The first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is halfway through, and in the fourth episode of the show, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover come face to face with a new mythological character: Echidna, the mother of monsters. But who plays Echidna in Percy Jackson and the Olympians?
Who Plays Echidna in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Answered
Suzanne Cryer, better known for her role as Ashley on the ABC sitcom Two Guys and a Girl (formerly Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place) and as Laurie on Silicon Valley, plays Echidna, the mother of monsters on Percy Jackson and the Olympians. She also very famously appeared on the award-winning “The Yada Yada” episode of Seinfeld, playing George’s girlfriend Marcy, who was the one who used the famous phrase.
Cryer has also performed on Broadway and appeared in twelve episodes of All Rise and six episodes of The Fosters. She has also appeared in procedurals like Hawaii Five-0, Lucifer, Medium, Dexter, Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy, Bones, ER, and Law & Order.
Related: All Major Actors & Cast List for Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Is Echidna Really the Mother of All Monsters?
In Greek mythology, Echidna was half-woman, half-snake, and indeed the mother of many of the most famous monsters – including the Chimera, which we meet in Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ fourth episode, “I Plunge to My Death.” That might just be Echidna’s favorite kid and the one she chooses to send after Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.
Not only that, this particular Echidna kid is nicknamed “the demigod killer.” And he gets pretty close to killing Percy after the titular hero decides to face the chimera by himself and tricks Annabeth and Grover into leaving him to do so because, of course, he does.
But is Echidna the mother of “all” monsters? The answer to that is probably no. Several monsters in Greek mythology are not her children. The title is probably just an honorary bestowed upon her, considering the sheer number of monsters she and Typhon – her husband, according to legend, had.
None of these things are all that important to Percy Jackson. The only thing that matters to him right now is that Echidna is, indeed, the mother of the one monster he cares about – the Chimera that beat him during “I Plunge to My Death.” That makes her the most formidable foe he’s faced so far in Season 1 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
