This article is about the book character. You may be looking for the character from the TV series or the film series.
| “ | Did you say no? You think I’m going to put up with this punk again? I can still press charges against him for ruining my Camaro. | ” |
–Gabe scolding Sally for saying no to him, in The Lightning Thief. | ||
Gabriel "Gabe" Ugliano was Percy Jackson's abusive stepfather in The Lightning Thief. He was petrified by Medusa's Head and sold as a statue titled "The Poker Player" to an unknown art museum somewhere in Soho.
History[]
Percy's mother, Sally Jackson, chose to marry him to protect Percy from the ever-growing threat of Greek monsters and gods. Gabe had a pungent odor, which was described by Percy as "moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts," earning him the infamous nickname "Smelly Gabe". Grover Underwood later described him as a human who smelled so horrible that his scent would mask any demigod's scent from monsters. Gabe's scent would help protect Percy from monsters, as monsters can smell children of the Gods especially those of powerful gods like the Big Three. Since he was a son of Poseidon, one of the three most powerful gods, Percy's godly scent was much stronger than that of the children of the lesser gods. Gabe was said to have been nice to Sally and Percy for "the first thirty seconds they had known him", and afterward showed his true colors as a "world-class jerk".
He often abused Sally, beating her and treating her horribly. He hated Percy and doesn't seem to trust him. Percy often got into trouble with him. He played poker every day with his 'poker buddies'. Gabe's job was managing The Cadillac Linen Service, although we never see or hear of him going to work. All Gabe seems to do is drink beer, eat guacamole, smoke cigars, play poker or blackjack, and be abusive to Sally, Percy and even his own 'poker buddy' Eddie.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians[]
The Lightning Thief[]
When Percy comes home for the first time, Gabe stops Percy at the front door and tells him to give up all his money for his poker game without even welcoming the latter who had gone to a boarding school for 6 months. Percy notes that Gabe has a smell that is amazingly disgusting and doesn't understand why his mom would marry someone like him. When Sally tells Percy they would go to their cabin in Montauk beach, Gabe thought she was kidding at first and only agreed if Sally made him a seven-layered dip for the whole weekend and Percy apologize for interrupting Gabe's "important" poker game. After seeing Sally and Percy off in his Camaro, Percy tries a warding off evil gesture which causes the door to fling him and topple him to the stairs. After they (Percy, Sally and Grover) are attacked by the Minotaur, his Camaro was destroyed.
While on their Quest for the Master Bolt, Grover tells Percy that Gabe's scent was so horribly human that it covered up Percy's demigod scent, even when he was gone for long periods of time during school years. After the crash of his Camaro and Sally is taken captive, Gabe goes on a Barbara Walters' interview and totally lies about Percy, saying he's a troubled, dangerous boy who took away the things "he cared about" that is his Camaro and his wife. Gabe squeezes out a few fake tears for the interview, and Percy later sees it on television, and it causes him no small amount of fury.
Gabe talking to Percy.
When Sally is released by Hades, she reappears in her apartment with Gabe. He is furious because he had to return the money he got off her life insurance. He then makes her return to work, saying she has a month's salary to make up and she'd better get started. He is furious when Percy returns (Percy promised all of Los Angeles free appliances from Gabe's store) and says he's going to press charges against Percy for destroying his Camaro. Sally tries to defend Percy, but Gabe raises his hand as if to slap her, and she falls silent. Percy realizes that Gabe has been hitting his mother and thinks about taking out Riptide but knows it won't work against Gabe, because "Gabe, by the loosest definition, was a human". Gabe mocks him for the pen and tells him he has five minutes before he calls the police.
Percy leaves to his room to pack, and his mother tries to convince him to stay, but Percy insists that it won't work out with Gabe there. He then tells his mother about Medusa's head (sent back to Percy by Poseidon). He said he wanted to "pop it right there onto the poker table". But Percy feels wrong about it, and speaks to his mother; so, his mother said she will always have that in case he hurts her again.
Sally convinces Percy to leave first and let her save herself. Percy is worried about leaving his mother in Gabe's hands, but Sally's eyes harden when Gabe says a taunting good-bye to Percy, and Percy is convinced that he had left her in very capable hands after all.
After Percy returns to camp, Sally kills Gabe using Medusa's head and then sells his petrified body to an art museum in Soho as a "sculpture" called "The Poker Player", which is well-received by art critics as "a huge step forward in super-ugly realism" and earns her enough money to put down a deposit for a new apartment, make a payment on her first semester's tuition at NYU, and make a deposit at a good school for Percy.
The Heroes of Olympus[]
The Mark of Athena[]
Percy remembers how his mother had stayed in a bad relationship with a gross mortal guy because she thought it would save Percy from being detected by monsters.
The House of Hades[]
Percy mentions Gabe to Annabeth, saying that Tartarus smells like his former stepfather.
The Senior Year Adventures[]
The Chalice of the Gods[]
Percy mentions how his family dinners while his mom was married to Gabe were never appealing because his former stepfather always ate with his mouth open, which was the only thing worse than Gabe's stink. However, Percy knows that Sally had only married Gabe because his stench threw monsters off of Percy's trail and Percy's rough past has only made him appreciate the better times that he's currently living even more.
Later, Percy recalls how Sally would play John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" all of the time even though it made her cry. Looking back, Percy isn't sure if the song made her think of Poseidon or if Sally was playing it as a message to Gabe like "perhaps you should apologize for being you." However, Gabe never got the message if that was the case.
Appearance[]
Gabe is said to be fat, looking like 'a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes,' has a double-chin, and is bald but for three black hairs he has combed over his scalp. He is a heavy smoker of cigars, chews tobacco, and drinks heavily, resulting in a very out of shape and aged appearance.
Personality[]
Gabe is described by Percy as a world-class jerk and the lowest definition of a human being: he's selfish, vain, disrespectful, lazy, and a very impatient man. He spends his days playing poker and hardly ever works to support his wife and her son. He enjoys abusing the Jacksons on a daily basis, such as treating his wife like a servant and verbally attacking his stepson, making their home lives miserable out of self-entitlement. He is also extremely petty for the most trivial of reasons, as Percy mentions he always tries to find a way to blame him for something beyond his control (like a bird pooping on his treasured Camero). Gabe sought revenge on his stepson after learning his Camaro was destroyed, lying to news reporters and interviewers about Percy being a dangerous, unhinged child, just for his own personal gain.
Relationships[]
Sally Jackson, his widow and murderer.
Gabe regularly abused his wife and had her do everything around the apartment, treating her more like a servant than a wife. He would demand food from her and hit her or threaten to hit her if she did not comply with his orders.
When Sally was declared dead, Gabe relished in the money he received from her life insurance policy and became furious when his wife returned alive, forcing him to return the money.
After Percy's return and her rescue, Sally finally has enough of Gabe's abuse, kills him with Medusa's Head, and sells his petrified corpse as a sculpture of her design, earning her enough money for her and her son to start a new life.
Percy Jackson, his former stepson.
Gabe and Percy had a mutual dislike of one another. Gabe would berate and insult his stepson whenever he could, and Percy has no respect or admiration for his former stepfather. Gabe would have Percy shipped off to boarding schools in order to have the son of Poseidon around as little as possible.
During Percy's quest, Gabe constantly lies to the press about his stepson being a troubled, violent kid who took everything from him (mostly his treasured Camaro) and tries to brand Percy and his friends fugitives.
After a nationwide manhunt for Percy ended with him being seen as a kidnapping victim, Gabe threatened to file charges against him for destroying his car.Trivia[]
- He may be based on the King Polydectes who tried to marry Danaë, the original Perseus' mother.
- Unlike the king, he succeeded in marrying his wife while the king never married Perseus' mother. Although, unlike Danaë, Sally married Gabe under her own free will solely to use Gabe's stench to protect her son, Percy.
- Coincidentally, both Gabe and Polydectes met the same fate, both were petrified by Medusa's Head.
- His last name, "Ugliano", is a play on the word "ugly", and is therefore a reference to how vile and putrid of a human being he is, and how his stink can ward off monsters.
- During his interview with Barbara Walters, his apparent grief counselor, Sugar, is seen patting his hand as he fakes mourning about Sally's disappearance. It's implied that Percy likely suspected Gabe of cheating on his mother.
- In The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Gabe’s petrified form is called "Bean Dip" rather than "The Poker Player".
- In The Chalice of the Gods, Percy mentions how Gabe always ate his food with his mouth open during a few of their "family dinners", which he believed was grosser than his smell.
- Gabe's petrified body is currently on display in an art museum somewhere in Soho.
- It was revealed in The Tower of Nero that Sally held onto his belongings as Luguselwa is seen wearing an Electronics Mega-Mart shirt that Gabe had while staying with Sally and Paul.
- Gabe's fate at the end of the film was one of the few things Rick Riordan liked about the film.