Mrs. Dodds Has a Hellacious History in ‘Percy Jackson’
Percy Jackson and the Olympians has arrived on Disney+, allowing viewers to get reacquainted with the books’ iconic characters. One character that is sure to leave viewers with nightmares is Megan Mullally’s Mrs. Dodds.
The show is an adaptation of Rick Riordan’s book series of the same name and follows the story of Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell). Percy is a 12-year-old boy who finds his life turned upside down when he realizes that Greek mythology is real and the Greek gods reside on Mt. Olympus, over New York City. Moreover, he’s a huge part of that world, considering that Percy is the son of Poseidon (Toby Stephens), the god of the sea. Upon learning of his identity, Percy is sent on a quest to find Zeus’ (Lance Riddick) lightning bolt and prevent a disastrous war among the gods.
One thing that Percy learns on his adventures is that everything is rarely as it seems. To prevent detection, the gods employ The Mist, which prevents humans from seeing monsters and gods. While demigods can see clearer than humans do through The Mist, they can still be tricked, especially before they’re aware of their identity. So when Percy first runs into Mrs. Dodds, he’s not initially aware she’s a monster, making her appear very strange to him.
Mrs. Dodds’ Percy Jackson history
Percy Jackson and the Olympians closely follows the books when it comes to Mrs. Dodds. She is introduced in The Lightning Thief as Percy’s math teacher at Yancy Academy, a boarding school for troubled kids. Everyone can probably recall having a nightmare teacher at some point in their schooling, but Mrs. Dodds is a teacher straight from the Underworld, literally. She joined Yancy Academy halfway through the school year after the former math instructor abruptly left. However, from day one, she had it in for Percy.
Her favorite student happened to be Nancy Bobofit, the biggest bully at Yancy, while Percy was her least favorite. Mrs. Dodds would frequently give him detention or bizarre punishments, like forcing Percy to erase the answers in old math books until midnight.
Potential spoilers ahead for Percy Jackson!
The pair soon have their biggest falling out on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art after Percy accidentally pushes Nancy into a fountain. Mrs. Dodds leads him into an isolated part of the museum, seemingly plotting some diabolical punishment. Instead of doling out the typical punishment, she transforms into a non-human creature with wings, leathery skin, fangs, and claws.
Percy manages to vaporize her with his sword, Riptide. However, he’s shocked to learn the next day that no one remembers Mrs. Dodds, making him believe he imagined the whole thing. He didn’t imagine it, though. What he saw was Mrs. Dodds in her true form as Alecto, one of the Three Fates who serves Hades. Unfortunately, when a monster is vaporized, it’s only temporary. Mrs. Dodds manages to reform and return to earth to terrorize Percy on his quest throughout The Lightning Thief. She’s not wholly unreasonable, though. When Mrs. Dodds learns that Percy didn’t steal Zeus’ lightning bolt, she accepts that she was wrong and urges him to become a true hero.
Mrs. Dodds doesn’t return again until The Last Olympian, when it is revealed that she has been helping Hades hide his children, Bianca and Nico di Angelo, from the other gods. While she can be quite terrifying in her true form, she’s ultimately not opposed to gods and demigods. However, she is Hades’ most loyal servant, so anyone who crosses the god of the dead will find her wrath unavoidable.
(featured image: Disney+)
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