Rick Riordan Sets the Record Straight: Percy Jackson Isn’t Harry Potter and He Didn’t Copy J.K. Rowling
Rick Riordan is shutting down the Harry Potter comparisons, insisting Percy Jackson wasn’t lifted from J.K. Rowling. After years of fan side-by-sides, he points to an old blog post outlining the demigod saga’s distinct origins.
Let me save you a comment war: no, Rick Riordan didn’t swipe Percy Jackson from Harry Potter. He knew the comparisons were coming, and he addressed them head-on years ago. Here’s what he actually said, where Percy really came from, and why the franchise still matters even if it didn’t become a Hogwarts-sized juggernaut.
Did Riordan copy Harry Potter?
In an old blog post, Riordan (aka Uncle Rick) said he fully expected people to line Percy up next to Harry. Both series put a kid hero inside a hidden world, both play with familiar myth and folklore, and both roll with a trio dynamic that goes way back in children’s literature: a boy protagonist, a sharp, capable girl, and a third friend who bounces off the hero as a foil. That setup existed long before either series.
"Did I get some ideas from Harry Potter? In the sense that I am working with the same patterns, toying with the same mythology, doing variations on the same centuries-old themes – yes. But Percy Jackson is not Harry Potter, nor is Harry Potter where the ideas originated."
His point wasn’t subtle: the overlap is because both authors are pulling from the same shared well of folklore and myth, not because one lifted from the other.
Where Percy Jackson actually came from
The spark was personal. Riordan’s son, Haley, was nine and having a rough time at school with dyslexia and ADHD. To make him feel better, Riordan started telling Greek myths at bedtime and spun a new story where those learning differences were actually signs of something bigger.
"Let me tell you a Greek myth. Did you know that if you have dyslexia and ADHD, those might be signs that you are a demigod like Hercules and Jason? You might be half god, half mortal."
Haley asked him to write it down. That became The Lightning Thief, which took off. Riordan has said he was blown away by how J.K. Rowling’s books energized kids, and that inspired him to craft a story that could hit the same nerve for young readers—just with gods and monsters instead of wands and spells.
About those movies
The Lightning Thief hit theaters in 2010, then Sea of Monsters followed in 2013. Fans weren’t thrilled, and neither was Riordan; both films were dinged for straying too far from the books.
Why Percy still matters
No, Percy Jackson never became as massive as Harry Potter at peak hype. But the franchise has staying power. The Disney+ series puts a real emphasis on inclusive casting and representation, and the whole conceit of Greek gods living just under the surface of modern life is a gateway for kids to dig into myth and folklore—the roots of most modern fantasy. Like Potter, the stories hit universal themes: friendship, courage, and figuring out who you are.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (TV)
- Showrunners: Jonathan E. Steinberg & Dan Shotz
- Number of seasons: 2
- Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
- Where to watch: Disney+
Think Percy Jackson is too close to Harry Potter, or are they just drinking from the same mythic fountain? Tell me where you land.