Headcannon: Percy is immensely popular among nature spirits and "minor" gods
The Nereids and Oceanids are naturally curious about him when they find out about his existence, thatโs already canon:
She (a nereid) nodded. โIt has been many years since a child of the Sea God has been born. We have watched you with great interest.โ
Suddenly, I remembered faces in the waves of Montauk Beach when I was a little boy, reflections of smiling women. (The Lightning Thief, chapter 17)
Later, at the latest by the time Titanโs curse happens, nereids and oceanids see him save ocean creatures from fishing gear, or whales stranded on beaches, or him helping mermaids with hanging nails. (Titanโs curse, chapter 7) ย We see him be considerate and respectful to nereids through his interaction in the fourth book at the ranch.
She looked like she was ready for a fight. Her fists were balled, but I thought I heard a little quaver in her voice. Suddenly, I realized that, despite her angry attitude, she was afraid of me. She probably thought I was going to fight her for control of the river , and she was worried, she would lose.
The thought made me sad. I felt like a bully, a son of Poseidon throwing his weight around.
I sat down on a tree stump. โOkay, you win.โ
The naiad looked surprised. (The Battle of the Labyrinth, chapter 9)
Itโs pretty good established in the books, that smaller gods and spirits donโt get treated with respect most of the time, especially not from heroes of old like Herakles and the Olympian gods. The reaction of the naiad adds to this sentiment, so we can pretty easily conclude that the way Percy treats them, is relatively rare.
In-between the books, Rick often sprinkles in some interactions between Percy and naiads, which further underlines their positive opinion of him:
I looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring at me. They looked like regular teenage girls, the kind youโd see in any mall, except for the fact that they were underwater.
Hey, I said. They made a bubbling sound that may have been giggling. I wasnโt sure. I had a hard time understanding naiads.
Weโre heading upstream, I told them. Do you think you could-
Before I could even finish, the naiads each chose a canoe and began pushing us up the river. (Titanโs curse, Chapter 14)
The satyrs know that he, Clarisse, Annabeth, Tyson and Grover were the ones, who returned the golden fleece to camp half-blood and so, have stopped satyrs from getting killed by Polyphemus. During the battle of the labyrinth, Percy is the one who extinguished the fire and stopped the trees and dryads from getting burnt to death. Not to mention that he is best friends with the guy, who discovered Pan and has the title of Lord of the Wild.
The non-Olympian gods, like Hecate, Nemesis, Eros, Hebe and Morpheus were probably curious about him, even wary, but nothing more at first, until Percy managed to stop the civil war between Zeus and Poseidon at the age of twelve. ย
We know that canonically, this already earned him the respect of many different beings:
As I walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert. People, and satyrs and naiads all turned towards me, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as I passed, they knelt, as if I were some kind of hero.โ (The Lightning Thief, chapter 21)
By the time the war with Kronos further escalates and they join his side, this obviously changes again. From this moment on, Percy is their enemy, and probably nothing more for most of them.
But then, they lose, and probably expect the worst of consequences.
Gods who have crossed Zeus have suffered severe punishments before. Prometheus was bound to a rock, with an eagle eating his liver every day because he stole fire from the gods, gifted it to humanity and tricked Zeus, the titans were banished to Tartarus after the Titanomachy. After some of the gods rebelled and tried to overthrow Zeus, Hera got hung in the sky with golden chains, where she cried out all night in pain, while Apollo and Poseidon were forced to work as labourers for King Laomedon of Troy.
They probably expected to get thrown into Tartarus with the rest of the Titans, get stripped of their immortality, or worse. Instead, however, their children finally receive cabins at camp half-blood and they themselves receive full amnesty.
All because Percy Jackson, this 16-year-old teenager, decides to change the entire thousand year old status quo on Olympus. ย
He could have wished for anything after their victory over Kronos and the titan army. The choice was not between the oath he made the gods swear and him becoming a god. He could have wished to be left alone, or to never have to do a quest again, or live a happy, and peaceful life away from the pain and wars until the end of his days, or literally anything else, but he didnโt. He made the active choice to make Olympus fairer, and to create equality among the demigods, without even thinking about it for too long.
No one can convince me that this, and his already mentioned other actions, didnโt earn him the respect of huge parts of the mythological world.
Not even Rick himself (no matter how much he may try in his new books)
