‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’: Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Percy’s Pen/Sword

Every hero needs a weapon that they can use to fight monsters and other evil entities, and we all know that Percy Jackson’s standard weapon is, of course, a sword. Then again, the thing about this sword is that it isn’t an ordinary sword but is actually a weapon that’s disguised as a pen whenever Percy isn’t using it, making it one of the most interesting weapons in the entire storyline of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians,’ and there are a lot more things that make it interesting. So, let’s talk more about Percy Jackson’s powerful sword.

Percy’s sword is called Riptide

The first two episodes of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ didn’t really waste time in introducing a weapon that is going to be part and parcel of Percy Jackson’s entire journey. Early in episode 1, Mr. Brunner (who we know is actually the centaur Chiron) gives Percy a pen during a trip to the museum after sensing that he might need it. Percy held on to this pen, and it came in handy a few moments later when he found out that his pre-Algebra teacher was actually the Fury named Alecto.

Alecto, who had been keeping her eye on Percy for a while, learned that the young boy was a half-blood, and that was why she attacked him in an effort to try to force him to give her something.

Percy, however, seemingly instinctively uses his pen and activates its ability to turn into a sword to kill Alecto. But the young boy thought that everything that happened was just a dream.

The sword came in handy once more shortly after Percy learned that he was a half-blood. Together with his mother and Grover, Percy fled to Camp Half-Blood while the Minotaur pursued them. The beast seemingly kills Percy’s mom, and this activates the warrior within Percy to try to avenge his mother. He uses the sword once more to attack the Minotaur before killing it using its own horn.

In short, the sword has already become one of Percy’s most reliable tools in the storyline, and it’s only going to become more important to him as the story progresses. But he doesn’t even know anything about this pen that turns into a sword.

According to the novels, the sword is called Riptide. It was made using Celestial Bronze and was forged in the fires of Mount Etna before cooling it in the River Lethe, making it a legendary Greek weapon in its own right. Of course, Hercules and Zoë were two of the legends known to have wielded the weapon in the past. Before it became a pen, it was actually hidden in the form of a hair clip when Zoë was still wielding it.

The reason why Riptide is so powerful in the hands of Percy is the fact that it draws its power from the ocean. As such, those who have a strong affinity with the ocean, such as the ones who belong to the line of Poseidon, are the best people to wield this sword.

Riptide can hurt and kill everything except mortals

On top of the fact that Riptide is powerful in the hands of Percy because they are both affiliated with the ocean, this sword has its own unique abilities as well. First off, it is almost always perfectly balanced in the hands of its wielder, making it easy to wield regardless of the skill level of the user. But the sword itself has a lot more unique quirks.

It is almost impossible to lose Riptide because it will always appear in Percy’s pocket, even if he loses it. One of the exceptions to this rule is if the wielder (Percy) isn’t wearing clothes that have pockets, as Riptide cannot magically appear if he doesn’t have any pockets at all.

Due to the fact that Riptide is made of Celestial Bronze, it cannot hurt mortals or regular human beings. In the book, Percy instinctively uses the sword on a group of bullies, only for the sword to pass through them. However, Percy doesn’t know this at first because, at the start, the things that he knows about the sword are quite limited. As such, the sword is unable to hurt or touch humans at all, as it will only pass through them like nothing.

As such, Riptide is powerful enough that it can harm or kill almost anything except humans. When we say almost anything, this includes some of the most powerful entities, including gods and monsters. Yes, even immortal beings such as the strongest gods or even the Titans aren’t impervious to Riptide due to the fact that it is made from Celestial Bronze. This is why this sword is so important to Percy during his quests as a rising half-blood hero.

Of course, if Riptide isn’t in use, it takes the form of a pen, which isn’t just for show because it can actually write in the same way that any ballpoint pen can. So, if Percy needs to write something, Riptide doubles as an actual pen.

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