Would you really want to be a demigod? Most demigods say “no”, most everyone else says “yes”. No one can decide this for you, but here’s an honest collection of pro’s and con’s.
I’ve always believed in getting the bad stuff over with first, eating the least appetizing thing on your plate first, doing to hardest subject for homework first, talking about the cons before the pros, so, let’s begin.
The first con that comes to mind is danger. Demigods seem to be in constant peril, always fighting monsters, running for their lives and all manner of trouble. In fact, most half bloods will tell you, being a demigod is risky. Most books about demigods begin with, “beware” or “be careful”. And half bloods never seem to get a rest from danger, it’s always one battle after another, one threat directly following the last, so the danger never ends.
The next con I think of is that fact that your family could be completely screwed up. You’re godly parent would rarely be around and your mortal family might not take kindly to your godliness. Let’s look at some famous families, starting with the Jacksons. This family doesn’t seem to have many issues outside of The Lightning Thief. Percy’s mom realizes that his life isn’t easy and tries to be his haven when the rest of his life is falling to pieces. [1] But let’s compare the Jacksons to the Graces. Ms. Grace was a starlet who attracted Zeus, twice. The first time Thalia was born as a result of their romance and even Thalia admits that everything was fine, for a while. Zeus stopped visiting though, and Ms. Grace become emotionally unstable and turned to alcohol. Things improved for a while after Zeus came back and sired Jason but, once again, he disappeared, (as gods are apt to do) and left Ms Grace heartbroken. She begins drinking again, leaving Thalia as the main care taker for Jason. Thalia and her mom were constantly fighting and it reaches the point where Thalia runs away. Not exactly the best “mother-daughter” bond.[2]
Unfortunately, your family might also be in danger if you are a demigod. Monsters seldom care about innocent bystanders, and more than one concerned parent or sibling has been hurt while trying to help a demigod. If you think you might be related to a demigod, our advice is to stay out of fights. They can handle themselves, and you’ll probably get them in more trouble if you try to assist them. You probably won’t be able to kill a monster with normal weapons, but you can definitely distract it the same way you could a human. Punch humanoid monsters in the face or kick them in the chest if they are attacking you, and they won’t appreciate being beat around the head with a stick. If you find a demigod in need of medical attention, check their belongings first. Ambrosia and nectar will heal demigods if used in small quantities. Don’t just gobble god grub though, as it will make a demigod burst into flames if eaten in large amounts, and can vaporize a mortal.
Another problem is that your godly cousins might not be too friendly. The gods have their differences, but generally let their children duke it out, which means that as a demigod there is probably some other demigod somewhere who would be glad to decapitate you. Generally for no other reason other than, they just plain don’t like you. Games like capture-the-flag and monster killing keep family mauling to a minimum at camp. In particular children of Hades are shunned and made outcasts by the rest of the demigods. Many campers enjoy the lava wall when they need to cool off or the beach when they feel a little crabby.
Ok, so most of this has been danger stuff. If you’re a demigod, you’re probably not too worried about danger anyway. You can handle it. Unfortunately, most demigods have severe dyslexia and attention problems. Demigods are wired for slicing, dicing, and reading ancient Greek or Latin, not math problems and art projects. Children of Athena might be brilliant, but they generally aren’t big readers because half of books’ letters slide off the page into a heap on the floor and the other half try to kill you. Dyslexia is a developmental reading disorder that causes words to scramble and flip and do all sorts of strange things. People with dyslexia not only have a difficult time reading the words but once they do read them they often have a hard time understanding them. They can generally comprehend one word and a time but the more words you string together the more difficult it gets for them to understand what the sentence means. ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is another common trait of a demigod. Like the name says people with this disorder have a deficit, a lack, of attention skills, and are hyperactive. This can cause them a lot of different difficulties in school. Some are labeled “slow learners” not because they are slow learners, but because they can’t pay attention well and so they’re not taking in the information the teacher gives at the same rate the other students are. ADHD also labels many people as “awkward”. This is because they are hyperactive and don’t know what to do with their energy and so often they just get it out in any way possible, clapping, tapping their toes, flailing around. All in all these disorders make it very difficult for a demigod to fit in while in the mortal world.
And then there’s the quests. While most of the stuff you do on quest’s fits under the “danger” category some of it also fits under the “just plain awful” category. For example, the police often don’t like demigods, generally because of a misconception of the mist, which means not only are you running from monsters, but you’re also running from the mortal authorities. To some people that might not seem like such a bad thing, you’re thinking “I do that already!” but when you’re a demigod it makes it harder to finish your quest because you can’t stay in hotels you can’t ride major public transportation units and even walking into a restaurant could end up with a trip downtown. Even though, as a demigod, the police would be no match for you, it would still be bothersome to have to worry about them. To build off this point, sometimes you wouldn’t have a place to sleep (if you’d gotten on the wrong side of the police) and so you end up sleeping in a sewer. You might be thinking, “Doesn’t sound so bad to me.” but let me expand on what a sewer is like. It’s slimy, water filled (and you don’t want to know what the water it’s filled with is filled with), and not to mention all of the strange people that hang out in sewers. After all demigods aren’t the only ones who take refuge in sewers.
Enough doom and gloom, let’s talk about fun stuff! Children of the gods have plenty of awesome powers and terrifying abilities. Depending on your parent, you could: summon lightning, breath underwater, summon undead, grow flowers, see the future, steal stuff, and much more! In addition, the gods often give special blessings to their children which are extremely potent. On the other hand, their curses and enmity can really ruin your day. Back on the bright side, the gods generously give gifts of helpful monsters and super-powered weapons.
So now this would lead us to magic items. These enhanced tools can be given as gifts, won from quests, or stolen from other gods and demigods. If you are a demigod a magic item or two could mean the difference between living and being lunch. The Hephaestus cabin makes a ton of magic weapons and armor, so becoming friends with a good smith might be a strategic decision. Some of the most well known magic items are Percy’s sword, Riptide, Thalia’s shield, and Annabeth’s magic Yankees cap. One of the interesting qualities of all of these items is that they are disguised as normal, everyday objects as not to attract unwanted attention from the mortal eye. Once they are released from their magic case though, the mortals could come up with a million ideas of what each weapon is. Cyclops are the main weapon makers for the gods and live in Poseidon’s realm, they even made Poseidon’s trident. At camp half blood the Hephaestus cabin makes most of the weapons. Most of what is made at camp though are simple ordinary swords (although they are of the best quality) and other such basic necessities of a demigod.
The only happy side, family-wise, of being a demigod is that you are guaranteed many brothers and sisters. Remember gods have many different aspects and can exist in many different places so as strange as it may seem, it is possible to have 10 siblings all within a 2 two to three year age range. Demigods with the same parent tend to stick together, often having similar interests and personalities. Also many cabins will simple bond together because of their parents’ affiliation. For example, children of Nyx, goddess of the night, and Selene, goddess of the moon’s, children are much more likely to get along than Selene’s children and Apollo’s. And even if there are no demigods with your same parent there are almost certainly a thousand monsters who would call you family. Whether or not this is a good thing we will leave you to decide.
In conclusion there isn’t a right or wrong answer to this question.