Nekhbet

**Nekhbet** is an Egyptian goddess of vultures.

## History

In ancient times she was a protector of the pharaohs, if they proved themselves strong enough. She is also one of Egypt's oldest goddess first appearing in myths an legends in the predynastic period. She was first know as Wadjet and her sacred animal was a cobra. She slowly evolved into a vulture goddess instead.

### Mythology

Nekhbet is one of the oldest of the Egyptian gods. She was originally a patron goddess of the city of Nekheb. Overtime she came to represent the white crown of Upper Egypt and a protector of the pharaoh. She was often paired with the snake-goddess Buto who represented Lower Egypt. Nekhbet was one of the gods sometimes depicted helping Ra on his nightly journey. In later times, she became a goddess of childbirth overseeing the birth and protection of newborns.

## *The Kane Chronicles*

### *The Throne of Fire*

Nekhbet was among the gods who opposed the return of Ra. She believed he had grown too weak to effectively lead the gods against Apophis. Nekhbet took over Mrs. Faust's body when hunting Sadie, Emma, and Liz, along with god of baboons, Babi. She sought to prevent them from going any further along in their quest. She never tried to kill Sadie directly, as vultures are scavengers. Babi was the one trying to kill them. Sadie describes her as "one hundred years old, hunched over emaciated. Her face, earlobes, and neck sagged with folds of wrinkly pink skin." For a little bit she showed Mrs. Faust to Sadie. Mrs. Faust was confused about what happened as she asked "Sadie?" Sadie, Liz, and Emma ran away from Babi. At first they thought they could get away, due to Babi's poor eyesight, but Nekhbet was flying overhead, screeching "there they are!".

They meet again at the Waterloo station after Sadie talks with Anubis. Sadie drinks a potion she made long ago and taps into Isis power. She uses her animation power that the potion gave her to make magazine racks, sweets, gum, shampoo, and drinks explode out of the shops. Then she and her friends run out of the station and meet Bes at his car.

Bes fought Babi and Nekhbet at a bridge, where they were weakened, wearing nothing but a speedo and yelling "BOO!" Bobby and Nekhbet were defeated and Sadie's grandparents returned to normal. (mostly)

Later, in the Winter Palace, Sadie sees the shadow of the Tjesu heru snake monster that reminded her of the shadow of Nekhbet's wings.

### *The Serpent's Shadow*

Nekhbet appears when Carter summons the gods to war, obeying him because he proved himself strong. She was destroyed when a copy of Apophis sank its fangs into her.

## *Demigods & Magicians*

### *The Crown of Ptolemy*

Setne performs a ritual for his apotheosis, using Greek-Egyptian hybrid magic. He summons Wadjet, the patron goddess of Lower Egypt, absorbs her essence, and takes her crown. Setne heads south and summons Nekhbet, the patron goddess of Upper Egypt. The magician steals her crown and tries to absorb her essence, but the goddess is saved by Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase and the Kanes.

Nekhbet is outraged about the events, and tells the team that one of them must host her and attack Setne, while the other three should perform a ritual to trap the magician. The goddess chooses Percy as he is a powerful Greek demigod, and rejects Annabeth as her mind is cluttered with ideas.

Percy uses Nekhbet's power to protect his friends, captures Setne and flies into the sky. Setne disrupts the coordination between Percy and Nekhbet by mentioning how the hero rejected godhood when Zeus offered him. Percy maintains his hold over Setne, falls into the ocean, and drags him to his friends.

After defeating Setne, the friends wonder what to do with the crowns. Nekhbet's personality lingers in Percy and he realises that the crowns were kept as a test to see what they would do with it.

## Personality

Nekhbet is sadistic and enjoys preying on the weak. Despite this, however, she does not like to directly engage in battle. She does have a lighter side. If someone is able to prove their strength to her she will leave them alone or even become a powerful protector for them. Like many of the other gods she believes strength is an important factor in ruling. While she initially questioned Carter Kane's strength as a ruler, once he demonstrated his power to her, she was willing to follow him as she saw him as a strong leader.

Nekhbet seems to favor Percy Jackson, and is shocked that he refused godhood. She believes that one should never refuse power when they are offered, and calls Percy dumb.

After Percy defeats Setne, Nekhbet tries to get a handle on Percy's motives for rejecting godhood, by recklessly leaving the crowns behind, even when she knows they could rip apart entire realities. Some of her traits linger in Percy and he advises the Kanes to keep the crowns in a secure place.

## Appearance

Nekhbet appears as a woman that is a hundred years old. The skin around her face, neck, and earlobes sag and her body is hunched over and emaciated. She is almost bald, with just a few clumps of greasy black hair on her head. She wears a "lush" black dress made entirely of feathers.

## Abilities

Nekhbet can fly. She can cast magic that weakens the spirit of a person so they slowly start to weaken and eventually die, although a powerful will can shake off this effect. When hosting her, Percy Jackson was able to make a combat avatar and she was able to shield him from Setne's powers.

For her hosts, Nekhebet needs someone with more a simple mind that is not cluttered by plans and ideas. As a result, Annabeth Chase is not a good fit for her, but Percy Jackson can host her for awhile.

Using smoke from her wings, Nekhbet was able to shatter Setne's earth spell that was entrapping Carter, Sadie, Percy and Annabeth.

## Relationships

### Ra

Nekhbet was once a loyal servant of Ra and was one of the gods who aided him on his nightly journey. His long absence and deteriorated state has caused her to switch her loyalty to Horus and oppose Ra's return .

### Carter Kane

In The Serpent's Shadow , Nekhbet appears when Carter summons the gods to war, obeying him because he proved himself strong. She was destroyed when a copy of Apophis sank its fangs into her.

### Percy Jackson

Needing a host to fight Setne, Nekhbet and Percy reluctantly partnered together. While the two made a powerful combination, more often than not they had a difference of opinion which caused issues in Percy's ability to use Nekhbet's power to fight. Nekhbet also considered Percy weak for turning down godhood when Zeus offered it to him.

1. ↑ *The Throne of Fire*, hardback, page 100