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I...step down. But if you think I'm ever going to forget this, McLean—

–Drew, talking to Piper after Piper becomes new Counselor of Aphrodite's Cabin in The Lost Hero.

Drew Tanaka is a Greek demigod, a daughter of Aphrodite, and the former senior counselor of the Aphrodite's Cabin at Camp Half-Blood. She attends Brooklyn Academy of the Gifted when not at Camp Half-Blood.

The Heroes of Olympus

The Lost Hero

Drew took over the cabin after Silena died in The Last Olympian. During the campfire to decide who would go on the Quest for Hera, she displayed her ability to charmspeak by convincing the other campers that she should go, being a child of Aphrodite, but also because she has a crush on Jason. Piper uses her own ability to charmspeak to cancel out Drew and to force everyone else to let her go on the quest. It is then that Piper is claimed by Aphrodite, much to the irritation of Drew. After being given a bed at Aphrodite's Cabin, Drew pushes a fellow cabin member named Lacy out of the shower, causing her to cry. Mitchell, another cabin mate, explains that Drew rules the cabin like a dictator and because of her power, no one can challenge her to rule the cabin or stand up to her at all. Drew appears behind him and gives him another week of trash duty for talking bad about her before pointing to the trash on the ground. Drew also insults Piper several times about her father, saying she must have come from a dumpster. Piper tells them the truth that her father is Tristan McLean, but Drew tells everyone it is a lie. However, she still takes his poster from the wall of hot guys and throws it away. Drew also believes that Silena was a traitor, and the readers are lead to believe that she's the only one that thinks so, while in reality most people likely agree with her. She felt that she was cursed for not going through with Aphrodite's Rite of Passage, which she also told Piper to do with Jason as a type of initiation.

When Piper returns from her quest, she challenges Drew for the head of the cabin. Because Piper has been on more quests than Drew , she can challenge her. Drew backs down and allows Piper to be the new head.

The Blood of Olympus

Piper mentions that Drew no longer minds Piper's position of leadership, as Drew can spend more time on her hobbies.

The Kane Chronicles

The Serpent's Shadow

Drew goes to the Brooklyn Academy of the Gifted, alongside Sadie Kane and the other members of Brooklyn House. She is the leader of the popular clique at BAG, who are referred to them as the "Plastic Bags". When Sadie had first started going to BAG, Lacy had warned her about Drew, referring to a summer camp they had been to together. When Drew arrives at the school dance, she taunts Sadie about Walt Stone not being able to come and pretends to like Walt to annoy Sadie. Before Sadie can respond, Anubis appears behind her and stuns Drew and her clique. Sadie and Anubis leave Drew behind stuttering "Oh my god" repeatedly, unaware that Anubis is in fact an Egyptian god.

Appearance

Another girl stepped forward—tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and perfect makeup.

Piper talking about Drew

Drew is described in The Lost Hero as a tall, beautiful and glamorous teenage girl of Japanese descent with dark hair in ringlets, warm brown eyes, plenty of jewelry and perfect makeup. She wears lots of pink eyeliner. Jason also notes that she smells of nutmeg and pine, comparing her to the smell of "Christmas".

In The Serpent's Shadow, Drew is described by Sadie as the tallest and most glamorous in the popular girl clique, with "awful" pink eyeliner and frizzy black curls, that were, apparently, "Drew’s own personal crusade to bring back the 1980s perm". She wears a glittering platinum pendant with a diamond D, possibly her initial, while her perfume was a "mixture of roses and tear gas".

Personality

From her interactions with both Piper and Sadie, Drew is stuck-up, rude and shallow. She speaks ill of Silena Beauregard, as it's implied she badmouths her late half-sibling for the sake of being mean. She thinks quests and wars are a waste of time, as she would rather spend time making herself look pretty and gossip with her cabinmates. Drew uses her charmspeak to control her siblings, making them dislike or become scared of her.

Abilities

Aphrodite

Aphrodite, her mother

As a child of Aphrodite, Drew has demonstrated these abilities:

  • Charmspeak: Drew has the gift of charmspeak, allowing her to influence others with enhanced vocal persuasiveness, making her a formidable foe to anyone else in the Aphrodite's Cabin, as she can force them to do things.
  • Amokinesis: As a daughter of Aphrodite, Drew has some control over many degrees of control over love, lust, beauty, etc. though on a much smaller scale than her mother.
    • She can attract people who are attracted to females when she walks by.
    • She also has magical control over clothes, makeup, and jewelry, much like the other Aphrodite kids.
  • Beauty: As a daughter of Aphrodite, Drew is able to radiate beauty, regardless of how she may look, always managing to make the clothes she wears look glamorous on her.
    • She may have the ability to change her physical features, as Aphrodite is also the goddess of beauty.
  • French fluency: As a daughter of Aphrodite, Drew can fluently speak and understand French, due to it being the "language of love."

Relationships

Love Interests

Jason Grace

Jason Grace-Viria

Jason Grace, her half-sister's ex-boyfriend

Ever since she first set eyes on him, it is hinted that she might be interested in the Son of Jupiter. When first arriving at camp, the Daughter of Aphrodite introduces herself and attempts to start up a conversation with him. When it was requested that Jason be brought to Chiron, the Daughter of Aphrodite eagerly accepted the task and practically dragged the new arrival to the Big House, flirting with him along the way.

Later, during the campfire when Jason was trying to pick people to accompany him on his quest- specifically a child of Hephaestus and a child of Aphrodite, Drew wanted to go (and used her charmspeaking powers to get others to agree). However, Piper also had charmspeaking powers and used them to force everyone to agree with her instead. After Piper was claimed by Aphrodite, Jason chose Piper and because of that,, Drew was furious, screaming that it was impossible.

Drew later announced to the whole Aphrodite cabin that she never wanted to go on a quest and that quests are a waste of time, even though Lacy had pointed out that she wanted to go to Jason's quest. However, it is unlikely that this relationship will feature again because Piper warned Drew to stay away from Jason, and that Jason is "hers" (despite the fact that Piper has no real claim over Jason).

Family

Piper McLean

Piper McLean, her half sister and rival.

Piper and Drew don't get along. Drew was repulsed when she found out that she and Piper were sisters and picks on her constantly at the cabin. For the rite of passage, she tries to get Piper to get Jason to love her and then break his heart, but Piper refuses. She may also be jealous of Piper seeing as Piper's dad is a famous movie star. When she learns this, she rips up the poster of Tristan McLean hanging on the wall and punishes anyone that helps Piper. Piper took Drew's place as head counselor of Aphrodite's cabin. Drew often called her 'Dumpster Girl' or 'Dumpster Queen' because of her lack of fashion.

After returning from her first quest, Piper challenged her for the position of head counselor and Drew reluctantly stepped down and swore revenge. However she reveled in her new found free time, deviating herself to more time for gossip. This shows the lack in a drive to lead as opposed to her successor.

Drew sees herself as above her cabin mates, using her charm speak to persuade them into doing her bidding. When Piper, who was at camp for less then two weeks at this point, challenged Drew for a position of head counselor they all backed the newcomer over her, showing their dislike for Drew.

Rivals

Leo Valdez-Viria

Leo Valdez, a demigod she saw arrive at camp.

Drew thinks of Leo as being someone she could use. When Drew sees him, the look on her face shows that Drew might consider him slightly valuable, though she thought he smelled bad and his hair needed work. After her 'evaluation', it seems that Leo's appearance is what pushed her to ask Annabeth if they were really worth the trouble saving. Annabeth counters this statement by saying that every demigod was worth rescuing. Drew also looks down on Leo and most likely all children of Hephaestus, simply saying that someone needs to get their hands dirty, but sees charm as a much more important skill.

Annabeth Chase-Viria

Annabeth Chase, a fellow camper.

The head of Athena's Cabin seems to be one of the few that can actually somewhat control (or at least tone down) Drew's snarky behavior. She seems to know her place with Annabeth, possibly somewhat respecting her, though once mentioned she didn't like her spoiling her fun when their cabin was trying to set up couples. Overall, Drew seems to have a hate/respect relationship with Annabeth.

Sadie Kane

Sadie Kane, a fellow student at the school she attends.

Drew often mocks Sadie along with the rest of her clique at the Brooklyn Academy of the Gifted, mocking Walt Stone for being sick. In return, Sadie absolutely despises the daughter of Aphrodite, and claims that the she is "one of [her] least favorite mortals". Neither girl is aware of the fact that the other is also associated with a pantheon of gods outside their own. When Anubis arrives at the dance and leaves Drew speechless, Sadie is highly amused.

Etymology

  • Drew is a unisex given name, taken from the Dreux, a commune in Northern France.
  • Tanaka is a common surname of Japanese origin.

Trivia

  • Drew often wears pink eyeliner.
  • Despite being the second-oldest member of the Aphrodite's Cabin (only being younger than Silena Beauregard), Drew was never mentioned in the original series. This is most likely because she was created only for Piper to have someone to triumph over.
  • Drew thinks of Silena Beauregard as a traitor.
  • Both she and Piper McLean have the rare power of Charmspeak, as said in The Lost Hero.
  • Drew and Sadie Kane attend the same school and despise each other, although neither likely knows about the other's association with their respective pantheons.
  • As of The Serpent's Shadow, Drew is the first known Greek demigod to see an Egyptian god, although she didn't know it at the time.
  • She has never been on a quest.
  • Her last name is revealed in The Serpent's Shadow.
  • The ReadRiordan spotlight feature for Drew erroneously mentions her as having taken over as counselor for Cabin 10 after Silena Beauregard defected to the Titans. Besides the fact that Silena never fully defected to the Titans at any point, the other implication that Drew became counselor after Silena started spying for the Titans would mean that Drew would have been acting counselor instead of Silena throughout most of the original Percy Jackson series.
  • Tanaka is of Japanese origin. Given that Drew has been described as Asian, this could indicate that she is Japanese descended on her father's side.
  • After Silena died, Drew became the oldest member of Aphrodite's Cabin.
  • Drew and Lacy are the first Greek demigods to appear outside of the Camp Half-Blood series.
  • Drew's age is rather inconsistent. In The Lost Hero, it's implied that she is around Sadie's age (thirteen) but her seniority in the Aphrodite's Cabin around the same time implies she's older than that. However, Drew crushing on Walt makes much more sense if her canonical age is 16 or 17, as Walt's canonical age is around then too.
  • Additionally, Drew's status as a year-round camper is also inconsistent; her appearance at Sadie's school in The Serpent's Shadow conflicts with her appearance during winter in The Lost Hero.
The Heroes of Olympus
Core Series: The Lost Hero | The Son of Neptune | The Mark of Athena | The House of Hades | The Blood of Olympus
Main Characters: Jason Grace | Piper McLean | Leo Valdez | Percy Jackson | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Annabeth Chase | Iapetus/Bob | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Nico di Angelo | Gleeson Hedge
Secondary Characters: Hylla Ramírez-Arellano | Dakota | Tyson | Ella | Octavian | Halcyon Green | Dr. Howard Claymore | Alabaster C. Torrington | Lamia
Minor Characters: Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Grover Underwood | Thalia Grace | Clarisse La Rue | Fleecy | Mrs. O'Leary | Kinzie | Arion | Calypso | Lou Ellen Blackstone | Chiron | Will Solace | Tristan McLean | Don | Julia | Jacob | Michael Varus | Burly Black | Medea | Midas | Lityerses | Phineas | Otrera | Echo | Narcissus | Sciron | Pasiphaë | Lycaon
Olympian Gods: Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Hades | Ares | Demeter | Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Hephaestus | Aphrodite | Hermes | Dionysus
Minor Gods: Achelous | Aeolus | Asclepius | Boreas | Eurus | Hecate | Iris | Hypnos | Keto | Khione | Kymopoleia | Mithras | Nemesis | Nike | Notus | Phorcys | Serapis | Thanatos | Triptolemus | Zephyros
Roman Gods: Jupiter | Juno | Neptune | Pluto | Mars | Minerva | Ceres | Lupa | Bellona | Fortuna | Janus | Terminus | Vulcan | Mercury | Apollo (Roman) | Diana | Venus | Bacchus | Pomona | Aquilon | Hercules | Cupid | Auster | Favonius | Letus | Victoria
Giants: Enceladus | Porphyrion | Alcyoneus | Polybotes | Ephialtes | Otis | Damasen | Clytius | Mimas | Orion | Hippolytos | Thoon | Periboia
Undead: Gray | Zombie
Primordial Gods: Gaea | Tartarus | Ourae | Nyx | Chaos | Ouranos | Akhlys | Hemera | Elpis | Spes
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Cynocephali | Gorgon | Gryphon | Harpy | Basilisk | Lycanthrope | Gegeines | Cyclops | Katobleps | Unicorn | Giant Eagle | Ichthyocentaur | Satyr/Faun | Storm Spirit | Laistrygonian Giant | Lares
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Haley Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide | The Demigod Files | The Demigod Diaries | The Son of Sobek | The Singer of Apollo | The Staff of Serapis | Percy Jackson's Greek Gods | Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians | Demigods of Olympus | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection
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