Percy Jackson Respect Thread

My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off the creature's head, using it like a springboard, turning in midair and landing on its neck.

pg. 54

In Percy's second monster encounter and before any sort of training displays, he displays superhuman agility and leaping ability as he jumps up more than seven feet in the air (he describes the Minotaur as "seven feet tall, easy" pg. 50) and then does a flip off of the Minotaur's head onto its neck.

I got both my hands around one horn and pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then-snap!

pg. 55

From the same fight shows he is capable of breaking thick bone with his bare hands.

Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same...Somehow, I kept [Luke] from getting a shot at my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force.

The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance was not right..I tried the disarming maneuver.

My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight in a downward thrust.

clang.

Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.

pgs. 109-111

dumping a cup of water on himself invigorates and enhances Percy's natural physical abilities enough to disarm "the best swordsman in the last 300 years" (pg. 108) on his first day of sword practice in a sparring match (and not just a drill). Oh, and none of the swords were balanced for Percy so he was using an unfamiliar blade on top of all of this.

He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans.

Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.

Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn't look too anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig... I smacked [Clarisse] between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.

pgs. 121-122

Again we see Percy get a massive speed and strength enhancement from water. Once in water Percy is able to hold off and KO at least 5 Ares kids including Clarisse. It should be noted kids of Ares are combat experts and Percy had only a week of light training before pulling this off as well as having been stabbed before being pushed into the creek.

The blood was gone. Where the huge gash had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

pg. 123

Water does not only amp him for a fight. It also gives him a Wolverine-esque healing factor while he is in it and heals very rapidly.

It leaped over her-an enormous shadow with teeth-and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backwards and felt its razor sharp claws cut through my armor... By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut...I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me. Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up.

pgs. 124-125

just another showing of his water induced healing factor

I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river... But the impact of the water didn't hurt.

pgs. 211-212

after an encounter with the Chimera Percy is forced to jump from the Gateway Arch in Mississippi with deadly poison in his veins and also being on fire. Despite falling hundreds of feet (the Arch is 630 ft tall at its peak though Percy only jumped from the observation deck) into the river the water completely protects him and again heals Percy from certain death

I closed my eyes and thought of waves, rushing water, the Mississippi River. I felt a familiar tug in my gut... Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me and fastened her seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top...But I could only concentrate on controlling the boat. I willed it to ride the current, to keep away from the wall. Maybe it was my imagination, but the boat seemed to respond.

pg. 238

here Percy displays the ability to manipulate a rather large amount of water sufficient to completely flood a massive wave pool in seconds as well as demonstrate an ability to manipulate currents and boats to a small degree. Both these powers get stronger as the books go on

The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at me.

There was no sound, but clear as day, I heard it say:

Free me, lord. please

pg.255

as you can see Percy can telepathically talk to horses and other equine animals who usually do his bidding. There are some exceptions though

this next section is too long to type up and omitting sections would make it not make sense. So in pgs. 260-265 Percy, Annabeth, and Grover entered the Lotus Casino which is a magical (and divine) place which entrances the people who enter it to have so much fun they never leave. No one had previously been able to shake off its influence (See the Odyssey and the Lotus Island which is the same thing), but Percy's strength of mind allowed him to break its enchantment himself and was able to break its hold on his friends. It took Hades himself to break the enchantment on his kids who where in there for 70 years.

I held my breath. It's difficult to intentionally inhale water. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. I gasped. Sure enough, I could breathe normally.

I walked down into the shoals. I shouldn't have been able to see through the murk, but somehow I could tell where everything was. I could sense the rolling texture of the bottom. I could make out the sand-dollar colonies dotting the sandbars. I could even see the currents, warm and cold streams swirling together.

I felt something rub my leg. I looked down and almost shot out of the water like a ballistic missile. Sliding alongside of me was a five-foot-long mako shark.

But the thing was not attacking. It was nuzzling me. Heeling like a dog..I grabbed the fin with both hands. It took off, pulling me along... The surface shimmered maybe a hundred and fifty feet above. I knew I should've been crushed by the pressure. pg. 270-271

So here we can see Percy can breathe underwater with no problems, is supernaturally aware of his surroundings when under, is fine with pressure that should crush any normal person, and sea life serves and loves Percy

As the boar rushed me, I uncapped my pen and sidestepped. Riptide appeared in my hands. I slashed upwards. The boar's severed tusk fell at my feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.

I shouted, "Wave!"

Immediately, a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. The boar squealed once in terror. The it was gone, swallowed by the sea.

pg. 325

Percy's shows some good reactions and water manipulation to effortlessly dispatch Ares' boar

ok, here comes a long one. I'll type out the highlights

[Ares] cleaved downward at my head, but I wasn't there.

My body thought for me. The water seemed to push me into the air and I catapoluted over him, slashing as I came down. But Ares was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt...His sword had a reach several feet longer than Riptide...He knocked my blade out of my hands and kicked me in the chest. I went airborne, twenty, maybe thirty feet. I would've broken my back if I hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a sand dune..I could see where Ares was tensing. I could tell which way he would strike. At the same time, I was aware of Annabeth and Grover, thirty feet to my left...I felt the rhythm of the sea, the waves growing larger as the tide rolled in, and suddenly I had an idea. Little waves, I thought. And the waves behind me seemed to recede. I was holding back the tide by force of will, but tension was building, like carbonation behind a cork... I released the tide and jumped, rocketing straight over Ares on a wave.

A six foot wall of water smashed him full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of seaweed. I landed behind him with a splash and feinted toward his head, as I done before. He turned in time to raise his sword, but this time he was disoriented, he didn't anticipate the trick. I changed direction, lunged to the side, and stabbed Riptide straight down in the water, sending the point through the god's heel.

pgs. 326-330

So this is where Percy manages to fight Ares, the god of war. While he is out skilled to an extent, he shows he is still a force to be reckoned with as he manages to survive a kick which launches him 20 ft into the air, breaks almost all of his ribs, sends Ares flying and creates a crater that's dozens of feet in diameter, holds back the tide for a while, uses water as a weapon, as well as showing skill to match Ares blow for blow for a significant amount of time and wound him despite having more than a few feet of a reach disadvantage from both the height difference and having a far shorter sword.

Another fireball came streaking toward me. Tyson pushed me out of the way, but the explosion still blew me head over heels. I found myself sprawled on the gym floor, dazed from smoke, my tie-dyed shirt peppered with sizzling holes.

pgs. 18-19

Percy survives an explosion at close range and is only dazed.

Swordplay had always been my strength. People said I was better at it than any camper in the last hundreds years, except maybe Luke

pg. 69

after only a few months of training last year Percy is already widely regarded as the best swordsman for the last hundreds of years. This is especially noteworthy when you consider demigods, especially those from Ares and the other powerful gods are supernaturally skilled with weapons. It should also be noted he is mentioned to be close to Luke's skill level who was the best swordsman in 300 years, a noted prodigy when it came to swordplay, and who had trained everyday since he was 14 (giving him 5 years of training on Percy before Luke left for Kronos)

"Get in!" I yelled. I uncapped Riptide and slashed the first volley of arrows out of the air

pg. 133

Percy's reflexes are fast enough draw his sword and cut arrows out of the air if the quote was not simple enough lol

"Because of your dad," Annabeth guessed. "When [Percy] are out at sea you have perfect bearings"

pg. 137

Percy is like a GPS when he's at sea/the ocean. He will always know where he is as long as he is on the ocean

I could feel the change from salt water to fresh water. Suddenly I was tired and frazzled, like I was coming down off a sugar high, I didn't know where I was anymore, or which way to steer the boat.

pg.137

This quote is useful for two reason: Percy innately can tell the difference between salt and fresh water and, more importantly, Percy seems to get an extra charge from sea water as opposed to fresh, though he gets a boost from both. Oh, and it implies Percy has an innate knowledge of sailing when on the sea though it does not work in fresh water

We were thrown backward on a wave that must have been forty feet high. I used all my willpower to keep the ship from capsizing, but we were still spinning out of control,

pg. 161

While Percy was unable to completely calm the sea due to Charybdis, he still was able to keep a huge wave from flipping a ship despite the size of the wave and ship

"Mizzenmast!" I yelled.

Annabeth looked at me like I was nuts, but in the next second, the air was filled with whistling sounds of ropes being snapped taut, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking.

Annabeth ducked as a cable flew over her head and wrapped it around the bowsprit. "Percy, how..."

I didn't have an answer, but I could feel the ship responding to me as if it were part of my body. I willed the sails to rise as easily as if I were flexing my arm. I willed the rudder to turn.

pg. 185

Percy has innate control over sailing vessels (though not so much on mechanical and steam powered ships) and can control them telekinetically. This combined with him having perfect bearings makes Percy the perfect sailor

Then I jumped over the side.

I sliced into the water and willed the currents to bend around me, making a jet stream that shot me forward

pg. 194

Percy shows the ability to control the water he is in in in order to be able to move through water superhumanly fast. He does not even need to swim to move through the water now.

I was desperate. I had to keep Annabeth alive. I imagined all the bubbles in the sea-always churning, rising. I imagined them all coming together, being pulled toward me.

The sea obeyed. There was a flurry of white, a tickling sensation all around me, and when my vision cleared, Annabeth and I had a huge bubble of air around us. Only our legs were stuck in the water.

pg. 197

While Percy can breathe underwater fine his friends can't. Luckily Percy's control over water is enough so that he can create a bubble of air around himself and his friends so that they are able to breathe fine under the waves

Strength coursed through my body. I raised my sword and attacked, forgetting that I was hopelessly outmatched. I jabbed the Cyclops in the belly. When he doubled over I smacked him in the nose with the hilt of my sword. I slashed and bashed until the next thing I know, Polyphemus was sprawled on his back, dazed and groaning

pgs. 218-219

Polyphemus is a massive cyclops who "must've been at least 15 feet tall" (pg.116) and very powerful as he previously was able to fight Clarisse and Percy 2 on 1 with little problems. However Percy again shows he is more dangerous when mad and shows enough skill to repeatedly wound him and strength enough to knock the 15 ft cyclops over without even being hit once.

Polyphemus swung the tree again, but this time I was ready. I grabbed a branch as it passed, ignoring the pain in my hands as I was jerked skyward, and let the Cyclops lift me into the air. At the top of the arc I let go and fell straight against the giant's face-landing with both feet on his already damaged eye.

pg. 228

Percy shows his incredible reactions as he is able to easily, if painfully, grab a branch able to hold him as the tree is being swung by an enormous and superhumanly strong Cyclops and use it to propel him into the air and time it (and maneuver enough) so that he can target the Cyclops' weak point.

"Argh!" Thalia pushed me, and a shock went through my body that blew me backward ten feet into the water. Some of the campers gasped. A couple of the Hunters stifled laughs.

"Sorry!" Thalia said, turning pale. "I didn't mean to-"

Anger roared in my ears. A wave erupted from the creek, blasting into Thalia's face and dousing her head to toe..I raised Riptide, but before I could even defend myself, Thalia yelled and a blast of lightning came down from the sky, hit her spear like a lightning rod, and slammed into my chest... I got to my feet and willed the entire creek to rise. Hundreds of gallons of water in an icy funnel cloud

pgs. 88-89

this has some pretty good durability feats for Percy. He was able to tank a shock blowing him back more than ten feet and then a full on lightning bolt with no problems and easily got back to his feet with no pain mentioned (though his clothes were severely burned) and then goes on to manipulate an extremely large amount of water, a full creek (and a big one at that) which holds at the very least hundreds of gallons. Needless to say his next attack would have been sweet, too bad the Oracle broke up the fight

Blackjack gave me a ride down the beach, and I have to admit it was cool. Being on a flying horse, skimming over the waves at a hundred miles an hour with the wind in my hair and the sea spray in my hair

pg. 111

one thing I had not mentioned before, Percy's gifts with horses extends to pegasus as well and as such Percy is a very skilled rider. As mentioned he is capable of riding Blackjack going 100mph casually which also gives good reflex showing as you need to be able to react at that speed but Percy was doing it with ease

I should've been blind, too, this deep in the water at night, but I could see the heat from living forms, and the cold of the currents.

pgs. 111-112

expanding on the being super aware of his surroundings while underwater shown during the Lightning Thief, Percy is able to see in the infrared spectrum underwater

I shot to the surface and broke through. Immediately Blackjack zoomed down and let me catch his neck.

pg. 115

again Percy shows his agility by being able to mount a Pegasus in midair with no problems. It also needs saying he was able to shoot from the water high enough to get a horse underneath him too which means he was going very fast to break the surface with enough energy to pull that off

And I charged.

Dozens of skeletons fired. Time slowed down. I could see the salvo of bullets, I could feel their path, the same way I felt currents in the ocean. I deflected hundreds of bullets using the edge of my blade and kept charging.

pg. 168

now this is a crazy good reaction feat. While Percy was doing some super sensory thing, there is no denying Percy was able to react to hundreds of bullets after they had been fired. This is not aim blocking or aim dodging, this feat makes Percy a bullet timer in terms of speed at least. He was able to block dozens of bullets after it they were fired which is not an easy task. And I will point out that the firearms in question where a type of assault rifle (pg. 167). I will say Percy does get hit by a bullet in this fight, but only when the skeletons shoot him from behind. Percy also shows his speed as he goes on to continue on to a second skeleton and knock its gun away before it fires (pg. 169) and then proceeds to weave in and out of dozens of bullets.

The foot came down about two inches behind me and I was knocked into the air. I hit something hard and sat up, dazed. I'd been thrown into an Olympus-Air refridgerator

pgs. 196-197

once again Percy shows his aptitude towards being flung through the air and hitting things hard. Again, this is a durability feat as the defective statue of Talos (roughly "20-story-tall" pg. 195) kicked Percy hard and flung him into a metal fridge with no damage done to Percy beyond being dazed

I swung my sword, and Atlas knocked me aside with the shaft of his javelin. I flew through the air and slammed into a brick wall..I tried to dodge, but the javelin hit me caught me in the chest and sent me flying like a rag doll. I slammed into the ground, my head spinning.

pg. 267

with the amount of time Percy spends flying through the air I'm surprised Zeus hasn't tried to adopt him. But anyways, during his ill-fated attempt to fight Atlas (in which he was seriously outclassed so most of it is not worth typing out) Percy gets two decent durability feats one after another. He takes two very hard hits from a superhumanly powerful Titan which as we see throws Percy flying around the battlefield. Even after these hits Percy is not too heavily damaged showing some crazy blunt force durability. Additionally, it should be noted Atlas angrily kills Zoe Nightshade in one hit later on (pg. 270) so it is clearly above human

I didn't wait for [Artemis'] answer. I took out Riptide and slashed through her chains. Then I stepped next to her and braced myself on one knee-holding up my hands-and touched the cold, heavy clouds. For a moment, Artemis and I bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing I'd ever felt, as if I were being crushed under a thousand trucks. I wanted to black out from the pain, but I breathed deeply. I can do this.

Then Artemis slipped out from under the burden, and I held it alone.

Afterward, I tried many times to explain what it felt like. I couldn't.

Every muscle in my body turned to fire. My bones felt like they were melting. I wanted to scream, but I didn't have the strength to open my mouth. I began to sink, lower and lower to the ground, the sky's weight crushing me.

pgs. 268-269

Another very impressive feat, if one hard to qualify. Undeniably this is a show of superhuman strength, but to what degree is up for debate. I will note that the sky's weight is incredibly heavy, the weight was too much for even a goddess, "I had never seen a goddess in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis" (pg. 259) and "The weight should've killed [Annabeth]" (pg. 263) who held it like Percy though even longer. So clearly there is an enormous weight to be supported that is beyond even a major goddess' ability to support but to an unknown degree. However, this feat is more than physical. It shows Percy's willpower. He was able to take up the burden willingly despite knowing how hard it would be and was able to make it through incredible pain as he clearly describes. Though there can be no doubt this is one seriously impressive feat in mental fortitude and strength. Percy is able to hold the sky for several minutes before Atlas takes up the burden once again

Your fatal flaw is personal loyalty, Percy. You do not know when it is time to cut your losses. To save a friend, you would sacrifice the world

pg. 298

while this is obviously not a strength it is important to note a character's weaknesses as well. In Riordan's universe every demigod has a fatal flaw ad Percy suffers from excess loyalty. If he is put in a position where he has to chose his friend or sacrifice anything, even his life, he would sacrifice it so these situations would be deadly for Percy. However, like some flaws, it can be good as it drives Percy to do extraordinary things, like jump into Tartarus to save his girlfriend. Oh, and note this is Athena talking to Percy so she knows what she is talking about if there were any doubts.

In desperation I uncapped Riptide and slashed at the fountain, cleaving it in two. Salt water spilled everywhere, and the great stone font crashed to the floor in pieces.

pg. 89

Percy easily cleaves through solid stone with Riptide

I looked at the little calcified seashells in my palm, then at the huge mountain of dung.

Frustrated, I threw the shell into the poop...I looked down where I thrown the shell. A tiny spout of water was shooting into the muck...Hesitantly, I stepped toward the fence. "Get bigger," I told the waterspout.

SPOOOOOOOSH!

Water shoot three feet into the air and kept bubbling..It was seawater in the middle of a Texas Ranch. I scooped up another handful of dirt and picked out the shell fossils. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I ran around the length of the stable, throwing shells into the dung pills. Everywhere a shell hit, a saltwater spring erupted..."More!" I yelled.

There was a tugging sensation in my gut, and the waterspouts exploded like the world's largest carwash. Salt water shot twenty feet into the air. The horses went crazy, running back and forth as geysers sprayed them from all directions. Mountains of poop began to melt like ice.."Stop" I told the water.

Nothing happened. The pain in my gut was building. If I didn't shut off the geysers soon, the salt water would run into the river and poison the fish and plants.

"Stop!" I concentrated all my might on shutting off the force of the sea,

Suddenly the geysers shut down. I collapsed to my knees, exhausted.

pgs. 153-155

Percy has now gone beyond simply manipulating existing water, he can now summon saltwater using things that used to belong to the sea as a medium. While it is draining, Percy clearly summoned a very large amount of water to flood the stables which can fit enormous mountains of poop (which vanished when hit with water) and could it twenty foot high water spouts. We also see Percy is able to stop this, though it is harder to stop the generation of water as it is to start it

[Geryon] picked up two carving knives and threw them at me. I deflected one with my sword.

pg. 157

Percy easily is able to deflect a thrown knife despite being at a very close range

He scooped lava out of the nearest furnace. It set his fingers ablaze, but this didn't seem to bother him at all. The other elder Telekhines did the same. The first one threw a glop of molten rock at me and set my pants on fire. Two more splattered across my chest. I dropped my sword in sheer terror and swatted at my clothes. Fire was engulfing me. Strangely, it felt only warm at first, but it was getting hotter by the instant.

"Your father's nature protects you," one said. "Makes you hard to burn. But not impossible, youngling. Not impossible"

The threw more lava at me, and I remember screaming. My whole body was on fire. The pain was worse than anything I'd ever felt. I was being consumed. I crumpled to the metal floor and heard the demons howling in delight... I needed the sea. I felt a tugging sensation in my gut, but I had nothing around to help me. Not a faucet or a river. Not even a petrified seashell this time. And besides, the last time I'd unleashed my power at the stables it had almost gotten away from me.

I had no choice. I called to the sea. I reached inside myself and remembered the waves and the currents, the endless power of the ocean. And I let it all loose in one horrible scream.

Afterward, I could never describe what happened. An explosion, a tidal wave, a whirlwind of power simultaneously catching me up and blasting me downward into the lava. Fire and water collided, superheated steam, and I shot upward from the heart of the volcano in a huge explosion, just one piece of flotsam thrown free by a million pounds of pressure. The last thing I before losing consciousness was flying, flying so high Zeus would never have forgiven me, and then beginning to fall, smoke and fire and water streaming from me. I was a comet hurtling toward the earth.

pgs. 205-206

So we get our first glimpse of Percy's amount of power. To get the little stuff out of the way first, we see because of his heritage Percy is extremely resistant to heat. He may not like it, but he was surviving extended contact with large amounts of lava and being set on fire. Despite this Percy is able to then summon enough water to cause a whole volcano ( Mount St. Helens to be precise) to not just erupt, but explode. And it needs saying that Percy survives this explosion from its literal ground zero and flung hundreds of feet into the air. He lands on Calypso's island in a lake again showing immunity to fall damage as long as he lands in water. Calypso takes him from the water to heal him as he is hurt from such a large explosion. To give a sense of how large this was, "half a million people", "ash as far as Lake Tahoe and Vancouver", "and the entire Mount St. Helens area is closed to traffic within a hundred-mile radius"(pg. 219). Not too bad for one demigod being pelted with lava

I charged straight ahead, crouching low so he would think I was going to roll between his legs again. While he was stooping, ready to catch me like a grounder, I jumped for all I was worth, kicking off his forearm, scrambling up his shoulder like a ladder, placing my shoe on the top of his head...He straightened up indignantly and yelled, "HEY!" I pushed off, using his force to catapult me to the ceiling. I caught the top of the chain, and the skulls and hooks jangled beneath me...I snagged Antaeus' loincloth.

"WAAA!" he yelled. Quickly I slipped the free chain through a fastening link on my own chain, pulled it taut, and secured it the best I could...And I stabbed the giant in the stomach.

pgs. 265-267

so here we see again Percy's incredible agility and balance in work as he easily dances around Antaeus and uses his body as a spring board. We also see some degree of superhuman strength as Percy easily hoists Antaeus into the air with a chain without trouble and we should note he is a giant though of a size undetermined.

[Kronos] looked at me with amusement. Then he flicked his hand, and I flew across the room. I slammed against the pillar. I struggled to my feet, blinking the stars out of my eyes, but Kronos had already grasped the handle of his scythe.

pgs. 303-304

Once again we see Percy take a superhuman blow which knocks him hard against an unforgiving surface and only being stunned

I ran toward them, jumping past duels, weaving between the legs of the giants. The nearest water was the creek, half a mile away...but I had to do something. I concentrated. There was a pull in my gut, a roar in my ears. Then a wall of water came rushing through the trees. It doused the fire, Juniper, Grover, and pretty much everything else.

pg. 328

again we see Percy is both a fast runner and pretty agile as he easily dodges around fighting with no problems. It also appears that he can summon water without too much problems here, though it could be argued he was drawing from the creek. Even if that is the case, he still pulls it from half a mile away in seconds showing his manipulation is also getting more powerful