What are your thoughts on Kronos in canon PJO? Bc I know he was presented as this kind of manipulative Disney villian but he wasnt very... manipulative. I would love to know what major changes your making to his character, especially considering what I've read so far in SoFP and your rewrite.
Anon I pulled out my computer just for you.
I’ve spoken some, not much mind you, but some on my thoughts on Kronos in canon vs. Kronos in mythology (and Kronos in my experience).
Kronos in canon is the epitome of telling instead of showing. We are told, over and over, that he is manipulative. We are told that he is a master of manipulation, a genius strategist, that he is clever, conniving, dangerous.
But we are not shown it.
Kronos looked at Percy, a little 12 year old with all the reason in the world to hate the Gods (unclaimed, claimed, sent on a quest, accused of a theft, his mother stolen, his mother threatened, attacked by the God he quests for) and somehow managed to alienate him completely.
He somehow didn’t come to him with kindness and promises of aid and instead filled him with fear and hate and anger. He didn’t speak to him as one would a child they sincerely wanted on their side, even as a backup plan, no he treated him as an amusing little insect he’d caught in his web and was toying with before death.
Kronos, had he truly been manipulative, truly been cunning, would’ve had several plans involved. He would’ve whispered sweet things to Percy, would’ve promised him his mother, would’ve poisoned his views of the Gods. He would’ve told him that the Gods he was trying to help were attacking him. He would’ve told him he knew how to save his mother from Hades, that she was alive and he could give her to him. All he had to do was ask. All he had to do was bow. All he had to do was pray.
Kronos was a blunt mad fool in PJO. He is someone who ate humans, who found amusement in their suffering.
The Kronos of the myths, the Kronos who is one of my Kings, he is not that.
He is, he was, he shall be someone who is a King. He ruled the world in a time known as the Golden Age and known as that for a reason.
He ruled a time where there was no illness, where death was peaceful, where humanity thrived. He ruled a time with plenty of life, a time where animals spoke like humans. Kronos of the myths ruled a good time, a peaceful time, a time known as Golden for a reason.
And that Kronos did fall, he fell into madness, a warning for all who would come after of what power could do, what Fate and Prophecy could do. His story is a warning.
But he is and was and will be a good King despite that. What he did was horrid, but that was in the throes of madness. He is not defined but what he was then, and in my experience it is not what he is now.
The Kronos of ATLOP has recovered from his madness, but it still lingers in its own form.
The Kronos of ATLOP is a manipulative Titan, and he is good at it. He is a King, he knows how to wield words as weapons.
The Kronos of ATLOP (and all my fics honestly) is a King, and a Father, and he cares for his people. He is not the King of the world now, he was once but it has passed on, but he is still a King.
Kronos in ATLOP is clever and conniving, but not all of what he presents of himself is fake. He speaks the truth in much that he does, because the truth is the greatest weapon one can wield. Why use lies that could be discovered when the truth works just as well? He will twist it, he will portray an image at an angle that makes it something else, but it will be the truth.
The major changes for me revolve mostly around the fact that Kronos... Kronos is not a mad power hungry fool. He is calculating, he is careful, and he wants victory not just for himself, but for the world. He is a Good King, he is a Kind King, but he is a King, and he is aiming for the throne of the world once more, and he is willing to wage whatever war he must to get it.
The cost will be worth it in the end for him.