Annabeth Chase

"I'm never, ever going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain." -Annabeth Chase

Annabeth Chase is the demigod daughter of Athena and Fredrick Chase. She is Percy Jackson's best friend and first and current girlfriend.

She is portrayed by Alexandra Daddario in The Lightning Thief (film)

Before Birth
Annabeth Chase's father, Frederick Chase, met her mother, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, while he was studying history in college. Athena helped him get through his studies and, while doing so, they fell in love. As a gift to Fredrick, Athena sent him Annabeth, who was a brain child like all other children of Athena, on Zephyr the West Wind in a golden cradle similarly to her mother, who was formed from her thoughts.

As a Child
When Annabeth was five, her father got re-married. He and his wife had two kids together, Matthew and Bobby. Because Annabeth was a demigod, their family was constantly being attacked by monsters. Annabeth's step-mom thought that she was a freak, so Annabeth ran away from home at the age of seven. She believed that she was not wanted at home, always feeling outcasted. She then fought monsters with the guidance of her mother, Athena, for a few months. Annabeth was found by Luke and Thaila. When they found her the only thing to defend herself with was a hammer. After they found her they went a lot of places with her then finally went to Camp Half-Blood. She always never wanted to go back home. She considers Camp Half-Blood her home since she was there for a lot of her child life.

Meeting Thalia Grace and Luke Castellan
Annabeth was in hiding under a sheet of corrugated iron in the same alley Thalia Grace and Luke Castellan were in. Thalia and Luke heard a noise coming from it, thinking it was a monster, they removed it, and Annabeth ran towards Luke with a hammer and almost hit him with it. Upon finding that Annabeth was a demigod, Luke and Thalia agreed that she could run away with them and Luke promised that he wouldn't let anything hurt her. Luke gave Annabeth a bronze knife so she would be able to protect herself. Together, they were on the run, fighting monsters and making hideouts on the East coast.

The Cyclops
Eventually, they ran into Grover, a satyr, who took them to camp, but took some wrong turns on the way. One of these was into a Cyclops's lair, and everyone but Annabeth became captured. Annabeth, after wandering around, found where they were keeping Thalia and Luke. They were hanging over a pot. The Cyclops, tried to get Annabeth to come to him by imitating her dad's voice, but instead of going to the voice and getting captured as well, she stabbed it hard on the foot and untied Thalia, who then took care of everything else.This is the reason Annabeth doesn't take too kindly to Tyson, Percy's half-brother who evidently is a cyclops.

Thalia's Pine Tree
Despite their escape, they were delayed long enough for the pack of monsters chasing them to catch up. They couldn't outrun them, so Thalia made the ultimate sacrifice; she elected to stay behind so they could make it safely to Half-Blood Hill. It is unknown whether she actually fought the monsters or not, but she most likely fought them and was mortally wounded. Zeus, feeling sorry for his daughter, saved her life by turning her into a pine tree, later renamed Thalia's Pine. This tree became a barrier for the camp against monsters and mortals unless they were invited over the barrier by someone from inside the camp.

Hearing the Prophecy
When Annabeth was 10 years old, she heard the Great Prophecy. She has had nightmares about it ever since. Every time a new camper came to Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth wondered if they were "the one" because Chiron told her that she would have a part to play in the Great Prophecy.

The Lightning Thief
Annabeth first appears in The Lightning Thief and is twelve years old. She initially was nicknamed "Wise Girl" and she sometimes calls Percy "Seaweed Brain" rather than by his name.

She first met Percy Jackson after he was attacked by the Minotaur while fighting his way to the top of Half-Blood Hill. While he is recovering from his battle wounds, she feeds him ambrosia and nectar, food of the Gods, in the Big House. The first words she spoke to him were, "You drool when you sleep," though this was once he was conscious, having earlier asked him about the Summer solstice when feeding him ambrosia. Afterward, she is very hostile, but when she hears that he is to go on quest, she wants to go along, thinking Percy is "the one" from Chiron's prophecy. Together, Annabeth, Percy, and Grover go searching for Zeus's lightning bolt because the gods think that Percy stole it. Throughout the book, Annabeth showed her unique intelligence, which she inherited from her mother, Athena, as well as her arachnophobia that she shared with all of her siblings on her mother's side (originating from the story of Arachne and Athena). At the end of the book, Annabeth is deeply hurt by Luke's betrayal. It is implied that she has a crush on him.

The Sea of Monsters
In The Sea of Monsters, Annabeth returned once again to help Percy save the camp, though this time as friends, the previous tension between them as a result of their parentage resolved at Percy's offer to put their differences aside. Together, they journeyed to the Sea of Monsters to find the Golden Fleece, which was essential in the effort to Thalia's tree at half-blood hill, thereby preserving the magical barrier to monsters around the Camp. A secondary goal (though not secondary to Percy) was to save Grover from Polyphemus, a huge cyclops, who had used the Golden Fleece to lure in unsuspecting satyrs searching for the long lost Pan. Her feelings for Percy first emerge when she quickly hugs Percy after saving him by giving him Hermes' vitamins. Annabeth hears the Sirens' song while on the boat, and although she'd convinced Percy to tie her to the mast, she escaped, hypnotized by the song. It is confirmed that her fatal flaw is hubris, being a child of Athena. She learned to accept Tyson, Percy's young Cyclops brother, overcoming a "bad experience" with a cyclops she had encountered in her past. When the fivesome, as they joined up with Clarisse (daughter of Ares), returned back to camp, Annabeth and Percy teamed up to win the chariot race waged between the cabins of the Camp. Following their victory, Annabeth's perpetual facade of calm cracked slightly when she kissed Percy on the cheek.

The Titan's Curse
In The Titan's Curse, Annabeth was kidnapped after a battle with Dr. Thorn, a Manticore, and was later forced to take the weight of the sky. Percy then had a dream about Annabeth being tortured by Luke, forcing the goddess Artemis to help her, and Luke carrying away Annabeth's lifeless and crumpled body. The Oracle of Delphi gave one of her ever-cryptic prophecies, and off went Percy, Thalia, Grover, Bianca di Angelo (a young girl whom Percy, Annabeth and Thalia were attempting to recruit when Annabeth was taken) and the Huntress, Zoë Nightshade, in pursuit. Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty, convinced Percy about his love for Annabeth, though she also made it exceptionally harder for them to fall in love. Though Percy was originally not included in the quest, Nico di Angelo appeared to him and convinced him to follow to protect his sister, Bianca di Angelo. He was seemingly unable to leave the fate of his best friend in the hands of others. After a prolonged quest, which included the loss of Bianca di Angelo, the group arrived at the ruins of the Titans' palace, and found Annabeth, with a grey streak in her hair as a result of lifting the sky; and Artemis, who was struggling under the weight of the sky; both captives of Luke and Atlas. Upon the reimprisonment of the Titan Atlas, the death of Zoe Nightshade, and the apparent death of Luke, Annabeth was saved by Percy and the others, along with her mortal father, who strafed monsters chasing the group using celestial bronze bullets he made from Annabeth's materials that she had left behind. Also, Annabeth's stepmom shows care for Annabeth in this book.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Annabeth is fifteen years old, and she and Percy find an entrance into the Labyrinth. She realizes that Luke may try to use this entrance to invade the camp and she is starting to realize she has feelings for Percy when she and Percy were supposed to go to the movies together, but when she finds out that Percy was accused of setting fire to his future school, (again) Goode High School, she is jealous because Rachel Elizabeth Dare, a red-headed mortal girl, is with him, and they leave for camp immediately. With the jealously of Rachel she gets in a fight with Percy. During the fight she won't talk to Percy and when before the problem at the high school Percy's mom Sally thinks that Annabeth and Percy are going on a date because the are going to the movie's alone together

Annabeth leads the quest into the Labyrinth, fulfilling one of her ambitions at last. Annabeth descends into the Labyrinth with Percy, Grover, and Tyson to find a way to stop Kronos's evil forces from entering the borders of Camp Half-Blood by searching for its inventor, Daedalus. The Oracle gave her a prophecy, which appears to have scared her and she refuses to say the last line. As they go into the Labyrinth, they face and fight many monsters. Annabeth faces a Sphinx and finds the riddles (which are actually factual questions) not challenging and an insult to her intellect. They escape the claws of the Sphinx and continue on to find Hephaestus so he can tell them about where to find Daedalus.

Annabeth believes that Percy will die when Mount St. Helens erupts but right before he goes in she kisses him, but this is not the case. Percy has instead been marooned on the island of Ogygia, where the sad but seductive Calypso resides. When she sees Percy return from Ogygia (whilst she is burning his shroud, believing him to be dead) she hugs him fiercely, scolding him; but quickly lets go when she realizes she is making a big scene in front of all of the other campers. While she finds out what happened to Percy after he tells her and Chiron, she angrily exits, figuring out where he was stranded, obviously feeling jealous. Percy takes mortal Rachel Elizabeth Dare, (much to Annabeth's dismay) to help them on their way through the labyrinth, and the three of them discover Luke, who has become Kronos's vessel. After a battle, Luke is forced back into the Labyrinth, leaving two casualties.

The Last Olympian
In The Last Olympian, Annabeth joins forces with the Campers and goes to New York City to save Manhattan from Kronos' army. At one point, she takes a poisoned knife for Percy, that Ethan was using to try to stab Percy. Even though he is already invincible by swimming in the River Styx, Annabeth senses he is in trouble and she jumps in the way. It is later revealed that if she didn't get in the way, Percy would have died, because his only weak spot, the small of his back, was vulnerable. Percy gets Blackjack to fly her away, takes Kronos on, and has to retreat. When Percy checks on Annabeth, he tells her where his Achilles spot is. Annabeth is the only other person that knows where it is, besides Percy.

When Annabeth is resting because of the knife, she tells Percy that Luke had visited her before they went into the Labyrinth explaining why Hermes was mad at her for not saving Luke when she had the chance, and she also states that Percy looks "cute" when he is worried.

She saves Percy and Olympus by finally realizing for whom the prophecy is truly meant for: Luke. She tells Percy to give Luke her knife (that was given to her by Luke when she was seven) so he can stab himself, which would banish Kronos to Tartarus.

Annabeth is rewarded by the gods, now being able to fulfill her dreams and design the gods a new city on Olympus, as the old one was ruined by the battle, she is also allowed to design the new cabins.

She and Percy celebrate his 16th birthday privately, in the apparently empty dining pavilion of Camp Half-Blood. Percy attempts to tell her he has strong feelings for her, but she is amused, up until the point he states that she is not making it easy for him to admit it. She laughs and warns him that she will never, ever make things easy for him, and that he should get used to it, and kissed him. Percy said that it felt like his brain was melting through his body, and that he could have stayed like that forever, until Clarisse and several other nosy campers eavesdrop on the whole episode, and they throw Percy and Annabeth into the camp lake. But Percy creates an air bubble, because he is a son of Poseidon, and they share, as Percy describes "the best underwater kiss of all time". In the end Percy is relieved that Annabeth is staying in New York.

The Lost Hero
The beginning of The Lost Hero shows her in a chariot to pick up the three demigods Jason, Piper, and Leo. It is revealed she and Percy are still dating. Annabeth and a demigod named Butch, went to the Grand Canyon in search for Percy, who has been missing for three days. Annabeth had been getting visions from Hera that a hero with one shoe will solve her problems, which is finding Percy. She is also shown frustrated and worried with Percy's disappearance. Before leaving the Grand Canyon, Annabeth yells, "What do you want from me? What have you done with him?"

Annabeth gives Piper a tour of Camp Half-Blood, having suspected that Piper's relationship with Jason was illusory (due to the Mist) and wanting to give Piper a chance to break down privately when she realized the same thing. Though she has been holding herself together as well as possible, it is obvious that Annabeth is equally crushed at losing Percy so mysteriously.

When Jason is given his quest to rescue Hera, Annabeth refuses to accompany the quest group, partly because the prophecy states that children of Hephaestus and Aphrodite will go instead, and partly out of her own distaste for Hera. Instead, she uses the time they are gone to continue her search for Percy.

After the quest group returns and relates their findings -- the rise of the giants, the attempted return of Gaea, and the fact that Jason was "exchanged" to the Greek Camp Half-Blood -- Annabeth puts everything together and realizes, as Jason has, that Percy has been taken to the Roman Camp Half-Blood as the corresponding half of the exchange. She vows to accompany Jason, Piper, and Leo when they journey there to retrieve him.

Personality
Annabeth is a brave, independent, and brilliant. She loves architecture, and spends her free time designing new buildings and visiting national monuments. Her fatal flaw is pride, or hubris: she thinks she can do anything and do it well, even better than the gods. Percy gains insight into this flaw during The Sea of Monsters, when he sees Annabeth's vision as she listens to the song of the Sirens.

Annabeth can be very possessive of the boys she loves, but also frustrated and confused by their behavior. She once considered joining the Hunters of Artemis, but eventually reconsidered and now thinks Artemis one of the least wise of the gods. Annabeth still has some feelings for Luke, and is afraid to lose Percy to another girl like Rachel or Calypso.

Fatal Flaw
Hubris, or deadly pride. Annabeth believes that she's able to do anything: get her parents back together, build great monuments, and save Luke as shown in The Sea of Monsters. She sometimes even thinks she could recreate the world, even better than how the gods did it.

Fears
Like all other Half-blood children of Athena, Annabeth has immense arachnophobia, freezing up just when she sees one or anything that bears a close resemblance to them. This fear is because of Athena's bad history with Arachne the mother of spiders and Arachne's hatred of Athena. A long time ago, the mortal Arachne challenged Athena to see who could make the best tapestry. Athena accepted the challenge, and the two both made a tapestry. Athena's tapestry was of the gods punishing mortals for being too full of pride. Arachne's tapestry insulted the gods by showing them being idiots. Athena destroyed the tapestry out of rage because her and Athena's were equally good, and Arachne also got turned into a spider. Ironically Arachne could still probably use the web from her spinnerets to make silk. Ever since then Athena's children have been paranoid that every spider they see is out to get them - which is largely true. According to Annabeth, spiders are unusually aggressive to children of Athena. Also, in The Demigod Files, you can see what is inside her trunk, which has a bottle of anti-spider bug spray. In the Lightening Thief, it is said that she was 'screaming her head off' by Percy when they were in the Tunnel of Love.

Physical Description
Annabeth has curly blond hair, with a gray streak from holding up the sky in The Titan's Curse. Percy said she "looked like a princess", and had typical California girl looks, except for her stormy gray eyes that Percy claimed to seem like she was analyzing whoever she was looking up at during a first meeting, as if thinking of the best way to take the person down. She has tanned skin and looks very athletic. Annabeth has been described to become seriously beautiful as the years went by. She often wears a ponytail, her magical Yankee cap, and/or her orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. Percy Jackson once claimed in The Demigod Files that full Greek armor isn't the most fashionable thing but with her curly ponytail off to one side he said Annabeth made it look good.

Powers/Abilities

 * She has her mother's wisdom and is very intelligent and clever.
 * She is knowledgeable in architecture and Greek gods/creatures which is very useful in journeys and battles.
 * She can turn invisible (with her Yankees invisibility cap given to her by her mother).
 * She is also a master strategist.
 * She is trained in hand-to-hand combat during her stay at Camp Half-Blood.
 * She fights best with a knife given to her by Luke when she was seven.
 * Like most demigods, she is diagnosed with Dyslexia. This means her brain is "hard-wired" for ancient greek.
 * ADHD, is a sign of a demigod's heightened senses and aptitude for battle.

Weapons and Magical Items

 * A magical Yankees baseball cap that makes her turn invisible when put on, given to her as a gift from her mom.
 * A Celestial bronze knife that she uses as a weapon. This knife was given to Annabeth by Luke. It was cursed when Luke betrayed Annabeth.
 * A necklace with beads from every year at Camp Half-Blood. It also has her father's college ring on it.
 * Medea's SPF 50,000 sunscreen, tropical coconut scented.
 * A waterproof yellow duffel bag.
 * A spider automaton that helped her, Percy, Grover, and Tyson find Hephaestus.
 * A Pair of Daedalus' wings.
 * A laptop of Daedalus' notes and designs, given to her by Daedalus in The Battle of the Labyrinth.
 * A video shield during The Last Olympian, made by Charles Beckendorf, a son of Hephaestus, designed by Daedalus.
 * A crossbow in the film.
 * A bow in the film.
 * A sword in the film. But it was mentioned in one of the books that she was fighting with a sword.
 * A knife near the end of the film.

Love Interests
A key subplot in the series is the relationship between Annabeth, Percy, and Luke. Luke is Annabeth's hero and one of her first half-blood friends. Annabeth likes Percy, which she hints at, but she still has lingering feelings towards Luke. At the end of The Last Olympian, Luke shows slight feelings for her, like an older brother. These feeling are present despite the fact that Luke and Percy are arch enemies and he has attempted to kill Percy numerous times. In The Sea of Monsters, it emerges that one of her life's wishes is to save Luke.

In the beginning of The Lightning Thief, Annabeth is shown to dislike Percy when she discovers that Percy is the hero of the prophecy. She thinks he is weak, and is influenced by the rivalry between her mother, Athena, and Percy's father, Poseidon.

At the very end of The Sea of Monsters, Annabeth kisses Percy on the cheek after winning the chariot race.

In The Titan's Curse, there are suggestions of some romance between Annabeth and Percy, although this is complicated by her lingering feelings towards Luke and the fact that her mother, Athena, disapproves of her "friendship" with Percy.

In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Annabeth finally expresses her feelings for Percy by kissing him good luck before vanishing using her Yankee's cap. When Percy returns, she is highly jealous, because she suspects he has been with Calypso, who is cursed to fall in love with a hero that lands on her island, Ogygia. It is also implied that Percy is trying to tell Annabeth about his feelings, but Annabeth remains distant due to her lingering feelings towards Luke.

In The Demigod Files, Annabeth asked Percy to the Fourth of July Fireworks which is the most romantic dating event of the summer. During her interview Annabeth states that Percy is courageous, has a sense of humor and is good-looking. She also says that he's oblivious to how people feel even when it is obvious, although she tries to hide what she is really talking about.

In The Last Olympian, after the defeat of Kronos and the saving of Luke's soul, the romantic relationship between Percy and Annabeth is solidified. Annabeth also states Percy looks 'cute when he's worried' when he first checks on her after she took a knife that was meant for him. Annabeth confides to Luke as he dies that she always saw him as a brother, but never loved him. When Percy was offered immortality by the Olympians, Percy saw that Annabeth was very pale, and he suspected she was having a panic similar to the one when he thought she was going to join the hunters of Artemis. Later, she and Percy share their third kiss after she tells him that she will never, ever make things easy for him. He describes it as if 'his brain felt it was melting through his body'. But, nosy campers snoop on this and throw them into the camp lake. Then comes to a fourth kiss underwater in an air bubble made by Percy. Who says it was 'the best underwater kiss of all time'. They are together as of the end of the Percy Jackson series. It is hinted that they might be married one day in the future, as Annabeth said she wanted "to build something permanent", and Percy states that maybe they were "getting a good start together". Percy was her first kiss.

In The Lost Hero, it is said that Percy and Annabeth are still dating. Percy goes missing for three days and Annabeth becomes very worried. Annabeth starts getting visions that tells her to go to the Grand Canyon to find someone with one shoe. Annabeth thought that person would be Percy, her boyfriend, but instead it was Jason, a new character. She gets mad at him, because she wants to find Percy. She yells at the sky saying," What do you want from me? What have you done with him?" At the end of the book, it is revealed that Percy and Jason are switched because they are both leaders of each camp much to Annabeth dismay.

Friends
Percy - Annabeth disliked Percy at first, thinking he was weak. But eventually their friendship tightens as they went on many quest together. At the end of the The Last Olympian, he became Annabeth's boyfriend.

Thalia - Annabeth has a close relationship with Thalia, first meeting her when she was seven and had run away from home. After Thalia sacrificed herself, to save her, Luke, and Grover her respect grew. Thalia returned with the magical powers of The Golden Fleece and Annabeth reestablished their close friendship

Grover - Grover was one of Annabeth's closest friends, helping her get to Camp Half-Blood. They remained friends throughout their relationship, and fought together often.

Luke - Despite Annabeth's lingering feelings, in The Last Olympian, she admitted she only loved Luke as a brother.

Rachel - Annabeth held a fierce rivalry with Rachel over Percy, and saved her life more than once. After Rachel became the Oracle, and is no longer interested in Percy, the two have reconciled and have become good friends.

Family
Mortal Family - Annabeth has had several issues with her mortal family. After her dad got remarried, she grew distant from him. She often ran away from home, and succeeded in doing so when she was seven, joining Luke and Thalia. After some time, she reestablished contact, and occasionally met with them. They tried to make it work several times, with something going wrong, most of the time. Around The Titan's Curse, it seems her relationship with them is getting better, and by The Last Olympian she seems to be living with them again. Athena - Annabeth has a close relationship with her mother, despite meeting her very little. Her mother trusts her and seems to see her as her pride. They seem to discuss many things and have a set of plans in preparation for any catastrophe. Athena made Annabeth, the new architect of Olympus, after the damage from The Battle of Manhattan. She disapproves of her relationship with Percy, but seems to have accepted it, though reluctantly.

Other Immortals
Dionysus - Dionysus often got Annabeth's name wrong, and seemed to care very little for her, despite being her camp director as well as her uncle.

Artemis - Annabeth respects Artemis, and one point Annabeth had considered joining the hunt but decided against it. Artemis does not seem to hold ill will to her from this choice, however.

Poseidon - Annabeth hasn't spoken to Poseidon directly, but unlike Athena, Posiedon has not shown any ill will to his son's relationship with her, unlike her mother.

Kronos - Kronos, her great-grandfather, was one of Annabeth's main enemies. She helped fight him, along with her friends, and in the end was largely responsible for his destruction.

The Hunters of Artemis
Annabeth was very close to joining the Hunters when she was a kid. This is known when Grover finds a brochure about the Hunt in her backpack, and Thalia states: "Annabeth wanted to join the Hunters. Maybe you should think about why." Another possible hint was when Percy and Annabeth were dancing in the military school, they are talking about her problems of moving to San Francisco. She says, "It's more serious than that. Percy I...I should probably tell you something." This could possibly mean that she was going to join the hunt to escape monsters and her problems. But in the end, she decides against it, and in her interview in The Demigod Files, when asked about what other god she thought on the Olympian council was wise, and was talking about Artemis, she says, "She doesn't understand guys, though. I guess nobody's perfect."

Film
In the film The Lightning Thief, Annabeth is portrayed by Alexandra Daddario. In the film, Annabeth is seen at Camp Half-Blood after Percy's battle with the Minotaur, fighting several campers at once and beats them all. She later takes on Percy during a game of Capture the Flag and very easily defeats him, until he goes to the water to heal himself, which he then proceeds to fight her more forcefully and successfully disarms her. Later, Annabeth decides to go on the quest with Percy and Grover. Medusa specifically wants to kill her because her mother, Athena, cursed her. Grover saves Annabeth and she drives the car that knocks Medusa to the ground to give Percy time to escape. She is a formidable fighter and shows her book counterpart's ability to react events that happened in Greek mythology, such as warning Percy about the Hydra and the story of Hercules and Hermes going to the Underworld.

Many critics and fans of the original book have complained about the fact that despite the big deal in the books about Annabeth being blonde, Alexandra Daddario is a brunette.

Trivia
Although Annabeth is said to have a streak of grey in her hair (like Percy) as of The Titan's Curse due to having taken the weight of the sky from Atlas, throughout the rest of the series this is not mentioned once, and in The Lost Hero Jason doesn't mention it
 * Unlike most demigods, Annabeth fights better with a knife than a sword.
 * In the books, Annabeth has blonde hair but in the movie, she has dark brown hair.
 * Her first name, 'Annabeth' is an anagram of 'Athena' with a few extra letters, a naming convention she shares with Clarisse (daughter of Ares).
 * Annabeth and Percy's partnership mirrors the creation of the chariot - Athena made the body of the chariot, and Poseidon created the horse as a creature to supply the muscle to make it move. Likewise, Annabeth is usually the one who comes up with the plan and Percy is the one who supplies the strength to make it work, and even sometimes it is reversed.
 * Annabeth is extremely touchy about people messing with her stuff. Percy made a joke that she has her knife reserved for two uses: monsters, and people who touch her things.
 * She is quite good at archery: her half-brother Malcolm told her one time that she had "Master's Archery class" with Chiron soon while she was in their cabin with Percy.
 * Her invisible Yankees baseball cap has a close resemblance with Hades' helm of invisibility.
 * Percy as Poseidon's son is Annabeth's uncle because Athena is Zeus' daughter and Poseidon is Athena's uncle because it percy is Annabeth's uncle.