Artemis Fowl I is the husband of Angeline and father of Artemis Fowl ll, a child prodigy and protagonist of the Artemis Fowl series. He disappeared a year before the events of Artemis Fowl, the Russian Mafia having bombed his ship, the Fowl Star, as it went around to Kola Peninsula, in Russia; they did not want competition in their market from a westerner.
Though legally dead, his son never gave up the hope that he was still alive, piling expeditions in the Arctic, which the resulting expenses partially led him to his life of crime, and was finally able to rescue him from the aforementioned mafia holding him to ransom with the help of Holly Short in The Arctic Incident. He remained unconscious for most of a year before awakening. When he did, the magic Holly had used to heal his injuries partially affected him to turn over a new leaf, and he has since been trying to get the Fowl family back to being 'legit'. This plan has been succeeding.
About a year after Artemis ll went to Limbo in his quest to save the demons, Artemis Senior became father to the twins Beckett and Myles. His and his wife's profound suffering over the course of their eldest son's disappearance was later erased by Artemis ll when he returned, three years into his own future.
Artemis Fowl I was described as being a great criminal like the rest of the Fowls. He had a love for gold and held the family business and fortune in high priority. His son described him as being a gruff, no-nonsense man who taught him the workings of the stock market and the running of the family buisness. One of the strongest aspects he instilled in Artemis II was a love of gold, reading him the story, "The Crock of Gold", telling Artemis II that if the man had just planned a little more, he would have gotten the gold. He also promoted the family motto: Aurum Potestas Est, "Gold is power". However, after his return from Russia, Artemis Senior changed. He decided to become an honest businessman, and joined Angeline in her environmentalist projects. His personality also changed drastically to a joking and loving husband and father. These characteristics, as his wife mentioned, were that of the man she had married before he took on the family business.
Physical Appearance
One of Artemis Senior's legs is a prosthetic. It was amputated from the combination of being damaged in the accident, and lack of proper treatment. In The Lost Colony, when Artemis Fowl II sees his hair covered with grey ash, he 'swears he could have been looking at his father', suggesting that Artemis Fowl I resembles Artemis Fowl II.