- This article is about the character. For information on the statues, see Daedalus Twenty-Three.
| “ | The view changes from day to day, It’s always some place high up. Yesterday it was from a skyscraper overlooking Manhattan. The day before that, there was a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. But it keeps coming back to the Garden of the Gods. I think the Labyrinth likes it here. A fitting name, I suppose. | ” |
–Quintus, about the Labyrinth, in The Battle of the Labyrinth. | ||
Daedalus (also known as Quintus) was a demigod son of Athena, the inventor of the Labyrinth, and was a genius of his time. He was also the oldest known demigod, or simply the only adult one shown in the series who wasn't made immortal by the gods. Daedalus was an omnibus, able to succeed at nearly anything he turned his hand toward.
History
Daedalus was an inventor and was hired by King Minos of Crete, to create the Labyrinth. Eventually however, Minos had Daedalus and his son, Icarus, thrown in prison with little chance of escape. Daedalus used his knowledge and craft to construct a pair of wings made of bronze feathers and wax that would allow them to fly away. However before the wax could properly set, Minos arrived with his guards, having learned of Daedalus' plan to escape, and simply let him work on his escape plan so Minos could thwart him again. This didn't work. Icarus shot the guards with a wax gun and he and his father used a steam vent to fly out of the prison. Minos swore he would never let Daedalus escape and would hunt him forever. While Daedalus and Icarus were flying to freedom, Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, his wings fell apart and he plummeted to his death; much to Daedalus' horror and grief.
Years later, Daedalus went to live with his nephew Perdix, and trained him in the ways of the mechanical arts. Although Perdix was fairly young, he showed signs of ingenuity and intelligence that could have in time rivaled even Daedalus himself. One day Perdix showed his uncle plans for a way to live forever by transferring your consciousness (called animus - Latin for soul, or mind) into an automaton. While Daedalus claimed it was impossible, Perdix showed him his notes on the subject, but Daedalus still claimed it wouldn't work. Eventually, Daedalus' jealousy over his nephew's brilliance turned to anger and he made an unforgivable decision. Daedalus challenged Perdix to a game of catch and while playing pushed him over the edge of a balcony. Athena saw this and transformed Perdix into a partridge. Then she cursed Daedalus and branded him with the mark of a murderer that would never fade.
Daedalus spent years hiding in the palace of King Cocalus and serving as a teacher to his daughters. Meanwhile, Minos had not forgotten about him and in an effort to lure Daedalus out, he issued a challenge of wits. He would give a thousand gold talents to anyone who could thread a sea shell without breaking it. Daedalus couldn't refuse such a challenge, and found a way by tying a silk string to an ant and placing honey at the other end of the shell. When the news his challenge had been met reached Minos, he knew at once that he had found Daedalus. However, because Daedalus had been a kind teacher to the daughters of Cocalus and treated them as if they had minds of their own; the daughters killed King Minos in defense of their teacher. While the only person Daedalus really feared was now dead, he knew Minos would be waiting for him in the Underworld and he would never have a fair trial. He retreated into his Labyrinth, which had by then grown and taken on a life of its own. This way he would be able to hide from death forever. Then, using the notes Perdix had made, created a new body for himself. But the mark Athena had branded him with followed him into each new automaton body.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Athena, mother of Daedalus.
Daedalus is disguised as Quintus, the new swordsman trainer at Camp Half-Blood. He has a huge hellhound as a pet named Mrs. O'Leary, which Percy at first mistakes for a wild monster and goes to attack it. Daedalus quickly intervenes, blocking Percy's attack and introducing himself as Quintus, the new sword master. He claims he is there to help while Dionysus is away on business. As the two talk, Percy notices five large crates, which Quintus says are for a little game he has planned. He explains that the demigods at the camp need more challenges as there wasn't a camp for demigods when he was a child, something Percy finds surprising as he had never met a fully grown half-blood before. Quintus jokes back, saying not every demigod is the focus of a horrible prophecy, but Chiron appears and interrupts before Percy can learn how much Quintus knows about the prophecy.
Later that day, Tyson and Percy meet Quintus again in the Sword Fighting Arena, where he teaches them a few moves. Percy compares him to a chess master with a sword, but Quintus loses his rhythm when Percy asks about a burn mark on his neck, something Quintus claims is an old reminder before covering it up. The two continue to fight until dinner, while Tyson plays with Mrs. O'Leary.
The following day, Lee Fletcher reports a drakon is circling the camp's border, which Quintus says will continue to happen as long as the war continues, which is why he has set up that night's challenge. That night, Quintus assigns the campers into teams of two for a War Game. Each team is to go out into the woods and find the Giant Scorpion with a golden laurel strapped to it. He then calls out the teams, which include Percy and Annabeth, who wind up being on the same team. During the game, Annabeth and Percy are attacked by multiple scorpions around Zeus' Fist, and they fall into the Labyrinth. While Percy doesn't understand where they are, Annabeth does. She tells him to search for the mark of Daedalus to help them escape and they do so in a short amount of time. Once out it is revealed that Luke plans to invade Camp Half-Blood using Daedalus' Labyrinth.
That night, Percy dreams of Daedalus and his son Icarus being held in prison by King Minos for helping Theseus kill the Minotaur. He tortures Daedalus and forces him to invent more wonders or his son will be the one who is punished. When Percy wakes up, he heads to the war meeting where it is agreed that there must be a quest to find Daedalus and his workshop before Luke does, so that he can't ask Daedalus for a way to navigate the Labyrinth. While Annabeth goes to get a prophecy from the Oracle, Juniper informs Percy that Quintus was also poking around the Labyrinth entrance and Percy shouldn't trust him. As everyone starts to go their separate ways, Quintus pulls Percy aside to warn him that the Labyrinth plays tricks on demigods and he had once been inside, barely escaping with his life. While Percy doesn't trust him, Quintus still gives him a Stygian Ice Whistle to aid him in the Labyrinth.
The next morning, Quintus is one of the people there to see off the questers. Percy talks to Chiron alone and Chiron admits he is somewhat suspicious of Quintus, even if he hasn't done anything openly against the camp and could just be a demigod looking for a home. During the quest, Percy and Annabeth find themselves at the Triple G Ranch. Percy remembers seeing the same name on the boxes of scorpions at camp and realizes that Quintus got the monsters from Geryon, who is also supplying monsters and demigods to the Titan Army. When Percy returns to camp after spending some time on Ogygia, Chiron lets Percy know that Quintus had left the camp three days prior. Percy tells Chiron about the Triple G Ranch, leading to the conclusion that Quintus was indeed a spy for Luke. However, Quintus had left so quickly that Mrs. O'Leary was left behind. This is something Percy didn't believe he would do.
Once back in the Labyrinth, Percy and Annabeth are guided to the workshop by Rachel Elizabeth Dare, a clear sighted mortal who became friends with Percy after he almost cut her in half. She manages to bring them to the workshop (after escaping Antaeus' Arena), only to find Quintus waiting for them. Annabeth demands to know what he had done with Daedalus and thinks he is working for Luke. Quintus corrects her and says he only works for himself, before admitting that he himself is Daedalus, which shocks Percy. Daedalus explains that he had used his nephew's idea of making a new body for himself to extend his life, even if the mark Athena had placed on him for killing his nephew would never go away. He also explains that the reason he went to their camp was to see if it was worth saving, but it can't be saved as Luke is already leading an army there using Ariadne's String. Daedalus was offered a deal that when the Olympians fall, he would be placed as the ruler of the Underworld so he could have his son and nephew back, a deal which he accepted. He also took the deal so he could finally be rid of King Minos, the king who had followed him for revenge even after his death.
Just then, King Minos and Kelli enter the workshop with a small attack force and a tied up Nico di Angelo. They admit that now that they have what they want, Daedalus is no longer useful. A battle breaks out in the workshop, but Annabeth, Nico, Percy, and Rachel manage to escape. Daedalus however stays behind to protect Mrs. O'Leary, who had found her way back to him. Daedalus' workshop then disappears out of sight as the four kids flew away using fake wings.
Daedalus reappears during the battle at Camp Half-Blood, bringing along Tyson's friend Briares whom he had found along the way. After doing some thinking, he realizes that Annabeth was right when she said children of Athena were supposed to be wise, not just clever. After the enemy is pushed back into the Labyrinth thanks to Grover's Panic yell (a gift from Pan), Daedalus asks Nico to release his soul and allow him to die, as he can no longer run from his past and his sacrifice would save the camp. Before he dies, he hands Annabeth his laptop, which he saved from the fire and feels that she could complete the plans he never finished. He also says his goodbye to Mrs. O'Leary, whom he leaves to Percy. Nico then releases his soul, causing the Labyrinth to collapse as it was tied to his life force.
While in the Underworld, Hades gives him a special punishment; to build overpasses in the Fields of Asphodel to help ease the congestion of souls. It is a punishment he enjoys and he gets to see Perdix on the weekends.
The Last Olympian
During the Battle of Manhattan, Annabeth uses Daedalus Twenty-Three, a plan on Daedalus' laptop, to bring to life an army of Automatons to aid in defending Olympus. Percy wonders if Daedalus had put all those automatons on the island to use as an army for or against the gods.
The Heroes of Olympus
The Mark of Athena
Annabeth still has Daedalus' Laptop and uses it to explain to Frank Zhang how a pair of Chinese hand-cuffs work, scanning the toy and showing him an image on her computer. Later, when trying to reach the Athena Parthenos underground, she can't help but feel that the caves were part of Daedalus' Labyrinth that hadn't completely died when he did. Once finding Arachne, she uses the picture of the hand-cuffs she had scanned on Daedalus' laptop to trick Arachne into trapping herself.
Annabeth Chase, his half-sister
Personality
Daedalus is incredibly intelligent, but can also be a coward at times. He tends to run and hide from his problems instead of facing them, even hiding from death itself for nearly two millennia. He is also a very sad and lonely person, claiming to only work for himself.
When he was younger (during his first lifetime), he loved to invent and considered the Labyrinth his greatest creation. He prided himself so much on his intelligence, that when his nephew began to show signs of being even smarter than he was, he became jealous and bitter, eventually leading him to kill Perdix.
When confronted about his flaws however, he is able to do the right thing and even sacrificed himself to save others, even knowing he would not receive a fair trial in the Underworld thanks to Minos.
Appearance
In his first body, Daedalus was an older man with long hair with streaks of gray, as well as a curly beard. While in Minos' prison, Daedalus was very thin and his hands were raw and red from years of work. His tunic was also covered in grease.
While disguised as Quintus, Daedalus looked to be in his fifties. He had short gray hair and a clipped gray beard. He dressed in black black mountain-climbing pants and a bronze breastplate strapped over his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. When meeting him again in his workshop, he was dressed in jeans and boots, but still had on the camp t-shirt. He also always has a sword by his side.
Because of the mark Athena branded on him for committing murder, a small partridge will appear around his neck no matter how many bodies he transfers into.
Abilities
Daedalus is a master of many things, having had nearly two thousand years of practice in many things. He claims that while he is primarily an inventor, he is also an extremely skilled swordsman, an architect, a scholar, and is even good at basketball.
Also, because of his mechanical body, he is extremely hard to kill and he may not feel any pain at all. While he does bleed, if injured, it is actually golden oil instead of blood.
Trivia
- In traditional mythology, both of his parents were not noted for their immortality. His father's name may be Metion, Eupalamus, or Palamaon, and his mother, Alcippe, Iphinoe, or Phrasimede.
- Daedalus takes on the name Quintus, as he is in his fifth body (as Quintus means fifth in Latin).
- While the Labyrinth is tied to Daedalus' life force, Chiron doesn't believe that the Labyrinth is truly gone and has grown beyond him.
- When Leo Valdez says in The Mark of Athena that Arichimedes' sphere is bigger than Daedalus' Laptop but it is spelt Daedlus' laptop.