In my opinion, the character I like more is none other than
Percy Jackson, the son of Posiedon.
Percy Jackson and Harry Potter both have great lessons! But, Harry Potter’s lesson is that friendship and love overpowers darkness any day. It is very true! But, on the other hand, that’s the only lesson they teach. Sure, they are brave too. But the lessons in Percy Jackson are much more relatable, immediately connecting with the audience and investing them more into the story! These lessons include Percy being a dyslexic and stuff, but showing them that you don’t need to be the smartest, or have the most skill to be the hero. There’s a hero in every single one of us. But that’s not the only lesson, unlike Harry Potter. It also shows us about overcoming your fears, doing anything for your friends, feeling insecure with your own family, knowing that even though you might not be the best, you don’t need to change, and so much more.
So usually people will say things such as “oh, Riordan pulled this out of Greek Myths so it isn’t as creative as Rowling.” Guys. Rowling built a school. Riordan built a universe. While I love Hogwarts, it wouldn’t be super hard to make! Think about it. Could you make a school of magic? Probably. Could you weave over a hundred Greek Myths and legends and stories into one summer camp? Most likely not. Unless you really put the effort into it. Our Uncle Rick full-on weaved everything together and included the mortal world in his writing, which I think is absolutely fabulous and completely underrated. So world-building DOES go to my Uncle Rick.
Kronos is a much better villain than Voldemort. Here are the reasons why. Kronos actually appeared in the first book but in the form of a mysterious dream. That’s actually more interesting and suspenseful than a villain who appeared in the fourth book alone. Since Percy had dreams about Kronos, it’s only more suspenseful for the readers to want to get to know him, especially since they originally thought the voice in the dream was Hades. I love how the villain was misunderstood in the very beginning, it’s only more astonishing. Not to mention Kronos is much more powerful than Voldemort, yet Percy and his friends still defeated him. Voldemort’s a wizard. Kronos is the lord of time, and the king of the Titans. There’s a huge gap between their powers. And, in the final battle of Percy’s, the big battle, the solution wasn’t as simple as Harry’s. If Percy managed to kill Kronos, the battle still wouldn’t be over, so the stakes are much more high. And finally, Voldemort is a fully black and white villain, and so is Kronos for the most part, but Kronos’ followers atleast have a reason, for example Ethan Nakamura was tired of being left in the dark and not getting claimed, and Luke kind of faced the same situation, coming to the conclusion that Kronos is a less black and white villain, therefore his followers are more sympathetic deserving. I remember reading it and feeling bad for Ethan and Luke, enough to ask myself where I would stand if it came to this.
It might sound like I hate Harry Potter after this answer, which I don’t. I just get very defensive when it comes to Harry Potter vs. Percy Jackson, because PJO meant a lot more to me growing up than Harry Potter. I love both books, but Percy Jackson wins hands down. Harry’s still my boy though.
