| Percy Jackson | |
|---|---|
| Camp Half-Blood character | |
Illustrated by John Rocco |
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| First appearance | The Lightning Thief |
| Portrayed by | Logan Lerman |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Species | Demigod |
| Immortal Parent | Poseidon |
| Abilities | Water manipulation Weather manipulation Earth manipulation |
| Weapon(s) | Anaklusmos (Riptide) |
Perseus "Percy" Jackson is a fictional character in Rick Riordan's Camp Half-Blood book series, appearing as the title character and narrator in the first series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, and a major character in the second series, The Heroes of Olympus. At the start of the first series, Percy is introduced as a troubled twelve-year-old diagnosed with both ADHD and dyslexia. After getting attacked at school, he is escorted to Camp Half-Blood, a secret camp built to train and protect Greek demigods. At camp, Percy learns that his father is Poseidon, the god of the sea, and is thus a child mentioned in the Great Prophecy, a prophecy that was given by the Oracle seventy years ago. Throughout the series, Percy embarks on several quests to save his friends and the Olympian gods of Mount Olympus.
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As explained in the second book, The Sea of Monsters, Percy's mother named him after Perseus because he was one of the few heroes that had a happy ending.[1] In the original myth, Perseus is the son of Zeus, not Poseidon, as Percy is. Riordan did this because he thought it was "too obvious" because "everybody's always the son of Zeus...because he's the big guy". He thought it would be more "interesting" for the main hero to be the son of the second-biggest god, which would make Percy have to try "a little bit harder".[2] As for Percy's surname, Jackson, Riordan stated that it was a name he had been "always very fond of". He had taught about Andrew Jackson and Stonewall Jackson in his America history classes, his grandfather's nickname was Jack, and the main character in his Tres Navarre series was named Jackson. He decided that it "sounded good" with Percy.[1]
Percy is introduced as a 12-year-old boy diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, who has been expelled from every school he has attended in the past for behavior problems. He also has to deal with his step-father, whom he nicknames Smelly Gabe. His mother, Sally Jackson, married Gabe to protect Percy from all of the monsters and hide his aura from the monsters (his "smell" masks Percy's, so the monsters can not find him). As the action begins, he is on a field trip with Yancy Academy in New York. There, Percy exhibits supernatural capabilities of which he seems unaware, such as controlling water. One of his teachers transforms into a monster and attacks him; Percy defeats her, aided by his Latin teacher, who throws him a pen which transforms into a Greek sword named "Anaklusmos" or, in English, "Riptide". After the incident, everyone acts as if nothing ever happened and that the teacher who turned into a monster never existed in the school's history. Other incidents and denials further confuse Percy, who starts to suspect his friend Grover (whom he ditches later at a bus station), and his Latin teacher Mr. Brunner. On a weekend excursion to Montauk Beach with his mother, they are advised to leave by Grover who appears as a satyr. They drive towards Half-Blood Hill but, they are attacked by the Minotaur. Percy defeats it and saves Grover but not his mother, who is captured by the Minotaur and taken to the Underworld. Percy drags an unconscious Grover to Camp Half-Blood. After he does this Percy passes out for days, and only wakes up a couple of times being fed by a girl with curly blonde hair, who he later finds out is called Annabeth, he hears her wonder out loud and say he is 'the one'.
When he awakes he meets Mr Brunner who tells him about his true nature as a demigod and that of his peers: Mr Brunner is really Chiron, a centaur, and Grover is a Satyr, a half goat/half human. He and his camp-mates begin a game of capture the flag, in which Annabeth sneakily puts him in charge of their flag-which is by a river- and leaves him to fight Clarrise, while secretly watching invisably to see if what she suspects is true. Annabeth's fears are proven when he is wounded by Clarisse he falls into the water-his wounds are healed and he is able to controll the water- powers which prove him to be a son of Poseidon. Later, he embarks on a quest to retrieve Zeus' master lightning bolt with two friends, Grover, the satyr, and Annabeth, daughter of Athena. Notable encounters include Medusa, Ares (god of war) and Hades (god of the underworld and death). In the end of the book, Percy discovers it is a camp mate, Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, who has stolen the bolt, under the orders of the Titan Kronos, even though in the earlier sequences of the book it appears that the thief is Ares, god of war who has stolen the bolt. Percy also finds and saves his mother out of the Underworld.[3]
Thalia's tree, guarding the border of Camp Half-Blood, has been poisoned. The only means of ridding the tree of its poison is the Golden Fleece, which is located on the island of Polyphemus, in the Bermuda Triangle/The sea of monsters.
Clarisse, the daughter of Ares and a nemesis of Percy, is given the quest to go to the Sea of Monsters to find the Golden Fleece. Even though they are not permitted to, Percy and Annabeth decide to go as well, not just for the Golden Fleece, but for their friend Grover who is trapped in Polyphemus' cave. Tyson the Cyclops, whom Percy befriends at school that year, joins them on their journey. Tyson is also a son of Poseidon, and therefore Percy's half-brother. Tyson is a cyclops, child of Poseidon and a nature spirit. He lived on his own in the streets until Percy found him.
Entering the Sea of Monsters, they have to get past Scylla and Charybdis. Instead of trying to sail in between the two, Clarisse goes for Charybdis, and Tyson appears to die in Clarisse's ship after it sinks from a blow. Throughout the book, Percy feels guilty for this and wishes for Tyson to return. Percy and Annabeth journey to many dangerous islands, and Annabeth tells Percy how Thalia almost died. She also mentions the prophecy and tells Percy that he has a choice to make when he turns sixteen years old. Fighting their way through obstacles, such as the Sirens and Circe's island, Percy and Annabeth join up with Clarisse, Grover, and later Tyson, and escape with the Golden Fleece.
When they return to the mortal world, they send Clarisse on an airplane with the Fleece to camp. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson are kidnapped by Luke who is the one who poisoned Thalia's tree. In a duel with him, Percy is nearly killed. He is saved by Chiron, who is proven innocent of poisoning Thalia's tree, and his relatives, the Party Ponies. When they return to camp, the Fleece is put on the tree. It not only revives Thalia's tree, but Thalia too, who appears as she looked when she was turned into a pine tree. It is revealed that this was Kronos's plan, done so that he would have another chance to manipulate the prophecy which governs the future of Olympus and the Olympians.[4]
The story begins with Percy embarking on a rescue mission. It is revealed that Grover has found two more half-bloods. They arrive at a military school and realize that they are not the only ones who have recognized the other half-bloods. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn, is a monster and was just waiting to make sure that Bianca and Nico Di Angelo are who he thinks they are before he kidnaps them. In order to remain inconspicuous, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia try to blend in with the crowd. A school dance is taking place, so Percy and Annabeth dance together, and so do Thalia and Grover. The two half-blood siblings, Bianca and Nico, are discreetly taken away by Dr. Thorn, and Percy, going against his better judgment, follows them, instead of consulting Grover, Thalia, and Annabeth. Percy is almost killed by the vice principal, who is really a manticore, but Annabeth saves them. Artemis's Hunters also come to the rescue, but not in time to prevent Annabeth from plummeting over a cliff with the manticore. Artemis counsels Percy, telling him that Annabeth was magically kidnapped, as Percy would have sensed her presence if she fell into the water below. She also offers Bianca the chance to become one of her Hunters, which would give her immortality and eternal girlhood. She agrees, believing that her brother, Nico, will be safe with Percy. Artemis sends her hunters to camp half blood also saying she needs to hunt a rare monster, which she thinks will prove dangerous later. They all travel to camp with help from Apollo, Artemis brother. At Camp Nico finds it hard to settle in and during a 'friendly' game of capture the flag with the hunters Thalia becomes angry with Percy and accidentally shocks him in the creek over her anger of losing because of him. In his anger, he summons water, which splashes on her face, and she shocks him again with lightning from the sky through her spear. Percy summons the entire creek and builds it up, but then releases it because he is when he sees the Oracle walking towards them, he lets go.
The Oracle had spoken and said 'five shall go west to the goddess in chains' ect. 3 hunters are chosen Zoe, Bianca, Phoebe and Thalia and Grover are also nominated. It turns out Phoebe was tricked by the Stoll brothers, sons of Hermes, and is unable to go on the quest. The group leave minus one hunter. Percy is angry he cannot go as the hunters will not allow a boy on the quest, so he decides to run away on his favorite Pegasus, Blackjack. He was met by Mr.D and lets him go saying he hopes he is one of the people who is hinted at dying on the quest. He follows the group. Later while the group has stopped he investigates the museum of Air and Space, after he thinks he saw Thorn. He uses Annabeth's magic yankee baseball hat and sees Luke and some of his followers he is able to warn the hunters and Thalia and Grover and saves their lives. The hunters reluctantly let him join the quest. Later in the book he also meets Aphrodite, goddess of love, who tells Percy to leave the quest and focus on finding Annabeth as there is a romantic future waiting for them, she also mentions not to pick anything up in the junkyard. The group is attacked by one of Hephaestus's automatons in the junk yard because Bianca picked up a mythomagic figurine for Nico (who is obsessed with it). Bianca sacrifices herself to save them, They look afterwards for her but she has disappeared upsetting everyone. While at Hoover Dam, Percy meets a mortal girl named Rachel Elizabeth Dare who can see through the Mist. She helps him escape from skeletal warriors who are trying to attack Percy and his friends.
Shortly they find Annabeth and Artemis who have both been tricked to take the sky (Atlas's curse) after a battle with Atlas, and the death of Zoe Nightshade, Blackjack comes with his friends, and they fly to Olympus. Upon entering Olympus, the gods try to decide whether or not to kill Thalia, Percy, and Bessie (the Ophiotaurus), as they may hold the means to destroy Olympus, according to the Great Prophecy. Thalia becomes one of Artemis' Hunters, eliminating her as a potential recipient of the Great Prophecy, as Artemis' Hunters do not age. The gods decide to leave Percy alive and keep the Ophiotaurus safely in the throne room. Afterwards, a feast is held in honor of the heroes, and Athena tells Percy that she disapproves of his friendship with her daughter. At camp, Percy tells Nico that his sister has died. From then on, Nico loathes Percy, blaming him for his sister's death. Percy then offers the figurine of the god that Bianca gave her life for at the junkyard, saying 'It was the only statue he didn't have.' Suddenly, he realizes who Nico's father is: Hades, lord of the underworld.[5]
After being attacked by empousai cheerleaders at his new school, Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood and learns about the Labyrinth; part of the palace of King Minos in Crete that was designed by Daedalus. He also meets the camp's new sword master, Quintus. During a game with giant scorpions at the camp, Annabeth and Percy accidentally find an entrance into the Labyrinth. Percy soon learns that Luke had used this entrance before and will try and lead his army through the Labyrinth straight into the heart of Camp Half-Blood.
Using the Labyrinth, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson must find Daedalus so that Luke cannot get Ariadne's string, which would guide him through the labyrinth. Percy and his friends encounter Kampe, a half woman, half-dragon monster, and free her prisoner, Briares the Hekatonkheires (Hundred-Handed One), who is Tyson's idol, but disappoints him by being too scared to help them. After an encounter with the goddess Hera and a battle on the farm of Geryon, the group are reunited with Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, who blames Percy for the death of his sister Bianca, but is convinced to put it behind him by the ghost of his sister. Next, by order of the Greek god Hephaestus, Percy travels to Mt. St. Helens. There he finds telekhines, also known as "sea demons". He is discovered by the telkhines, who attack him. Once Percy finds Annabeth and they have a short argument during which Percy tells Annabeth to flee. Annabeth kisses Percy, as she thinks he is going to die, and she disappears. In an attempt to escape the telekhines, Percy causes Mt. St. Helens to erupt, pushing him out of the volcano, draining his energy in the process.
When he awakens after the eruption of Mount Saint Helens, he finds himself in the mythical island inhabited by Calypso. After being treated for burns by Calypso and returning to the mortal world, Percy gets the help he needs from a mortal girl he met in 'The Titan's Curse' at Hoover Dam, named Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who has extraordinary powers regarding seeing through the Mist, (the magical veil that makes mortals see things differently than demigods). Grover finally finds Pan, but the god of the wild is dying and wants Grover to tell the other satyrs that they must save the natural world themselves. His spirit passes into all present, Grover in particular, when he dies. They finally discover that Quintus, the mysterious new sword instructor at Camp Half-Blood, is actually Daedalus, who has attained extended life by putting his life-force, his animus, into a robot body—and that Kronos has gained enough strength by Luke. He also possess Luke, using his body as a starter form. Kronos finds out that Nico di Angelo is a son of Hades and that he could be the child of the great prophecy, which states that a child of "Big Three" (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) would decide the fate of the gods. Luke has already reached Daedalus and attained Ariadne's string; using the magical instrument, he sends out Kronos's army to take Camp Half-Blood via the Labyrinth. While fighting a losing battle, the entire camp is either injured or killed, and Daedalus and Briares come out of the Labyrinth to help fight the battle and destroy Kampe. Grover rescues Camp Half-Blood by causing a Panic (Pan-The Wild God's greatest power), to scare away the enemy. After the battle, Daedalus sacrifices himself to close the Labyrinth, which is tied to his life. The camp say good bye to the dead, Nico leaves the camp, Grover doesn't go to exile, and Percy leaves for his 15th birthday and at his birthday party, Poseidon comes (in his human form)and as a birthday gift, he gives Percy a sand doller (which helps him defeat Kronos),then Nico comes by to give him a proposal for his upcoming battle with Kronos.
In the beginning of book five, Percy and Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus, are sent on a quest to blow up Luke's monster cruise ship, the Princess Andromeda. However, Kronos knows of the plan, and captures Beckendorf and Percy. Beckendorf then sacrifices himself to destroy the ship and save Percy. Percy feels guilty about leaving Beckendorf, although Nico, the son of Hades, says he saw him in the Elysian Fields, and was told to tell Percy not to blame himself. Percy and Nico sneak out of camp, and meet Hestia, who shows Percy part of Luke's past, after they meet Luke's mother, who tried to become the Oracle, and was thus driven insane by a curse of Hades' working. Luke has bathed in the River Styx to become invulnerable, allowing him to survive the presence of the Titan Lord.
Percy travels with Nico to the Underworld, where he bathes in the River Styx despite warnings from Achilles himself, Percy nearly dies but is saves by the image of Annabeth pulling him out of the water when he fell out of his canoe at camp. He shoots out of the river invincible. Percy's weak spot or Achilles is the small of his back. If he got hit in that spot he would die or get injured very badly.
As he returns to the surface, a silent Manhattan is assaulted by several armies. Percy leads forty demigods in a defense effort, activating the many statues Daedalus has planted throughout Manhattan for more manpower. He is also joined by the Hunters of Artemis and many nature spirits under Grover's direction. Even with these forces, Percy cannot hold back the tide of monsters, and is slowly forced backwards to the Empire State Building.
Annabeth saves Percy's life by getting in the way when Ethan Nakamura tries to stab him in his one weak spot, the small of his back. Annabeth is seriously hurt and while she is recovering, Percy reveals the location of his "mortal point," or Achilles' heel, to her.
Luke is injured fatally and frees himself of Kronos second-in-command leadership, and as his life seeps away, Annabeth admits she never loved him except as a brother. Luke then takes Annabeth's blade, and kills himself with it, thus completing the prophecy. As a result of his role in winning the war against the Titans, Zeus offers to make Percy a god, but Percy declines, asking instead that the pact against the "Big Three" having children be ended, and for all the gods and goddesses to pay more attention to their demigod children, and requests that they claim them by the time they are thirteen.
Percy and Annabeth kiss in the dining pavilion after Annabeth says, "I am never going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it." The other campers catch them in the act and playfully toss them into the canoe lake, where Percy creates an air bubble, and then they have what Percy describes as "pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time".[6]
Percy Jackson is mentioned regularly throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, he is revealed to have disappeared three days before the books begins, leaving Annabeth and the rest of the camp worried. Annabeth goes on a search for him but comes back unsuccessful, with no idea where he might be. At the end of the book, it is revealed that Hera sent Percy to the Roman Camp Half-Blood (Camp Jupiter). Just as Jason was sent to Camp Half-Blood, Percy was sent to the Roman camp as a form of exchanging leaders, in order to make the two camps aware of each other, so they could try to unite. However, there is a possibility that Percy may not remember who he is or who his friends are. Jason and Annabeth realize this and discover that Percy might not make it out alive, because Roman demigods are much more "warlike" than their Greek counterparts, and if not deemed worthy, they are made the meals for wolves at the Roman camp, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Annabeth then makes a plan to find the Roman Camp and bring Percy with them on their trip to Greece to defeat Gaea. Jason, Son of Jupiter, and his two friends Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, and Leo, son of Hephaestus, go on a dangerous quest to save Hera,and possibly save the missing camper, Percy Jackson.[7]
In the first chapter of the Son Of Neptune, Percy Jackson is being chased by Gorgons and they refuse to die. Every time he defeats them they turn to dust and start reforming. Percy, like Jason Grace, had his memories stolen, but unlike Jason, he remembers one person, Annabeth Chase. In the end of the chapter, he slices one of the gorgons up again and steals the other gorgon's metal tray, whacks her on the head, and slides down a mountain with it. Percy then finds June, roman goddess Juno, disguised as an old woman dressed like a hippie. She gives Percy a choice: leave her defenseless with the gorgons and escape to the sea, or carry her across the road and into the Roman camp, where he would face misery and the loss of the curse of Achilles but gradually gain his memories. Thinking about Annabeth, Percy decides to carry Juno. He finds the camp, which is named Camp Jupiter. He finds the gorgon holding a demigod as hostage, Frank Zhang. Percy saves him by creating whirlpools from a nearby river. He manages to defeat the gorgons, but loses the Achilles curse in the process. The old lady, June transforms into Juno and leaves Percy in the Roman camp's hands. Percy meets Reyna and Hazel, who were mentioned by Jason in The Lost Hero.
Percy's memory eventually returns toward the end of the book, by Gorgon's Blood. He fought off hundreds of ghosts and he transformed himself into a whirlwind. He recovered the twelfth legion and returned it to Camp Jupiter. In the last few chapters, Percy is made praetor of the Roman camp. This means that he is in charge at both the Roman and Greek camps. Hera described him "as the glue that will unite the Greeks and Romans" She also called him an invaluable part of the seven, which is why Gaea is continually trying to sway Percy to come to her side. While speaking with one of his enemies, they say that Gaea hates Percy above all others.
Percy almost dies several times throughout the book. One time being when he stepped off a road in Alaska and fell into a muskeg. The other time, Percy fell off a cliff to save his friends, Frank and Hazel. He needed to do this in order to complete the mission. Since there was water at the bottom of the cliff, he did not die. Frank and Hazel marveled at Percy's skills and instincts. When Frank and Hazel came back, Frank noted that Percy acted as if they were just meeting up for lunch. When asked how he survived, Percy shrugged his shoulders and said that he fell twice as far from the St. Louis Arch. When Percy returned the Romans were stunned at all that Percy and his friends had accomplished.
Percy led the Romans into battle, and he challenged a giant to a duel. Percy and the house god statue, Terminus, killed the giant after a treacherous battle. The Romans named him praetor, leader of the Roman camp. At the end of the book, Percy takes Frank and Hazel to meet the Greeks. They prepared for the uniting of the seven: Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper, Frank, Leo, and Hazel.
The Mark of Athena is the third book in the Heroes of Olympus series. It is scheduled for released fall 2012 and is in the works.
Percy was portrayed by Logan Lerman in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, a film adaptation of the first book of the first series, released in February 12, 2010. In the film, Percy (along with Annabeth and Grover) are shown to be older than their ages in the book.
The conception behind the Percy Jackson books and its eponymous protagonist were inspired by Riordan's son, Haley, who was dyslexic and had ADHD. The latter has stated that Percy was an important part of his childhood and he and Percy were very similar. Although Percy was very much a hero, he also had flaws and was imperfect. As stated, "He has to fight against that and at the same time fight monsters."[8]
Throughout the series, Percy is described as having his father's jet black hair and deep sea green eyes. His strong resemblance to Poseidon is one of the reasons why Medusa wanted to keep him as a statue. When he first arrives at Camp Half Blood, he is described as weak, skinny, and unfit, but eventually becomes more athletic due to his vigorous training at Camp Half-Blood. After the events of The Titan's Curse, Percy gains gray streaks in his hair after taking Atlas' burden of holding up the sky. It is not mentioned if the grey streaks disappear over time or not, as they have never been talked about again in the series. According to the UK website, Percy is 5'10" by The Last Olympian. In "The Son of Neptune", it is mentioned by Hazel that he looks like a Roman God. Near the end of "The Son of Neptune", Percy is given Roman legion markings on his arm: the letters SPQR, a trident, and a single stripe.
Percy Jackson is usually portrayed as being good-natured, friendly, brave, and willing to risk his life to save friends, strangers, and even his non-monstrous foes. He often does things and blurts things out before thinking, regardless of consequences, causing him to get in a lot of trouble. In The Demigod Files, Annabeth mentions that while Percy is smart, he is obtuse and insensitive when it comes to understanding people's feelings. Although apparently considered good-looking, Percy has trouble talking to girls and often gets in fights with them. He is good friends with Thalia, but the two often argue as their similar personalities and leadership styles tend to clash. Percy has a sarcastic sense of humor and is wry in his narration. Percy also tends to be somewhat hot-headed at times, and tends to hold grudges against people he dislikes.
Percy dislikes titles being given to him. He always tells his horses, which his father is said to have created, not to call him "boss" or "lord" when they talk to him, though he does allow Annabeth to dub him "Seaweed Brain." He also has a strong sense of loyalty and fairness (he turned down godhood when it was offered to him in order to remain with his friends Annabeth and Grover). Instead, he asks that the gods, especially the minor ones, to recognize and claim all of their demigod children by the time they turn thirteen years old.
He is one of the three living demigod to have dueled a Titan and lived, along with Jason Grace who has dueled Krios and Annabeth Chase who has dueled Kronos. Percy has dueled Four Titans: Iapetus, Hyperion, Atlas and Kronos . Like Jason, Percy is also one of the only demigods to have defeated a Titan (Iapetus) without any help.
According to Athena, Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty for his friends. He is willing to risk his life for anyone he cares for, and he could even place his loved ones safety above the world's well-being. Kronos exploits this flaw many times in the series. However this fatal flaw of loyalty helps promote others to be loyal hence him being the "glue" that brings the seven demi-gods together
Percy, like all Demigods, has certain "disabilities" and traits. He has ADHD, which is actually heightened alertness and strong senses that allows Demigods to keep track of multiple things simultaneously during combat. In the case of Percy, he can even extrapolate where his enemies will strike simply based on how their muscles tense. He also has dyslexia since his brain is hard-wired for reading Ancient Greek, the language of the Greek Gods, instead of Mortal languages. Percy has clairvoyant dreams, allowing him to see events in distant locations in out-of-body experiences. While this is a general feature of Demigods, it becomes even more intense during times of strife and when pivotal events are in motion. Percy has an inherent knack for seeing otherwise hidden things thanks to his unpredictable, changeable nature, inherited from his father, Poseidon. Percy can also control the waters and can talk to equestrians because his father created them out of sea foam. Another power Percy has is that he can breathe underwater and keep his clothes dry underwater if he wishes.
Children of the "Big Three" (Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades) are far more powerful than Demigods of the other Greek gods. Hence, Percy has a wide range of superhuman abilities. He is a naturally talented swordsman, often able to hold his own against larger, stronger, and more experienced opponents, even the God of War, Ares. He possesses incredible strength which allowed him to tear a horn off the head of the Minotaur and bear the weight of the sky for some time, the curse of Atlas. Percy has a psychic connection with his friend Grover, called an empathy link. According to Grover, if either of them dies, the other might as well. In The Last Olympian, Percy bathes in the River Styx (like Achilles), making him nearly invulnerable except in one weak point, analogous to Achilles' heel (the small of his back, directly opposite the navel) and also granting him highly increased strength, speed, and endurance. After bathing in the Styx Percy was powerful enough to defeat the God Hades and the titan Hyperion in combat, although he lost his invulnerability when he crossed the Little Tiber in "The Son of Neptune". Although he lost the curse, his powers appear to be the same, if not stronger.
Percy has numerous inherent powers specifically connected to the domains of Poseidon: seas, horses, sea creatures, storms, and earthquakes. His water-related abilities tend to be stronger in natural sea water than in fresh water. Like most other Demigods, using his abilities tires him in proportion to the intensity and duration of whatever he does.
Upon contact with water (or later, with his abilities more developed, near water), Percy gains a disproportionate amount of strength, combat skill, and speed. This effect wears off soon after leaving the water. He can control large volumes of water with great force (hydrokinesis). For example, he can redirect rivers, create currents to push boats or himself, or even increase surface tension to the point where it is firm enough to stand upon. On a smaller scale, he can also hold back the tide and redirect waves, apparently relying on pressurization. Percy can breathe underwater (excluding the River Styx's waters). He is unharmed by water pressure of any amount, or by falling from great height into water. When Percy is underwater, he stays dry unless he consciously forces himself to become wet. When Percy touches objects underwater, they also become dry, and even burnable, although this affect is removed as soon as he loses contact with it.
Percy can create seawater with little effort with things that used to be in the sea (such as petrified seashells, as in The Battle of the Labyrinth). With effort, he can also do this without any derivatives. He can communicate telepathically with marine life, horses, horse-related creatures (including mythical horses, such as pegasi), most of whom also obey him and treat him with respect. They tend to treat him with some deference and work to accommodate him; a notable exception are the flesh-eating horses in The Battle of the Labyrinth.
While at sea, Percy has perfect bearings on his exact coordinates. He can control all parts of boats telekinetically, especially sails. He can sense objects if they are underwater, and can communicate with children of Poseidon, such as the Cyclops, underwater. Percy is very resistant to burning, and is able to survive for a time while immersed in magma because of the power of the ocean inside of him. He can summon water from bodies of water that are hundreds of miles away from him. However, doing this nearly killed him the one time he tried in Mount St. Helens. Percy can also summon hurricanes, as he does in The Last Olympian, and earthquakes, as he does in The Battle of the Labyrinth, though he cannot sustain such tremendous force for very long. He can manipulate water and ice into forming a miniature hurricane around himself, which he is able to sustain for longer, although still not indefinitely. He can create waves powerful enough to destroy a glacier, as he does in the Son of Neptune.
Percy can release the oxygen diffused in water and force the surrounding water to recede, making an air bubble so his friends with non-hydrokinetic abilities can breathe. He can control ocean currents to propel him at great force underwater, or even up into the air, as he does in his duel with Ares. He can cause water to form stronger-than-normal hydrogen bonds on the molecular level to form shields strong enough to deflect shards of glass. Percy has an accelerated healing factor when standing or immersed in water, quickly healing any wounds and curing him of most forms of poison.
In The Lightning Thief, Chiron gives Percy an enchanted sword called Anaklusmos (Riptide). It is made of celestial bronze, a fictional metal which will injure immortals and monsters, but not mortals. Many demigods use celestial bronze weapons, though Anaklusmos is shown to be a far more powerful weapon against monsters than most other blades of its kind. In its dormant form, it appears as a ballpoint pen, though in a dream, Percy sees it in the form of a hairpin. Percy is unable to lose it as it will always return to his pocket soon after being dropped.
In the end of the The Sea of Monsters, Tyson gives Percy a wristwatch that he has made himself. The wristwatch magically encases a shield which can be activated when Percy hits the head of it. Percy, however, loses the watch during the events in The Battle of the Labyrinth. Also, in the "Sea of Monsters", Percy is given a pack of magic vitamins, and a thermos of winds. The thermos holds the four winds, and the vitamins can be eaten to counteract magic of any sort. He uses these in the same book in which he got them.
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