Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-3542839-20140227002012/@comment-5471249-20140708175654

Kralos wrote:

Well, it would depend on what you mean by "greatest". Greatest doesn't have to be the strongest or the most feared. For example, Piper is neither one of the strongest or the most feared of the age, but is one of the 7. Greatest may refer to those who have achieved the greatest feats and those who have the largest potential to do so. Annabeth has achieved greater feats than Nico has, excluding the raising the dead thing Nico does. I quite agree, Kralos, "greatness" does not neccessarily imply great physical strength, power, or infamy. HOWEVER, let us examine this matter more closely...

1) About Piper... While she is by no means the most powerful or feared of the Seven Heroes of Olympus, Piper, as I can see, is vasty underestimated by most fans of the series. Think about it: with her great skill in Charmspeak, Piper is certainly the most powerful demigod child of Aphrodite, in terms of amokinetic potential. We must also not forget that Piper was even able to melt Khione´s ice through her powers in amokinesis. Not that was certainly incredible feat of using the powers of love alone... in that sense, I love how Piper´s abilities imply that "love conquers all"! Furthermore, while she was initially a rather pathetic swordswoman, Piper, through her spars with Hazel, has quickly become quite skilled. In the beginning of "The Blood of Olympus", her skills improved to the point that she single-handedly defeated an entire flock of "demon chicken ladies" while on guard duty.  Hence, Piper is nothing less than a prodigee, and I do not think that she is a good example for your initial statement. 2) Yes, "greatest" certainly could imply the potantial to acheive great feats, I do not deny that. HOWEVER, you cannot deny that as a child of the Big Three, Nico has a greater potential to do this that Annabeth. You mentioned that Annabeth has achieved greater feats.  Let us examine this closely... While Annabeth may surpass him in quick thinking (especially when it comes to battle strategy), Nico is, undoutedly the greater warrior of the two, even though he has had FAR less training than Annabreth. Think about it!  Nico was able to keep up with the more experienced Thalia and Percy during their fith with the Keres; Nico fought well against the Titan Iapetius (while he was still a beginner); Nico survived the most intense portion of the Battle of Manhattan unscathed; Nico is able to fight Gaea´s army at the House of Hades with only one hand (!); finally, Nico was even able to survive in Tartarus on his own, while seeing Tartarus for what it truly was for the entire time!!! By comparison, while Annabeth was quickly defeated by Ethan Nakamura; while she did briefly fight Kronos himself, she was overwhelmed and defeated almost at once; Annabeth admitted that Reyna (and Hazel has stated that Nico is more skilled and dangerous than her) is a more skilled warrior than her; Annabeth has never defeated a single Titan or Giant;  and Annabeth barely survived in Tartarus, even with Percy and Iapetius to back her up! So far, I don´t see Annabeth´s "greater feats" that you have mentioned. I only see Nico, a prodigious demigod, who´s feats clearly surpass Annabeth´s, which is all the more impressive, if you recall that she has had 9 years of training, while, Nico has barely had 3!