Annabeth Chase

Annabeth Chase is a fictional character in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. She is a demigod,  half-mortal and half goddess. Her father is the mortal Frederick Chase and her mother is Athena, the goddess of wisdom, crafts, arts, and battle strategy.  She appears first in the first novel of the series, The Lightning Thief. In the series she becomes close friends with Percy Jackson, later becoming his main love interest and girlfriend.

Annabeth is architect of Olympus and one of the leaders in Camp Half Blood for half bloods/demigods.

She is played by the actress Alexandra Daddario in the movie Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which is based on the first book, The Lightning Thief. She played the same part in the movie The Sea of Monsters, which is based on the novel Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters.'Lightning Thief' finds female lead, The Hollywood Reporter (March 18, 2009). 

She is played by Kristin Stokes in the musical The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, which is based on the first novel in the series, The Lightning Thief.

She is most recently played by Leah Jeffries in the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Development
The writer of the books, Rick Riordan, was asked in an interview, "Do you feel those who said the main characters, such as Grover and Annabeth, are heroes in their own right?". He answered, "Annabeth is Percy's rational side. She can think through things and look at options that sometimes evade Percy in his moments of battle panic." This means she can think even when there is a fight going on, unlike Percy, and can find solutions to problems. That is also why Annabeth is a daughter of Athena because she is the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy.As quoted in "Interview: Rick Riordan," BriMeetsBooks.com (July 22, 2007).

Fictional biography
Annabeth Chase is the half-blood daughter of the goddess AthenaAnita L. Burkham, "Review of The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One," Horn Book Magazine July/August 2005, Vol. 81 Issue 4, 479. and the mortal man Frederick Chase. She was born July 12, 1993. Being a daughter of Athena, who is a virgin, she was not physically born, but is a literal 'brain child'; she was born as a gift to the man her mother loved. When she was seven, she ran away from home. On her journey, she met Luke Castellan, Thalia Grace, and Grover Underwood. Together, they traveled to Camp Half-Blood, running from and fighting hordes of monsters. When they got to the borders of Camp  half blood, Thalia made her final stand fighting monsters so that Luke, Grover and Annabeth could safely get into camp. Thalia's father, Zeus, changes her into a pine tree on top of a hill that comes to be known as Thalia's Pine Tree. Annabeth lived at Camp Half-Blood for five years prior to Percy Jackson's arrival.

It has been shown that Annabeth does not get along with her father and step-family. According to her, her father was not very happy when she first appeared and tends to look at her as a nuisance. Her step-siblings appear to dislike her and feel afraid of her. Her stepmother seems to hate her and feel that she endangers the family by being only half-mortal. At the end of The Lightning Thief, Annabeth returns to her family to see if she can get along with them. She is able to stay with them for approximately a year, but it is unknown if her feeling towards her family have changed; however, in The Titan's Curse, her father and stepmother seem to care for her deeply, and her father helps fight off Kronos's army to save Annabeth.

Annabeth is a good fighter, and has been shown to be able to think on her feet in very hard situations. Despite this, Annabeth dreams of being an architect (building things), and the story has made many references to this. In The Lightning Thief, she enjoys and quickly becomes addicted to the 3-D holographic SimCity-esque game at the Lotus Hotel and Casino. In The Sea of Monsters, it was shown that Annabeth’s greatest dream is to redesign the whole world to make it better, make Luke good again, and be accepted by her mother and father. In The Last Olympian, she is granted the status of being the architect of Olympus.

Hubris, or deadly pride, is Annabeth's fatal flaw. Annabeth thinks that she is able to do anything: get her parents back together, build great monuments, and save Luke, as shown in the second book. She sometimes even thinks she can rebuild the world into an even better place than the immortals did. She also has a deep fear of spiders, (arachnophobia), due to the contest between Athena and Arachne.

Annabeth is described as being athletic and having curly blond hair (like a princess's), tan skin, and stormy gray eyes. Percy Jackson describes her as "cute" at first but eventually she becomes "seriously beautiful."

In the books
Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief

Annabeth first appears in The Lightning Thief and is twelve years old. She was nicknamed "Wise Girl" by Clarisse, in a spat of insults. The  name was meant as an insult but, now it's an affectionate pet name from Percy. 

She first meets Percy Jackson after he was attacked by the Minotaur and makes his way into Half-Blood Hill. When he first saw her, Percy described Annabeth as "pretty" with blond hair curled "like a princess"  After Percy heals from the Minotaur attack, Annabeth hears that he is to go on a quest (search) and she wants to go along, thinking Percy is "the one" from The Great Prophecy. Together, she, Percy, and Grover go searching for Zeus's stolen lightning bolt. Throughout the book, Annabeth shows her unique intelligence, which she inherited from her mother, and also her arachnophobia that she shares with all her siblings on her mother's side (originating from the story of Arachne and Athena)

Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters
Annabeth, Percy and Tyson, having not been allowed to go on the quest for the Golden Fleece to save Thalia's Pine Tree and find Grover by Chiron's temporary replacement, sneak out of Camp Half-Blood to do so. During the book it is revealed that Annabeth's greatest dream is to redesign the whole world to improve it, save Luke (from himself), and be accepted by her mother and father. After getting stranded on the island of the Queen-Witch Circe, Annabeth saves Percy after he is turned into a Guinea Pig using the multivitamins given to them by Hermes. During the fight with Polyphemus Annabeth (while invisible with the use of her Yankee's Cap) pretends to be Nobody and distracts him long enough for Percy to vanquish him. Annabeth is injured fatally during the fight but is healed with the help of the Golden Fleece.

Percy Jackson and The Titan's Curse

Annabeth is kidnapped along with the goddess Artemis and has to be saved by Percy, Thalia, Grover, and the huntresses Zoë Nightshade and Bianca di Angelo. In a dream Percy has, Annabeth is on a mountain, and she sees Luke holding up a black roof (unknown to Percy, it is the sky). Annabeth helps him hold it, and then Luke slips out from underneath, making Annabeth hold it. This is later used to trick Artemis into holding the sky, as Artemis would not be able to resist helping a maiden. Unlike the other books, Annabeth's role is quite small. It is hinted in this book that there will be a romantic future for her and Percy. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, also convinced Percy about his feelings for Annabeth, though she also made it even harder for them to fall in love. In the end, Percy saves both Annabeth and Artemis, while Thalia is fighting Luke until he falls off a cliff.

Percy Jackson and The Battle of the Labyrinth

By this book, Annabeth is fourteen. Percy and Annabeth find an entrance into the Labyrinth. She realizes that Luke may try to use this entrance to invade Camp.

Annabeth leads the quest into the Labyrinth, fulfilling one of her ambitions. She goes into the Labyrinth with Percy, Grover, and Tyson to find a way to stop Kronos's evil forces from entering the borders of Camp Half-Blood by searching for the Labyrinth's inventor, Daedalus. The prophecy the Oracle gave her appears to have scared her and she refuses to say the last line. As they go into the Labyrinth, they face many hardships. Annabeth faces a Sphinx and finds the riddles (which are actually factual questions) not challenging and an insult to her intellect. They escape the claws of the Sphinx and continue on to find Hephaestus so he can tell them about where to find Daedalus.

As they head towards Hephaestus' forge in Mount St. Helens, they find telekhines there making a weapon for Kronos. Percy tells Annabeth to escape while she can. She kisses him for luck and they part ways. Annabeth believes that he dies when Mount St. Helens erupts, but this is not the case. Percy fell onto the island Ogygia, prison of the nymph Calypso, a daughter of Atlas. When Percy comes back to camp, Annabeth is performing a funeral ritual for him. When she notices him, she hugs him, making a scene. However, when she finds out about Calypso, she is very jealous. Percy then asks a mortal girl, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, to help them on their way through the Labyrinth (Rachel has a rare ability to see through the Mist). Annabeth becomes very jealous at how close Percy and Rachel are getting. The three of them discover Luke, who has become Kronos's vessel. After a battle, Luke is forced back into the Labyrinth, leaving two casualties. Annabeth refuses to believe that Luke is all bad, and gets quite mad at Percy for saying otherwise.

After they fulfilled their mission, Annabeth and Percy are standing on Half-Blood Hill, and are matching their goals with the prophecy. Annabeth reveals the last line of her prophecy, "To lose a love to worse than death" and is confused, not sure about her feelings for Luke, or a secret love for Percy. At the end she leaves with her dad to go to a private school in San Francisco.

Percy Jackson and The Last Olympian

In this final book, Percy Jackson and his demigod heroes have to defend Olympus and the city of Manhattan. They had many challenges and try to solve them. And much more on their quest.

 The Heroes of Olympus and the lost hero 
In the first book of this series, Annabeth appears when she arrives at the grand canyon in search of Percy. Instead she finds 3 demigods, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, and Jason Grace. She takes them all back to camp half blood to be properly trained.

 Magnus Chase And The Gods Of Asgard 
Magnus Chase And The Gods Of Asgard, Book 1 The Sword of Summer

Annabeth appears in this book searching, with her dad, for cousin Magnus. She finds Magnus after his death and believes he is a Greek or Roman demigod.

Magnus Chase And The Gods Of Asgard, Book 2 The Hammer of Thor

Percy appears at the end of the book when Magnus Chase learns that he needs to go somewhere called the "Ship of Dead". He goes to ask Annabeth for tips, in which Annabeth quotes "I don't know much about the sea, but my boyfriend does. It's time you met Percy..."

Magnus Chase And The Gods Of Asgard, Book 3 The Ship of Dead

In the beginning of the book the first chapter is called "Percy Jackson Does His Level Best to Kill Me". Annabeth and Percy give tips about the sea but Magnus sucks at everything to do with the ocean, nearly getting himself killed many times in a lot of different ways.

In the movie
In the movie, Alexandra Daddario plays Annabeth, a warrior at Camp Half-Blood with Percy and potential romantic interest."Lightning Hits Alexandra Daddario ," Rama's SCREEN (March 18, 2009). In the movie trailer, Annabeth says to Percy, "I definitely have strong feelings for you. I just haven't decided if they are positive or negative yet." Another scene shows them leaning in, seemingly to kiss. It was really a tease, which was revealed when she suddenly steals Percy's sword from his sheath and she brings her own sword to his throat and says, "First rule of battle strategy, never let your opponent distract you." In the movie, Annabeth is seen with brown, straight hair, a definite change from the book's description of her (with curly blonde hair). She is shown in the movie with blue eyes not gray. She does not display much love towards Luke. 

 In the TV show 
Annabeth was played by Leah Jeffries in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Disney + show. In Leah’s portrayal, Annabeth is seen with dark brown skin and wears straight, black box-braids. Her appearance is the most drastically different from the original book portrayal of the character. She’s shown to have initial irritation with Percy, (which is at the same time accompanied by wonder, as she immediately began to question if he was “The One.” from the prophecy, before being hushed by Chiron.) but, she slowly begins to develop a friendship with him with beginning hints of romantic feelings. The 2023 show’s Annabeth is also the 2nd strongest portrayal or her love for Luke, as they are shown interacting and supporting each other all throughout the season. It’s not yet clear if Annabeth’s interest in architecture will remain in this adaption of the series, (As there is only two Seasons, and Season Three has been confirmed but is not yet released.) but, she is shown to have an interest in Hephaestus craftsmanship in his amusement park.

 Romance 
A key subplot in the series is the relationship between Annabeth, Percy, and Luke. Luke is Annabeth's hero and one of her first half-blood friends. Annabeth likes Percy, which she hints at, but she still has feelings towards Luke. At the end of The Last Olympian, Luke shows slight feelings for her, sort of like an older brother. These feeling are present despite the fact that Luke and Percy are arch enemies and he has attempted to kill Percy many times. In The Sea of Monsters, it is shown that one of her life's wishes is to save Luke from Kronos.

In the beginning of The Lightning Thief, Annabeth is shown to dislike Percy when she finds out that Percy is the hero of the prophecy. She thinks he is weak, and is influenced by the rivalry between her mother, Athena, and Percy's father, Poseidon. But while they are on their quest, they have to ride a truck to get to their destination. This is the first time they actually talk. In The Mark of Athena, Annabeth says that's when she chose to "like" him. At the very end of The Sea of Monsters Annabeth kisses Percy on the cheek after winning the chariot race. In The Titan's Curse, there are suggestions of some romance between Annabeth and Percy, although this is complicated by her lingering feelings towards Luke and the fact that her mother, Athena, disapproves of her "friendship" with Percy. In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Annabeth finally expresses her feelings for Percy by kissing him good luck before vanishing using her Yankee's cap. When Percy returns, she is highly jealous, because she knows he has been with the sad but seductive Calypso. It is implied that Percy is trying to tell Annabeth about his feelings, but Annabeth remains distant, still due to her lingering feelings towards Luke.

In The Last Olympian, after the defeat of Kronos and the saving of Luke's soul, the romantic relationship between Percy and Annabeth is solidified. Annabeth also states Percy looks 'cute when he's worried' when he first checks on her after she took a knife that was meant for him. Annabeth tells Luke as he dies that she always saw him as a brother, but never loved him. Later, she and Percy share their second kiss after she tells him that she will never, ever make things easy for him. He describes it as if his brain felt it was melting through his body. But nosy campers snoop on this and throw them into the camp lake. Then comes a third kiss underwater in an air bubble made by Percy. They are together at the end of the series. It is hinted that they might be married one day in the future, as Annabeth said she wanted "to build something permanent," and Percy states that maybe they were "getting a good start together.”

They continue their relationship through the Heroes of Olympus series and the Magnus Chase series. As far as we know, Annabeth and Percy are going to stay together throughout their lives. 

Powers and abilities
General
 Like other half-bloods, Annabeth has ADHD, which increases battle awareness.
 Also like most other half-bloods, she has dyslexia, because her brain is 'hard-wired' from birth to read Ancient Greek.
 Annabeth is trained in hand-to-hand combat during her stays at Camp Half-Blood.
 Wields a dagger in battle as opposed to a sword through all of Percy Jackson & the Olympians.
 She uses her intelligence in her fights.
 Wants to be an architect.
 Is Percy's love interest and later becomes his girlfriend. ( And possibly his wife)

Knowledge capabilities

 Annabeth knows a lot about architecture, history, and Greek myths.
 Annabeth is a master strategist.
 Annabeth is extremely intelligent, wise, and clever.
 Annabeth is good at arts and crafts because of her mother. She is especially good at weaving, as revealed in “The Mark Of Athena”.
 Annabeth never forgets what she had heard.
 Annabeth can read faces, and is able to have a good sense of what one is thinking, as revealed in “The Mark Of Athena”.

Weapons/magical Items
 A magical Yankees cap that turns her invisible, which was a gift from her mother Athena.
 A celestial bronze dagger, given to her by Luke when she was 7. Celestial bronze is a metal designed to wound immortals and monsters without injuring mortals. It is the metal favored by many demigods for their weapons. 
 A drakon bone sword given to her by giant Damasen, while she was in Tartarus.
 A laptop with ideas and information from Daedalus (creator of the great Maze in Crete).

Reception
In the books
B. Allison Gray praises how in Battle of the Labyrinth: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4, Riordan "successfully conveys Annabeth's emotions."B. Allison Gray, "Review of Battle of the Labyrinth: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4," School Library Journal, 03628930, September 2008, Vol. 54, Issue 9.

In the movie
The casting for the movie has had a varied reception. On one hand, as Rama's SCREEN reports, "the one that’s been causing argument is Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase...apparently some of Rama’s SCREEN readers out there did and the comments on her casting were in mixed response...Ashley thought Annasophia Robb (Race To Witch Mountain) should’ve played that role meanwhile Kara and Victoria saw Daddario as too old because apparently, the character Annabeth Chase in the book is about 12 years old but Lily thought Daddario should be given a chance to prove herself worthy and Joe said that to make this work, the movie needs to make her hot, athletic, with blond hair and grey eyes.""Dawson And Coogan Join PERCY ," Rama's SCREEN (May 6, 2009). On the other hand, Katey Rich writes that Daddario "looks just right for that Hermione-esque role of the brainy brunette...Daddario, who has been in movies like The Hottest State and the recent Jonas Brothers concert movie, may have just signed on for a role that will take over her life, poo and bring her plenty of Emma Watson-scaled fame in the process. I hope she's got her wizard's wand-- oh, wait, I mean mythical god powers-- ready for the challenge."Katey Rich, "Percy Jackson Finds Its Female Lead ," Cinema Blend (2009-03-19).

 In the TV show 
The casting of Annabeth as Leah Sava Jeffries was very controversial. Many fans were quick to point to the fact she was very different in appearance to the book as, for one thing she is Black with dark brown hair and brown eyes as opposed to the books where she is White, Blonde with grey eyes.

References 

Other websites

"Annabeth Chase" on the Camp Half-Blood Wiki
Official UK Site 

Category:Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters
Category:The Heroes of Olympus characters