5 Riordanverse Characters Who Deserve Their Own Standalone Book

These supporting characters deserve stories of their own.

The overall mythological universe created by Rick Riordan is one of the largest and most creative modern fantasy worlds in fiction. Across the different series he has written. like Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo, and The Kane Chronicles, readers have met dozens of memorable characters drawn from different cultures and time periods.

But even with all those books, there are still characters whose stories feel like they deserve their own spotlight. Every once in a while throughout his stories, Rick would throw in a little bit of information or background about a character who is really nothing more than a supporting character. Yet tyrough the small details we are told about them, many of us end up hoping that they become much more. But then again, not every character needs their entire past explained. Sometimes the vagueness and mystery behind a character is exactly what makes them interesting to begin with. For example, characters like Zoe Nightshade are fascinating partly because we don’t know everything about them,and yes while we may have been given a little bit of information about her, it was written in a way that left us satisfied and wondering without leaving us frustrated due to the lack of answers.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for every player that we were introduced to because, no matter what specific series you were to point at, there are some characters through the whole. Riordanverse who have backstories that are so intriguing that it almost feels like we’re missing entire novels about them. Here are five characters I think could easily carry their own book — or even an entire series.

1. Nico di Angelo

Now, to be honest, when I first encountered this young man I found him just as annoying as I tend to find most younger characters in the world of fiction, the son of Hades quickly became one of my favorite characters within the overall Rick Riordan mythos. Is it due to the love I have for characters built off of trauma? Is it because of his cryptic ways? Well honestly I don’t know. To be honest, it’s probably due to the fact that in a lot of ways I find myself connecting with this lost young man. Because in many ways we are both loners who feel as if we would never be accepted for one reason or another, shunned and divided by the people we should be able to trust the most, while also searching for answers that might complete us. And while he may have first debuted in The Titan’s Curse, the third book in the original. Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, many of the same answers that he has been looking for haven’t been answered yet.

But what if they were….

A story centered on Nico could explore his childhood during World War II, after the death of his mother and the memory manipulation that erased parts of his past. Watching him and his sister move from place to place while trying to piece together why their lives feel so strange could make for a powerful story. Plus, am I the only one who always wondered about how he found out who he truly is and the steps he took in learning how to use his powers? What happened after his sister died and he ran away from Camp Half-Blood? Taking the. time to flesh out those plot points as we watch him grow into his own identity as he deals with grief, isolation, and his sexuality could make for a very compelling mini series

2. Hazel Levesque

Ever since her debut. in The Son of Neptune, part of The Heroes of Olympus series, Hazel Levesque has been one of the most interesting characters within Rick Riordan’s playbook (especially when it comes to the members of the Argo II). And while most people may see her story as tragic or her contributions as small , as a lover of history and the number one advocate for any female character getting more of a spotlight, I thought she was great.

But why does her greatness have to be so contained and limited? For a girl who grew up in the 1940s where racism and the Second World War was so fresh and prominent, the type of stories you could form from that are endless. Not to mention all of the different themes and aspects you can introduce due to her being the daughter of Pluto and a witch. The fact that she is a Roman demigod and Nico’s sister alone is intriguing enough to explore. But what about the fact that while they technically have the same godly parent, they technically shouldn’t know about each other? And now that they do know about each other, they seem to be surprisingly close- even though you would think that they would be trying to kill each other since Roman and Greek demigods were known to be at war with each other. Or how about the fact that once she died, Nico was the one to bring her back and train her as she just like him -tries to adjust to a world and time they technically don’t belong in.

On top of that, she had a curse that caused precious metals and jewels to rise from the ground whenever she used her powers.a power that brought nothing but bad luck to the people who interacted with her.

Watching how that curse slowly shaped u her life — and especially her relationship with her mother, such as when her mother exploited her for wealth, and her collaborations with gaea — could make for an incredibly emotional story. Oh, and did I mention her relationship with Sammy?

3. Jason Grace

Now, don’t ask me why because honestly I’m not sure. But I have never really been a fan of any of the famous demigod heroes who were said to be the sons of Zeus. Hercules is overrated, Jason I don’t know that much about, and I can’t even think of anymore unless you were talking about Heron from the Blood of Zeus(a demigod son of the Greek lord I do like-great show so check it out). But they have always been so bland to me and Jason Grace does not help that opinion. Debuting in the first book of the Heroes of Olympus series ,, the book known as the lost hero- Jason was a character who was shrouded in mystery, and if you were to take him from that perspective then yeah, I guess the character works fine but other than that to me he really wasn’t that interesting. Plus he seemed to get knocked out a lot. (and they say that the demigod kids of Zeus are powerful, yeah ok)

However, if you were to give him a book or mini series based off of the parts of his life that were more interesting, then there’s a chance for our Roman predator to finally be seen in the light that I’m sure Rick Riordan envisioned him to be engulfed in. Giving Jason a story that touches on the past from the moment he was given to Lupa and the wolf pack all the way up until he made his way into Camp Jupiter where he would eventually become one of the highest ranking members of Roman society, would make for a very interesting read. Especially, if you were to add a few stories or chapters about the few quest we know he had to take on. — including an attack on a Titan stronghold.

Seeing exactly howthose adventures turned outmight make Jason feel like the legendary hero the books sometimes describe him as, instead of the weak helpless hero that he often seemed to be.

4. Reyna Ramírez-Arellano

Remember earlier when I said that some people may think that Hazel didn’t contribute much to the quest and stories that she took a part in? Well while I may be able to make a good counter argument against that, if they were to say the same thing about Reyna, well sadly I would be inclined to agree. But that doesn’t mean that she was a boring addition to the story or that she couldn’t grow to be one of the most fascinating parts of the story either.

Though her initial debut was in the second book of the original Percy Jackson series, it wasn’t until The Son of Neptune where Ms. Ramírez-Arellano would be properly introduced to the point where her story would get touched on. And with the tidbits of story we got about her, her story stretches back even further than Nico’s and Hazel’s does, and that is definitely something that I would personally love to see more of.

Seeing as how she seems to have one of the most layered histories within the whole Rick Riordan universe, a story could easily be written about her. A story about her childhood would be incredible- a story in which we can see her unstable father forcing her and her sister Hylla to live on the run, to the moment where they would eventually end up on CIrce’s island, to. be taken in and trained would be a thrilling story to dive into. Then seeing how the two sisters’ paths split dramatically in which they would both become leaders of armies, would produce such an incredible tale about strength and willpower, one may say that it. would only be fitting for a child of Bellona like Reyna tends to be.

5. Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace

Now while there are many characters within RIck Riordan’s universe who may have their lives become intertwined with that of other characters, for the most part they are still strong enough as an individual to have their narrative told independently. However, there are a. few characters who if we wanted to get a little bit more of an insight into who they are, we would have to pull another character into the fray right along with them. And a good example of that would be the characters of Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace.

Now like I said earlier, I’ve never really been a fan of most of the children of Zeus that have been depicted in the world of fiction. But when it comes to this particular universe , the reason for me not liking his children varies greatly amongst each kid, espicially seeing as how within this case we are also told of his daughter. See when it comes to her brother Jason, there just wasn’t much that drew me to him, but when it comes to Thalia, the fact of the matter is that i simply just do not like her. At first glance, she comes off as entitled, rude, and stuck up. So with all of that being said your probably going to ask “if I don’t like her then why do I want a book about her?” In which I would reply that I don’t. The reason I bring her up is because of the type of story you could tell about Luke.

Luke Castellan has got to be one of the most compelling fictional villains I have ever came across. Why? Because, even after seeing and reading about the things he has done, it’s still hard to classify him as a villain. What really defines a villain?Are you truly a villain if people can understand — or even agree with — your point of view? Can you still be a villain if people sympathize with you ?I mean, even Percy Jackson himself had moments where he would hesitate whenever he was fighting this guy. And I don’t think it’s because he first seen him as a friend.

And that, that right there is the type of story that people would love to know more about. Yeah, I mean sure. Even though Luke’s fall to darkness drives much of the original series, we only got to see fragments of his earlier life and unfortunately it was scattered around the chapters of the last book that he was in. But what if we were able to explore his childhood completely?

A book from Luke’s perspective could explore his childhood with his mother May Castellan, the moment he learns he’s a demigod, and the trauma of watching his mother’s mind deteriorate after attempting to host the Oracle.From there, the story could jump forward in time — or even shift into a multi-narrative style similar to the Heroes of Olympus books,, where we get to see the time of his life when he decided to run away in which her would eventually end up meeting Thalia (who has also been on the run after her mother gave away her brother) and protecting Annabeth until they made it to Camp Half-Blood.

So while I personally may not be able to stomach the character of Thalia at times, I do think that adding her to the narrative of a character like Luke’s is a strong and powerful move. Especially if it ends up resulting in something like a great action and adventure novel.

Final Thoughts

The Riordanverse still has an enormous amount of unexplored history waiting to be discovered and it’s because of this that many of the characters that we may not think that much about at first end up being so compelling.

These five are just a few characters whose stories I’d love to see explored more deeply.

But there are still plenty of others who could easily carry their own book — including characters from The Kane Chronicles, Calypso, and even some of the figures from books that were published under Rick Riordan’s name but written by other authors. But those just might have to wait for part 2.

Which Riordanverse character do you think deserves their own story?

Written by: Kelvin “3ugene” Lee. II

Writer | Musician | Psychology, Philosophy & Criminal Justice Student | YouTuber.

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