Board Thread:Antaeus' Arena: Audience Chamber/@comment-1515612-20170321230658/@comment-32243101-20170615152816

I don't think that there would be an exact winner, honestly. There's just so many things going for both of these half-bloods, that it would be really difficult to choose a victor. For example, some of the people on this discussion are probably choosing Percy because they know him from both series, and probably don't even think about his fighting skills.

Frank is the child of Mars, the god of fighting and war himself. Of course, this gives him an advantage over Percy, as he is naturally skilled with a blade. Put this on top of all the practice and training he has gotten over the course of the Heroes of Olympus series, he's one of the best warriors on the Argo II crew. Also, Juno herself showed up at the house of the Zhang's to decree that the hero would lead a short life, because he was so dangerously powerful, with his shapeshifting ability and all. I mean, he is a Roman legacy of a Greek god. Frank also is incredibly good and accurate with a bow and arrow, which would give him a great advantage over Percy; letting him shoot before he even reached him. Also, in the Son of Neptune, he takes lead of the Fifth Cohort and kills nearly all of the monsters, although with the help of the entire Cohort. Also, being a son of Mars, Frank is stronger than an average mortal, and even an average demigod. Although Percy is also stronger than many half-bloods, I believe that Frank could easily beat him in the physical strength department. Also, during the House of Hades, Frank recieves the Blessing of Mars, giving him super-strength, agility, and other abilites that are very similar to the affects of bathing in the River Styx. Whereas Percy no longer has his Curse, Frank has this. This could prove as a great disadvantage for Percy, but Percy also rarely gets hurt during a fight with another demigod.

But there is also the fact that when Percy killed Alecto in the Lightning Thief, he did the 'only thing that came naturally: he swung the sword.' I know this might be valid for every other demigod--in fact, it probably is--but consider the fact that Percy was twelve and didn't even know he was a demigod. Looking past this, he also was able to beat Mars/Ares himself, although with the advantage of the ocean, which he could very well still have while fighting Frank. Skip to the Titan's Curse, where he literally held up the sky. This doesn't count as anything towards his fighting, but towards his strength and endurance. Poseidon himself told Percy that the burden of Atlas could only be taken from him by a hero with true strength and heart, which Percy had. I'm saying it again, this does not count as anything towards his fighting ability, but he has endurance beyond most heroes. Another thing. During the Son of Neptune, even after he lost the Curse of Achilles, he is still shown to be able to fend off an entire army of continually resurrecting ghosts by himself, while still protecting Frank as he unchained Thanatos. According to Frank himself, Percy fought like a demon: so fast that he seemed like a hurricane, although he was one at the time. In the Son of Sobek, Carter Kane admitted that Percy was a way better swordsman than he was. In the Mark of Athena, while the Jason and Percy were possessed, Percy fought Jason, who had twelve years of training, on an even footing, and even managed to knock him unconscious. He was also titled the best swordsman in the past 300 years, but it should be noted that he only got the title because Luke died, and the title was branded to him BEFORE they knew of the Roman camp, so it is unknown who is a better swordsman. Also, Percy has the advantage of ADHD, which allows him to have faster reactions to attacks. Romans strangely do not have dyslexia or ADHD, and this would leave Frank at a disadvantage. I noticed a lot of posts in this discussion that said Percy could only fight Kronos while he had the Curse of Achilles, but he fought Kronos during numerous other occasions where he didn't have the Curse. He could hold his own against the Titan, even though he was mostly on defence.

I wrote so much about Percy, only because he had a whole two series with him in it. We have only known Frank for five books, while we have known Percy for ten. It is natural to want to pick his side and write so much about his strengths, but to be honest, I really don't think anybody could choose a victor among the two. This is so long and I doubt anybody would read this BUT--