Fandom Overview: Percy Jackson
Hello, I'm Jess and I want to introduce you to Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus! Sorry this took me so long to put together, eek! This is a good time to check out these books if you haven't because the second movie is coming out in the summer.
Basic Facts
✯ Two fantasy book series written by Rick Riordan.
✯ The first series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO), has five books and remixes many classic Greek myths with modern-day twists and tons of fun anachronisms.
✯ The second series, Heroes of Olympus, has three books SO FAR and introduces Ancient Rome as a modern plot element but has less direct plot analogies to Greek mythology.
✯ Premise: Twelve-year-old boy discovers that he is a modern-day demigod.
✯ Middle school reading level.
✯ The fandom tends to be young
✯ The books are extremely popular in Brazil
✯ The very first book was made into a movie in 2010
✯ The second book has its movie coming out 16 Aug 2013
Dramatis Personæ
The Percy Jackson series has a lot of characters. Each book introduces new gods, mortals, and demigods. The following are the most important characters that you meet in the first book of the first series. Otherwise, there would literally be hundreds and they are all incredibly awesome.
Perseus "Percy" Jackson
The protagonist of the series, Percy knows nothing about his godly heritage to start. He is a twelve-year-old living in New York City with his hard-working mother and abusive step-father. He is dyslexic and has ADHD. He is eventually revealed to be the secret son of Poseidon, which also makes him the most likely candidate for a prophecy about a demigod who will either save or destroy Olympus once he reaches age 16. His weapon of choice is Anaklusmus, also called Riptide, a sword that appears as a pen and automatically returns to his pocket. His fatal flaw is his loyalty.
Annabeth Chase
Annabeth Chase is the daughter of Athena and a university professor of military history. She believes her father never wanted her. She and her step-mother also have a contentious relationship. As a result, she ran away from home when she was seven and has been living at Camp Half-Blood since then. Her weapon of choice is a dagger that she was given by Luke Castellan. She also carries a magical item-- a Yankees cap that Athena gave her with the power to make her invisible when worn. She eventually becomes a great architect and is infatuated with architecture from a young age. Her fatal flaw is hubris.
Grover Underwood
Grover is a satyr who lives at Camp Half-Blood working for Dionysus to find and guard demigods until they can be brought safely to Camp Half-Blood. He has great ambitions to find the lost god Pan, but he will never be allowed to search for Pan unless he can prove himself worthy.
Luke Castellan
Luke Castellan is Hermes' pride and joy and the oldest camper at Camp Half-Blood. He appears laid back and inviting with a 'surfer' attitude, but in the end of the first book in the series it is revealed that he has sided with the Titan Kronos to defeat the Olympian gods. He holds a grudge against Hermes because Hermes did not protect himself or his mother. His weapon is a sword called Backbiter.
Chiron
In Greek mythology, Chiron trained such celebrated demigods as Achilles and Jason. He is the son of Kronos and an immortal, thus this is the same Chiron, still training demigods. He is Percy's mentor and friend.
Sally Jackson
Sally Jackson was orphaned as a child when her parents were killed in a plane crash. She was raised by an emotionally distant uncle who died when she was a teenager. At this time, she had to leave school in order to support herself. Her dream was to be an author. She has the unique ability among mortals to see Greek gods and their world. One summer at the beach she met Poseidon. They spent the whole summer together, and Percy Jackson is the result of that summer. She since married Gabe Ugliano, who is abusive but whose presence protects Percy from monsters.
Ares
As the Greek god of war, Ares thrives on hate and enmity. He appears in the first Percy Jackson book as a helper to the trio in their quest, but his motives are not all they appear to be.
Hades
Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld and the dead, has been exiled from Mount Olympus by his brother Zeus. He presides over a great many morbid subjects from his throne in the Underworld, but that doesn't necessarily make him the villain. Although he is suspected of foul play in an effort to start a war between Zeus and Poseidon, in fact he is another innocent pawn in a greater scheme.
Zeus
The king of the Olympians and god of the sky, Zeus is known for being proud and dramatic. At the beginning of the series, his symbol of power-- the Master Bolt-- has been stolen. He is very angry and eager to blame Poseidon. Zeus is quite powerful, but also a bit paranoid that others are trying to overthrow him, and very stubborn.
Poseidon
The god of the sea and of earthquakes, Posiedon is more laid back than his brother Zeus. He prefers to stay within his realm and worries more about the population that he governs under the sea. He is also a touch rebellious-- in his own words, "the sea does not like to be restrained."
Greek Pantheon
Persephone | Hestia | Athena
Various other Greek gods and goddesses appear in the first book series, and in the second book series we are also introduced to their Roman counterparts as a sort of split-personality of their Greek selves. These gods stick very close to their mythological selves, though with fun modern-day anachronisms. For instance, Apollo's chariot is a car and Hermes uses a cell phone. After all, Olympus changes with the times, too.
Setting
There are a couple of very important places that I need to address as well. A couple of them have been mentioned in passing in above section.
Camp Half-Blood
Camp Half-Blood is a summer camp with the option for being a year-round camper specifically for demigods. Each of the Olympian gods has their own cabin, with children of non-Olympian gods crammed into the Hermes cabin with the Hermes campers. The camp's color is orange and the symbol is a Pegasus. Here, campers train for self-defense and combat using swords, a climbing wall, canoe races, and their most famous activity Capture the Flag. The boundaries of the camp are (usually) safe from penetration by enemies, so it is considered the one safe place for demigods.
Olympus
Once located in Greece, Olympus is the seat of western civilization and hence travels along with western civilization. It currently sits at the seat of modern western civilization-- on top of the Empire State Building. You can find it by going up to the 600th floor. Jut tell them Percy sent you ;)
RESOURCES
LJ Comms - Pretty Inactive
cabinthree - Moderated access with very few posts and posts not posted regularly, but it's the only active general PJO/HoO LJ comm
daedalus_laptop - Percy fanfic comm, very inactive as well.
percy_annabeth - The canon ship community.
Tumblr - Very Active
http://rrriordan.tumblr.com
http://burdge.tumblr.com/tagged/percy-jackson <--- AMAZING FANART.
http://dailypercy.tumblr.com
http://anakklusmos.tumblr.com
http://fuckyeahpercyannabeth.tumblr.com
http://percy-jackson.tumblr.com/
Other
http://www.percyjacksonbooks.com
My Pen Is a Sword - http://broseidon.smackjeeves.com - Hilarious Webcomic that seems dead now.
Basic Facts
✯ Two fantasy book series written by Rick Riordan.
✯ The first series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO), has five books and remixes many classic Greek myths with modern-day twists and tons of fun anachronisms.
✯ The second series, Heroes of Olympus, has three books SO FAR and introduces Ancient Rome as a modern plot element but has less direct plot analogies to Greek mythology.
✯ Premise: Twelve-year-old boy discovers that he is a modern-day demigod.
✯ Middle school reading level.
✯ The fandom tends to be young
✯ The books are extremely popular in Brazil
✯ The very first book was made into a movie in 2010
✯ The second book has its movie coming out 16 Aug 2013
Dramatis Personæ
The Percy Jackson series has a lot of characters. Each book introduces new gods, mortals, and demigods. The following are the most important characters that you meet in the first book of the first series. Otherwise, there would literally be hundreds and they are all incredibly awesome.
Perseus "Percy" Jackson
The protagonist of the series, Percy knows nothing about his godly heritage to start. He is a twelve-year-old living in New York City with his hard-working mother and abusive step-father. He is dyslexic and has ADHD. He is eventually revealed to be the secret son of Poseidon, which also makes him the most likely candidate for a prophecy about a demigod who will either save or destroy Olympus once he reaches age 16. His weapon of choice is Anaklusmus, also called Riptide, a sword that appears as a pen and automatically returns to his pocket. His fatal flaw is his loyalty.
Annabeth Chase
Annabeth Chase is the daughter of Athena and a university professor of military history. She believes her father never wanted her. She and her step-mother also have a contentious relationship. As a result, she ran away from home when she was seven and has been living at Camp Half-Blood since then. Her weapon of choice is a dagger that she was given by Luke Castellan. She also carries a magical item-- a Yankees cap that Athena gave her with the power to make her invisible when worn. She eventually becomes a great architect and is infatuated with architecture from a young age. Her fatal flaw is hubris.
Grover Underwood
Grover is a satyr who lives at Camp Half-Blood working for Dionysus to find and guard demigods until they can be brought safely to Camp Half-Blood. He has great ambitions to find the lost god Pan, but he will never be allowed to search for Pan unless he can prove himself worthy.
Luke Castellan
Luke Castellan is Hermes' pride and joy and the oldest camper at Camp Half-Blood. He appears laid back and inviting with a 'surfer' attitude, but in the end of the first book in the series it is revealed that he has sided with the Titan Kronos to defeat the Olympian gods. He holds a grudge against Hermes because Hermes did not protect himself or his mother. His weapon is a sword called Backbiter.
Chiron
In Greek mythology, Chiron trained such celebrated demigods as Achilles and Jason. He is the son of Kronos and an immortal, thus this is the same Chiron, still training demigods. He is Percy's mentor and friend.
Sally Jackson
Sally Jackson was orphaned as a child when her parents were killed in a plane crash. She was raised by an emotionally distant uncle who died when she was a teenager. At this time, she had to leave school in order to support herself. Her dream was to be an author. She has the unique ability among mortals to see Greek gods and their world. One summer at the beach she met Poseidon. They spent the whole summer together, and Percy Jackson is the result of that summer. She since married Gabe Ugliano, who is abusive but whose presence protects Percy from monsters.
Ares
As the Greek god of war, Ares thrives on hate and enmity. He appears in the first Percy Jackson book as a helper to the trio in their quest, but his motives are not all they appear to be.
Hades
Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld and the dead, has been exiled from Mount Olympus by his brother Zeus. He presides over a great many morbid subjects from his throne in the Underworld, but that doesn't necessarily make him the villain. Although he is suspected of foul play in an effort to start a war between Zeus and Poseidon, in fact he is another innocent pawn in a greater scheme.
Zeus
The king of the Olympians and god of the sky, Zeus is known for being proud and dramatic. At the beginning of the series, his symbol of power-- the Master Bolt-- has been stolen. He is very angry and eager to blame Poseidon. Zeus is quite powerful, but also a bit paranoid that others are trying to overthrow him, and very stubborn.
Poseidon
The god of the sea and of earthquakes, Posiedon is more laid back than his brother Zeus. He prefers to stay within his realm and worries more about the population that he governs under the sea. He is also a touch rebellious-- in his own words, "the sea does not like to be restrained."
Greek Pantheon
Persephone | Hestia | Athena
Various other Greek gods and goddesses appear in the first book series, and in the second book series we are also introduced to their Roman counterparts as a sort of split-personality of their Greek selves. These gods stick very close to their mythological selves, though with fun modern-day anachronisms. For instance, Apollo's chariot is a car and Hermes uses a cell phone. After all, Olympus changes with the times, too.
Setting
There are a couple of very important places that I need to address as well. A couple of them have been mentioned in passing in above section.
Camp Half-Blood
Camp Half-Blood is a summer camp with the option for being a year-round camper specifically for demigods. Each of the Olympian gods has their own cabin, with children of non-Olympian gods crammed into the Hermes cabin with the Hermes campers. The camp's color is orange and the symbol is a Pegasus. Here, campers train for self-defense and combat using swords, a climbing wall, canoe races, and their most famous activity Capture the Flag. The boundaries of the camp are (usually) safe from penetration by enemies, so it is considered the one safe place for demigods.
Olympus
Once located in Greece, Olympus is the seat of western civilization and hence travels along with western civilization. It currently sits at the seat of modern western civilization-- on top of the Empire State Building. You can find it by going up to the 600th floor. Jut tell them Percy sent you ;)
RESOURCES
LJ Comms - Pretty Inactive
cabinthree - Moderated access with very few posts and posts not posted regularly, but it's the only active general PJO/HoO LJ comm
daedalus_laptop - Percy fanfic comm, very inactive as well.
percy_annabeth - The canon ship community.
Tumblr - Very Active
http://rrriordan.tumblr.com
http://burdge.tumblr.com/tagged/percy-jackson <--- AMAZING FANART.
http://dailypercy.tumblr.com
http://anakklusmos.tumblr.com
http://fuckyeahpercyannabeth.tumblr.com
http://percy-jackson.tumblr.com/
Other
http://www.percyjacksonbooks.com
My Pen Is a Sword - http://broseidon.smackjeeves.com - Hilarious Webcomic that seems dead now.