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I was once proud too. I thought the gods could never defeat me. Then they hurled a mountain on top of me, crushed me into the ground, where I struggled for eons, half-conscious in pain. That taught me patience, girl. It taught me not to act rashly. Now I’ve clawed my way back with the help of the waking earth.

–Enceladus to Piper McLean, in The Lost Hero.

Enceladus is one of the Gigantes and one of the main antagonists in The Lost Hero, and one of the many secondary antagonists in The Blood of Olympus.

History[]

The First Gigantomachy[]

Gaea-RR

Gaea, his mother

Enceladus joined the giants in the original attack upon Mount Olympus. He was created specifically to destroy the goddess Athena. He was slain by a spear thrown by Athena and an arrow from Hercules' bow at exactly the same time, centuries ago. In The Lost Hero, he says that the gods threw a mountain on top of him, which became Mount Etna. It is said that he would cause volcanic eruptions from the mountain, which are caused by his pain.

The Heroes of Olympus[]

The Lost Hero[]

Enceladus captured Tristan McLean, the father of Piper McLean, so that he could use his daughter to lure Leo Valdez and Jason Grace to him. He had hoped that they would be killed along the way, but was still pleased to have Piper lead them to him so he could kill them himself. He also appeared to Piper in a dream where his flying head was seen over a purple fire while over Detroit. He showed her the pain her father was in and threatened her not to betray him. When she woke up, Festus was falling out of the sky and Piper thought Enceladus somehow managed to attack them from so far away. When confronted at the top of Mount Diablo, he claimed he was born to fight Athena, calling himself the anti-Athena. While Jason and Leo attacked him, he called upon the Earthborn to help him defeat the demigods, but most were destroyed when Leo used the construction equipment in the area and Piper managed to take out one with her dagger. He was killed at Mount Diablo by a combined attack from Jason Grace and a lightning bolt from Jupiter, as only a god and a demigod working together can defeat the giants.

The House of Hades[]

It is mentioned by Hyperion and Krios, who are guarding the Doors of Death, that all the giants who were killed have reformed and returned to the mortal world through the Doors of Death, which includes Enceladus.

The Blood of Olympus[]

Enceladus is among the giants assembled in the Athenian Acropolis, as seen in Piper's dream. Due to his great intelligence, Enceladus was Porphyrion's counselor, and was the one to scold his brother Hippolytos for being late. At Porphyrion's request, Enceladus told his niece Periboia about Delphi being taken back from Apollo, which closed off the future to the Olympians and introduced his brother Thoon, the bane of the Fates.

Enceladus was able to understand how most of the Seven think, and was therefore able to predict that it would be Percy and Annabeth leading the rest of the Seven in an assault against the Giants. Hence, when the Seven Heroes of Olympus finally make it to Athens, Enceladus was the one to capture Percy, with the latter being unable to break out of the giant's grasp. Piper, however, was able to free Percy by hurling Katoptris into Enceladus' forehead, momentarily making the giant loosen his grasp. Enceladus subsequently fought the Seven in the final battle of the Second Gigantomachy, and was ultimately brought down and killed by the combined efforts of Annabeth and Athena, after which Hades, though not seen, opened up an abyss under the fallen giant's body, sending Enceladus back to Tartarus.

The Trials of Apollo[]

The Dark Prophecy[]

After realizing that part of the prophecy refers to Mount Diablo, Leo Valdez mentions fighting Enceladus there, although he causes some confusion when Leo mispronounces his name as Enchiladas.

The Burning Maze[]

While under the Hall of Records in downtown Los Angeles, which is an area containing malevolent and intense flames, the faded essence of Helios, Piper McLean remembered Enceladus and his fire breath. Apollo remembered that they used to send him boxes of chewable antacids for Saturnalia just to make him mad.

Appearance[]

Piper McLean

Enceladus appears on Piper's dagger, Katoptris.

Enceladus is 30-foot tall giant, only shorter than Polybotes, Alcyoneus, and Porphyrion. From the waist up, he is a humanoid with bronze armor decorated with a flame design. He has dreadlocks with bones woven through them, possibly taken from former demigods he has killed. His skin was bronze and his eyes are marble white. From the waist down, his dragon legs are green and he has claws as feet. His weapon is a spear about the size of a flag pole.

Personality[]

Enceladus, like most Giants, is overconfident in his own abilities. He tends to let others do his dirty work for him using extortion or blackmail. However, he admits to his own faults, saying that, during the first Gigantomachy, he thought the gods couldn't defeat him until they dropped a mountain on him. From this, he claims to have learned patience and will stay in the background until the time is right. He is also quite intelligent, as Enceladus was created to oppose Athena. Instead of attacking Jason Grace and Leo directly, he kidnapped Piper's dad to get her to lead them into his trap, also ensuring that there wouldn't be enough time to rescue Hera. His overconfidence led to his downfall, as he hadn't expected a god to help Jason Grace defeat him (as Zeus had closed Olympus) in The Lost Hero.

Abilities[]

  • Prowess in Battle: Enceladus is shown to be a very powerful and skilled warrior, since he was able to fight Athena herself in the first Gigantomachy, though he was eventually defeated by the combined efforts of Athena and Hercules. In The Lost Hero, Enceladus battled Jason Grace, one of the most powerful demigods in the world, and managed to hold his own for most of the duel. He would have most likely killed Jason were it not for a lightning bolt sent by Zeus to save his son and kill the giant. In The Blood of Olympus, Enceladus battled Annabeth Chase, a very skilled demigod in her own right, and only lost when Athena began fighting him as well.
    • He is skilled at fighting with a long spear.
  • Intelligence: As the bane of Athena, Enceladus claims that he is the cleverest of the giants, which is shown when he manages to use Tristan McLean to lure Jason and Leo to Mount Diablo through Tristan's daughter, Piper, in The Lost Hero. As seen in The Blood of Olympus, Porphyrion considers Enceladus his counsellor. Enceladus is able to understand how most of the Seven think, and was therefore able to predict that it would be Percy and Annabeth leading the rest of the Seven in an assault against the giants.
  • Fire Breath: Enceladus can breathe purple fire, like a dragon.
  • Giant Invincibility: As a giant, Enceladus can only be killed by a god and demigod working together, and when he is harmed by anybody else, he heals at an accelerated rate. Hence, he was brought down the first time around by Hercules and Athena, the second time around in The Lost Hero by Jason and Zeus, and the third time around in The Blood of Olympus by Annabeth and Athena.

Trivia[]

  • His name is derived from the Greek verb, enkeleuô, meaning "to urge on" or "to sound the charge."[1]
  • In Piper's picture, when you look at her dagger Katoptris, right above her face is a picture of the giant Enceladus, just like in the book when Piper first looks at her dagger, she sees Enceladus.
  • He claims he is smarter than all the other giants due to the fact that he was created to kill Athena, the goddess of wisdom. However, if Damasen is anything to go by, he may not have been particularly intelligent.
  • A moon of Saturn is named after Enceladus.[2]
  • In Greece, an earthquake is still often called a "Strike of Enceladus."
  • His imprisonment under volcanoes is very similar to the story of Typhon.
  • Leo occasionally refers to him as “enchiladas”.

References[]

  1. ENCELADUS (Enkelados) - Giant of Mount Etna in Greek Mythology (theoi.com)
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus
The Heroes of Olympus
Core Series: The Lost Hero | The Son of Neptune | The Mark of Athena | The House of Hades | The Blood of Olympus
Main Characters: Jason Grace | Piper McLean | Leo Valdez | Percy Jackson | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Annabeth Chase | Iapetus/Bob | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Nico di Angelo | Gleeson Hedge
Secondary Characters: Hylla Ramírez-Arellano | Dakota | Tyson | Ella | Octavian | Halcyon Green | Dr. Howard Claymore | Alabaster C. Torrington | Lamia
Minor Characters: Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Grover Underwood | Thalia Grace | Clarisse La Rue | Fleecy | Mrs. O'Leary | Kinzie | Arion | Calypso | Lou Ellen Blackstone | Chiron | Will Solace | Tristan McLean | Don | Julia | Jacob | Michael Varus | Burly Black | Medea | Midas | Lityerses | Phineas | Otrera | Echo | Narcissus | Sciron | Pasiphaë | Lycaon
Olympian Gods: Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Hades | Ares | Demeter | Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Hephaestus | Aphrodite | Hermes | Dionysus
Minor Gods: Achelous | Aeolus | Asclepius | Boreas | Eurus | Hecate | Iris | Hypnos | Keto | Khione | Kymopoleia | Mithras | Nemesis | Nike | Notus | Phorcys | Serapis | Thanatos | Triptolemus | Zephyros
Roman Gods: Jupiter | Juno | Neptune | Pluto | Mars | Minerva | Ceres | Lupa | Bellona | Fortuna | Janus | Terminus | Vulcan | Mercury | Apollo (Roman) | Diana | Venus | Bacchus | Pomona | Aquilon | Hercules | Cupid | Auster | Favonius | Letus | Victoria
Giants: Enceladus | Porphyrion | Alcyoneus | Polybotes | Ephialtes | Otis | Damasen | Clytius | Mimas | Orion | Hippolytos | Thoon | Periboia
Undead: Gray | Zombie
Primordial Gods: Gaea | Tartarus | Ourae | Nyx | Chaos | Ouranos | Akhlys | Hemera | Elpis | Spes
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Cynocephali | Gorgon | Gryphon | Harpy | Basilisk | Lycanthrope | Gegeines | Cyclops | Katobleps | Unicorn | Giant Eagle | Ichthyocentaur | Satyr/Faun | Storm Spirit | Laistrygonian Giant | Lares
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Haley Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide | The Demigod Files | The Demigod Diaries | The Son of Sobek | The Singer of Apollo | The Staff of Serapis | Percy Jackson's Greek Gods | Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians | Demigods of Olympus | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection
Monsters
Species: Amphisbaena | Apollo's Cattle | Blemmyae | Basilisk | Carnivorous Sheep | Centaur | Cyclops | Cynocephali | Dragon | Drakon | Empousa | Eurynomos | Feather-Shooting Bird | Fire-Breathing Horse | Flesh-Eating Horse | Gegeines | Geminus | Giant Eagle | Giant Scorpion | Giant Snake | Ghoul | Gorgon | Gryphon | Harpy | Hellhound | Hippalektryon | Hippocampus | Hydra | Hyperborean Giant | Ichthyocentaur | Karpoi | Katobleps | Keres | Khromandae | Laistrygonian Giant | Leucrotae | Lycanthrope | Makhai | Merperson | Myrmekes | Nikai | Pandai | Pegasus | Pit Scorpion | Satyr | Scythian Dracaena | Sea Serpent | Siren | Strix | Stymphalian Birds | Tauri Sylvestres | Telekhine | Troglodyte | Unicorn | Vrykolakai | Yale
Friendly Monsters: Argus | Blackjack | Briares | Bombilo | Chiron | Cottus | Don | Ella | Festus | Gleeson Hedge | Gray | Grover Underwood | Guido | Gyges | Lysas | Mrs. O'Leary | Ophiotaurus | Peaches | Peleus | Porkpie | Rainbow | Scipio | Tyson | Tempest | Sssssarah
Enemy Monsters: Antaeus | Agrius and Oreius | Arachne | Cacus | Carthaginian Serpent | Charybdis and Scylla | Chimera | Chrysaor | Clazmonian Sow | Colchis Bulls | Echidna | Euryale | Geryon | Kampê | Karkinos | Kekrops | Lamia | Manticore | Medusa | Minotaur | Nemean Lion | Polyphemus | Python | Skolopendra | Sphinx | Stheno | Sun Dragons | Typhon | Trojan Sea Monster
Neutral Monsters: Cerberus | Erymanthian Boar | Gray Sisters | Furies | Ladon | Orthus | Sybaris
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