Aglaope

"'Unfortunately, your father must beware of sea creatures who are truly deadly. I only hope he's strong enough to resist their evil charm.'""-Penelope" Aglaope is a character from the animated series Mission Odyssey. She appears in The Song of the Sirens.

She is voiced by Colleen Clinkbeard.

Biography
Aglaope learns of Ulysses' arrival from Mira, who had been spotted by Zephyr. Smitten with the young man, Mira wanted to sing to him but Aglaope rebukes Mira's request, much to the other sirens' disappointment. A giant tentacle grabs Aglaope but the queen shows no fear and changes from beauty to beast and bites into the tentacle, forcing it to release her. Aglaope's anger turns to fear when she realizes she had attacked Poseidon, god of the seas himself. Aglaope tries to flatter and pacify the god but Poseidon uses her slight to convince her and her sirens to destroy Ulysses. Aglaope agrees without a hint of sympathy for her future victims and laughs along side Poseidon and the sirens.

Aglaope summons her palace and maze from the ocean depths, trapping Ulysses and his crew. As the sirens sing, Aglaope rises from the deep to welcome them. The crew are mesmerized by the song and the queen's beauty but Ulysses snaps out of it long enough to stuff his ears and the ears of his crew with oakum. Philo, however was too deeply enchanted by the sirens' song and jumps into the waves.

Now with Philo in her possession, Aglaope uses him as bait to lure Ulysses into her clutches. She sends Mira and her friends to bring the crew to her castle. Nisa receives a vision of Philo with Aglaope. In it, Aglaope changes Philo into a fish, revealing the queen's true, wicked intentions. However, Ulysses is already wary of the sirens' deception and is prepared to use any and all opportunities to turn the tables.

In her throne room, Aglaope greets Ulysses with false hospitality. Aglaope uses her powers to see Ulysses' memories of his wife, Penelope. Aglaope compliments Penelope's beauty, despite her ungainly legs. The vision ends with Aglaope informing Ulysses that he will never see her again. The heroes figure out where Philo was hidden and Ulysses urges him to sing. His singing brings down the delicate palace and a chasm sucks the water and most of the sirens into the maze. Aglaope is unfazed and escapes with Mira.

The crew return to their ship to find their oakum being stolen by the sirens. Ulysses uses cloth to plug his crew's ears. Ulysses asks to be tied to mast as he believes if he can survive the siren song, he will end the sirens' power forever. Aglaope confronts Ulysses but her beauty and voice cannot overcome his love for Penelope. Aglaope transforms her self into Penelope and conjures an illusion of Ulysses' son, Telemachus. She urges Ulysses to join her and for a while, it seems she will succeed. Fortunately, Ulysses looks into Penelope's eyes and sees Aglaope's heartless gaze. With the spell broken, Aglaope screams in rage and a raging fire burns within her, setting the queen ablaze. Aglaope dives into the water, as if trying to put out the terrible fire, and disappears. The siren song ceases and the maze sinks beneath the waves, Aglaope's power vanquished forever.

Personality
While at first hesitant to attack Ulysses and perfectly willing to let his crew pass, Aglaope has no empathy or compassion for humans, referring to them as fools that shouldn't be encouraged. While Poseidon threatened and forced her to follow his orders, Aglaope showed no hesitation and seemed to enjoy toying with the humans like a cat plays with a mouse. Aglaope may have once preyed on humans more frequently and merely grew bored over the years.

Befitting a siren, Aglaope is a sweet talker who will flatter others like when she tried to pacify Poseidon. However, she is also a queen with a regal demeanor. She is also quite brave and fearless as she wasn't fazed by what she thought was a giant squid and readily defended herself. She also has a quick wit and attitude. Her speech is more reminiscent of a modern, snarky woman than an ancient Grecian monarch.

Appearance
Aglaope is an extremely beautiful mermaid. Her skin is tanned and her hair is straight, long and flowing. It is a deep red but beneath the waves, the water tints it dark purple. Her fishtail is a dark, muted green and unlike other sirens who have a single, long tail fin, Aglaope has a tail more akin to a dolphin but sharper and more angular. She wears a three-pointed crown of dull gold with matching armbands and a necklace of shells.

When angered Aglaope's skin turns pale, muted blue-grey. Her eyes lose all semblance of warmth and humanity, becoming cold, snake-like slits. Her once beautiful face becomes a frightening grimace, revealing sharp, elongated fangs.

Powers and Abilities

 * Siren Song: Aglaope, like all sirens, possesses a voice of exceptional beauty. Her song has the power to mesmerize all who hear it, both men and women. The combined power of her voice and the voices of other sirens can drown out a storm. Those who hear it fall in love with the sirens and the beauty of their forms and songs and will follow them anywhere. Not even the fear of death will break the trance. Only through true love can a person resist Aglaope's song.
 * Illusions: Aglaope, through her song, can conjure illusions, usually of what a person loves or desires most. This gives her a stronger hold over her listeners. Aglaope can use these illusions to disguise herself as another person but she cannot mimic the true nature in someone's eyes. If someone knows their loved one well enough, they can see Aglaope's true, heartless gaze in their loved one's face.
 * Feral Form: When the need arises, Aglaope can effortlessly shift from beauty to beast. She gains sharp fangs capable of delivering a painful bite and is presumably better equipped to attack and defend herself, as well as rip apart her prey.
 * Telepathy: Aglaope can see into the minds of others and see their memories as well as their desires.
 * Transformation: It is implied by Mira that Aglaope is capable of turning humans into sirens. In Nisa's vision, Aglaope was seen turning Philo into a fish. It is unknown if this is true or just a metaphor.
 * Summoning/Conjuring: Aglaope can create marvels, presumably through magic. She created a palace so a gigantic maze and a magnificent palace, the latter being so delicate, singing could cause it to collapse. She could make her maze and palace rise from the ocean depths and possibly make it sink below the waves.
 * Water Manipulation: Aglaope may have some power over water. In her palace, she had a waterfall that flowed up instead of down, acting as an elevator. She could also create tubes of water to house her collection of sea creatures.
 * Weather Manipulation: Aglaope may have some influence over the weather. The surfacing of her maze was signified by a storm. Her power doesn't seem to be strong enough to sink ships however.

Trivia

 * Aglaope was the name of one of the original sirens from Homer's Odyssey. It is translated as "with lambent voice".
 * According to myth, the sirens were fated to die if someone heard their song and survived.

Links

 * Aglaope page on Mission Odyssey wiki