God of War Series - Jötnar / Characters

The Jötnar (aka Giants) are a race of powerful beings in Norse mythology, separate from the Gods but in a way- still related (since most living beings share a single origin). Despite the name, not all Jötnar are huge in size, though presumably because many of them could assume a human form. Like the Titans of Greek myths, they represent a primordial force of nature, but as the reader may find out, they are quite different and unique in several aspects.

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In General

Adaptational Heroism: The Jötnar are portrayed in a sympathetic light in the game whereas they are depicted as villains, antagonists, and tricksters in original Norse Mythology. Justified by the fact that, in this universe, the myths themselves were Written by the Winners i.e. Odin and the Aesir.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Subverted in two ways- one, the Aesir started their war, and two, most of them weren't actually 50 feet tall.
Because Destiny Says So: Their prophetic powers meant that they commonly fell into this and saw beauty in accepting fate.
Color Motif: The Giants are often associated with earthly tones of yellow and beige throughout the story, particularly in Jötunheim. This is also Foreshadowing Faye's true nature as a Jötunn, as her marks left on the trees and on Atreus'diary are colored with yellow paint.
Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To the Titans from the Greek saga. Unlike the Titans who are Bitch in Sheep's Clothing at the start of III and seek vengeance against the Greek Gods, the Jötnar are a generally affable people and would rather be left alone than seek retribution against the Aesir. When they send their forces to aid Kratos in Ragnarök, they're clear allies of Kratos and have no ulterior motives, unlike the Titans who only used Kratos as their pawn in their plans.
Corpse Land: The fate of Jötunheim, as when Kratos and Atreus finally make it to that land, they find that all of the Giants there are dead, their massive bodies sprawled over the mountains. Angrboda later reveals that this was a deliberate ploy made by the Jötnar, who put corpses visible from the realm's highest peak so, if the Aesir ever managed to enter through the main gateway, they'd be fooled into thinking the Giants were extinct.
Divine Conflict: The Jötnar and Vanir have been at war with the Aesir for centuries after the death of Ymir.
Dying Race: Thanks to the machinations of Odin and Thor's genocide, there are no more Jötnar in Midgard. All of those that didn't die in the Aesir's holocaust fled back to Jötunheim(save the World Serpent, but it's believed that he came from the future, and Laufey), all the Fire Giants are slumbering or hiding in Muspelheim, and even Jötunheim has no living Giants left, their corpses all over the place.
Elemental Powers: Plenty of the Jötnar have power over a specific element (particularly ice, fire and rock). But unlike most of the Titans, they are not Elemental Embodiments.
Fatal Flaw: As a race the giant's fatal flaw is Passivity. They do things they prophecized to the letter without trying to change it for the better Because Destiny Says So. Only several notable members of the race struggle against or trying to bend their destiny to favorable outcome.
The Ghost: Apart from Jörmungandr, who is shaped like a serpent, the Jötnar aren't shown alive in the game. The only other named Jötunn that we see is Thamur, who's already a corpse preserved in ice and snow. Thamur eventually makes a living appearance when he's resurrected by Freya to stop the fight between Baldur, Kratos and Atreus. This is averted in Ragnarök, in which Jötnar fully appear, like Angrboda, Gryla, Surtr, and, in dream sequences, Faye.
Giant Corpse World: Two variants;
- The realm of Midgard was made out of Ymir's corpse after Odin murdered and supplanted him for the title of "ruler of creation".
- Thamur's Corpse is named after the corpse of the titular giant. Thamur ran into Thor while searching for his son and Thor killed him with his own chisel. His corpse crushed a village and Thamur's dying breath caused an eternal winter, which killed the remaining survivors. His body was preserved by the cold and the chisel was embedded in the ice. Now, the land is a frozen wasteland inhabited by only the monsters who came to devour his corpse.
Human Aliens: They originate from a different world (Jötunheim) and could assume the appearance of a perfectly normal human being. However, they still had magical powers and superior physical abilities. And that's not getting into how many of them were gargantuan in size, had extra arms, or could, in Hrungnir's case, be born without a head and heart and live long enough for prosthetic replacements to be made.
Leitmotif: "Lullaby of the Giants" is the soundtrack associated with the Jötnar throughout the narratives, in which they lament their exile and persecution.
Love Across Battlelines: Despite their undeserved war with the Aesir. Odin was in fact married to a giant called Fjörgyn who was the mother of Thor.
The Magnificent: Jötnar officials are given these types of names.
- Bergelmir: Bergelmir is called The Beloved because he's the forefather of giants and the only one to have lived a long and happy life.
- Surtr: Surtr is called The Brave because he selflessly accepted his role as the destroyer of the world.
- Starkaðr: Starkaðr is called The Mighty because of his extra arms and proficiency with swords.
- Hrungnir: Hrungnir was called The Brawler because he was an unskilled warrior due to his stone head limiting his intelligence.
- Skaði: Skaði was called Queen of the Hunt due to being a master huntress.
- Groa: Groa is called The Knowledge Keeper due to her vast intelligence, collection of knowledge and abilities in sorcery.
- Laufey: Laufey is called The Just due to being a Jötnar avenger who fought against the Aesir and for being a thorn in their side at every opportunity.
Martial Pacifist: The Jötnar never actively looked for fights against the other realms. Only fighting when required to.
Non-Indicative Name: The term "giants" is often used interchangeably with "Jötnar", but it's pointed out not all were actually giant; many, like Angrboda and Laufey were human-sized, it’s also believed that the Jötnar could change their size at will through magic.
Our Giants Are Bigger: There are several types of giants. There's fire giants, frost giants, an eight-armed giant, a stone giant and many more. They're a whole spectrum of giant types, and some of them (such as Laufey and Angrboda) aren't actually all that big, while others (such as Thamur and Surtr's form as Ragnarök) are on par with the Titans.
Only Known by Their Nickname: They're universally refered to as giants despite their official name being "Jötnar", which is used as a collective noun while "Jötunn" is used when refering to just a single giant. Giant is non-indictive as it just references their ability to change size.
Perfect Pacifist People: The Jötnar had no interest in the war and it was actually caused by Odin when he killed Ymir for control. Tyr and Mimir were also fond of Jötnar and had nothing but respect for them. They also had more than enough pity and guilt for the Jötnars suffering at the hands of the Aesir.
Posthumous Character: The mentioned giants are long dead or have disappeared by the time of Kratos and Atreus' journey. The only confirmed living Giant from the tapestries is Surtr the Brave, as he is currently in Muspelheim honing his blade in preparation for his role in Ragnarök. More appear in Ragnarok.
Sadly Mythtaken: While there were Giants allied with the gods in the myths, such as Aegir, Gríðr and Skaði, most of their original Norse counterparts tended to jerks and villains. Here they're heroic and noble do-gooders who are slaughtered wholesale by the evil Aesir.
Seers: Alot of the giants had the ability to foresee the future, a power which Odin wanted for himself so he can escape his fate during the dreaded Ragnarök. This is the reason why he is hunting them down and why they sealed themselves off in their home of Jötunheim from the other Nine Realms, while closing most of the portals to it.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: They fled Midgard and sealed off all entrances to Jötunheim after they couldn't handle anymore attacks from the Aesir.
Super-Strength: Angrboda confirms that the Jötnar have some measure of this, as she can help Atreus lift massive pillars.
Written by the Winners:
- The games explain that many of the stories of the giants as known in the real world are propaganda spread by the Aesir to portray the giants as barbarians and monsters plotting against the beloved Aesir. For example, in the myths Hrungnir got drunk while in Asgard and proclaimed he would destroy the realm and slaughter the Aesir, save for Freya and Sif who he'll keep for himself, and the unamused Aesir have Thor challenge Hrungnir to a duel to shut him up, which ends with his death. In the games, Hrungnir is a simpleton that Odin took advantage of by bringing him to Asgard and getting him drunk so the Aesir could have a chuckle at his antics, until Thor got sick of him and killed him right then and there.
- On the other hand there's hints the giants themselves were indulging in this as well, because some of their own stories are just as biased as the Aesir versions. Thrym is regarded as a cunning trickster who managed to steal Mjolnir from under Thor's nose and tried to trade it for Freya as a wife, when all he did was come upon Thor while he was asleep and took Mjolnir. Even this detail, when brought up, is framed as Thor being a drunken slob who let down his guard, instead of conceding that Thrym's supposed cleverness merely being that he stole something from someone while they were unconscious. Even Mimir admits that Thrym really needed to get better priorities/
Yellow Earth, Green Earth: They are often associated with the color yellow and their magic looks like yellow sand. The Jötnar are tied to nature as they inhabit forests and mountains.
You Killed My Father: When Odin killed Ymir for control of everything in Norse mythology. The Jötnar suffered greatly as Ymir's blood drowned all but two Jötnar. This moment triggered the early days of the centuries-long war with the Aesir.

Ymir

The creator of nearly everything in the Norse universe and progenitor of all its living creatures. He ruled over all of his creations until he was usurped and killed by his son, Odin. Although he hasn't been alive for hundreds of years, much of the conflicts in the present can be traced back to his death.

Adaptational Heroism: Many myths say Ymir was evil from the very beginning or eventually turned evil, forcing Odin to kill him to protect the rest of creation. However the earliest versions of the myth do not call Ymir evil. In the series' backstory, Ymir never became evil and was overthrown by Odin because the latter desired his rulership over all of creation.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Not intentionally, but when he died, he drowned all but two of the giants in the blood that flowed from his fatal wound.
Divine Conflict: Unlike Cronos, he did not instigate a conflict that motivated his son to usurp him, but rather his murder by the hands of Odin was so heinous that it lead the Vanir and the giants feuding against Odin and his fellow Aesir for centuries.
Dream Weaver: The only aspect of Ymir that Odin didn't manage to take control of and transform into a part of Midgard after his death was his dreams, which formed a dreamscape of shifting yellow sands called Utangard that the Jötnar can access. The dream-like nature of Utangard means that anyone there can be tormented by their nightmares, such as how Atreus saw visions of when his past self became arrogant after discovering about his godhood and killed a helpless Modi, only waking up after hearing one of Angrboda's wolves.
Foil: To Cronos. For whatever faults Zeus possessed, his usurpation of Cronos was justified because Cronos attempted to swallow him, out of a desire to avoid a prophecy that foretold that he was going to be usurped by his progeny. Ymir never raised a hand against Odin or any of his other creations, but rather Odin murdered him to slake his lust for power, which makes Odin far more evil by comparison.
God Is Good: He was admired by both the Vanir and the giants. Even the formerly Aesir aligned Mimir mourns his death and resents Odin for killing him.
Hermaphrodite: He's described as being both male and female, but there are no specifics about his actual physical appearance. Most people refer to him by male pronouns.
The Maker: The unambiguous creator of nearly everything in Norse existence. The only thing that he didn't create was Midgard which was made by Odin, yet he still played a part in that because Odin used his corpse as its building material.
Our Giants Are Bigger: Technically a giant, but possessed powers that far surpassed any god or other divine power in the Norse universe. He also gave birth to not just the first of giants, but to every species in creation. In terms of size, he's even bigger than the mountain sized, Cronos, as the entirety of the world of Midgard was created from his corpse, more comparable to the Greek Primordials like Ouranos.
Posthumous Character: Ymir is long dead before the events of the game begin since his dead body was used to create the entire world.
Top God: The former ruler of the Norse realms. Everyone seemed to be okay with his rule until Odin grew power hungry and killed him for leadership.

Surtr

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20221126_004743_youtube.jpg

^{Surtr's Shrine}

^{Ragnarök itself}

Voiced by (English): Chris Browning

The second being in existence to be born and first fire giant, Surtr is the ruler of Muspelheim and his kind, and the creator of the sun. He is foretold as being a major figure during the events of Ragnarök; carrying his bright sword, he will go to battle against the Aesir, and the major god Freyr of the Vanir. Afterward, the flames that he brings forth will engulf the Earth.

Adaptational Heroism: While his villainy is Depending on the Writer (everything between a destructive force of nature with little characterisation and background to an outright malicious being with a personality to match), the mythological Surtr was a hated enemy of the Asgardians. Here he's described as "brave and generous". Though given Mimir's biases towards the Norse pantheon, perhaps not the best source of info in this particular instance. Ragnarök confirms this to be case as he is a worn-down Humble Hero who knows his part to play, and only hesitates because it might cost him his One True Love's life in the process. Once he notices Kratos's Blades of Chaos and the primordial flame held within them however, he takes a third option that allows him to initiate Ragnarök both as requested and expected of him without sacrificing Sinmara to do so. The 'Ragnarök' entity does fit the "mindless force of destruction", but it's stated to be less Surtr himself and more a natural disaster caused by Surtr's death.
Adaptation Name Change: Ragnarök being the Beast of the Apocalypse instead of the apocalypse itself is an invention of the game.
Ambiguous Situation: Like Mótsognir, Surtr requested a number of Soul Eaters from Andvari, which worried the craftsman as to just what he had planned; like the Dwarven King, he altered them into Soul Destroyers to be held within his Trials. Did he do it just to better hone the fire giants' combat skills, or does he want to ensure that when Ragnarök comes, the Aesir will be destroyed for good, with no hope of resurrection or rebirth?
The Anti-Nihilist: Surtr knows that he is destined to die after burning Asgard down with his flaming sword but he also knows that the new world can't begin without him. Surtr knows he can't defy destiny and chooses to hone his blade so he won't fail.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: His whole body is made from the same flat, burning stone, meaning he's got nothing downstairs.
Beast of the Apocalypse: Rather than being a Destroyer Deity like the traditional Surtr, Ragnarök is a mindless monster.
Beige Prose: In addition to being a Terse Talker, the language he uses tends to be very simple and understated, conveying a combination of bone-deep weariness and dry, gentle humour. For example, when he describes the tragic Eternal Love that gives his life meaning, he simply tells Atreus that love is "pretty good."
Deadpan Snarker: He's a stoic Terse Talker who chiefly speaks in Beige Prose, and it has the predictable effect on how he expresses his sense of humour (though it's more gentle and less cutting than most examples of this trope). It doesn't take long for him and the stereotypically laconic Spartan Kratos to get on the same wavelength.
Death of Personality: Becoming Ragnarök comes at the cost of Surtr's mind and identity, and the new entity born from his sacrifice is nearly mindless, completely focused on fulfilling its destiny to destroy Asgard with no care for anything else. However, it's suggested that this is a consequence of his transformation being technically incomplete without Sinmara — Ragnarök itself is also technically incomplete, and missing its full faculties.
Atreus: But what'll happen when you change?
Surtr: Dunno. Won't be me anymore.
Destroyer Deity: Is destined to burn down the realms (though later revealed to be just Asgard) during Ragnarök, so a new world may be born upon its ashes.
Don't Make Me Destroy You: When Kratos and Atreus seek him out to request he start Ragnarök, he calmly refuses, since doing so would require he sacrifice his One True Love along with himself, and blasts the pair of them backwards with a simple wave of his hand, summoning a small horde of flame-based enemies to assault them whilst he pointedly focuses on trying to forge a sword and otherwise ignores them. His casual display of power underlines how outmatched both gods would be if it came to a fight, and if not for him realising that Kratos' Blades of Chaos would allow him to Take a Third Option, he would be very capable of resisting any attempts to force him with ease.
Earth-Shattering Kaboom: As Ragnarök he closes out the battle in Asgard by driving his BFS into the heart of the realm, shattering it outright in a cataclysmic explosion. Pieces of Asgard can literally be found scattered across Yggdrasil to the other 8 realms in the aftermath.
Face Death with Dignity: His death is cemented in the prophecy so he chooses to hone his blade so he can fulfil his role to its full accuracy. He makes good on in it in Ragnarök.
Fiery Stoic: The "most fiery Giant" according to Mimir, Surtr can turn an entire metal gateway into slag with a wave of his hand but speaks in a level, almost bored tone the whole time. Up until Kratos stabs the Blades of Chaos into his chest and he becomes Ragnarök.
Flaming Sword: His weapon which he will use to burn down the whole world during Ragnarök. Due to it being a giant's weapon, it's also a BFS.
Foil: To Odin, both Surtr and Odin are aware of their roles in Ragnarök but have opposing approaches to it. Odin is trying to defy destiny so he can save himself whereas Surtr accepts his role and understands its importance.
Fusion Dance: Surtr is prophecied to combine with Sinmara, his equal and opposite, to form Ragnarök. He ultimately refuses to let this happen as combining with Sinmara would kill them both and while he is willing to sacrifice himself he loves her too much to do the same to her.
The Ghost: Surtr is nowhere to be seen in the game, only mentioned in Mimir's stories and on shrines in Muspelheim. It is stated that he and his kind are hiding and preparing for Ragnarök (which means that they have avoided the fate of the frost giants). Averted in Ragnarök, where he becomes a late-game ally when Kratos realizes they need to destroy Asgard to save Atreus and Angrboda.
Greater Need Than Mine: He accepts his role in Ragnarök because he knows how important it is.
Mimir: Brave, generous Surtr, who knows he lives but to his doom. All because he chooses to serve a grand cycle, so much bigger than himself. To truly embrace your purpose, and the patience and sacrifice it demands, is to ensure your day will come.
Hidden Depths: Despite being more or less mindless, Ragnarok seems genuinely saddened by the meaningless death Sindri causes.
The Load: Unintentionally so—Surtr, or rather Ragnarök, is necessary for the plan to defeat Odin and destroy Asgard, however, once Kratos and Atreus change the plan from complete annihilation to saving as many innocent lives as possible in Asgard that Odin has either taken hostage to deter them or convinced to fight for him to stall his enemies, Ragnarök suddenly becomes more a hindrance than an aid with Freyr having to go out and delay Ragnarök's advance for as long as possible, to no avail, and once Odin is defeated, Ragnarök is apathetic to the fact his allies are still in the area as he brings down the sword to destroy Asgard which mandates Freyr's Heroic Sacrifice to give the remaining members of their party just enough time to flee the annihilation of the Realm.
Meaningful Name: In Old Norse, Surtr's name literally means "the black one". This is clearly shown in the game, since Surtr's body is made of solidified black lava (possibly thanks to the freezing heart of Sinmara).
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He closes out Ragnarök by driving his BFS through Asgard, not knowing that Kratos, Atreus, and Freya are still in the blast zone. This results in Freyr's death, as he has to block the blade to save them. Justified by the fact that a) Ragnarök isn’t the same being anymore and b) it barely seems sapient.
One-Man Army: As the final battle unfolds things quickly start to go south for Kratos and co, due to various circumstances only a mere 3 realms are able to be mustered for the fight against Asgard, and Odin is forewarned of the assault and has set up siege engines to destroy the realmgate and shut out enemy forces. Then Surtr, or rather Ragnarök arrives. His presence effectively turns the tide all on its own, as he simply marches straight to the heart of Asgard, smashing anything in his path with nothing able to stop him. Which actually becomes a problem, since the plan changes to trying to evacuate Asgard of innocents and focusing purely on taking down Odin, but Ragnarök is nearly mindless and cannot be reasoned with.
One-Winged Angel: Once he fuses the primordial fire in Kratos' Blades of Chaos and the Spark of The World with the cold of Sinmara's heart, he transforms into the Ragnarök. A colossus the size of a mountain that burns with primordial energy, powerful enough to destroy an entire realm.
Our Giants Are Bigger: He is a fire giant, a subspecies of the Jötnar. Since his people were born in the realm of Muspelheim, they are associated with fire and lava, instead of ice and rock like their relatives in Jötunheim.
Playing with Fire: As a fire giant, this is a given. The same also applies to the others of his species. When he gets to demonstrate it in person, he doesn't sling fireballs around so much as he just melts things on touch, but he's powerful enough with it he can melt a giant metal gate (one he thought Kratos and Atreus wouldn't get past) into a glowing puddle in about five seconds.
Screw Destiny: Becoming Ragnarök involves Surtr and Sinmara combining together, essentially sacrificing themselves to destroy Asgard, and Surtr proves unwilling because he doesn't want Sinmara to die. He comes up with a way to both uphold the prophecy and spare his love's life by using the Primordial fire inside Kratos' Blades of Chaos as a substitute for his heart.
Secondary Character Title: Despite having rather minimal screentime, he's technically the titular character of the game, because he is Ragnarök.
Terse Talker: His speech is very simple and to the point, not bothering to flavor or draw out his language. Justified given how cosmically old and tired he is by the present that it's not really worth the effort.
Worf Effect: Upon Kratos and Atreus meeting him, Surtr is able to simply push them aside with a wave of his hand, a demonstration of just how ungodly powerful he is.

Angrboða

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/angrbodaragnarok.jpg

^{Angrboða's Shrine}

Voiced by (English): Laya DeLeon Hayes

"You'll get your answers soon enough. Well, some of them."

Loki's lover and the mother of his brood in the original myths, she appears in the sequel as a teenager. She and Atreus quickly become friends, and it's implied they may have a romantic relationship one day, just like in the legends.

Action Girl: A capable fighter skilled in Jötnar magic.
Action Mom: The murals mention she will be very protective of her destined children. This is averted as Jormungandr and Fenrir are both confirmed not to be her and Loki's children, but a snake that they implanted a giant's soul into and a pet wolf respectively, albeit her explanations about Atreus' ability to manipulate souls and the soul of Fenrir within his knife were vital in those outcomes. The jury is still out on Hela, though, though the game's mythology holds that this is a title granted to whoever rules Helheim, not necessarily a name.
Adaptational Relationship Change: Played With. Although she's not the biological mother of Jörmungandr she does assist Atreus in creating the World Serpent, making her Jörmungandr's mother in a symbolic sense. Played straight in regards to Fenrir, who is just her pet, not her son.
Animal Lover: She tends several pens full of animals in Ironwood, and her best friend is her yak Jalla.
Animal Motifs: Wolves, as her mural depicts her surrounded by a whole pack of them. True enough in Ragnarök, she's shown to be friends with them in Jotunheim.
Art Attacker: Angrboða, being a painter, infuses her Runic Magic with various colors of paint.
Composite Character: It's possible that she is this with Sigyn, who was Loki's wife in the original myths. Angrboda was merely described as a scary mother of monsters while Sigyn was Loki's more "normal" and kind wife. Angrboda in the game however is a very sweet girl and she and Atreus receive lots of Ship Tease (with Kratos and Mimir themselves "approving" of her for Atreus), hinting that they may marry when they grow up, which would give her the role of both Angrboda and Sigyn in the myths.
Cute Monster Girl: She's said to be an attractive female Jötunn, especially when compared to her "children". Her appearance in Ragnarök proved this to be completely accurate, looking like a human teenager.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Satellite Love Interest. In the original myths, Angrboða is pretty much characterised simply as Loki's wife and mother of his children. The simplicity of this role is reflected by how her role within the in-universe prophecy is simply to give Atreus/Loki the marbles containing giant souls, after which there's no more mention of her in the prophecies. This has led to her feeling envy towards Atreus/Loki, who has a much more important and lengthy part to play, and she has dreaded the day he comes for the marbles due to expecting a loss of purpose for herself. It takes Atreus/Loki giving her a pep-talk and defying the prophecy by giving her the marbles to give her purpose and spirit again.
Divine Race Lift: Zigzagged example. In this version, she's black, whereas she wasn't physically described in the original myths. However, the Jötnar in Norse mythology were envisioned as a species of shapeshifters, with each individual member being able to look like whatever they wanted. As such, the lack of description for Angrboða means that she doesn't really have a "definitive" appearance to speak of.
The Fatalist: Having seen both her parents quietly succumb to their fates, Angrboða firmly believes that prophecy is unalterable and tries to persuade Atreus to accept his destiny and treasure what time he has left with his father.
Green-Eyed Monster: It's all but stated that she's rather bitter about Atreus's involvement in the prophecy of Ragnarök since as far as the prophecy goes, she is only relevant up to the point that she tells Atreus everything she knows about it, after that she disappears from the prophecy. Given that her whole life up til then has been dedicated to preparing for the day she teaches Atreus/Loki everything, she's bitter that he'll go on to do big things while she'll be forgotten by history. Atreus's insistence that her role doesn't have to end there, that she can continue to help simply because she wants to rather than because fate says so eventually causes her to leave the Ironwoods to find the rest of the Giant Soul Jars and eventually help in the final battle.
Hidden Depths: It's heavily implied that she's deeply insecure about her fate, as it's technically just helping out Loki's with his own.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The only prophecies about her involve Loki, something that causes her insecurity as she believes it means she'll do nothing meaningful on her own and Gryla taunts her by claiming she'll be nothing but a chapter in Loki's story. Angrboða has no known myths of her own, only of her relationships to Loki and her children.
Monster Progenitor: Is destined to give birth to Jörmungandr, Fenrir/Fenris and Hel. Turns out to be subverted as Jormungandr and Fenrir are not her biological children (if one could even call them her "children" at this point at all). She and Atreus simply implant a Giant's soul into a snake to create Jormungandr while Fenrir is Atreus' pet wolf implanted into the body of Garm (who she does bond with pretty quickly). Hel, meanwhile, is simply the title of the ruler of Helheim, currently held by Hraesvelgr with emphasis on the "currently", so that implication is still there.
Nice Girl: No Social Skills aside, Angrboda is a charming, friendly, enthusiastic young lady.
No Social Skills: She's lived alone in the Ironwood for a long time, so sometimes she's unintentionally mean.
Angrboða: Huh, you look... weirder than I imagined.
Atreus: Oh.
Angrboða: Sorry! [gathering her things] Um... Was that mean?
Atreus: Kind of?
Angrboða: Dammit! I'm already messing this up!
Now What?: She holds a fairly minor role in the Jotnar prophecies of Ragnarok which ends in her suffering from Chuck Cunningham Syndrome shortly after meeting Loki. Which leaves her wondering what she's supposed to be doing with her life once her last prophesied action is completed.
Our Giants Are Bigger: A giantess fated to mother a giant snake, a giant wolf and a half-living, half-undead woman. Ironically, she is a fairly typical size for a teenage girl. Though then again, Jormungandr and Fenrir end up not being her biological children at all; or even her adoptive children for that matter.
Properly Paranoid: She warns Atreus that he can never tell anybody about the Ironwood or what he's been doing in there, as the only reason she managed to survive as long as she did is that Odin has no idea it actually exists. This furthers the Poor Communication Kills between Atreus and Kratos when it turns out that he was physically transported into the location rather than astral projecting as a dream, and has been missing for two days, leading to his allies believing he'd been to Asgard, and him being unable to explain where else. But since one of said allies was actually Odin in disguise, Angrboða's caution was validated.
Satellite Love Interest: Defied; according to the prophecy, her role in Ragnarök is merely to assist Loki in his quest to defeat Odin and nothing more, giving her no purpose in life once the task is complete. But with the right push, she learns that she's worth more than whatever fate her people foresaw and decides to find her own path forward, not being bound to whatever Loki is doing or needing.
Seers: Like most giants, she has visions of the future.
Ship Tease: Naturally with Atreus, given her status as Loki's mistress in the original myths. While they don't get together before the end of the story (and before Atreus leaves by himself to find the rest of the giants), much less give birth to monstrous children, there does seem to be some attraction between the two. And if Kratos talks to her during the post game, he mentions he likes her after she says that Atreus could be a great artist with a little more discipline. He also wonders after the conversation if he's even remotely prepared Atreus for love.
Super-Strength: Despite being a normal sized girl compared to her giant grandmother Gryla, Angrboda makes Gryla struggle to take her precious pot back in a tug of war, with Gryla even wondering how she is so strong. She and Atreus also lift granite pillars that probably weigh over 5 metric tons.^note
Unrelated in the Adaptation: She's only the symbolic mother of Jormungandr due to helping Loki create him, and Fenrir isn't her son, merely her fur-baby.
You Can't Fight Fate: She starts off as a staunch believer in this, like her parents were. Which causes her angst because as far as she knows her destiny ends after her first meeting with Loki, meaning as far as the giants are concerned she does nothing else of importance. It also causes friction with Atreus as she genuinely believes he can't stop his father's death.

Grýla

Voiced by (English): Debra Wilson

Angrboda's grandmother.

Abusive Parents: Or grandparent. After the death of her son, she distanced herself from her granddaughter. When confronted in Ragnarök, after Atreus and Angrboda destroy the pot she'd been using to steal the souls of animals she starts screaming about how she should have killed Angrboda when she was born, and how Angrboda will die forgotten by everyone, even Loki, just a forgotten chapter in his story.
Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed; in Icelandic folklore, Grýla is a child-eating giantess, ogre or troll who hunts disobedient children to cook them in her cauldron. Here, Grýla is abusive to her granddaughter, uses her cauldron to steal the souls of animals to experience their memories and tries to kill Atreus for trying to destroy it, but she doesn't kidnap children and is ultimately a tragic figure who became bitter due to the grief of losing her son.
Attack Its Weak Point: During the fight against her, you have to target the glowing runes on her cauldron in order to get her health meter to go down. Justified as Atreus and Angrboda are trying to avoid hurting Gryla herself, and instead just want to destroy the cauldron in order to free Gryla from her addictive misuse of it.
Bad People Abuse Animals: She may have not been bad to start with and Angrboda also says she isn’t a monster, but she did steal and consume the souls of animals so she doesn’t have to deal with the pain of grieving over the death of son. Not only causing them pain and distress in the process but also leaving them in a vulnerable state where they wouldn’t be able to survive without Angrboða‘s help.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Her stealing of souls and dependence on the pot she used to do is reminiscent of drug abuse. Enforced by her clear mental degradation and aggressive behavior from constant use and her reaction to the source of her addiction being destroyed. Not helping matters is that she chooses to indulge in stealing animal souls because she doesn't want to endure the pain of her memories anymore.
Even Evil Can Be Loved: Well, more "troubled" than flat-out evil. Angrboda still cares for her despite how she treats her.
Irony: She tells Angrboda Loki will forget her but not only does he not forget her, getting plenty of Ship Tease with her, but Loki ends up convincing her to Screw Destiny that says her journey ends after they meet. Not only does she begin traveling the Nine Realms for more Giant Soul Jars but rides Fenrir into battle when Ragnarök begins, saving Freya, Loki, and Kratos when Surtur is about to destroy Asgard.
Jumped Off The Slippery Slope: Losing her son made her bitter and cruel, even to her granddaughter.
Obnoxious In-Laws: She calls her deceased daughter-in-law a fool to her granddaughter while scoffing at destiny.
Our Giants Are Bigger: She's easily over 30 feet tall.
Pet the Dog: Even though she always told Angrboda she didn’t care about her she still would sometimes used to make bread for her like her mother used to. She still eventually threw Angrboda out at some point though...
Related in the Adaptation: Angrboda's family are not mentioned in the Prose Edda. Grýla is a character connected to Yule who eats disobedient children.
Screw Destiny: Grýla has this mindset, contrasting her with her son, daughter-in-law, and her own granddaughter. It caused her no small grief that Angrboda's parents were believers in Path of the Giants, since it resulted in their refusal to challenge their fated demise.
Grýla: Was it your mother's destiny to die so young? Was it your father's destiny to marry that absolute fool?
Sympathy for the Devil: Despite her horrid treatment and clear disdain of her granddaughter, Angrboda tells Atreus she’s not a monster acknowledging that her descent is due to the pain of losing her son and still hopes to one day reconcile with her.
Took a Level in Kindness: The post-game reveals that her and Angrboda's relationship is on the mend after destroying the cauldron. Angrboda mentions that Grýla is off foraging for her, but the tone of her voice seems to make it clear that fully repairing their relationship will take some time.
Troubled Abuser: Gryla neglects her granddaughter and is verbally abusive in her presence. However, this isn't out of malevolence, but out of unprocessed grief that she suppresses by stealing animal souls and is heavily implied to still love her granddaughter. Angrboda even says that she isn't a monster and is just "lost".
Would Hurt a Child: She attacks her own grandaughter and the prophesied champion of the Jötnar when they try to destroy her pot to keep her from stealing more animal souls.

Bergelmir

The forefather of all the Giants in Jötunheim.

Adam and Eve Plot: He and his wife are the first Giants couple to spring forth from Yimir's corpse after his death. Eventually, they settled down in Jötunheim and procreated. All Jötnar are their descendants.
Decomposite Character: His wife is called Nal. This was an alternate name for the mythical Laufey, however here they are two separate characters.
The Good King: Decided to prosper and rule over his kind instead of taking revenge against Odin for slaying his "father".
Moses Archetype: As stated by Mimir, Bergelmir and his wife founded Jötunheim and bare many children where they all know no masters but themselves.
Our Giants Are Bigger: The first male of their kind and their first ruler.
The Magnificent: Also known as Bergelmir the Beloved.
Surprisingly Happy Ending: Bergelmir became one of the only giants ever known to die peacefully of old age, in the kingdom he founded, with his loving descendants around him. Atreus comments on how rare it seems for a "true" myth to end that way, to which Mimir sadly agrees.
Turn the Other Cheek: Rather than take revenge on Odin for killing Ymir and killing all but two giants. Bergelmir avenged his people by being better than Odin, he achieved this by procreating with his wife and spawning a new race of giants.

Thrym

A Jötunn King that once stole Thor's hammer.

Adaptational Heroism: Originally Thrym stole Thor's hammer as a prank and a bargaining chip so he could marry Freya. While Norse Mythology was operating on Blue-and-Orange Morality, this was obviously still a bad thing to do and Thrym was in the wrong. Here while the story is mostly similar, it instead portrays him as a Guile Hero and that his punishment at the hands of the angry Thor was unjustified.
And Now You Must Marry Me: Tried to persuade the gods into marrying Freya to him. Emphasis on "tried".
Bullying a Dragon: As he found out the hard way, pissing off the God of Thunder who will gladly use any excuse to kill a Giant was not a smart thing to do.
Didn't Think This Through: As Mimir points out, Thrym didn't consider destroying Thor's hammer or killing Thor while he slept. He only stole Thor's hammer so he has something to bargain with when he asked the Aesir for Freya's hand in marriage.
Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: Managed to steal Thor's hammer and almost persuaded the Gods into marrying Freya to him. However, at the same time, this was also a very stupid idea, which cost him his life.
Love Makes You Dumb: He wanted Freya to be his bride and stole Thor's hammer so he can use it as a bargaining chip. He didn't expect any Aesir trickery and was caught off guard when Thor revealed himself.
Skewed Priorities: He stole Thor's hammer so he can have Freya's hand in marriage. He didn't consider killing Thor or destroying the hammer in retribution for the massacre of the giants. Mimir concludes the story by saying the lesson for Thrym was to keep his priorities straight.
Too Dumb to Live: Thrym could have been one of the greatest saviours of Giant-kind had he taken the opportunity to destroy the hammer and rob Asgard of their most sublime superweapon, or failing that, kill Thor in his sleep and end his reign of terror. Instead he decided to hold said hammer for ransom because he had the hots for Odin’s wife and thought he could pull a fast one on the Aesir. Instead, he’s the one who gets tricked and promptly liquidated along with his wedding guests.

Thamur

A Jötunn stonemason who attempted to build a wall around Jötunheim as a way to protect his people from Thor during the war between Frost giants and Aesir gods before his death.

The Ace: Regarded as the greatest stonemason that ever lived, to the extent that he built a working prosthetic head and heart out of stone for Hrungir. Sadly, he didn't apply the same level of care to his relationship with his son.
An Ice Person: He was a frost giant, so when he died his dying breath killed any survivors of the village he crushed. When Freya reanimates him he can blow freezing winds. There's a runic attack named "Breath of Thamur", which is essentially a freezing whirlwind.
Back from the Dead: Freya reanimates his corpse during the final fight against Baldur.
Chekhov's Gunman: His corpse and name are mentioned and seen before your quest to get a piece of his chisel. He is also reanimated by Freya and aids her during the final boss battle with Baldur.
Descriptiveville: His location is now called "Thamur's Corpse" after him. This is because when Thamur died, he crushed a village and his dying breath caused an eternal winter that froze the surviving inhabitants to death. The place is now a frozen wasteland and a home to monsters. Since nobody was capable of removing the colossal corpse, they chose to rename the entire location and leave his body to the beasts.
Identical Stranger: He disturbingly looks alot like Kratos.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: His chisel is pierced right through his skull.
Our Giants Are Bigger: He's a genuine giant, seeing as his dead body is the size of a mountain. Mimir mentions that he was easily among the biggest giants.
Posthumous Character: He is long dead before the game's story takes place.

Hrimthur

Hrimthur before and after he ran away.

Son of Thamur. He is responsible for finishing the Great Walls of Jötunheim and for rebuilding Asgard's walls, the latter which he embedded with a weakness only known to himself and Freya that could be exploited when Ragnarök begins.

The Atoner: Got into a quarrel with his father and ran away from him. After Thamur was killed by Thor, he chose to honor his death and spend his life opposing the Aesir.
I Want to Be a Real Man: His father wanted him to be a stonemason like him, but he had the heart of a warrior instead.
Named by the Adaptation: In the Prose Edda, the jötunn who offered himself to build a wall for Asgard in exchange for the sun, the moon and Freya's hand isn't named, but in here he goes by Hrimthur, which in mythology was an alternate name for Frost Giants.
Small Role, Big Impact: The flaw he built into Asgard's walls is a crack at one point that Sindri and Atreus use to break a hole in them.
Thanatos Gambit: Strongly implied to be killed by Thor himself and yet he was satisfied because the secret he told Freya will led to a big role the day Ragnarök comes.
You Killed My Father: Was devastated by his father's death at the hands of the Aesir and chose to avenge him. He did so by using the guise of a mortal and offering to build a wall around Asgard with a hidden weakness known only to him and Freya.
You Will Know What to Do: A variation. Freya reveals in Ragnarök that Hrimthur did let her know about the weakness he hid, but also told her that Surtr would be the one to find it — meaning that, if Surtr was looming at Asgard's gates, the final war would've already begun, and, for the time being, there was nothing she could do.

Starkaðr

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starkar_god_of_war_2018.png

An eight-armed swordsman and the strongest of the Frost Giants. He was slandered by the Aesir and was subsequently subdued by the combined armies of Asgard, Vanaheim, and Midgard. After he surrendered, he was murdered by Thor.

An Arm and a Leg: Gets six of his arms torn off by Thor in his execution.
Clear My Name: Starkaðr was branded by Odin as a monster across all the nine realms. When he was put on trial, the Gods used this as an opportunity to kill him.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Starkaðr was brought to his knees by being showered with arrows from three combined armies, before being finished off by massive blood loss (courtesy of Thor dismembering him).
The Dreaded: Even Thor was afraid of him. Ultimately it proved to be his undoing as the Aesir used his ominous reputation against him, branding him a monster to be feared so that the armies of Asgard, Midgard, and even Vanaheim would do their dirty work.
Kangaroo Court: This was led against him by the Aesir when being put on trial, and gets executed by the God of Thunder himself.
The Leader: According to Mimir, if the Jötnar ever decided to organize an army Starkaðr would've been their general.
Master Swordsman: He apparently wields four of them in his fight against the three armies sent to subdue him.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Had eight arms and was renowned as an incredible warrior, to the point where not even Thor dared to fight him one-on-one.
Nice Guy: He was known as a decent person despite his fearsome reputation as the strongest being. It's deconstructed upon being slandered by the Aesir, where he surrendered after a long battle against the three unified armies in order to seek a trial to clear his name, is where he gets killed by Thor.
One-Man Army: It took the combined forces of Asgard, Vanaheim, and Midgard to defeat him. And even then, he proved to be a dangerous opponent.
Our Giants Are Bigger: One with multiple arms.
Super-Strength: He definitely does have this for surpassing the physical power of all of his kind and the Aesir as well.
World's Strongest Man: The strongest of the Giants and any god being in terms of physical power. According to Mimir, he had the potential to become a general if the Jötnar ever decided to organize an army.
Written by the Winners: Is on the receiving end of this. He was a great warrior and a decent person, but due to being a potential threat to the Gods' rule, they made sure he would be remembered in history as a villain instead.

Hrungnir

A Stone Giant. He was invited to the Halls of Asgard by the Allfather, but was eventually killed by Thor.

Adaptation Deviation: In the original myths, Hrungnir had a horse called "Gullfaxi" and believed it was faster than Sleipnir. After Magni and Modi freed Thor from Hrungnir's corpse, Thor gave the horse to Magni as an award (much to the disappointment of Odin). In the game, there is no indication of Gullfaxi's existence but it would have further fuelled Modi's resentment towards Magni.
Adaptational Dumbass: In the original myths, Hrungnir was clearly of average intellect (unless he got drunk, obviously). Here he was born without a brain. Even after his fellow Giants made an artificial one, he grew into a complete simpleton.
Adaptational Nice Guy: In the myths, Hrungnir was abrasive and rowdy, whereas, in the game, he's a naïve simpleton who was too trusting towards Odin. He still makes the same comments in the game, but at Odin's request and because of his drunkenness.
Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: He had a trusting nature before he got drunk in Asgard. He naively believed Odin's gesture of friendship and embarrassed himself by drunkenly boasting of his skills as a warrior. When an unamused Thor came to the court, Hrungnir was too drunk to recognise the danger and be able to defend himself from Thor.
Disabled in the Adaptation: Is stated to have been born with neither head nor heart.
Dumb Muscle: He was a strong jötunn, but his stone head restricted his intelligence. Causing him to become a "perfect simpleton".
Golem: His missing body parts were substituted with ones made of rock. Due to being a stone giant, his body has an elemental affinity towards stone.
In Vino Veritas: He was a simpleton with great strength, so when Odin invited him to Asgard to humour his subjects. Hrungnir was given enough alcohol to be convinced to brag about his skills as a warrior. Nobody believed Hrungnir's boasts and an unamused Thor promptly smashed his head to pieces.
Our Giants Are Bigger: He's a Mountain giant, meaning his element is rock (instead of fire or ice).
Sadly Mythtaken: In the myths, Hrungnir and Odin get into a bet over whose horse is faster, which ends with Hrungnir chasing Odin to Asgard. The gods welcome him hospitably, but he soon becomes drunk and rowdy, making threats that he'll kill the Aesir and take their womenfolk back to Jotunheim. Thor is called to deal with him, resulting in Hrungnir's death, with some interpretations saying that they had an honorable duel. Here, Hrungnir is presented as a charming simpleton who Odin met one day wandering Midgard. Finding him amusing, harmless, and gullible, Odin invited him back to Asgard. He gets him drunk and goads him into all manner of boasts and antics, all for the amusement of the court. Drunk, Hrungnir makes the same threats he did in mythology until Thor shows up, who takes one look at the drunken buffoon and strikes him dead, only for Hrungnir's body to land on top of him, making the court laugh even harder. Only young Magni and Móði, who were no taller than shrubs at the time, were strong enough to lift the corpse off their father.
Too Dumb to Live: Not that he is to blame for it though, as his trusting nature and gullibility certainly helped Odin manipulate him.
Unskilled, but Strong: Described as strong but a "perfect simpleton" by Mimir.
Your Head Asplode: Thor killed him by smashing Mjölnir into his head; according to Mimir, Thor still has shards of stone from Hrungnir's head embedded in his skull.

Thiazi

Father of Skaði, a Jötunn that could shape-shift into any animal.

Adaptational Heroism: According to the Prose Edda, Thiazi captured Loki as an eagle and threatened him into luring Idunn and her apples of youth out of Asgard, so he could kidnap her. In the game, him trying to steal Idunn's apples was purely a lie made up by Odin to slander him, and he never did anything to antagonize the Aesir.
Ambiguous Situation: While the stories told by Ymir say that he died, one of the marbles given to Atreus by Angrboda is said to contain his soul, suggesting this may not have been accurate.
Composite Character: His story is taken from one of the many variations on the story of Orion more so than Thiazi’s own myth.
Posthumous Character: Directly because of his daughter and indirectly because of Odin's trickery.
Our Giants Are Bigger: A shapeshifting one.
Patricide: His daughter was manipulated into this by killing him during her hunts while he was in the form of an eagle.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Could shapeshift into any animal. Unfortunately, this leads to his demise.

Skaði

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skai_god_of_war_2018.png

Skaði was a female Jötunn huntress and the daugther of Thiazi.

Action Girl: Given the fact she is called the "Queen of the Hunt", she qualifies for this trope.
Composite Character: A hunting goddess accidentally killing a loved one because she was challenged to by a jealous god has more in common with some variations on the story of Artemis and Orion as opposed to the mythical Skaði.
The Ghost: Though she doesn't appear physically, one of the Jötnar shrines is dedicated to her, and a recurring miniboss type in Ragnarök, the Stalkers, are her followers.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: One possible meaning of her name is "damage."
Sadly Mythtaken: In original Norse myths, her father was killed by Loki. Here she did it herself, after being manipulated by Odin.
Self-Made Orphan: Unintentionally. Odin manipulated her into hunting down a seemingly uncatchable eagle, which was actually her shape-shifting father.
Unrelated in the Adaptation: In the myths, she became Njörd's wife as one of the compensations made by the Aesir for the death of her father, although their marriage didn't last as a result of their contrasting domains (Skaði, snowy mountains, and Njörd, the ocean). Since her father's death was orchestrated by Odin as a petty cruelty against her in the games, Skaði never received any compensation and thus the duo seemingly never got engaged. In addition, after said engagement Skaði was considered one of the Ásynjur (Aesir goddesses) while here she’s never associated with the Aesir.
- Freya's family crest actually mentioned Skaði as member of the Vanir Leader Njörd's family, suggesting that they did marry in this universe.

Fjörgyn

Mother of Thor and one of Odin's great loves.

Interspecies Romance: With Odin.
Matricide: One of the lore markers implies that Thor is responsible for her death. Ragnarök implies that it was actually a case of Death by Childbirth rather than anything intentional on Thor's part, which led to further resentment from Odin.
Morality Pet: For Odin. He genuinely loved her and felt happy enough that he was devastated with grief after her death. With the implied Death by Childbirth in Ragnarök, this also fuels Odin's resentment against Thor, leading him to abuse and raise him as an attack dog whose belief that he's only good at "slaying Giants and pissing mead".

Gróa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gra_god_of_war_2018.png

Wife of Aurvandil and a gifted Seiðr.

Batman Gambit: What her false prophecy turned out to be. Her actual prophecy was that only Odin and Asgard fall in Ragnarök after fighting the forces of all the other realms. The false prophecy she told Odin before he killed her was that all the realms fall; this ensures that Odin will see fit to make an enemy out of everyone, since he's that kind of person, thus giving all other realms and races the motivation to fulfill her actual prophecy.
Composite Character: Gróa's character is combined with the unnamed seer who told Odin about Ragnarök in the Völuspá.
Defiant to the End: Odin interrogated her to reveal her secrets to him, threatening to kill her. She refused to share any of her knowledge to him, which caused Odin to strangle her to death. Ragnarök further clarifies that what little she did tell about Ragnarök was actually a falsehood, and that by goading Odin into killing her, he'd spent his efforts into stopping it based on false information, secure in the knowledge that her secrets apparently died with her, which would only push him further towards the events of Ragnarök.
Foreshadowing: When she defied Odin and refused to share her secrets with him, he murdered her in a rage, despite the act costing him access to her prophetic knowledge, which is implied to be what she was counting on, given she intentionally lied about the true context of Ragnarök. Such impulsive acts of lethal violence are demonstrated to be a Fatal Flaw of Odin's that eventually leads to him killing both Brok and Thor, despite both actions solidifying the animosity united against him from multiple parties, including his own granddaughter.
Posthumous Character: Odin murdered her in a rage when she refused to share her knowledge of Ragnarök with him, after which he stole her library for his own purposes.
Seers: She's the one who saw visions of and foresaw the coming of Ragnarök.
Unreliable Narrator: Ragnarök reveals that Gróa's prophecy that she gave to Odin was false, and this Odin has been operating off of a set of false assumptions in his preperations for Ragnarök.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her visions are what caused Odin's obsession with preventing Ragnarök. The events of Ragnarök subvert this however, with the reveal that she intentionally lied about what the full context of Ragnarök was to Odin, leading him to base his plans to avert it on a false premise that gradually lead him down the path towards starting it, implied to be because she was aware of his role in the murder of her husband.

Aurvandil

Husband of Gróa and a renowned warrior.

Death by Adaptation: Aurvandill is helped by Thor in Norse myth according to the Prose Edda, with Thor carrying him in a basket and breaking off his toe after it got a frost-bite, telling Gróa that it wouldn't take long for her husband to return home. Here, he was killed by Thor.
Happily Married: With Gróa. Too bad it ended in tragedy.
Make It Look Like an Accident: At some point, Thor asked for Aurvandil's help for a quest in Vanaheim. During the quest, he was intentionally killed by Thor (possibly for being a Jötunn). Thor returned to Gróa and made up a story where Aurvandil suffered from a frost-bite during a battle, and had to be carried away, until Thor lost him in a tundra. After that, Odin hid the truth about Aurvandil's death from Gróa's sight with a spell.
Posthumous Character: Being long dead, his story has turned into a fairy tale.

Laufey (Spoiler)

A female Jötunn, who ran away from her people and died. She's also Kratos' late wife Faye.

Adaptational Badass: In mythology, Laufey's other name is Nál, meaning 'needle'. This is because in Sörla þáttr, she's described as being slender and weak. Here, she's some sort of avenging Jötunn guerilla fighter who managed to fight Thor to a standstill.
Our Giants Are Bigger: Actually averted, she was normal-sized.
Posthumous Character: She's dead before the game's events begin. However, she's a main driving force for the story.
The Magnificent: Often referred to as Laufey the Just for her dedication to fighting the Aesir in defense of her people.
The Reveal: "Faye" and "Laufey" are one and the same.
Two Aliases, One Character: "Faye" is short for "Laufey".
Walking Spoiler: There's basically no way to discuss her in detail without revealing her driving role in the story, or spoiling The Reveal at the game's end.

Sinmara

Voiced by: Janina Gavankar

A Frost Jötunn from Niflheim and Surtr's wife.

Ascended Extra: Downplayed, as she doesn't make a physical appearance, but Sinmara is a minor figure in mythology, as she is solely mentioned in the poem Fjölsvinnsmál as a pale giantess implied to be Surtr's consort and keeper of the weapon Lævateinn. In the game, Sinmara gets an important narrative role in Ragnarök, as Surtr can only become the Beast of the Apocalypse and destroyer of Asgard by fusing himself with his lover. Since destroying Asgard would lead to their deaths, they decided to keep themselves apart to spare each other.
Death Wail: Sinmara can be overheard crying in the distance within the cold mists of Niflheim after Ragnarök, as she knows her love was gone after the destruction of Asgard.
The Ghost: Sinmara doesn't physically appear, but she is portrayed in Surtr's shrine and her crying can be heard across Niflheim after Surtr's death during Ragnarök. Curiously enough, she was supposed to have a larger role and even a full model, but it was cut during production.
Love at First Punch: Her first encounter with Surtr led to both of them fighting against each other, but once they ended up fighting together instead against other threats, they soon fell in love, to the point that each has the heart of the other. As in literally, they exchanged their physical hearts as a form of comfort, so that they could still symbolically be together even while separated in entirely different realms.

Loki (Spoiler)

Loki is the son of Laufey. According to the Giants, he is fated to trigger Ragnarök.

Adaptation Species Change: The original Loki was full Frost Giant, taking after both of his parents. Here he's only half and half, with his father being a former mortal turned Greek god instead. And since giant and god mixes in this universe make gods, he might be just “god”.
Adaptational Heroism: He has virtually none of the negative traits associated with mythological and even other modern depictions of Loki aside from some occasional hubris. Whereas mythological Loki had Baldur killed with a mistletoe spear as a cruel joke, here Baldur unwittingly impales himself on the mistletoe arrowhead keeping Atreus quiver string together when he punches Atreus as he tries to defend his father.
Adapted Out: In the 2018 game, when Mimir is recounting the many tales of Norse Mythology to Atreus Loki is always absent from them, even from the ones where he originally played a large role such as the time when Thrym stole Thor's hammer. This is because he hadn't even been born yet.
Animal Motifs: Mostly wolves, seeing as he will be the father of Fenrir/Fenris. Also to a lesser degree snakes, due to his connection to Jörmungandr.
Apocalypse Maiden: According to the Jötun's prophecy, he is destined to bring forth Ragnarök.
Divine Parentage: His father was the Greek God of War and his mother is the giantess Laufey.
Fiery Redhead: He has his mother's hair, but his father's temper. That says it all.
Heinz Hybrid: Has the potential to become powerful and cause The End of the World as We Know It due to being half-god, half-giant. And by god, we mean Greek, not Norse.
Related in the Adaptation: Loki was not the grandson of Zeus in the original stories, seeing how they came from two separate mythologies. Although, recent explorations imply that the myth of Loki was adopted into Norse myth fairly early into its development, implying that Loki might have hailed from a different mythology altogether originally.
The Reveal: Very few expected this plot twist. When he and Kratos finally make it to Jotunheim, Atreus discovers that the name Faye originally intended for him was Loki.
Smug Super: After learning his true nature he gets a bit of a big head for a while, though grows out of it later.
Tomato in the Mirror: All this time you were playing the game and Loki was Atreus all along!
Trickster God: Is supposed to be this, but it comes off more as an Informed Attribute... so far.
Turn Out Like His Father:
- Kratos's main goal is to be certain this does not happen so that his son doesn't kill him like he did with Zeus.
- On a much darker note, it's revealed that he is destined to cause an apocalyptic event that will wipe out an entire mythological pantheon, just like his old man.
Two Aliases, One Character: He is revealed to have two names, his Norse name given by his mother and his Greek name given by his father- Atreus.
Walking Spoiler: Being one of the most important figures in Norse mythology, it's difficult to discuss anything about him without major spoilers.

Characters / God of War Series - Jötnar

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