One Of Nico's Weakest Points Is His Instability. Throughout Most Of The Original Series Percy Never Knew

One of Nico's weakest points is his instability. Throughout most of the original series Percy never knew what to make of Nico and was never sure if he was falling into a trap or not.

Nico has also fallen for his fair share of traps, being used as a means to get to Percy.

And Percy has been able to talk Nico down time and time again. Nico's loyalty to one group or another is always being questioned.

So, in other words, another way Percy can defeat Nico is by using Talk No Jutsu.

No no no, you don’t understand.

When it comes down to it, Percy can hardly win against Nico.

Okay I’m definitely taking bias here bc srsly, who in Riordanverse I love more than Nico anyway, but let’s humor me a little, shall we?

A hypothesis: Nico turns evil and Percy is put to stop him.

Firstly, their fighting style. Nico’s swordsmanship is assumed to be taught by Minos and skeleton soldiers, whereas Percy’s is taught by Luke. That’s a difference in varieties right there. Nico fights like… no one, while Percy would most likely follow a particular style, with patterns and such. Nico has a certain element of surprise.

Their purposes. Percy fights to protect. Nico fights to survive. Yes ofc he fights to protect those he loves too, but he has this survival mode which enables him to take advantage of everything, and I mean everything, to win.

Yes, I’m talking about dirty tricks. Because when it comes to life and death, moral means nothing. Nico is the kind that would do the things he needs to do to get work done. He can be cunning, cold, devious. He has literally murdered people for gods’ sake.

Whereas Percy is, literally, a hero. Yeah he has his own demigod instincts too. But can he use it against his own friends? He’s terrified of himself for killing Anklys. It’s a scenario wherein Nico would go all out, tearing his way to get what he wants when Percy has his own morals to keep. It’s unbalanced.

Percy couldn’t kill Luke. And definitely not a Nico towards whom he still bear guilts.

You’re gonna say that Nico has an, ah, affection for Percy, too, which may hinder his actions. However, believe me when I say guilts are much more resilient than romantic attractions. And love can turn into hate, mind you.

Taking in account of their powers, Nico posses a ridiculously wide range of abilities. All of which can be utilized in combat, and Nico knows it.

Firstly, Nico has shadow-travel. Which literally disables any attempt to get a grasp of his actions. If he wants something in somewhere, he would be one of the firsts to get it - with a proper plan, ofc. It would be like a race in which he literally jumps through space while you have to travel by feet. And when it’s you who has to stop him, Nico can prolong your encounter all he wants.

Nico controls ghosts. Now, ghosts and living beings are, without a doubt, completely different. Ghosts don’t have blood. Ghosts can’t be touched. Ghosts can clip through walls. Lord above I honestly can think of barely anyway to defeat them. Nico can simply tell the ghosts o terrorize one’s mind and they would finish it with ease.

In the other hand, Percy is capable of controlling every kind of liquid, blood included.

However, Percy needs to concentrate hard enough to get a hold of someone’s circulation. And gods forbid Nico would stay still at one place to let him do it. Nico’s strong points are literally agility and speed, which can be countered by an AOE attack, for ex., Percy summoning a tsunami to sweep the whole arena and catch Nico in the process, that kind of attack. But again, Nico’s capable of cracking open the ground, and earth absorbs water. So he can either raise a wall of dirt or opening a crack to swallow the whirlpool.

Did I mention Nico’s freaking soul-sucking, insta-ghosting Stygian Iron sword because it’s hella terrifying, btw. That alone is a force to be reckoned with. A cut and you soul is gone. It’s insane.

And Percy would have a hard time disarming him bc while Riptide re-appears in his pocket, Nico’s sword just comes from… thin air? Gods I can’t believe this.

And not just his sword btw, Nico can insta-ghost people. Ridiculously over power.

So technically, if you let him touch you for too long, you’re officially gone. Dead. Game over. You lose.

Ofc he would have to concentrate hard to do it, too. And while one may argue that Percy would wriggle his way out of the hands of a few skeletons, but if you take in account how Reyna tokes on the crossfire when Nico erased Bryce, Nico’s darkness can… weaken people? His pains, his sufferings can be used as a weapon. His aura kills off grass, you can’t possibly tell me it wouldn’t work on a demigod, now can you?

And because it’s Percy, they’re not just simply another’s pain. It’s Nico’s. And Percy has always been guilty when it comes to one Nico di Angelo, believing all those sufferings and anguish has something to do with his mistakes. And because Percy is loyal to a fault, the guilt would only amplify the agony.

Nico’s main weak point is his low stamina. So when it comes down to it, the problem is that whether Percy can prolong the fight enough to get him weakened or not. Provided that he doesn’t fall into any crack and into the Tartarus. That he doesn’t get caught by any zombie hands. That he doesn’t get drown in Nico’s waves of pains. And that Nico doesn’t just… leave. Log out in the middle of the game so that Percy wouldn’t get his win.

End of story.

I have a chem test in less than 12 hours and i’m here writing this essay I can’t believe this.