Monster King Explained

Chapter One - Origins Of A Concept

I'm guessing in a broader sense, the concept of the Monster King was born out of a combination of watching Godzilla and the fact that unlike Nico who is the Ghost King, most of the monsters typically rally around whichever evil deity decides to want to destroy Olympus and such. Typically, as we all know, the latter fact typically places the demigods at a disadvantage when it comes to numbers - so much so that unfortunately, some of our favorite characters have had to die - Bianca, Zöe, Luke, Silena, Charles, Jason, Ethan (honorary mention because of his tragic demise after realizing the truth in TLO), Dakota, Castor, Michael, Lee.. you get the idea.

Then you have to factor in like my own views on the matter of the demigods. If my past fanfic "Attack On The C.I.S" (Star Wars and Attack On Titan Crossover) hasn't made it clear, I don't really enjoy the concept of child soldiers (though the fact that I like Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars makes me a hypocrite on this matter) at all.

Like, in realistic circumstances, it's safe to say that realistically, after fighting in two wars, hell let alone after the first war against Kronos, most of them would probably ended up like the people of Paradis up until Eren came along.

Traumatized, scared, and terrified.

There have been many a fanfic that's really, really touched upon this directly and sometimes it's just simply a part of someone else's story. A few examples of this happen to be (if you want to find some good example material):

- Not Okay (made by Fanfiction user Pixies Between The Pages), a simple one-shot detailing an alternate reality after BoO where among other things, Katie leaves camp over the death of Miranda (who is still alive per TOA); Chris is back in a state of shock and despair, much to Clarisse's grief - she also lost a sister; Kayla and Austin can't look at each other over their sibling's death; Jake nearly gets killed by said angry Apollo kids; Clovis doesn't dream anymore, etc.

- oaths cracked lengthwise (don't let it go) (made by Archive Of Our Own (AO3) user liminal), another one-shot that is a requiem on the gods' broken promises - thanks a lot Zeus - between TLO and the end of BoO. Complete with Percy, as usual, calling the gods out and getting away with it.

- Too many of Fanfiction and AO3 user TsarinaTorment's fanfics about the Apollo kids focus on trauma, including one about that one line that you hear Lee say in Heart Pierced, "Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations", which is both an actual line from the book Rick wrote it in, The Sea Of Monsters, and also fitting that I have Lee saying it in my fanfic, because that particular one-shot is from his own perspective.

- we're not brave, we're not soldiers (by AO3 user Chriscrosswallflower), an in-progress fanfic which focuses in on trauma, particularly on Will's after the Battle of Manhattan, and how Percy (+Nico) go through it.

There are others that touch on guilt and trauma - even if they are not the main part of the fanfic - on varying levels, but to be clear, when it comes to my own views, those main four examples are at least a good perfect foundation as to why I view them the way that I do.

Luke, as much as we want to bash the man for joining Kronos and causing much of this in the first place, did have the right idea after all. He just went about it the wrong way.

The fact that Luke just so happens to be my favorite character means that I can totally understand why he felt the way that he did. It's why Colton, as much as he hates Luke as per the tendency of children of Ares to hate traitors to Olympus, legitimately understands exactly Luke's reasons for leaving. It's why he himself was at that crossroads at the start of the book before Kayla came along.

As to how all of this plays into the Monster King in the Heart Pierced Universe, I'll tell you. Given that Colton's fatal flaw is caring too much for others and the man is willing to do anything to make sure his loved ones survive, I felt that it would make sense for him to be able to have powers that would not only allow him to make sure that others lived, but also change the course of fate in the process. Because to be clear, the fates are real pieces of garbage sometimes. Looking at Askinar-The-Dark's fanfics about Fayden Thatch, son of Kronos, have made me realize this.

None of the souls I've mentioned above deserved to die - not even Luke, because as much as he was the host of Kronos, you have to remember that since Kronos is a cunning manipulative bastard, Luke himself is just as much of a victim as those that suffered because of him. It's one part I think a lot of us miss. Plus, fate can be wrong - so why not having the fates be wrong? This is coming from someone who enjoyed that moment in Disney's Hercules where the fates go to cut Hercules' string, only for the string to turn gold and refuse to be cut.. so yeah.

I'm the kind of guy who likes to have characters that we all enjoy, or deserved to have their potential in the timeline if they lived past their canonical deaths explored, and if you have looked at another of my crossover fanfics, this time "Freezing: The Boy That Pandora Wanted" (Star Wars and Freezing (anime/manga) crossover), you probably will have seen this come up in that fanfic.

It's also a point of fact in that fanfic that I have made the point that my OC Cameron in that fanfic is the one who the will of the force depends on as it collides with the Transcendent Will. Plus, bonus points for Freezing, it's also an anime/manga with trauma (and lots of it), child soldiers (high school ones - but it still counts), and like Percy Jackson, them still managing to be solidly stable despite countless horrific moments. Plus, being an anime/manga with lots of female fan-service and some darker themes, it's no wonder that my views on the demigods primarily stem from both Attack On Titan and Freezing.

Where does that leave us? It leaves us with this concept, which in essence is the same concept that inspired the semi alter-ego of Cameron in the Freezing/Star Wars crossover fanfic of mine known as his media name, the Cloaked Bulldozer.

It's simply this: what if you could access something so powerful, so unbelievable you can change the fate of multiple characters and save lives as well?

With that, one thing led to another, and the concept of the Monster King was born.