Zoë Nightshade

Zoë Nightshade is a Huntress of Artemis, and the daughter of Atlas and a sea goddess, Pleione.

History
Once she served in The Garden of the Hesperides, but she was sent into exile after helping Hercules trick Atlas. She gave Hercules her hair-pin (a gift from her mother) that extends into Anaklusmos, (Riptide), a powerful sword which Percy Jackson now wields (now disguised as a pen). Eventually, she joined Artemis's Huntresses, and became their lieutenant. She holds a grudge against male heroes, for Hercules gave her no credit for her clever plan for him to complete his quest on Mount Othrys.

She once ran into Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth when they were wandering around the country, and almost convinced Thalia to join them, but she did not want to leave Luke. This made Zoë very angry. She told Thalia she was being stupid, that she would regret it, and that Luke would let her down.

She then helped Percy Jackson and his crew during their journey in The Titan's Curse.

When she died, Artemis made her into a constellation called The Huntress. Zoë's constellation is mentioned by Percy in The Battle of the Labyrinth.

The Titan's Curse
Zoë goes on the doomed quest along with Thalia, Bianca, and Grover; Percy follows them secretly, wanting to make sure that Annabeth is found safe and sound, having also promised Nico that he will keep Bianca, his sister, safe. Zoë is furious with Percy when she finds out he has been following them, but he warns them that a Nemean lion and a dozen skeletal warriors are on their way.

They all fight against the lion, and Zoë manages to kill it with one of her arrows, but she lets Percy keep the pelt, saying the first joke he had ever heard her say: "It was thy ice-cream sandwich that did it," referring to the astronaut food from the Smithsonian gift shop, which Percy force-fed the lion with.

They continue their quest, going west to find Artemis. Zoë is very worried about the goddess, and very anxious to find her. They get help from Apollo, but giving them transportation is all he can do.

While in the desert, going through Hephaestus' junkyard, a version of Talos attacks them, and Bianca is killed while subduing the automaton. Zoë feels guilty over Bianca's death, which is understandable, as Zoë picked an amateur Hunter who was only twelve for a suicide mission. She believed that Bianca had potential to replace her. Percy tries to comfort Zoë after Bianca's death, and later dreams from Hercules' point of view of his relationship and betrayal of Zoë.

Percy later gives up the Nemean Lion pelt as a sacrifice to his father, Poseidon, to keep Grover and Bessie the Ophiotaurus safe on their journey to Olympus, and tells Zoë that he is nothing like Hercules.

To reach Artemis, they are forced to go through The Garden of Hesperides. There, Zoë encounters her sisters, and tells them that they never had the courage, and wakes Ladon. The dragon, after a while, sensed Zoë wasn't really who she "used to be" and almost killed her. However, when the dragon attempted to kill Zoë, she dodged but was still hit in the side. The dragon's teeth were venomous, one of the reasons for her death.

Not much later, Atlas (the General), her father, knocked Zoe into a wall, causing massive internal injuries. When she died, Artemis turned her into a star constellation, the Huntress, in the Southern sky.

In the beginning, she seems aloof and unfriendly, but she turns out to have a big heart and endless loyalty to her lady Artemis, goddess of the moon (replacing Selene), maidens, hunt, and the twin sister of Apollo, god of the sun (replacing Helios), music, and of course, poems. Deep down Zoe was loyal and kind. She risks her life to save Percy, despite her initial dislike. In the end her loyalty would cost her her life, and with her dying breaths she told Percy, "You spoke the truth. You are nothing like... like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword."

Finally, in the end, Zoë's legacy remains as her persuasion seemed to come through and Thalia declares that she will join the Hunt, also to avoid being the child of The Great Prophecy.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
She does not appear, obviously, but her constellation is shining in the night sky, mentioned when Percy is telling Calypso on Ogygia, another daughter of Atlas, that he met who was another of daughter of Atlas and she was one of the bravest people he ever met.

Personality
Zoë seems to be a loyal lieutenant to Artemis, never wavering in over 2000 years. In The Titan's Curse, Zoë fights with Thalia quite often. This is because (before the books), Thalia had refused to join the Hunters. However, she eventually changes her mind, influenced no doubt by Zoe and Bianca's bravery. Throughout when Zoë is mentioned and when she talks, Zoë speaks Old English. She is said to speak in a strange accent more heavily when she is upset. That trait would probably come from being immortal. She does seem irritated when Thalia corrects her speech, saying "I hate this language! It changes too often!"

Abilities

 * Immortal (cannot die of old age, but can be killed in battle) due to being one of Artemis's hunters
 * Expert archer
 * Highly skilled hunter
 * Leadership skills
 * Can make spears and bows appear when she wants
 * Perhaps more powerful,unseen powers as she is the daughter of Atlas

Weaknesses

 * Can die if beaten in battle or falls in love
 * Has a temper
 * Is reluctant to accept help from men and campers from Camp Half-Blood
 * Protective of her fellow hunters (shown in The Titan's Curse when she refused to take another Hunter on her quest when Phoebe got poisoned by the centaur blood t-shirt)

Physical description
Zoë is described by Percy as having has long black hair ,caramel-like skin, a silver circlet around her head, and black eyes like volcanic rocks. She gives off the aura of royalty, and makes Percy feel awkward around her by the glares she gives him (similar to the ones her father, Atlas gives). She is tall, very graceful and in Percy's point of view she is very beautiful and follows some of her father's traits.

Debatable Species
There is some confusion about Zoë's race. She is the daughter of a Titan and a sea goddess, and has immortal sisters. If she were a Titan or a sea goddess, she would not be able to be killed by her father, but Rick Riordan says that when she was disowned she lost her immortality. She regained her infinite longevity when she joined the Hunt, but she could now be killed, and eventually she was. A similar case is with the son of Poseidon and Gaia, Antaeus.

Film
Zoë is not yet cast, and presumably will not be until the film version of The Titan's Curse starts production.

Trivia
In The Titan's Curse, Percy has a dream about Zoë's past. In the dream, Zoë claims that her mother is Pleione, but in the myths the mother of the Hesperides is Hesperius.