| “ | Everything I did for you was to get you to embrace your anger, to get you ready. (...) The Akrida. I know the Akrida are already here. You and your hunter friends are too weak to stop them, but you, a hunter and a soldier... you could be sharpened into a powerful weapon. | ” |
Mars Neto is a Celtic (Celtiberian) god of war. He is similar to the Roman god Mars.
History[]
In 1972, aware of the presence of the Akrida on Earth, Neto began searching the country for soldiers to fight in a war against the Akrida. Neto killed several veterans in his unsuccessful search.
Neto's search eventually led him to a hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri where he posed as group therapy patient Jimmy Mixon. During his time at the hospital, Neto killed Thomas "Patches" Pasternak, a World War II veteran. Patches' murder drew the attention of the Monster Club, and John Winchester and Carlos Cervantez went undercover in the therapy group in search of Patches' killer. John quickly befriended Neto in his guise as Jimmy and Neto argued with the doctor in charge of therapy when he pushed John to talk about his trauma. After Neto storms out, John followed him, only to find "Jimmy" dead in the same manner as Patches.
While John and Carlos were undercover, Mary and Lata were able to identify Mars Neto as the culprit using Maggie Campbell's books. With Neto unstoppable as long as his amphora is intact, the two enlisted Millie Winchester's help to get into the hospital. By the time that they arrived, "Jimmy's" body had vanished, and the three women realized that he is actually Neto and searched his room for the amphora.
Shortly thereafter, Neto lures Carlos and John into a hospital ward which he transformed into a recreation of the Vietnam jungle. After Carlos steps on a landmine, Neto revealed and unmasked himself, surprising John that Jimmy is the culprit. Neto explained that he was able to fake his death and that he knew that the Akrida were already on Earth. While Neto believed that the Monster Club is too weak to stop them, he believed that John, who is both a hunter and a soldier, can be sharpened into a powerful weapon. As a result, Neto had been working to get John to embrace his anger so that he will be ready. John asked if Neto will let Carlos go if John agrees to help him and Neto agreed to fight John. Neto challenged John to draw first blood and if John joined him, Carlos will go free and if he doesn't, it's the spear for both of them.
Neto conjured a spear in John's hands for him to use and put his mask back on. John and Neto fight, but John proved to be no match for the god who told John that John's still holding back and encouraged him to set free the anger that John had inside of him. Pinning John to the ground, Neto states that there is centuries of rage and violence in John's blood and ordered him to become what he was born to be. John managed to knock Neto off of him briefly, but he is quickly overpowered once again. Stating that John's past and scars are holding him back, Neto wiped the slate clean by pressing his burning spear to John's arm, healing John's wounds from the fight and John's shrapnel scar from Hank Murphy's death. Removing his mask, Neto ordered John to get on his feet and claim a helmet that Neto caused to appear next to him. As John reached for it, Neto pinned him to the ground again with his foot.
At the same time, Mary, Lata and Millie located Neto's amphora and Millie smashed it, stripping Neto of his invulnerability and other powers. Stunned by the sudden loss of power, Neto stabbed his spear, no longer glowing, into the ground beside John's head and couldn't pull it out again. Grabbing the spear, John kicked Neto backwards across the clearing. John breaks Neto's spear and impaled the god on the broken end of it before smashing him in the face with the helmet. Despite his defeat, Neto was pleased, telling John that he was right, and John is just like him. Telling Neto that he's wrong, John bashed the god several times in the head with the helmet, killing him. With his last words, Neto tells John that he's ready for the war against the Akrida. With Neto's death, Carlos was freed from the landmine and the jungle and Neto's body vanishes, leaving John and Carlos standing in the empty ward that Neto had transformed.
Personality[]
As the personification of war, Neto was attracted to combat and he showed a great deal of respect for those that he considered to be true soldiers and disgust for those that looked down upon them. Unlike most beings who were aware of the threat posed by the Akrida, Neto wasn't afraid of them and instead prepared himself for the coming war by finding those worthy to stand with him and whom he believed had a chance against them. Neto wasn't against trickery to get what he wanted, posing as a veteran to get close to other soldiers and faking his own death as part of his plans.
After meeting John Winchester, Neto took a particular interest in the young man, believing that as both a hunter and a soldier he could become a powerful weapon capable of defeating the nearly unstoppable Akrida. In combat with John, Neto pushed the young man to be better and to fight harder and give into his anger, trying to help mold John into what Neto believed he needed to be rather than taunting John over his failures or trying very hard to kill him and even healing John's wounds and scars to "wipe the slate clean" for him. After being defeated, Neto was pleased that he was seemingly right about John being just like him and, with his last words, told John that he was ready for the Akrida War.
Powers and Abilities[]
Mars Neto is an incredibly powerful god.
- Immortality - As a deity, Neto was immune to aging and could potentially live on indefinitely were he not killed. By the time of his death, he was thousands of years old. Even though he appeared somewhat old physically, it did not impair his abilities whatsoever.
- Invulnerability - As long as his amphora was intact, Neto couldn't be killed. However, he could be harmed at least to an extent, even stating that he could be made to bleed to put on an act.
- Reality Warping - Neto was capable of altering the reality of his adversaries during battle. He was shown to be able to transform a psychiatric hospital ward into the Vietnam jungle to the point that it's completely realistic. Neto was capable of making his own body appear as if he died of the same kind of wounds that he inflicted upon his enemies.
- Conjuration - Neto was able to conjure weapons for his enemies to fight him with as well as helmets for those that he deemed to be worthy.
- Thermokinesis - Neto was able to make the end of his spear glow red hot, resulting in the wounds on the people that he killed ending up cauterized.
- Super Strength - Neto was incredibly strong, far stronger than any normal human. As a powerful god of war, he was presumably stronger than most deities.
- Super Stamina - As a god, Neto couldn't tire despite what he's gone through and was capable of for fighting forever. He showed no signs of fatigue when fighting with John.
- Super Agility - Neto was shown to be incredibly agile, performing inhuman leaps in battle.
- Healing - By touching his glowing spear to John Winchester's arm, Neto was able to heal all of John's current wounds and even his scars.
- Cosmic Awareness - Neto knew exactly what the Akrida are and what they are capable of, despite the fact that they are not native to Earth.
- Clairsentience - Neto was able to sense the presence of the Akrida on Earth, even though they had not displayed any clear sign of their presence at the time.
- Expert Combatant - Due to his millennia of experience and being the literal god of war, Neto was an expert in combat who was more than a match for the trained soldiers that he chose as his recruits. However, Neto also seemed to rely on his powers to a degree for this as he immediately started struggling with his spear when Neto's amphora was destroyed, stabbed it into the ground beside John, and he was unable to pull his spear from the ground afterwards.
Weaknesses[]
- Destruction of his amphora - Neto's amphora was the symbol of his immortality on Earth, so his invulnerability and powers were dependant on its integrity; once it was destroyed, he was rendered entirely vulnerable to any method of harm, and seemingly powerless.
Appearances[]
- Season 1
Lore[]
Neto or Mars Neto (by the Romans) is the name of a Celtic god of the ancient Iberian Peninsula. He was revered in many places of the peninsula, but mainly by the Celtiberians. He was probably a god of war.
Macrobius in his Saturnalia, calls Neto both a sun god and equivalent in Hispania to the Roman Mars and Phoebus. A name Neito appears on the Celtiberian Botorrita bronze plaque. The name also bears similarities to an Irish war god named Neit whose name might be derived from the same Celtic root meaning passion or conflict.