Annabeth Chase: Who She Is and Who Plays Her in Percy Jackson

Annabeth Chase is a camper at Camp Half-Blood and one of the three friends who carry both Percy Jackson films, alongside Percy and the satyr Grover. She is played by Alexandra Daddario, who is billed third in both movies, behind Logan Lerman as Percy and Brandon T. Jackson as Grover.

Annabeth is the character who meets Percy once he has learned he is a demigod. In Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), directed by Chris Columbus, she is a fellow camper who joins the quest to recover Zeus's master lightning bolt. In Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013), directed by Thor Freudenthal, she is the one who works out that the Golden Fleece can heal the tree that protects the camp. Both films carry a PG rating in the US and the UK, which makes her a comfortable fit for a family movie night with older kids.

She began on the page, not the screen: both movies adapt Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson novels, and the films change and condense plenty of what happens in them. Her father, Frederick Chase, belongs to that book backstory, so he is not part of the story the movies tell. For a closer comparison, see Percy Jackson books vs movies.

If you want the full line up around her, the Percy Jackson cast page lists every actor, and the Percy Jackson characters index covers the rest of the camp.

Annabeth's closest ties are with Percy and Grover, and her most painful one is with Luke Castellan. Percy is her quest partner in both films, and the story keeps the two of them side by side at the big moments, from the road to the Underworld to the climb into Olympus. Grover is the third member of the trio in the first film and goes missing in the second when Luke's allies kidnap him.

Luke, played by Jake Abel, hands the group supplies in the first film, then proves to be the thief when the bolt turns up in the shield he gave them. He returns in the sequel as the villain who poisons Thalia's tree and steals the Golden Fleece. For Annabeth, that makes him a camp friend turned enemy.

Clarisse (played by Leven Rambin) is the camper who gets the quest in Sea of Monsters, and she ends up placing the Fleece on the tree. You can read more on Clarisse in Percy Jackson. Chiron, who guides the campers, is covered at Chiron in Percy Jackson, and Tyson, who joins the group as Percy's half-brother, has his own page at Tyson in Percy Jackson. Athena also appears in the first film, played by Melina Kanakaredes, and the Percy Jackson gods page explains the Olympians. For the central pairing, see Percy Jackson character, Grover in Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan.

In my opinion, Annabeth's best moment is the one that starts the whole sequel: working out that the Golden Fleece can heal Thalia's tree. It is a small scene, but it shows what she does best across both films, which is to find the answer when the camp is out of options. It could be argued that this is also the point where the story most clearly needs her, because Mr. D hands the quest to Clarisse and the group has to find a way around that decision.

Perhaps the most memorable scene is her death and revival in the second film, since the Manticore kills her and the Fleece brings her back. That being said, the first film gives her a good beat too. Climbing into Olympus through the Empire State Building with Percy, only to be ambushed by Luke, is a set piece where the friendship and the betrayal land in the same room.

If you want to see her at her sharpest, start with Sea of Monsters. If you are new to the series, the Percy Jackson movies in order guide will take you through both films, and Percy Jackson books vs movies covers how the adaptations differ from the novels.