| “ | Die, honey! | ” |
–Alecto, about to kill Percy in The Lightning Thief | ||
Alecto is one of the three Furies, the three chief servants of Hades, and the head torturers in the Underworld. The translation of her name is "Implacable anger". She's the one sent after Percy Jackson in The Lightning Thief.
History
Nyx, mother of Alecto and her sisters
While Nyx claims to be the mother of the Furies, it is said in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods that Alecto and her sisters were born from Ouranos' ichor when he was murdered by Kronos. They fled into the darkness of Tartarus, but when Hades became king of the Underworld, he hired the Furies to be his enforcers. Alecto, in particular, would carry out her master's most important duties.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Lightning Thief
Alecto is disguised as Mrs. Dodds, a pre-algebra teacher at Yancy Academy. She disliked Percy Jackson and it was later discovered that she was actually one of the Furies and not really human at all. When Percy did his first act of inhuman powers (making the water in a fountain reach out of the fountain's basin, grab Nancy Bobofit, and pull her in), Alecto's suspicions of Percy were partially confirmed. Because of his power over water, Alecto discovered that Percy is the son of Poseidon. However, because Hades believed him to be the thief that stole his Helm of Darkness, she brought Percy to an area without any people so she could attack him and find the location of the helm. It is then that she revealed her true form and attacked Percy. Percy, armed with Riptide at the last moment by Chiron, swipes his sword connecting and turning Alecto into dust and sending her spirit back to the Underworld. On the return trip back to school, she was replaced by Mrs. Kerr, another teacher that the students claimed had been there all year and none of them knew who Mrs. Dodds was (except Percy, Chiron, and Grover). Thinking that they were trying to pull a prank on him, Percy would sometimes try and pull a Mrs. Dodds reference around Grover who would continue to claim that there was never a Mrs. Dodds.
Percy, who she tried to kill
She reformed and reappeared with her two sisters—all three of the Furies, Hades' greatest servants—to again confront Percy (and his friends) on a bus as they began their quest. The Furies had to flee, but almost got Percy and his friends in the Underworld.
A short time later, they witnessed Percy's battle with Ares, and Ares' free confession of his own treachery. After Ares left, defeated, Percy gave them the Helm of Darkness to return to its rightful master. Alecto took a moment to tell Percy to become a true hero and never wind up in her clutches again.
The Titan's Curse
Alecto does not appear, but Bianca di Angelo says a lawyer took her and Nico di Angelo out of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. This lawyer is later revealed to be Alecto sent from Hades to retrieve his children and take them to Westover Hall boarding school.
The Demigod Files
The Sword of Hades
They appear after Percy, Thalia Grace, and Nico defeat Iapetus and give them a lift back to Hades' Palace. They then took the sword to the forges to be finished.
The Last Olympian
Mrs. Dodds appears again, calling Percy 'honey' when Nico brought Percy to Hades to have a talk in return for information about his mother. Alecto was in the room and Nico was surprised when Percy mentioned they had met once before, claiming she used to be his math teacher. When Nico asked his father who the lawyer was that removed him from the Lotus Hotel, Alecto took the form of a lawyer to show that she was the one.
Later, when Nico tried to summon the spirit of his mother, he is instead shown a vision of his past. The vision showed that right after Zeus killed Maria di Angelo, Hades swore revenge and claimed that he would revive Maria, but Alecto advised against it since there were rules over life-and-death that he must respect as the god of the Underworld. Hades agreed with her, but ordered Alecto take Bianca and Nico and remove their memories for their protection, to which Alecto complied and took them to the River Lethe to have their memory erased and placed them in the Lotus Hotel.
Abilities
Being one of the Furies, Alecto is one of the most feared underworld monsters to exist, and display a number of skills:
- Super Strength: Alecto is very strong, capable of easily lifting a person and tearing apart a mortal or demigod with her talons and sharp teeth.
- Her sharp teeth and talons are strong enough to pierce flesh and metal.
- Flight: Alecto can fly through her wings and is reported to be the fastest Fury.
- Immortality: Alecto doesn't age and, while not indestructible, Alecto can reform much faster than other monsters when turned to dust (after being turned to dust by Percy Jackson, Alecto reformed and retaliated within a month).
- Shapeshifting: Alecto can change her demonic appearance to that of a human, regardless of her gender.
Film
The Lightning Thief
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| The Fury | |
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| from the official soundtrack | |
In the film, The Lightning Thief, Alecto is played by Maria Olsen. In the book, she is Percy's pre-algebra teacher that came halfway through the year when the previous teacher had a nervous breakdown, while in the film she is a substitute English teacher and the reason why she is at Yancy Academy is not specified.
Trivia
- Although the series implies that there are only three furies, more than three chased both Oedipidus and Orsestes at different time periods.
- She is the first Monster to appear in the series, without being disguised by the Mist.
- Alecto is the fastest monster to reform during the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, having reformed in the same book.
- She appears to be the leader of the Furies, as Hades trusts her with more work.
- Alecto is also one of the only monster to appear in the same book several times at different moments, appearing four different times in The Lightning Thief. The only other monsters to do this were the Ophiotaurus and the Manticore.
- She taught at Yancy Academy with Chiron. She posed as Mrs. Dodds and Chiron posed as Mr. Brunner.
- There is also a Self Propelled Gun with the same name.
Gallery
