Character Analysis: Why is Piper McLean So Hated?

[@RayGainbows]

came here because i had no idea she was hated.

[@heartmaya28]

Same😅

[@nainakukillayakrishna6524]

ikr I love her

[@Wonderland_234]

same i love her

[@Hello-iy1rh]

I've always thought that Piper's character is so, so interesting on paper. Like, she's a daughter of Aphrodite (we haven't seen that many Aphrodite girls except Silena, and she wasn't really a main character), she's half Native American (there's very, very, very few mainstream book characters set in the present day that are Native American), and her dad is a movie star (such a funny and unique concept). But the problem is, Uncle Rick tries so hard to deliberately make her unique, that he turns her into a run of the mill YA heroine. Instead of allowing a character to be both feminine and a good fighter (without strings attached like Silena being a traitor), he makes her inherently despise any of the traditionally Aphrodite things, like makeup, doing hair, fashion, etc. It's so sad that her character got so watered down, she could have been so great.

[@YceSy]

Exactly- Piper had the potential to be a complex and unique character given all the traits that Rick gave her. It would've been cool had it been used in a different light.

[@ottawacunninham3491]

@@YceSy Are you sure are part of the fandom..?

[@oscaralonsosainzchavez9521]

This is my personal opinion. Piper and Jason's relationship should've been put to an end just where it started, The Lost Hero. The book itself states that every memory of Piper about Jason was a sham. I would've been better if they just made something like "Hey, perhaps we are not a couple but we are still great friends and we can get to know each other over time", and with that, we could have saved all of the mistakes that ocurred in TOA. But no, Jason is dead, and piper is a full-fledged sociopathic narcissist who forgot about Jason once she got a new partner.

[@YceSy]

Hii, there! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :))))). That's an interesting take on Piper and Jason's relationship and I get your point. In The Lost Hero, they did kept emphasising how fake their romance was in the first place so this could've opened their eyes into thinking that they should sort this out first and be friends. That's a great take! It could've changed their relationship for the better and actually get more buildup than what we got in the books.

[@oscaralonsosainzchavez9521]

@@YceSy Yeah, and by the way, nice video, you just won a new subscriber.

[@YceSy]

Thank you so much! :DDD

[@pamelagonzalez8947]

She’s just boring. Annabeth, Rachel, Hazel, Thalia, Reyna, Silena, Clarisse, Sadie, Zia, Sam, Alex and Mallory, they are all well defined characters, with clear personalities and motivations. Piper feels amorphous. I had expectations for her (her monologue when she became cabin leader was great), but she never delivered. And, like others said, I HATED that she moved on so quickly after Jason’s death. In theory he was her best friend, a really important person for her, the first of her people to be murdered, she presented all that anguish to Apollo and not even a year later she’s fine because she has a girlfriend? That was COLD.

[@YceSy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree. Piper wasn't as well-defined like the other characters were which made her feel flat compared to them. Alsoo yess. Piper having a girlfriend was too sudden for everyone and I just hoped she would've been single for a bit because she needs time to think and process everything going on in her life.

[@PiperMclean-wq9xf]

she just doen't like dresses she even state she wears make up when she is claimed, also it wasn't only her thinking the Aphrodite cabin was a little coo coo, she only really hated Drew as well, also you guys can't hate her for the reasons you love annabeth, you all call her pick me girl but what about annabeth

[@YceSy]

I agree. The Piper hate is a lot and it can get out of hand at times. Personally, Piper isn't my most favorite (mainly because I just found the other characters more interesting than her) but I have to admit that hating on her for things that Annabeth has is too much.

[@Xyl8phony]

fair enough

[@da4kxwolf17]

i think shes always like '' i love jason! '' and then three weeks after he died, she moved on..like..

[@YceSy]

Hi, there! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Truee, Piper just talks about Jason all the time only for her to move to another romantic partner. I mean, its not that Piper doesn't deserve to move on. Instead, it would've been better if she remained single to have some time to herself; which is what she wanted in The Burning Maze.

[@da4kxwolf17]

@@YceSy agreed!! i agree 100, i didnt explain well, yes she should move on, but it was rather fast

[@heartmaya28]

I love Jason and piper I was sad that they broke up but I can see why people would hate her

[@YceSy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Alsoo nice to see someone else who doesn't hate Piper and Jason's relationship- and samee I was sad that they broke up and I hoped that they would try to sort things out on thier own from there.

[@SchneeflockeMonsoon]

Because she had so much potential and nothing was done with her, and then she became a lesbian after Jason was similarly mistreated and died offscreen, with no sign she was even slightly bummed about her supposed boyfriend being gone because she had someone prettier to kiss now. Seems pretty simple to me.

[@YceSy]

Hii, there! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree. Piper had a lot of potential and she would've been a better character had Rick written her differently.

[@rensolo2891]

you don't "become" lesbian, she came to terms with her sexuality

[@SchneeflockeMonsoon]

@@rensolo2891 People don’t, you’re right, but she’s a character. How she was portrayed after conflicts with her characterization before, including internal monologues and perspectives. I’m not bothered by her liking women, in fact my girlfriend and I hope more wlw appear in media. We’re bothered by Piper being arbitrarily slapped with the “lesbian” hat and being a token representation without having it actually be part of her character.

[@thepassenger1958]

@@SchneeflockeMonsooni’ve always read her as bisexual and most fan content with lesbian piper bothers me because it’s still somehow so male centric by turning her into the type of character who pops up in fan content to point out how much she thinks boys are stupid and how their (usually m/m ships) relationship is so messy and annoying to her. a lot of people turn piper into this barbie doll they can do whatever with without caring about her actual character 😭 justice for my girl.

[@LittleFoxBooks]

Jason didn’t die offscreen? We saw him get stabbed pretty explicitly.

[@tanishtv3006]

Also her constant whining that she was a “spy”, u may think she was up to something but in the end it was nothing

[@YceSy]

Exactly! That buildup on Piper worrying that she might be the 'spy' could've been a better plot line in that book.

[@raffigani8303]

Piper fatal flaw is her low self-esteem so her whole journey should revolve more on her find her worth, not just her clinging over Jason for the whole series... Here is my own idea to 'fix' her story: (NB. it's a long rant) The Lost Hero should end with Piper find her confidence (She did, but I think it's more of like her confidence to make relationship to Jason instead of Her own Confidence).... The Mark of Athena should show Piper growth after month of training in Camp Half-Blood, beside her confidence, her combat skill, her charmspeak, Maybe to make some room for the next book, She still find the way to fit in the crew (I don't really understand why Rick gave this to Leo personality instead of her).... But in the book, her whole existence (exaggerated) is predict future, her relationship with Jason (and weirdly enough still not stable)... House of Hades. I think this is where (if decide) that Jiper should been start.... But again it shouldn't be her whole story arc... Piper found her role in the crew and finally doing major part in closing Door of Death. In Blood of Olympus..... like in the books, she should act more to negotiator between two camp... But instead of trying hard to speak confident and using charmspeak, she just confidently speak and sputing fact to make both camp in peace (w/o charmspeak), and for Godsake let her use her dagger in battle, I know it act more as an accessory (which is kinda weird considering her whole personality is not liking accessories like other Venus kid).... Her broke up with Jason also feel so sudden, the last we met them is after the Blood of Olympus, and month later they broke up... Also the fact that she getting date shorty after Jason death, while her personality in HoO is about their relationship is kinda off.... Rick should ended her story in ToA with Piper Accepted Jason's death and start to set her own life.... Then in the Sun and Star she making another date (wether it is a man or woman) didn't feel so sudden.. I think Rick trying to make her an "I am not like other girl" character.. but ended up making her Arc just like a cheap soal opera about love, making her character a little bit annoying.

[@YceSy]

Hii, there! Wow- thanks for sharing your thoughts :))) I agree with all of them. Instead of focusing on Jason and Piper's relationship, Rick should've helped Piper develop more as a character. I also love how you pointed out Piper's fatal flaw (low self esteem) because her journey in the books should help her overcome that problem in her but she never fully gets this in the books.

[@raffigani8303]

@@YceSy I really like Piper. She is my favorite of the seven after percy and annabeth... But what threw me off is how Rick end her Arc... He literally make the whole Piper story in HoO revolve in her relationship with Jason... just to make both of them broke up in the next series for the unacceptable reason... And after that je decide to make her date again that really againts her reason to broke up with Jason in the first place... I think Rick decide that just as an excuse to add more Queer character to gain more readers...

[@YceSy]

@raffigani8303 yeah I get you there. Rick literally made Piper's life revolve around Jason but randomly made them split up for some reason. I honestly think he made them split up because of the hate Jason and Piper were getting and he probably thought that it was best to separate them from there.

[@Princess_Kylee]

I've always liked Piper myself, until of course, she started kissing that girl. I thought it was really unprofressional of her to do that - especially after Jason's death. But I think part of the reason, is, that we're always subconsiously comparing Piper and Jason to other couples we see in the series. For example, Annabeth and Percy could arguably be considered as one of the best and most iconic couples in the books. Like when Percy lost his memory and disappeared in the Heroes Of Olympus, Annabeth didn't give up hope and kept looking - refusing to believe that Percy was dead. Or even Grover and Juniper - when Grover went missing for a while, Juniper was really concerned, showcasing her love for him. But with Jason and Piper, we don't get to see much of that, especially since their relationship turned out to be fake in the beginning. I think if Riordan made Piper seem a little more down to earth - like Leo - maybe we would've liked her more. I think Rick just wanted to try a different approach for an Aphrodite kid since Aphrodite kids were always kind of like an 'underdog'.

[@YceSy]

Hiii, there! I relate with you there- Piper and Jason's relationship was always compared to the rest of the couples we have in the Riordanverse that they always seemed boring or uninteresting until the Trials of Apollo decided to break them up. Its an abrupt move that left readers shocked and it doesn't help that Rick killed off Jason then made Piper get together with Shel. Plus I get you when it comes to lacking moments between Piper and Jason because they're really forgettable and not as memorable compared to the rest of the couples we have.

[@sylve2474]

Ngl,, i interpretted their breakup and her vague reasoning as her being a lesbian and not realising why things werent feeling right,, or starting to realise that it still didnt feel right and not wanting to string jason along while she tried to figure out her sexuality (also,, pipabeth has been around since way before toa, lol)

[@YceSy]

Hiii, there! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Nice to see another perspective on Piper and Jason's breakup! Though I think it's because Piper needed some time to time to herself, I personally interpreted her as bisexual instead of lesbian in The Heroes of Olympus. But I like the interpretation you had on how she broke up with Jason because of Piper not wanting him to suffer while she was trying to find her sexuality. Part of that break that she had with Jason was because she wanted to discover herself which could be related to how she wants to understand herself and her sexuality.

[@sylve2474]

Caleo is still my notp to this day,, it was so unnecessary and forced and leos character changed so much for no reason,, like, not trying to come at it from a "i dont want him to be happy and he should just live in angst" but they had no chemistry for one, and even if they did, i dont feel like the end of his arc should be "oh, he has a girlfriend, so now he's fine",,, like,, yknow that thing where they say "smth smth what the character wants vs what the character needs"? Yeah, i feel like its that,, he wanted a girlfriend, but i dont think that was satisfying as an answer for what the character needs,,,,,,, if you skipped the weird memory stuff with jasper in the first book, they actually had an interesting relationship, especially going into toa,, and legit chemistry(even if just as friends)

[@YceSy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree with what you mean on Leo and Calypso's relationship. It is forced and I do think that Leo shouldn't have ended up with someone in the series and instead focused on helping himself improve from his bad self-esteem. The one character flaw that Leo has is that he thinks he's always the seventh wheel and isn't good enough after being abandoned all his life and I think it would be better to see Leo develop from this by himself through the many quests in The Heroes of Olympus and gain the confidence he needs first. I mean, I'm not against the idea of him getting a girlfriend. Like, he could end up with someone eventually but I think it's a bit too early for him to have one in The Heroes of Olympus. He has to know and be good to himself first before dedicating himself to another person which would be more fitting for his character because he's trying to rebuild himself after being broken all his life. Alsoo nice to see a fan who didn't hate on Piper and Jason's relationship! I personally liked them together too.

[@rensolo2891]

people hate that she got in a teenage relationship and they hate that she ended it. its the circle of life, you dont have to marry your first love. and to be fair, rick writes most of his women characters to be anti femme

[@YceSy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! And yesss I agree. Ending a teenage relationship is alright because your first love might not be 'the one' already. Alsoo truee. Rick does write his female characters as anti-femme and I guess fans were disappointed that Rick did the same thing for a daughter of Aphrodite like Piper. I think it would've been more refreshing to see a daughter of Aphrodite embracing her feminity instead of denounce it like Piper did which is why Piper got the hate she got.

[@RebeccaCohenDorfman]

Piper is my fave