| “ | Very well! In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your reasonable request, as long as it is within our power. | „ |
| ~ Zeus to Percy Jackson. |
| “ | If your son is the thief, I will send him to the depths of Tartarus. | „ |
| ~ Zeus to Poseidon in the film adaptation, threatening Percy's life. |
Zeus, also known as Jupiter, is one of the twelve Olympian gods and a major antagonist from the book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus. Zeus/Jupiter is the king of Olympus, ruling over all of the Greek-Roman gods and their demigods. He is the father of Apollo, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, Dionysus, and demigod heroes Thalia and Jason Grace.
Portrayals[]
- In the film, he was portrayed by Sean Bean, who played Sean Miller in Patriot Games, Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye, Patrick Koster in Don't Say a Word, Dr. Merrick in The Island, Ian Howe in National Treasure, and John Ryder in The Hitcher.
- In the Disney+ series, he was portrayed by the late Lance Reddick, who also played Jack Bernard in Law & Order, Papa Legba in American Horror Story: Coven, Albert Wesker in Netflix's Resident Evil tv series, Martin Hatch in Quantum Break, Sylens in the Horizon series and voiced Ra's al Ghul in Beware the Batman, Agent Clappers in Paradise P.D., Thordak in The Legend of Vox Machina, Lex Luthor in Kite-Man: Hell Yeah!, General Lunaris in DuckTales and Steven Erickson in Invincible: Atom Eve.
Biography[]
Background[]
Zeus's Birth[]
After witnessing all of her previously children be devoured by their father Kronos, Rhea decided to send her last son, Zeus, away from the cannibal titan, to do so, she hid Zeus on the island of Crete, where he would be safe from Kronos until adulthood. To deceive Kronos, Rhea gave to him a huge smooth boulder the same size and shape as a newborn.
Rescuing His Siblings[]
When Zeus grew to adulthood he, with some help from Rhea, infiltrated Mount Othrys, and convinced Kronos to hire him as his royal cup bearer. One evening, when Kronos and the other titans were dining, Zeus gave to his father a special potion that would force him to disgorge all the contents of his stomach, including Zeus's brothers and sisters.
Titanomachy[]
The olympians declared war against the titans, Zeus, using the Master Bolt given to him by the Elder Cyclops and the Hekatonkheires, along with his siblings, attacked Mount Othrys and defeated all the titans. After the war, every titan who fought against Zeus was punished, while all those who were neutral, were allowed to keep their freedom.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians[]
The Lightning Thief[]
Zeus' Master Bolt is stolen and immediately blames Poseidon. Soon after, Poseidon claims Percy Jackson as his son, and Zeus believes he had found the means by which Poseidon had stolen his bolt. Outraged, he threatens Poseidon with war unless the bolt is returned to him by the summer solstice. This situation gives Percy a quest to retrieve the bolt. He and his new found friends, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, travel across America to do so. They are successful and consequently return to New York City by plane. Percy travels to Olympus alone to return the bolt. Percy relates the events of the quest to Zeus and Poseidon, and from there, the two gods conclude that their evil father, the Titan Lord Kronos must be behind the scheme.
The Sea of Monsters[]
Zeus blames Chiron (who is a son of Kronos) for the poisoning of Thalia's tree, resulting in Chiron being fired, and replaced by Tantalus. By the end of the book, however, Zeus learns that the true culprit is in fact Luke Castellan (again), and promptly reinstates Chiron at the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. Also, due to the great power of the Golden Fleece, Zeus' daughter Thalia Grace comes back to life.
The Titan's Curse[]
After the rescue of Annabeth and Artemis by Percy, Grover, Thalia, and Zoë Nightshade, the campers go to Olympus for the Council of the Olympians. There, the Olympians debate on whether or not to destroy Percy and Thalia, as either of the two demigods will hold the fate of Olympus when they turn sixteen. Zeus, though, refuses to destroy his daughter Thalia and is openly concerned when Artemis offers Thalia the now vacant position of Lieutenant of her Hunters. Thalia accepts the offer and vows that the prophecy would not be hers, but Percy’s. The Olympians then vote on whether Percy should live, and despite somewhat disliking Percy's existence, Zeus ultimately votes for his life.
The Battle of the Labyrinth[]
Zeus allows Hera to interfere with the quest. However, when he feels that Hera has been with Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson for too long, he gives the cue for her to return. Hera claims that Zeus and she had had some excellent marriage counseling recently.
The Last Olympian[]
Zeus and the other Olympians leave Mount Olympus to battle Typhon (their greatest foe), leaving their demigod children and a few minor gods to defend their thrones. Zeus refuses to let any of the other gods return to Olympus, although he does send Hermes to relay messages. The gods constantly fight for days, but nevertheless Typhon manages to arrive in New York. The gods are exhausted, but with the arrival of Poseidon, their fighting spirit is renewed and they defeat the fearsome monster, with Poseidon striking the final blow. Meanwhile, due to Luke's selfless bravery, Kronos is defeated. The Olympians return to Mount Olympus to find the Throne Room in ruins, but they manage to repair it in a very short time. Zeus also makes the top of the Empire State Building glow blue to assure Percy's mother that her son is alive.
Zeus commends the gods for their bravery, and gives thanks to Hades for joining the war against their father Kronos, and to Poseidon, without whom they would never have defeated the fearsome Typhon. Zeus then rewards the heroes. To Thalia, he grants help in filling the Hunter's ranks; to Tyson, the Cyclopes son of Poseidon, Zeus gives the position of General of the armies of Olympus. To Percy, Zeus offers the ultimate gift of immortality - to become a god and a Lieutenant to Poseidon. He is incredulous when Percy (after much thought) denies the gift and asks for a different wish instead. Percy asks Zeus and the Olympian Council to swear on the River Styx first to be assured that his wish would be granted. Zeus and the other Olympians reluctantly agree to grant Percy's request as long as it was within their power. Percy, satisfied with this promise, asks them to pay more attention to their demigod children by showing them who is a demigod at the age of 13, to honor the minor gods, and to allow the minor gods to have cabins at Camp Half-Blood. Percy adds that the oath of the Big Three to abstain from having children should be dissolved as it was never truly effective in the first place, and that any children the three mighty brothers may have from their affairs with mortals should be trained and accepted instead of feeling abandoned. Though somewhat outraged at such huge a request, Zeus and the Olympians nevertheless agree to fulfill it.
Heroes of Olympus[]
The Lost Hero[]
In a combination of paranoia, and anger at Percy Jackson for his refusal of immortality, Zeus closes off Olympus and recalls all gods there. He also forbid contact between the gods and demigods, as he concluded that the increasing intervention of the gods in mortal affairs must be causing the rise of both Gaea and the Giants. Here, it is also revealed that he has a Roman son, Jason Grace, the lost but recently found brother of Thalia Grace.
Some of the gods, namely Aphrodite and Hephaestus believe that Zeus is acting merely out of wounded pride. Hera herself admits to having great difficulty at trying to guess Zeus' motivations for anything, but thinks his actions are bordering on paranoia. Including Artemis, the four gods disobey his commands to stay on Olympus and work behind his back to avoid getting caught. Despite this, Zeus indirectly aids Jason, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez several times on their quest, most notably answering his son's prayer for aid against the Giant Enceladus.
The Son of Neptune[]
Zeus himself never appears, and is rarely mentioned. At Camp Jupiter Percy enters his magnificent Roman temple, the Temple of Jupiter, where the god is referred to as "Jupiter Optimus Maximus." Percy sees a massive golden statue of the god with the Master Bolt and mentions that the Bolt does not look like that at all. Later, when Percy flies to Alaska, and starts feeling turbulence on the plane, he wonders if Zeus is messing with him.
The Mark of Athena[]
Zeus, along with most of the other Olympians, was incapacitated (with his personality split between him and his Roman form Jupiter) after Leo was manipulated by Gaea into shooting upon Camp Jupiter from the Argo II. In Rome, Jason, Piper, and Percy meet the Nine Nymphs (along with Hagno), who had once helped Rhea, Amaltheia, and the Kouretes raise Zeus after his birth on Crete.
The Blood of Olympus[]
Zeus has driven Apollo off of Olympus, blaming both Hera and him from the current crisis. He is also still angry at Artemis for disobeying his orders by helping her Hunters. Zeus also has Asclepius kept under guard, to prevent him from seeing anyone. Ascplepius expresses worry for his father, noting that Zeus tends to be unreasonable.
When Reyna, with the help of six pegasi finally manages to place the Athena Parthenos on Half-Blood Hill, golden light ripples across the ground, seeping warmth into the bones of both Greek and Roman demigods, and curing all of the Olympians (including Zeus) of their split personalities. As a result, Zeus promptly arrives in Athens to participate in the final battle with the Giants. He arrives riding in a huge golden chariot, with the four Wind Gods (in equine form) pulling it, and Nike as his charioteer. Zeus fights with the Master Bolt alongside Jason against the Giant King Porphyrion himself. After Jason knocks Porphyrion off of a cliff with an extremely powerful gust of wind, Zeus uses the Master Bolt to reduce the Giant King to ash that spreads across the landscape, to prevent Gaea from raising him once more. Zeus comments that he is proud of his son Jason, and does not at all hold the latter responsible for the current crisis.
Following the battle, Zeus starts to assign blame for the war. He turns his attention toward Hera and Apollo. He blames them for the Second Gigantomachy, since Apollo allowed the Prophecy of Seven to be spoken (despite Apollo's earlier claims that he has little control of the prophecies or when they are spoken) and Hera for taking it upon herself to interpret the prophecy. Zeus reasons that there were multiple ways the prophecy could have been interpreted, which is why he was slow to act and why he cut off the ties between the gods and demigods, but the moment Hera started acting upon it, the number of possible outcomes became severely limited.
After Zeus sends Apollo back to Olympus to await punishment, Jason tries to speak up for Apollo about the futility of assigning blame and how that is what caused the ongoing schism between the Greek and Roman demigods. Zeus is furious with Jason for questioning him in front of the other gods, but is calmed by Artemis, who intervenes and soothes the situation, giving Jason a look says that she will reason with Zeus later, when he has calmed down.
To get the Seven Heroes of Olympus back to Camp Half-Blood in time to stop Gaea, Zeus grows in size, and successfully hurls the Argo II back to camp at supersonic speeds, though the ship is torn apart in the process.
Personality[]
Zeus can be very self-centered and arrogant; expecting all the gods and mortals to respect him above everyone and everything. His arrogance turned him paranoid; making him believe that; any try to reason; with him is a challenge to his authority; because of this, he constantly fights; with his brothers.
Zeus absolutely hates damage to his self-image; refusing to acknowledge his flaws and mistakes, he gets mad and try to blame anyone else for his own actions, as; when he unfairly blamed Hera and Apollo for "starting" the Second Giant War.
Zeus does not seem to care too much about mortals, actually, he can be quite blasphemous and tyrannical towards them, as seen; when he destroyed an entire city, because he thought that; the citizens had mistaken a mortal king for him, another example is; when Phaeton almost burned the earth with the sun chariot, and Zeus looked more concerned about his temples than about the people.
Physical appearance[]
Zeus is very tall, imposing, and very muscular, with long black shoulder-length hair with a gray-and-black neatly trimmed beard. He has brilliant electrically blue eyes with a serious and proud, but very handsome face. However, when Zeus is infuriated, his face becomes "as dark as a thundercloud." In addition, when he is saddened, Zeus' gaze seemed "as far away as the ozone layer" to Jason. Zeus' normal attire is a dark blue pinstriped suit. According to Percy, the air around Zeus smells like ozone, though Jason describes him smelling of "rain and clean wind" instead.
In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Zeus wears white robes with threads of gold, and is described as looking very intimidating even when he is completely immobilized and chained up. In his Divine Form, Zeus is described as being surrounded by a "massive column of twisting lightning and fire".
While helping the Heroes of Olympus fight the Giants in The Blood of Olympus, Zeus rode into battle on a huge golden chariot, with the four Wind Gods (in equine form) pulling it and Nike as his charioteer. While not wielding the Master Bolt, Zeus has it clipped to his belt. He sometimes wields the Aegis, which appears as either a bronze shield, with the fearsome visage of Medusa upon it or a glowing mantle, that glitters "as if woven through with filaments of Imperial Gold".
Powers and Abilities[]
- Massive Strength: Zeus has incredible physical prowess, being able to lift and hurl entire mountains at his enemies.
- Gigantification: Zeus can tremendously increase his height, being able to grown even taller than 100 feet tall during his fight against Typhon.
- Aerokinesis: As the God of the Sky, Zeus has absolute control over air.
- Atmokinesis: As the God of the Sky, Zeus has absolute control over the weather.
- Electrokinesis: As the God of Thunder and Lightning, Zeus has absolute control over both static and celestial electricity.
- Master Bolt: Zeus's most powerful weapon, the Master Bolt, is stupendously powerful (generating many tremendous white-hot lightning bolts simultaneously), easily making a hydrogen bomb look like a firecracker in comparison.
- Shapeshifting: Zeus had always had a talent for shapeshifting, he has transformed himself into several animals to woo different women (and sometimes men). Those include a bull (for Europa), an eagle (for Ganymede), a swan (for Leda), a cuckoo (for Hera), an ant (for Eurymedousa), a serpent (for Demeter), Artemis (for Kallisto), Amphitryon (for Alcmene) and even a dazzling shower of gold (for Danaë).
Trivia[]
- In Ancient Greek, his name translates to "Day".
External Links[]
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 Villains
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