| “ | And I don't have to see the future to tell you what to do now, do I? | ” |
–Rachel to Percy, in The Last Olympian | ||
Rachel Elizabeth Dare is the child of human parents Mr. Dare and Mrs. Dare. She currently hosts the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi.
History
It is mentioned that Rachel's hamster had died when she was six, which had resulted in her family calling Dr. Arkwright, a therapist, to help her get over her hamster's death. It is also implied that Rachel had a rocky relationship with her father, Mr. Dare, even before Percy Jackson met her. Mr. Dare is a highly accomplished business man. Rachel doesn't like her father because he tears down wildlife, which in the end, played a part in fading the wildlife god, Pan.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Titan's Curse
Hoover Dam, where Rachel first met Percy at.
Percy first meets Rachel at the Hoover Dam, where he mistakes the sound of her blowing her nose for a skeleton soldier speaking, and tries to run his sword through her, but it doesn't harm her because she's mortal. She sees that Riptide is a sword, and Percy is dumbfounded that a mortal is seeing through the Mist. Rachel then sees the skeleton soldiers, and tells Percy to hide. He runs into a bathroom, and she fakes her emotions and appears freaked out, then tells the skeleton soldiers that 'some guy with a sword' ran in the other direction so that Percy won't get caught. They believe her, and after they leave, Percy tells her to forget what happened. She tells him her name, and asks for his. His answer is "Percy....gotta go!"
Percy does not see Rachel again for the rest of the time, and he assumed she lived near Hoover Dam.
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy runs into Rachel at the orientation of his new school, Goode High School. He tries not to run into her again, because that will cause awkward questions. But, instead, she finds him, and warns him about the two cheerleaders that have been following him who are actually empousai: monsters that are 1/3 vampire, 1/3 automaton, and 1/3 donkey.
They hide, and Percy tells Rachel that the Greek gods are real, and just about when he is going to tell her that he is a demigod, the cheerleaders find them and attack.
After a skirmish with Kelli and Tammi, the two empousai cheerleaders, there is an explosion, and Rachel rushes Percy out the back exit, and they run into Annabeth Chase. Rachel tells Percy to run, and that she will make up some story. She writes her phone number on his hand with a permanent marker, telling him to call her, because he owes her an explanation, and much to Annabeth's dismay, Percy ends up memorizing her number.
Later, after wandering through the Labyrinth for a while, Percy goes to her for help in navigating Daedalus' Labyrinth in order to locate Daedalus. She sets off with Percy and Annabeth through the maze because they need her help. The demigods are worried someone will try to find her, but she explains that no one would care if she were gone and leaves it at that. After finding that Daedalus has struck a bargain with Kronos, she escapes with Percy and Annabeth and Nico di Angelo whom the empousa captured. Eventually they find Kronos' headquarters. Kronos has, however, inhabited Luke Castellan and attempts to chase Percy down. Rachel appears with Annabeth and Nico. She throws her blue hairbrush at Luke's face, which momentarily confuses Kronos, who then answers in Luke's voice. She also mysteriously manages to convince a limousine driver to ditch his client and take her and the others around to look for an entrance into the Labyrinth. She also assists in finding the lost god Pan and is present for his death. Later she parts ways with Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Grover, and Tyson, but not before revealing that her father is a wealthy businessman who buys up land and turns it into malls. Pan's death affects her, mainly because of her father's job. She expresses interest in hanging out with Percy again, to Annabeth's dismay. Percy promises to call her and mentions that he has memorized her number, much to Rachel's delight. Later, during his birthday party, Percy laments not thinking of inviting her over, but was too afraid to try.
Rachel grows more and more fond of Percy throughout, just as Annabeth grows very jealous of her. Rachel sees that Percy and Annabeth seem to have a lot more feelings for each other than they will admit. She can also see that Annabeth is jealous of her hanging out with Percy, and tries to give him the hint that Annabeth likes him too, but Percy doesn't seem to get it and she calls him "blind" because he is a boy. It is, however, made clear that Percy does have some feelings towards Annabeth, though he is oblivious that she returns them.
The Last Olympian
Rachel and Percy are on the beach, driving Percy's stepdad's car around when Beckendorf comes on Blackjack, the pegasus, to take Percy away so they can bomb the Princess Andromeda with Greek fire. Before he leaves, Rachel kisses him. However, Beckendorf interrupts on Blackjack. Beckendorf later makes a joke about not telling Annabeth about it, and Percy responds by saying, "Oh gods, don't even think about it." Rachel later must go with her parents on a vacation, but she soon realizes something is wrong. She begins painting things she had never seen, such as Luke as a young boy. She also wrote Percy's name, Perseus, in Ancient Greek on the beach in the sand. She heads to New York City to find out what is happening with Percy, and when the battle is over and she returns to Camp Half-Blood, she realizes that she can take in the Oracle's spirit, and becomes the Oracle of Delphi. Since being an Oracle requires the host to be a maiden, she tells Percy that he is a distraction to her.
Apollo god of the Oracle
She was born with the gift, and with the curse of Hades lifted, successfully becomes the new Oracle. She decides to still go to school, but shortly before she leaves she recites a prophecy, which is assumed to be the next Great Prophecy. She is also shown to be worried about going to school while being the Oracle's host, since she might suddenly speak a prophecy in the middle of class.
The Heroes of Olympus
The Lost Hero
Piper McLean meets Rachel in the Hera cabin when she goes to Camp Half-Blood. Rachel gets taken over by Hera, who gives Piper a message: "Free me." She becomes afraid when Piper faints, thinking she might have killed her. While at the Campfire, she begins to repeat the new Great Prophecy to everyone, but Jason Grace finishes it, except he says it in Latin, making everyone look at him. The other campers begin to ask her if the Great Prophecy has started, claiming she should know because she is the Oracle. She eventually says that it has and some of the seven mentioned are at the camp fire tonight while some are not. She also gives them a new prophecy for the Quest for Hera, and then collapses into a chair.
The Mark of Athena
While not physically present, Rachel is mentioned several times. She is first mentioned by Annabeth when she recalled her "love story" with Percy. Chiron later mentions that Rachel was comparing notes with Ella the harpy to see if they could stop the invasion.
The House of Hades
While in Tartarus, Annabeth uses a Hermes shrine to send a message to Rachel to get Reyna to bring the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood to bring peace between the two camps. Rachel gets the message and she and Grover meet with Reyna and Octavian. While Rachel is able to convince Reyna, Octavian uses the opportunity to take power and plan an attack on Camp Half-Blood.
Personality
Rachel is very artistic, intelligent, and kind. She enjoys volunteering for charity events to help schools in the area to keep their art programs open. She is also very open minded, being able to accept that Percy is a demigod and that monsters do exist. She can be very blunt at times and has a habit of talking a mile a minute, as shown when Percy swung his sword at her by mistake, thinking a monster was behind him. Also, at the start of The Last Olympian, she openly admits that she has a thing for Percy by asking him a hypothetical question ("...what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl")
She also doesn't like to accept help from her father or anyone else. She strongly disagrees with the job her father does (finding pieces of the wild and developing them) and because of that, refuses to ask her father for money or use his influence, unless she has no other choice (as seen in The Battle of the Labyrinth). She feels personally responsible for the death of Pan due to her father's work.
Appearance
Rachel wears over-large shirts, doodles on her jeans, and seems to poke holes in them when she is bored. She is described a as being a tall, slim girl with frizzy red hair, freckled face, green eyes and is noticed as attractive by a seemingly jealous Annabeth Chase. In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Rachel is seen dressed in gold, for an art project. "We found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in front of Marriott Marquis, and she was completely painted gold. I mean her face, her hair, her clothes, everything. She looked like she'd been touched by King Midas." Percy describes. He also says "Only her eyes were normal green." Percy also states that Rachel looked "like a million golden drachmas" in The Last Olympian. In The Lost Hero, she is wearing her Clarion Ladies Academy uniform at Camp Half-Blood while giving out the prophecy. Rachel is also one of the few mortals that can see through the Mist - a mythological substance that hides monsters from the eyes of humans, even though she's not a demigod. She is for the most part a positive person. She is also known for carrying a blue plastic hair brush in her back pocket.
Abilities
- She has the ability to see through the Mist so she can navigate through the Labyrinth and foresee its various traps.
- She can use the influence of the wealth of her father to arrange services, though she dislikes doing this as she disagrees with her father's business.
- She took on the soul of the Oracle, so she can see the past, future, and make prophecies.
- Pan gave her some of his knowledge when she encountered him in the Labyrinth (unknown what it is yet).
- Unlike other mortals, she could resist Morpheus's spell during the Battle of Manhattan.
- She can paint with her feet.
Relationships
Family
Her father is a land developer and her mom is apparently a social worker. She comes from a rich and well-known family, although she does not feel very comfortable around them. It is said that her parents hate the beach, yet, they are too stubborn to admit it. It is also mentioned that her father wants her to go to a big girls private school, but Rachel objectively denies wanting to go there. She later in the end makes a deal with her father, and she attends the private school.
Friends
Love Interest and Rival
Percy Jackson
Percy.
Rachel found Percy interesting from the moment they first met at the Hoover Dam. She helps him out when she can and agrees to help him in the Labyrinth (much to Annabeth's annoyance). She shows signs of liking Percy, but is aware of Annabeth's feelings for him as well and calls Percy blind for not seeing it. The two find having a conversation hard as they don't have much in common (with Percy's life as a demigod being much more dangerous than Rachel's). Percy also has to act as a buffer between Rachel and Annabeth, as Annabeth constantly berates Rachel's ability to lead them through the Labyrinth after they end up in an arena. When Rachel and Percy have to part, Rachel is happy when Percy tells her he remembered her phone number and they would hang out.
Percy and Rachel grow much closer between The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian. Percy spends time with her when he needs time away from camp. Rachel asks him what it would take for the dumb guy to kiss the girl, and Percy finally realizes she likes him. They are interrupted however when Percy has to go on a mission, causing Rachel much stress and aggravation (even tossing darts at a picture of Percy). However, she still comes to his aid when she thinks he is in trouble. While on Mount Olympus, Rachel thanks Percy for showing her the world of gods and monsters, but their destinies aren't linked (meaning they wouldn't have a romantic future together). Percy comments that he was dumped before they even started dating, but the two remain friends after Rachel becomes the Oracle.
Annabeth Chase
Annabeth.
Annabeth and Rachel have a bad relationship at first. Annabeth is jealous of her while Rachel shows indifference toward Annabeth, but knows she likes Percy (who hasn't noticed yet). Because of this, Annabeth insults Rachel during their first real meeting and was angered that they needed a human's help to succeed on their quest. Annabeth softens up however when she hears about Rachel's unpleasant home life, a topic that Annabeth could understand. While the two are at odds most of the time, Annabeth still risked her life trying to save her from a falling helicopter during The Last Olympian and is more willing to talk to her. After Rachel became the Oracle (meaning she could no longer date), Annabeth's jealousy almost completely vanished and by the end of the book they are friends. In The Lost Hero, Annabeth calls Rachel her friend.
Academic Education
Nothing is known about Rachel's education before she met Percy. The following are her schools from 9th grade on up.
- 9th Grade: Goode High School
- 10th Grade: Clarion Ladies Academy
Etymology
Rachel is a Hebrew name sometimes seen as "Rachael" meaning "sheep; one with purity." This could be a reference to the fact that once you become the Oracle, you must remain pure.
Elizabeth is a Hebrew and Greek name meaning "My God is an oath" or "My God is abundance." This could reference Rachel's oath to Apollo to become the Oracle of Delphi.
Trivia
- Her name, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, can be abbreviated to spell "RED" which is the color of her hair.
- Her hair color is her only defining feature in her first appearance in the series.
- As part of a deal with her father, she currently attends Clarion Ladies Academy.
- She can stand still for extended periods of time while painted gold as a living statue. This is shown in The Battle of the Labyrinth.
- In most of the books, Rachel's full name is almost always used, even if she is not around. She has only been called Rachel instead of Rachel Elizabeth Dare on a few occasions.
- It was said that the Clarion Ladies Academy was in New Hampshire in The Last Olympian, but in The Lost Hero, Annabeth had said it was in Connecticut.
- Percy described that the way Rachel talks is kind of like she was punching him with words.
- Rachel's only rules about music are that no two songs on her iPod can sound the same, and they all had to be strange.
- Rachel and the augur of Camp Jupiter, Octavian, met in The House of Hades.
- Rachel said Octavian was Apollo's son and his not descendant. Strangely Octavian didn't correct her.
- Rachel claims that she can paint with her feet.
See also
- The Oracle
References