Poseidon

"NOW, MY BRETHREN! STRIKE FOR OLYMPUS!"

- Poseidon

Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν in Ancient Greek), also known as The Earthshaker and The Father of Horses. He is a child of Kronos and Rhea. He is the father of Percy Jackson, the child of the Great Prophecy. His Roman counterpart is Neptune.

He was played by Kevin McKidd in The Lightning Thief (film).

History
Poseidon spent his childhood in his father's stomach, along with the rest of his brothers and sisters. When Metis and Zeus made Kronos regurgitate his brothers and sisters, Poseidon joined their cause and battle against the Titans, along with his siblings Hades, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera, beginning the First Olympian War. They all destroyed Kronos in the First Titan War. And after they won the war against the Titans, the three brothers; Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew lots. Zeus drew the sky, and Poseidon the sea. Hades got the Underworld as this was the only realm left after his brothers. Because of this, Hades despised his brothers, and this would cause him to become a slow raging god.

Poseidon built a palace in the sea, replaced Oceanus the old sea Titan, and married one of his daughters, Amphitrite. She became Queen of the sea, and they ruled together. They had a son, and named him Triton, whom is his heir to his throne.

Poseidon is the father of many heroes, including Theseus. His half-blood son is Percy Jackson. Tyson the Cyclops is also Percy's half-brother that comes along in the second book, The Sea of Monsters.

Rivalry with Athena
Poseidon and Athena both competed to be the patron god of Athens. Poseidon's gift was a saltwater spring while Athena's was the olive tree. The people of Athens chose Athena over Poseidon, because they saw that her gift was better than Poseidon's. This most likely angered Poseidon, because he was one of the 'Big Three' gods (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades), and Athena was a less important goddess.

Poseidon and Medusa
Poseidon had a sexual relationship with Medusa who was originally a maiden and priestess of Athena. Athena once caught Poseidon with his girlfriend Medusa (who was once a pretty maiden) together in her temple engaging in disgusting acts in her virgin temple (as Athena is a virgin godess). ( Furious at Poseidon and Medusa for doing such disgusting acts in her temple, she turned Medusa and her sisters into the "Three Gorgons." This is also possibly a main cause for Athena's rivalry with Poseidon.

Relationship with Sally
Poseidon fell in love and dated Sally Jackson, a beautiful mortal woman that he called 'a queen among women' and that he hadn't found a woman like her in a thousand years. He kept their love a secret from Zeus, knowing that he would kill Sally once she was pregnant just as Hades did to Maria di Angelo. They vacationed together at Montauk, and conceived Percy. After a while, Poseidon left heartbroken. However before he did so, he told Sally to send their son to Camp Half-Blood when he was old enough.

Poseidon later visited Percy when he was a baby. Poseidon was overjoyed at the sight of his newborn sire and ever since then, Percy has always remembered the warm glow of his father's smile. Unaware, his mother thought that they had never met.

When Percy made it to Camp Half-Blood, he did not know who his father was. Poseidon knew that Percy was his son, but had yet to tell him since he was arguing with his brother, Zeus, about Zeus's stolen lightning bolt.

The Lightning Thief
After Percy survived the Hellhound's attack (within Camp Half-Blood), Poseidon claimed him. This caused discord among the gods of Olympus, as this was proof that Poseidon had not honored the pact he had made with his two brothers. After Zeus' lightning bolt was discovered to be missing, Zeus suspects Poseidon used Percy to steal it, and demands he return it by the Summer Solstice, and Poseidon in turn wanted an apology for being suspected on that date.

A quest is given to his son Percy to find the missing lightning bolt and return it in time in order to stop a war amongst the gods. He succeeds, and Poseidon got to meet his son formaly. He told Zeus that he had admitted his wrongdoing, and Percy felt like he was just a god's mistake. Poseidon was feeling very sorry for Percy, because being a hero means a tragic end for most heroes. Percy told his father he wasn't sorry for being who he was, and Poseidon told him that he was a true son of the Sea God.

The Sea of Monsters
Poseidon does not appear, but he is said to have sent his Cyclops son Tyson to the same school as Percy, in order to get them to know each other, and sent the Hippocampi to Percy and his friends, also Percy gets a letter from him telling him to "Brace yourself" Even though he was only 13 it could mean something about the prophecy. It could also refer to Thalia's resurrection later in the book.

The Titan's Curse
Poseidon joins the party on Olympus, talks to Percy about Luke, and about his prophecy. Percy assures his father he isn't afraid. Poseidon vouches for Percy and Bessie in the end, saving Bessie's life.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Poseidon visits Percy, Sally, and Tyson at their apartment. Sally was embarrassed at seeing her old boyfriend and former first husband again. Percy and Tyson greet him, and Poseidon is introduced to Sally's boyfriend, Paul Blofis. Poseidon then tells Percy of the war he is having in his underwater kingdom, and gives him a birthday present, a sand-dollar. He then warns Percy of the upcoming disasters, and leaves. He also tells Percy that he is his favorite son.

The Last Olympian
When Percy sees Poseidon, he looks aged and weak, unlike the man he once knew. Poseidon was busy fighting the Titan of the sea, Oceanus, who was constantly attacking his kingdom. Poseidon had been fighting so hard, his strength had been deteriorated. However, Percy was able to convince Poseidon to come up from his kingdom and help defend Olympus, with Poseidon and his cyclopes aid in defeating Typhon and send him to Tartarus, effectively saving Olympus.

Family
Poseidon is married to Amphitrite. He has a son, Triton with her.

He is the father of Percy Jackson and the Cyclops Tyson. He is the father of many famous demigods in the myths, like Zeus. Triton is his immortal son. He also fathers many Cyclopes, including Polyphemus, the famous cyclops that Odysseus had encountered.

He loves his sons Percy and Tyson; he also seems not to have a problem with Percy's relationship with Annabeth, and is glad Percy has found someone to love.

It is hinted in the end of The Last Olympian that he has more unclaimed children, though it's unclear whether or not he's kidding, as he both winks as though he's joking, and then reminds Percy to "know which ones can land", obviously talking about the future demigods that will appear, though whether or not he's talking about his own children is unknown. Poseidon also has an immortal family in his underwater palace.

Children

 * Percy Jackson
 * Tyson
 * Triton
 * Antaeus
 * Polyphemus
 * Pegasus
 * Chryasor
 * Theseus
 * Bellerophon
 * Aloeus
 * Orion
 * Procrustes

Personality
Poseidon is overall a benevolent god, although he shares many characteristics with his brother Zeus being stubborn, proud, and temperamental. However, he appears to have matured over the centuries to a point where these attributes do not dominate him to the same extent they do Zeus, making him much more reasonable. He cares for his children and watches over them more than many of the other gods actively giving them advice or aiding them indirectly many times during the series, showing a more caring and overally human personality who Percy bears a lot of traits from.

Appearance
He has black hair, a neatly trimmed beard, sea-green eyes, and a nice tan except for pale wrinkles by his eyes and cheeks to show that whenever he's in the sun he's smiling. He wears Birkenstocks (leather sandals), khaki Bermuda shorts, and a shirt with coconuts and parrots on it, and a battered cap decorated with fishing lures. It says NEPTUNE'S LUCKY FISHING HAT. During The Last Olympian, he has grey hair and looked old, as his kingdom was badly damaged. At the end of The Last Olympian though, he is back to his normal appearance.

Neptune
Poseidon can change his appearance and turn into his Roman counterpart, Neptune. As Neptune, he becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. He might have more children at the Roman Camp Half-Blood (might or might not be) in San Francisco.

Abilities
Poseidon is an extremely powerful god rivaled only by his brothers Zeus, and Hades, and surpassed only by Typhon. As the personifacation of the sea, he has omnipotent control over the ocean. He is capable of summoning and controlling fierce storms over the water, though it is unknown to what extent he can summon storms over land or how his weather powers compare to Zeus. Poseidon also has overall powers on the ground. With his trident, he can create massive earthquakes, hence of one of his names : The Earthshaker. Like all gods, his sphere is one with his emotions- when he is angry, he inadvertently summons hurricanes, when at peace, the sea is calm. He possesses the natural abilities of a god. He has all of Percy's abilities, but to a much greater degree.

His power compared to Zeus is a subject of much debate. It is generally agreed that Zeus is stronger, with Poseidon being a close second, however this is mostly because of the spheres they are one with in which Zeus(sky) being the heighest and Poseidon(ocean) in the middle. During the second Titanmoachy he was the only god to seriously wound Typhon, but there were extenuating circumstances on both sides that make the true status in doubt.

Symbol of Power
Poseidon's symbol of power is the trident. He can project beams of blue light from it that can transform targets or even outright destroy what they hit.