| “ | I always get the stupid jobs. Lord of the South. Lord of Constellations. Now I get to babysit Atlas while you have all the fun. | ” |
–Krios to Hyperion, shortly before the Battle of Mount Othrys | ||
Krios (meaning "ruler", also known as Crius and Kreios) is a son of Ouranos and Gaea. He is the grandfather of Hecate, the goddess of magic. He is also the Titan of Stars and Constellations; he is associated with the constellation Aries. This was the first of the constellations, whose springtime rising marked the start of the new year in the ancient Greek calendar. He is known as the Lord of the South and as "The Ram", which explains the ram horns on his helmet in The Last Olympian. Krios sides with Kronos in the Second Olympian War. While Kronos was being defeated, Jason Grace and his allies from Camp Jupiter defeated Krios and destroyed him and Mount Othryrs.
Percy Jackson's Greek Gods
Early Life
Krios was the third son born to Gaea and Ouranos, the respective personifications of the earth and sky. The Titans were the eldest of the three races born to Gaea the Earth and Ouranos the Sky, before the Hekatonkheires (Cottus, Gyges, and Briares) and the Elder Cyclopes (Arges, Brontes, and Steropes). All were detested by their father, but he detested the younger children so much (mainly for their ugliness) that he imprisoned them in the terrifying abyss of Tartarus, which was itself deep within the Earth. Enraged, Gaea told her remaining twelve children (including Krios), the Titans, to take the mighty Scythe that she had forged, and avenge their brothers by overthrowing their arrogant and sadistic father. However, while Krios detested his father, he was ambivalent at the prospect of murdering him, and did not step up to take the Scythe. However, after his younger brother Kronos did, Krios agreed to help him in the murder. Nonetheless, Krios' elder brother Oceanus, as well as his sisters Theia, Tethys, Themis, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, and Rhea all refused to participate.
Murder of Ouranos
While preparing to ambush his father Ouranos, Krios hid himself by posing as a bush. Together with his brothers Hyperion, Iapetus, and Koios, Krios held Ouranos down, after which Kronos used the Scythe to slice Ouranos into a thousand pieces and claim his supremacy over the universe. However, right before Kronos sliced him up, Ouranos predicted that one day Kronos himself would suffer the same fate at the hands of his own child. After defeating his father, Krios roared with laughter, along with Hyperion, Koios, and Kronos with Iapetus being the only one who didn't laugh due to him being a bit quesy. Afterwards, Kronos hurled the all of the remaining pieces of Ouranos into the sea as gesture of loathing against his eldest brother Oceanus for not helping slay their father. Much later, these particles would mix with the ocean spray to form Aphrodite.
Titan Lord of the South
After Kronos claimed his supremacy as the Titan King of Mount Othrys, and ushered in the "Golden Age", Krios was justly rewarded for his help with control over the South. He was also the Titan of Stars and Constellations, and since the constellation of Aries was bright and dominated the southern sky, Krios chose the ram as his symbol and sacred animal. As a result, Krios' helmet was shaped like a ram's head with horns on it, and the Titan himself was nicknamed "The Ram." Krios was constantly gloomy and uncommunicative, and would frequently stand for days on end and watch constellations, while deep in thought. Krios would also frequently approach his wise and clairvoyant brother Koios with questions about the future.
In time, Krios married Eurybia (the Titaness of Sea's Force), and fathered three sons with her: Astraeus (the Titan of Astrology), Perses (the Titan of Destruction), and Pallas (the Titan of Warfare). Shortly after the birth of his sons, Krios no longer visited Kronos on Mount Orthys, not even during the latter's weekly Sunday dinners. While he claimed to be too busy, Kronos knew that the actual reason was Krios' secret fear of his brother's might and infamous temper.
Shortly thereafter, Astraeus married Eos and fathered the four wind gods (Boreas, Zephyros, Notus, and Eurus), while Perses married Asteria and fathered the goddess Hecate.
Zeus Rescues His Siblings
However, years later, after Kronos hired a young Titan by the name of Zeus (actually a god in disguise), Krios was very entertained by the latter's excellent singing, dancing, and "Satyr jokes", and took to visiting Kronos on Mount Orthys more often. Shortly thereafter, Zeus encouraged Krios to participate in the newly established Titanic drinking contests. As the Titan King of Mount Othrys, Kronos would always win, since he could not let his siblings or nephews overcome him in anything.
One evening, when Krios was dining with his brothers and nephews, Zeus prepared nectar mixed with sleeping potion for Krios, and a powerful emetic for Kronos. As before, Zeus entertained them all with his great singing, dancing, and jokes. Near the end of the Titanic banquet, Zeus encouraged all of the Titans to have yet another drinking contest, and handed out the prepared goblets. As before, Kronos won the contest, but the emetic caused him to disgorge all his swallowed children, while Krios was temporarily knocked out by the sleeping potion, and could not stop them from escaping.
First Titanomachy
Shortly thereafter, all six of Kronos' children quickly declared war against their father, as well as the other Titans, which resulted in the terrifying 11-year-long Titanomachy. Krios initially had the upper hand in his battles with the gods, since he was a very skilled and more experienced swordsman. However, the gods quickly became skilled warriors as well, and with the help of their new extremely powerful weapons (Zeus' Master Bolt, Poseidon's Trident, and Hades' Helm of Darkness), as well as the aid of the Elder Cyclops and Hekatonkheires, the gods finally prevailed. During the final battle, Zeus used his Master Bolt to shear off the top of Mount Othrys, and hurl Kronos from his Black Throne, defeating the Titan King. Shortly thereafter, the gods invaded the ruins of Mount Orthys, and finally overwhelmed the remaining Titans (including Krios himself).
In the aftermath of the battle, Krios was chained up by the Elder Cyclopes, after which the Hekatonkheires forced him to kneel before Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Zeus proceeded to taunt his uncle Krios, prompting the latter to hang his head in shame. Zeus proceeded to hurl Krios into Tartarus, along with Hyperion, Iapetus, Koios, and Kronos' remains. The Titans would be imprisoned in the maximum-security zone of Tartarus, surrounded by huge bronze walls, and a lava moat, guarded by their Hekatonkheire brothers.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Krios was mentioned by Luke Castellan, who questioned Kronos if the Titan Krios can lead the Titan Army through the Labyrinth. This implies that he was released from Tartarus at about this time.
The Last Olympian
Krios is first shown at Mount Othrys watching the scenes of wars next to Hyperion. He talks to his brother about the war and then starts to pout due to Hyperion being able to burst into fire and he having to have ram horns and being Lord of the South. After the defeat of Kronos in Manhattan, Hermes mentions him running away and Mount Orthrys being destroyed, though it was actually destroyed by the Romans. Hermes's reason for not revealing the truth was due to the separation of the two camps.
The Heroes of Olympus
The Lost Hero
Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, who defeated Krios during the Second Titan War.
It is revealed that Krios was defeated by his grandnephew Jason Grace in the Roman attack at Mount Othrys. He leads the forces of Camp Jupiter against the Titan Army and fought Krios himself in hand to hand combat though the exact details of the battle are unknown. Jason mentioned his battle with Krios when explaining how Camp Jupiter was unknowingly helping the demigods of Camp Half-Blood defeat the forces of the Titans.
The Son of Neptune
It is again told that Jason single-handedly bested Krios in a combination of swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat during the war.
The House of Hades
Krios, alongside Hyperion, appears guarding the Doors of Death in Tartarus when Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and his brother Iapetus/Bob the Titan arrive there. Shortly before, he and Hyperion had transported the Giants, including Enceladus, Polybotes, Alcyoneus, Otis and Ephialtes out of Tartarus through the Doors, along with countless monsters. Krios holds the "Up" button to transport the monsters inside the Doors of Death (which is modelled after the elevator entrance into Olympus) up into the mortal world and prevent them from being lost in the space between the Doors' two sides. He briefly argues with Hyperion over who should get to go up into the mortal world first, and exhibits an overwhelming desire to get revenge on Jason for killing him at the Battle of Mount Othrys. Whenever Iapetus argues with Hyperion and states that their mother Gaea favours her second set of children the Giants over her first the Titans, Krios agrees with him and states that the Titans are stuck guarding the Doors while the Giants get to wreak havoc in the mortal world. Shortly after accidentally invoking Tartarus' wrath, Tartarus himself arrives to kill Percy and Annabeth in person, and he quickly destroys Hyperion and Krios, who's essences are absorbed into Tartarus.
Personality
In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Krios is revealed to be constantly gloomy, thoughtful, silent and uncommunicative. He would frequently stand for days on end and watch constellations, while deep in thought. Krios is also certainly as cruel and arrogant as his other Titan brethren but not as brutal as Hyperion as shown in the House of Hades. He constantly feels overlooked by the other Titans, as they are put on the front lines of the invasion of New York City and he is left to look after Mount Othrys. He also feels that his abilities are somewhat overshadowed by those of other Titans, like Hyperion who can burst into flames. And yet, it was still considered impressive that Jason defeated him, though this could just be because he is an immortal Titan. In The House of Hades, he is very grumpy about having to stay in Tartarus and guard the Doors of Death, while more and more Giants were released into the mortal world. He vows revenge on his grandnephew Jason Grace for overpowering him, and intended to return through the Doors of Death to avenge his former defeat.
Appearance
The ram, a common symbol of Krios.
Krios is about ten feet tall, wearing black (possibly Stygian iron) armor with stars on it, while his helmet it shaped like a ram's head with horns on it. His weapon of choice, as seen in The House of Hades, is a massive sword, which he draws on Hyperion during an argument.
Abilities
The full extent of Krios's abilities is unknown:
- Prowess in Battle: As an Elder Titan, Krios is very powerful, though not as much as his brothers Hyperion and Kronos, yet still stronger than Iapetus although this source is not completely reliable. Krios was, apparently an excellent swordsman and hand-to-hand combatant, as he was able to hold his own against Jason Grace, one of the most powerful and skilled demigods in the world, though Krios was eventually defeated. It should be noted that Jason might have gotten lucky as Krios did not show any uncertainty in wanting to get revenge.
- Astrokinesis: As the Titan of Stars and Constellations, Krios is able to manipulate stars and constellations as well creating new of them. Through his lordship over the stars he can:
- Photokinesis: As the Titan of stars and constellations, Krios may be able to control the light of the stars.
- Star Sight: As the Titan of the Stars he can potentially see everything on earth that is over stars visions.
- Titanic Energy: Like all Titans, Krios can blast things hundreds of yards away from himself with a yell or a wave of the hand.
- Titanic Divine Form: as Kronos's elder brother, it is possible that Krios also had the ability to incinerate any being less than a god/Titan only by being present.
- Tongue of the Old Times fluency: According to Tyson in The Battle of the Labyrinth, this is the ancient language that Gaea spoke to the Titans, Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires before the birth of the Olympian gods. Hence, Krios understands and speaks it perfectly.
- Cryokinesis/Pyrokinesis: As the Titan of the South he may be able to control the aspects of cold like his opposite and brother Koios. Conversely, he may have some influence over heat and fire as well seeing as the South Wind (Notus, his grandson) is known for bearing such power.
Trivia
- The first time Krios actually appears in person is in The House of Hades, as he only appears in Percy's dream in The Last Olympian.
- He can possible control the light (Photokinesis) through the stars, as the Titan of Stars and Constellations
- Thought being the Titan of Stars and Constellations, he may be more stronger at night as like the stars.
- Curiously, none of his sons appeared or even was mentioned in the series till this moment.
- Although unlike his sons, most of his grandchildren appeared or have been mentioned in the series.
- His and his sons are often close associated with animals, with him being the Ram, Astraeus the Equines or Horses, Perses the Dog and Pallas the Goat.