Most demigods in the Percy Jackson universe usually don’t survive past the age of 20 due to the large amounts of monsters that love hunting and killing them. Or at least, that’s what happens to Greek demigods. Their Roman counterparts live out in New Rome, where they get to raise families. But, of course, these young heroes could not exist without their mortal parents hooking up with gods.
As we continue to fill out the Percy Jackson category as we await the drop of the first trailer for Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+, we’ll be dropping more information for new fans and those who need a refresher. So, let’s jump into getting to know the mortal parents of the PJO universe. Just a heads up, we will include the Roman demigods’ mortal parents too. We’ll also throw in the mortal parents of Norse demigods where we can.
Finally, we only include parents with first and last names.
Sally Jackson
The first of the mortal parents is Sally Jackson, the mother of the titular character, Percy Jackson. Sally was left orphaned after her parents were killed in a plane crash. Her uncaring uncle raised her, and she had to drop out of school to look after him when he started getting sick. She worked hard to support herself after this. She met Poseidon on a beach in Montauk. Sometime later, their son, Perseus, commonly known as Percy, was born.
Left to raise Percy on her own, Sally formed a close bond with her son as it was just the two of them for a long time. They created a blue foo tradition where most of their snack foods were coloured blue. Sally then married Gabe Ugilano, a man who could mask Percy’s demigod scent from monsters, despite being a human trash bag.
Sally had to endure years of horrible treatment from Gabe, who treated her with the utmost disrespect. This took a toll on Percy, who developed a deep hatred for him. Gabe had no respect for Percy either. As a result, Sally often had to be the one to broker the peace between them. Upon Sally’s return from the Underworld after her kidnapping by the Minotaur, she was gifted by Percy, Medusa’s head, which had been returned to him by the gods.
Percy encouraged her to take control of her life, so she used Medusa’s head to turn Gabe to stone and sold him as a statue, making her first art commission.
Meeting And Marrying Paul Blofis
After spending so much time married to Gabe, Sally got her life back on track with Percy’s help. Eventually, Sally became involved with school teacher Paul Blofis. At first, Percy was hesitant due to his experiences with Gabe. HowevFinally however could see that Paul made his mother happy.
When Paul wanted to propose to Sally, he asked for Percy’s permission, knowing how close he and his mother were. Percy was happy to give it as Paul had become his second dad. Paul had no idea about Percy’s demigod heritage for a time, though he suspected something was off. However, Sally and Percy decided, after he and his new mortal friend Rachel Elizabeth Dare were attacked by monsters and then saved by Annabeth, that perhaps it would be safer for Paul to know.
Paul was incredibly supportive of Percy and even took out a few monsters after being unfrozen during the Battle of Manhattan. Eventually, Sally and Paul had a child of their own, daughter Estelle, named after Sally’s late mother.
Supporting Percabeth
Sally could see the chemistry between Percy and Annabeth before Percy himself could. Sally didn’t tease them but was there if they ever needed support. After Percy goes missing, thanks to Hera/Juno’s interference, Annabeth and Sally lean on each other a great deal.
Frederick Chase
Annabeth’s mortal father, Frederick, is the middle child of three. He had a brother, Randolph and a sister, Natalie. His sister, Natalie, would also become one of the mortal parents on this list, as she would have a demigod child with a Norse god. He later became a professor of Military and American history.
Frederick caught the attention of Athena, who assisted him in getting into Harvard. Despite being a virgin goddess, Athena allowed her mind to bond with Frederick, and they produced a daughter, Annabeth, who was delivered to him in a golden cradle. The relationship ended on good terms, though Frederick was unprepared to raise their child and wanted Athena to raise her. Athena explained that all demigods were raised by their mortal parents.
Annabeth was born from Athena’s thoughts. Athena considered the births of all of her mortal children as brain children and considered them the purest kind of love.
When Annabeth was young, her dad married a mortal woman with whom he had twin sons, Matthew and Bobby. However, the family dynamic was not happy. Mrs Chase accused Annabeth of leading the monsters to the family. As a result, Annabeth ran away from home at seven when she could no longer take it. She ended up at Camp Half-Blood, where she would live as a year-round camper for at least five years.
Frederick would try to convince Annabeth to return home, and she would refuse. Finally, she did try once but saw nothing had changed, and her stepmother constantly told her off. Eventually, because of this, she returned to camp.
At some point, Annabeth would receive her father’s college ring, which would hang on her Camp Half-Blood necklace.
Annabeth’s Disappearance
After trying to protect Nico and Bianca Di Angelo from monsters, Annabeth disappears, much to the devastation of Percy. So he, Thalia Grace and the Hunter of Artemis, Zoë Nightshade, go on a quest to find her. When they hit a snag, Thalia says she has the address for Annabeth’s dad, who is currently living in San Francisco.
The trio visit Frederick and his family, explaining what happened. By this time, Frederick and Annabeth’s relationship had improved, and Mrs Chase no longer resented her stepdaughter as she showed great concern after her friends explained what had occurred. Frederick, wanting to help, gives the trio his car keys, not knowing he’ll never see his car again. Mrs Chase even bakes the kids cookies.
Frederick even shows up to help in the final fight on his plane.
May Castellan
The mortal mother of Luke Castellan, a demigod son of Hermes, May Castellan, like Sally Jackson and Frederick Chase, could see through the Mist. She thought she’d be able to support the Oracle of Delphi, being unaware that Hades had cursed the oracle decades earlier. Hermes was not aware of this either.
After attempting to take on the Oracle, May became disillusioned, hoping her son would return home. However, when Percy and Nico visited her looking for answers, they found that May’s kitchen was filled with lunch boxes full of mouldy sandwiches.
Beryl Grace
The mother of Thalia and Jason Grace, Beryl was a television actress with a drinking problem. Beryl was obsessed with being in the tabloids and would do anything to be in them. She caught the attention of Zeus and had Thalia with him. However, her existence wasn’t meant to happen as Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had made an oath after World War II not to have any more demigod children.
Zeus and Poseidon both broke the oath, while Hades did not. More on that a bit later.
Beryl was also desperate to get Zeus’ attention back after he left her. He eventually returned to her, but as his Roman counterpart, Jupiter. They later had Jason, named after the leader of the Argonauts. Thalia believed that her father returned to her mother because he felt sorry for Beryl.
Thalia didn’t get along with her mother and eventually ran away from home, running into Luke and Annabeth. Beryl then gave Jason to Juno (Hera’s Roman counterpart) an offering of peace, which horrified her daughter. By then, Beryl had become mentally unstable as she couldn’t deal with Zeus/Jupiter leaving her permanently.
Beryl was later killed in a car accident two years before Thalia emerged from her pine tree atop Half-Blood Hill. She was drunk the night she died.
Maria Di Angelo
The mortal mother of Nico and Bianca Di Angelo, Maria was one of the few mortal parents who had more than one child with a god. Maria was the Italian lover of Hades before World War II. She, like Sally and May, had clear sight.
The Great Prophecy was spoken around the time World War II started, and it became a concern that Nico and Bianca could be the ones the prophecy said of. Hades wanted to hide Maria and the children in the Underworld so that Zeus couldn’t get his hands on them.
When Zeus did learn about Nico and Bianca’s existence, he killed Maria, much to the heartache of Hades.
Nico and Bianca would later be kept in the Lotus Casino. They thought a month had passed when seventy years had passed.
Esperanza Valdez
The mother of Leo Valdez, the demigod son of Hephaestus, Esperanza, was a mechanic but couldn’t get a job in the field because she was a woman. Nevertheless, she met Hephaestus and later gave birth to Leonidas, known best as Leo.
Hera, Hephastus’ mother and Queen of the Gods, disguised as a woman named Tía Callida, would often babysit Leo and put him in dangerous situations. When she found out about this, Esperanza was outraged that the babysitter would put her child in danger.
Leo, however, was fine as he had immunity to fire as he was Hephaestus’ son. He also had the rare gift of being able to conjure fire. It is unclear whether Esperanza could see through the Mist, but it’s likely she could because she was aware that Tía Callida was Hera.
Also, Espanza’s grandfather was Sammy Valdez Jr, the former boyfriend of Hazel Levesque, a friend of Leo’s.
When Leo was eight, Esperanza was killed in a fire started by Gaea.
Tristan McLean
Tristan McLean could NOT see through the Mist of all the mortal parents on this list. A famous actor, Tristan, caught the attention of Aphrodite and had a daughter, Piper, with her. Left to raise Piper alone, Tristan had help from his father, Thomas, who also had a hand in naming his granddaughter.
Tristan and Piper’s relationship wasn’t always good. As she got older, his work often caused him to be away from her. She would do anything in her power to get his attention back on her, unaware that she was using Charmspeak, an ability often linked to children of Aphrodite. Piper and her new friends rescue him when he is kidnapped, though he is forced to forget everything he saw.
Mentioned Mortal Parents
- Julian Ramírez-Arellano – father of Reyna and Hylla Ramírez-Arellano, lover of Bellona
- Emily Zhang – mother of Frank Zhang, lover of Mars – a descendant of Poseidon
- Marie Levesque – mother of Hazel Levesque, lover of Pluto – Appears in Flashbacks
- Natalie Chase – mother of Magnus Chase, lover of Frey and aunt of Annabeth Chase
Honorary Mentions
- Mrs Chase – stepmother of Annabeth Chase and wife of Frederick Chase
- Paul Blofis – second stepfather of Percy Jackson, second husband of Sally Jackson
- Gabe Ugliano – first husband of Sally Jackson and first stepfather of Percy Jackson
