Is it a coincidence that both book series had a protagonist with a “saving people problem”, by which I mean that once someone even suggests that someone they love is in danger, they will risk everything to save them.
Both times, it ends up being deconstructed as a flaw. It puts Percy into danger and makes him hesitant to run away, often threatening his life in an already dangerous world. It actually ends up being used against Harry when he’s shown a fake vision of someone he’s close to in danger, and hastily rushes to save someone who was never in danger in the first place, which Ironically leads to that person dying.
Did we just identify with protagonists like that and had to have characters like Superman deconstructed for us?
I’m not sure why you brought Superman into it, but I’m very curious since I grew up obsessed with Harry Potter, loved Percy Jackson (though not as much), and I also find Superman one of the most intriguing characters in all media.
In regards to the actual point of your post though, I’m not sure we “identify” with people who have a saving problem. But I think we do all want to think of ourselves as noble and would like to imagine that we would be like Percy and Harry if thrust into those situations.
In fact, I think why those situations are appealing is because in middle school, kids tend to feel out of place, especially nerdy kids who are drawn to reading. Percy got into trouble a lot and didn’t know his father (don’t remember the details perfectly, been a while for me there); Harry was in an abusive household where he was excluded, bullied at school, a complete outcast everywhere. Then suddenly their worlds are flipped in a classic, Joseph Campbell style hero’s journey situation—the most universal story of all time—and they are no longer outcasts but important characters in a vast and powerful world beyond their wildest dreams. And as readers, I think we as kids liked to imagine it could happen to us too, and again, especially kids who felt like outcasts. How many people joked about waiting for their letters from Hogwarts?
I think the essence is those stories call on the deep, mythic and nearly universal (meaning most myths from every corner of the earth share these commonalities) desire to step into something meaningful and important and out of our ordinary lives. I do think their noble nature added to their appeal because not only did we want to join their world, we wanted to be the noble heroes too. But I think those were the cherry on the cake.