When he was fourteen Luke found Thalia Grace in a dragon's cave near Los Angeles after she had followed Zeus's sacred goat, Amaltheia, there. Together, they had traveled across the United States, battling monsters (and even a couple of automatons at one point) until, one morning, they had reached Richmond, Viriginia, where once again, Thalia was in pursuit of Amaltheia. Luke seemed to have a crush on Thalia and just couldn't tell her no, even though he knew it was against his better judgement. The goat directed them to an old mansion and once inside, they discovered it was a deadly trap. They metHalcyon Green, a demigod son of Apollo, who had been imprisoned inside the mansion, unable to speak, because he had saved a girl's life in his youth, with his abilities to see into the future, incurring the wrath of the gods. A part of Hal's curse was also to bring in demigods to be eaten by threeleucrotaeatsunset. Luke was angered that the gods would do this to Hal and wanted to find a way to rescue him and Thalia. Hal told them of a treasure that was in the mansion and Luke was magically able to break the lock and Thalia was able to claim the Aegis bracelet as a sign from Zeus.Luke, was a son of Hermes and May Castellan, a female mortal who can see through the Mist. When he was nine, Luke ran away from his mother's home in Westport, Connecticutbecause of her unstable mental problems, brought about by the curse of Hades, which was placed upon the Oracle, who she had tried to become. He traveled for years alone, making mortaland demigodfriendships that never lasted, while only having a golf club for a weapon, as his Celestial Bronze sword got melted in acid.
[1]Halcyon GreenThey were running out of time and ways of defeating the leucrotae until Luke discovered they could make Greek Fire. Within the hour, they had created the Greek Fire. Hal decided that he would sacrifice himself to give them time to escape. But before, Hal had predicted Luke's dark future but left him vague answers when questioned about it. Hal also gave Luke his diary and a dagger and made Luke promise that he would learn from his mistakes and not be pushed around by the gods. Thus, by making this promise, Luke made the first step towards his ultimate betrayal of the Gods and allegeance to the Titans.
When the Leucrotae attacked, Hal used the Greek Fire to cause an explosion, which killed himself and two of the monsters. One leucrota escaped, but barely, and surprised Luke, but Thalia was able to use the bracelet to summon Aegisand scare the monster away, giving them enough to reach the doors, just as the mansion completely exploded. They got away quickly, cleaning up in the local restrooms, and resting before Luke sensed a presence in a nearby alley.
It was in that alley, the two met Annabeth Chase, and, adopting her as his sister, he became the fatherly figure of the group, they left Richmond and headed to their safe house on the James River. They fought for survival and avoided monsters together. When Thalia got injured by a monster and Luke and Annabeth wanted to rest, Luke took them to his mother's house to heal their wounds. There, Luke met Hermes, his father, for the first and only time. Luke was angry with his father, and demanded to know why Hermes had never showed up when Luke prayed to him. Hermes inadvertently revealed that he knew Luke's fate, and when Luke eagerly asked about it (since Halcyon had only given him vague answers), but Hermes refused to tell him. Luke then told his father that he couldn't possibly love him if he wouldn't tell him, and left with Thalia and Annabeth angrily.
According to Thalia, Luke began to act like he had something to prove after that moment. They got into more skirmishes because of his recklessness, and then they ran into the Hunters. They asked Thalia to join, and she refused, saying she couldn't leave Luke. Zoë Nightshade, Artemis' lieutenant ( at the time), hauntingly told her that Luke would let her down (which would later come true) and that caused Thalia to resent and dislike the Hunters.
Eventually, the group ran into Grover Underwood. Together, the quartet began to travel to Camp Half-Blood but were chased by monsters sent by Hades. Upon reaching the Camp Half-Blood border, Hal's first predicition came true, as Thalia chose to sacrifice herself so that Luke, Grover, and Annabeth could get into camp without being killed by the monsters that were hot on their trail. As Thalia was dying, Zeus took pity on her and turned her into a pine tree. From that point on, Luke lived at camp all year round, all the while slowly falling into darkness.
Allegiance to Kronos[]
When he was about seventeen, Luke was offered a quest by his father Hermes: to seek a Golden Apple at theGarden of Hesperides. He was honored by this offer, but eventually began to question it, as it was done before byHercules. He went on this journey, but failed and was scarred by the dragon guarding the tree, Ladon. He returned to the camp and according to his words, was treated with "pity" by the campers. It was then that he began to hold a grudge against Olympus and his father, Hermes, who he felt didn't love him. He wanted to tear Olympus down, stone by stone at that point. Luke apparently was able to injure Ladon and steal a claw; he has since kept the Ladon's claw in the Big House attic. He bided his time and began to have dreams of Kronos.
He was later contacted in his sleep by Kronos, Lord of the Titans. The nature of this encounter is unknown, but he was convinced to join Kronos' cause out of a desire for revenge. He was assigned to steal the Master Bolt, Zeus' primary weapon, and the Helm of Darkness, Hades' godly weapon, in order to start a war between the gods.
On a camp field trip to Mount Olympus he made his move. While the other campers and counselors were asleep he entered the throne room and was able to steal the Master bolt and the Helm of Darkness. The gods believed that no one would ever dare steal their symbols of power. They later discovered the theft and went to search for the thief.Ares found Luke and fought him. According to Luke, he would have won, but underestimated his opponent and was outmatched. However, he managed to save himself by speaking in Kronos' words that if the Master Bolt was successfully stolen, there would be a full-scale war. Ares was awed by this, and spared Luke, but took the Bolt and the Helm with him. Luke then managed to make it safely back to Mount Olympus before anyone noticed his absence, but Kronos began to punish Luke with nightmares and he swore never to fail again.
Personality[]
Luke showed his darker side as a villain for most of the series, so his character was mostly described as 'evil', however he was a hero in the end, so his character did bad things but was good at heart. In this way, he is more 'heroic' in the old sense of the terms, such as the stories of Theseus, Jason or Hercules. Apparently, Kronos chose Luke to host him because he had a strong spirit.
Appearance[]
Luke is described as a tall, handsome young man with short-cropped sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, an athletic and muscular build, and a sneaky look like all Hermes demigod children, but good-looking features. He is described through the series as being college-aged. Many girls are attracted to him, even an Empousa named Kelli. The only thing un- attractive on Luke is a thick, deep pale scar that runs from the bottom of his eye down to his chin. It is said that the scar was caused when Luke stole a golden apple and was then clawed by the guardian dragon of the tree.
Although he is generally very attractive, his appearance has varied over the books. In the first two books The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters he looks as always did in Camp Half-Blood, but come The Titan's Curse, he begins to look sickly and aged. His usually tanned skin becomes ghostly pale, and his hair is also white (supposedly with gray streaks), especially under the moonlight. He also begins to wear Greek clothing, such as the chiton and the toga (used as an over-the-shoulder cape). However, in The Battle of the Labyrinth, Luke's healthy appearance returns as he gets closer to being taken over by Kronos.This is possibly because he bathed in the River Styx. He wore a white chiton, which made him look timeless. Percy thought he looked too healthy, because his skin had an unnatural glow to it.
Abilities[]
ADHD: Like all demigods, Luke possesses inborn supernatural battle reflexes and senses that he uses to analyze the fighting style of her opponent.
Fighting Skills: Luke has been trained in hand-to-hand combat during his stay at Camp Half-Blood.
Swordsmanship: Luke is an expert swordsman, undoubtedly one of the best swordsman at Camp Half-Blood. In The Lightning Thief, a Hermes camper stated that Luke was "the best swordsman in the last three hundred years" In addition, near the end on the first book when Luke was revealed to be the traitor he claimed he could have beaten Ares if he [Luke] was more cautious.
Dyslexia: His brain is hard-wired for reading Ancient Greek instead of modern languages.
Once Kronos possessed him, Luke gained the Titan Lord's abilities to control time around him and other people (chronokinesis), such as making time slow down.
Luke has the ability to turn Kronos' scythe back into Backbiter, which Percy goads him do so in a sword fight.
He may have a small sphere of control over items of luxury, like in The Sea of Monsters, when he waved over three chairs and they scooted themselves out of the table. Though this may have been a matter of magic, as the Titan army had a knack for enchanting items to bend to their will (minor telekinesis).
Weapons[]
Luke carries the half Celestial bronze and half tempered steel sword called Backbiter. Unlike Percy's sword Riptide which can't hurt mortals, (as they aren't "important enough to kill") Backbiter can hurt mortals. It's made from Celestial bronze and mortal steel. The two metals that the sword is made from are opposites, having magic fused with mortal metal. Percy could sense that the two metals were trying to escape each other during the forging, and that someone (most likely the forger) died in the creation of the sword. In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Backbiter is reforged into its original form - the Scythe of Kronos. Backbiter is named so as it will "bite back" at the gods who imprisoned Kronos in Tartarus. Kronos has the ability to turn his scythe back into Backbiter, as he does in the final battle at Mount Olympus. Backbiter, in The Ultimate Guide, is said to have been used to kill Ouranos. He also used to carry a bronze knife which he gave to Annabeth when they met.
Before Luke died, he asked Annabeth if she loved him, but Annabeth said that for her, he was like a brother. Though since The Lightning Thief, Annabeth showed great concern, loyalty, and admiration to Luke.
There were many hints throughout the series that Annabeth had a crush on Luke. When Luke hugged her, Percy said that she looked like she was going to pass out. Also, in The Battle of the Labyrinth, Luke was the "love" Annabeth had lost to a fate worse than death. Percy is shown to be extremely jealous of Annabeth's unrequited crush, though he tries to play this off as his own hatred for Luke. Percy stated that Luke was one of the reasons (along with Calypso and Rachel) that made his relationship with Annabeth complicated at the end of the fourth book. The most obvious clue was when Jason wondered if Annabeth had a crush on Luke from the way she talked about him.
Annabeth's crush was most likely one-sided, as she is seven years younger than Luke. Luke, however, obviously cared a lot for her.
Thalia, daughter of ZeusIt is hinted that Luke and Thalia may have been involved in a romantic relationship before Thalia had sacrificed herself at Half-Blood Hill (shown when Thalia kissed him on the cheek in The Demigod Diaries), but that dissolved when Luke poisoned Thalia's tree in The Sea of Monsters. Thalia seems to dislike Zoë Nightshade in The Titan's Curse because she had appeared to Thalia when she was with Luke and she told Thalia he would let her down (like all men). She is seen crying as she fights him in The Titan's Curse. After Thalia saw how far Luke had fallen and that Zoë was right, she turned her back on men and joined the Hunters.
Soon after Luke's birth, May tried to take in the spirit of the Oracle, but failed as Hades had cursed the Oracle during WWII so that her spirit would never move on. May suffered several side effects for many years, such as seeing glimpses of the future. She even saw Luke's fate and would go into spats of screaming that scared Luke growing up until he ran away from home. He eventually went back with Thalia and Annabeth to get supplies, which was when he met his dad, Hermes. He ran away again and eventually made it to Camp Half-Blood. His mother still waited everyday for him to return and made him sandwiches and cookies.
Luke felt that Hermes abandoned him and his mom and because of that, hates all the gods. He grows to dislike Hermes more when he gives him a quest that had already been completed by another hero, Hercules. However, he failed in his quest to steal a golden apple and was left with a scar to remind him of his failure.
Hermes, on the other hand, loved his son very much and sent Percy to try and bring him back inThe Sea of Monsters, but was disappointed when he wasn't able to. He also becomes angry at Annabeth, because she chose not to join him inThe Battle of the Labyrinth, before Luke became Kronos' vessel, though Hermes is shown tellingPercy that it wasn't her fault in The Last Olympian.
Trivia[]
In the graphic novel, the scar on Luke's face is on the opposite side.
He is Hermes' favorite son, though this is only discoverd in The Last Olympian.
According to May, his mother, Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches, and Chocolate Chip cookies are Luke's favorite snacks.
Luke happened to be fond of "Kool Aid" (when he was younger).
His surname "Castellan" means a governor or warden of a castle, it also means 'someone who guards the castle'. Interestingly, he was the one who saved Olympus from destruction.
The Diary of Luke Castellan is in his point of view.
In the The Diary of Luke Castellan, it is revealed that Halcyon Green had made a 14-year-old Luke promise that he would learn from his mistakes and not be pushed around by the Gods. Thus, Halcyon was the first one to inspire Luke to question the Gods.
The main reasons why he sided with Kronos were that he couldn't get over the Gods doing terrible things to their children, like Hermes abandoning him, Apollo cursing Halcyon Green, and Zeus not saving Thalia.
Octavian bears a striking resemblance to Luke, causing Percy Jackson to think he knew him.
