Kronos

"Finally! The Olympian Council- so proud and mighty. Which seat of power shall I destroy first?"

- Kronos

Kronos (also spelled as Cronus) is the King of the Titans and the most powerful child of Gaea and Ouranos. Kronos is the main antagonist in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, being directly responsible for some of the major events in the series. Kronos is the Titan Lord of Fate, Harvest, Justice, and Time. His Roman counterpart is Saturn.

History
The Titans were the youngest of the three races born to Gaea the Earth and Ouranos the Sky, after the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes. All were detested by their father, but he both feared and hated the elder children so much that he imprisoned them in the abyss of Tartarus, which was itself deep within the Earth. Enraged, Gaea got pregnant and told her remaining children to avenge their brothers and overthrow their draconian parent. Kronos was the boldest of the siblings and, initially, only he would agree to help his mother. Using a scythe fashioned by Gaea, he sliced Ouranos into a thousand pieces and claimed his supremacy over the universe (In some versions of the same myth, it is stated that Kronos did not slice Ouranos apart; instead he removes Ouranos' testicles and throws them into the sea. These would later mix with the ocean spray to form Aphrodite. Kronos would later face the same fate at the hands of Zeus).

During his reign, Kronos would usher in an era of peace and prosperity for the Titans, and took his sister Rhea as his bride and queen. His rule would also see the genesis of mankind and be called their 'Golden Age'. However, Kronos abandoned his imprisoned siblings to their fates out of the belief that they would only pose a threat to his authority.

At the height of his power, Kronos was warned by Gaea that he would be supplanted by his own child just as he had usurped his father long before. Determined to avoid this fate, he decided to swallow his children alive so that they could never overthrow him. Rhea pleaded with Kronos to spare their children but with no success. Kronos' wife eventually gave birth to a sixth and, of their union, final child on Mount Ida, and deceived her husband into devouring a stone swaddled in cloths instead, after getting him drunk. This sixth son would be called Zeus.

Kronos had only a single, brief affair, which resulted in the birth of Chiron. When Zeus grew to adulthood, he infiltrated his father's palace on Mount Othrys and slipped an emetic into the Titan Lord's drink which forced him to disgorge Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon, who had been growing undigested in Kronos' stomach, being gods. Kronos' children quickly declared war against him and eventually triumphed in the consequent Titanomachy where his followers were banished and Kronos was dismembered into thousands of pieces by Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades who used the very weapon that Kronos had used to eviscerate Ouranos. His followers (including Rhea, ironically) and the resulting pieces were cast into Tartarus.

The Lightning Thief
Knowing of the resentment between demigods and their godly parents, Kronos decided to use this to his advantage and find a follower willing to oppose the gods. Kronos found this follower in Luke Castellan, a son of Hermes, who had begun questioning the Olympians ever since his father "abandoned" both him and his mother. After seeing the fate of Halcyon Green and his close friend Thalia Grace being turned into a tree, this questioning turned to resentment and hatred, which made him a perfect ally for Kronos. The evil Titan King contacted Luke in his dreams and manipulated him to his cause, ordering him to steal the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness, the legendary weapons of Zeus and Hades respectively, which would start a civil war amongst the gods as both Zeus and Hades would blame Poseidon because his son Percy Jackson was living in New York.

Luke succeeded in stealing the bolt and the helm during a camp field trip to Olympus, but Luke was caught and defeated by Ares. Kronos saved Luke by manipulating Ares through the demigod, telling Ares that if the weapons were successfully stolen, a war would begin. Ares let Luke go, but kept the weapons for himself. Luke was later punished by Kronos through nightmares. When Luke promised never to fail him again, Kronos told him that a boy would be coming to Camp Half-Blood soon, and they would use that boy to send the Master Bolt to Tartarus, where Kronos would be able to gain them and possibly use them to break free. That boy turned out to be Percy Jackson, who foiled Kronos' plan by retrieving the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness and returning them to their respective masters. Percy initially suspects Hades, and Kronos' involvement is only revealed after Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood and Luke poisons him before leaving the camp.

The Sea of Monsters
Luke explains to Percy that when demigods join his cause they make the Olympians weaker and make Kronos and the Titans stronger. Luke captures Percy, Annabeth and Tyson, they see Kronos' Sarcophagus in Luke's room on the Princess Andromeda. It is described as making the room colder and darker. Luke explains how he is bringing Kronos from Tartarus, and every time a demigod renounces the gods to follow Kronos, a piece of Kronos appears in the sarcophagus.

Kronos intended to have Percy and his friends claim the Golden Fleece, and then take it from them to return to full power. However, he then intended to return the Fleece to Percy, so that Thalia could be reborn, and give him another chance to control the Great Prophecy, since he was confident in his abilities to sway her to his side.

The Titan's Curse
Kronos himself doesn't make an appearance, but as Thalia approaches Mount Orthys on Mr. Chase's car, he strikes her with lightning. Right before Thalia fights Luke and Percy fights Atlas, two telekhines are seen carrying Kronos' Sarcophagus up to Mount Orthys.

The reason why Kronos wanted Thalia to be reborn is finally revealed: he intended her to become the one of the Great Prophecy and to gain the power to destroy Olympus by burning the Ophiotaurus entrails. Luke also reveals Kronos' plan to invade Camp Half-Blood, and, later, Olympus itself.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
Kronos' Scythe is first seen in Mount Saint Helens, when the telekhines re-forged it out of Backbiter. Percy describes it as the most terrifying weapon he's ever seen.

Later, Kronos' Sarcophagus appears on Mount Orthys, when Percy is traveling through the Labyrinth that Hera opened. Ethan Nakamura swears loyalty to the Titan, waking Kronos, who uses Luke's body as a host, and he comes back from Tartarus. Percy tries to fight him, but is unable to harm him, as Kronos bears the Curse of Achilles. Kronos slows down time, and would have killed Percy, had he not been momentarily distracted when Rachel Elizabeth Dare throws her blue hairbrush at him and it hits him in the eye. This gives Percy and his friends enough time to escape, however, by creating a rock barrier between them and the Titan King, Nico di Angelo reveals himself as a son of Hades. Kronos is unable to lead his forces into Camp Half-Blood, as he had initially planned, and the Battle of the Labyrinth takes place without him.

The Last Olympian
Kronos, still using Luke's body as a host, is on the Princess Andromeda, where he manages to capture Percy and Charles Beckendorf, as they try to blow up the ship. Percy fights him, but Kronos easily gains the upper hand and wounds Percy with his Scythe, almost killing him. Kronos was the only one besides Percy who survived the explosion on the Princess Andromeda.

Kronos has his brother Krios defend Mount Othrys, his brother Oceanus attack Poseidon, and his brother Hyperion join his gathering forces in Manhattan. He also used the storm monster Typhon as a distraction for the Olympians, which meant that only the demigods stood in the way of his plan of Olympus' destruction. Before putting his plan into action, Kronos has the minor gods Morpheus and Hecate cast a huge sleeping spell, causing all of the mortals in Manhattan to fall asleep.

Kronos leads an offensive against Olympus, which results in the bloodiest battle of the Second Titanomachy, but Kronos only could do it at night when he was strongest. After Percy gets the Curse of Achilles and pushes back his forces, Kronos watches Percy from the other shoreline as Percy destroys the bridge. Back at his base in Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium, he asks Ethan Nakamura if he knows where Percy's Achilles Heel is, but he claims he does not know.

He later sends Ethan and the Titan Prometheus to Percy for a peace meeting, where Prometheus asks the demigods to surrender, but Percy refuses. In turn, Kronos sends a monster that can only be defeated by a child of Ares, the Lydian Drakon on Percy's forces during the day while they are still recovering. The monster however is defeated when Clarisse La Rue kills it after Silena Beauregard died trying. As Kronos makes his last march on Olympus, Kronos has a brief encounter with his son Chiron, after which Kronos blasts him against a wall. When Kronos' army is attacked by Hades's forces, Hades challenges Kronos to a duel. However, Kronos prefers to hide behind an energy field (which implies that even he was afraid of fighting Hades) and manages to get to the Empire State Building. Kronos takes the elevator up to Olympus and starts destroying the statues of the gods and even plans on destroying the thrones, causing Olympus to fade forever.

Kronos and Percy battle for the last time in the Hall of the Gods, with neither gaining the upper hand. Then Ethan Nakamura sees that Kronos can only bring destruction and stabs him with his sword, which shatters and ends up hurting himself. Kronos knocks the mortally wounded Ethan off Olympus and resumes his battle with Percy. He finally manages to disarm Percy, but is distracted by Annabeth Chase, who reminds Luke of the promise he made her. Luke manages to regain control over his body and takes Annabeth's knife from Percy (the cursed blade of the Great Prophecy), and stabs himself in his Achilles heel (his armpit). As a result, Kronos was spread to the wind, hopefully spread so thin, that he could never take a form or be conscious again.

The House of Hades
All throughout the book, Percy wonders if little Kronos particles are flying around, laughing at him as he walked in Tartarus. Bob and Krios talk about holding down Ouranus while Kronos cut him into little pieces. The other Titans believe that Kronos is incapable of reforming anymore.

Personality
In Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Kronos is cruel and cunning, with an insatiable lust for power. He jealously guarded his dominion as king and has shown his ruthlessness in the pursuit of his ambitions. Even worse than his megalomania was his savagery towards anyone he deems to be a threat, up to and including his own children. Despite this, he does seem to care for his brothers and sisters though his love for Rhea was not enough to overpower his selfish nature. A master manipulator, Kronos has influenced some of the gods and their children through his scheming. While Kronos does seem to be irredeemable in this context, it should be noted that Kronos' reign is repeatedly referred to in Greek and Roman mythology as one of the best times in all of history for humanity, and that he is credited with control over such things as fate and the harvest.

Appearance
Kronos' true appearance is unknown as his original body had been destroyed in the First Titanomachy, but he is described as having golden eyes while possessing Luke with an ancient, cold, and powerful voice (like knives scraping against stone according to Percy) whenever he spoke.

Abilities
As the Titan King, and the father of the Big Three, Kronos is arguably the most powerful Titan.


 * Prowess in Battle: Even for a Titan, he has enhanced strength, as he was stronger than Percy bearing the Achilles Curse, and fighting him is described as “fighting a hundred swordsmen.” However, because Kronos was inhabiting Luke Castellan's body, it is unknown how much skill was Kronos' and how much was Luke's. In addition, because he was in Luke's body, he was not able to use all of his physical and magical power capacity as he was limited by being hosted by a demigod body.


 * Chronokinesis: As the Titan of Time, Kronos is able to control and manipulate time.
 * He can freeze objects by stopping time around them.
 * He can slow time down outside a certain area like in The Last Olympian, where time outside Manhattan seemed to slow to a crawl.


 * Electrokinesis: He is able to send lightning bolts from the sky as shown in The Titans Curse when he summons a lightning bolt down from the sky which destroys the car the demigods were riding in to manipulate Thalia Grace into thinking that her own father, Zeus is trying to kill her.


 * Titanic Energy: Like other Titans, Kronos can release a blast of energy from his body.


 * Titanic Divine Form: Like the gods, Kronos also has a Divine Form. However, Dionysus describes Kronos’ Divine Form as being extremely powerful, incinerating any being less than a god/Titan, even if they aren't looking at him and are only in his presence.


 * Manipulation: Kronos is a master of manipulation, rarely doing things himself and getting others to do them for him. During the series, he tries to corrupt demigods into turning away from the gods and join his cause (though children of the Big Three are shown to have more resistance to this). This is shown when he is able to convince Luke Castellan, Ethan Nakamura, Chris Rodriguez, Alabaster C. Torrington, and many other demigods to fight on his side in the second Titanomachy. He can even manipulate the gods to some extent, as he managed to manipulate Ares into starting a war among the gods. Later, many minor gods join Kronos' side. Because of his manipulative nature, he is sometimes called “The Crooked One.”

The Lightning Thief
Oddly, Kronos did not have an important part in the film and his role was limited to a passing mention by Chiron. It is unclear if he was the one who made Luke believe that the heroes should take over and if he had any association with the theft of Zeus' Master Bolt. Luke stated it was he who wanted the demigods to rule Olympus, not Kronos (though this could be a lie or rather Kronos twisted his will to make him think so, but it is unlikely).

The Sea of Monsters
Kronos is officially introduced in the sequel, voiced by Robert Knepper. Here, Luke is trying to resurrect him with the Golden Fleece, as in the novel, and is keeping him in a golden sarcophagus. He is also mentioned in the Great Prophecy, this time as the "evil soul" meant to be reaped by a cursed blade.

In the climax of the film, Luke resurrects Kronos, but gets eaten by the Titan. He then proceeds to engage the heroes in a battle, taunting Percy whilst doing so. In the end, however, Percy defeats Kronos and sends him back to his sarcophagus, but it is later revealed that he is still reforming.

It should be noted that this is the first time ever that Kronos is seen in full force, since the novels depict him hiding in the shadows of Tartarus, reforming in his sarcophagus, and possessing Luke.

Trivia

 * His daughter Demeter says that he has no appreciation of agriculture, yet ironically, he is the Titan of the Harvest.
 * In some Roman myths, Kronos actually was a good Titan; he was sometimes known as a kind ruler of Rome and taught them agriculture and peace, and Zeus overthrew him for power of the world, which had changed him. In most Greek myths not designed for the worship of a specific god, Kronos, like most gods, is portrayed as neither good nor evil.
 * In Roman mythology, Kronos was named Saturn. The sixth planet from the sun was later named Saturn and the Romans had a celebration called Saturnalia named for Saturn on the winter solstice.
 * Despite being a Greek-Roman Titan, he possessed a human similar to how the Egyptian gods exist inside a human host in Rick Riordan's Egyptian trilogy, The Kane Chronicles.
 * His mythomagic card has infinite attack and defense.
 * Chronostasis, the effect which is when you look at a clock and the second hand seems to freeze for a moment, is named after Kronos.

Gallery
Cronos Cronos