With Percy Jackson merch being given out at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, we thought we’d explore the character. There is so much to Percy that fans love, and with the new show dropping in 2024, we wanted to give our support.
Editor’s note: since the original publication of this article, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series dropped in December 2023, much earlier than believed.
So, who is Percy Jackson?
The Birth Of Percy Jackson
Born to Sally Jackson and the Greek god Poseidon, Percy was named after the demigod son of Zeus, Perseus. The original Perseus was the only half-blood of his time to have a happy ending. His mother told him that his father had been “lost at sea”, slightly twisting the truth about his demigod status. For years, he was forced to change schools every year after unexplainable incidents kept happening.
When Percy turned 12, however, everything changed. While on a school trip to the museum, Percy becomes targeted by one of Hades’ furies. Also, he and his best friend, Grover, are constantly targeted by bully Nancy Bobofit. Mister Brunner, one of their teachers, becomes concerned and speaks to Grover, a conversation Percy overhears back to Yancy Academy.
Another Expulsion And Danger Looms
After being kicked out of the school, Percy heads home to his mother in New York, who embraces him warmly. However, his homecoming is not happy for his vile stepfather, Gabe, who hates his stepson.
Deciding to get away for a while, Sally takes Percy to Montauk, where she meets his father. However, the visit doesn’t last long when Grover suddenly shows up, alerting the Jacksons of danger. Sally manages to get the boys in the car; only they are pursued by a minotaur.
The car is attacked. Grover is knocked unconscious. The minotaur takes Sally after she gets Percy over the crest of the nearby hill—Percy then passes out.
Son Of Poseidon
With Sally missing, Percy awakens in an infirmary with a girl watching over him. The girl, Annabeth, is a camper. Percy is reunited with Grover, and Mister Brunner, who he learns is Chiron, a centaur. He also meets Mister D (Dionysus), who immediately dislikes him as he does with every demigod.
Percy becomes a target to Clarisse, a daughter of the war god, Ares. His powers become evident when she attempts to flush his head down the toilet after he gets on her bad side. He is later claimed by Poseidon as his son, much to the shock of everyone. Also, he becomes the candidate of the demigod who, upon turning sixteen, could be the one who decides the fate of Mount Olympus.
Annabeth and Grover accompany Percy on his first quest; to clear his name with Zeus by retrieving Zeus’ master bolt.
After the first adventure, Grover becomes a key player for the satyrs as he is given his searcher’s licence so he can go out and find the missing nature god, Pan. Percy, Annabeth and Tyson go out to rescue him when he suddenly goes missing.
Other Adventures
After returning the bolt to Zeus, Percy and his friends go on several other adventures, including venturing through the Sea of Monsters and rescuing Annabeth after she disappears on a mission to get half-blood siblings Bianca and Nico DiAngelo back to Camp Half-Bood.
Percy’s most significant battle is against Luke Castellan, a son of Hermes who goes rogue and ends up working for Kronus, the king of the Titans who Zeus imprisoned. He also became one of the first Greek demigods to see Camp Jupiter, the Roman counterpart of Camp Half-Blood.
However, his most significant challenge comes just months after he and Annabeth start dating. He goes missing for months. He becomes an honorary member of Camp Jupiter with no memory of his life except for Annabeth.
Percy also becomes friendly with the other demigods caught up in the newer prophecy, including following Greek demigods Piper McLean and Leo Valdez, the daughter of Aphrodite and son of Hephaestus, respectively. However, his two closest friendships, excluding Annabeth, are with Roman demigods Frank Zhang, the son of Mars and descendant of Poseidon and Nico’s Roman demigod half-sister, Hazel Levesque, the daughter of Hades’ Roman counterpart, Pluto.
Big Brother
Having been raised as an only child, Percy has several half-siblings through both parents, but he’s only close to two of them. When his mother married Paul Blofis, Sally later had a daughter she and Paul named Estelle. Poseidon had several immortal children with his wife, Amphitrite. But one of the children Percy was closest to was the young Cyclops, Tyson, born to the sea god and a nymph.
It came as a shock to Percy that one of his half-siblings was a Cyclops. He found it embarrassing once Poseidon claimed Tyson. However, he comes to accept his brother, and they maintain their close bond. Even Annabeth, who feared Cyclopes due to a run-in she’d had with one as a child, came to love Tyson because of how sweet and gentle he was.
As a big brother to Estelle, Percy dotes on his little sister. She makes several appearances after her birth. She perks up whenever her brother’s name is mentioned and giggles and drools whenever she hears his voice. This shows how much she adores Percy.
