The mist is a strange haze that appears whenever magical occurrences happen around mortals, or when undisguised monsters or gods appear around mortals. It obscures the magical elements and makes mortals see what they think they should see. Demigods, monsters, and gods see Mist, but it doesn’t obscure anything for them.
Get the entire The Lightning Thief LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
The timeline below shows where the term Mist appears in The Lightning Thief. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...he’s worried about Percy. Grover mentions a “Kindly One” at school, a summer solstice deadline, Mist, and a failure on Grover’s part. Mr. Brunner reassures Grover and says that they just...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...less Percy knew, the fewer monsters he’d attract. He explains that they tried to use Mist to obscure what was going on, but Percy is starting to realize what he is....
(full context)
Chapter 10
...then shares that the pen will always return to Percy’s pocket and tells him that Mist will obscure him from mortals when he uses Riptide. Now, the quest feels real.
(full context)