Tristen Mclean

Tristan McLean is a famous film star of Cherokee descent. He is one of Aphrodite's mortal lovers, and the father of Greek demigod Piper McLean.

Tristan McLean is held hostage by the giant Enceladus, who blackmailed his daughter, Piper, to lead a group of demigods into a trap. Although he is not seen for most of the book, Piper has many flashbacks to times when they were together.

The first time Tristan is brought up is when Leo made a comment about how if the popular girls at the Wilderness School knew who her father was, they would be worshiping Piper and saying things like "We're not worthy." It is later learned that Tristan is a popular movie star and has played many important parts, one of his first being the King of Sparta. He thought the movie poster of the film looked funny, but it has became very popular and has sold many copies. When Piper arrived at Camp Half-Blood, there was a poster of him hanging up on the wall, but it is later torn down by Drew after learning that Piper was his daughter.

In one of Piper's flashbacks, she remembered when he told her why he did not play any Cherokee parts, as it would be too close to home. He also does not believe in any god(s) because if he knew they did exist, he would always blame them if things went wrong. In another flashback, he found out from his assistant Jane that Piper stole a BMW, but instead of talking to her about it, he goes along with everything that Jane says and sends her to the Wilderness School.

Eventually, Medea used charmspeak to control Jane, who told Tristan that his daughter was in danger and he needed to go to San Francisco to save her. He does, but is captured by Enceladus and chained. Piper has a dream about his capture and tries to call him with no success. When she calls Jane to find out where he is, she brushes her off and claimed that even if she does not know where he is, he would vanish sometimes, so she had yet to call the cops or file a missing persons report.

Piper, Jason Grace, and Leo Valdez make it to the lair of the giant Enceladus to save Piper's dad, who has been chained and beaten in the far corner of the room. While Piper sets him free, Jason and Leo fight off the giant and his Earthborn. As the Earthborn hold a grudge against Jason, Enceladus says that McLean is Jason and the ogres want to kill him. After Leo had killed most of the Earthborn, the most powerful charges at him, but Piper for the first time uses her knife and kills the monster. The heroes manage to win the fight with some help from Zeus. Tristan is lifted to a nearby airport where he is almost driven insane by the idea that gods are real, and from the torture the Enceladus inflicted on him.

Using the potion given to her by her mother, Aphrodite, Piper erases her father's memory of the days he was imprisoned. Coach Hedge takes care of him and acts as his new bodyguard and "life coach" while he recovers. Tristan also fires Jane after she failed to call the police while he was missing. He hires Mellie as his new assistant soon after. Tristan gives the Park Service in the Bay Area a new helicopter (though probably set up by Coach Hedge or Mellie) and hires the ranger pilot, who loaned Leo, Jason, and Piper her helicopter, to fly for him. He calls Piper using a webcam while she was at Camp Half-Blood and wants to know if she likes her new school (having forgotten about her being a demigod and the gods themselves), which she says she does.