hera's capture, the gods decided that the time they had been waiting for was now. And so, to rescue Hera, the Gods rallied their allies and made an assault on Othrys. In the melee, a great deal of ichor and blood was shed. There were gods whose names were lost to history that died on that battlefield, but in the end, the three brothers of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades took down their creator..

So after this, the Gods imprisoned what Titans had survived and surrendered, placing them in Tartarus, stripping them of their excess essence in the process and divvying those extra powers up among the gods to fill roles that best suited their personalities and existing skills. Most of the gods agreed that Zeus should be their king and Hera, his queen, and so it was. Hades took control over the Underworld, Poseidon took domain of the seas, Demeter roamed Earth, and Hestia kept the Haven secure.

Due to the heavy damage caused to the mountain of Othrys, the Gods moved the Haven to Olympus and there they set up court. Hades and Hestia both declined a seat at the Haven’s council chamber, preferring to do their jobs and stay out of politics.

Following the division of power, Hades began a secret affair with Persephone, having fell in love while they were gathering intelligence against the Titans. As a result of the eclectri paradigm of power, Persephone was able to continue their secret affair until the two decided to be married. Demeter was quite upset over the matter and for a time, Persephone nearly gave up on the whole relationship citing that as a goddess of nature, her place was on Earth. But Hades introduced her to the Gardens of the Underworld and had her taste a Stygian Pomegranate. The sweet taste of the fruit was enough to convince Persephone that there was beauty in the Land of the Dead that needed her care as well.

The two only birthed a single child, a son known as Zagreus. By all rights of such an esteemed birth, the young God Zagreus should have been afforded all the luxury he could imagine, but his birth was a cursed one, having drawn in the tainted essence of the Underworld. After having had a rather difficult infancy, Zagreus lived to childhood and began to show an aptitude for channeling the essence that plagued him. Hoping that fostering this gift would result in recovery from his frailty, Zagreus’ parents had him shadow Hades.

It was while accompanying his father in Tartarus that three of the Titans broke from their prison and tore young Zagreus limb from limb before his father’s eyes. Hades cast the Titans into the oblivion in his rage. After, Hades cradled his dying son and used his powers to keep the Thanatosi from claiming his son’s spirit, thus unnaturally preventing Zagreus the mercy of death.

The Quorum of Six called an intervention to discuss Hades’ abuse of his duty. Though the gods agreed that Hades was in the wrong, Zeus decided that a compromise would be reached, lest they risk earning Hades’ eternal ire. Using the dark magic of Hecate, Zagreus’ heart was removed and made into a potion. Semele of Nysa was a willing priestess that drank the potion and became pregnant. Just three days later, Semele gave birth to a fully divine child and died in the process. In honor of her sacrifice, Hades renamed his reborn son ‘Dionysus’, meaning ‘the God of Nysa’.

Elysium
Since his arrival in the this new world of Elysium (named by Persephone after her once favorite part of the Underworld which was lost in the transition), Hades has worked harder than any of the Olympians at adjusting his domain to work within the new metaphysical properties of Elysium. When complications developed in the wake of the transition, allowing several Titans to escape from Tartarus via gaps in their prison's walls, Hades took responsibility for the breach and personally led the wild hunt in the capture effort.

On the rare occasion Hades takes a holiday from his duties, he will trust his faithful subordinate Charon with his bident and joins Persephone in the mortal realm, often visiting remote villas under one of his auspicious disguises as an undertaker, wealthy prince or a spy from a foreign land.

With the exception of these passipn filled excursions and the rare wild hunt he partakes in, Hades rarely is found in the mortal realm and thus can often go unnoticed even when he is not utilizing his disguises or powers of obfuscation.

Because of this and his unique abilities, Hades is often called upon by his brother Zeus to handle the most sensitive inquires and undergo vital missions of behalf of Olympus. I suspect Zeus has tasked Hades with investigating the recent heretic movement in the Nation of Thebes known as the "Broken Book".

Abilities

 * Elder God: The second being endowed with Titanic essence and made immortal, Hades was infused with the powers to obfuscate and discern. Using those powers, Hades served as the spymaster of Kronos before he was locked away. Now, he is the warden of the prison that once held him.
 * Ruler of the Underworld: Hades was appointed the indisputable Ruler of the Underworld in a sacred oath by the Quorom of the Six. As a result of this decree, his word is law within that domain. While Hades has dominion over the few residents and souls within the Underworld, he also has command over that Thanatosi - Underworld spirits that regularly enter the realm of mortals to recover the souls of the deceased.
 * God of the Dead: Hades can sense death, temporarily suspend imminent death, cause accelerated rot or decay and control disembodied souls with ease.
 * God of Mysteries: His first gift (and among his most forgotten), Hades is aware of all acts of deception in his presence. Also, few mysteries can withstand his abilities of discernment. Hades can also turn himself or objects invisible at will. He has been known to lend this ability out to other by endowing it upon his old war helm.
 * God of Wealth: Hades has divine insight into the ebb and flow of local economies and is able to perfectly assess the monetary worth of a mortal or object in his proximity.
 * Warden of Tartarus: Hades personally controls the keys to the prison of Tartarus and any wishing access to that plane must do so with Hades' permission or be foolish enough to attempt to steal the keys from his being.
 * Keeper of the Bident: With this relic, forged by the Titans and enhanced by Hephaestus, Hades' power of the Underworld is magnified. While in the Underworld, Hades can reshape the very essence of reality. Beyond, it serves as one of the Divine Keys for entry into any of the Divine Realms.

Relationships

 * Persephone: Hades only significant romantic relationship is with his wife, Persephone. Hades began a secret affair with Persephone, having fallen in love while they were gathering intelligence against the Titans. As a result of the eclectric paradigm of power, Persephone was able to continue their secret affair until the two decided to be married. The two have been committed to one another ever since.
 * Dionysus: Hades' only son, he was responsible for him being torn apart by Titans while on shadowing him. He used his powers to unnaturally prevent his death (which would later cause his son to self-medicate) and was responsible for his rebirth.
 * Melinoe, Hecate and The Furies: Following the trauma with Dionysus, Persephone and Hades chose not to have further offspring, but they did take paternal roles over many Underworld beings like Melinoe, Hecate, and the Furies, raising these being up into higher stations than they held previously.

Trivia

 * In Greek Mythology, Hades was the biological child of Kronos and Rhea. He grew up to marry his niece, Persephone. In NeOlympus, the incest is avoided by making the Eldest Gods spiritual siblings, so there is no biological relationship.
 * Like the rest of the Gods, Hades does not have a set sexuality. However, he remains in a monogamous relationship (unlike most Gods).
 * In Mythology, Hades kidnapped Persephone and forced her into marriage by trapping her in the Underworld. In NeOlympus, that was just a lie told by Demeter in her rage.