5 Valid Reasons Why You Should Stan Thalia Grace Like We Do

Thalia Grace, queen of lightning and hunter of Artemis, is turning 20-something years old today. So let’s discuss why she’s the epitome of cool!

Book Culture Fandom Just For Fun On This Day Pop Culture
thalia grace with lighting behind her

Not too many people might realize this, but if you’re a diehard fan of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, you’ll know that December 22 is the birthday of the indomitable Thalia Grace! Yes, that’s right, Thalia is a Capricorn baby! So today we’re insisting on taking a moment to celebrate her in all her black-dipped glory.

Come with us as we recount our top five reasons we can’t help but be obsessed with everyone’s favorite daughter of Zeus!

1. Thalia Grace is a badass huntress

When Thalia is healed by the Golden Fleece and she comes back to the world of the living, I think we all expected her to stick around camp forever. But having her join the hunters of Artemis after originally having said no to Zoë Nightshade was a very clever narrative parallel! The first time Thalia rejected the hunters was due to her loyalty to (and heavily implied romantic interest in) Luke. When she decides to join with the hunters, she is shutting the door on any hope of that.

Thalia’s decision is one that defines her character for the rest of her continuity, and let’s be honest, she makes one hell of a hunter for it. We know Zoë would definitely be proud!

2. Her final stand on half-blood hill

The first thing we learn about Thalia in the series is her sacrifice for Annabeth, Luke, and Grover. When the monsters were going to attack the others, it was Thalia’s last stand on half-blood hill that kept the rest of the them safe. She gave up her life for her friends, and luckily Zeus took mercy on her. He turned her into a tree that would keep the entirety of camp protected for as long as it stood. We could all learn something from Thalia about bravery and selflessness! When it comes to courage, no one can claim that Thalia doesn’t have it in spades.

3. Having great style and attitude

So this one is a bit more shallow, but come on! Thalia’s a total babe! Her grungy and punk aesthetic would have been so popular on TikTok now! Between her short black hair and those brilliant blue eyes of hers, she already won the genetic lottery. On top of that, she’s got amazing style too! But what really gets her to pull it off is her effortless take-no-crap attitude.

4. Being Jason’s older sister

I think we were all absolutely flabbergasted when it was revealed that Jason was Thalia’s younger brother! But having her show up in the Heroes of Olympus series and be her effortlessly cool self was more than worth the temporary WTF moment! Thalia makes a phenomenal sister.

Not only is she a great sister, but it’s obvious that what happened with Jason in their youth stuck with her so deeply. For so long she could never bear to speak with anyone about it. Their reunion never fails to make us tear up, no matter how much time has passed since last reading the scene!

Thalia Grace and Jason Grace
IMAGE VIA READRIORDAN.

5. As wonderful as she is… She’s still flawed

And while she might be freaking incredible, Thalia is still human. For all her great traits, she has more than her share of imperfections. Her fatal flaw is her draw to power, which makes almost too much sense for her being Zeus’ daughter. Not only that, but like anyone in her place, Thalia still feels a lot of guilt when she thinks about what happened with Jason. Though she was only a child at the time and can’t really be blamed, Thalia’s flaws make her more relatable, and more sympathetic as a character!


Thalia might not be people’s obvious choice of a favorite character, but we certainly think she’s made her mark on us all. There are a lot of reasons to adore her, definitely, but growing up we’ve come to realize, we just want to be like her! Hopefully, we can all say we’re a little more like Thalia today. Flaws and all!

To read about Thalia and the lessons she taught us, click here!

For 9 Percy Jackson characters that could have been queer, click here!

FEATURED IMAGE VIA READRIORDAN.