Kronos

"Finally! The Olympian Council- so proud and mighty. Which seat of power shall I destroy first?"

- Kronos

Kronos (also known as Cronus) is the King of the Titans and the most powerful child of Gaea and Ouranos. Kronos is the main antagonist in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, being directly responsible for some of the major events in the series. Kronos is the Titan Lord of Fate, Harvest, Justice, and Time whose Roman counterpart is Saturn.

History
The Titans were the youngest of the three races born to Gaea the Earth and Ouranos the Sky after the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes respectively. All were detested by their father, but he both feared and hated the elder children so much that he imprisoned them in the abyss of Tartarus. Enraged, Gaea got pregnant and told her remaining children to avenge their brothers and overthrow their draconian parent. Kronos was the boldest of the siblings and only he would agree to help his mother in her revenge. Using a scythe fashioned by Gaea, he sliced Ouranos into a thousand pieces and claimed his supremacy over the universe.

During his reign, Kronos would usher in an era of peace and prosperity for the Titans and took his sister Rhea as his bride and queen. His rule would also see the genesis of mankind and be called their 'Golden Age'. However, Kronos abandoned his imprisoned siblings to their fates out of the belief that they would only pose a threat to his authority.

At the height of his power, Kronos was warned by Gaea that he would be supplanted by his own child just as he had usurped his father long before. Determined to avoid this fate, he decided to swallow each of his five children alive so that they could never overthrow him. A grief stricken and horrified Rhea pleaded with Kronos to spare their children but with no success. Kronos' wife would secretly give birth to a sixth child on Mount Ida and deceived her husband into devouring a swaddled stone instead. This rescued son would be named Zeus and it would be he who would machinate his father's downfall.

Knowing that any children he fathered with Rhea were potentially dangerous, Kronos would have a brief affair that produced Chiron. When Zeus grew to adulthood, he infiltrated his father's palace on Mount Othrys and slipped an emetic into the Titan Lord's drink which forced him to disgorge Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon. Kronos' children quickly declared war against him and eventually triumphed in the consequent Titanomachy where his followers were banished and Kronos was dismembered into thousands of pieces by Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades who used the very weapon that Kronos had used to eviscerate Ouranos.

The Lightning Thief
Knowing of the resentment between demigods and their godly parents, Kronos decided to use this to his advantage and find a follower willing to oppose the gods. Kronos found this follower in Luke Castellan, a son of Hermes, who had begun questioning the Olympians ever since his father "abandoned" both him and his mother. After seeing the fate of Halcyon Green and his close friend Thalia being turned into a tree, this questioning turned to resentment and hatred, which made him a perfect ally for Kronos. The evil Titan King contacted Luke in his dreams and manipulated him to his cause, ordering him to steal the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness, the legendary weapons of Zeus and Hades respectively, which would start a civil war amongst the gods as both Zeus and Hades would blame Poseidon because his son Percy was living in New York.

Luke succeeded in stealing the bolt and the helm during a camp field trip to Olympus, but Luke was caught and defeated by Ares. Kronos saved Luke by manipulating Ares through the demigod, telling Ares that if the weapons were successfully stolen, a war would begin. Ares let Luke go, but kept the weapons for himself. Luke was later punished by Kronos through nightmares. When Luke promised never to fail him again, Kronos told him that a boy would be coming to Camp Half-Blood soon, and they would use that boy to send the Master Bolt to Tartarus, where Kronos would be able to gain them and possibly use them to break free. That boy turned out to be Percy Jackson, who foiled Kronos' plan by retrieving the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness and returning them to their respective masters. Percy initially suspects Hades, and Kronos' involvement is only revealed after Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood and Luke poisons him before leaving the camp.

The Sea of Monsters
Kronos makes a brief appearance in The Sea of Monsters, when Luke explains to Percy that when demigods join his cause they make the Olympians weaker and make Kronos and the Titans stronger. When Luke captures Percy, Annabeth and Tyson, they see Kronos' Sarcophagus in Luke's room on the Princess Andromeda. It is described as making the room colder and darker. Luke explains how he is bringing Kronos from Tartarus, and every time a demigod renounces the gods to follow Kronos, a piece of Kronos appears in the sarcophagus.

Kronos intended to have Percy and his friends claim the Golden Fleece, and then take it from them to return to full power. However, he then intended to return the Fleece to Percy, so that Thalia could be reborn, and give him another chance to control the Great Prophecy, since he was confident in his abilities to sway her to his side.

The Titan's Curse
Kronos himself doesn't make an appearance, but as Thalia approaches Mount Orthys on Mr. Chase's car, he strikes her with lightning. Right before Thalia fights Luke and Percy fights Atlas, two telekhines are seen carrying Kronos' Sarcophagus up to Mount Orthys.

The reason why Kronos wanted Thalia to be reborn is finally revealed: he intended her to become the one of the Great Prophecy and to gain the power to destroy Olympus by burning the Ophiotaurus entrails. Luke also reveals Kronos' plan to invade Camp Half-Blood, and, later, Olympus itself.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
Kronos' Scythe is first seen in Mount Saint Helens, when the telekhines re-forged it out of Backbiter. Percy describes it as the most terrifying weapon he's ever seen.

Later, Kronos' Sarcophagus appears on Mount Orthys, when Percy is traveling through the Labyrinth that Hera opened. Ethan Nakamura swears loyalty to the Titan, waking Kronos, who uses Luke's body as a host, and he comes back from Tartarus. Percy tries to fight him, but is unable to harm him, as Kronos bears the Curse of Achilles. Kronos slows down time, and would have killed Percy, had he not been momentarily distracted when Rachel Elizabeth Dare throws her blue hairbrush at him and it hits him in the eye. This gives Percy and his friends enough time to escape, however, by creating a rock barrier between them and the Titan King, Nico di Angelo reveals himself as a son of Hades. Kronos is unable to lead his forces into Camp Half-Blood, as he had initially planned, and the Battle of the Labyrinth takes place without him.

The Last Olympian
Kronos, still using Luke's body as a host, is on the Princess Andromeda, where he manages to capture Percy and Charles Beckendorf, as they try to blow up the ship. Percy fights him, but Kronos easily gains the upper hand and wounds Percy with his Scythe, almost killing him. Kronos was the only one besides Percy who survived the explosion on the ''Princess Andromeda. ''

Kronos has his brother Krios defend Mount Othrys, his brother Oceanus attack Poseidon, and his brother Hyperion join his gathering forces in Manhattan. He also used the storm monster Typhon as a distraction for the Olympians, which meant that only the demigods stood in the way of his plan of Olympus' destruction. Before putting his plan into action, Kronos has the minor gods Morpheus and Hecate cast a huge sleeping spell, causing all of the mortals in Manhattan to fall asleep.

Kronos leads an offensive against Olympus, which results in the bloodiest battle of the Second Titanomachy, but Kronos only could do it at night when he was strongest. After Percy gets the Curse of Achilles and pushes back his forces, Kronos watches Percy from the other shoreline as Percy destroys the bridge. Back at his base in Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium, he asks Ethan if he knows where Percy's Achilles Heel is, but he claims he does not know.

He later sends Ethan and the Titan Prometheus to Percy for a peace meeting, where Prometheus asks the demigods to surrender, but Percy refuses. In turn, Kronos sends a monster that can only be defeated by a child of Ares, the Lydian Drakon on Percy's forces during the day while they are still recovering. The monster however is defeated when Clarisse La Rue kills it after Silena Beauregard died trying. As Kronos makes his last march on Olympus, Kronos has a brief encounter with his son Chiron, after which Kronos blasts him against a wall. When Kronos' army is attacked by Hades's forces, Hades challenges Kronos to a duel. However, Kronos prefers to hide behind an energy field (which implies that even he was afraid of fighting Hades) and manages to get to the Empire State Building. Kronos takes the elevator up to Olympus and starts destroying the statues of the gods and even plans on destroying the thrones, causing Olympus to fade forever.

Kronos and Percy battle for the last time in the Hall of the Gods, with neither gaining the upper hand. Then Ethan Nakamura sees that Kronos can only bring destruction and stabs him with his sword, which shatters and ends up hurting himself. Kronos knocks the mortally wounded Ethan off Olympus and resumes his battle with Percy. He finally manages to disarm Percy, but is distracted by Annabeth, who reminds Luke of the promise he made her. Luke manages to regain control over his body and takes Annabeth's knife from Percy (the cursed blade of the Great Prophecy), and stabs himself in his Achilles heel (his armpit). As a result, Kronos was spread to the wind, hopefully spread so thin, that he could never take a form or be conscious again.

House Of Hades
All throughout the book, Percy wonders if little "Kronos" particles are flying around, laughing at him as he walked in Tartarus. Bob and Coeus talk about holding down Ouranus while Kronos cut him into little pieces.

Personality
Kronos is cruel and cunning with an insatiable lust for power. He jealously guarded his dominion as king and has shown his ruthlessness in the pursuit of his ambitions. Even worse than his megalomania was his savagery towards mortals and even his own children. Despite this, he does seem to care for his brothers and sisters though his love for Rhea was not enough to overpower his selfish nature. A master manipulator, Kronos has influenced some of the gods and their children through his scheming.

Appearance
Kronos' true appearance is unknown as his original body had been destroyed in the First Titanomachy, but he is described as having golden eyes while possessing Luke with an ancient, cold, and powerful voice (like knives scraping against stone according to Percy) whenever he spoke.

Abilities
As the Titan King, and the father of the Big Three, Kronos is arguably the most powerful Titan.

Prowess in Battle: Even for a Titan, he has enhanced strength, as he was stronger than Percy bearing the Achilles Curse, and fighting him is described as “fighting a hundred swordsmen.” However, because Kronos was inhabiting Luke Castellan's body, it is unknown how much skill was Kronos' and how much was Luke's. In addition, because he was in Luke's body, he was not able to use all of his physical and magical power capacity as he was limited by being hosted by a demigod body.

Chronokinesis: As the Titan of Time, Kronos is able to control and manipulate time.
 * He can freeze objects by stopping time around them.
 * He can slow time down outside a certain area like in The Last Olympian, where time outside Manhattan seemed to slow to a crawl.

Titanic Energy: Like other Titans, Kronos can release a blast of energy from his body.

Titanic Divine Form: Like the gods, Kronos also has a Divine Form. However, Dionysus describes Kronos’ Divine Form as being extremely powerful, incinerating any being less than a god/Titan, even if they aren't looking at him and are only in his presence.

Manipulation: Kronos is a master of manipulation, rarely doing things himself and getting others to do them for him. During the series, he tries to corrupt demigods into turning away from the gods and join his cause (though children of the Big Three are shown to have more resistance to this). This is shown when he is able to convince Luke Castellan, Ethan Nakamura, Chris Rodriguez, Alabaster C. Torrington, and many other demigods to fight on his side in the second Titanomachy. He can even manipulate the gods to some extent, as he managed to manipulate Ares into starting a war among the gods. Later, many minor gods join Kronos' side. Because of his manipulative nature, he is sometimes called “The Crooked One.”

The Lightning Thief
Oddly, Kronos did not have an important part in the film and his role was limited to a passing mention by Chiron. It is unclear if he was the one who made Luke believe that the heroes should take over and if he had any association with the theft of Zeus' Master Bolt. Luke stated it was he who wanted the demigods to rule Olympus, not Kronos (though this could be a lie or rather Kronos twisted his will to make him think so, but it is unlikely).

The Sea of Monsters
Kronos is officially introduced in the sequel. His role was as the main antagonist, as Luke is trying to resurrect Kronos with the Golden Fleece, thus affirming Luke's status as a secondary antagonist, instead of the main antagonist. Unlike the book, Kronos was resurrected, however, Percy and friends were able to prevent Kronos' full resurrection, by retaking the fleece.

Trivia

 * His daughter Demeter says that he has no appreciation of agriculture, yet ironically, he is the Titan of the Harvest.
 * In some Roman myths, Kronos actually was a good Titan; he was sometimes known as a kind ruler of Rome and taught them agriculture and peace, and Zeus overthrew him for power of the world, which had changed him.
 * In Roman mythology, Kronos was named Saturn. The sixth planet from the sun was later named Saturn and the Romans had a celebration called Saturnalia named for Saturn on the winter solstice.
 * Despite being a Greek-Roman Titan, he possessed a human similar to how the Egyptian gods exist inside a human host in Rick Riordan's Egyptian trilogy, The Kane Chronicles.
 * His mythomagic card has infinite attack and defense.
 * Chronostasis, the effect which is when you look at a clock and the second hand seems to freeze for a moment, is named after Kronos.

Gallery
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