| “ | Did you say no? You think I’m going to put up with this punk again? I can still press charges against him for ruining my Camaro. | „ |
Gabe Ugliano is a supporting antagonist in the novel Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and all its adaptions. He is Percy Jackson's lazy, disrespectful and abusive scumbag of a stepfather. He is the arch-nemesis of his widow, Sally Jackson and the arch-enemy of his stepson, Percy Jackson.
He was portrayed by Timm Sharp in the series. In the movie he was portrayed by Joe Pantoliano, who also played Francis Fratelli in The Goonies, Caesar in Bound, Cypher Reagan in The Matrix, Ralph Cifaretto in The Sopranos, Albert Arlington in Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Stickyfins Whiting in SpongeBob SquarePants.
Personality[]
Percy's mother, Sally Jackson, chose to marry him to protect Percy from the ever-growing threat of Greek monsters and gods. Gabe had a pungent odor, which was described by Percy as "moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts," earning him the infamous nickname "Smelly Gabe". Grover Underwood later described him as a human who smelled so horrible that his scent would mask any demigod's scent from monsters. Gabe's scent would help protect Percy from monsters, as monsters can smell children of the gods especially those of powerful gods like the Big Three. Since he was a son of Poseidon, one of the three most powerful gods, Percy's godly scent was much stronger than that of the children of the lesser gods. Gabe was said to have been nice to Sally and Percy for "the first thirty seconds they had known him", and afterward showed his true colors as a "world-class jerk".
He often abused Sally, beating her and treating her horribly. He hated Percy and doesn't seem to trust him. Percy often got into trouble with him. He played poker every day with his 'poker buddies'. Gabe's job was managing The Cadillac Linen Service, although we never see or hear of him going to work. All Gabe seems to do is drink beer, eat guacamole, smoke cigars, play poker or blackjack, and be abusive to Sally, Percy and even his own 'poker buddy' Eddie.
Biography[]
Book[]
When Percy comes home for the first time, Gabe stops Percy at the front door and tells him to give up all his money for his poker game without even welcoming the latter who had gone to a boarding school for 6 months. Percy notes that Gabe has a smell that is amazingly disgusting and doesn't understand why his mom would marry someone like him. When Sally tells Percy they would go to their cabin in Montauk beach, Gabe thought she was kidding at first and only agreed if Sally made him a seven-layered dip for the whole weekend and Percy apologize for interrupting Gabe's "important" poker game. After seeing Sally and Percy off in his Camaro, Percy tries a warding off evil gesture which causes the door to fling him and topple him to the stairs. After they (Percy, Sally and Grover) are attacked by the Minotaur, his Camaro was destroyed. While on their quest, Grover tells Percy that Gabe's scent was so horrible that it covered up Percy's demigod scent, even when he was gone for long periods of time. After the crash of his Camaro and Sally is taken captive, Gabe goes on a Barbara Walters' interview and totally lies about Percy, saying he's a troubled, dangerous boy who took away the things "he cared about" that is his Camaro and his wife. Gabe squeezes out a few fake tears for the interview, and Percy later sees it on television, and it causes him no small amount of fury.
When Sally is released by Hades, she reappears in her apartment with Gabe. He is furious because he had to return the money he got off her life insurance. He then makes her return to work, saying she has a month's salary to make up and she'd better get started. He is furious when Percy returns (Percy promised all of Los Angeles free appliances from Gabe's store) and says he's going to press charges against Percy for destroying his Camaro. Sally tries to defend Percy, but Gabe raises his hand as if to slap her, and she falls silent. Percy realizes that Gabe has been hitting his mother and thinks about taking out Riptide but knows it won't work against Gabe, because "Gabe, by the loosest definition, was a human". Gabe mocks him for the pen and tells him he has five minutes before he calls the police.
Percy leaves to his room to pack, and his mother tries to convince him to stay, but Percy insists that it won't work out with Gabe there. He then tells his mother about Medusa's head (sent back to Percy by Poseidon). He said he wanted to "pop it right there onto the poker table". But Percy feels wrong about it, and speaks to his mother; so, his mother said she will always have that in case he hurts her again.
Sally convinces Percy to leave first and let her save herself. Percy is worried about leaving his mother in Gabe's hands, but Sally's eyes harden when Gabe says a taunting good-bye to Percy, and Percy is convinced that he had left her in very capable hands after all.
After Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood, Sally kills Gabe using Medusa's head and then sells his petrified body to an art museum in Soho as a "sculpture" called "The Poker Player", which is well-received by art critics as "a huge step forward in super-ugly realism" and earns her enough money to put down a deposit for a new apartment, make a payment on her first semester's tuition at NYU, and make a deposit at a good school for Percy.
Movie[]
Gabe is lazy and fat and tells his wife named Sally to do everything for him, like for example, get him his beer out of the fridge instead of doing it himself (which may be why he became so abusive). After which she does retrieve his beer to him, but he then slaps her across the buttocks. His stepson, Percy, is disgusted by this and asks him not to do such a thing, but Gabe refuses to listen to Percy. After the attack on Percy at the museum, Percy came home to talk to his mother about what happened, but Gabe rudely interrupted his stepson's talk by remarking that "she was servicing me and my friends". Percy retaliated by calling him a "bald-headed freak", angering him and making him attack Percy, but Percy's friend and protector named Grover stopped him and knocked him out and the three escaped his wrath.
Later, the disappearance of Percy, Grover and Percy's mother reached out on TV and Gabe told a lot of lies about what happened at his house, saying that "due to the fact that Percy became an alcoholic and drug dealer, he knocked out Gabe and kidnapped his mother and his friend". It is unknown whether the authorities believed his story or not. However, as Percy is never seen being interrogated by the police after he and his mother returned, it's likely they didn't believe Gabe.
At the end of the film, Percy's mother kicked Gabe out due to his abusive nature. He goes to the fridge, but there is a paper note and a lock on it by Percy saying "do not open". Gabe angrily ignores it, smashes the fridge open to get his beer and finds Medusa's severed head which kills Gabe by turning him into a statue when Gabe foolishly looked into the eyes. In the book, Sally sold his remains at the Soho Art Gallery.
Quotes[]
| “ | NOT. ONE. SCRATCH. | „ |
| ~ Gabe screaming to Percy to not ruin his precious Camaro. |
| “ | Woman! Where's my beer!? | „ |
| ~ Gabe orders Sally around when he walks into the apartment. |
| “ | I don't know where your mom is. I'm not Nostradamus. | „ |
| “ | Sally open the door! Open up! [Sally unlocks the door.] You changed the locks? (Sally: Yes. So here’s your junk. You can let yourself out.) How am I supposed to move all this stuff by myself !? (Sally: Deal with it.) I need a beer. [Gabe goes to the kitchen and sees the refrigerator with a do not open sign.] What? “Do not open…” That little brat. I may not live here anymore, but I’m still the king of this castle. [Gabe destroys the lock to open the fridge and sees Medusa’s severed head which turns him to stone.] | „ |
| ~ Gabe’s demise in the mid-credit scene. |
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 Villains
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Titans Greek/Roman Gods Greek/Roman Monsters Greek/Roman Humans Kane Chronicles Villains Magnus Chase Villains | ||