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That’s what you said about our last stunt. I was hanging in that block of ice suspended over the River Lethe for six months, and we didn’t even get any media attention.

–Otis to Ephialtes, The Mark of Athena

Otis (usually spelled Otus) was a giant created by Gaea to destroy the Olympian gods during the First Giant War. Otis and his twin brother, Ephialtes, were created to be the banes of Dionysus/Bacchus.

History[]

Gaea-RR

Gaea, his mother.

During the First Giant War, Otis and Ephialtes planned on reaching Olympus by stacking three mountains on top of each other. Ares planned on stopping them, but the twins managed to defeat the war god and place him inside of a huge bronze jar for thirteen months, until Hermes reluctantly saved him.

The twins were later defeated by the goddess of the hunt, Artemis. Artemis transformed herself into a deer, which the two wanted to kill. They both took aim with their spears and struck each other as Artemis ran between them.

In the Series[]

After Otis and Ephialtes were defeated, they began to make a home under the Colosseum in Rome. They began transforming it into their own hypogeum so they could one day destroy Rome. They also formed a pact with the monster Arachne. For centuries, they aided her in killing or capturing children of Athena who were given a quest to find the Athena Parthenos. The two also performed various stunts in order to gain media attention (normally at Otis' expense), but failed every time.

The Heroes of Olympus[]

The Son of Neptune[]

The twin giants had kidnapped Nico di Angelo under orders from Gaea, shortly after he entered the Underworld looking for the Doors of Death.

The Mark of Athena[]

Bacchus

Bacchus, his bane and the god that defeated Ephialtes.

Percy Jackson dreamed that they were holding Nico prisoner in a bronze jar, similar to what they did to Ares in the original myth. The twins originally had planned to have Nico die on the Kalends of July, before he was rescued by the Seven. Otis and Ephialtes also teamed up with Arachne to destroy the "child of wisdom", referring to Annabeth Chase, and tried to keep Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter ongoing enemies. They were battled by Percy and Jason Grace in the Colosseum, and were defeated by Bacchus.

The House of Hades[]

It is mentioned by the Titans 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 Otis as well.

The Blood of Olympus[]

Otis and Ephialtes were among the giants assembled in the Athenian Acropolis, as seen in Piper's dream. Otis and Ephialtes fought the Seven Heroes of Olympus in the final battle of the Second Gigantomachy, and were ultimately brought down and killed by the combined efforts of Percy Jackson and Poseidon, with the latter spraying the giant twins out of the Parthenon with a high-powered water blast from his trident. Afterwards, Hades (invisible with his Helm of Darkness) opened up an abyss under the fallen giants' bodies, sending Otis and Ephialtes back to Tartarus.

Appearance[]

Otis is only twelve feet tall, a respectable height for a cyclops, but only half as tall as most giants. He also looks somewhat more human than most of his brothers, since he has two green, yellow-eyed snakes for legs (which he usually conceals under his black pants). His long green hair is braided with golden and silver coins. He has his ten-foot spear strapped to his back. He looks almost identical to his brother Ephialtes, the only difference being their hair color. In the graphic novel, Otis also wears a sad clay mask resembling the Buskin mask (symbol of tragedy).

Personality[]

Otis is shown to be somewhat less intelligent than Ephialtes, or at least he follows his brother's lead more often. While he tends to point out the flaws in his brother's plans or come up with ideas of his own, such as having a ballet number during the battle with Jason and Percy, his ideas are normally shot down for one reason or another. Like his brother, he goes to extremes for entertainment purposes, even if he normally gets the short end of the stick. Otis also loves to dance, and is quick to anger when people insult ballet.

Abilities[]

  • Prowess in Battle: In spite of being very short for a giant, Otis is a very strong and skilled warrior, though weaker than his brother Ephialtes. In The Mark of Athena, he successfully battled Jason Grace, one of the most powerful demigods in the world. However, Otis was swiftly defeated when Jason and Percy attacked him together (with his giant regeneration being the only thing that kept him from being killed instantly), and killed by an intervening Bacchus. Otis is swiftly overpowered again in The Blood of Olympus by the combined efforts of Percy and Poseidon.   
  • Madness Control (presumably): As the bane of Dionysus, the wine god, it can be rightfully assumed that he has a certain degree of control over madness although he never used this ability in the series.
  • Giant Invincibility: As a giant, Otis can only be killed by a god and demigod together, as his armor and skin are regenerative and will heal during battle at an accelerated rate. However, he can also be killed by other giants, as seen when his brother Ephialtes accidentally did so in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods. He is brought down in The Mark of Athena by the combined efforts of Jason and Bacchus, and in The Blood of Olympus by the combined efforts of Percy and Poseidon.

Trivia[]

  • Ephialtes and Otis are the only two giants so far who share the same bane.
  • They are also the only giants born to destroy a demigod, as Dionysus was a demigod when he originally defeated them.
  • Otis loves ballet, something that infuriates his brother Ephialtes.
  • As revealed in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Otis and Ephialtes are known as the Aloadae Giants.
  • Otis is the more dim-witted twin between him and Ephialtes. 
  • In Greek mythology, Ephiatles and Otis are demigod sons of Poseidon rather than gigantes.
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
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