- “For someone who created men, you don't know much about us. We live, we fight and we die for each other. Not for you.”
- ―Perseus to Zeus
Perseus is the main protagonist of the 2010 film, Clash of the Titans and Wrath of the Titans. He is the demigod son of Zeus and Danaë, the husband of Io and the biological father of Helius who began his hero's journey to save Princess Andromeda. Along with several companions, he must defeat the Kraken and foil Hades and save the world from destruction by his evil grandfather Kronos.
Perseus is based on the character of the same name from Greek Mythology with several aspects of Bellphron, Hercules, and Theseus.
He is portrayed by Sam Worthington, best known for his role as Jake Sully from The Avatar franchise.
Background[]
Acrisius, the King of Argos, grew embittered and envious towards the Gods due to their arrogance and decided to wage war on Mount Olympus. While the Olympians wanted to laid waste to Olympus, Zeus forbade them for her loved his creations too much; in retaliation, the King of the gods shape-shifted in Acrisius' form and slept with Queen Danaë, who had no knowledge of this until the great god turned back into his true form, much to Danaë's horror and Acrisius' fury.
The small affair resulted in Perseus' conception and birth. As an infant, Perseus and his birth mother were cast into the sea in a chest. In retaliation, Zeus struck lightning and transformed Acrisius into the creature, Calibos. The immortal nymph, Io guided the chest to Spyros, who fished it onto his ship. When he opened it, Spyros found Perseus and Danaë inside. Unfortunately, Danaë died at sea while Perseus survived.
Found at sea, Perseus was named and raised by a family of fishermen, a man named Spyros and a woman named Marmara. At a young age, Perseus wanted to know who he was and where he came from and felt ashamed of not knowing who his biological parents were. Despite not being related by blood, Spyros and Marmara considered him their son even though he thought he couldn't be anyone's child. Perseus considered them his parents and had a loving relationship with his adoptive sister, Tekla.
Personality[]
- “I'd rather die in the mud with those men than live forever as a god.”
- ―Perseus showing his honorable side with his compatriots
As a child, Perseus was quite adventurous, wanting to travel the world more and wanted to know where he came from. However, as he grew older, Perseus came to enjoy the peaceful fisherman life with his parents and sister. However, while Perseus wanted to know who his birth family was, he was happy with the family he had.
Because he was a simple fisherman, most of his initial companions believed Perseus was incompetent. However, the teen demigod was quite intelligent, and in fact, became a skilled leader over the remaining company after the attack of the Scorpions. The men of this small band willingly followed him, even going following him into the realm of Hades, all knowing that they might die on this adventure as the witches foretold them. Perseus was devoted to his family and loved them very much. Even though Spyros and Marmara weren't Perseus' biological parents, he still loved them and regarded them as parents, the people who raised him and was happy with his little sister, Tekla and often helped her when they went fishing together. He wanted to avenge their deaths as much as possible when they were killed by Hades.
Perseus later fought for the world to be a better place for his son, who was one of the only things Perseus ever held dear. He also showed visible signs of wanting to know who his birth parents were, as any adoptive child would feel unwanted. He was shocked to learn that his father was Zeus himself and learned the true circumstances of his birth. When Perseus learned that he and his birth mother were cast into the sea, Perseus took it all in as Io told him what happened to his mother. Perseus had a resentment towards his father, Zeus, and coldly rebuffed his birth father's gifts and even denied Zeus as his father. However, by the time of the sequel, Perseus did regard Zeus as his father and even went on a rescue mission to save him. He also regarded Agenor as his cousin and family member but had a strong rivalry with his half-brother, Ares, who despises Perseus with a burning passion because their father always favored his demigod child over his godly son.
Throughout the Clash of the Titans franchise, Perseus was only attracted to and in love with two women, but was attracted to their character, and not their looks. His first lover was a woman named Io. At first, he resents io's presence but slowly falls in love with her on the quest to save Argos. The two of them married and had a child together, named Helius. He was very much saddened by her death twice and probably never loved another woman again. However, it turned out to be untrue, since Perseus began having feelings for Andromeda. He first met her when she was a princess and she was the only one in the kingdom to show Perseus kindness while everyone in the city was rude towards him. He later saved her life, causing Andromeda to fall in love with him and even offer him to become king, but Perseus refuses and says he only served her as a man. When they met again ten years later, Andromeda was slightly jealous when he mentioned his wife very briefly. At the very end of Wrath of the Titans, Perseus gives her a very passionate kiss, implying they may enter a romantic relationship in the future, just like the myths.
Percy's hot temper is reflected upon several times, such as him wanting to immediately attack Hades without hesitation and thought. He later grew angry with the Stygian Witches when they would not tell them how to defeat the Kraken. After the events of Clash, marrying Io and having a son with her, Perseus mellowed out due to fatherhood calming him down a bit. Since Io died, Perseus had been looking after Helius since, and both of them retained a very strong relationship with one another. To further show how committed he was to being a full-time parent, Perseus refused to abandon Helius when his father needed him but reluctantly left his home to save Zeus if it meant protecting the world.
Overall, Perseus was a very brave man, willing to lay his life down on the line for anyone, and continued to live in Argos and raise Helius, giving him a weapon for the first time.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Superhuman Strength: Perseus was able to single-handedly defeat the Chimera by holding it in a headlock. He later uses his super strength to free Zeus from his bindings and throw the Spear of Triam.
- Superhuman Speed:
- Superhuman Agility: Perseus was able to jump long distances in Medusa's lair.
- Superhuman Durability: Perseus's was able to escape from a Scorpion that ate him but suffered effects from his poison. Unlike the mortals, who immediately died from the poison, Perseus lived longer suffered from terrible effects. The Djinn was able to completely heal him.
- Sensing (possibly): in Wrath of the Titans, when Zeus visited Perseus, without any word from his father, easily senses that the walls of Tartarus were crumbling and his grandfather, Kronos's was breaking out.
- Longevity: Due his godly heritage, Perseus can live far longer than a human but he is still susceptible to injury and disease.
Appearances[]
Clash of the Titans[]
Perseus' mother died at sea when they were cast out at sea by Acrisius. The film depicted how Spyros found Perseus and was the one to give him his name. He grew up on an unnamed island as the son of fishermen, blissfully unaware of his heritage. As a child, Perseus' adoptive parents conceived a biological child of their own. As a lightning storm hit the island, Perseus confided in his adoptive father his fears that he would be forgotten once their child was born. However, Spyros reassures his son of his worries and asserts that they will always be family and that he will one day leave the Island in the future.
Twelve years later, Perseus and his entire family went fishing on their boat. However, they got no fish sneered into their net. Spyros said that one day someone would make a stand against the gods' tyranny. The following night, Perseus awakens to the thunderous night. Spyros comes out and remembers that a storm was what brought him to Perseus in the first place. Even though his father had no answers to who he was, Perseus tells Spyros that he had everything he could ever want right there. The following day, Perseus' family is killed by Hades, but Perseus is the only one to survive the incident. The young man was left to grieve for the parents and younger sister he lost and was shortly found by Argos soldiers
While visiting the Argos palace, Perseus met Princess Andromeda for the first time. Their celebration is suddenly ruined by the arrival of Hades after Cassiopeia foolishly compares her daughter's beauty more beautiful than Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Perseus attempts to attack Hades, but Io stops Perseus from doing so and promises that he will one day get his chance to avenge his family. The lord of the underworld swears he will unleash the Kraken in ten days unless they sacrifice Andromeda for their queen's insolence and reveals Zeus had Perseus' birth father.
Perseus refused to help save Argos and felt lost without the family who were killed by Hades. Imprisoned in the Argive dungeons, the jailer, Draco revealed to Perseus someone was there to visit him. Perseus recognizes her as the woman from before, Io, appearing to tell him how he was born. Perseus asks who she is, and Io reveals her name and that she was cursed with agelessness.
Perseus asks if he is the son of Zeus and Io confirms it is true and began tell him the story of how he was born: revealing that he was born between the union of Zeus and Danaë in the guise of Danaë’s husband, Acrisius. Perseus also learned his mother and he was thrown into the sea but when he was found, his mother was already dead. After learning the true circumstances of his birth from Io, Perseus, still angry at his family's murder, doesn't care how or why he was born and inquires how to get to Hades. Io reveals that if he kills the Kraken, then he'll be able to strike a deathly blow against Hades. This prompts Perseus to accept the king's offer to save Argos if it means he'll go to Hades.
The quest did not start well for Perseus, as he was constantly teased by most of his companions and learned fighting skills from Draco.
During this time, Zeus gifted Perseus with a sword of magic and the winged horse, Pegasus but Perseus refused each of them, preferring to do it as a man rather than a demigod
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
- “I knew one great man in my life. My father. Now I know four more. And the woman. And whatever the hell you are. I know we are all afraid. But my father told me, someday someone's gonna have to make a stand. Someday, someone's gonna have to say "Enough"! This could be that day. Trust your senses and don't look this bitch in the eye!”
- ―Perseus recognizes Io, the men and the Djinn as one of the bravest people he has ever known before rallying them to kill Medusa is
- “I'd rather die in the mud with those men, than live forever as a God.”
- ―{{{2}}}
- “My father is dead. He's killed by a God.”
- ―Perseus refuses to acknowledge his biological father
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Io † - Wife
- Helius - Son
- Zeus † - Biological Father
- Queen Danaë † - Biological Mother
- Spyros † - Adoptive Father
- Marmara † - Adoptive Mother
- Acrisius † - Maternal Stepfather
- Ares † - Paternal Half-Brother, Attempted Killer and Victim
- Apollo - Paternal Half-Brother
- Athena - Paternal Half-Sister
- Hermes - Paternal Half-Brother
- Tekla † - Adoptive Sister
- Titans - Ancestors
- Kronos † - Grandfather, Attempted Killer and Victim
- Rhea - Paternal Grandmother
- Hades - Paternal Uncle
- Poseidon † - Paternal Uncle
- Agenor - Cousin
- Hera - Step-mother and Aunt
- Hestia - Aunt
- Demeter - Aunt
Allies[]
- Hephaestus †
- Argive Royal Family
- Princess Andromeda - Love Interest
- Argive Army
- Ozal - Friend
- Kucak - Friend
- Pegasus - Steed
- Djinn
- Sheikh Suleiman
- Scorpions - Former Enemies
- Cyclopes
Enemies[]
- King Acrisius/Calibos † - Attempted Killer and Victim
- Stygian Witches
- Monsters
- Medusa † - Victim
- The Kraken † - Victim
- The Minotaur † - Victim
- Chimeras † - Victim
- Makhai † - Attempted Killers
- Korrina † - Prayed to the Party's Enemy, Ares
Trivia[]
- Perseus is based on the mythological figure from Greek Mythology of the same name.
- Perseus is the first character in 2010 to be named Perseus, and the second is Percy Jackson (whose full name is Perseus). Coincidentally, both films were involved in Greek Mythology.
- In a deleted scene of Clash of the Titans, Apollo commented that Perseus shares their father's hot temper and stubbornness. In the same one, Apollo was the one who gave Perseus the golden drachma due to the conflict between him and Zeus being more confrontational.
- Andromeda is not Perseus' wife in the films. However had the third installment not be cancelled, it would've explored their relationship.
- Perseus' strained relationship with Zeus is Ironic, given that Sam Worthington's character Jake Sully also faces father and son issues in The Way of Water
Comparison to the 1981 version[]
- Perseus was raised by his mother in the original while he was raised by two adopted parents, Spyros and Marmara in the remake.
- Perseus is only given ten days to find a way to defeat the Kraken before Andromeda is sacrificed during an eclipse while in the original film, he has thirty days before she is sacrificed on the longest day of the year.
- The original Perseus had to answer a riddle to marry Andromeda.
- Zeus and Perseus' relationship is more explored and developed. He doesn't acknowledge Zeus as his father until the sequel.
- He falls in love with Io as opposed to Andromeda and has a son, Helius in the sequel.
- However, Perseus and Andromeda are heavily implied to enter a romantic relationship in Wrath of the Titans. like their 1981 and mythological counterparts.
- In the 2010 film, Zeus gave Perseus the gold coin to cross the River Styx as opposed to a member of Perseus' party.
- Perseus' main rivals in the film are Hades and Acrisius (also Calibos in this version) while the original film was Thetis and Calibos.
See Also[]
- Snow White, who took over the role of Perseus in Once Upon a Time
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