Difference Between Half-Bloods in ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’ Explained

There are plenty of fictional and magical universes in the world of fantasy novels, and two of the most popular are ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’ as they both follow young heroes who end up discovering their powers and gifts along the way. But one of the terms that are common in both of these fictional universes is the term “half-blood,” which is also used to describe Harry and Percy. So, what are the differences between ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’ in relation to the use of the half-blood term?
‘Harry Potter’ half-bloods explained
There are a lot of different terms that are used in the world of ‘Harry Potter,’ and most of these terms were basically created by the author, JK Rowling, exclusively for her novels about the magical world of wizards and witches. Terms like squibs and muggles are often used, but there are also other interesting terms that are also being used in this fictional universe.
One such term that can also be found in other fictional worlds is the term “half-blood,” which is commonly used in ‘Harry Potter.’ In fact, the titular character, Harry Potter, is also referred to as a half-blood. And this term is actually self-explanatory when it comes to what it means in this fictional world.
Basically, a half-blood in the world of ‘Harry Potter’ refers to a wizard or witch with one parent who is also a wizard or a witch (or a pureblood) and a parent who is non-magical (a muggle). However, the non-magical parent doesn’t have to be someone who can’t use magic. A half-blood is a half-blood as long as one parent was born a muggle despite the fact that this parent is capable of using magic.
In Harry’s case, he is the son of a pureblood named James Potter and a muggle named Lilly Potter. However, while Lilly was a muggle, she went on to become a skilled witch in her own right. Another popular half-blood in ‘Harry Potter’ is Professor Severus Snape, who went on to become Lilly’s childhood best friend.
Basically, those who are born to a traditional magical parent and a non-traditional parent or muggle are half-bloods in the world of ‘Harry Potter.’ Half-bloods may not be as fondly looked at compared to purebloods, but they tend to be more favorable to purebloods when compared to muggles or the ones who are born to parents who have no magical abilities whatsoever.
‘Percy Jackson’ half-bloods explained
While the fictional world of ‘Percy Jackson’ was widely based on Greek mythology, there are also a lot of interesting terms that are used in this storyline. But the term that is often used is “half-blood” due to the fact that this term pertains to almost all of the main characters of the novel series, including Percy Jackson himself.
In ‘Percy Jackson,’ the half-blood term is also pretty self-explanatory when you know the context of the story. The book series, of course, follows the story of Percy Jackson, who is the son of an ordinary human being, and Poseidon, the Greek god of the seas. He and his other friends, who are also half-bloods, go on different adventures and quests that have the fate of the entire world hanging in the balance.
So, in that regard, the half-blood term already has a context that is quite understandable. That’s because half-bloods in ‘Percy Jackson’ are those who are born to a regular human parent and a god. In Percy’s case, his mother is a regular human being, whereas his father is basically the god of the seas. Some of the other notable half-bloods include Annabeth, who is the daughter of Athena and a human male.
This is consistent with the fact that Greek mythology often tells stories of gods coming down to the mortal realm to have romantic affairs with humans and having children with them. In fact, some of the most notable heroes in Greek mythology are actually the children of gods with humans.
In other words, the half-bloods in ‘Percy Jackson’ are actually demigods. The term “demigod” is also often used in this novel. But the term that is often used is half-blood as it tends to be more humanizing compared to a demigod, which allows the characters to sound more godlike instead of more humanlike.
What’s the difference?
Now that you know the meanings of the term “half-blood” when used in the worlds of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson,’ it is easy to tell the difference between them. Of course, the difference lies in the context, especially when you look at the fact that both of these worlds deal with fantasy.
In ‘Harry Potter,’ the context is related to the people who are capable of using magic. On the other hand, in ‘Percy Jackson,’ the context is related to the gods themselves. That means that the other half that the “half-blood” term pertains to is actually the human side of the half-blood, whereas the other half is the fantastical themes that the worlds of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’ focus on.
Plainly speaking, the fantastical half in ‘Harry Potter’ are the wizards and witches, whereas the one in ‘Percy Jackson’ are gods and deities. Of course, the one half that is common to both of these fictional worlds is the element of the ordinary human being who simply fell in love with either a wizard/witch or a god.
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