Porphyrion

"I was created to be Zeus’ replacement, born to destroy the lord of the sky. I shall take his throne. I shall take his wife—or, if she will not have me, I will let the earth consume her life force."

- Porphyrion

Porphyrion is the King of the Gigantes (sometimes just called the Giants) in Greek and Roman mythology. He also acts as one of the main antagonists in The Heroes of Olympus series.

The First Gigantomachy
In ancient times, Titans such as Kronos and Hyperion were defeated by the gods, namely the six children of Kronos (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter) and by their allies. Soon after, however Gaea brought forth the Giants, who were solely born to avenge their elder siblings' defeat. By this time, all of the younger Olympians (Zeus' children) had been born, and were preparing the way for the new demigods.

Porphyrion started the first war between the gods and the giants by kidnapping Hera after being shot with an arrow of Eros. This, of course, made him fall in love with the Queen of the Olympians, so he started the war to keep Hera and to avenge the Titans. Led by Alcyoneus and the king, Porphyrion, the Giants attacked Olympus. Warned by the Fates that the Olympians could not defeat the Giants without the help of a lion-skinned-mortal, Zeus decided that this must mean his son, Hercules, and sent Athena to find him.

Hercules defeated Alcyoneus after injuring him in the Giant's homeland, Pallene (where Alcyoneus was immortal) and then killed him outside of Pallene's borders. Porphyrion later dueled both Zeus and Hercules, but the combination of both god and demigod working together destroyed him, as only a god and demigod working together can defeat a giant.

The Lost Hero
Gaea uses Hera's power to release Porphyrion from Tartarus, and is trying to awaken other giants to fight the gods. After Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, and Piper McLean arrive at the Wolf House, Hera, still trapped by the power of Gaea pleads for the heroes to set her free before Porphyrion can be awakened. However, the demigods act too late and Porphyrion awakened, climbing out of a spire of earth. Jason told the others to keep working while he went to try and keep the giant busy.

When Jason approached him, Porphyrion called him an appetizer and asked if he was Hermes or Ares. However, Jason said he was a demigod son of Jupiter, which only made Porphyrion laugh and thanked Jupiter as he considered Jason an offering to himself. Jason and Porphyrion then start a boasting match against each other, with Hera interrupting saying Zeus would destroy him just like before. Porphyrion counters however, saying that Zeus couldn't destroy him and needed the aid of demigods. He also told them what they plan on doing, traveling to the original Mount Olympus in Greece and destroy the gods at their roots, instead of attacking the current Olympus as Kronos had done.



He then turned away from Hera and brought his attention back to Jason and told him he had no chance, as Porphyrion was at his weakest and could still turn Jason into a grease spot. He then called his spear from the earth and summoned storm spirits, wolves, and Earthborn to his location. Jason however stands up to him and calls on the winds, which Porphyrion actually looked surprised about. Before Porphyrion could react, Jason climbed up his knee and stabbed him in the ear, before calling a bolt of lightning down which blasted Jason away and blackened the side of Porphyrion's face. However, this didn't kill him and Porphyrion raised his spear, which started glowing, to kill Jason.

However, Leo and Piper had managed to free Hera at that moment. She was about to release her true form, so Porphyrion shot Jason a look of hatred before slamming his spear into the ground and vanishing into the earth. When Leo asked Hera optimistically if he had melted, Hera says that he could only be killed by a god and demigod working together and that he fled once she was free as he wasn't at full strength.

The Son of Neptune
While Alcyoneus is fighting Percy Jackson, Frank Zhang, and Hazel Levesque, he mentions that while Polybotes is preparing to destroy Camp Jupiter, Porphyrion is preparing for the real battle in Greece, where the Gigantes plan to destroy the gods by destroying them at their roots.

The Mark of Athena
When Jason and Percy are comparing notes on Gaea's activities, Jason mentions that Porphyrion was planning on going to Greece and destroy the gods at their roots.

Personality
Porphyrion is very self-confident and arrogant. Even in his weakest form after waking up, he felt no threat from Jason or his friends. He even went so far as to joke with Jason by saying that they would start their fight by boasting when Jason tried to sound intimidating. Even during their fight, he does not seem at all afraid of Jason or make any attempt to stop Leo and Piper from trying to set Hera free. Even when Jason manages to hurt him, he only becomes angry.

Porphyrion is also intelligent, which sometimes is hindered by his self-confident aspects. He commented on how the Giants were much more patient than the Titans (namely Kronos) and that he knew how to permanently kill the gods, by destroying their origins. Porphyrion also knows when to cut his losses, as once Hera was free, he knew it was time to escape, showing a cautious side and knowledge of his own limits despite his self-confidence.

Appearance
Porphyrion is taller and stronger than Enceladus when he is first awakened. Jason also comments that he was so large and dense, that it was like having his own gravitational field, being at least forty feet tall in his weakest form. Porphyrion is humanoid from the waist up and like his brother, has his own set of bronze armor. He also has dragon legs like the other giants, which are the color of lima beans. He has green hair which is the same color as summer leaves, which are braided in long locks and decorated with weapons. The weapons include daggers, axes, and full-size swords, some of which were covered in blood or bent, possible trophies taken from defeated demigods. His eyes are completely white and are described as looking like polished marble.

Abilities
As the Giant King, and the opposite of Zeus/Jupiter, he is the most powerful Giant of all. The full extent of his powers is still unknown:
 * Prowess in Battle: Even for a Gigantes, Porphyrion has enhanced strength, and could more than likely be equal in power to Zeus. In the first Gigantomachy, he was able to fight mighty Zeus himself on apparently equal footing, though he was eventually defeated. Later, even after seeing his weakened form, which he describes as being “scarier and more ripped than Enceladus," Jason (one of the most powerful demigods in the world and an outstanding fighter) feels sure that no demigod can defeat him alone.
 * He has a strong resistance to electricity, as even when struck by lightning directly in the ear, he was uninjured, it only angered him and blackened his face.
 * Giant Immortality: As a Gigantes, Porphyrion can only be killed by a God and demigod together, his armor and skin are regenerative and will heal during battle at an accelerated rate.
 * Unknown Ability: During his fight with Jason, Porphyrion made his spear glow, but it is unknown what effect this has. He only states that he knew exactly how to kill Jason as he knew how to kill his father.

Trivia
Porphyrion
 * In mythology, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera in order to start a war with the gods.
 * Much like how Zeus and Kronos were the youngest children of their fathers, but became king of their pantheons, Porphyrion is said to be the youngest of the Gigantes and is their king.
 * Porphyrion is the only giant encountered by the heroes so far that survived the first encounter, as Jason and Zeus killed Enceladus, Frank and Hazel lured Alcyoneus out of Alaska and killed him, Percy and Terminus killed Polybotes, and Percy, Jason, and Bacchus killed Ephialtes and Otis, while Damasen willingly sacrificed his life to save Percy and Annabeth.