| “ | 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. |
Zeus is a major character in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and is the king of Olympus, and the Greek God of lightning, honor, justice, and the sky. He's the son of Kronos and Rhea, and the brother of Hades, Poseidon, Chiron, Hera, Demeter and Hestia. He is also the father of the Greek Gods Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes and Persephone, and Demigods Jason and Thalia Grace.
In the first film adaption, he is portrayed by Sean Bean, who also portrayed Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Eddard "Ned" Stark in HBO's Game of Thrones.
In the upcoming TV show, he will be played by the late Lance Reddick, who also played Charon in the John Wick films, and voiced Falcon in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Zavala in Destiny, Agent Clappers in Paradise P.D. and Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West.
Biography[]
Birth[]
Zeus is the youngest son of the titans King Kronos and Rhea, and is the youngest sibling to Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, Demeter, and Chiron. His siblings were devoured by Kronos, who was scared that they would overthrow him as predicted by Ouranos years prior. Rhea, distraught that she couldn't plead with Kronos so spare their children, and gave Zeus to Gaea and the nine nymphs who advised her to bring the child to the island of Crete. Rhea gave Kronos a smooth boulder to deceive Kronos, as he had though he had eaten his final child.
Rescuing his Siblings[]
Zeus was raised by Rhea, the nymphs, the loud Kouretes, and the goat Amaltheia through his youth. Rhea would tell Zeus about his brothers and sisters, whom he was destined to save from their father's stomach. As an adult, Zeus successfully transformed into a titanic version of himself and infiltrated Mount Othrys with the help of his mother. He was able to convince Kronos to hire him as a cup bearer, and succeeded in entertaining the titans with his singing and dancing skills.
Zeus then encouraged all the male Titans to participate in a drinking contest, and later prepared a special drink mixed with nectar and a sleeping potion to knock out the titans. For Kronos, Zeus prepared him a powerful emetic mixed with nectar and mustard, which would make him vomit everything he had eaten before. Kronos participated in another drinking contest, and vomited all of the contents in his stomach, but it was in reverse order: the boulder, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. Despite being swallowed whole, they had grown inside Kronos' stomach, being immortal Gods, and the other Titans were unable to retaliate due to drinking the sleeping potion.
Zeus introduced himself to his siblings, and they all escaped Mount Othrys before the titans could come back into their senses. At the base of Mount Ida, they reunited with Rhea, and decided to let Zeus be their leader to fight against the Titans. However, since the Titans were well armed, Zeus decided to release the Elder Cyclops and Hekatonkheire from Tartarus to craft them weapons.
First Titan War[]
Hades succeeded in leading his siblings into Tartarus, but the Olympians were stunned with fear of the cyclops and Hekatonkheires' guardian, Kampê. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades were able to overcome their fear, and snuck through to speak to the cyclops, convincing Brontes to forge powerful weapons for him and his siblings. The cyclops' created the Master Bolt, the Trident, and the Helm of Darkness, and Zeus killed Kampê with his weapon, and Poseidon destroyed the chains of the cyclops and Hekatonkheires. Afterward, Hades safely guided his siblings, the cyclops, and the Hekatonkheires out of Tartarus, and they agreed to aid the Gods against the Titans.
Zeus and his siblings declared war on Kronos and the Titans, which resulted in eleven years of fighting, with the Gods eventually becoming experienced warriors and mastered their weaponry. Preparing for the final battle of the war, Zeus and his siblings ascended to Mount Olympus, and the former used his Master Bolt to destroy Mount Othrys, hurling Kronos from his throne. The Gods invaded what was left of Mount Orthys, and defeated the titans Atlas, Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios, and Koios.
The Titans were chained, and Zeus sliced Kronos into a thousand pieces with his scythe, and casted him into Tartarus alongside his followers (except for Atlas, who was forced to hold the sky for eternity). Zeus then offered the Hekatonkheires to become the jailer of the Titans in Tartarus, which they agreed to.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Elder Cyclopes chained up all of the defeated Titans, while the Hekatonkheires forced them to kneel before Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus took his father's scythe and sliced Kronos into a thousand pieces, before casting him into Tartarus, along with the rest of his followers (except for Atlas, who was forced to hold the sky). Afterwards, Zeus offered the Hekatonkheires to return to Tartarus, this time as the jailers of the Titans, to which they readily agreed.
Becoming King[]
The Gods chose Mount Olympus as their residence, and started to call themselves Olympians as the cyclops' built palaces for them there. Zeus had a private meeting with Poseidon and Hades, and the three agreed to divide the world between themselves. Despite being the eldest son by birthright, Hade was given the Underworld, as Poseidon claimed the seas with acceptance from Ouranos, and Zeus claimed the heavens as his domain. After the division, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades became known as "The Big Three", but Zeus' authority was recognized as superior due to him saving his siblings.
Marriages[]
Zeus married his childhood sweetheart, Metis after the war, and served him as his adviser and mentor for his life. Upon Metis' pregnancy, Zeus learned from her that she would give birth to a daughter, and then a son that would overthrow him. Zeus tried to stop this fate like his father before him, and swallowed Metis whole, but she still gave birth to their daughter, Athena, who came from Zeus' body when Hephaestus split Zeus' head open when he had an unbearable headache.
Zeus later married the Titaness Themis after swallowing Metis, and she gave birth two pairs of triplets: the Horae and the Fates, but the latter were born as old women. After becoming the father of the fates, Zeus feared the prospect of having even more intimidating children, and the Olympian and Titaness agreed to end their marriage peacefully.
Hestia decided to never marry due to numerous reasons, the first being that she could remember being swallowed by her father, seeing her mother suffer from Kronos, Zeus doing the same to Metis, and didn't want disabled, different, or strange children like his with Themis. Zeus decided not to, after hearing Hestia state that she wished to never marry and be a virgin goddess, and offered to take care for the hearth of all time. Zeus then decided to court his sister Demeter, and transformed into a serpent, and successfully seduced her, resulting in the birth of Persephone.
Zeus then became attracted to his sister Hera, who refused to marry him until they made a bet where if she confessed her love for him, they would marry. Zeus succeeded in tricking Hera by causing a thunderstorm, and transformed himself into a injured cuckoo, which Hera took care of and became fond of. Despite being outraged upon Zeus winning the bet, Hera was impressed by Zeus' intellect and resourcefulness, and agreed to marry him if he remained loyal to her, an oath he broke many times over.
Pact of the Big Three[]
Following World War II, the gods received a prophecy that a child of the Big Three - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades - would make a decision that would either destroy or save Olympus. With World War II having basically been a war between their children, Zeus forced his brothers into swearing a pact on the River Styx to not have any more demigod children as their children were just too powerful and affected the course of human history. With Hades still having two young demigod children, Nico and Bianca di Angelo, Zeus ordered him to take them to Camp Half-Blood, but Hades correctly deduced that Zeus actually intended to kill his children before they got there. Zeus destroyed the hotel where Hades, his lover Maria and his children were staying with a lightning bolt, killing Maria, although he failed to kill Hades' demigod children. Hades hid the children in the Lotus Hotel and Casino where time would essentially be frozen for them and cursed the Oracle of Delphi, blaming her for Maria's death.
Despite being the one to initiate the Pact of the Big Three, Zeus was the first to break it, having an affair with starlet Beryl Grace that resulted in the birth of their daughter Thalia. As his Roman form of Jupiter, he had another affair with Beryl years later, resulting in the birth of his Roman demigod son Jason Grace. In order to appease his wife, Zeus gave Jason to Hera as her champion. However, years later, an enraged Hades sent an army of monsters after Thalia in revenge for Zeus breaking the Pact, fatally injuring her. As Thalia lay dying on Half-Blood Hill, Zeus took pity on his daughter and transformed her into a pine tree that powered a magical barrier that protected Camp Half-Blood from monster attacks.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians[]
The Lightning Thief[]
In the book Zeus thinks Percy Jackson stole his ultimate weapon, the Master Bolt. He gives Percy a deadline to get the bolt, otherwise the battle of the Big Three will take place. By the end of the book, Percy returned Zeus' bolt to him after defeating Ares and retrieving it. Zeus refused to acknowledge the role of Kronos in the events and threatened to kill Percy should he ever choose to fly again. However, Zeus spared Percy from any punishment for his illegal birth as thanks for returning the Master Bolt to him.
The Sea of Monsters[]
After Thalia Grace's tree was poisoned, Zeus blamed and punished Chiron for it as the centaur was a son of Kronos. However, Percy Jackson and his friends were able to heal the tree with the Golden Fleece and expose Luke Castellan as the true culprit. In addition, Thalia, Zeus' demigod daughter, was resurrected by the power of the Golden Fleece, giving Kronos another chance to control the Great Prophecy.
The Titan's Curse[]
Following the rescue of Artemis, Percy and his friends attend the Olympian Council where the gods debate on whether or not to kill Percy and Thalia due to the potential threat that they pose because of the Great Prophecy. Zeus refused to consider killing Thalia who instead accepted an offer by Artemis to become her lieutenant in the Hunters of Artemis. The Council then voted on Percy's fate with Zeus, despite his dislike for his nephew, voting in his favor. With the majority in favor of sparing Percy, he was allowed to live.
The Battle of the Labyrinth[]
Zeus allowed Hera to interfere in the quest into Daedalus' Labyrinth to a degree.
The Last Olympian[]
Zeus led the war on Typhon, meanwhile the demigods fought Kronos who was controlled by Luke Castellan. Even after using the master bolt on him, Typhon kept fighting, but luckily after help from his brother Poseidon who abandoned his own home at Percy's behest, they defeated Typhon and banished the monster to Tartarus. Kronos was defeated by Luke, who managed to resist him and stabbed himself to defeat the titan. As a reward for his actions, Zeus offers to make Percy a god, but Percy refuses and instead binds the gods via an oath upon the River Styx to claim all of their children by the age of thirteen, pardon the friendly Titans such as Calypso and give the lesser gods and Hades thrones. In addition, Percy releases the Big Three from their pact to have no more demigod children.
The Heroes of Olympus[]
The Lost Hero[]
Following the events of The Last Olympian, Zeus closed off Olympus and forbade contact between the gods and their children just as Gaea and her giants start to rise. Months after the mysterious disappearance of Percy Jackson, the heroes discover a Roman demigod camp in California where Zeus is the god Jupiter. In addition, Jupiter's son Jason Grace, the full brother of Thalia Grace, joins Camp Half-Blood. During a battle with one of the giants, Jason called upon his father for help as only a god and a demigod working together could defeat a giant. In response, Jupiter sent down a thunderbolt to aid his son in killing the giant.
The Blood of Olympus[]
After the Athena Parthenos statue was returned to Camp Half-Blood, the division between the gods' Greek and Roman sides was healed and, led by Zeus, the gods charged into battle against the giants alongside the Seven. Working together with his son, Zeus slew the giant king and acknowledged the Seven as true Heroes of Olympus. However, he refused to get further involved any further in the final battle against Gaea as the Prophecy of Seven explicitly stated that only the Seven could defeat the Primordial Goddess. Zeus had the Fates take Apollo away for punishment before he quite literally slapped the Argo II back to Camp Half-Blood, destroying the ship but returning the Seven home in time to destroy Gaea for good.
The Trials of Apollo[]
The Hidden Oracle[]
Six months after the defeat of Gaea, Zeus sent Apollo to Earth as a mortal as a punishment for his actions during the war with Gaea, blaming his son for the rise of Gaea and the giants. In addition, Zeus forbade any of the other gods from helping Apollo in his trials. With the discovery of the rise of the Triumvirate, a trio of Roman Emperors turned into minor gods and the threat of the resurrected Python, Apollo realized that he had to free his Oracles and defeat the Triumvirate and Python in order to get his immortality back.
The Dark Prophecy[]
In a dream, Apollo witnessed his mother Leto begging Zeus to restore Apollo's godhood and that their son had learned his lesson. However, Zeus refused and told Leto that Apollo's true test was yet to come. Upon seeing them, Apollo laughed and waved to his parents, earning him a scowl from Zeus.
The Tyrant's Tomb[]
With Commodus and Caligula preparing to launch an attack against Camp Jupiter and dying of a zombie wound, Apollo considered using a ritual from the Sibylline Books to summon Zeus in his Roman form as Jupiter to help against the Triumvirate's forces. However, he decided to summon his sister Diana instead who revealed that despite his decree against the gods helping out Apollo, even Jupiter couldn't deny Diana from responding to such a summons.
The Tower of Nero[]
While unconscious following his defeat of Nero, Apollo witnessed Zeus and the other Olympian gods in a dream. Despite his son's successes, Zeus refused to restore Apollo to godhood until he defeated Python and reclaimed the Oracle of Delphi from the monster. Zeus was shown arguing with Hera who accused her husband of not caring that his son Jason Grace had been murdered by Caligula while Hera was still in mourning for him.
Two weeks after Python's defeat and his return to godhood, Apollo attended a council meeting where he confirmed Python's permanent destruction. Zeus welcomed his son back and refused Dionysus' request to be released from his own punishment. Zeus revealed that Python had become strong enough to affect even the Fates themselves and that only Apollo could've defeated him. Privately, Zeus called Apollo's pain and suffering along the way regrettable, but admitted that he was proud of Apollo's accomplishments. However, Apollo recognized it as Zeus being happy that Apollo had made Zeus look good with his actions, Recognizing that he couldn't change his father and that it was useless to try, Apollo decided to try to be different than Zeus, better, more human and to limit the time that he spent around his father. Apollo simply acknowledged that he understood, although they were both aware that what Apollo understood was perhaps not the same thing that Zeus understood, but Zeus accepted it, likely because he had no other choice. Zeus welcomed his son home before Apollo departed to see his friends.
Personality[]
Zeus has shown himself to be complex character, who often has shown multiple sides to his personality and traits. He is proud and commanding, but has a high amount of self-resect, to the point of being a narcissist. He demands respect from anyone he meets, showing this when Percy acknowledged Poseidon before him in The Lightning Thief. Poseidon even references this to his son Percy, telling him that Zeus would have done well as the Greek God of theater, due to his dramatic exists and showing off.
In addition, he is deeply hypocritical, as despite being the god of honor and justice, he doesn't always provide the best example of it, even when he demands high standards from others. Though he made the pact that the Big Three wouldn't have children during World War II, he had two demigod children from affairs. He also attempted to kill Hades' children, Bianca and Nico, despite them being born before the oath was made. This caused Hades to get revenge on Zeus, due to Bianca and Nico's mother, Maria, being killed. Another example is telling Percy that his birth is a crime, despite having two children from mortal women.
Zeus also has the tendency to hold grudges, being paranoid, obsessed, vengeful and wrathful to anyone who he thinks is plotting against him, insulted him, or when he doesn't get what he wants. This is what makes him somewhat similar to his father, as both were deeply obsessed with prophecies, and feared being overthrown. With those traits and being unforgiving, often clouds his better judgment, and make selfish decisions rather than base them on justice. He has a strong dislike for his brother Poseidon, believing that he tried to overthrow him, and instantly blames him for anything. An example is Zeus blaming Poseidon for stealing his master bolt, or when he blamed Apollo for hastening the second giant war.
Despite his flaws, Zeus has shown himself to be respectable, compassionate, sympathetic, and honorable side at times. He deeply loves his children, but cannot show as much love as the other gods doe, as he is the leader and must set an example. He has shown mercy upon his children at times, feeling great pity when seeing Thalia was on the brink of death due to Hades' monsters, and turned her into a pine tree. Later on, he voted to spare Thalia, and open said she had done well. Despite his love for all of his children, he has shown to pick and play favorites, notably his daughters Athena and Artemis. He also has turn on his children if he feels insulted or challenged, as he has threatened his children with lightning bolts.
He has shown sympathy to those who had suffered the same injustice that he and other gods have suffered, and was the first acknowledge Percy's statement about killing Ophiotarus, stating that Kronos had tried to do the same with him and his siblings. Realizing that he and the other gods were willing kill Ophiotarus due to fear of it posing the gods, he reconsidered his decision. In addition, Zeus has shown mercy to others, notably saving Thalia from death, and later voting to spare her. Zeus also has shown himself to be witty and charming, this is possibly due to him learning how to make jokes and entertain, but he rarely shows this.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Justice: As the God of Justice and Honor, Zeus has control over other deities by preventing their feuds to escalate, and ensure order over the world by giving and enforcing justice when needed.
- Atmokinesis: After becoming the God of the Sky, Zeus gained absolute control over the weather, being able to manipulate it at all times.
- Hyetokinesis: Zeus has absolute control and authority over rain, being able to choose when it will rain, or when it will stop.
- Celestial Hydrokinesis: Zeus has some power over water, as in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, he brought about a global flood that flooded the entire world.
- Aerokinesis: Zeus has absolute control over the air, and can divine authority of wind.
- Flight: Due to his control over air currents and wind generation, Zeus can hover and fly at great speeds.
- Wind Generation: Zeus can generate powerful hurricanes and tornados at will, and he once generated a massive thunderstorm around Mount Olympus to win favor to Hera.
- Inhalation: Zeus can inhale a great amount of air, once sucking Metis into his stomach through his mouth.
- Air Waves: Zeus has control over air waves, as he was able to detect Hephaestus' pirate radio in The Lost Hero.
- Air Ropes: Zeus has divine authority over all four Wind Gods, and in The Blood of Olympus, bounded and harnessed them to his war chariot with tightly wound ropes.
- Nephelokinesis: Zeus can create replica's out of others, once making a living replica of Hera out of a cloud.
- Electrokinesis: Zeus is also the Greek God of lightning and thunder, and has absolute control and divine authority over celestial electricity and static.
- Electrical Immunity: Zeus is immune to any amount electricity, and cannot be damaged or injured by it.
- Lightning Generation: Zeus can generate lightning from his hands or fingertips.
- Static Electric Shocks: He can generate and send great amounts of static shocks through others via touching them.
- Chlorokinesis: Zeus has limited control over plants and plant life, as grew several fields of lowers on Earth to help Hades kidnap Persephone.
- Madness: Zeus has shown some degree of power over madness, as he cured Dionysus of the madness bestowed upon him by Hera. It's unknown if Zeus can induce madness onto others, but it's possible since he was able to cure Dionysus.
- Shapeshifting: Zeus is a master shapeshifter, being able to transform himself into animals and creatures he wishes to be. He was able to deceive his father and the other Titans by transforming into a Titanic version of himself, and seduce women he had fallen in love with.
- Supernatural Sight: Zeus has tremendous keen vision, and he has managed to see Danaë, who was trapped in an underground bronze cell, and mentally zoom to see Phaethon driving Helios' sun chariot.
- Massive Strength: Zeus has immense massive strength and prowess, being able to lift and hurl entire mountains at his enemies, and crush and imprison Typhon. Zeus also was able to overpower Hephaestus, who was one of the physically strongest Olympian, and flung the Argo II all the way from Athens to Camp Half-Blood.
- Height Manipulation: Zeus an increase his height at anytime, being able to grow at least 100 feet in The Blood of Olympus.
- Teleportation: Zeus can teleport, being able to disappear in a flash of lightning.
- Transfiguration: Zeus has a talent with transfiguration, being able to transform ants into an army of warriors at the request of Aeacus. He also transformed Io into a cow, Lycaon into the first werewolf, and Thalia into a pine tree to protect her.
- Animal Control: Zeus can summon and control animals that are his attributes or are sacred to him, sending a eagle to punish Prometheus for giving fire to humanity.
Abilities[]
- Leadership: Zeus is as a capable leader, having led his siblings against the Titans and the Giants in the first and second wars that came. He also shows himself to strategic and cunning, using his entertainment skills to deceive the Titans, and rescue his siblings. Despite this, he has shown himself to have tactical skills to a degree, noticed by him not having a strong army to defeat the Titans in the Second Titan War (putting off the weight on Percy and Annabeth). Another example is him worsening the battle against the Giants, as he shut off all communications with the demigods.
- Battle Prowess: Zeus shows himself to be capable fighter and experienced warrior, becoming a better fighter during the First Titan War. He has defeated Kampê, his father Kronos, overpowered his son Hephaestus, and defeat Typhon. Despite his prowess, Zeus does recognize that there are others who are more strategic and knowledge than him, considering Athena to be a great strategist.
- Plant Knowledge: Zeus has extensive knowledge of plants and herbs, as he learned this from the nymphs who raised him. He was capable of brewing a powerful emetic to make Kronos regurgitate his siblings.
- Expert Entertainer: Zeus shows himself to be an excellent entertainer, being able to sing, dance and tell jokes to deceive Kronos and the other titans. This allowed him to win favor of all of the Titans, and later woo his sister, Hera.
Equipment[]
| “ | The Master Bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers. | „ |
| ~ Charon on the master bolt in The Lightning Thief. |
- Master Bolt: The master bolt was the first weapon created by the Elder Cyclopes, and is considered to tremendously and stupendously powerful. It's also possibly the most powerful weapon in existence, as the bolt is called the "nuclear arsenal of Mount Olympus." In The Lightning Thief, Charon tells Percy that it makes the hydrogen bomb look a firecracker in comparison.
- Electric Blast: Zeus can shoot electric blasts from the master bolt, though smaller in comparison to throwing the entire bolt, it's still extremely powerful.
- Lightning Bolts: The bolt can discharge hundreds of smaller lightning bolts, and Zeus used it to wipe Salmonea off the map.
- Cataclysmic Explosion: When Zeus hurls the entire bolt, it's force is unsurpassable and nigh unstoppable, causing cataclysmic destruction. Zeus has accomplished greats feats, such as vaporizing Kampê, destroying the top of Mount Othrys, and hurling his father off of his throne.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In Ancient Greek, Zeus' name means "Day".
- Despite initiating the pact of the Big Three, he has broken it twice.
- Zeus is the only son of Kronos who wasn't born on Mount Orthys, being born in a cave at the base of Mount Ida.
- Zeus's Egyptian counterpart is Ra in terms of authority, but his counterpart could be Amun in terms of attributes. His Norse counterpart is Odin in terms of authority, but in terms of attributes, he has more in common with Odin's son, Thor.
- He is similar to his father Kronos, as both attempted to stop and prevent prophecies and swallowed a child of theirs whole.
See Also[]
- Zeus on the Villains Wiki
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 Heroes
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