Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a widely beloved kidlit fantasy series that was recently adapted into an acclaimed streaming series on Disney+. The story follows Perseus "Percy" Jackson, a 12-year-old boy who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon. (Yes, that Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.) What's more, demigod Percy learns that there are many that wish him harm. The series follows Percy as he learns more about gods and monsters and his place among them, embarks on quests and adventures, and ultimately, sets out to save the world.
But Percy would be lost without his friends. In fact, one of the most important characters in the series is Percy’s very best friend and guardian, Grover Underwood. Grover is a satyr, a Lord of the Wild, and a Chosen of Pan. But what does all of that mean? And who, exactly, is Grover, and how is he involved in the larger story of Percy Jackson and the Olympians? Read on to find out.
Warning: This following article contains spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
Who is Grover Underwood?
Grover Underwood is a satyr, a creature that has some physical traits of a man and some of a goat. He also possesses the powers of woodland magic and ages at half the rate of a mortal being. Grover is tall with curly brown hair, brown eyes, a beard, horns, and brown goat legs. Grover's goat legs give him the strength to climb up mountains and run very fast. To disguise these beastly body parts, Grover often cleverly uses human clothes as camouflage, donning hats to hide his horns and human shoes to hide his cloven feet.
Grover is generally cheerful and friendly, but he is also very emotionally attuned. As a result, he cries easily and can get a bit mopey at times. He also often gets nervous, which can lead to a habit of chewing on furniture. While Grover is brave when it counts, he's actually afraid of a lot of things, including (but not limited to) underground places, cyclopes, ghosts, and rabbits. Grover is an environmentalist and a vegetarian. He can play the pipes, but at the start of the series, he's not very good at it—he can only play two songs: "So Yesterday" by Hilary Duff and Mozart's Concerto No. 12. As the series continues, however, he hones his skills and adds many more songs to his repertoire.
Aside from playing the pipes, Grover has many abilities and talents. As a satyr possessing woodland magic, Grover can control plants and animals, heal others, speak to animals, communicate with others through dreams, sense people's emotions, and more.
Who are Grover’s closest friends?
Percy Jackson: Percy Jackson and Grover Underwood meet and become friends while attending Yancy Academy. Through all of Percy's adventures, Grover is by his side. Grover has an empathy link with Percy. The two friends are fiercely loyal and protective of one another and have rescued each other on multiple occasions.
Juniper: Grover is in a relationship with Juniper, a wood nymph. The two appear to share a deep connection and are very affectionate with one another. Juniper is first mentioned in The Battle of the Labyrinth.
Annabeth Chase: Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena and Professor Frederick Chase, is one of Grover's closest friends. The two speak often and share a mutual desire to protect Percy Jackson.
Thalia Grace: Thalia Grace is another one of Grover's closest friends. When Thalia was mortally wounded in a fight against monsters, Grover felt he played a role in her death. Thalia is later resurrected, but she still frequently has to remind Grover that he is not responsible for what happened to her.
Tyson: Tyson is a cyclops, a creature that ranks among Grover's greatest fears. Despite this deep unease, he becomes close friends with Tyson after they spend time together in the Labyrinth.
What happens to Grover Underwood over the course of the series?
Many satyrs dedicate their lives to searching for Pan, the Greek God of the Wild. Both Grover's father and uncle dedicated their lives to the search for Pan, but they were never able to find him. In fact, every Searcher who has attempted to find Pan has failed. Nevertheless, from a young age, Grover vows to be the one who would find the god.
To earn his Searcher's license, Grover is sent to Yancy Academy, which is where he meets Percy Jackson. When Grover realizes Percy is the son of a god, he becomes his protector. At first, this guardianship irritates Percy, who feels like their relationship was inverted—all along, he's been the one looking after Grover. Nevertheless, Grover is tasked with bringing Percy to Camp Half-Blood. After they are attacked by a Minotaur on the way there, Grover faints, and Percy is left to confront the Minotaur on his own. Despite Grover's failure to deliver Percy safely to Camp Half-Blood, the Council of Cloven Elders still say Grover will be able to attain his Searcher's license if he successfully aids Percy on his upcoming quests.
As such, alongside Annabeth Chase, Grover is Percy's companion through many adventures, from the very first quest they undertake as a trio wherein Percy embarks on a journey to find his mother and retrieve Zeus's stolen Master Bolt from Hades. After Percy, Annabeth, and Grover successfully retrieve the Master Bolt from the Underworld, Grover is granted his Searcher's license and begins his quest to find Pan. Before long, however, he is captured by Polyphemus the Cyclops and taken to his lair in The Sea of Monsters. Through his empathy link with Grover, Percy senses his friend is in danger, and so, with his half-brother Tyson and Annabeth, he comes to Grover's rescue.
In The Titan's Curse, Grover is sent on an undercover mission to a military school, where he discovers siblings Nico and Bianca di Angelo and attempts to take them back to Camp Half-Blood. On their journey, the group is attacked by Dr. Thorn, a manticore, and in the ensuing fight, Annabeth falls off a cliff. The group then goes on a quest to save Annabeth and Artemis, who was also kidnapped. It's around this time that Grover starts receiving messages from Pan, who says he is awaiting his arrival. Grover notices that the majority of these transmissions come to him while he's drinking coffee, and so the caffeinated beverage becomes a significant staple in his day-to-day life.
In the fourth novel in the series, The Battle of the Labyrinth, listeners get to know Grover's girlfriend, Juniper. In this installment, the Council decides Grover has spent far too much time searching for Pan, and they give him a week to find the god before his Searcher's license is revoked. On a quest through the Labyrinth, Grover and Tyson discover Pan, who says it's time for him to fade away and leave his duties for Grover to carry out.
After this, Grover goes missing for several months. Percy and Nico set out on a quest to find him and eventually are able to locate him due to Percy and Grover's empathy link. They soon discover Grover sleeping and realize that Morpheus, the god of dreams, cast a spell on him. Grover then helps Percy and Nico find their way into the Underworld by playing his pipes and opening up an entrance.
At the end of the series, Grover gets his much-deserved happy ending. The Council of Cloven Elders gives him a coveted position, appointing him, as Pan's successor, the new Lord of the Wild.
Who plays Grover in the Disney+ series?
Grover Underwood is played by Aryan Simhadri in the new Disney+ series, which premiered on December 19, 2023. Simhadri recently starred in Adventures in Wonder Park and the 2022 remake of Cheaper by the Dozen. In this performance thus far, he’s brought so much humor and heart to the character, ensuring the satyr is as endearing and easy to root for as he is in the audiobook series. Simhadri’s charm has delighted longtime Percy Jackson fans and won the hearts of newcomers, too.
Our favorite quotes about Grover Underwood
"Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's 'So Yesterday,' both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes." —The Lightning Thief
"Grover started to sniffle and I figured if I didn't cheer him up he'd either start bawling or chewing up my mattress. He tends to eat household objects whenever he gets upset." —The Titan's Curse
"The gods really don't appreciate people sitting in their thrones. I mean like turn-you-into-a-pile-of-ashes don't appreciate it." —Grover Underwood, The Last Olympian
