Kratos (God of War)

"My vengeance...ends now."- Kratos

Kratos is a Spartan warrior that would become the slayer of Gods and the main protagonist and anti-hero from the God Of War video game series.

Past
Kratos was born in Sparta, where he and other children were observed and tested to see if they had the skills to join the Spartan army. If they failed, then children would be sent to die in the mountains. Thus, Kratos trained with his brother, Deimos, so that they could one day join the Spartan army. But one day as they trained, Sparta was attacked by Ares, Athena, and an army of centaurs, seeking a “marked warrior” that had been prophesized as the one who would destroy the gods. The gods decided that Deimos was that warrior given the birthmarks on his body and Ares took him. Kratos tried to stop the war god from taking his brother, but Ares just struck him away, scarring his face. Ares raised his blade to kill the boy, but Athena stopped him, saying they’d only come for Deimos. Athena apologized to Kratos for this and left with Ares as he watched helplessly as they took his brother away. Losing Deimos had a powerful impact on Kratos, who swore to never to hesitate again. In memory of his brother, he put tattoos on his skin designed to resemble Deimos’ birthmarks. Kratos went on to join the Spartan army and was married to Lysandra, with whom he had a daughter, Calliope. However Calliope fell victim to a plague and according to Spartan tradition, her weakness would’ve resulted in her being tossed into a chasm to die. But Kratos learned about the healing elixir called Ambrosia, which he set out to obtain to save Calliope. What he didn’t realize was that he’d been selected to act as Ares’ champion in a bet between the gods, a contest between chosen champions where the winner would be the one to obtain the Ambrosia. Kratos managed to get the aid of an army of Spartans and eventually encountered a healer that gave him the Flames of Apollo to help him. Kratos’ first major obstacle was Herodius and his army, Poseidon’s champion, but Kratos and his forces slew him and his fellow Atlantians. Angry that Kratos had taken him out of the running, Poseidon unleashed numerous obstacles against the Spartans at sea, but they managed to get to land. Kratos later killed Pothia, Artemis’ champion, and her army, and Hades became fearful Alrik, his champion would also fall. Thus he unleashed fire from the skies upon Kratos’ forces and though he killed many of the Spartans, Kratos survived. He finally found the Ambrosia, slaying Helios’ champion as well, and regrouped with his soldiers. Alrik and his barbarians engaged the Spartans since his father was sick as well and needed the Ambrosia. After a fierce battle, Kratos recapture the Ambrosia, though losing all of his soldiers in the process, and summoned a number of Rocs to torment Alrik. He returned to Sparta and used the Ambrosia to heal Calliope, earning the title of captain by the Spartan king.

Servitude to Ares
Kratos began to win victory after victory, slowly gaining thousands of soldiers under his command after only starting with fifty. His brutality and bloodlust grew and grew and his tactics reflected this, growing unorthodox and brutal, but still effective. But Kratos and his soldiers were unable to battle the ruthless barbarian army, who they were no match for. The Spartans soon found themselves being slaughtered and Kratos was about to be killed by the barbarian leader, Alrik. Desperate for victory at any cost, he called out to Ares, offering his life and servitude if the war god destroyed his enemies. Ares accepted and wiped out the Barbarians, and gave Kratos the Blades of Chaos, marking him as the god’s minion. Kratos eagerly obeyed Ares’ will, conquering and slaughtering in the war god’s name. But as he raided a village dedicated to Athena, Ares manipulated Kratos into killing his wife and child as he slaughtered people left and right. The war god explained that he’d done this because he wanted to make Kratos the perfect warrior. However the Spartan instead became enraged with his master, consumed by grief and anger and left the bodies of his family to burn in the temple. The village oracle cursed Kratos, so that the ashes of his family clung to his skin, turning it pure white and giving him the name “the Ghost of Sparta”. He became consumed by terrible nightmares and visions of his family’s death and his past sins, driving him to the point of insanity. Kratos left Sparta and found some solace in traveling across the Aegean Sea. In hopes of restoring peace to his mind, he swore servitude to other Olympians, hoping they’d forgive his past atrocities and rid him of his nightmares. Thus Kratos traveled through Greece, battling monsters and Greece’s enemies in the name of the gods. But to others, his white skin served as a mark of his sins and people viewed Kratos as a savage beast, with some preferring death as opposed to let him save them. The Ghost of Sparta would spend ten years in the gods’ service, driven by his desire for revenge on Ares.

God of War: Chains of Olympus
It was during his ten years of servitude, Kratos was given one of his greatest tasks after he aided Attica in defending against the armies of the Persian empire. He managed to kill the Persian King, defeat much of the Persian forces, and slay the Basilisk they had unleashed on the city. However Kratos watched as the sun suddenly fell from the sky and followed the dim light on the horizon where it had landed. He found the temple of the sun god, Helios, crashed in the city of Marathon. Upon arriving, Kratos was told by Athena that Helios had been taken from the skies by some unknown persons. With Helios’ light gone, Morpheus, god of dreams, was able to place the Olympians to sleep and take control of the land by covering it in his black fog. Kratos fought his way through Morpheus’ minions and managed to enter the temple of Helios, where he found Eos, Helios’ sister. She told him to awaken the sun god’s fire steeds, which would lead him to Helios. Kratos succeeded in doing so and the steeds brought him to the Underworld, where he could see Helios’ light at the Pillar of the World. The Ghost of Sparta fought his way through the Underworld and eventually battled Charon, who refused him passage across the River Styx. Kratos battled the ferryman, but lost and was dropped into Tartarus, though he eventually escaped, gaining the Gauntlet of Zeus in the process and discovering the Titan, Atlas had escaped and captured Helios.

Kratos managed to slay Charon in their second battle and headed for Persephone’s temple. But throughout his journey, he’d been plagued by memories of Calliope and the song she used to play on the flute he’d once made for her. As Kratos arrived at the temple, he saw Calliope and finally became determined to reunite with her. Upon reaching the Pillar of the World, he encountered Persephone, wife of Hades, who told Kratos that he could be with his daughter if he gave all his impurity (and thus his strength and powers) to the Forsaken Tree. The Ghost of Sparta did so and was able to enter Elysium, reuniting with Calliope and knowing the first happiness he’d felt in some time. However Persephone revealed she’d been the one who freed Atlas and sent him to capture Helios. She planned to have him use Helios’ power to destroy the Pillar of the World, thus destroying everything in existence. Persephone mockingly told Kratos that though he’d gotten to see Calliope again, he’d doomed her, along with everything else in the process. Determined to save his daughter, Kratos killed the innocent souls of Elysium to again become the Ghost of Sparta, regaining his strength and powers. As he prepared to pursue Persephone, Kratos realized the Fates were never kind enough to do something like let him be with his daughter again and as he heard Calliope weep behind him, his hate for the gods strengthened. Kratos managed to kill Persephone, free Helios, and chained Atlas so that he replaced the damaged Pillar of the World. The Titan asked the Ghost of Sparta if he really thought the gods would keep their word and Kratos replied it was all he had left. He left the Underworld aboard Helios’ chariot, but found himself too weakened from his journey and fell unconcious from the Chariot. But before Kratos hit the ground, Athena and Helios stopped him and took the Gauntlet of Zeus and Sun Shield from him, noting that he was an exceptional mortal.

God of War
Five years later, Kratos managed to slay the Hydra and was given the final task that would earn him freedom from his nightmares and redemption, as well as a chance at revenge. Athena commanded Kratos to save Athens, which was under siege by Ares and his army. He fought his way through the ravaged city, killing Ares’ minions as he did so, and eventually found the Oracle of Athens. She told him he needed to find Pandora’s Box, which would give him the power to destroy a god and was located in Pandora’s Temple on the back of Cronos. Kratos went into the Desert of Lost Souls and summoned the Titan with use of the Titan Horn. He climbed up Cronos' body and entered the temple, overcoming the dangers within and retrieving Pandora’s Box. However Ares sensed that Kratos had succeeded in his quest and picked up a piece of rubble that he threw towards Pandora’s temple. It impaled the Ghost of Sparta and Ares’ harpies claimed the box, while Kratos descended into the Underworld. However as he fell towards he River Styx, he refused to give up and grabbed onto the leg of a ship captain (who Kratos had let die before) as he clung to a ledge. He was able to get onto the ledge and kicked the captain down before he managed to escape the Underworld with help from a mysterious gravedigger (Zeus in disguise). Kratos managed to get Pandora’s Box back from Ares and opened it, with the power inside growing him to giant size to match the war god and granting him incredible strength. Kratos was able to fight Ares evenly, prompting the god to trap him in a void where he saw phantoms of his family being attacked by a number of evil versions of himself. Kratos managed to fight the phantoms off, but Ares took away his Blades of Chaos and used them to slay the Ghost of Sparta’s family again. Now left despondent and without any will to fight, Kratos just knelt as Ares prepared to slay him. However he noticed the Blade of the Gods being held by a statue of Athena and dodged Ares' strike, taking up the sword. With this sword, Kratos was able to beat Ares, who said he had just been trying to make the Ghost of Sparta a great warrior to which Kratos replied that he’d succeeded and finished the war god off. But despite his success, Athena informed the Ghost of Sparta that though the gods forgave his past crimes, they could not take away the nightmares that tormented him. Kratos was left with no hope and tried to kill himself by jumping off a cliff into the sea. However Athena saved him, offering him the throne of the God of War in Ares’ place and he accepted.

Second Quest for the Ambrosia
Shortly after becoming an Olympian, Kratos entered Tartarus to once again find the Ambrosia. However this time, he wanted to destroy it since followers of Ares wanted to use it to resurrect the former god of war. On this quest, Kratos began to remember his first quest for the Ambrosia and eventually encountered a giant spider monster, who’d been sent to kill him. However he bested the arachnid and its offspring and Athena tried to warn him of the new dangers that awaited him. But Kratos ignored her, believing nothing could stop him, and eventually met Athena again, who told him he should now fear the dead. Kratos just moved on, coming across the bodies of the Spartans he’d sacrificed in his first quest for the Ambrosia. The Spartans suddenly rose from the dead, determined to have revenge on Kratos for letting them die, but the Ghost of Sparta fought them off. He managed to reach the island where the Ambrosia was located, but the island revealed itself to be a monster called Gyges. He wanted revenge on Kratos since he’d burned off a hundred of Gyges' arms with the Flames of Apollo when he’d battled Helios’ champion. However Kratos avoided Gyges' grasp and revealed why he sought the Ambrosia again. Though Gyges begged Kratos not to destroy Tree of Life as its Ambrosia kept him immortal, the Ghost of Sparta used the Flames of Apollo to incinerate Gyges, destroying the Tree of Life and all the Ambrosia. Kratos then left, knowing Ares’ followers would seek revenge for his taking away their only hope of reviving Ares.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Soon afterwards, Kratos had a vision of his mother, imprisoned in the Temple of Poseidon in Atlantis. He headed for the city and argued with Athena when she tried to dissuade him from pursuing his visions. Kratos was suddenly attacked by Scylla, but was able to defeat the monster and had a vision of his training with Deimos when they were children. He managed to enter the temple and found Callisto, whom he had believed to be dead. She told Kratos his father had brought her there and that Deimos was alive, having been imprisoned in the Domain of Death. Shocked and enraged at being lied to for all those years, Kratos demanded to know why she lied and the identity of his father. Callisto tried to tell him the truth, but changed into a terrible monster and attacked her son, making him kill her. Kratos became angered that the gods had taken another family member from him and set out to save Deimos. He eventually came across the volcano prison of Thera, a Titan, who asked him to free her. Kratos did so, gaining the power of Thera’s Bane, letting him empower his blades with flame. As he descended deeper into Atlantis, he battled Scylla again and managed to kill her by impaling her with the Archimedian Screw. Kratos headed back to Sparta and along with way, was confronted by Erinys, daughter of Thanatos, who told him Deimos belonged to her father, as did the Ghost of Sparta’s blood. Kratos replied that nothing, including Erinys could stop him and battled the daughter of Thanatos, eventually slaying her. He found the way to the Temple of Ares in Sparta, where he found the key to saving Deimos. Kratos returned to Atlantis as it was sinking where he managed to enter the Domain of Death. He finally found Deimos, deep in Thanatos’ temple and freed him, only to be attacked by his brother, who blamed him for his imprisonment since Kratos didn’t save him. The Ghost of Sparta was eventually beaten down by Deimos, when Thanatos intervened, carrying Deimos away. Though badly weakened from the fight, Kratos pursued them to the Suicide Bluffs, where he’d tried to end his life after killing Ares. He saved Deimos from falling to his death and reconciled with him, joining forces to battle Thanatos. Together they were able to fight the death god, but Deimos lost his life in the battle and an enraged Kratos finally killed Thanatos. He carried his brother’s body to a grave being dug by the mysterious Grave Digger, laying him down to rest there and said Deimos was now free. Kratos was on the verge of throwing himself off the cliffs again, but stopped himself and asked what he had become. The Grave Digger said that the Ghost of Sparta had become “Death, the Destroyer of Worlds” and vanished. Athena appeared, begging Kratos to forgive her for not telling him the truth and saying he’d become able to be a full god. However the Ghost of Sparta just replied that the gods would pay for what they had done, before he returned to Olympus, now more hateful of the Olympians than ever.

God of War: Betrayal
As Kratos helped the Spartans besiege a mortal city, he was attacked by Argos, servant of Hera. But before he could defeat the monster, a mysterious assassin killed it, which Kratos realized was an attempt to destroy his reputation amongst the Olympians. He pursued the assassin, but found himself having to fight the servants of Hades. Kratos refused to let them stand in his way and continued his pursuit, only to find Ceryx, the gods’ messenger, barring his path. Thus the assassin escaped and Ceryx ordered Kratos to stop, a command that came from Zeus. However since he wouldn’t give him a reason, the Ghost of Sparta just became angry and killed Ceryx. It was only afterwards that Kratos realized Zeus wouldn’t react kindly to such an action.

God of War II
As Kratos’ Spartans conquered Rhodes, Athena warned him that with every city he destroyed, the more of the gods’ anger he incurred. Kratos didn’t listen to her and leapt down to Earth to deliver the final blow to Rhodes. However upon landing, an eagle took a great deal of the Ghost of Sparta’s godly powers, shrinking him to mortal size and placing it in the Colossus of Rhodes, animating it. Assuming Athena was behind this, Kratos fought his way through Rhodes while battling with the Colossus. Eventually Zeus offered him the powerful Blade of Olympus and the Ghost of Sparta infused what was left of his godly power into it. With the blade in hand, Kratos destroyed the Colossus and called out to the gods, asking if they needed more proof than this. However the giant’s hand fell onto Kratos, knocking the Blade of Olympus away from him. Bloody, beaten, and without his immortality, the Ghost of Sparta knew his only hope was to reclaim the Blade of Olympus. But as he staggered towards it, the eagle flew down and revealed it was actually Zeus, who told Kratos he would not give the Ghost of Sparta a chance to kill him as he had Ares. The king of the gods demanded that Kratos serve him, but he refused and Zeus killed him, impaling him with the Blade of Olympus, before destroying the Spartan army. The arms of the Underworld reached up and dragged Kratos down into the Underworld, but he found a new ally. Gaia, a Titan who’d watched him throughout all his life, gave the Ghost of Sparta the will to fight death and healed his wound. Kratos climbed out of the Underworld and commanded the only surviving Spartan to return to Sparta and be prepared to fight. He then mounted the Pegasus, a winged horse sent to him by Gaia, and tried to fly back to Olympus to have his revenge. However Gaia informed Kratos that he was no longer a god and that he had to seek out the Sisters of Fate so as to travel back to the time when Zeus betrayed him. That would be the only time when Zeus would be vulnerable and Kratos could reclaim the Blade of Olympus. His journey to the Sisters of Fate brought Ghost of Sparta to the mountain prison of Typhon, where the Pegasus ended up trapped in the Titan’s grasp. As he sought to free the Pegasus, Kratos came across Prometheus, who’d been condemned to be partially eaten by a large bird then rehealed everyday by Zeus for giving the Flames of Olympus to humanity. Prometheus begged Kratos to burn him in the flame to release him and the Ghost of Sparta managed this after ripping out Typhon’s Bane, a bow with wind powers, from Typhon’s eye. As Prometheus burned, Kratos took in his ashes, gaining the power of the Titans. He eventually found his way to the Island of Creation, home of the Sisters of Fate and came across Theseus, who had become guardian of the Steeds of Time, which Kratos needed to activate to get to the Island. They fought to determine the greatest warrior in Greece and Kratos eventually killed Theseus, impaling him with his own spear and smashing his head in a door. As he continued to fight his way to the Sisters, Kratos battled the Barbarian King that he’d killed when he joined Ares, who escaped the Underworld to change his fate, Perseus, who was attempting to bring his love back to life, and Icarus, who was insane and certain he was the only one who could reach the Sisters of Fate. After struggling with Icarus when he caused them to fall into a chasm, Kratos found himself upon Atlas in the Underworld. The Titan at first tried to crush the Ghost of Sparta for getting him stuck there, but Atlas relented when Kratos told him he was now determined to destroy Zeus and change his fate so as to do so. Atlas helped him get back to the surface and Kratos found his way into the Palace of the Fates. It was there that the Ghost of Sparta encountered a mysterious warrior, who was also determined to reach the Sisters of Fate. Kratos defeated the warrior and struck him a fatal blow, but discovered the warrior was the last surviving Spartan he’d met in Rhodes. The Spartan told him that Zeus had destroyed Sparta and that he’d come to the island to try and change Sparta’s fate. Before dying, he said that he had faith that their brothers in Sparta would live on through Kratos, the true god of war. Enraged, the Ghost of Sparta roared at the heavens, demanding that Zeus come and face him, but was attacked by the Kraken. However Kratos didn’t fight and was so overcome by frustration that he didn’t care about his quest anymore. As the Ghost of Sparta found himself held by the tentacles of the Kraken, he saw an image of his beloved Sparta burning. Gaia, in the form of Kratos’ wife, appeared; telling him that even if he relented, Zeus would torment him still and would never rest as long as the Ghost of Sparta lived. Even when Kratos died, Zeus’ brother, Hades, would put him in a place of torment forever. Gaia went on tell him that victory favored him, but he had to take hold of his destiny and command it and that there was a war on the horizon and the Titans wanted him to lead him into battle. Regaining his will to go on, Kratos slew the Kraken and found his way into the Sister of Fate’s temple. The Ghost of Sparta met with Lahkesis, who said the Fates determined the fate of all and it was she who allowed him to get this far. She told Kratos that it was not his destiny to kill Zeus, but he replied they didn’t control his destiny and began fighting her. The Ghost of Sparta was able to take her on, prompting Lahkesis to summon Atropos, who took Kratos back in time to the Blade of the Gods during his fight with Ares. She tried to destroy it so that Kratos would lose that battle, killing his past and present selves, but he managed to stop her. He managed to get back to the Sisters’ throne, where he fought both Lahkesis and Atropos at once. Eventually Kratos trapped the two in one of the mirrors they used to go into the past and shattered it, ridding himself of both of them. He proceeded to the Loom Chamber, where the last sister, Clotho, warned him that manipulating his fate could have severe consequences. However Kratos killed her and used the Loom Chamber to take control of his fate and went back in time to the time when Zeus betrayed and killed him. Taking the Blade of Olympus from Zeus, the two engaged each other on the Summit of Sacrifice. Eventually Zeus unleashed a powerful wave of lightning, prompting Kratos to apparently surrender. He asked the king of the gods to free him from his torment, but Zeus replied “I will release you from your life my son, but your torment is just beginning.” However Kratos blocked Zeus’ strike, pinning him down with his Blades of Athena and drove the Blade of Olympus into the king of the gods’ stomach. As Kratos tried to finish off Zeus, Athena intervened, trying to defend Olympus and the king of the gods’ tried to retreat. Kratos tried to finish him off, but Athena intervened and was stabbed through the chest, killing her. Athena revealed to the Ghost of Sparta that he was Zeus’ son and Zeus tried to kill him out of fear of Kratos overthrowing him as Zeus had done to Cronos. Athena begged the Ghost of Sparta to stop seeking revenge and the gods would defend Zeus, before dying. Kratos simply said that if all of Olympus would deny him his revenge, then all of Olympus would die. He went back to the end of the Great War and brought Gaia and the other Titans to the present, leading them against Mt. Olympus.

God of War III
As the Olympians engaged the Titans, Kratos battled their forces until Poseidon began using his Hippocampi to pull the Titans off the mountain. The Ghost of Sparta battled the Hippocamp attacking Gaia and eventually engaged Poseidon, who was in an enormous Titan-esque form made of water and rock with Hippocampi coming from the base of his torso. With Gaia’s help, Kratos was able to fight Poseidon, eventually forcing the sea god out of the form. He tried to warn the Ghost of Sparta that the end of Olympus meant the end for all, but Kratos ignored him and beat up Poseidon. He eventually gouged out the sea god’s eyes and snapped his neck, before tossing him down into the sea. As Poseidon’s body landed in the ocean, the seas rushed forth, swallowing much of the land. Gaia and Kratos continued their ascent up the mountain, eventually reaching Zeus and Kratos faced his father, declaring that he would not see the end of this day. However the king of the gods fired a powerful lighting blast at his son and Gaia, sending them both falling down the mountain and partially severing the Titan’s hand. Kratos found he couldn’t hold on and called out for Gaia to save him, but she replied if she did, they would both fall. She said Kratos had been nothing more than a pawn of the Titans and that this was their war, not his. Unable to hold on, the Ghost of Sparta fell into the Underworld and landed in the River Styx, thinking about the events of his life. Weakened by the souls of the river, Kratos managed to pull himself out and swore to escape Hades again so he could destroy Zeus. However the spirit of Athena appeared before him, saying her death had brought her to a higher plane of existence. She now wanted to help Kratos destroy Zeus, which the Ghost of Sparta found suspicious after she gave her life to protect the king of the gods. To try and win his trust, Athena transformed Kratos’ ruined Blades of Athena into Blades of Exile and told him that to defeat Zeus, he needed to seek out the Flame of Olympus. Kratos journeyed through the Underworld, eventually coming across the Judges to the Underworld, who decided that the afterlife was not ready for the Ghost of Sparta, opening the way for him to move on. Kratos eventually came across Hephaestus, who told him about the Flame of Olympus, which had the power to destroy both mortal and god. He finally entered Hades’ Palace, where he found the coffin of Persephone and used it to smash open the way into Hades’ throne room. At first, Hades taunted him from the shadows about all of the god of the Underworld’s family members that Kratos had killed. They battled each other and Kratos eventually managed to take the Claws of Hades, using it to rip out Hades’ soul, killing him. With his death, the souls of the Underworld roamed free and Kratos came across Hephaestus again, who told him about his daughter, Pandora, who had been taken from him. The Ghost of Sparta managed to escape the Underworld via a Hyperion Gate, ending up back on Mt. Olympus. He continued to fight across Mt. Olympus, running into Gaia, who begged for his help. Kratos jut replied that she was a means to an end and nothing more, as she had to him and used the Blade of Olympus to sever Gaia’s hand, causing her to fall. He continued to fight the gods and the Titans as he attempted to reach the Flame Of Olympus. Kratos later tried to find Pandora, who was the key to retrieving Pandora’s Box, which was within the Flame of Olympus and supposedly had another power inside it, greater than the one Kratos used to defeat Ares. In his quest, the Ghost of Sparta ripped off Helios' head, stabbed the Titan, Perses, in the eye with the Blade of Olympus, sliced Hermes’ legs off and took his boots, beat Hercules’ face in with the Nemean Cestus, and snapped Hera’s neck for insulting Pandora. Kratos encountered Hephaestus yet again, telling him that he wanted to find the Labyrinth. The smith god realized that he was seeking Pandora to sacrifice her to retrieve Pandora’s Box at first became angry and said it was Kratos’ fault he was imprisoned in the Underworld and Pandora was imprisoned in the Labyrinth. However Hephaestus seemed to change his mind and sent Kratos to Tartarus to retrieve the Omphalos Stone, which he could use to make the Ghost of Sparta a weapon. After entering Tartarus, Kratos was confronted by Cronos, who wanted revenge for the Ghost of Sparta apparently killing Gaia. However Kratos killed Cronos, taking the Omphalos Stone from within his stomach and killed Hephaestus soon afterwards when the smith god tried to trick and kill him so as to protect Pandora. Kratos eventually retrieved Pandora from the Labyrinth and brought her to the Flame of Olympus. But as she tried to sacrifice herself, Kratos stopped her, having second thoughts since Pandora reminded him of his own daughter. However Pandora refused to let the Ghost of Sparta stop her, saying this was her destiny when Zeus appeared and captured her. Kratos demanded that he let her go, but the king of the gods replied that he should not confuse Pandora with his own daughter only to sneer that the Ghost of Sparta already had. Zeus told Kratos to look around at what he had wrought in his need for atonement for killing his family. However the Ghost of Sparta replied that he could see only what he had come to destroy and took on Zeus as the chamber crumbled around them. Pandora tried to throw herself into the flame to extinguish it, but Kratos grabbed her, determined not to let her do so. Zeus commanded at him not to let Pandora into the flame, but when he told Kratos not to fail her as he had his family, the Ghost of Sparta’s rage overtook him and he threw himself at Zeus. Pandora extinguished the flame, sacrificing herself in the process and Kratos opened the Box, but found it was empty. Zeus mocked him for “another stunning failure” and went outside to await his son for a final battle. Enraged even more, Kratos went out to fight his father in the pavilion, but as they fought, Gaia appeared. She attempted to crush the two, but they jumped into a hole in her chest left by Poseidon’s Hippocamp and ended up fighting in the chamber housing Gaia’s heart. After a titanic battle, Kratos managed to defeat Zeus, impaling him on the Blade of Olympus, against Gaia’s heart, finishing the two off. The Ghost of Sparta awoke amongst Gaia’s crumbled body and found Zeus’ body, still impaled on the Blade of Olympus. Kratos pulled it free and walked away, but his father’s spirit was still determined to finish him. Zeus blasted the Ghost of Sparta with lightning, destroying most of his weapons and magic items and draining his will to fight, replacing it with overwhelming fear and loss. Kratos was left trapped in his own mind, haunted by his memories and his father’s taunts. But Pandora aided him in forgiving himself for his failures and allowed him to regain his feelings of Hope. As Hope empowered Kratos, he broke free of Zeus’ grasp and managed to drive his spirit back into his body. Tossing away his Blades of Exile, the Ghost of Sparta bloodily and relentlessly beat Zeus to death, finally killing his father. Athena congratulated Kratos on his victory, then asked that he give her the power he’d taken from Pandora’s Box. The Ghost of Sparta replied that there wasn’t anything in the Box and Pandora had died for nothing due to his need for revenge. Athena said that was impossible since she saw Kratos use the power, Hope, she’d put in the Box to kill Zeus. She explained that she put the most powerful power in existence in the Box when Zeus put the evils of the world inside in case they were released. Athena demanded that Kratos give her the power he’d taken in, since it was rightfully hers and she could now use it to rebuild the world. However Athena realized that when Kratos opened the Box to defeat Ares, he’d taken in the power not the evils as everyone believed. The evils instead infected the gods, causing them to change, even Zeus, making him into the monster Kratos had battled. It had been sealed in him by all his guilt, anger, and need for vengeance and when the Ghost of Sparta finally forgave himself, he released it. Athena asked Kratos for Hope again, but he refused and drove the Blade of Olympus through his stomach, releasing the power to the mortals. Angered at that action, Athena removed the Blade of Olympus and Kratos had disappointed her, before leaving Kratos to die, as he laughed to himself at one last victory, his quest for revenge finally done. However in a post-credit scene, a trail of blood from where Kratos had been dying was seen, leading off a cliff, hinting that he may be still active.

Personality
Kratos is destructive, fierce, and brutal, lacking morals, focusing mainly on his own goals, and turning what guilt he has into anger. Whenever he is wronged, he becomes obsessed with revenge and will destroy who or whatever he has to so as to get his vengeance. At first, Kratos wanted revenge on Ares for the war god making him kill his family, then Zeus for trying to kill him, and finally, his vendetta extends to all the gods. He tends to blame others for his actions, such as Ares or Zeus, until the end, when Kratos accepted the consequences of what he’d done and killed himself with the Blade of Olympus. He has even contemplated killing himself at some points out of his inability to cope with the constant memories of his crimes. But for all his faults, Kratos did love his family, the only time he is happy being when he got to see Calliope again. He also cared about Deimos and his mother, Callisto, regretted killing Athena, and came to care about Pandora like she was his daughter.

Abilities
Kratos possesses incredible strength and stamina, able to overpower monsters, Titans, and even Hercules, who was known for being incredibly strong. These physical strengths most likely come from Kratos being a son of Zeus. He is highly agile and quick, possessing the ability to sense danger and is able to use a large variety of weapons and magic powers. Kratos can also regenerate quickly from wounds and resist attacks that would normally kill other beings. Before swearing himself to Ares, Kratos used a normal sword, but afterwards, his weapons became the Blades of Chaos, short sword weapons that he wields mainly by swinging the blades on the chains in a whip-like manner. Kratos can also wield them in the manner of short swords and the Blades can also be enveloped with flame. After his victory over Ares, he replaces them with the Blades of Athena, which were badly damaged after Kratos fell into the River Styx and Athena replaces them with the Blades of Exile. Both of those pairs of weapons have most of the same powers and moves as the Blades of Chaos. After becoming the god of war, Kratos gained a number of godly powers, such as immortality and invulnerability to most forms of attack. However he infused these powers into the Blade of Olympus, which is his most powerful weapon.

Trivia

 * Kratos’ name comes from “Cratos”, which means “power” or “strength” in Greek and in Greek mythology, Cratos was the god that personified power. He was the son of Pallas and Styx and imprisoned Prometheus under orders of Hephaestus, alongside Bia, his sister.


 * Kratos was voiced by Terrence C. Carson.


 * Kratos is apparently 8 feet tall, according to the special features of God of War III.


 * As the games went by, his tattoos became thinner and thinner, changing slightly in design.


 * In the flash-backs to the events of God of War in God of War III, Kratos’ design is the one he had in God of War III.


 * In God of War II, when Lahkesis spoke to Kratos through a statue, she said only death awaited him at the end of his journey. This turned out to be true after he took his life at the end of God of War III. But given the trail of blood from where Kratos stabbed himself and the fact that his body was gone, he may still be alive.


 * Stig Asmussen, a developer for the God of War series, revealed that David Jaffe, who directed the series, had originally been planning to have Kratos take on the gods of Norse and Egyptian mythology after killing Zeus and the Greek gods and meet his counterparts from both those mythologies in God of War III.


 * In each game in the main God of War series, Kratos was stabbed in the stomach at least once and burned someone alive.


 * In early screeshots for God of War, the tattoos on Kratos’ head were in the shape of an omega symbol.


 * Kratos makes guest appearances in SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny, Everybody’s Golf: World Tour, ModNation, LittleBigPlanet, and the PS3 version of Mortal Kombat. Kratos also appears as a parody in the Simpsons Game on a billboard with the words, “God of Wharf”, next to a Simpsons style version of Kratos eating a bowl of chowder.


 * Kratos’ God of War Armour and Blades of Chaos appear in Heavenly Sword on display in an armory. The inscription reads that it is the “Armour of the Prince who stood alone against the Persian Army.”


 * The name of Kastor, a character from Age of Mythology, is meant to be an anagram of Kratos’ and their storylines are similar.


 * 7-Eleven released a Slurpee called “Kratos Fury” to help promote God of War III.


 * David Jaffe wanted Djimon Hounsou to portray Kratos in the planned God of War movie, but the film has been left in development hell and it's unknown if Hounsou is involved.