Benjamín Reyna

**Luke Castellan** was a Greek demigod, the son of Hermes and May Castellan. He was one of the main antagonists of the *Percy Jackson and the Olympians* series. He was the head counselor at Hermes' Cabin. Although he allowed the Titan Lord Kronos to take possession of his body, Luke died as the hero of the Great Prophecy. Before dying, Luke stated an intention to go through rebirth rather than go to Elysium despite his hero's death, hoping to eventually reach the Isles of the Blest.

## History

### Early life

Luke was born in Westport, Connecticut to Hermes, the god of travelers and thieves, and May Castellan, a clear-sighted mortal. The family lived happily for a year or so. As a baby, his parents took Luke with them to Camp Half-Blood, where May wanted to host the Oracle of Delphi, which had been cursed by Hades for many years. Right before entering the big house, she gave her squirming baby son to Hermes. Shortly after, a green glow lights up the house's windows and a terrified Hermes hands baby Luke to Chiron in order to try to save May, but it was too late. The Oracle's curse didn't let her become the new host and instead made her foresee her son's tragic future, driving her insane.

### Running Away

When he was nine years old, Luke ran away from his home because of his mother's unstable mental problems. He travelled for years, lonely and miserable. Once in a while, Luke would try befriending a mortal, but they would never understand when he tried telling them the truth about himself, thinking that it was some sort of game, so he had always ended up leaving. At some point, his Celestial Bronze sword had somehow gotten melted in acid by a monster, so he took to using a golf club as a makeshift weapon.

When he was about fourteen, Luke found a daughter of Zeus named Thalia Grace (age 12) in a dragon's cave outside Charleston, after she had followed Zeus's sacred goat, Amaltheia, there. Being a demigod herself, Thalia was able to understand Luke. The two chose to team up to stay alive, subsequently traveling across the United States, battling monsters (at one point, several automaton statues) and fending for themselves with Thalia "saving [his] life a dozen times."

### Encounter with Halcyon Green and Annabeth

One morning, the duo reached Richmond, Virginia, where once again, Thalia was in pursuit of Amaltheia. Luke seemed to have developed a crush on Thalia and just couldn't tell her no, even though he knew it was against his better judgement. The goat directed them to an old mansion and once inside thanks to Luke's handiwork, they discovered it was a deadly trap. They met Halcyon Green, a demigod son of Apollo, who had been imprisoned inside the mansion and became unable to speak because he had saved a girl's life in his youth with his abilities to see into the future, thus incurring the wrath of the gods. A part of Hal's curse was to bring in demigods to be eaten by the three leucrotae, who feed at sunset.

Luke was angered that the gods would do this to Hal and wanted to find a way to rescue him and Thalia. Hal told them that every demigod thought that at first, that they could escape, but soon realized it wasn't possible. Hal told them of a treasure that was in the mansion, assuming they came there for it, but they hadn't. They went after it anyways. Luke was magically able to break the lock and Thalia was able to claim the Aegis bracelet as a sign from Zeus, as he has a shield very similar in design. They were running out of time and ways of defeating the leucrotae until Luke discovered they could make Greek Fire after hours of searching the Internet with no solution. Within the hour, they had created the Greek Fire from different ingredients and some lightning.

Hal decided that he would sacrifice himself to give them time to escape, as he may have foreseen earlier on. But before he did, Hal had predicted Luke's dark future but left him vague answers when questioned about it. Luke didn't know what he meant, but was disturbed from what he said. Hal later gave Luke his personal diary and a knife and made Luke promise that he would learn from his mistakes, which Luke interpreted as not pushed around by the gods. When the leucrotae attacked, Hal used the Greek Fire to cause an explosion, which killed himself and two of the monsters. One leucrota escaped, but barely, which surprised Luke, but Thalia was able to use the bracelet to summon Aegis and scare the monster away, giving them enough to reach the doors, just as the mansion completely exploded.

Luke and Thalia got away quickly, cleaning up in the local restrooms and resting before Luke sensed a presence in a nearby alley. It was in that alley that the two meet 7-year-old Annabeth Chase, and adopted her as his little sister after realizing she was a demigod who had run away from home. Luke gave Annabeth the dagger Hal had given him, and the trio left Richmond, headed to their safe house on the James River. Luke would later write down this incident in the green leather diary that Halcyon had given him. Luke, Thalia and Annabeth fought for survival and avoided monsters together. They seem to have taken quite a few photos of themselves during this time, as shown in *The Lost Hero*. They show Luke wearing ragged makeshift leather armor over his t-shirt, enthusiastically pointing to a dark alley, Luke and Annabeth sitting at a campfire and laughing hysterically, and a photo of them together with Thalia. In *The Sea of Monsters*, Annabeth reveals that during this time, she, Luke, and Thalia had made about a dozen camouflaged half-blood safe houses (woven from plants, like Native American huts), that still contain sleeping bags, blankets, ice chests, and kerosene lamps, along with Celestial Bronze javelin tips, quivers with arrows, swords, and nectar with ambrosia.

### Meeting Hermes and the Hunters

At some point, Thalia got injured by a monster and Luke and Annabeth wanted to rest. Given the situation, Luke took the girls to his mother's house to heal their wounds. When they approached the house, a loud voice boomed above: "You shouldn't have returned", but that didn't seem to matter to Luke. There, Luke finally meets his father, Hermes, for the first time. Luke was angry and resentful, and demanded to know why Hermes had never shown up when Luke had desperately prayed while he hid from his mother when she had fits, or when they were running from monsters. During this conversation, Hermes inadvertently revealed that he knew Luke's fate. Luke eagerly asked about it since Hal had only given him vague answers, but Hermes refused to tell him as he had already said too much. Luke then told his father that he couldn't possibly love him if he wouldn't tell him and angrily left with Thalia and Annabeth.

According to Thalia, from that point on, Luke was never the same and began to act like he had something to prove, which the young Annabeth didn't see as a problem since Luke was her personal hero. They got into more skirmishes because of his recklessness, fighting more monsters since Luke wanted to pick a fight with each one he came across. They once ran into the Hunters of Artemis, who asked Thalia to join but she refused because she didn't want to leave Luke and Annabeth. Zoë Nightshade, Artemis' lieutenant, hauntingly told her that she was being stupid, that Luke would betray her and he would let her down someday, which caused Thalia to resent and dislike the Hunters.

### Journey to Camp Half-Blood

Eventually, a Satyr named Grover Underwood found the trio. The quartet began to travel to Camp Half-Blood, but were chased by monsters sent by Hades, still furious and bitter about Zeus having once murdered his beloved Maria di Angelo for having children, hoping to kill Thalia. Furthermore, Grover took some wrong turns on the way and led them into an abandoned mansion, which was a Cyclops lair. The Cyclopes separated them, using a loved one's voice to lure each person into a trap. When Annabeth found them, Luke, Thalia and Grover were tied up and hanging from the ceiling. The Cyclops used her father's voice to lure Annabeth to her death, but she stabbed the Cyclops in the foot with her knife and untied Thalia, who took it from there. However, the Cyclops had slowed them down enough for a pack of Hellhounds and all three Furies to catch up to them.

Upon finally reaching the Camp Half-Blood border, Hal's first prediction came true: Thalia chose to sacrifice herself so that Luke, Grover, and Annabeth could get into camp without being killed by the monsters that were hot on their trail. While Thalia held back Hades' approaching army with her Aegis shield, Luke was forced to lead a crying Annabeth up Camp Half-Blood Hill. Annabeth stumbled, twisting her ankle, and Luke scooped her up and carried her. As Thalia was dying surrounded by monsters, Zeus took pity of his daughter and turned her into a pine tree so that she wouldn't die and have to be judged by Hades. From that point on, Luke lived at camp all year round, all the while slowly falling into darkness, furious at the gods, bitter about Thalia's fate.

### Failed Quest and Allegiance to Kronos

When he was about seventeen, Luke was offered a quest by his father Hermes: to seek a Golden Apple at the Garden of Hesperides from the tree. Luke was honoured by this offer, but eventually began to question it as it was done before by the hero Hercules and he didn't want to do a quest someone had already done. He went on this journey, but failed and was scarred on his face by the dragon guarding the tree, Ladon. However, Luke apparently was able to injure Ladon and steal a claw. He returned to the camp and according to his words, was treated with "pity" by the campers. Luke's grudge against Olympus and his father increased dramatically since then.

Luke was later contacted in his sleep by Kronos and convinced to join the Titan's cause out of a desire for revenge. As revealed in *The Battle of the Labyrinth*, Luke accepted the sword Backbiter from Kronos after pledging himself to him, taking the blade as proof of his oath, ultimately betraying Camp Half-Blood, just as Halcyon had predicted that he would. As revealed in *The Lightning Thief*, someone (most likely the forger) died in the creation of the sinister sword. After pledging allegiance to the Titan King, Luke was assigned to steal the Master Bolt, Zeus's primary weapon, and the Helm of Darkness, Hades's godly weapon, in order to start a civil war between the gods. On a camp field trip to Olympus Luke made his move. While the other campers and counselors were asleep, he entered the throne room and was able to steal the weapons without arousing suspicion. The gods believed that no one would ever dare steal their symbols of power, so they left them by their thrones.

The gods later discovered the theft and went to search for the thief. The Furies went to work searching for Hades, while Zeus sent out his best trackers, Artemis, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, and Athena. Ares found Luke and fought with him to get the bolt back. According to Luke, he would have won, but underestimated his opponent and was outmatched. However, he managed to save himself by speaking in Kronos's words that if the Master Bolt was successfully stolen, there would be a full-scale war. Ares was awed by this and spared Luke, but took the Bolt and the Helm with him before he left and kept them in his possession instead of giving them to Zeus. It is presumable that Ares was dreaming of Kronos. Luke then managed to make it safely back to Mount Olympus before anyone noticed his absence.

## *Percy Jackson and the Olympians*

### *The Lightning Thief*

Although Luke succeeded in his mission, his failure to defeat Ares cost him dearly. Kronos punished him with nightmares, and Luke swore never to fail the malevolent Titan again. This would also cause him to fear Kronos greatly for many of his later years.

When Luke was about nineteen, he was told in a dream from Kronos that another camper would be coming to Camp Half-Blood, one who would willingly (but not knowing) take the stolen weapons of the gods down to Tartarus, therefore ensuring that there would be a war. Luke remembers this and finds this camper in the form of a twelve-year old boy named Percy Jackson.

Knowing that Percy was the boy that Kronos was talking about, Luke befriends the boy and is successful in earning his trust and friendship. He welcomes him into the Hermes cabin (where children who haven't been claimed yet go), trains him in sword combat, and provides the moral support that Percy needed as a newcomer.

One night after a Capture the Flag game, Luke summons a hellhound to attack Percy in an attempt to make Chiron, the camp activities director, believe that the camp isn't safe for Percy. The centaur went for the bait. Unaware of Luke's treachery, Chiron sends Percy, along with Annabeth and Grover, to find the Master Bolt, in order to prevent a war. Because monsters of Hades were unusually active and because it was as yet unknown that the Helm of Darkness was also stolen, it was believed that Hades was the Lightning thief and the group set out to go to the Underworld. Before Percy goes on his quest, Luke gives him a pair of Winged Shoes as a gift. These shoes were actually cursed to drag him, along with the Master Bolt, down into Tartarus when he neared it during his journey into the Underworld. However, this failed when Percy gave the shoes to Grover because Percy shouldn't fly as Zeus is the Lord of the Skies and does not like Percy because he is the son of his greatest rival, Poseidon. Grover managed to escape from the burden when the time came.

After that, Percy discovers that the Master Bolt was in a backpack that Ares had given him and he had won the Helm of Darkness in a duel with Ares (who was unknowingly being influenced by Kronos), Percy returns alive to Camp Half-Blood along with his two companions, after returning the Bolt to Zeus and the Helm to Hades, thwarting Kronos's plan. While furious at his failure, Luke pretended to cheer for Percy after the latter was given his first clay bead. After that, however, Luke began acting a little distant, though Percy assumed this was because Luke was somewhat jealous at how much attention Percy was getting. Un

As later revealed in *The Last Olympian*, it was at some point around this time, Luke confronts Silena Beauregard, charms her, and persuades her to become his spy by telling her that she would be saving lives. Afterwards, she wanted to stop being a spy for the Titans, but Luke blackmailed her saying that he would reveal her secret if she ever stopped and he would harm Charles Beckendorf, her crush.

In order to prevent Percy from interfering again, Luke takes him in the woods to "look for something to fight." While talking with Luke, Percy begins to slowly see Luke's dark side; Luke's words are bitter and he mentions his sword, Backbiter, which is able to kill both monsters and mortals. He says he will escape and then summons a pit scorpion to poison Percy. Luke tells Percy of his bitterness and desire for revenge, as well as his allegiance to Kronos, saying that there will be a new "Golden Age" that Percy won't be a part of, before teleporting away. Thus, the second prediction of Halcyon Green finally came true as well.

Though the assassination attempt on Percy fails, the scorpion does sting him, and it leaves a long-lasting asterisk-shaped scar. Before losing consciousness, Percy kills the scorpion and the wood nymphs bring him back to camp, for Chiron to heal.

Luke's betrayal was a surprise to many campers and counselors, especially to Annabeth, who reacted with great sadness at the loss of another childhood friend. Annabeth, however, admitted that Luke had been acting oddly ever since his failed quest and eventually admitted to herself that her dear friend was indeed a traitor and said "May the gods curse him."

### *The Sea of Monsters*

A year after his defection, Luke took control of a monster cruise ship called the *Princess Andromeda* (obtained from the financial support of god-emperor Nero and Triumvirate Holdings), which serves as his base of operations. In order to render Camp Half-Blood defenseless and eliminate a major ally of the Olympians, he poisons Thalia's Pine Tree with elder python venom from the depths of Tartarus, with the help of a spy in the camp's ranks. The plan was to later 'allow' Percy and Annabeth to take the Golden Fleece and heal Thalia's tree, so Thalia would be purged from it. He also frames Chiron for the poisoning, causing him to be fired from the camp and be replaced by Tantalus.

At first, Clarisse La Rue was sent to find the Golden Fleece and save Grover from the Cyclops called Polyphemus by Tantalus, who didn't care less about the camp's safety, but was interjected by Percy Jackson, along with a group of allies consisting of Annabeth Chase and Percy's half-brother Tyson, who is a Cyclops.

Hermes, Luke's father, persuaded Percy to go on this quest, and told him to go onto the *Princess Andromeda*, hoping that he would meet up with Luke and convince him to stop his assault on the gods, and to tell him that his dad did love him. Hermes gave Percy some travelling provisions and sent Annabeth and Tyson to him. Together, they sped out to the *Princess Andromeda* to confront Luke. Percy and his allies landed aboard the *Princess Andromeda*, not knowing of its true nature (a ship with monsters serving Kronos), and were captured.

During this time, Luke told the two of his plans to use the Golden Fleece to complete Kronos's resurrection and attempts to recruit Percy and Annabeth to his cause (not willing to recruit Tyson as he reminds him of the Cyclops that captured him and Thalia years ago). The two refuse, prompting Luke to order his bodyguards to feed the trio to a Drakon. Percy and the gang escape through a lifeboat propelled by the thermos containing the four winds given to him by Hermes.

Luke later intercepts Percy and his friends when they are looking for a boat that they can use to get back to camp. When he is interrogating Percy for the fleece in front of a pool (his army of monsters watching), Percy uses the pool to send an Iris Message to Dionysus at Camp Half-Blood, tricking Luke into revealing the fact that Chiron was framed for the poisoning, resulting in Chiron being rehired (using the fact that he was in a panic due to Percy giving the Fleece to Clarisse). Enraged, he ordered Percy and his friends to be killed. Percy convinces Luke to duel him, a moment both had been waiting for a long time. Luke normally would not do something so blunt, but he had no choice, as his army would think he was weak if he were to refuse. Seconds into the duel, Luke easily defeats Percy (as Percy was out of practiced while Luke was always practicing and more experienced) even when the latter's power is augmented by the water, but is prevented from killing him when he's knocked into the pool by a boxing glove glued to an arrow. The arrow was shot by Chiron and his family of centaurs, who had just arrived and proceeded to save them. When Percy escapes, Luke's spite and hatred for the son of Poseidon only increases.

Thalia is resurrected at last. It is possible, and very likely, that Luke's allegiance to Kronos was affected after this. He obviously wanted Thalia to be resurrected, shown when he says to Percy that he was going to give him the Fleece after he was done using it to resurrect Kronos. Luke believed, that Thalia would be on his side, after all the times that they had spent cursing the gods, when they traveled together.

### *The Titan's Curse*

After Thalia's resurrection, Kronos's second-in-command, Atlas, devises a plan to capture the Ophiotaurus, which would grant the power to destroy Olympus to whomever killed it and burned its entrails. He remembers the Prophecy and chooses Thalia to be its killer. This is revealed to be the reason for which Kronos wanted use the Golden Fleece to resurrect Thalia in *The Sea of Monsters*.

Luke is assigned to aid Atlas with this. However, Thalia and Luke were dear childhood friends, bringing Luke hesitation to carry out the mission. Knowing this, Kronos tells Luke that if he doesn't succeed in this mission, he would be chosen to be Kronos's host and therefore suffer a fate worse than death.

Luke carries the sky in a plan to trick Annabeth into holding it after she is captured, which succeeds. He and Atlas later use this to their advantage by forcing a captive Artemis to hold the sky in Annabeth's place, and Luke seems happy that Annabeth survives. Atlas orders the death of Annabeth, but Luke convinces Atlas to keep her alive until the Winter Solstice because he knows that Percy will come for her and uses her as bait.

Luke is later seen with Atlas and Dr.Thorn when he summons Skeleton Warriors to hunt down Percy Jackson. His final appearance is when Percy, Thalia and Zoë Nightshade, arrive at the regrowing fortress of the Titans, where Artemis and Annabeth are being held captive. Refusing to have to kill Thalia, Luke attempts to sway her into joining their side. Thalia refuses and the two engage in an intense duel. The ferocity and power demonstrated is incredible, since lightning is noted to be flashing whenever their weapons clash, but Thalia ultimately wins the duel, disarming and injuring Luke, cornering him against the edge of a cliff (she claims that she was always able to beat Luke in a duel).

Luke continues to goad Thalia (*"Is that what you want? To go back to your dad in triumph?"*), but Annabeth begs her to spare him. As Thalia and Annabeth argue over his fate, Luke attempts to use the opportunity to try and disarm Thalia of her spear, but she instinctively kicks him off the cliff, something that causes her both guilt and grief.

Although Luke's seemingly lifeless body is seen by both an approaching army of monsters and Percy, it is later revealed that Luke somehow survived the fall. It is unknown how he survived the fall, although it may have been due to Kronos's magic. A theory is that Kronos reversed time for Luke and turned him back from dying.

After her battle with Luke, Thalia pledges herself to Artemis, in order to stop the prophecy from coming true through her, as she was only a few hours away from becoming 16. This means, that she is passing the prophecy onto Percy or Nico.

Poseidon later notes that the only way a non-Titan/god may take Atlas' burden is through their own free will and if they are a hero with great strength, a true heart, and great courage. Percy points out that Luke was able to take on the Titan's curse and then tricked Annabeth into taking the sky and then used Annabeth to lure Artemis into taking the sky from Annabeth and Poseidon says that Luke is an 'interesting case' and then is distracted.

At some point between the winter solstice and June, Luke went to Annabeth’s house in San Francisco under a flag of truce. He said he feared Kronos‘ plans for him and asks her to runaway with him. She angrily rejects his offer.

### *The Battle of the Labyrinth*

Not long after the battle atop Mount Tamalpais, Luke approaches Annabeth under a flag of truce. He begs her to run away with him, as the thought of becoming Kronos's host apparently becomes too much for him. He says they could run away, like the old times, fighting monsters and being a family. Annabeth is suspicious, however, and refuses, despite her determination to save Luke. Annabeth later regrets her decision, something that becomes very clear when Hermes confronts her and blames her for Luke's fate, in a fit of anger. Luke himself is also hurt by the experience, as implied by Kronos when he states that Luke learned not to trust his friends the hard way.

After the meeting with Annabeth, Luke continues to serve Kronos and prepare to become his host as an vessel. In *The Last Olympian*, Kronos mentions having to "pressure Luke in many ways" to convince him to bathe in the Styx in order to obtain the Curse of Achilles to make him virtually invincible in battle except for a small spot on his body but was ultimately successful. In order to do so, Luke had to visit his mother one last time, in order to get her blessing. Right before he bathed in the Styx, Luke was approached by the ghost of Achilles, who warned him of the potential dangers, though Luke still went through with the task, becoming invulnerable.

Luke is later seen in Percy dream, aboard the *Princess Andromeda*, discussing his plan of attacking Camp Half-Blood with Kronos. Luke's demeanor becomes marginally softer, as he occasionally displays a moral compass that was previously unseen. This is most obvious when Luke becomes furious with Kelli for killing a boy in Seattle and when he indicates that he disapproves of Kampê's release, as she is too chaotic. He makes an attempt to talk with Annabeth again at Antaeus' Arena, but this fails when she and her companions escape. He is also seen in many of Percy's dreams.

When Luke is last seen, he is possessed by Kronos and rises from his gold coffin. He tries to attack Percy Jackson and is only stopped by the combined efforts of Rachel Elizabeth Dare, throwing a blue hairbrush that hits him in the eye, and Nico di Angelo, who calls a black rock that blocks Kronos's exit and stops him and the Telekhine from following them.

The last line of the prophecy Annabeth received from the Oracle was 'and lose a love to worse than death.' meaning Luke. She said that she hadn't known who it would be yet, and therefore, she told no one, not even Percy.

### *The Last Olympian*

For the largest part of the war, Luke is almost completely controlled by Kronos, with a few moments of wavering in the Titan's control. In this time, Percy learns that when Kronos achieves full power inside of Luke's body, he will burn through Luke's body and attain his true immortal form, which would mean the end of all life near him (except for immortals such as gods and other titans).

Kronos made his way to the throne room of the gods with Ethan Nakamura, destroying the city of Olympus as he did so. Meanwhile Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia follow closely after. A statue of Hera falls and would have killed Percy and Annabeth if Thalia had not pushed them out of the way. Thalia's legs are trapped under the statue and the others continue on. Kronos battles them in the throne room when they arrive, but Annabeth is able to catch Luke's attention, reawakening him, but only partially.

After the two of them engage in a fierce duel with Percy, Ethan betrays Kronos after Percy persuades him to, and attacks the Titan, unsuccessfully of course, as his sword shattered against Luke's invulnerable body. Several shards lashed, broke and bounced back at Ethan and impaled him, and he staggered to the ground. Kronos, now having another internal struggle with Luke, opens a fissure in the floor beneath Ethan, and he tumbled to his death. Kronos continued to battle the trio, getting closer to his ultimate transformation to his original self in which he would be unstoppable. Annabeth managed to coax Luke back to his own mind as she lay, bloody, on the floor. Luke (still fighting against Kronos) lets Percy knock Backbiter into the hearth, leaving Luke defenseless. Annabeth gives Percy her knife, as they both realized that Luke was the true hero of the prophecy. Percy gave the knife to Luke who stabbed himself in his Achilles heel, which is located under his left arm, close to the underarm.

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover look away, hearing an explosion and Kronos's fading screams. Luke is left lying on the floor, dying. Annabeth says that he would go to Elysium and Luke replies "Think … rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the Blest." Annabeth replies that "[he] always pushed himself too hard". Then, Luke asks Annabeth if she loved him. Annabeth replies that she loved him like a brother. Luke then pleads to Percy to not let this happen again, and thereby Halcyon's prediction of sacrifice finally comes true. With that, Luke dies just minutes before the gods arrived after defeating Typhon. In the end he is carried away by the Fates, blessed by Hermes (who kisses his forehead), and remembered and honored as a hero by not only Percy, Annabeth and Grover, but by all. Percy realizes that the blue string he saw the Fates cut four years ago, in *The Lightning Thief*, was actually Luke's, not his.

## *The Heroes of Olympus*

### *The Lost Hero*

Jason Grace finds an old picture of Thalia, Luke and Annabeth in Zeus's Cabin. When Jason asks who the guy in the picture with Annabeth and Thalia is, Annabeth identifies him as Luke, stating that Luke's dead now with a pained look on her face. Seeing how upset Annabeth is by Luke's death, Jason chooses not to ask any further questions about him.

### *The Son of Neptune*

Although there is no direct mention in the book, there is a hint of him. During Percy's first meeting with Octavian with Hazel Levesque, Percy tells Octavian that he reminds him of someone which indicates Luke. Although Percy can't put his finger on it, Octavian shares resemblance to Luke.

### *The Mark of Athena*

When Aphrodite mentions making her love life interesting, Annabeth remembers how Luke was her first crush except that he only saw her as a little sister before he'd turned evil and decided that he liked her before dying.

While fighting Chrysaor, Percy hears the voice of Luke (without meaning to), his old mentor, throwing out suggestions on how to fight the pirate but it didn't help. Later after watching Bacchus just sitting back as he and Jason fought for their lives, Percy realizes that he is about the same age Luke was when he turned against the gods. Percy also admits that he can understand how Luke became so spiteful, as Percy himself had also been used by the gods many times.

As he faces Ephialtes and Otis which has been made into a spectacle by Bacchus, Percy recalls what Luke told him after returning from his first quest: *"didn't you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics - being pawns of the Olympians?"* Now almost the same age as Luke was at that time, Percy can understand how Luke had become so spiteful after being a pawn too many times over the past five years.

### *The House of Hades*

When Percy and Annabeth run to the outer boundary of Night's realm, they reach the Acheron (the River of Pain). The ruthless and malevolent river shows Annabeth images of many of her friends dying. The most painful of all, however, is that of Luke sacrificing himself, and the blood on her dagger. The river blames Annabeth for not finding another way to defeat Kronos and prevent Luke's death, stating that his blood is on her hands. Annabeth begins to fear that Luke's voice is among those in the Acheron, punished for his crimes against Olympus. The river tries to force her to jump in and "share his punishment", and Annabeth nearly does, though Percy intervenes just in time.

### *The Blood of Olympus*

While talking to Jason about his problems with his mother, Annabeth mentions Luke, who had had a similar problem with his own mother.

## *The Trials of Apollo*

### *The Hidden Oracle*

Apollo mentions Luke while making a list of possible moles for the beast. He also tells Meg McCaffrey about him when they, Chiron, and Rachel Elizabeth Dare are discussing about Triumvirate Holdings. He was mentioned again by Percy Jackson when making a list of people he lost because of a bad influence.

## Personality

As a child, Luke was more selfless and moral in his youth, blaming the gods only for what he saw as injustice, such as Hermes abandoning him and not trying to help his sick mother (whose crazy antics terrified him to the point of run away from home), Zeus abandoning Thalia, and Apollo placing a curse on his son Halcyon. In *The Diary of Luke Castellan*, Luke took his new responsibility as the group's surrogate father very seriously and was determined to do a better job than his own father did with him despite his young age, constantly looking out for Thalia and Annabeth.

After Halcyon makes him promise to learn from his past mistakes, Luke misunderstands this as not letting the Olympians push him around and begins to feel motivated to fight back. This is the first time he begins questioning the gods himself. Thalia's sacrifice greatly depressed him, blaming Zeus for not finding another way to save her from Hades. However, the final straw would finally come after Luke failed on his quest to retrieve a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides. He saw no glory in repeating what others had done and felt very unmotivated on his quest, especially since he already fought monsters until he was 14 years old and trained very hard afterwards. He felt so miserable at the gods that "wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone", to the point Kronos felt his despair. Even Annabeth claims that Luke never was the same ever since returning from his quest.

For the sake of resurrecting Kronos, Luke became crueler and callous than ever, even willing to send Percy to his certain death into Tartarus. Further demonstrations of Luke's newfound cruelty are his lack of consideration before poisoning Thalia's pine (though he did this only to have Percy resurrect her), his blackmail of Silena Beauregard, his sadistic intention to make Percy watch as his friends Tyson and Grover were devoured by an Aethiopian Drakon, and sneering at Thalia when the latter held him at the point of a sword.

Like his previous friends Thalia, Annabeth and Percy, Luke had an extremely strong will worthy of a hero. He was able to hold the weight of the sky and fight Thalia head on despite her Aegis shield replica had intimidated even the likes of Ladon in *The Titan's Curse*. In *The Last Olympian,* he even fought Kronos himself for the control of his body. However, Luke can be reckless when trying to prove himself something and overconfident in his abilities, negative traits he acknowledged. Examples include when he took unnecessary risks during his travels before the Camp Half-Blood, and when he nearly got killed by Ares, saved only by Kronos's intervention.

However, Luke still did seem to possess at least some morals, being furious with Kelli for egregiously murdering a boy in Seattle and disapproving of Kampê's release due to her chaotic nature. According to Luke himself in The Lightning Thief, Kronos punished him with nightmares every time he failed. By *The Battle of the Labyrinth*, he developed his first doubts about the Titan King's cause, to the point he visited Annabeth before the events of the book and tried to convince her to run away with him before Kronos could use his body as a host. According to Kronos himself, he "had to pressure Luke in many ways" in order to convince him to bath in the Styx. In the end, Annabeth reminds Luke of his initial promise to be a proper family, which encourages Luke to finally realize that he was mislead by Kronos the entire time. Ultimately, Luke proves that he is ultimately good at heart and chooses to sacrifice himself in order to destroy Kronos. Just before he dies, Luke makes Percy promise to never let another war like that ever happen again and selflessly pleads him to makes sure that all of the unclaimed demigods are finally claimed by their parents.

### Fears

Like Annabeth, Luke showed a particular dislike of Cyclopes. They were one of those monsters almost lured him and friends to their deaths using the voices of his loved ones, becoming the actual cause of Thalia's transformation into a tree.

## Appearance

In *The Lost Hero*, a photo shows a 15-year-old Luke - a sandy blonde haired boy with a mischievous smile. He wore a ragged makeshift leather armor over his T-shirt.

Luke is described as a tall, college-aged young man with an athletic, muscular build. He had short-cropped sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, a sharp nose, and the sneaky look like all Hermes demigod children. Many girls found him particularly attractive, even the Empousa Kelli. The only thing unsettling about Luke's appearance was a thick, deep pale scar that ran from the bottom of his eye down to his chin caused by Ladon, the guardian dragon of the Garden of the Hesperides.

In *The Titan's Curse*, Luke began to look sickly and aged. His usually tanned skin became ghostly pale, his hair became white and gained gray streaks from holding the sky for days, especially under the moonlight. In *The Battle of the Labyrinth*, Luke's healthy appearance returned as he became closer to being taken over by Kronos. This was most likely due to taking on the Curse of Achilles. Percy thought he looked *too* healthy, as Luke's skin had an unnatural glow to it. By this time, Luke wore a white chiton and himation, which made him look timeless, similar to the minor gods.

## Abilities and Tools

* General Abilities
* Demigod Abilities
* Host of Kronos Abilities
* Magic Items

* **ADHD**: Like all demigods, Luke possessed inborn supernatural battle reflexes and senses that he used to analyze the fighting style of his opponent.
* **Dyslexia**: His brain was "hardwired" for Ancient Greek instead of modern languages.
* **Fighting Skills**: Even before coming to Camp Half-Blood, Luke was able to survive out in the open for years, even when he lost his sword was forced to use a golf club as a weapon instead. According to Annabeth, Luke was "an amazing monster-fighter, even without training." During the five years he spent at Camp Half-Blood, Luke greatly enhanced his fighting abilities.
* **Swordsmanship**: Luke was a highly capable swordsman known for his speed, far surpassing even the children of Ares and Athena in skill. A Hermes camper stated that Luke was "the best swordsman in the last 300 years." After Percy defeated several Ares campers in Capture the Flag, only Luke was able to train him when he was augmented by water one on one. When revealing his treachery to Percy, Luke claimed he could have beaten Ares if he would had been more cautious, though this is uncertain. In *The Sea of Monsters*, Luke quickly outduelled and nearly killed Percy in their duel even when the latter's power was augmented by water, though Percy was out of practice and Luke had a shield. This is impressive as at this point in time Percy was capable of defeat entire cabins at a time without water augmentation. Despite being noticeably frail from holding the sky, Luke held his own very well against Thalia, but was eventually outmatched and disarmed. It should be noted that he was at a considerable disadvantage due to Thalia's powers over lightning, though Thalia claimed she could always beat Luke.
* **Will Power**: Luke had a near indomitable willpower. He was able to hold up the sky long enough to trick Annabeth and managed to fight Thalia head on despite her Aegis shield replica had intimidated even the likes of Ladon. In *The Last Olympian*, Luke was able to temporarily wrest control over his body from Kronos.
* **Superhuman Strength**: As a demigod, Luke was stronger than the average mortal. He was able to match Thalia in an intense duel despite Thalia projecting "a ball of yellow lightning," each time Luke clashed against her shield.
* **Superhuman Durability**: As a demigod, Luke was stronger than the average mortal. In *The Titan's Curse*, Luke survived a fall of over fifty feet onto a pile of jagged rocks, a fall that Percy didn't believe he could have survived.

## Relationships

### Romances

* Annabeth Chase
* Thalia Grace

Since *The Lightning Thief*, Annabeth showed great concern, loyalty, and admiration to Luke. He obviously cared a lot for her and likely thought of Annabeth as a younger sibling given their experiences before Camp Half-Blood. There were many hints throughout the series that Annabeth had a crush on Luke. When Luke hugged her, Percy said that she looked "like she was going to pass out."

Percy stated that Luke was one of the reasons that made his relationship with Annabeth complicated at the end of the fourth book. In most of the times Luke appears as the villain in Annabeth's presence, he tries to pull strings with his masters so that Annabeth is unharmed or held to benefit from the outcome, showing that he had a certain affection towards her. However, Luke once tricked her into taking the sky for him in *The Titan's Curse*. When Luke asked Annabeth to run away with him in *The Battle of the Labyrinth*, after he realized what Kronos intended for him, Annabeth refused, despite her determination to save him.

Annabeth's crush was most likely one-sided, as she is seven years younger than Luke and he was romantically attracted to Thalia. However, before dying, he asked Annabeth if she loved him, implying he may developed some attraction to her romantically. He didn't seem to be hurt when Annabeth rejected him, likely as he had expected it and possibly because he realised that having caused Annabeth so much pain, even if she truly had a crush on him, it would have been dulled.
Judging from her reaction to Jason's question about Luke in *The Lost Hero*, Annabeth still hadn't quite gotten Luke's death after several months. In *The House of Hades*, it is finally reveled that ever since Luke's death, she had had to wrestle with the terrible thought that there could have been another way to defeat Kronos and prevent Luke's death, and that Luke's blood was on her hands. When the river Acheron shows her images of her friends dying, the most painful of all is that of Luke sacrificing himself, and his blood on her dagger. Annabeth begins to fear that Luke's voice is among those in the Acheron, punished for his crimes against Olympus. The river tries to force her to jump in and "share his punishment" and Annabeth nearly does, though Percy intervenes just in time.

### Family

* May Castellan
* Hermes

Soon after Luke's birth, his mother tried to take in the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi, but failed as Hades had cursed the Oracle during World War II so that her spirit would never move on. She suffered several side effects for many years, such as seeing glimpses of Luke's future. May would go into spats of screaming that scared Luke growing up until he ran away from home.
Luke eventually went back to his mother's house with Thalia and Annabeth to get medical supplies, which was when he finally meets his father. He and Hermes got into an argument when Luke demanded to know why Hermes had abandoned him with his mother in such a state. He ran away again and eventually made it to Camp Half-Blood. His mother still waited every day for him to return and made him sandwiches and cookies. Luke visited her one last time in-between *The Titan's Curse* and *The Battle of the Labyrinth*, since he needed her blessing to bathe in the River Styx.

### Rivals

#### Percy Jackson

In *The Lightning Thief*, Luke welcomed a newly arrived Percy Jackson into Camp Half-Blood. Kronos had informed Luke after stealing the bolt that another demigod would show up at camp soon who would take the bolt to Tartarus, so Luke made him feel comfortable, going as far as stealing toiletries for him, guiding him and giving him sword fighting lessons. Percy thought Luke was a really nice guy, but it was all a ploy to earn his trust. Luke later summoned a hellhound to attack Percy so Chiron would send him on a quest, giving him cursed sandals hoping they would drag Percy to Kronos in Tartarus. After successfully completing his quest, Luke was furious that the plan was unsuccessful while Percy, at the time, still thought they were friends. Towards the end of the summer, Luke took Percy alone into the woods and told him he was leaving camp. The conversation soon takes a darker turn when Luke summoned a pit scorpion to kill Percy and revealed that he stole the Lightning Bolt and explained his motives for serving Kronos, though Percy survived.

For a majority of the story, Percy was Luke's worst and most feared enemy. They meet each other a few times more times throughout the series. Each time, Luke tried to recruit Percy or kill him, and each time Percy tried to dissuade him from the madness. As the events progress, Percy grew to resent and hate Luke more and more, even wishing him to die, and the feeling is mutual for Luke. Annabeth's belief in Luke only served to increase Percy's hatred. Kronos toll Percy that Luke feared him for his power as a child of the Big Three and for his potential to ruin the Titan King's plans with his prophesied ultimate choice to save Olympus.

In his last moments, having died to stop Kronos, Luke's animosity towards Percy had faded and the same applied to Percy, at least a little bit, as Luke angrily pleaded and trusted Percy to make sure that none of the other demigods felt abandoned and Percy promised to do it. Percy fulfilled Luke's last wish for all the gods to claim their children in *The Last Olympian*, which earned Luke great fame. Even before and after Luke's death, Percy understands why Luke hated the Olympians.

In *The Hidden Oracle*, Percy lists Luke as one of the people that he lost to a bad influence, showing that he still thinks about and cares for Luke as a lost friend, rather than a former enemy.

### Former Allies

#### Kronos

Since Luke is one of Kronos's followers, Kronos respected Luke and expect him to not fail. Before *The Lightning Thief*, Kronos contacted Luke in his dreams and gradually manipulated him to his cause, ordering him to steal the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness. Luke succeeded in stealing the Bolt and the Helm during a camp field trip to Olympus, but Luke was caught and defeated by Ares. Kronos saved Luke by manipulating Ares through the demigod. Luke was later punished by Kronos through terrifying nightmares.

In *The Sea of Monsters*, Kronos gave Luke the *Princess Andromeda* to transport the Titan Army. Luke has Kronos' Sarcophagus in his room. *In The Titan's Curse*, Kronos let Luke hold the weight of the sky so Atlas could get free, though Luke survived by tricking a former ally. Later, Kronos had Luke send his half-brother, Chris Rodriguez, into the Labyrinth, so that the latter might be able to find a way into Camp Half-Blood.

According to Kronos himself, he "had to pressure Luke in many ways" in order to convince him to bath in the River Styx. In *The Battle of the Labyrinth*, Ethan Nakamura swears loyalty to the Titan, resulted in the awakening of Kronos, who uses Luke's body as a host, and comes back from Tartarus fully. In *The Last Olympian*, Kronos used Luke as a host to attempt to leads an offensive against Mount Olympus, which results in the bloodiest battle of the Second Titanomachy. However, when Kronos finally manages to disarm Percy, Luke is distracted by Annabeth, who reminds him of the promise he made her about being a family, which encourages Luke to finally realize that he was mislead by Kronos the entire time. Luke manages to regain control over his body and takes Annabeth's knife from Percy (the cursed blade of the Great Prophecy), and stabs himself in his Achilles heel (his armpit). As a result, Kronos was spread to the wind, hopefully, spread so thin, that he could never take a form or be conscious again.

Luke is related to Kronos, his great-grandfather through Zeus, his grandfather through Hermes.

## Percy Jackson (Film Series)

### *The Lightning Thief*

Unlike in the novel, where Kronos was eventually revealed to have been the mastermind behind the theft, Luke is the true antagonist of the film. He is portrayed by Jake Abel.

There have been some changes to his character, one of the most notable being that Luke claims he has never met his father, despite the fact that in the book series their only meeting has a profound effect on their relationship and the way Luke views the Olympians. The relationship between Annabeth and Luke, which plays a key role in *The Titan's Curse* and especially in *The Last Olympian*, is not as close as their book counterparts, seeming to be only acquaintances rather than lifelong friends; Luke's back-story is also cut. Luke's scar was inflicted by *Percy* rather than Ladon, the dragon in the Hesperides garden. Finally, there was no mention of Luke's association with Kronos, heavily implying that Luke acted alone. It remains unclear if there has been any contact between the two at all.

Luke's cabin was also filled with modern-world paraphernalia and he is seen playing *Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2*, using a L86 LSW (with red dot) on the map Favela online. He apparently supplies his fellow campers with modern technology.

Luke's role remains mostly the same throughout the movie, however Luke and Percy's final confrontation has changed. Upon discovering that Luke is the Lightning Thief in the Underworld, they confront each other atop the Empire State Building. The two battle, with Luke gaining his scar and the Master Bolt changing hands several times until Luke seemingly has Percy defeated. When he questions whether or not Percy truly is the son of Poseidon, Percy uses the contents of several water towers and knocks Luke off the building and into the nearby ocean, leaving his fate unknown.

### *The Sea of Monsters*

Luke returns as the primary antagonist of the film, with Jake Abel reprising his role. He also appears in the film's opening scene- Thalia's sacrifice and subsequent transformation into a tree- played by Samuel Braun.

As in the novel, he poisons Thalia's tree, but he also leads two Colchis bulls into Camp Half-Blood. Following the bulls' destruction, he encounters Percy near the Big House and informs the latter of his plan to revive Kronos.

Later, as Percy meets the Oracle, he learns that he (the son of the sea) will grapple with Luke (the Lightning Thief) for the Golden Fleece.

Luke later abducts Grover with Chris Rodriguez's help in Washington, DC. He also meets up with Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson on his yacht, the *Andromeda*, detailing his plan, and proceeds to imprison the three. The heroes escape the next day, despite Luke's efforts to stop them.

The heroes, now with Clarisse, obtain the Fleece and Grover, but Luke swipes the Fleece away (seemingly killing Tyson in the process) and proceeds to restrain them while reviving Kronos. However, the group escape and an all-out war erupts between them and Luke's army. Whilst Clarisse, Grover and Annabeth battle the other Demigods and monsters, Percy tries to remove the Fleece, but Luke appears and the two Demigods fight.

Despite Percy carrying a sword, Luke effortlessly disarms and overpowers him with a combination of martial-arts moves. He then comes close to killing Percy, but Tyson appears and overpowers him - having survived his fall due to his Demigod traits. When Kronos is revived, Luke greets his master, but is eaten by the massive Titan.

After Kronos is defeated, Luke is ejected into Polyphemus' lair and is cornered by the Cyclops, about to be eaten. It is unknown if Luke survived, but it is highly likely.

## Video Game

In the video game, Luke is one of the main characters until the player has defeated Hades. His attacks are mostly poison-based, unlike the books where he fights more with his sword. The others being Isaac and Grover, he is one of the three characters that can grant Haste to a party member. He is resistant to Poison. He is also the final boss in the game where he is fought alone by Percy.

## Etymology

* ***Luke*** is the name of the patron saint of physicians and surgeons in Christianity.

* ***Castellan*** means a governor or warden of a castle. It also means "someone who guards the castle". Interestingly, he was the head counsellor of the Hermes Cabin (which would take in all new campers, so it was the largest cabin) and the one who saved Olympus from destruction.

## Trivia

* *The Diary of Luke Castellan* is in Luke's point of view.
* According to his mother, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, Kool-Aid and chocolate chip cookies were Luke's favorite things to have for lunch.
* In this way, Luke is more 'heroic' in the old sense of the terms, such as the stories of Theseus, Jason or Hercules.
* Luke was the last known person to die in the Second Titan War.
* Luke and Percy are alike in several ways:
	+ Both of their mothers can see through the Mist.
	+ At some point they were both in Hermes' Cabin.
	+ Both of them, at one point, felt resentment towards their respective fathers.
	+ Both of them are their father's favorite sons.
	+ They are both excellent sword fighters (Percy himself learned from Luke at camp while training during their first friendship).
	+ Both of them have met Ladon, the guardian dragon.
	+ Both of them held the weight of the sky, and escaped. This resulted in a streak of grey hair for both of them.
	+ Both of them have bathed in the River Styx.
	+ Both of them saw Annabeth while bathing in the River Styx (Luke also saw Thalia).
	+ They were both possessed by a figure from Greek mythology, turning their eyes gold (Kronos and eidolon respectively).
	+ Both of them are subjects of the Great Prophecy.
	+ Annabeth was interested romantically in both of them at one point in time.
	+ Both were brought to camp by the satyr,Grover Underwood .
* Luke is similar to Jason Grace in several ways
	+ They were both possessed by a figure from Greek mythology, turning their blue eyes gold (Kronos and eidolon respectively ).
	+ They are both accomplished swordsmen.
	+ They both have a scar on their face (Luke's diagonally across his face, Jason's is on his lip)
	+ They are both considered physically attractive and charismatic.
	+ They both have charmed several women (Reyna and Piper McLean were in love with Jason. Annabeth Chase and Silena Beauregard had a crush on Luke).
	+ They both have blond hair and blue eyes with athletic builds.
	+ They both have a history with Thalia - Luke was her oldest friend, and Jason is her long-lost brother.
	+ They both are repeatedly compared to Percy.
	+ They both wielded a blade given to them by a deity (Backbiter, Juno's *gladius*).
	+ They both destroyed a Titan (Kronos, Krios).
	+ Both of their mothers were unstable - May Castellan was turned insane when she tried to become the Oracle of Delphi, and Beryl Grace was unable to handle Zeus/Jupiter leaving her.
	+ They both led an attack on a deity's throne room - Luke (while being controlled by Kronos) led an attack on Mount Olympus before recovering his spirit and sacrificing his life to save it , and Jason led an attack on Mount Othrys simultaneously.
	+ They both sacrificed themselves to save the other characters.
* Luke shares a few similarities with Khione:
	+ They both hate their respective fathers (Hermes, Boreas).
	+ They both appeared to be on friendly terms with the main character(s), only to try and kill them later and reveal they were working with the enemy.
	+ They were both very close in command to their masters. (Luke was Kronos' second-in-command aside from Kronos' brothers, the Titans, while Khione appears to be second-in-command to Gaea, next to her children, the Giants.)
	+ They both disappeared at the end of the first book in their respective series; Luke in *The Lightning Thief* and Khione in *The Lost Hero*, leaving their ultimate fates unknown, although Luke's fate was much more obvious. Also, the last words they spoke before disappearing were very similar. However, Luke appeared in every book of the main series after his disappearance whereas Khione only appeared later during *The House of Hades*.
* Octavian bore a striking resemblance to Luke, which caused Percy to think he knew him.
* Much like Meg McCaffrey, Luke is revealed to be a double agent of the series' main antagonist (Nero and Kronos respectively) near the end of the first book in one of the Camp Half-Blood series (*The Lightning Thief* and *The Hidden Oracle* respectively), though it should be noted that unlike Luke, Meg was shown to be quite apologetic and hesitant when it came to her true allegiance.
* Luke is very similar to Michel Desjardins in *The Kane Chronicles*:
	+ They both were initially quite cruel towards the main characters, but make peace with them shortly before they die a self-sacrificing hero's death in order to stop the main villain (Apophis and Kronos respectively).
	+ Luke, however, was much more malevolent from the beginning, since he quickly sided with Kronos, while Desjardins always fought against Apophis.
	+ Also, while Luke was able to fully defeat Kronos by his sacrifice, Desjardins only bought some extra time for the Kane siblings by banishing Apophis temporarily.
* Even though Luke dies in *The Last Olympian*, he has been mentioned in every book of *The Heroes of Olympus*.
* In the books, Luke's scar is caused by a dragon, while in the movie, it is caused during the fight against Percy at the end of the movie.