| “ | No! No, I am Bryce Lawrence! I'm alive! | ” |
–Bryce as Nico forces him into the Underworld in The Blood of Olympus. | ||
Bryce Lawrence was a legacy of Orcus, the god of punishment in the Underworld. He was exiled from Camp Jupiter for killing his centurion, but was reinstated by Octavian. Bryce was later turned into a ghost by Nico di Angelo.
History[]
Bryce was born into a wealthy family with a lot of influence over New Rome. Shortly after enlisting, Bryce was banished from Camp Jupiter by Reyna Ramírez-Arellano for his cruelty and killing his centurion. However he was able to return under Octavian's leadership.
Octavian, under who's leadership Bryce returned to the legion.
The Heroes of Olympus[]
The Blood of Olympus[]
Bryce is seen by Reyna in a dream. Despite being banished from Camp Jupiter for having killed his own centurion, Octavian allows him to return, turning a blind eye to his cruelty towards the rest of his fellow cohort when he first joined the legion. He is given his probatio necklace and assigned to the Fifth Cohort.
The legacy of Orcus tracks them down to Buford, South Carolina, Bryce overhears Reyna's story of killing her father, and tries to capture her and take her to Octavian, to charge her with the unforgivable crime of patricide. In a particularly terrifying and volcanic demonstration of his rage, a furious Nico unleashes a "flood of pain and anger" on Bryce, Reyna, and Coach Hedge, with the temperature around Nico dropping to freezing (turning the ground around him white with frost), Bryce's zombies instantly disintegrating, and a terrified Bryce himself was dragged kicking and screaming into the Underworld.
Appearance[]
Bryce is described as a tall Roman legionnaire in full Imperial Gold armor, and a mop of brown hair over his cruel eyes, which were green like pond scum. According to Nico, Bryce's broken nose makes his smug and twisted smile look even more sinister. After being turned into a ghost, Bryce's body becomes "dark and smoky." Nico also mentions that his two front teeth were different shades of yellow.
Personality[]
Like his godly forefather Orcus, Bryce is intensely sadistic with brutal, violent tendencies. According to Reyna, he is "remorseless" and is said to act like a "little psychopath." Indeed, he displays many traits characteristic of a typical psychopath, including a lack of empathy, ruthlessness, and a complete indifference to the suffering of others, if not an outright sadistic enjoyment of it, since he claims that the screams of the Fields of Punishment sound "like music to his ears." He also seems to be bloodthirsty, and claims to like "a good massacre."
As well as those traits, Bryce had a tendency to egregiously torture and murder all sorts of helpless animals, such as when he experimented on various ways to kill cats (one of which was setting one on fire), or when he stabbed a horse, inducing it to go on a rampage. His sadism and love of killing also extends to humans, him having admitted shortly before his own death at Nico's hands to having murdered his own centurion for fun, and he proceeds to scar Reyna's face with a javelin.
Overall, Bryce is nothing short of a remorseless and sadistic killer at heart, who delights in committing acts of ruthless violence. While facing a furious Nico, who promptly turns him into a ghost, Bryce shows a great and selfish fear for his own life.
Abilities[]
Legacy Abilities[]
- Necromancy: Bryce can summon the souls of those who have broken oaths to his aid. These zombies are immune to the attacks of Nico di Angelo since they are under Orcus' sphere of control and he'd been greatly weakened by constant shadow travels. However, when Bryce infuriates him, the son of Hades is able to make his zombies disintegrate.
Etymology[]
- Bryce is a given name and surname of Celtic origin.
- Lawrence is a British surname and given name meaning "man from Laurentum".
Trivia[]
- Like Nico, Bryce appears to have visited the Underworld several times, since he claims to have heard the wails of the Fields of Punishment.
- Bryce is the only known antagonistic demigod from either series to be utterly evil and irredeemable of his own accord. He is also the only antagonist in either series to possess the power of Necromancy.
- Bryce is the only known individual to be turned into a ghost by Nico, and thus, is the only known demigod to die directly at the son of Hades' hands.
- Reyna's description of Bryce as a "psychopath" is quite apt, as Bryce displays all of the conventional traits necessary for a diagnosis of a severe antisocial personality disorder, compliant with the generalized term "psychopathy." These traits include his enjoyment of the pain and suffering of others, his malicious acts of wanton cruelty, and his utter remorselessness during and after the acts. Bryce also possessed certain delusions of grandeur, as he attempted to manipulate one of the most dangerous demigods in the series, totally oblivious to the danger he was putting himself in. His most notable act of psychological cruelty was torturing Nico with the idea of revealing his homosexuality to his friends, playing on the son of Hades' irrational fear. This act of psychological manipulation is easily one of the most disturbing of Bryce's actions, as it is the one thing that has pushed Nico over the edge completely, something that nothing and no one else has ever managed in the series. This manipulation of Nico psycho-sexually could in fact be considered to a certain extent to be an act of sexual coercion, or a psychological equivalent to sexual abuse due to the nature of how Bryce attempted to blackmail Nico.
- Bryce's death is quite similar to that of Sarah Jacobi, with both of them being forcibly sent to their respective afterlife for punishment via their enemy channeling the power of a death god. He's also similar to Kwai as both were exiles after committing murder.
- Bryce is the second named demigod or legacy to be exiled from a camp, the first being Alabaster C. Torrington.