Line #5 YMMV/TheHeroesOfOlympus


1	* AbandonShipping: Quite a bit after the last two books. [[spoiler:Nico coming out as gay and his ShipTease with Will caused most fans to abandon the popular Nico/Rachel and Nico/Thalia pairings. (Ironically them being eternal maidens ''didn't'' deter shippers.) Leo and Calypso becoming an OfficialCouple also killed off a lot of Leo/Reyna, Leo/Piper and Leo/Thalia fans, though there are still some out there.]]
2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
3	** Hera/Juno. Her characterization in this series as TheChessmaster differs quite a bit from in [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians the previous one]]. Though this is actually literal, considering that the gods change to suit their culture. Juno is LITERALLY Rome's AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of Hera.
4	** Zeus/Jupiter. For the first four books of the series he's portrayed as having his head up his ass regarding the Gigantomachy. In ''The Blood of Olympus'' he makes a reasonable claim that he was trying to avoid locking the demigods into undesirable fates by holding off the Prophecy of the Seven. Of course, this doesn't stop him from misappropriating blame when it comes down to it.
5	** It's arguable how much of Nico's observations about his social standing are accurate, and how much were him projecting. While we do have evidence of him unnerving people, we also have many periods where no visible distrust to him overall was present. He may have also been unnerved by dealing with Camp Jupiter, which has a more open, and visible, distrust of children of Pluto/Hades and that may have colored his perception.
6	** Due to Percy developing a lot of self-loathing views on himself while in Tartarus and how good of a friend or oath keeping he was, some theorize that being in Tartarus caused him to be overly critical and harsh towards himself. Tartarus ''is'' a place of torture after all, and Percy values loyalty and being a good friend more than anything. This would also explain the change in personality observed by [[spoiler: Orion]] in ''The Blood of Olympus'' and [[spoiler: Helios]] in ''The Burning Maze'' in the sequel series.
7	** Just how much the Gods differ between their Greek and Roman forms in personality and memories is up to the reader, and in turn affects just how much JerkassGods they are to the reader, particularly in regards to Dionysus/Bacchus (the latter of whom acts far worse and more jerkass than his Greek self ever did) and Ares/Mars (in the opposite direction).
8	** Achelous: Is he a DoggedNiceGuy that Deianira reject in favour for Jerkass Hercules, as he portrays to Jason and Piper? Or is he an AbhorrentAdmirer still pining over a woman who appeared to have absolutely no interest in him in the first place, thousands of years after the fact? Adding to the second interpretation, Deianira and Hercules' eldest son, Hyllus, would be marriable age by the time Hercules died, meaning that the two had a relationship lasting at least 15 years.
9	** The final book's scene where the gods react to the question of why they need heroes. Is that how they really feel and Dionysus was just lying in the Last Olympian, or is that how they are 'supposed' to feel publicly and privately they have their own thoughts on the matter? Was it just the phrasing of the question, or would they react the same way even in a better-phrased context?
10	* AntiClimaxBoss:
11	** All of the giants, every single time. Despite the claims of being a greater threat than the Titans they lack the divine forms or magical powers of the Titans or Gods save for a few special abilities. Each one tends to be defeated by one or two demigods with only a god needed to finish them off. In the last book, [[spoiler: despite being together and at full power, the seven demigods would have stood as strong of a chance of winning if not for the giants’ brand of immortality and the whole fight turns into a CurbStompBattle once the gods show up.]]
12	** Throughout the books, Gaea is hyped as an even deadlier BigBad than her predecessor Kronos and an [[CompleteImmortality immortal threat]] even the combined gods cannot handle. [[spoiler:Come her much anticipated awakening in ''The Blood of Olympus'', it takes a few demigods, some [[CharmPerson charmspeak]], and a minor explosion later and Gaea is defeated, in only ''a few pages'' no less. This is especially jarring when compared to the long final battle with Kronos in ''The Last Olympian'', even though she was shilled as more dangerous than him.]]
13	* AssPull: Piper being able to [[spoiler:melt actual ice and bring Festus back to life with her Charmspeak, even though Festus is an automaton and Charmspeak should only be able to affect people. Even Leo InUniverse states that he doesn't understand this]].
14	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Some of the cover art looks really, really nice. Particularly ''The Mark of Athena'' and ''The House of Hades''.
15	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
16	** Piper, to a certain extent. Some love how she [[TookALevelInBadass took several levels in badass]], proved that HeartIsAnAwesomePower, and showed her worth as both an ActionHero and GuileHero despite her lack of combat-useful powers. Others feel that the levels of badass she took over the series' period of time (one year) was unrealistic since she was still a barely trained demigod and other characters, namely the stronger and/or more experienced ones, had to be worfed for her to shine, that she's still obsessed with looks (she finds Percy to be scrawny and unimpressive and falls for Jason, probably the most physically attractive of the Seven), and her describing Percy as unimpressive also didn't do much to endear her to Percy's fanbase, even though [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome just because the reader knows someone is impressive doesn't mean everyone else will realize that]].
17	** Leo Valdez is seen as funny and awesome by a part of the fan base while others may seem his as loud and annoying. In addition, his treatment and teasing of Frank and Nico are either seen as comical and harmless or downright bullying. His treatment towards the latter at least is called out by Jason, after learning about Nico's [[spoiler:crush on Percy]].
18	* BrokenBase:
19	** Rather predictably, the reception of the final book, ''The Blood of Olympus'', has been divisive in the fandom. There are just as many people who enjoy it and see it as a good finale to the series with some points to be wrapped up in later stories as people who hate how it was handled and/or have their expectations let down by it.
20	** The general lack of focus on Percy and Annabeth in ''The Blood of Olympus'' has caused this reaction. Some think it's Riordan pissing on his two best and most popular characters; others think that the spotlight was better cast on the new characters, Nico and Reyna in particular, especially considering Percy and Annabeth [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians had their own series already]].
21	*** There are also a lot of fans who enjoyed Nico and Reyna's perspectives, but disliked the rest of the focus going to Jason, Piper and Leo at the expense of the rest of the Seven, as Jason and Piper have consistently come under the most criticism and that '' The Lost Hero'' which focused exclusively on the three of them is already considered the weakest of the series. It also doesn't help that the three of them got more of their fair share of point of view time: Piper and Leo had point of view chapters in four out of five books, and Jason in three (and still got major focus in a fourth) while Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank only narrated ''two'' books.
22	** The way that Nico's [[spoiler:feelings for Percy]] was handled in the final book also had mixed reception. While fans appreciated that his subplot got resolution and [[spoiler:he did get a happy ending, as well as ShipTease with another character]], roughly just as many fans thought he and Percy needed more interaction and the way Nico [[spoiler:chose to move on from Percy]] was a particularly poorly done form of ShipSinking akin to how Percy/Rachel was handled in the [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians previous series]]. Then there are those that view Nico's sudden reveal as pandering and coming out of nowhere.
23	** While the character Bob from ''The House of Hades'' is well-liked, his presence in the book is hotly contested. This is because Bob appeared in a side story in ''The Demigod Files'', meaning fans who haven't bought the book and read the story were lost on who he was and his relationship with Percy, and some fans feel that his inclusion was a cheap way to make the reader buy another book while others would have preferred that Percy and Annabeth go through Tartarus alone. (The paperback edition partially remedies the former issue by including the relevant short story as a bonus feature.)
24	** The seven as a friend group is often debated among fans. While fans usually portray them as a big friend group, some fans are quick to point out that they are defined more by romantic relationships and are not that close to each other outside of their respective groups.
25	** The phrase "Greeks Um- let's fight stuff" quote will always be something that pisses the part of the fandom who think that the Greeks and Percy were {{Flanderize}}d to make the Romans look good while others find it funny and like how it shows the difference between the two camps.
26	** Annabeth judo-flipping Percy upon reuniting with him in ''Mark of Athena''. Some fans see it has harmless affection and a reasonable reaction from Annabeth while others consider it borderline (if not outright) [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale abusive]] and heavy overreacting as Percy had no control over the situation even if it caused Annabeth a lot of grief.
27	** The romance in this series is often viewed as either one of the best or worst aspects of it.
28	*** Even among fans who have no shipping bias, Leo and Calypso's relationship in particular is heavily divisive. Some love it for [[ThrowTheDogABone throwing a bone to]] [[TheWoobie Leo and Calypso]] and find it adorable, while others consider it a [[StrangledByTheRedString forced]] and desperate attempt at PairingTheSpares and argue there are UnfortunateImplications in the characters needing a love interest to fix their respective problems.
29	** Calypso's [[SameCharacterButDifferent characterization]] in this series, as some find it logical she would [[TookALevelInJerkass crack]] given her unfortunate circumstances, while others saw it as an unnecessary retooling and assassination of her character that was only done to add BelligerentSexualTension to her and Leo's relationship.
30	** Whether the age gap between Frank and Hazel (16 and 13) makes their relationship problematic or not is bound to cause many heated discussions.
31	** Hazel and Piper's light eye colors and the feather in the latter's hair. Some see them as inoffensive and argue the eye colors are justified since they are probably biracial with their godly parents being Roman/Greek while other see the eye colors as having racist implications about beauty standards for brown girls and the feather as stereotypical.
32	** While Rick added a bunch of diverse characters of different backgrounds in this story there are those who believe his representation falls short and relies on stereotypes while others are glad for the representation
33	** Percy and Jason's relationship among fans is a source of contention. While some like to portray them as best buds and bros others view their relationship as more akin to coworkers and not that close. While some use the evidence of people saying they have a bromance as fact of their friendship others see it as them just being polite to each other.
34	** The handling of Frank Zhang's body has also been quite divise. While some people enjoyed having a plus-size character depicted in a positive light (he is described as cute, cuddly, kind, has a girlfriend), other pointed out that the constant infantilization of Frank (him being called "baby-like" or "baby-man" for having a chubby face)or some poor choices of metaphors (a "baby sumo") made his descriptions quite awkward and clumsy, if not offensive. The division became even more intense when Frank received the blessing of Mars, resulting in him losing all of his extra-weight and becoming a tall, muscular hunk. For some it was a a logical and welcome development to make him more of a heroic warrior and which fit with the mindset of a Roman god ; but for many others it was seen as a wasted opportunity to have a plus-size hero and an almost fatphobic move feeding the idea that a fat boy cannot be a great warrior. Possibly due to this backlash, Riordan decided to later have Frank return to his larger, chubbier girth in ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo''
35	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The karpoi scene in ''The Son of Neptune'', which seems to exist purely so Riordan could make as many "[[InherentlyFunnyWords schist]]" jokes as the publisher would allow him to get away with.
36	* CatharsisFactor: After being the worst kind of an AlphaBitch, treating her siblings in the Aphrodite cabin like utter trash and even [[spoiler:[[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead badmouthing Silena]] by saying that she was a weakling for abolishing the rules that Aphrodite herself admitted are stupid]], it's immensly satisfying to see Drew [[spoiler:humiliated by Piper into leaving her position as senior counsellor, a position that she never deserved in the first place and only received because she was the oldest Aphrodite camper]].
37	* CargoShip: Jason and a brick, due to his tendency to be knocked out.
38	* ContestedSequel: Many fans of Percy Jackson are polarized about this series some love it while some only like certain moments. The last book definitely caused quite an amount of controversy as explained above. Many fans feel that Riordan took on more than he could handle by adding so many new characters and plot lines and as a result wasn't able to fully develop all of them.
39	* DieForOurShip:
40	** Piper and Reyna for some of the Jason/Reyna and Jason/Piper fans respectively.
41	** Thalia in Thalia/Reyna. Hoo boy, buckle up, this is a weird one. Thalia/Reyna (Theyna) is a popular ship based around Thalia and Reyna both being characters that end up not in a relationship, and both fitting pretty well into the LesbianJock image (though Thalia has a bit of a punk streak as well). Thing is, Thalia is a hunter of Artemis, who are immortal on the condition that they can't enter a relationship (including one-night stands and homosexual relationships, no loopholes). If they do, they age like normal. So fanfics about Theyna has to either [[AlternateUniverse ignore that little detail]], or have Thalia leave the hunters. Literally dying for our ship on a long-term basis.
42	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
43	** Leo in ''The Lost Hero'' was shilled as 'the sidekick' and not as important as Piper and Jason. Reviewers described him as the only reason they kept reading.
44	** [[IceQueen Khione]]. Her AffablyEvil way of speaking and being quite attractive, depite being utterly heartless made her [[FoeYayShipping a popular target to ship with Jason or Leo]].
45	** Nico, too, is just as popular as he was in the previous series. He isn't even the tenth most important hero to the series' plot, and only makes brief appearances before book 4, but his combination of youthful inexperience and deathly seriousness continues to make him endearing.
46	** Bob/Iapetus re-appears in book 4, but only really appears to serve as a DeusExMachina when some characters need some allies in {{Hell}}. Despite that, his child-like kindness make him a welcome respite from the overwhelming gloom of Tartarus and fans admire him all the more because of an act of heroism he pulls off in the book's climax; [[spoiler:he risks oblivion by fighting the personification of Tartarus himself so the heroes could live another day.]]
47	** Many felt the Giants were having a tough time filling the shoes of the Titans... Then we met the one good giant, Damasen. He kicks ass.
48	* EvenBetterSequel: The series falls into this pattern: ''The Mark of Athena'' is this compared to ''[[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel The Son of Neptune]]'' with the seven finally uniting and Percabeth back together. The general consensus has ''The House of Hades'' pegged as an improvement on Mark of Athena, due in no small part to excellent character development, a truly ''insane'' ChekhovsArmory pulling from pretty much every corner of the story so far (think Bob and Calypso), and the journey through Tartarus everyone had been waiting for.
49	* FanNickname: Camp Purple/Camp Bizarro/Camp More-Badass-Than-Thou for the Roman demigod camp, Camp Jupiter.
50	* FranchiseOriginalSin: A common criticism of this series is how [[EveryoneMustBePaired almost every main character is romantically paired up]] by the end, which felt excessive and unnecessary to some readers. This was actually also present in the original series with Grover having a SatelliteLoveInterest in Juniper, as well as several side pairings such as Clarisse/Chris and Beckendorf/Selena. However, it was far less noticeable there since the main cast was much smaller, Percy was the only POV character, and romance was not really a factor in the first couple books, with the main romance between Percy and Annabeth taking several entries to develop. Here, with such a big cast, many of whom are given POV chapters (in fact, Reyna is the only one of the nine POV characters to end the series without a love interest), and romance being a major plot point from the first book onwards with most of the couples getting together in the same installment they met each other, it can be way too painfully noticeable for some readers who may find the series rife with RomanticPlotTumor and StrangledByTheRedString relationships.
51	* GeniusBonus:
52	** Midas' line about an oracle in Omaha was a sly reference to Warren Buffett.
53	** Frank is given a spear tipped with a dragon's tooth. In certain myths, whenever a dragon's tooth was planted, it grew a warrior, so anyone familiar with the myths would have caught the purpose of the spear instantly.
54	*** Dragons' teeth actually appear in [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Titan's Curse]]. The zombie warriors that grow from them chase Percy in the Hoover Dam. So it's more of a ContinuityNod.
55	** When mentally listing off punishments from Camp Jupiter, the last item Hazel lists is tying someone into a sack of weasels and tossing them into the Tiber. This one seems to have her especially distressed. In RealLife, the Romans used this punishment specifically for [[spoiler: matricide]].
56	** The idea of Roman prisoners settling in China is in fact a real thing, and not something Rick Riordan made up (though this is only in folklore, not in anything scientifically provable).
57	** There are stories where [[spoiler: Orion]] is born from the Earth, they are just not the most common stories about him.
58	* GrowingTheBeard: It's widely agreed that the series really hit its stride in ''The Son of Neptune'' and continued on from there, but special mention has to be made for ''The House of Hades'', where CharacterDevelopment comes out in force and [[spoiler:the first LGBT character in the Camp Half-Blood verse, Nico,]] is revealed, a step of maturity ''no one'' expected to be ever stated outside of WordOfGod.
59	* HarsherInHindsight:
60	** In the last book, an exasperated Annabeth tells Piper that her IndyPloy to help them get into an enemy's territory was the dumbest risk she'd ever seen anyone take, and she dates a dumb risk-taker. [[spoiler: Come the next chapter he features in and Percy admits that he's been letting his reckless tendencies get the best of him because his guilt over [[ColdBloodedTorture what he did to Akhlys]] had been hounding him so much he felt he deserved the punishment he took in battle. Even if it meant his life.]] Yeah.
61	** Pretty much all of [[spoiler:Nico]] and Percy's interactions after [[spoiler:TheReveal that Nico had a crush on him. It sheds a whole new light on Nico's anger.]]
62	** Due to names[[note]]The warriors are depicted based on Greek mythology (obviously), so any parallels to Amazon the website is purely a coincidence[[/note]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com_controversies#Treatment_of_workers controversies regarding Amazon.com's treatment of warehouse workers]] makes the scene with the Amazons seem to be in ''spectacularly'' bad taste now.
63	** During the battles in the series, [[spoiler: Jason]] has several close calls, with many involving enemy spears. [[spoiler: In the third book of the [[Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo following series]], an enemy spear does its job and kills him.]]
64	** In the final book, Jason has an ImagineSpot [[spoiler:where he's recounting the Seven's grand adventures to his and Piper's grandchildren. As of ''The Burning Maze'' in Apollo's series, not is it revealed he broke up with Piper in the time in between the two series, he dies by Caligula's spear.]]
65	* HilariousInHindsight:
66	** A powerful AmnesiacHero being best friends with a smaller, wisecracking MotorMouth? [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye Nope, not ringing a bell]]. [[spoiler:Though considering the fates of the former in each, the parallel wraps back around to HarsherIn Hindsight.]]
67	** In ''The House of Hades'', Frank jokes that if they find Octavian they should [[spoiler:load him into a catapult and launch it.]] Guess what happens to Octavian in ''The Blood of Olympus''.
68	** This blog [[https://fandomsandfeminism.tumblr.com/post/53445072860/an-open-letter-to-rick-riordan-why-there-should]] was released three months before House of Hades was out, and asks Uncle Rick to add more LGBT characters in his books, siting how diverse his books are racially and how little LGBT characters are in children's literature in general. [[spoiler: And one of the author's suggestions were "maybe Nico has a crush on Percy." Maybe he listened?]]
69	** In the GrandFinale, [[spoiler: a teenaged hero manages to successfully capture and restrain the main villain with the assistance of a powerful creature, but is unable to land and instead speeds off into the distance to an unknown fate as his friends watch.]] Are we talking about Leo Valdez or [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Ezra Bridger]]?
70	** When Leo sets the robotic statue of Hygia to "idiot mode", she greets the heroes by cheerfully saying "[[WebVideo/GameGrumps Hello!]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzR8hvW8qFM You must die!]]"
71	** In ''The Mark of Athena'', Annabeth wishes that she had dark hair. In an ironic twist, her wish comes true in the Disney Plus adaptation of ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians'' in which she is played by the dark-haired Leah Sava Jefferies.
72	* HoYay:
73	** The scene in ''The Blood of Olympus'' where Piper cups Annabeth's face and [[HeadbuttOfLove leans their foreheads together]] to calm her down.
74	** It's pretty much confirmed that [[spoiler: Nico has a crush on Will. It's never explicitly stated, but the implications are not subtle]].
75	** How affectionate Reyna is to Annabeth, while also only saying that she could have had feelings for fellow co-praetors because it was expected and not because of personal feelings that she had. Also the use of the word straddle in reference to Thalia.
76	* IKnewIt:
77	** Acclaimed fanartist [[http://viria.tumblr.com Viria]] drew [[http://viria.tumblr.com/post/53759133580/in-which-leo-blows-up-the-argo-ii-and-somehow-ends this]] picture four months before ''House of Hades'' [[spoiler:with Calypso's reappearance and romance with Leo]] was released.
78	** Before ''Son of Neptune'', many viewers speculated who the other four of the Seven were. Annabeth was correctly guessed -- but ''Reyna'' was another common guess as well. In a bizarre way, Reyna turned out to be one of the most important characters in the series ''and'' gets to be a viewpoint character in the final book.
79	* ItWasHisSled: Nico is gay. Even though it was part of a big reveal, that is probably the ''one'' thing new readers know about him.
80	* JerkassWoobie: Nico. He's of the JerkWithAHeartOfGold variety and has gone through one heck of a TraumaCongaLine of a life, but it must be said he still is extremely icy and pushes people away rather emphatically, often treating the people who try to understand him with hostility.
81	* LauncherOfAThousandShips: For being 'the seventh wheel', Leo sure gets around a lot in the fandom. Leo/Piper, Leo/Reyna, Leo/Thalia, Leo/Hazel... And those are only the well known examples.
82	* LGBTFanbase: Following [[spoiler:Nico's outing.]]
83	* MemeticMutation: Jason's tendency to pass out at least once a book has become memetic among the fandom. This has even been referenced in later books by Rick Riordan.
84	** Specifically, Chapter 48 of Sword of Summer: "Hearthstone passes out more than Jason Grace (Though I have no idea who that is)
85	* {{Moe}}: One could argue that Ella at least somewhat fits this trope.
86	* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: [[Awesome/TheHeroesOfOlympus Has its own page.]]
87	* MoralEventHorizon: For many fans, Octavian seemed like a power-hungry jerk who would not do much harm. [[spoiler: Then he killed Gwen by stabbing her in the back -- and it was just luck that she managed to come back.]]
88	* MorePopularReplacement: The PowerTrio of ''The Son of Neptune'' compared to ''The Lost Hero.'' Even if you take Percy out, [[TheWoobie Hazel]] and [[NiceGuy Frank]] were much better received as characters than Jason and Piper.
89	* NeverLiveItDown:
90	** Despite all of his development since ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', the first thing most people usually bring up about Nico is that he is gay.
91	** Piper saying that Percy looks unimpressive. This along either her obsession over Jason made her even more unpopular amongst fans who see her as shallow and only caring about appearance.
92	* OneSceneWonder: [[spoiler:Tartarus. Not the location, the primordial god himself. His description and abilities just ''scream'' EldritchAbomination, from having a swirling vortex for a face to being able to suck souls, be they mortal, god, giant, or Titan, into said vortex face.]]
93	* OneTrueThreesome: Pretty much unavoidable with a movie featuring 7 main characters. Piper/Percy/Annabeth is pretty popular. [[spoiler: Especially after Piper and Jason broke up]].
94	* PortmanteauCoupleName: Many. Percabeth, Percico, Reynabeth, Jeyna, Jasico, Jasper, Liper, Valgrace, Valdangelo, Frazel, Pipazel, [[spoiler: Caleo]], [[spoiler: Solangelo]]...
95	* RomanticPlotTumour: Jason and Piper's relationship in ''The Lost Hero'' can fall into this, as they spend a lot of time [[{{Wangst}} wangsting]] about their feelings for each other. As the readers have never met either of them before but ''know'' Piper's memories of Jason are fake it's tough to empathize with their feelings, [[note]] especially as lot of people assumed Jason/Reyna was the Roman equivalent of the iconic [[{{OneTruePairing}} Percy/Annabeth]] and jumped on that ship without even ''meeting'' Reyna. [[/note]] The romantic focus comes at the expense of their much-needed characterization and is probably one of the reasons why [[{{EnsembleDarkHorse}} Leo was so well-received]] - he's the only narrator not obsessing with a LoveInterest from the get-go.
96	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
97	** Piper's chapters were some of the harder-to-read parts of ''The Lost Hero'', for both her [[{{Wangst}} Wangsty]] inner monologues and being [[DamselScrappy an unfortunate subversion]] of the [[ActionGirl typical female treatment]] in the series. Fortunately, she [[TookALevelInBadass Takes Several Levels in Badass]] and becomes ''considerably'' more capable and self-assured as the series progresses, to the point where she defeats [[spoiler:Zethes, Cal, and freakin' ''Khione'']] with nothing but her wits, Katoptris, and an awesome application of Charmspeak. [[spoiler: She also gets her moment fighting the giant Mimas, trying to unleash the heartbeat of the chained god. Annabeth is freaking out as her plans fall apart, but Piper is the one that keeps her head cool and outsmarts the anti-Hephaestus. And let's not forget that her charmspeak became so powerful, she made freaking '''GAEA''' fall asleep for Leo to make the killing blow.]]
98	-->'''Piper:''' ''(to [[spoiler:Khione]])'' Still underestimating me. You really need to work on that. Stab
99	-->'''Piper:''' ''(to [[spoiler:Gaea]])'' [[spoiler: "One word. You want permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles. You—want—SLEEP."]]
100	** On the flip side, Jason was maligned for ''not enough'' characterization beyond "Regain my memories, sort out my feelings for Piper, and save the day", being looked down upon as a rather bland StandardizedLeader. In ''The House of Hades'', he silenced many of his detractors when he underwent some ''serious'' CharacterDevelopment, became [[spoiler:Nico]]'s SecretKeeper, and [[spoiler:was forced to make a choice between the [[TwoRoadsBeforeYou Two Roads Before Him]].]]
101	* ShipsThatPassInTheNight: Leo/Reyna and Leo/Nico are surprisingly popular for pairings involving characters that don't have much overall interaction. Partially this is a case of PairTheSpares.
102	* SignatureSeriesArc: Percy and Annabeth trapped in Tartarus during ''The House of Hades'' is one of the most talked-about story arcs by fans. This is largely because it took the OfficialCouple of [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians the original series]] and showed their commitment to one another by dragging them ToHellAndBack.
103	* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: While not a terrible read ''The Lost Hero'' was a rather lackluster opening to the series, with the neglect of [[{{DemotedToExtra}} previous heroes]], [[{{Wangst}} Piper]] and [[{{FlatCharacter}} Jason's]] characterization and [[{{RomanticPlotTumour}} the focus on their relationship]] getting the most criticism. ''The Son of Neptune'' however saw the return of the beloved [[{{TheHero}} Percy]], brought back EnsembleDarkhorse Nico, introduced the badass Roman Camp and new characters Frank, Hazel and Reyna were much better-received.
104	* StrangledByTheRedString: Invoked in-universe by Hera, as she implants poor Piper with fake memories of a relationship with Jason, even though they've never met in reality. Unfortunately this ended up up becoming an out-of-universe example too, as Piper and an amnesiac Jason are gushing about each other from the first chapter, without giving the readers a chance to get to know them - let alone how they work together. Then they get together off-page sometime before the ''Mark of Athena''. However, subsequent books do develop their relationship better.
105	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: You'd think it would be a big deal for ''Hercules'' to show up in-story. Possibly as a GuestStarPartyMember or SixthRanger, right? He ''is'' one of the most iconic figures of Myth/ClassicalMythology after all. Nope. He's functionally just another MonsterOfTheWeek who Jason and Piper have to get around.
106	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The concept of the Greek-versus-Roman rivalry as it pertains to the Seven. While having to work together in spite of the history between the Greeks and the Romans is played up to be a pretty big deal, it doesn't come into play much. Most of their divisions seem to stem from interpersonal conflict rather than camp rivalry.
107	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Any Roman Camper who isn't a P.O.V character, and Camp Jupiter/New Rome in general. A side effect of the Romans not coming up in the first series means that in-universe the only side openly showing disdain for the other are the Romans towards the Greeks. Calling someone 'Greek' is an insult in Camp Jupiter, while you have Greek Demigods ''liking'' the concept of Rome in both series. That, and the fact it is the Romans who declare war and make hostile actions, while the Greek Demigods do not attack them of their own will, makes the conflict seem entirely on the Romans end and little to anything on the Greeks. While Rick does introduce the factor of Athena into the mix in the third book, the issue still remains that one side has a single cabin whose normally chill parent [[JerkassGods is harassing or pushing them on a quest]] for something the Romans themselves stole, while the other side has clear casual racism that isn't being propelled by a god with a vendetta the reader can at least trace the origin of. It doesn't help that the Roman legions are shown looking down on their own (in the process making even the non P.O.V 5th Cohort less of this trope than the rest of the Legion), playing politics in serious situations to a point clearly psychopathic campers get off easily, and otherwise making you wonder why Hazel and Frank were so willing to go back to it instead of leaving it as Jason did in the end, and wondering if Percy would be so enamored with living in New Rome if it wasn't a place where he could get a loaf of bread without a risk of monster attack.
108	* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Nico. He creeps out most of the Seven (Hazel is the major exception; he still puts Jason on edge, but Jason is willing to cut him ''gallons'' of slack after gaining a better understanding of why he is the way he is) with his whole "son of Hades" thing and [[TroubledButCute generally brooding demeanor]]. This is not the case with the fandom, where he's well-loved and a main target of {{fangirl}}s.
109	* TheUntwist: The fact that Gaea is the new BigBad is pretty apparent before you're even halfway through the ''first story'' as long as you have a decent understanding of Greek Mythology. By the time you reach the point where it is "revealed" to the characters in the story, you kind of feel that Riordan was suffering from a pretty severe case of CannotSpitItOut.
110	* TheWoobie:
111	** Annabeth. She finally got together with Percy, he disappears four months later, and then she finds out he probably doesn't even remember her. He does, but still.
112	** Leo was tricked by Gaea into killing his own mother and then spent the next six or so years of his life trying to outrun the pain.
113	** Hazel [[spoiler: she was forced by her possessed mother to move to Alaska and raise Alcyoneus, where she made the decision to kill herself and her mother to delay Gaea's plan. Even before she was possessed, Queen Marie was emotionally abusive, blaming Hazel for being cursed. Plus, because of her curse, she is indirectly responsible for a number of human deaths which she feels incredibly guilty for. And just to add insult to injury, she grew up a black girl in the 1930s.]]
114	** Frank. His mother was killed fighting overseas, his grandmother died not long after and his whole life is bound to a stick.
115	** Ella. Her treatment at the hands of the other harpies and Phineas is [[TearJerker heartwrenching]].
116	** At this rate, Percy and Annabeth definitely qualify.
117	** StoicWoobie: Reyna. Just... [[BrokenBird Reyna]]. [[spoiler: She was born to an abusive father who one day knocked out Reyna's sister, Hylla, causing Reyna to panic and ''stab his manic spirit'' into oblivion. The two sisters flee to Circe's island where they worked hard to become Circe's favorite attendants, only for Percy to release Blackbeard the pirate from captivity, effectively destroying the haven that Reyna found there. Ultimately, Reyna separated from her sister to go to Camp Jupiter, where her skills presumably led her to become preator to the legion - but she has to fearfully protect the secret of her ''killing her father'' because Romans punish this crime with death.]]
118	** Nico. Freaking. di Angelo. Adding to his baggage from the first series, he escaped Tartarus [[spoiler:(only to be imprisoned in a bronze jar by twin Giants)]], which was traumatizing for [[spoiler: even Percy and Annabeth (who are some of the most badass characters in the series)]], and then watched Percy [[spoiler:fall with Annabeth into Tartarus. ]] Okay, that's pretty bad, but then it's revealed that [[spoiler:Nico is gay and he had a crush on Percy! His reaction to having to admit it to Cupid in front of Jason is ''[[TearJerker heartbreaking]]'', made worse when Jason realizes that Nico was born in the 1930's, when that would have been completely unacceptable and also illegal.]] At this rate, the fans are ''desperate'' for him to be happy.
119	** Calypso, who's basically a deconstruction of the UnrequitedTragicMaiden. It's not enough that she lives in complete isolation, but the gods make a point of her by turning her into a LeaveYourQuestTest. Men are sent to her, all of whom will leave her eventually, but only once she's fallen in love with them, and once they leave they can never return. This has happened countless times over ''millennia''. [[spoiler:Luckily, she's thrown a bone by the end of the series, when Leo falls in love with her and uses a loophole to get her off Ogygia.]]

Context YMMV / TheHeroesOfOlympus