Kronos

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

- Kronos

Kronos (Κρόνος in Ancient Greek), also known as Chronos or Cronus is the Titan King and also is the primary antagonist of the Percy Jackson series. His name's pronunciation is similar (though different) to Chronos ("Time" in Ancient Greek, with which he was identified in more modern times), and he is the Titan Lord of Fate, Harvest and Time. Let it be recognized that Kronos (born from Gaea and Ouranos) the Titan of the Harvest, was combined with the Protogenos Chronos (born from Chaos) for the series (most likely due to similar spelling and pronunciation of their names, However they are two very different gods in Greek mythology. He is the son of Gaia and Ouranos, the father of the Olympian gods, and the King of the Titans. Kronos or Cronus wants to take over Olympus. He possessed Luke Castellan and was using his body as a shell. Kronos is the father of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, as well as Hestia, Demeter, Chiron and Hera.

His mother is Gaea, the Primal Goddess/Titan of Earth, his father Ouranos, the Primal God/Titan of Sky and his brother is Oceanus, Titan of the Sea/Ocean. He is most referred to as the Crooked One because he manipulates the plot and secretly twists others to his own corrupt will. His Roman counterpart is Saturn, who doesn't seem as evil as his Greek counterpart, as he was said to have taught the Romans about the ways of harvest and agriculture (though this could possibly be a lie, although the Romans held a festival for him once a year).

Early Life
It should be noted that his early life is much like Zeus', who like the aforementioned Zeus was the youngest and most powerful of his siblings, and was asked to defeat his father by his mother. Kronos was one of the Titans born to Ouranos and Gaia. But Ouranos despised the ugliness of the Cyclopes and the Hekatonkheires, so he banished them to Tartarus and the Titans were pushed back into their mother Gaia leaving her enraged. She offered the title of ruler of the world to whichever of the Titans defeated him. Kronos, the youngest and the most powerful, was the only one who dared to challenge his own father using a sickle (scythe in the series). Using this mighty weapon, he attacked and greatly injured Ouranos and gained the mantle of ruler of the world for himself.

Golden Age
Although Kronos swore to free his siblings from Tartarus after destroying Ouranos, he became obsessed with the power that he didn't remain true to his word. He married his sister Rhea, but not even his love for her quenched his lust for power.



When the two had children, he began to fear that one of them would overthrow him as he had his own father. To stop this, he swallowed his children as they were born. It was then that Rhea began to see her husband's mad and selfish nature. Making her choice, she hid one of her children and gave a rock in a blanket to Kronos in its place. The child was raised by nymphs, and eventually grew up to become the mighty god Zeus.

Meanwhile, Prometheus created man, and from here began the so called golden age of man. Theft was not invented. The people smiled on each other. Everyone had sweet, blissful content. However, this was a lie as Kronos only used them as "appetizers and cheap entertainment", also women weren't created yet meaning that mankind was slowly becoming extinct.

However, Zeus learned of his heritage and plotted to free his siblings in order to overthrow Kronos. His wife Metis, who decided to aid in this plan, slipped Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which caused him to vomit the gods he had eaten, who reunited with Zeus and planned rebellion against the lord of the Titans. With this, the Titanomachy (first Olympian war) had begun with humankind swept in with it.

War With the Gods
The war between the gods and the Titans lasted for ten years. However, the Gods claimed victory, slicing Kronos into pieces with his own sickle (scythe in the books) and casting his remains into Tartarus.

The Lightning Thief
Kronos, knowing of the resentment demigods had towards their parents, decided to use this to his advantage and find a worthy follower willing to oppose Olympus. Kronos found this follower in the form of Luke, a son of Hermes. Kronos 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.

Luke succeeded in stealing the bolt and the helm during a camp field trip to Mount 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 take the weapons, but 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 and the Helm of Darkness to Tartarus, where Kronos would be able to gain them and possibly use them to break free. That boy turned out to be Percy.

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 stronger. It's later revealed that the whole quest is a trick to bring Thalia back so Kronos can have another chance to control the Great Prophecy.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
Kronos appears on Mount Orthys, when Percy goes through the path in the Labyrinth that Hera opened. Ethan swears loyalty to the Titan. Kronos, in the appearance of Luke, comes back from Tartarus, invulnerable because Luke bathed in the River Styx.



The Last Olympian
Kronos is on the Princess Andromeda, where he almost kills Percy. He led the attack at New York but only could do it at night. He later makes his last appearance when Luke betrays Kronos, stabbing himself in the one place where he could be harmed. Kronos was spread to the wind, hopefully spread so thin, so he could never make a form again.

Personality
Kronos is cruel, ruthless, callous, selfish, cunning, manipulative, and power-hungry. He is good at gloating and he has been called 'The Crooked One' because of his ability to persuade others to serve his own ends. An example of his hunger for power is his killing his own father and his eating his children (except Zeus) so they wouldn't overthrow him. The lives of others, even his own children hold no value to him, unless he can find some way to use them (he may care for his Titan brethren). Annabeth has said that Kronos would use anyone to further his own plans and he would destroy those who serve him if he can find no other use of them.

Oddly, in most stories including him, he was a kind titan who brought the golden age of man, a time of happiness and prosperity for humanity. The spirits of these men and women went to the Underworld and were guardians of other people in the ages to come. Though Chiron states that this was only propaganda and that Kronos saw humans as only food or a cheap source of entertainment

Appearance
Kronos is described with cruel golden eyes and a voice that sounds like a scraping knife. His true appearance is unknown since the only time he is seen is in Luke's body, although Dionysus states that if he took on his true form as that of a Titan King, even being in the same room as him would incinerate you. It is unknown, however, if he would need to transform into his Divine Form for this to happen. It is also stated in the book that a Titan (or at least Kronos' form) is 10 times as powerful as a god.

Powers

 * Kronos is arguably the most powerful of all of the Titans. He is described by Percy as making Typhon look like a "playground bully" (in his true form), though this likely is a an exaggeration.
 * Has the power to control time around him (However, this maybe due to his presence, as it's stated in Battle of the Labyrinth that his presence not his power slows down time, as there is already a God of time Chronos, not to be confuse with Kronos), although he has controlled time at will, though how much is unknown as he is only shown to freeze time for only short periods. "Why turn them to stone, when you can freeze time itself?" is one of many quotes of pride about himself.
 * He can communicate with demigods through dreams and attempt to manipulate them. However, a child of the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades) is apparently more resistant, and his own children can block his attempts to pry into their mind.
 * He has a scythe which can "sever the soul from the body."
 * Kronos presumably possesses the standard powers of a God or Titan.
 * He has powers shared with other Titans; both he and Hyperion have an ability to release an incredible wave of force (or energy), usually accompanied by a yell or a flick of the hand.
 * It is implied in The Last Olympian that he has telekinesis when his scythe flies out of his hand and he wills it to fly back.
 * His scythe can create "portals", as it did to Luke in Backbiter form. "He slashed his sword in an arc and vanished in a ripple of darkness," is how Percy described it in The Lightning Thief.
 * As a Titan, his Divine Form is so powerful that one only needs to be in his presence to be completely incinerated, as stated in The Last Olympian by Dionysus.

Film
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 him 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).

Trivia

 * His daughter Demeter says that he has no appreciation of agriculture, yet ironically, he is the Titan of the Harvest.
 * In some 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.
 * In The Lost Hero, it was stated that during the Battle of Manhattan, Jason Grace led the Roman demigods to attack Mount Orthys and that he himself 'toppled the black throne of Kronos'. If a god's throne (or a Titan's throne presumably) is destroyed, they are severely weakened; this is possibly what gave Luke Castellan the power to control himself, with Kronos in a weakened state. This also implies that Kronos will never reform again without a seat of power.
 * At one point Percy realizes Kronos is technically his grandfather, and finds this disturbing.