‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’: Here’s Why Clarisse Doesn’t Like Percy

We all know that growing up isn’t really easy for most people because they often come across people who aren’t easy to get along with. In Percy Jackson’s case, we already saw two of them in the first two episodes of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ as it was clear that not even his fellow half-bloods liked him despite the fact that they have something in common. The one who stood out was Clarisse, who picked on Percy a lot in episode 2. So, why does Clarisse hate Percy?

Respect is earned through glory in Camp Half-Blood

If there’s one thing that we know about Percy Jackson, it’s that he didn’t have an easy life growing up because he had trouble making friends. In most cases, people would either bully him or simply ignore him due to him being weirder than most kids his age. This was clear when Nancy Bobofit was obviously picking on Percy during the earlier events of season 1.

This left a mark on Percy as he had trouble trusting people. Even after he arrived at Camp Half-Blood, Percy was quite apprehensive when Luke first approached him, believing that he was going to get picked on again. Annabeth was also someone he had trouble befriending due to the more serious nature of this girl. But the one half-blood who seemingly just didn’t like Percy was Clarisse.

After meeting Percy, Clarisse is quick to bully him, going as far as trying to force his head down a toilet to make him admit that he lied about killing the Minotaur. While Percy was able to survive that encounter thanks to his water-based powers kicking in instinctively, he wasn’t in the clear for long because Clarisse eventually hunted him down during Capture the Flag to try to beat him down and make him admit that he was a fraud.

The first reason why Clarisse was doing this to Percy can be traced to what Luke told Percy about the nature of respect in Camp Half-Blood. Due to them being the children of great Greek gods and figures, respect can only be earned through glory, which can be acquired in a lot of ways, including completing a quest or slaying a known monster. As such, only those who were able to earn glory are respected by their fellow half-bloods.

Before Percy came to Camp Half-Blood, the Minotaur pursued him. His mother, Sally, tried her best to keep the monster distracted, only for her to fall to it. An angry Percy attacked the Minotaur and eventually killed it, with Grover as the only witness. Word of Percy defeating the Minotaur quickly spread throughout Camp Half-Blood, as some of the demigods were impressed.

However, in Clarisse’s case, she wasn’t all that impressed because she thought that Percy made it all up so that he could earn glory and respect on his first day at Camp. She wanted him to tell everyone that he lied about killing the Minotaur despite the fact that he actually killed it almost singlehandedly. As such, it was also a matter of pride for Clarisse because she didn’t want an upstart upstaging her on his first day at Camp.

Clarisse is simply a bully

Another reason why Clarisse doesn’t like Percy is the fact that she is simply a bully. In the novels, it was established that Clarisse and her siblings often bullied newcomers to Camp Half-Blood by pushing their heads down the toilet as part of an “initiation ritual.” Her nature as a bully could be tied to the fact that Ares is the god of war and is known for being one of the more aggressive gods in the Greek pantheon.

So, the fact that Clarisse is the daughter of Ares could be the reason why she is a natural bully, considering that aggression might be something that’s inherent to her and her siblings. Like Ares, Clarisse is also prideful, as she doesn’t want anyone to upstage her. This is why Percy became a quick target of her bullying, as she saw him as fresh meat.

The problem was that Percy wasn’t someone who was going to allow Clarisse to bully him. In Capture the Flag, Clarisse attacked Percy using the spear that she had acquired from her father. Percy, however, broke the spear, thus making Clarisse even angrier at him.

Do Percy and Clarisse become friends?

During the events of ‘The Lightning Thief,’ Percy and his allies encounter and defeat Ares, even wounding the god in the process of beating him. Word of this quickly spread throughout Camp, as the pride of the children of Ares was attacked, giving Clarisse more reason to hate Percy. But her hatred for him didn’t last long.

In the second book, which is ‘The Sea of Monsters,’ Percy’s rivalry with Clarisse hits an all-time high when the daughter of Ares is sent on a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. However, Percy ends up helping Clarisse during the quest as he even allows her to take all the glory for herself.

The events of ‘The Sea of Monsters’ allowed Clarisse to see Percy as a valuable ally and a friend. Percy earned her respect during the quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece, and the fact that the son of Poseidon was willing to allow her to take the glory was what made Clarisse see him as an unselfish ally she could count on for anything.

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