| “ | I will call him Small Bob. He is a good monster. | ” |
–Iapetus about Small Bob, shortly after meeting him | ||
Small Bob is a spartoi, created from the teeth of a sabertooth tiger. He was destroyed by the Titan Atlas and sent to Tartarus to regenerate. He was found by Atlas's father Iapetus, now known as Bob. The Titan of the West claimed him and named him after himself. He fought with Bob against Tartarus and the army of soon-to-be revived monsters before being rescued by Nico di Angelo and Will Solace.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians[]
The Titan's Curse[]
In the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., the Titan General Atlas infiltrated the museum with subordinates demigod Luke Castellan and manticore Dr Thorn. He instructed his mortal mercenaries to bring him dinosaur (actually dragon) teeth from which he would grow an army of skeleton warriors. However, the mortals erred and instead brought him the teeth of a saber-tooth tiger. To Atlas's indignation, an army of saber-tooth tiger cubs were grown. Chaos broke out and mortals saw a crazed scene of cats in the museum. Furious, the Titan ordered the mercenaries to dispose of them. The tigers were destroyed and sent to Tartarus with Small Bob being the last survivor [1]
The Heroes of Olympus[]
The House of Hades[]
After tumbling into Tartarus, Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson with the Titan Iapetus, now known as Bob found a small cat when walking through the abyss. Percy remembered that it was one of the saber-tooth tiger cubs, hypothesizing that Atlas might have had them killed as a reason for the spartus's presence there. Bob grew attached to the kitten, naming him Small Bob after himself. Small Bob began assisting Bob and his friends as they battled the children of Tartarus.
Bob and Small Bob
When they reached the Doors of Death at the heart of Tartarus, Small Bob assumed his true form as an adult saber-toothed tiger and defended Bob as he is fought his stepfather Tartarus, the deity of the abyss. He also protected the Titan while he held the button of the Doors, helping Percy and Annabeth escape from the depths of Tartarus.
Between the Series[]
Following the battle at the Doors of Death, Small Bob either manages to escape or he perishes and is sent to reform. If Small Bob died, unlike Bob and Damasen, by over a year later he finishes reforming and begins wandering Tartarus on his own. During his imprisonment in his Regeneration Pod, Bob reaches out to Small Bob and tells him that one day a boy will come looking for him and that it's Small Bob's job to guide that boy to his master.
The Trials of Apollo[]
The Tower of Nero[]
After hearing a voice calling to him from Tartarus, Nico di Angelo suspects that Bob may have survived and is calling out to Nico for help. As a result, Small Bob may have survived as well.
The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure[]
After getting separated from Nico di Angelo while looking for Bob, Will Solace encounters Small Bob fighting a pack of cynocephali and quickly deduces who he is. The cat recognizes Will as a friend when the demigod calls him by name before Nico joins them, surprised to see Small Bob with his boyfriend. When they boys question how to reach their destination, Small Bob stretches by their canoe and they realize they can sail to reach the hut. As they sail down the River Acheron, he and Will fall asleep and wake up when they reach the stomach. He alerts the demigods that they are near their destination and they dead to shore. Shortly after seven Cynocephali and Nico summons the dead to fight them. However a skeletal creature forms and attacks the dog men. The boys and Small Bob try to flee, but a second created appears in front of them. As the first monster finishes of the Cynocephali, Nico attacks the second and it calls out in pain before the first asks why he attacked them. The boys look on, confuses as the monsters introduce themselves as Carl and Bartholomew, a pair of Aetera. The aetera beg the demigods to kill them so that they can collect more bones and threaten to eat them when they refuse. Small Bob kills the aetera, much to their joys, and Nico and Will vow to keep this interaction to themselves. They trudge through the swamp for hours and Nico helps Will stand. Eventually they reach the hut and Nico calls out for Damasen. The son of Hades searches the hut and is shocked that no one is inside and the group takes shelter in the hut.
After resting, he leads the two to Bob. He runs over to the titan after he is freed and they are quickly confronted by Nyx. He joins the fight against Nyx and her forces. They escape when the Mansion of Night is set on fire but are quickly cornered just outside Nyx's realm. The goddess tries to keep them from leaving as reveals a hoard of cacodemons she claims are Nico's children and a fight breaks out. After taking control of the cacodemons, Nico brings the fight to an end, recognizing Bob as the third member of their quest. When Small Bob protests, Nico agrees that he could possibly be the quest's fourth member, although both Nico and Will wonder if a ghost cat actually counts as a quest member. They escape with the help of Nyx's children and, as they sail down the River Acheron, they see Nyx become a black hole. Nico and Will start to panic, but Bob tells them they are safe and points out that the river of pain spins silent. They watch as Nyx touches the Acheron and her skin burns. Nico realizes that since Nyx is nothing but pain and agony, the river rejects her. The group sees a hoard of cacodemons are running along the river and Nico realizes they want to come with them. The son of Hades tells Bob to stop so they could board despite Will's hesitation. As the cacodemons board the canoe, he hisses at them. Nico starts to cry at the thought that the quest might finally be over and falls asleep.
Subsequently, Small Bob accompanies Nico, Will and Bob back to the mortal world and Camp Half-Blood. Small Bob joins his master as Bob heads out to figure out what his future will be.
Trivia[]
- The pairing of Iapetus and Small Bob is fitting, as both were once (or, in Small Bob's case, were going to be) enemies of the Olympians. Together, they ended up helping the gods in their war with Gaea.
- Ironically, it was Iapetus's son Atlas who created Small Bob to destroy the gods, something the Titan of the West once planned to do in his attempted mutiny against Hades. Instead, both Small Bob and "original" Bob helped save the gods.
- Unlike Bob and Damasen, Small Bob either didn't need to reform or he reformed much quicker than either the Titan or the Gigantes as Small Bob was already wandering Tartarus on his own in The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure.
- Small Bob may have counted as the fourth member of the Quest for Iapetus. If so, he was probably the first cat to ever be a part of a quest.