| “ | We are better. We are stronger. We will build a glorious new world. But these nonsense-spewing trees stand in our way, Meg. Like any invasive weeds, they must be burned. And the only way to do that is with a true conflagration—flames stoked by blood. Let us do this together, and not involve the Beast, shall we? | „ |
| ~ Nero to Meg McCaffrey about burning the Grove of Dodona (The Hidden Oracle). |
Nero (also known as The Beast) is one of the main antagonists in The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan. Alongside Caligula and Commodus, Nero is a member of Trimvirate Holdings, a group of minor deities of human birth that seeks to overthrow the Olympians and take their place.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- Taking advantage of the great fire of Rome in ancient times to build a palace on the rubble. Even though Nero claims that he personally led the fire brigades, Apollo reminds him that it was only to save his palace, to which Nero replies that he "arrived just in time to save the most important building."
- Torturing and killing the ancient Christians in very sadistic ways, such as burning them alive while being crucified to illuminate his parties. Apollo himself claims to still remember their screaming.
- After gaining immortality, he founded Triumvirate Holdings with fellow emperors Caligula and Commodus with the express purpose of world domination.
- Funding Kronos' plan destroy civilization and Gaea's plan to destroy the world. Using his resources, they both killed countless people during the events of the previous two series
- Adopting demigod children after killing their parents to raise them as his own.
- Psychologically and physically abusing said demigods, such as Meg, as a means of brainwashing them. He would gaslight the children into thinking that the person abusing them was an alternate personality called "the Beast", and that this supposed split-personality only arose by their fault.
- Burning down the Grove of Dodona in order to kill every camper (most of whom are kids and teenagers).
- Kidnapping three demigod campers and threatening to burn them alive. He had them tied to crosses, and Apollo notes that Nero is going to do to them the same thing he did to the Christians in ancient times.
- Attempting to have his Colossus Nerosis destroy Camp Half-Blood, in the hopes of killing all of the campers in the process.
- Sadistically forcing Cassius, an 8 year old boy, to cut off Luguselwa's hands when she disobeyed him.
- Using Greek Fire to burn Manhattan to the ground and destroy New York City.
- Attempting to using poison Sassanid Gas in order to gas campers to death.
- Ordering Dryads to kill Apollo and Meg, and when they defied him, burning the Dryads alive to torture them.
- Transferring is life force to Python upon his death, giving more power to the evil serpent.
- Despite the Riordanverse's high heinousness standards, Nero stands out for two main reasons: being behind the actions of Kronos and Gaea in the previous books, and engaging in a terrifyingly realistic form of child abuse to attain his goals. Furthermore, he doesn't have the same powers as the cataclysmic deities of the previous books.
Trivia[]
- He is the only confirmed Pure Evil character from Rick Riordan's novels.
External Links[]
- Nero (The Trials of Apollo) on the Villains Wiki.
- Nero on the Riordan Wiki.