Giant

Giants are large human-like creatures with often primitive or slow brains but amazing physical abilities. Giants exist in many other cultures as well, other than just the Greeks.

History
In Greek Mythology, the Giants were born from Gaia when she fertilized the blood of Uranus after Kronos castrated him. Afterwards, Kronos imprisoned the Giants with the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes in Tartarus.

Some time after the Titans were defeated in the First Olympian War, Gaia had the Giants rise up against the Olympians and restore the Titan rule as part of her revenge for the Titans' imprisonment in Tartarus. Led by Porphyrion and Alcyoneus, they tested the strength of the Olympians in what is known as the Gigantomachia or Gigantomachy. The Giants Otus and Ephialtes hoped to reach the top of Mount Olympus by stacking the mountain ranges of Thessaly, Pelion, and Ossa, on top of each other.

The Olympians called upon the aid of Hercules after a prophecy warned them that he was required to defeat the Giants. Heracles slew not only Alcyoneus, but dealt the death blow to the Giants who had been wounded by the Olympians. Hercules and the Olympians managed to defeat the Giants and condemn them to Tartarus with the Titans.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Giants are seen many times in the Percy Jackson series. Most of them are on the side of Kronos.

Types of Giants
There are different types of Giants:


 * Some can be vicious cannibals like the Laistrygonian giants that encountered Percy Jackson from The Sea of Monsters onwards.
 * Others can be quite peaceful unless they're fooled into working for Kronos like the Hyperborean giants in the Last Olympian.
 * The great giants, sons of Gaea and Tartarus, are a threat to even Olympians, and are main antagonists of the Heroes of Olympus series.

Known Giants
The known giants in Greek Mythology include:


 * Agrios - A Giant who was clubbed to death by the Fates.
 * Alcyoneus - The leader of the Giants. He was killed by Hercules.
 * Clytius - A Giant who was immolated by Hecate.
 * Enceladus - A Giant who was killed by Athena. Later reawakened in The Lost Hero by Gaea's growing power.
 * Ephialtes - A Giant who assisted Otus into stacking mountain after mountain in order to reach Mount Olympus. He was killed by the arrows launched by Apollo and Hercules.
 * Eurytus - A Giant who was killed by Dionysus.
 * Geryon - A Giant that works at Triple G Ranch.
 * Gration - A Giant who was killed by Artemis' arrows.
 * Hippolytus - A Giant who was killed by Hermes.
 * Mimas - A Giant who was killed by a volley of molten lava launched by Hephaestus.
 * Otus - A Giant who assisted Ephialtes into stacking mountain after mountain in order to reach Mount Olympus.
 * Pallas - A Giant who was killed by Athena.
 * Polybotes - A Giant who was crushed beneath the island of Nisyros by Poseidon.
 * Porphyrion - The second-in-command of the Giants. He was wounded by Zeus and killed by Hercules. Later reawakened in The Lost Hero by Gaea's growing power.
 * Thoon - A Giant who was clubbed to death by the Fates.