Percy has been the sarcastic hero to root for through both the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus series. In The House of Hades, he faces an unprecedented trial when he falls into Tartarus with Annabeth. Percy has always been able to succeed in trials because his heart is in the right place, but in Tartarus, Percy is forced to confront that he might not be as good of a hero as he thought he was when he has to confront past mistakes.  

In his first point-of-view section, Percy inadvertently calls Bob, the Titan Iapetus, whose memory Percy wiped in an earlier battle. Bob helps Percy and Annabeth because he thinks they are friends, but Percy doesn’t tell him that he wiped his memory and forgot about him in Hades’s Palace. Percy realizes that he didn’t treat Bob well when Bob finds out Percy lied to him and leaves him. In the moment before death, Percy realizes that he is to blame, and he apologizes not expecting Bob to hear, but he knows he has to take responsibility for his actions. Bob comes back to save him, and for the rest of the narrative, Percy doesn’t pressure Bob to be anything other than what he wants to be.