 ✔
| ||
|
This Hero was Headlined on May 2022. | ||
 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page Kratos contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature articles are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | What can I say to you? I remember how it felt to take that throne. All that it meant. And all that it did not. A god of war... a god of pain. Of suffering. Of destruction. The Norns said I chase a redemption that I know I can never deserve. What does that make me? God of fools! A god of... Hope. " When all else is lost..." You lost everything. And everyone. And you became... There is no forgiving you. You chose! I chose. What now? Should I, this same man, should I sit? Take? Proclaim? Lead? Place myself in service? In service... Should I... lose everything and everyone... will there still be enough left inside so that I do not become you? I do not know. But I have hope. You are cruel, and arrogant, and selfish. But you are more than that. You have always been more than what others saw. You are more than that. | „ |
| ~ Kratos confronting his younger self, seeing in him the reflection of his mistakes, his failures and his atrocities, also forgiving himself. |
Kratos (Greek: Κράτος), also known as The Ghost of Sparta, by the Gods of Olympus as The Cursed Mortal or The Fallen God and by the Jötnar as Fárbauti (Nordic: ᚠᚨᚱᛒᚨᚢᛏᛁ), is the titular main protagonist of the God of War franchise.
He is a Spartan warrior that is later revealed to be the demigod son of Zeus and he would become the slayer of Gods, ending the Greek pantheon. Initially acting as a sort of anti-hero who fought against corrupt gods and their forces in a very brutal and violent manner, he eventually transforms into a more villainous character, as his thirst for vengeance consumes him and causes him to destroy the world. Following this, Kratos goes on a journey that helps him slowly see the errors of his ways and become more open of his past, turning him into a much wiser being who now raises his son, Atreus, on setting him a path better than his.
As Ragnarök unfolds, Kratos finds himself on a difficult journey that places him against the forces of Odin and the friction between him and his son. At the end of it all, he learns to let go of Atreus and allow him to pursue his own path, while finding his newfound purpose of ensuring that he will become a better god than the ones that wronged him, seeking to rebuild the damage Odin has done across the Nine Realms.
He is voiced by Terrence C. Carson (who also voiced Mace Windu in many Star Wars video games) in the Greek games, was voiced as a child in God of War: Ghost of Sparta by Antony Del Rio, and is currently being voiced by Christopher Judge (who also famously played Teal'c in the Stargate series) of 2018's God of War (IV) and God of War Ragnarök. In the Japanese version, he was voiced by Tesshō Genda in the Greek Era, who also voiced Kurama in Naruto, Younger Toguro in Yu Yu Hakusho, Frank Castle / The Punisher in Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, and Kenta Miyake in the Norse Era, who also voiced All Might in My Hero Academia, Muhammad Avdol in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Zangief in Street Fighter series, Gladiolus Amicitia in Final Fantasy XV, Scar in Fullmetal Alchemist and Vector the Crocodile in Sonic the Hedgehog series. In the Polish version, he was voiced by Bogusław Linda while in the Norse Era he is voiced by Artur Dziurman.
Personality[]
Greek Era[]
Kratos was originally an incredibly destructive, ruthless, violent, fierce, and brutal warrior who is focused 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, his lust for vengeance consumed him to where he no longer cared for the world as it was destroyed by his actions. His inability to accept full responsibility for his actions makes him shift the blame to others for his actions. Due to his many painful memories, Kratos is often stoic and silent, but brutally vocal in battle.
At the early stages of his time in Greece, Kratos still had a degree of morality, being genuinely shameful of his reputation as the Ghost of Sparta, visibly aghast by the fear and hatred others have for him, as shown by his reaction when a woman in Athens to give him a key ran away in terror and call him a monster and his clear remorse and anguish as he observed the massacres committed by Ares' minions, causing him to question what he had done and become. He even shows a willingness to save others and show regret when he fails, as displayed by his failed attempts to save the Delphic Oracle and Alethia, giving them comfort when he failed, and he refuses to kill Orkos at first despite knowing killing him is the only way to be free from Are and genuinely mourns his death, even giving Orkos a decent funeral pyre. He also pushed an innocent man out of the way of an incoming attack that would have killed him on Delos. Even at his worst, Kratos displayed remorse for killing Hephaestus, bearing him no actual ill-will and seeing him as a better parent than himself, and slaying Athena when she died for Zeus, showing he is still capable of feeling compassion towards others and regretting.
In addition, Kratos genuinely cared for and was loyal to his home and his people, Sparta: For all of his brutality, Kratos did have the best intentions of Sparta in mind, and he treated his soldiers like brothers. Zeus destroying his home left Kratos devastated, even causing him to temporarily give up, regaining his will to fight in order to defy fate and save Sparta. Despite claiming to not care for the destruction of the world, it is shown that this was ultimately him being lost in his rage, as once he had finally achieved his vengeance, he showed genuine remorse for what his actions had done to his home and humanity, even causing him to willingly sacrifice himself to give the power of Hope to humanity.
Even as Kratos became more self-centered and obsessed with revenge, he is still capable of showing mercy. Having only desired the death of Zeus, Kratos would not hesitate to kill any of the Olympians who tried to get in his way, but on numerous occasions, he also proves to be quite willing to try reasoning with and telling his half-siblings to step aside, only fighting them when they fought him openly or when they provoked him deeply, as displayed by Kratos warning Theseus to step aside less he face death before ultimately killing him, attempting to reason with Hercules, displaying some pity for his brother's efforts to earn Zeus's favoritism, knowing fully well Zeus didn't care much for his family, ignoring Hermes until his provocation became too much and Hera until she insulted Pandora despite her insults on him.
He also seems to retain the honor code of a spartan, both before and after he became utterly obsessed with vengeance, as he absolutely loathes cowardice and is more than willing to intervene and kill any such people with selfish self-preservation, as displayed by his disgust of the scholars of the Island of Fate for their willingness to use others as a human sacrifice and straight up telling them to "die with honor", his immediate brutal murder of the Persian King for his cowardly willingness to sell his kingdom to Kratos for mercy, him sinking the Boat Captain while inside the Hydra King out of contempt for his willingness to abandon his own men, and his utter disgust for Castor's cowardice, sparing the slaves he ordered to remove Kratos when they fled and brutally killing him.
For all his faults, Kratos deeply loved his family, his murder of them being his deepest regret and driving him into madness. In fact, the only time he is happy being when he got to see Calliope again, displaying enormous pain and hesitation to leave her behind to save her and the world. Kratos also deeply cared for Deimos, to where he tried to protect Deimos even in the face of possible death against Ares and Athena and years later did his best to rescue him from Thanatos, even allowing his brother to vent his anger and beat him down and being so enraged by his death that he was able to kill the Primordial God of Death afterwards, as well as his mother, Callisto, being genuinely remorseful over killing her and her and Deimos's deaths making him vow vengeance against the Gods. Reminded of his own daughter, Kratos developed a strong bond with Pandora and was unwilling to sacrifice her to acquire the power needed to kill Zeus and destroy Olympus entirely. Her sacrifice affected him dearly, causing him to bitterly lament she died for his vengeance and being inspired by her to discover the power of Hope, and it was the fact that her sacrifice was in a sense meaningless that finally overcame his desire for vengeance and sacrifice himself to release Hope for humanity as Pandora had wished.
Norse Era[]
| “ | This path you walk... vengeance. You will find no peace. I know. | „ |
| ~ Kratos attempting to reason to Baldur. |
After destroying Olympus, remarrying, and siring another child, Atreus, in Norway, Kratos has changed significantly, his experiences in Greece humbling him and the presence of Faye and Atreus causing his humanity to resurface, a change that only continues to expand during his struggles in Ragnarok.
Kratos is now much more controlled and stoic, his bursts of anger even when antagonized or threatened being considerably subdued and quickly regaining control of himself whenever he resorts to outbursts when disciplining his son. While still more than capable and willing to be thoroughly brutal with his enemies, Kratos's ruthlessness has reduced to where he only kills in self-defense and has no qualms letting a beaten enemy go. His maturity even lets him shrug off insults aimed at him and his loved ones, as shown by him remaining composed at the face of Magni and Modi's insults towards him and Faye in stark contrast to Atreus's rage and later ruthless murder of Modi for insulting his mother and simply telling Freya that she doesn't know the man he has became after all the negative things she said about him is said and done. He even spared Heimdall despite the fact that he was seemingly destined to slay Atreus, only ultimately resorting to killing him for good as Heimdall proved too insane to be intimidated by a warning, and refused to deliver the fatal blow to Thor. If possible, he will resort to diplomacy to avoid fighting, as displayed by how he repeatedly offered Baldur a chance to step away and leave him and his son, only fighting when it was clear that Baldur would not relent.
With his maturity also comes with a greater ability to act civilized and show more consideration towards others, as displayed by his interactions with the Huldra Brothers in his first journey: Despite not enjoying their company, Kratos keeps a cordial attitude towards them and willingly grants them access to his gear to work on. He sternly rebukes Atreus for asking Sindri why Brok's skin is blue and was utterly disapproving and reprimanding when Atreus ruthlessly tells Sindri that neither he or Kratos cares about his relationship with Brok and he should just resolve it, even displaying a somewhat apologetic expression to the Dwarf. By the time his second journey began, Kratos has matured to where he now properly calls individuals by their names rather than pronouns and has even displayed himself as being capable of maintaining surprisingly strong bonds of friendship and showing tolerance towards his allies: Leaving aside his natural and repeated efforts to be there for his son, Kratos openly asks Mimir, Brok, and Sindri for their opinion, takes the suggestions to heart, and is more than willing to comfort them whenever they were down. He also refused to fight Freya because he still saw her as a friend, repeatedly holding himself back and willingly helping her free herself in a sincere effort to redeem himself in her eyes, despite knowing fully well Freya could decide to kill him afterwards.
Kratos has also developed a dry sense of humor, displaying a surprisingly quick and witty response with comebacks, insults, and sarcastic humor, such as when Mimir asked Atreus to carry him since Kratos was tackling deadly traps, Kratos replied he would not want Mimir to miss "this" (the excitement of dodging the traps) and smirked slightly when Mimir claimed Kratos was enjoying himself. At one point, when Mimir asks Atreus to take a knife originating from his homeland, Kratos responded by saying "yes, boy.... take it. We may need to butter bread somewhere in our travels.", which caused Mimir to berate Kratos and say that his sarcastic humor makes no one like him.
At this point, Kratos has accepted full responsibility for his actions in Greece, displaying extreme sadness and regret, and at times even falling into a state of depression, when confronted about his past behavior. He also dreads being called the "Ghost of Sparta", angrily telling Mimir not to call him that. This remorse and shame is due to the fact that Kratos has realized how meaningless and hollow vengeance feels, as despite succeeding in killing Zeus and the Olympians, it amounted to nothing but burdening Kratos with ultimate sin of leaving Greece nearly completely destroyed and gave him absolutely no solace or joy, causing him to genuinely regret killing his father, realizing how horrible and selfish the act was. He shows genuine empathy towards Baldur for attempting to get revenge on Freya and tries to talk him out of it, and is willing to kill him only when he attempts to do so, wishing to end the cycle of children killing their parents.
However, this aspect of his also had a darker side to it: So determined to avoid repeating what he had done back in Greece meant Kratos was adamantly against the idea of going to war against Odin and the Aesir, despite how he was well-aware of how tyrannical Odin was and how many people he personally knew of in the Nine Realms had been harmed by Odin's ruthlessness and depravity. Kratos also still believed that he could not be truly forgiven for his sins, and while he did try his best to temper down his ruthlessness and anger, he still retained a self-serving side, not wishing to bother helping others out, although he was still willing to do so when asked by Atreus if only in exchange for rewards and still didn't enjoy the experience.
However, when he confronted the Norns, Kratos went through an epiphany that finally snapped him out of this as he discovered the real truth about how there was no actual predestined fate, and prophecies were made solely by the ability of seers to predict the consequences of the actions of individuals. With this realization, combined with the fact that Atreus left him briefly primarily because he didn't try hard enough to be better, Kratos finally gained the determination and wisdom to truly change and completely move past the uncaring, selfish man he used to be, developing a sense of compassion and duty to help out others, displayed by how Kratos refused to abandon the innocent Æsir and Midgardians on Asgard and willingly risked his and Atreus' life to give the innocents a chance to escape the destruction of Asgard, and later embraced Faye's hopes that he would become a revered god beloved by the people, being visibly overjoyed at the ultimate confirmation of his capability to change and dedicating himself to repairing all the damage that Thor and Odin has done to the Nine Realms, finally becoming a true hero who sought to help others purely for the sake of it.
While Kratos still resents the Gods of Olympus, as displayed by his cold response to the spirit of Athena, and distrusts divine beings, he has become much more reasonable in dealing with them, showing no desire to oppose the Norse Gods and simply wishing to avoid interactions with them, having come to realize that the consequences of killing a God can be catastrophic for the world around him and not wishing to repeat what he had done in Greece. He is even willing to accept them as allies should they prove worthy of his trust: Despite having always been on the edge with her and growing to distrust her completely after learning she was a god, he was able to come to trust and care for Freya after she saved his son, and even learning Freya had bewitched Mimir to prevent them from learning Baldur's weakness did not dwindle Kratos's reasonable side, as he cared enough for her to fight Baldur for her and later saved her life by killing Baldur when he attempted to choke her to death. He did not harm her when she swore vengeance on him, understanding the pain she feels, having felt the same after killing his family, and believes that time will eventually cause her to forgive him. Kratos also willingly trusted Mimir and eventually came to be fond of him, even seeing him as a brother.
At first, Kratos saw the godhood of him and his son as a curse after having experienced not only the cruelty of the Olympians after centuries of reigning unchallenged, but also having fallen into the same depravity all the way until he destroyed Greece and was left with nothing but regret, going to great lengths to cover up his past as a God from Atreus and at first wishing that Atreus would just live as a normal human. However, after seeing how his secrecy nearly killed his son, Kratos came to terms with the fact that gods, including him and his son, have the responsibility with the power they have to not be reckless. As such, Kratos becomes the voice of reason towards Atreus when his godhood makes Atreus arrogant and ruthless, eventually successfully getting through him.
Nevertheless, Kratos still refused to accept the true burdens of godhood, especially in terms of leadership, as he remained haunted by how he lost himself while leading an army and doomed everyone he fought alongside through his recklessness and selfishness. By the end of his second journey, seeing that gods are just as capable of benevolence as they are able to be malevolent caused him to finally embrace his godhood and accept the responsibility of wielding his extraordinary godly abilities for the sake of others, but he still struggled with the idea of officially being acknowledged as a god, dreading he would fall back to his old ways, causing him to reject the idea of becoming part of Freya's council, choosing to become a benevolent god without holding any authority. However, facing the trials of Valhalla and receiving wisdom and encouragement from Tyr, Mimir, Freya, and the Valkyries eventually allowed Kratos to truly come to terms with his past, realizing that there was always good in him even at his worst and that his actions of releasing Hope into Greece and then helping the Nine Realms were, in fact, enough to atone for his sins, causing Kratos to dedicate himself into becoming the God of Hope.
Having found love with Faye for the second time since Lysandra, Kratos held her in a high regard, seeing her as better than a God and showing clear sadness and somberness whenever he reflects on her death, acknowledging she was much better with Atreus than him and respecting her wishes to not take Atreus with him while hunting. Kratos's love for Faye even made him quite reasonable despite her keeping secrets of him, having faith that she meant well and defending her from Freya's beliefs that she purposefully sought him out so he would be trigger of Ragnarok. He also revealed that he still loved Lysandra dearly, and deeply regretted not being a better husband, lamenting that he was wrong to think that just doing his best to protect Sparta, and by extension her, justified him not listening to her words, even comparing her to Faye at how they both saw in him the potential to be better.
Despite the distance that existed between him and his son due to this and Kratos's continued secrecy and aloof manner, Kratos genuinely loves Atreus just as he had loved his other family members, repeatedly insisting they would complete the journey together and trying his best to make his son better than him. He can be both calm and even comforting, such as partly shedding his hardened personality to show understanding towards Atreus's pain over losing his mother, attempting to light-heartedly tell stories he saw as purposeful, although failing, and simply telling Atreus to be better rather than admonishing him for trusting a ghost would bring back Faye, to firm and sternly strict with his son whenever he succumbs to the anger he inherited from Kratos or is acting arrogant after learning he is a God, while knowing his limits and never straight up abusing him. His love for his son proved to be Kratos's redeeming point, as despite initially attempting to hide his past, realizing that his secrecy would only lead to Atreus suffering allowed him to overcome his shame and anguish over his past and confess to Atreus a summary of everything he did back in Greece. He was even willing to take up the Blades of Chaos in order to save his son, despite his tormented feelings over his past and strong attempts to leave it be.
Over the years since their last journey, the bond between them had only grew stronger, not only calling his son by name but also making efforts to further their familial relationship, having Atreus teach him how to write and read runes and being more inclined to show fatherly pride and affection through both gestures and words, confessing he is proud of him. However, Kratos was still not without his flaws, struggling with Atreus's increasing independence due to how much it contrasted the discipline taught to him and his Spartan brethren, causing him to still retain a degree of stern distance and commanding presence over his son. This was also due to Kratos having seen prophecy in Jötunheim foretelling his death, becoming more determined to prepare him to survive on his own and how to anticipate if the time is about to come and pass and subconciously sheltering him away from any danger under the guise of training. He even shows a degree of hypocrisy, as he is angered by the revelation that Atreus was sneaking out without permission, despite the fact Kratos too had kept secrets for so long from Atreus.
He became increasingly disturbed and frustrated with Atreus and his requests to fulfill the various Jötnar prophecies, only doing so to protect his son and being angered as Atreus began to embrace his Jötnar name, "Loki", angrily declaring that he is just his son, ultimately leading to Atreus running away from him due to Kratos not allowing his son to have his own identity. He eventually realized how much his attitude was bordering toxic and obsession, realizing he was depending on his son to remain tethered to his humanity, his desperation to ensure his son remains safe to where he would dictate as much of his path as possible as being wrong and unhealthy. This realization ultimately compelled Kratos to sincerely apologize to his son and finally show support of his decisions, culminating in Kratos accepting accepts Atreus' path to leave the Norse lands to search for the Giants and showing great pride that his son has matured and no longer requires him.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
| “ | ...I was born a god. And so were you. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Atreus. |
- Transcendental God Physiology: As the son of the Olympian Zeus and the mortal Callisto, Kratos was born a demigod, granting him godly superhuman powers. Even as just a Demigod, Kratos was already compared in terms of strength to an Olympian once his potential was awakened by Ares and deemed "second-to-none" by Athena amongst demigods, being far beyond most mortals and monsters, to where armies of them pose no threat to him. Acquiring of the power of Hope and becoming a true God, the God of War, dramatically enhanced Kratos's powers, allowing him to become the most powerful deity in the Greek universe, surpassing and killing all the Olympians and Titans. Even after having left Greece, with the magics he had lost to him, and aged, Kratos' tremendous godly physical prowess and abilities have only grown. Despite suppressing his power, Kratos is still far more powerful than and capable of dispatching armies of monsters in the Norse realm. He can also easily fight on par with and overpower Norse Gods on the level of Magni, Modi, Baldur and Heimdall, the former two being the powerful sons of Thor and the latter two being among the strongest of the Aesirs as the sons of Odin, even surpassing the might of and besting Thor, the second most powerful of the Aesir and the physically strongest, in Ragnarök as well as Tyr, the Norse God of War who had traveled to numerous other pantheons and acquired their powers. The idea of his interference in Ragnarök makes even Odin afraid of him, with him attempting to avoid conflict with Kratos and only jumping into the fray when Kratos had already been fighting in Ragnarök for a prolonged period of time, Kratos proving to be the most prominent threat to the All-Father while fighting him alongside the similarly weakened Atreus and Freya.
- Immortality: Kratos has been cursed for his sins to never be able to die, henceforth how he survived his suicide with the Blade of Olympus. Despite physically aging, he will not die from old age and his aging has seemingly been halted by the time he was an old man, as he remained in his 50s up to when he first met his second wife to when he finally completed his journeys in the Norse Realm. Living for millennia as he did also does not affect his powers, as he has grown even stronger.
- Superhuman Durability: Kratos is extraordinarily physically durable. He can easily falls from great heights and walk away unharmed, and could easily withstand crushing, stabs, beatings, and powerful magical attacks with little injuries, attacks that would instantly kill any normal human and beast, having taken numerous exceedingly strong physical attacks from the Gods and Titans and mostly survived with only minor wounds and damage. In the Norse Realm, Kratos remains tremendously durable despite his age, although initially hampered by his lack of fighting against threatening opponents and also due to Kratos holding himself back. He withstood multiple harsh attacks from Baldur, with Baldur needing three rounds of fighting to beat him to a bloody pulp and even then Kratos was better off than Baldur in terms of physical injuries by the end of their first fight. Even in an exhausted state from dueling Atreus and his continued restraint of his full power, Kratos managed to withstand multiple extremely strong blows from Thor, which he later stated was the heaviest physical blows he ever felt, with only average damage and continue fighting. At peak shape, Kratos proved capable of easily taking being thrown several feet away, punched and hit with Mjolnir to the head and shrugging it off, showing little damage. Afterwards, Kratos survived being impaled through the chest with Gungnir with ease. He is also fully capable of surviving in extreme environments, as he was unaffected by the cold of Hel, which not even Odin could physically survive without using a spell, nor the heat of Muspelheim, and was able to withstand the flow of Surtr's flames into his Blades of Chaos with only minimum pain.
- Superhuman Strength: Kratos possesses incredible super-strength, which only grows over time, eventually reaching immeasurable levels. He was able to easily subdue and rip apart many large and powerful beasts and creatures such as Undead Legionnaires, infected humans, monsters, and magical beings using only his bare hands, including even the Hydra. Kratos was later capable of matching, overpowering and even killing the Gods themselves with his raw strength, such as Ares, Helios, who he casually decapitated with his bare hands, Poseidon, who he ripped out of his watery construct, beat down with his bare hands, removed his eyes and snapped his neck, Hades, who he pushed back and then ripped out the soul of using the Chains of Hades, and finally Zeus, who he eventually overpowered in a fierce grapple over the Blade of Olympus to successfully stab the King of the Gods and almost kill him, eventually beating Zeus to death. He also prevented both Cronos and Atlas, the two strongest Titans, from crushing him with their fingers and even overpowered Cronos when he tried to crush him with two hands. In his battle against Hercules, who is considered to be unrivaled in terms of sheer strength, Kratos proved himself stronger, capable of stopping his charges and even forcing him backward and also able to break free from his bear hugs, throwing Hercules over a great distance, overpowering and eventually pummeling him to death despite his brother's invulnerability. Even older and suppressing his power, Kratos still remained extraordinarily physically strong in Norway. He could effortlessly lift and throw massive boulders, easily exert more than enough force to overpower and slaughter monsters with raw strength alone, such as snapping the neck of a troll, crushing the head of a monster, tearing apart the rocky forms of an Ancient, and lift enormous weights, as shown when he pushed the 1 million ton bridge surrounding Tyr's Temple with little effort and flipped the entire temple with similar ease. Kratos is also capable of casually opening doors and chests affected by Fimbulwinter on Midgar or the triggered doors of Helheim with sheer strength alone, a feat far beyond Atreus's current level of strength as well as Thrud's. Regardless of his power suppression, Kratos's strength proved to be still more than enough to take on and defeat powerful Norse Gods: He effortlessly overpowered Modi, easily ripping his mace from him and stunning and wounding him enough with a single punch to make him retreat, instantly pushed aside Magni, and overpowered Baldur in raw strength with considerable effort, managing to restrain him firmly, free himself from Baldur's grasp, and ultimately snap his neck. He easily overpowered Heimdall in terms of strength, casually gaining the upper hand in grapples and easily making him bleed with a single punch before casually beating him badly with just 3 slams to the ground and killing him by choking him to death within a matter of moments. He could also physically overpower and subdue the Valkyries: He was able to use his bare hands to rip apart their wings and break out of their grip. Even with only one hand, Kratos physically overpowered Freya, tossing her sword attack aside with his shield, freeing himself from Freya holding him down, and ripping Freya's sword off him despite her resistance. Even while fatigued from a long chase for Atreus and his subsequent fight with Atreus's bear form, Kratos was strong enough to contend with Thor, the Norse God of Strength and the physically strongest of the Aesir, when both of them were holding back, Kratos due to his usual insistence on not becoming the old monstrous him and Thor due to Odin's orders: He was able to make Thor bleed with his punches, eventually break free of Thor's grips, and repeatedly held a well-matched physical struggle with Thor, such as when he pushed Thor a distance away with the Guardian Shield and kept him at bay before he divided his hand into summoning the Leviathan Axe and when they grappled with Thor's Mjolnir on even terms over the air with the Leviathan Axe, with Thor having to physically slam him down with his free hand. Despite being overwhelmed by Thor's tenacity and briefly restrained by a chokehold to the neck, Kratos was strong enough to break free and deliver a blow that send Thor staggering and knocked a teeth off him. Later on, when they fought in Ragnarök, with both of them having participated in battle for a similarly long period of time, despite still holding himself back, Kratos ultimately proved to be slightly stronger than the Aesir-Jotnar hybrid, managing to successfully pin him down and pummel him before he let Thor go for a while, swiftly break free from Thor's grip on his hand and impale him with Draupnir to send him flying, physically lift and toss Thor a distance away, and clashed the Leviathan Axe into Thor's Mjolnir with sufficient force to eventually rip the hammer out of Thor's hand and stab him before lifting him into the air with the Axe lodged in his stomach and knocking him down to the ground. Despite the prolonged battles he went through in Ragnarök affecting his strength, during the final battle with Odin, Kratos was strong enough to physically man-handle and throw Odin away and help in critically injuring and ultimately overpowering the King of the Aesir along with Atreus and Freya with unarmed blows. Kratos also surpassed the strength of Týr in their spars with remarkable effort, physically overpowering the far larger Norse God of War in a grapple, stunning and knocking him a few feet back with a single punch to the face, and even casually lifting and throwing him to the ground, clashing with the Norse God of War hard enough to cause a shockwave when his opponent caught his fist. Kratos even had the strength to defy particular magics of certain Realms through sheer raw strength alone, as shown when he successfully pierced through the Light of Alfheim with noticeable effort, even forcing his entire body into the Light, forcefully opened the sealed doors of Valhalla, a feat that even Freya found insurmountable, and fairly quickly ripped open the cage he accidentally trapped Mimir in to be sacrificed, although both occasions proved ultimately fruitless, as he was still susceptible to the curse of breaching Valhalla and could not escape the consequences of breaking the rules of Valhalla when he saved Mimir.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Kratos's regenerative healing factor allows him to heal & regenerate from injuries at a fast rate, making him able to attacks that would normally kill other beings. He can also regenerate even from being hit by divine beings or divine weaponry, although in case for divine weapons they can still leave behind a scratch. If needed, Kratos can focus his energy to heal himself almost instantly from even severe injuries, being able to heal from damage caused by the likes of Baldur and Thor.
- Superhuman Speed and Reflexes: Kratos is incredibly fast and has stupendous fighting reflexes, capable of matching the likes of Zeus who has the speed of lightning, Pollux and Castor using Chronokinesis, in combat. He was also able to keep up with Hermes using his boots enough to successfully stay on his tracks and after he was weakened, defeat him. His speed surpassed the Sisters of Fate, as shown when he could easily fight and outpace two of them at once, tagging them while also avoiding their attacks. His old age seemed to have not diminished his speed, as he still remained exceptionally fast: He was able to deliver multiple fatal blows to Magni within seconds without the demigod being able to react at all. With considerable effort, he was able to eventually overcome Baldur's light speed, and Heimdall's near-teleportational speeds, successfully reacting to their attacks, keeping up with them in vicious exchanges, and eventually delivering attacks that defeated them. Even in a physically drained state, Kratos was able to battle competitively with Thor, delivering numerous blows on the God of Thunder and reacting to a decent amount of Thor's attacks, before he was eventually caught, and in their final battle, Kratos was eventually able to outpace Thor with considerable effort, managing to avoid Thor's fierce charge and swiftly beat up on him and impale his hand before he could get up. He also successfully fought against Odin in close-range combat, landing attacks Odin could not react to in time.
- Superhuman Agility: Kratos has tremendous agility, capable of easily climbing mountains and buildings, jumping great heights and landing without any problems, and swinging on ropes to cross long gaps. His coordination is also remarkable, being able to easily stay on top of struggling beasts.
- Superhuman Stamina: Kratos possesses an almost unlimited amount of stamina compared to a mortal man, allowing him to remain constantly active for days without tiring. This allows him to accomplish such feats as spending days scaling the temple of Pandora to reach Pandora's Box or taking down enormous monsters that require him to stay on the move. Should Kratos expend all his stamina, he only momentarily requires rest or food to restore it. In the Norse Realm, Kratos's old age has somewhat reduced his stamina and vitality, exacerbated by his lack of practice against high-level opponents, but he still remained exceptionally vigorous even at the beginning of his and Atreus's journey, being able to fight and defeat Baldur three times despite Baldur's invulnerability meant whenever Kratos killed him, he would quickly resurrect, and still had just enough strength to walk back to his home. As he continued to journey, his stamina steadily grew stronger as he started to become accustomed to performing at intense levels once again, traversing the Nine Realms while defeating countless enemies with increasingly greater vigor and even besting gods on Magni and Baldur's level, all while showing only minimum fatigue. By the end of Fimbulwinter, Kratos demonstrated greater stamina than before already from the start of his second journey, with Mimir commenting that at this point, Kratos could stay awake for days without trouble, as he was able to fight off Freya in an intense battle while showing no fatigue. After only a few time to rest, he was able to search for Atreus for hours, overpower his bear form in a fierce fight without slowing down despite being noticeably challenged by his son's transformation, and with only a few moments of rest, had enough energy to reach a stalemate with Thor in a brutal prolonged battle with only minimum effect on his performance, and despite the clear strain and fatigue from the affair, managed to follow his son to the mural of the Celestial Wolves all the way to Sindri's cabin. During Ragnarök, Kratos fought through numerous forces of Asgard, including the "endless" army of the Einherjar, up until he finally defeated Thor, still having enough strength afterwards to handle and defeat Odin with help from Atreus and Freya.
- Superhuman Senses: Kratos senses are heightened, which make him aware of his surroundings and to sense danger when it's near.
- Anger Empowerment: Kratos was able to tap into his overwhelming volumes of Rage for greater physical prowess and the ability to harness the ultimate powers of the magical weapons in his arsenal. In Greece, he was only able to channel his anger through the powers of the Blades of Chaos, Blade of Olympus, and the blessed ashes of Prometheus and the power of Thera, but by the time of his journeys in the Norse lands, Kratos' experience and relentless training to master his rage granted him the ability to freely call upon concentrated bursts of rage, allowing for a wild but focused aggressive barrage of attacks. He even managed to develop his skill with the ability to where he was able to manifest it in numerous forms, capable of only healing himself or unleashing a devastating attack from the power of his weapons.
Abilities[]
| “ | Your mind is troubled... but your skills are still without equal. | „ |
| ~ Orkos to Kratos. |
- Sharp Intelligence and Wisdom: Though often knocked for just being a brute, Kratos could demonstrate a surprising amount of intelligence and wisdom to deal with numerous non-combative threats in his way. By the time he settled in the Norse Pantheon, Kratos's intelligence and wisdom has grown further due to his experiences. His intelligence primarily manifests itself in a remarkable degree of deductive analysis throughout his journeys, which has only sharpened in time as he experienced both numerous intellectually challenging situations and manipulations/deceits. Numerous times, he was able to solve complex puzzles and problems that were made by some of the greatest intellects of Greece. During his travels across the Norse lands to spread Faye's ashes, Kratos swiftly figured out the right way through the numerous Nordic puzzles in his way, which were made by the likes of the Giants and Tyr, among the greatest minds in the Nine Realms, even managing to guide Atreus into solving the puzzle while he himself was trapped. Kratos has also developed an uncanny knack for deducing whenever something was wrong and if a person is hiding something from him, even with only minor hints, from his experience of being tricked numerous times, as displayed by his quick wariness with Freya due to correctly deducing she was no mere mortal or witch, due to her godhood, his ability to deduce after learning Freya is Baldur's mother that Freya bewitched Mimir to ensure he couldn't tell them Baldur's weakness, his swift conclusion that Mimir knew more about the Valkyries than he was telling, his immediate analysis that a ghost's offer to reunite him and Atreus with Faye was but a mere trick, and his correct insight that Atreus was seriously thinking of going to Odin.
- Strategical Cunning and Resourcefulness: Kratos has proven to be quite cunning and resourceful, being able to make good use of the environment and available tools to come up with ways to systematically defeat his enemies and swiftly adapt to unexpected situations, as shown when he repeatedly turned enemies weapons against them, quickly figured out a way to break through the ice created by Thamur in his dying breath using Thamur's gigantic hammer, and came up with a successful plan to turn the War Machines used by Asgard against them by using it to destroy the Great Lodge.
- Leadership: Kratos was an exceptionally effective leader, being given the title of general of the Spartan Army and leading his soldiers to numerous victories, and later led his own men when he became the new god of war unchallenged until the Gods themselves interfered. Even Atreus admits despite not getting along with Kratos that his father is definitely capable in leading the way for both of them, and usually follows him without hesitation. Despite his initial reluctance, Kratos was able to lead the armies of Ragnarök against Asgard effectively, giving decisive commands that were followed through without hesitation. Faye even foresaw that Kratos's leadership skills would allow him to unite all the Nine Realms after Ragnarök.
- Deception: To a certain extent, Kratos has been able to trick his enemies by making use of their emotions to his advantage, using Megaera's anger against him and feigning defeat to Zeus to catch him off-guard. During his first journey with Atreus, he was able to successfully keep up the facade of being a simply exceptional mortal rather than a god, limiting his powers to a sufficient degree to keep his son from suspecting it, before eventually coming clean.
- Willpower: Determined and dedicated to anything he sets his mind to, Kratos has demonstrated great willpower and fortitude during his journeys. During the Greece era, Kratos was driven by his need for vengeance and refused to give up until he killed those who wronged him, and was able to accomplish feats that were believed impossible, such as killing a god, getting into the Domain of Death to save his brother, obtaining Pandora's box, escaping from the Underworld, changing his fate, and killing Zeus. His enormous mental strength was depicted by how he could successfully break free from illusions and resist great magics, as shown when he broke free from the Furies' illusions, stopped Hades from ripping his soul, and resisted Aphrodite's seduction. After moving to the Nordic realms and finding love again and having Atreus, Kratos' willpower, no longer driven by his rage, but instead by love for his newfound family, has only grown stronger due to being tempered by his experiences. Driven by a desire to be a good father to Atreus and ensure his son does not repeat his mistakes, Kratos's resolve allowed him to hold himself back even when Atreus acts defiant, simply and patiently telling him to follow and restraining his anger, and he refused to give up even as Atreus became more arrogant upon learning he was a god, persisting until he was finally able to make Atreus see sense. Despite the loss of Faye and his grief over it, he was able to remain strong due to Atreus, and his love for Faye drove him to not only travel to the highest mountain in Midgard, but even willing to reach Jotunheim despite the immense difficulty all for the sake of scattering her ashes as she wished in the right place.
- Grandmaster Combatant: Supplementing Kratos's extraordinary physical powers are his terrifying, unparalleled levels of battle prowess, being phenomenally lethal and dangerous in all forms of combat, both armed and unarmed, acquired from years of training as a Spartan, which already sufficed to make him the greatest Spartan general, having killed and slain dozens of enemies for Sparta, notably holding the honor of being the youngest to be made captain. His combat skills was further honed by experiencing numerous difficult ordeals and triumphing over armies and powerful monsters, to where he became a "warrior without equal", meaning Kratos is the greatest warrior to ever walk Greece, as his prowess eventually reached levels where with the divine weapons granted by him and his superior physical prowess, Kratos bested and killed all the Gods and Titans in his path, despite them having significantly greater experience in combat and also natural usage of divine magics, displaying evidently superior fighting prowess. Upon settling in Norse, despite having not engaged in combat with god-level enemies for decades and his old age, Kratos' fighting skills have only grown in time, relying more on battle prowess rather than sheer rage, described by Mimir as the most proficient killer he had ever seen, even in comparison to most of the war-loving tribe of Aesir: Despite the restraints on his power and also being burdened by Atreus' fraility and his son's undeveloped physical abilities and skills, Kratos' combat skill made him more than capable of dispatching countless of monsters in battle. Despite the burdens on him, Kratos was able to aptly handle the formidable Sons of Thor, while being particularly hindered by Atreus' emotions going wild by Modi's taunts, slaying Magni in combat and forcing Modi to escape in fear. In his first fight with Baldur, Kratos was capable of defeating the invulnerable and previously unbeatable finest tracker of Odin three times, even with Baldur having the advantage of superior fitness as he revived with all the damage Kratos dealt to him gone and felt no exhaustion from the fight. Even while briefly overtaken and hampered by Atreus' arrogance at the time, Kratos still successfully fended off Baldur in their second fight and even had a slight edge before they were forced to conclude the fight in a stalemate. In their third fight, Kratos was ultimately able to defeat Baldur once again with minimum help from Atreus. He also successfully defeated the corrupted Valkyries, including even their formidable Regent Queen Sigrun, his skill leaving Sigrun utterly impressed to where she adamantly believed and insisted Freya ally with Kratos instead of seeking vengeance, as he would be an invaluable ally against Asgard. He was also able to repeatedly survive the attempts of Freya, the true Queen of the Valkyries, to kill him and push her back, and even managed to stay in combat with Freya when she had recovered her Valkyrie wings, only losing when he recognized her, with Freya noting Kratos never really fought her and was holding back all along. Despite being regarded by Thor himself as holding back in their first fight and also being hampered by not being at full strength and having the full extent of his equipment, he was still able to contend with the mightiest warrior of Asgard for a prolonged period of time, skillfully holding off a decent amount of Thor's aggressive assault and managing to deliver numerous blows on his own right before Thor eventually gained the upper hand and forced Kratos to end their fight in a stalemate, with Thor admitting Kratos was indeed formidable and it was only natural his sons and brother would have lost to him, and in their second fight, while Thor went all-out, Kratos still restrained himself from dealing the finishing blow and still managed to eventually defeat him when both had been worn out from battles in Ragnarok. Kratos was also able to successfully stay in combat with Heimdall despite him using his Foresight to eventually become the only person to not only land a single hit on the so-called undefeatable vigilant of the Aesir, but also defeat him, adapting to his precognition swiftly and quickly overpowering and killing Odin's left-hand man. Afterwards, despite all the battle he has been through in Ragnarök, Kratos was still able to hold his ground against Odin himself despite his usage of spells, even managing to overwhelm him at one point before Odin turned the tides using his magic to cast a binding spell, and with help from Atreus and Freya, he was able to overtake the All-Father and eventually defeat him. Kratos also defeated all the Berserkers, including their King Hrólf Kraki, and defeated the Valkyrie Queen and the Vanir Goddess Gná, comparable in strength to Freya. While in Valhalla, Kratos engaged Týr repeatedly in combat, and despite Týr using fighting styles and weapons from lands foreign to Kratos, ultimately proved capable of overwhelming the Norse God of War in terms of pure combat skill, beating him to yielding and causing his challenger to admit Kratos as being his superior in combat and describing him as being “unstoppable”.
- Master Swordsman: Kratos is an exceptionally skilled swordsman, blades being among his most primary type of weaponry. He used a regular sword to kill many enemies with masterful expertise as a Spartan general, and with divine swords such as the Sword of Valor, Blade of the Gods, and Blade of Olympus, he was able to skillfully fight and slay powerful enemies such as Ares, the Colossus of Rhodes, Cronos and Gaia. Despite rarely fighting with blades in the Norse Realm, Kratos is shown to retain his skill in swordsmanship whenever the occasions presented it, wielding a sword summoned by runic attacks to easily deliver devastating attacks as well as stealing and dispatching Light Elves with their own weapon easily.
- Expert Hammer User: Kratos was able to use the Barbarian Hammer easily and with remarkable skill.
- Master Axeman: Kratos is extremely skilled with axes, wielding Faye's Leviathan Axe with devastating proficiency to skillfully kill numerous monsters. At one point, Kratos was able to kill off Magni with a series of precise blows at fatal spots in a matter of moments. He was even able to successfully wield the Leviathan Axe against Thor and his usage of Mjolnir, fulfilling the purpose of Leviathan's creation, managing to overwhelm Thor enough to finally make him draw his hammer and eventually best and disarm Thor of his hammer with the Axe in their final duel, and managed to impale Odin in the shoulder with the axe.
- Master of Chains: Kratos is exceedingly skilled in the manipulation of chained blades with great precision and proficiency to devastatingly assault his foes over any distance and at high speed, use them as a means to swing over chasms and also use them as a restraint on his foes.
- Master Shield User: Kratos is exceptionally skilled with the guardian shield, masterfully using it for numerous purposes, such as effectively defending against numerous projectiles or close-range attacks and even able to use it offensively, skillfully countering close-range attacks and delivering numerous attacks.
- Master Spearman: Kratos is an exceptionally skilled spearman, having wielded the Spear of Destiny and Arms of Sparta with great skill. Upon receiving Draupnir Spear, a magic ring which creates limitless amount of its namesake spears, his skill proved to be still as sharp of ever, able to use the spear to successfully overpower Heimdall in combat and even match Odin's own in their fateful confrontation.
- Marksmanship: He is a master marksman, capable of using ranged weapons (throwing weapons and bows) with ease and proficiency. He is also able to use his marksmanship with the Leviathan Axe, as he can throw it at his target and can summon it back to him.
- Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Although primarily using weapons, Kratos is also an exceptional martial artist, proficient in numerous techniques of Greek wrestling, boxing, and Pankration, able to skillfully wrestle and throw down enemies and unleash fast-paced barrages of uppercuts, punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, spinning haymakers that can easily and quickly overwhelm most opponents. His unarmed fighting skills can easily subdue even powerful monsters and multiple opponents, even at one point dispatching numerous Asgardian soldiers with a single hand while the other was carrying Freyr. He overpowered Zeus with pure unarmed skill in their final encounter to regain the Blade of Olympus. Even without weapons, Kratos was able to defeat the extremely skilled hand-to-hand fighter Baldur in single combat three times, although not without extreme effort and being initially pressured by his skill, as well as contend with and ultimately surpass Thor in unarmed combat, managing to maneuver out of Thor's grip and deliver numerous blows on him, even in their first fight when he was physically weakened, and gain a slight upper hand in their second fight as he restrained Thor and pummeled him for a while and managed to grapple and knock Thor down and up. He also easily disarmed and bested Modi while enraged, and even overpowered Freya using solely his skill in unarmed combat, reversing her hold on him, delivering attacks that knocked her off him when she tried to break his neck, and even disarming her of her sword at their final exchange, all while having the use of only one hand. Kratos even outmaneuvered Odin in the final battle against him unarmed, lifting and tossing him aside and helping Freya and Atreus swiftly beat him down. He also wrestled with Tyr and proved capable of winning against Tyr's usage of subtle shifts in weight against him.
- Master Swimmer: Kratos is a skilled swimmer, capable of swimming at great distances and going underwater to reach his destinations.
Weaknesses[]
| “ | Do not deny me my revenge!! | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Gaia. |
Psychological Weaknesses[]
- Vengeance (Formerly): Kratos's greatest weakness is his lust for vengeance, which has made him reckless, destructive, and negligent when on his journeys. He has allowed vengeance to consume him greatly to the point that it clouded his mind or reasoning, as he was willing to kill innocent people or destroy numerous cities. This weakness has been used against him, such as being a pawn of Gaia to get her revenge on the Olympians, a pawn of Athena's plan to become queen following Zeus' death, or being easily provoked by Zeus when he was taunted. Following the destruction of the Greek pantheon, Kratos has managed to control his rage, which has allowed him to become more wise and reasonable, even advising other vengeful characters about the emptiness of their path.
Normal Weaknesses[]
Despite being an extraordinarily powerful god in his own right, Kratos is not invincible and still susceptible to harm, although it is extremely difficult to do so.
- Magic: While capable of resisting magic to a considerable degree, Kratos's resistance to magic is not as potent as his physical resilience. Numerous times on both Greece and Norse have powerful deities been able to visibly affect Kratos more with magic than physically: Zeus was able to almost kill him with a powerful blast of electricity in their second fight when he was not prepared for the attack, managed to inflict a critical strike on him with a lightning bolt enhanced by wind, and while empowered by Fear, easily rendered him helpless with a bolt of lightning and almost overcame him with Fear until Kratos awakened the power of Hope. Modi was temporarily able to bring him to his knees with a focused blast of lightning when Kratos was off-guard, though Kratos easily regained the upper hand when he activated more of his true power. Freya could restrain him with magical roots and create legions that posed a threat to him even with her curse binding her more offensive magical powers. While weakened from his struggles in Ragnarok, Kratos proved vulnerable to Odin's magic, as the All-Father was able to not only harm him with a shockwave spell, but even managed to paralyze him with magic before Freya freed him. While Kratos can still resist the effects, the cursed mist of Niflheim and the penalty of breaching Valhalla are capable of weakening him as well.
- Divine Weapons: Weapons of godly power are shown to be the most dangerous threat to Kratos. The Blade of Olympus was able to easily pierce through his body and kill him, not only when Kratos was severely injured from a previous battle, but also when Kratos was fresh from defeating Zeus and reinvigorated by the power of Hope, the latter of which released Hope to Greece and Kratos only survived due to his resurrective immortality. Thor was also able to easily harm and injure Kratos using Mjolnir, even managing to knock Kratos out temporarily when he was weakened. Kratos even expressed how Mjolnir was a severe threat to him, stating that the hammer compounded Thor's strength and power and allowed him to inflict critical injuries on the Ghost of Sparta, and indicated he was in genuine danger of dying to Mjolnir in their first fight. Gungnir, wielded by Odin, also proved able to easily pierce through Kratos's gut.
Weapons[]
Supernatural Weapons (Greek Era)[]
The Blades of Chaos
Before swearing himself to Ares, Kratos used a normal sword, but afterward, 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.
One of the Blades of Athena
- Blades of Chaos --> Blades of Athena --> Blades of Exile: These are the primary weapons that Kratos uses. While they have their own unique features, what is common about these 3 pairs is that they are Short Swords that have powers of fire and are jagged. The Blades of Exile are the most powerful among these three pairs, having been upgraded by Athena using the Blades of Athena. Kratos uses them to slice, eviscerate and impale enemies, as well as using them as chained grappling hooks, either to drag enemies towards him or climb mountains.
- Sun Shield: The personal shield of the sun god Helios, Kratos obtained it when journeying through the temple of Helios. Kratos used the weapon to parry and deflect enemy attacks, but lost the weapon after defeating Persephone.
- Gauntlet of Zeus: A gigantic gauntlet forged by Hephaestus, it was used by Zeus to chain the Titans in the depths of Tartarus. Kratos found and obtained the item after being defeated by Charon, and used toe gauntlet to fight enemies and shatter stone and iron.
- Medusa's Head: Ripped from the head of the gorgon queen, Aphrodite gave Medusa to Kratos as gift for his journey to kill Ares. Kratos used the head to freeze enemies in place, allowing him to destroy them and increase his chances in battle.
- Blade of Artemis: A large curved blade used by the goddess of the hunt, Artemis gifted the blade to Kratos on his quest to kill Ares.
- Blade of the Gods: A large blade forged by the Gods and used a bridge, Kratos used the weapon to fight Ares and kill the god of war.
- Blade of Olympus: The blade that ended the first Titanomachy, the weapon was created by Zeus and is a formidable weapon to anyone who wields it. When fighting the Colossus of Rhodes, Zeus tricked Kratos into putting his power within the blade so he could kill his son. Kratos regained the blade when fighting Zeus once again, and used the weapon to kill numerous characters such as Cronos, Gaia, and Perses, and used the blade in his rage mode. After killing Zeus, Kratos used the blade one more time to impale himself and give hope to humanity.
- Typhon's Bane: A bow and arrow that was originally in Typhon's eye, Kratos was able to shoot guest of wind at his targets.
- Spear of Destiny: A spear wielded by the Dark Rider, Kratos gained the weapon after killing the rider and his griffin, and used it on his journey to the Fates.
- Barbarian Hammer: Wielded by the barbarian Alrik, Kratos obtained the hammer after killing the barbarian king during his journey to reach the Sisters of Fate.
- Bow of Apollo: The bow has two main firing modes; a rapid-fire mode in which Kratos can launch a flurry of flaming arrows in rapid succession, or a power mode, where Kratos charges up the bow to release charged Fire Arrows. The arrows are also unaffected by gravity.
- Claws of Hades: The infamous weapons of the God of the underworld, Kratos gained the claws after defeating Hades in combat. Though capable of dealing great damage to opponents, its greatest ability is that Kratos can summon souls of monsters to kill his enemies.
- Head of Helios: Ripped from the sun god's head, Kratos used the head of Helios to travel through the dark caverns and blind his enemies.
- Boots of Hermes: Taken from Hermes, Kratos used the boots to transverse across Greece and dodge from enemy attacks.
- Nemean Cestus: The Nemean Cestus are originally Hercules's weapons before Kratos took them for his own and used them to brutally beat Hercules to death. A pair of huge metal gauntlets, each forged to resemble a snarling lion's head. It greatly increases and compounds the strength of its wielder when worn, and allows the wielder to destroy onyx shards.
- Nemesis Whip: Crafted by the great blacksmith Hephaestus, the Nemesis Whip was made from Omphalos stone, which was the rock that Cronos eat instead of his son Zeus. Kratos used the whip to work the electric bridges, and used them to hit multiple opponents quickly.
Supernatural Weapons (Norse Era)[]
Kratos attacking with the Leviathan Axe.
- Leviathan: One of the most iconic weapons in the entire GOW series is the Leviathan, the newest supernatural weapon. The Leviathan is a two-handed axe forged by the Huldra Brothers, Sindri & Brok, for Kratos' late wife Faye aka. Laufey before it later passed to Kratos by Faye herself. It has several symbols inscribed on the weapon's blade which give it special powers, among them being the ability to call the weapon back to the wielder's hand like Thor's Mjolnir and Ice magic. The similarities between both Leviathan and Mjolnir was revealed to be intentional, for Huldra Brothers were ashamed for creating the latter for Thor, who then abused the hammer by massacring Jötnar and performing many other forms of atrocities with it, suggesting Leviathan partly made to counteract Mjolnir as well. (Ice weapon)
- Blades of Chaos: The Blades of Chaos appear is the game as well but with a slightly different appearance and an upgrading factor. Being forged with flames of Grecian Underworld means magical fire it produces can burn even in Helheim, a crucial quirk which allows him to fight Hel Walkers and survive the travel through Helheim. Kratos hid the weapons under the floorboards of his house in an attempt of leaving his rage and his past behind, but when his son fell ill, he was forced to take them out, as he needed them in Helheim where he would find the main ingredient to his cure. He would then carry the Blades as his secondary main weapon from there on, now instruments of fighting more noble battles. (Fire weapon). According to Surtr, the Blades of Chaos has primordial fire inside of them. In Surtr's instructions of become Ragnarok, the Blades is imbued with Surtr's flames just so Kratos would imbue the flames into Sinmara's heart within Surtr's body in order for the Fire Giant to become Ragnarok.
- Guardian Shield: A collapsible shield that can be used to parry and block enemy attacks and can also be used offensively in combination with the Blades of Chaos and Kratos' fists. When not in use, the shield takes a gauntlet-like form to occupy less space. (Blocking weapon)
- Draupnir Spear: Once an enchanted ring that can multiply itself thus providing the wearer wealth that it actively and periodically provided, Draupnir has since repurposed so it magically generates wind element-imbued ornate spears at limitless numbers under the wearer's command. Long ago, Brok and Sindri originally crafted the ring for Odin in a bid to win the All-Father his favor until they discreetly confiscated it once their divine client no longer deemed worthy for it, much to his fury that he blamed Mimir for its disappearance. Huldra brothers subsequently stored Draupnir within the basement of Sindri's home at Svártálfheim, using its self-replicating quirk as an inexhaustible source of pawnable monetary funds from there on, surprising Freya considering the two would require a considerably huge space to contain both the ring and its ever growing numbers of replicas. Eventually, in a bid to help Kratos counter the might of Heimdall, Brok proposes that they should repurposed the confiscated Draupnir into a mighty weapon for such purpose with aid of a Svártálfar mermaid he referred as The Lady, a decision Sindri agreed despite his initial reluctance. Using the prepared spearhead and a bit of Kratos' blood, The Lady altered Draupnir to its current version with Brok blessed it in her stead. In addition of using it with great proficiency as with regular spears, Kratos can create several of Draupnir's spears as needed for variety of purposes (from using the replicas as sort of explosives to create poles for swinging and crossing gaps), manipulated winds to draw in and/or push enemies, and siphon some of life energies of those pierced by it. (Wind weapon)
Quotes[]
Greek Era[]
God of War: Ascension
| “ | Break an oath with a GOD? Ha, of all the minds in question, mine is not the one to worry about. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Orkos. |
God of War: Chains of Olympus
| “ | I am here now, child, and I will not leave you again. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Calliope in the Elysium Fields. |
God of War (2005)
| “ | Ten years, Athena! I have faithfully served the gods for ten years! When will you relieve me of these nightmares? | „ |
| ~ Kratos to the statue of Athena. |
| “ | By the Gods...What have I become? | „ |
| ~ Kratos thinking of his past. |
| “ | I am not the same man you found that day. The monster you created has returned... to kill you. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Ares before their battle. |
| “ | You succeeded. | „ |
| ~ Kratos' response to Ares before killing him. |
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
| “ | The visions still haunt me, Athena! The visons you promised to take away. But this vision, I can change. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Athena on his vision. |
| “ | Kratos: By the Gods, what have I become. The Grave Digger: Death. The destroyer... of worlds. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos and the Grave Digger. |
| “ | It is not over, Athena. The gods will pay for this! | „ |
| ~ Kratos swearing revenge against the gods. |
God of War II
| “ | I owe you nothing! | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Athena. |
| “ | I am the God of War! | „ |
| ~ Kratos when using his special attack. |
| “ | Do you see, gods of Olympus?! Do you need more proof than this?! | „ |
| ~ Kratos after destroying the Colossus of Rhodes. |
| “ | I serve no one! | „ |
| ~ Kratos refusing to vow his service to Zeus. |
| “ | A choice from the Gods...is as useless as the Gods themselves. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Zeus. |
| “ | You will pay for this, Zeus... Be certain of that. | „ |
| ~ Kratos before dying. |
| “ | I am no coward. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Gaia. |
| “ | ZEUUUUUUS! Is this how you face me?! Coward! I am through doing the bidding of the Gods! Come down here and face me now, Zeus! | „ |
| ~ Kratos before fighting the Kraken. |
| “ | If all of Olympus will deny me my vengeance, then all of Olympus will die. I have lived in the shadow of the gods for long enough! The time of the gods has come to an end! | „ |
| ~ Kratos after learning that Zeus was his father. |
God of War III
| “ | Death... is in my blood. Fate... has brought me here. I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. | „ |
| ~ Kratos in the third God of War game's trailer. |
| “ | Zeus, your son has returned! I bring the destruction of Olympus! | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Zeus in ending God of War II and beginning of God of War III |
| “ | There will be only chaos! | „ |
| ~ Kratos in the reveal trailer. |
| “ | Death is my calling. Vengeance my creed. I will wash away the past, with the blood of Olympus! Chaos will rise again! | „ |
| ~ Kratos in the Vengeance trailer. |
| “ | The hands of death could not defeat me, the Sisters of Fate could not hold me, and you will not see the end of this day! I will have my revenge! | „ |
| ~ Kratos vowing to achieve his revenge to Zeus. |
| “ | A true warrior does not hide, Poseidon. Leave the sea, and face me! | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Poseidon. |
| “ | Then prepare for your death, Poseidon. | „ |
| ~ Kratos before killing Poseidon. |
| “ | I have lived as a warrior. I have died as a god. Having suffered the ultimate sacrifice, I have been denied release. I... I will defeat Olympus. I will have my revenge. | „ |
| ~ Kratos while falling into the River Styx. |
| “ | We are not finished, Zeus. The gates of Hades have never held me! | „ |
| ~ Kratos in the Underworld. |
| “ | You aspire to be an Olympian, yet their reign is ending, Hercules. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Hercules before their fight. |
| “ | To catch a fly from the ass of Zeus is not worth my time, Hermes. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Hermes. |
| “ | All I remember is what I have lost. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Athena. |
| “ | My vengeance... ends now. | „ |
| ~ Kratos before stabbing himself with the Blade of Olympus. |
Norse Era[]
God of War (2018)[]
| “ | I do not know. | „ |
| ~ Another phrase by Kratos through the story. |
| “ | Do not be sorry... be better. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Atreus. |
| “ | I know. But I am your monster no longer. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Athena. |
| “ | Fate is another lie told by the gods. Nothing is written that cannot be unwritten. | „ |
| ~ Kratos about the fate. |
| “ | No. He is beaten, not worth killing. | „ |
| ~ Kratos telling Atreus to spare Modi. |
| “ | You killed against my wishes. You lost control. (Atreus: Haven't you been teaching me to kill?) I have been teaching you to survive! We are gods, boy, and that makes us a target. From now until the end of days, you are marked. So I teach you to kill, yes, but in defense of yourself. Never as an indulgence. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos reprimanding Atreus for killing Modi. |
| “ | Watch your tone, boy. | „ |
| ~ Kratos warning Atreus. |
| “ | You will LISTEN to me and not speak a word! I am your father–and you, boy, are not yourself! You are too quick to temper! You are rash, insubordinate, and out of control! This will not stand! You will honor your mother and abandon this path you have chosen. It is not too late... This discussion is far from over. We are here because of you, boy. Never forget that. | „ |
| ~ Kratos scolding Atreus for his behavior. |
| “ | This path you walk... vengeance. You will find no peace. I know. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Baldur in the final battle. |
| “ | The cycle ends here. We must be better than this! | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Baldur before killing him. |
| “ | Freya: You are just an animal! Passing on your cruelty and rage; you will never change! Kratos: Then you do not know me. |
„ |
| ~ Freya and Kratos. |
| “ | Kratos: Boy. Listen close. I am from a land called Sparta. I made a deal with a god that cost me my soul, I killed many who were deserving, and many who were not. I killed my father. Atreus: That was your father in Hel... Is this what it is to be a god? Is this how it always ends? Sons killing their mothers... their fathers? Kratos: No. We will be the gods we choose to be, not those who have been. Who I was, is not who you will be. We must be better. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos finally telling his bloody past to Atreus. |
| “ | Very well, I expect an improvement. | „ |
| ~ Kratos when accepting Brok's order. |
God of War Ragnarök[]
| “ | In moments of crisis, panic does nothing. Harness it. Let it serve you. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Atreus. |
| “ | Fate only binds you if you let it. Do what is necessary, not because it is written. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Atreus. |
| “ | Death can have me, when it earns me. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Freya about death. |
| “ | Thor: This is for Modi! (hurls Mjölnir which clashes against Kratos' Leviathan Axe mid-air) Kratos: You put him last, even in death. Thor: The **** you say? Kratos: Modi sought us in fear of you. He died of the wounds you gave him. Thor: Oh. We got a MODEL FATHER here. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos calls Thor out for mistreating Modi. |
| “ | I paid back their blood a thousand times, and burned Olympus to the ground... yet... the guilt remained. Perhaps you will kill me, Freya... but it will bring you no peace. | „ |
| ~ Kratos to Freya, explaing his past and why vengeance won't bring her peace. |
| “ | Atreus: What's wrong? Kratos: I have been falling back into my old ways. Angry. Distrustful. With you, now and before. I... I chased you away. Atreus: Without you, I got reckless. Overconfident. Made stupid mistakes. I don't know why I thought I could do this alone. You were right. Kratos: No. On our journey together, you have grown into a warrior. Worthy of your namesake. I... was the one who was not ready. Atreus: You don't have to be who you were just because I'm not there. Let's make a promise. I'll listen for your voice in my head, when you're not there. To guide me. And you do the same. Right? I need to know you'll be okay without me. Kratos: Atreus... I am sorry. Atreus: Don't be sorry, father. Be better. Let's go home. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos and Atreus reconcile in Helheim. |
| “ | Atreus: Wow... the Valkyries look different. Freya: Welcome back. Hildisvini informed me of your success. We've been planning accordingly. Mimir: Well, what would Ragnarök be without Ragnarök? Kratos: Who else agreed to join us? I see the Valkyries. Freya: Better than that — they are reborn. Corporeal and uncorrupted, thanks to no small amount of Vanir magic. They're Shield Maidens now. Atreus: Nice! Kratos: And your brother? Freya: He came through! The Elves called a truce to unite against Asgard. That gives us advantage by air and with Hel's army for a Vanguard — Atreus: What about Sindri? Will the Dwarves fight? Freya: We haven't heard from him. But there's time yet. And I think we have what we need to clear a path for the Ragnarök beast. Mimir: Well, when you say it like that, why worry at all? |
„ |
| ~ Kratos, Atreus, Mimir, and Freya discuss their success in rallying everyone in Nine Realms minus Dwarves due to Sindri's absence and Surtr's transformation into Ragnarök. |
| “ | I came to these lands to escape my past. To start a new life. I can hide no longer. I do not want this war. We have suffered enough. Prophecy did not lead us here. Nor will it win this battle. Wars are won by those that are willing to sacrifice everything. If that is the cost of vengeance... so be it. | „ |
| ~ Kratos's speech before signaling Ragnarök. |
| “ | Son, listen closely. You feel their pain because that is who you are. And you must never sacrifice that. Never. Not for anyone. I was wrong, Atreus. I was wrong. Open your heart. Open your heart to their suffering. That is your mother's wish... and mine as well. Today... today, we will be better. | „ |
| ~ Kratos expressing remorse for his earlier indifference towards the suffering of civilians and encouraging Atreus and himself to help them. |
| “ | Thor: What the **** are you waiting for?! Kratos: Your daughter... my son calls her friend. Thor: If you try to hurt her...! Kratos: I would not. Thor: Don't you know... what I've DONE!? Kratos: YES! But what will you do now? Thor: We don't change... We... are destroyers. Kratos: No more. (quietly puts away his axe) No more. For the sake of our children. We. Must. Be. Better. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos inspires Thor to change to better but unintentionally provokes Odin to kill the latter and lash out against him and his companions. |
| “ | Mimir: Brother, I've heard my share of stories about your homeland. But I'd also heard that you once fought in a tournament. Kratos: I fought in many contests. Mimir: But this particular one... I heard you did battle with beasts, scoundrels, princesses, the undead, automatons, and... history's greatest musician. That's not... that's not true is it? Kratos: I would not speak of this. Mimir: Fair enough, brother. |
„ |
| ~ Mimir and Kratos about a particular contest the latter participated in the events of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. |
| “ | Mimir: Brother, you ever think of cooking meat with those blades of yours? Kratos: No. They would foul the meat. Mimir: Oh, because of the magic on them? Kratos: The blood. Mimir: Ah, yes. Carry on then. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos and Mimir regarding why the former never uses Blade of Chaos' flames to cook meat. |
| “ | Kratos: This was the last, was it not? Only the King remains. Mimir: Aye. And if you thought his Berserkers were tough, well... I've been thinking about what you said, brother. Maybe it's time to let this go. Slurping up a dead man's soul with this old sword isn't gonna change the past. Kratos: It is good to hear you say that. But I plan to face him regardless. Mimir: What? After all your lecturing on vengeance and spite? Kratos: It is not wise to let a malevolent spirit wander Midgard. But I needed to know you wanted this for the right reasons. Mimir: Heh. Appreciate the sentiment, brother. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos wisely decides to face King Hrólf Kraki's restless spirit due to the danger he poses. |
| “ | Kratos: Mimir...the day my family died was not the last time I saw Calliope. I had journeyed to the underworld to rescue Helios. When I arrived, I heard Calliope's song on the wind and found her in the Fields of Elysium. It had been long since I felt such joy. But it was another trick of the gods. Mimir: It wasn't her? Kratos: Worse. It was. The goddess of the underworld wished to destroy all creation...Elysium included. She knew that for me to stand against her meant leaving Calliope behind forever. So I pushed my daughter away again, all while she cried and begged me not to. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos tells Mimir how the last time he saw his daughter, Calliope, was one of the hardest times of his life. |
| “ | Mimir: Brother. The choice you were given...to stay in Elysium with your daughter only to perish? Sounds like no choice at all. Kratos: Of course it was a choice...one I wished many times I made differently. Mimir: How so? Kratos: When I left Greece, Calliope was never far from my mind. I do not know how much time we would have had together in Elysium, but I would have traded the decades that followed for mere hours with her. It took meeting Faye for that feeling to go away...along with Calliope's song. But I do still think of her in Elysium, and hope she found peace. |
„ |
| ~ Kratos concludes his story with Calliope, showing how much he misses her. |
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 before Christopher Judge was cast for 2018s God of War and its sequel.
- 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.
- 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 screenshots 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 Racers, PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, LittleBigPlanet, and the PS3 version of Mortal Kombat 9 as DLC character. 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' appearance in PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale was alluded by Mimir during their conversation in God of War: Ragnarök where he expressed his disbelief about the contest Ghost of Sparta participated in during the events of said crossover game. Though he doesn't deny it, Kratos opted not to discuss about it considering its absurdity, in which Mimir agreed on.
- In Mortal Kombat, Kratos has different animations to the other playable characters compared to the majority of Fatalities, never showing a fear reaction, in reference to his status in the games as a fearless warrior.
- 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.
- Kratos is a playable character in Fortnite: Battle Royale. He debuted in Chapter 2, Season 5 on December 4, 2020. Notably, he is the first ever hunter that Agent Jones found.
- Kratos has a Reddit account that can be seen here.
- Kratos fought Spawn in the 10th episode of ScrewAttack’s DEATH BATTLE! and lost.
- As stated by the developers, the reason Kratos received Leviathan Axe and Draupnir Spear as his new weapons in Norse Era series and lack of desire to claim Mjölnir from Thor was to symbolize Ghost of Sparta's change to better; he is no longer a ruthless and bloodthirsty anti-hero everyone used to see throughout Greek Era series with the lack of interest in collecting his fallen foes' mythical weapons for his own use further drove such point. True to this, he once attempted to rid of Blades of Chaos to no avail and likely viewed Mjölnir as bad as, if not worse than the former as all of them had been abused by being used to bring forth deaths and destruction.
- Kratos' desire to abandon his violent ways also helped by Leviathan Axe's purpose as the weapon to counter the might of Mjölnir. Both weapons share similar quirks (able to be recalled from distance, indestructible, and possess elemental affinity where the former being ice while the latter lightning) yet Thor's abuse of the latter resulted it irredeemably associated with death, destruction and power, everything Kratos now utterly against. In fact, with the events of Ragnarök saw the two becoming rivals culminating to Ghost of Sparta attempting to persuade the Thunder God to abandon his dark path for the sake of their loved ones like he himself did, Kratos has the perfect tool for the task. Kratos confiscating the hammer and even using it, even once of course, would means he fell back to his old ways, tarnishing his new arc.
- Lastly, Kratos receiving Draupnir Spear was to show how he would fight as a proper general during the fateful war against Odin; someone who respected and obeyed by his troops. The spear is a weapon traditionally associated with Spartan soldiers and the way they are fighting: with honor and discipline. This of course, applies to Draupnir Spear itself as well as his aforementioned current iconic weapon Leviathan Axe, contrasting Mjölnir which sadly symbolized violence and fear.
- Kratos wielding Draupnir Spear also rendered the idea of him claiming Gungnir from Odin obsolete just as he won't claim Mjölnir from Thor since he already has its opposite Leviathan Axe. Although Draupnir Spear was specifically crafted to counter the foresight ability of Heimdall, Atreus' destined bane and owner of Gjallarhorn, rather than opposing Gungnir, both spears contrasted one another in terms of other aspects; Gungnir's modest yet cadaverous design and utilization which leans more to spellcasting rather than proper melee weapon fits Odin's nature as the treacherous, selfish, unfeeling, and manipulative magic user underneath the the facade of an approachable old man who prefer less direct means to deal with opposition, often causing more destruction than he ever cared for. Draupnir Spear by contrast, is a straight-up shining gold spear with stern design, could always generate a new copy of itself, and tough magical and imbued with the power of Wind, heavily relies on the conventional physical implementation of a spear as a physical weapon, all of which reflecting Kratos' more up-front and martial qualities, his persistent nature of coming back several times despite his prior failures, defeats and even deaths, and how he renew his Spartan heritage and the values it represents: discipline, strength and honor.
External Links[]
- Kratos on the Villains Wiki
- Kratos on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Kratos on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
- Kratos on the God of War Wiki
- Kratos on the VS Battles Wiki
- Kratos on the Soulcalibur Wiki
- Kratos on the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Wiki
[]
 Heroes
| ||
|
Protagonists Greek Era Demigods Others Norse Era Vanir Jötunn Dwarves Elves Valkyries Others | ||
 Heroes
| ||
|
Combatants Hazards Minions Other | ||
 Heroes
| ||
|
Main Heroes Secondary Heroes Others Groups and Organizations Guest Characters | ||
.png){kind=link}
