Ethan Nakamura

"Deserve better...if only they just...had thrones-"

- Ethan to Percy Jackson with his dying breath

Ethan Nakamura is the Greek demigod son of Nemesis, the minor goddess of Revenge and Balance. He joined the Titan Army in the Second Olympian War, but was killed after he betrayed Kronos.

History
Ethan grew up like most demigods. When he was old enough he was brought to Camp Half-Blood by an unknown satyr. As his mother never claimed him, he was stuck in the Hermes cabin, similar to what happened with many other members of this cabin. Like most demigods that turned to Kronos' side, the fact that he remained unclaimed and unrecognized by the other members of Camp Half-Blood, enraged Ethan and that propelled him to join the King of the Titans.

He met his mother Nemesis one day, and she promised that he would one day balance the world power, in exchange for his left eye. She made him blind in his left eye and he wore an eye patch over it. In the series when he later recounted this story to Percy, whose response was "great mom." Other than this, it is assumed Ethan and his mother never met again. It is unknown if Nemesis removed his eye or just blinded it.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
Ethan fought Percy in Antaeus' Arena, as it was the only way to join Kronos' army. However, due to Ethan's heavy armor and Percy deliberately fighting to tire him out, he lost to Percy. He seemed to accept his fate, and told Percy to "get on with it" and kill him. But Percy refused to kill him and helped him up instead. When Percy killed Antaeus, Ethan escaped the Arena along with Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel.

After escaping and telling the others his story, Ethan ran off on his own, declining their help.

Ethan is later seen with two telekhines, discussing their plan to resurrect Kronos. Percy, who was wearing Annabeth's magical Yankees cap to be invisible, took it off and begged Ethan not to resurrect Kronos. Percy had spared him, but Ethan betrayed him, and by joining Kronos' cause, he raised Kronos. He is the traitor mentioned by the Oracle of Delphi in the prophecy that the Oracle gave in the beginning of the book.

The Sword of Hades
Ethan, with the assistance of Iapetus, stole the unfinished Sword of Hades with the intention of using it to resurrect many of the Titans from Tartarus. After Iapetus fell into the River Lethe and the sword was retrieved, Ethan fled.

The Last Olympian
Ethan is a lieutenant of Kronos'. He enters battle, led by Kronos, and almost kills Percy with a poisoned knife, almost stabbing him in his "Achilles's heel" or weak spot. But Annabeth manages to get in the way, and he stabs her instead. Percy is furious and hits Ethan on the helmet with his sword, denting his helmet and knocking Ethan unconscious.

It is unknown how Ethan knew where Percy's vulnerable spot was. When confronted by Kronos about where exactly he was aiming when facing Percy in battle, he tries to imitate the attack. He simply claimed that he wasn't aiming for any place in particular and it was all a blur to him. It's possible one of the gods, probably Nemesis, was acting through Ethan because she felt that Percy Jackson should be torn down due to his invulnerability. Nemesis is the goddess of revenge, after all. Or, a blow to the head by Percy caused him to suffer some short-term memory loss (a common side effect of a concussion) and he forgot about the spot, or he might have just aimed blindly.

During their last showdown, while Kronos is destroying the Olympian Throne Room and the gods' thrones, Percy pleads with Ethan that Kronos is evil and that destroying everything would not bring about balance, which Ethan being a son of Nemesis is trying to achieve.

Ethan rebels against Kronos at the last second, saving Percy's life. Ethan strikes Kronos' neck, but the blade shatters instead, one piece ricocheting into his stomach. Ethan tells Percy, with his dying breath, that the minor gods, like his mother Nemesis, deserve thrones and appeasement or forgiveness from the rest of the gods as they've been treated lowly. Kronos then causes him to die by making a fissure in Olympus. Ethan falls into empty air, thousands of feet above ground. This makes Ethan the last person to be killed by Kronos.

Percy made Ethan a shroud after the battle, choosing to remember him for his good deeds rather than his evil deeds. His shroud is black silk with swords crossed under a set of scales. To respect Ethan's dying wish, Percy uses his gift from the gods to have them swear on the River Styx that they will honor and claim all the children of all of the gods by the time they turn thirteen, and the minor gods themselves by putting cabins in Camp Half-Blood.

Personality
Ethan is a good fighter, a brave and strong boy. He is considered untrustworthy, as he betrayed Percy, and later switched sides again and attacked Kronos.

Appearance
Percy stated that Ethan had glossy black hair and a slim, wiry build. His Greek armor hung off of him slightly when he was wearing it (showing that it was too big, likely because of his slim build). He is a good fighter. His most recognizable feature is the black eye patch over his left eye and being a Japanese American. In The Last Olympian, Percy squashed his nose with Riptide. It was said to look "like a squashed tomato." It is not clear whether his mother, Nemesis, completely removed his eye or simply just took away its ability to see.

Abilities

 * Ethan is a good fighter, despite the lack of one eye.
 * Ethan has a certain understanding of weapons.

Etymology
Ethan's last name Nakamura is a Japanese name that means "middle village".

Trivia

 * Ethan gave up his eye to his mother as an offering to her because he was told he could create balance by doing so.
 * His first name means "strong, firm and impetuous", this can be seen as him being strong and firm during a deul despite lacking one eye, but at the same time being acting impetuous by attacking Kronos from behind but forgetting that he had Achilles' Curse.