Characters / God of War Series – Kratos (Norse Era)

God of War characters index
Major Characters: Kratos (Greek Era | Norse Era) | Kratos's Family | Major Supporting Characters | Main Antagonists (Odin)
Greek Era: Gods | Titans | Mythology's Heroes | Other Beings | Normal Humans | Characters from Comics
Norse Era: Gods | Jotnar | Other Characters | Monsters

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"Do not be sorry. Be better."

"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."

Now Older and Wiser, Kratos is thrust back into fatherhood and is forced to raise Atreus by his lonesome when his Second Love Faye dies. Though he and his son are willing to work together to disperse Faye's ashes, it's clear he and his son have a strained bond; though Kratos cares deeply for Atreus, he's more than willing to dispense some Tough Love and is so ashamed of his past actions that he actively tries to hide his son's Divine Parentage from him.

Eventually, though, his presence is made known to the Norse Pantheon, including Odin and Thor. Despite his best efforts, Kratos once again finds himself antagonizing an entire roster of gods, though under vastly different circumstances. Despite all this, Kratos manages to Screw Destiny and defeat Odin and the Æsir at Ragnarök, before eventually accepting an offer from Freya to take up the position of God of Hope after doing a great deal of soul-searching in Valhalla.

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A-F

• Accentuate the Negative:
  • Kratos has an understandably low opinion of himself and especially what he'd done as the Ghost of Sparta, leading to him always re-framing his actions as those of a bad man, who just happens to be aiding others. Whilst Atreus is willing to offer aid selflessly to others and go on quests to aid departed souls, Kratos always frames this as them exercising pragmatism for resources they need along their journey, rather than genuine do-gooding. Ragnarok sees him starting to move away from this as part of his Character Development, still performing actions to aid others without trying to claim he's doing it for any other reason than he wants to help them, eventually transitioning him towards an Ideal Hero.
  • Valhalla brings this trait of Kratos' to the forefront, forcing him to traverse through memories of his time in Greece and the actions he'd committed, along with his absolute disgust of himself, whilst both Mimir and Tyr point out that he did do some good in his past, regardless of how it ended up. When seeing a memory of his desperate pact with Ares for the power to kill the Barbarian King, both Norse gods point out that if he hadn't taken that deal, the barbarian horde would have defeated the greek army and ravaged the lands, killing innocent civilians Kratos was sworn to protect. Kratos saved himself, but he also saved others by doing so.
• Achievements in Ignorance: Played with. In God of War (PS4), Kratos killing Magni objectively should not have been possible; Magni was fated to survive well past Ragnarök and even become stronger than his father Thor. Kratos ups the ante later on by killing Baldur hundreds of years before his own fated death, triggering Ragnarök far earlier than ever anticipated. In essence, Kratos did something that broke a prophecy wide open. This is all done while having little to no knowledge of the intricacies of the Norse pantheon, let alone Ragnarök itself. However, Ragnarok plays with the concept of You Can't Fight Fate, since it's revealed both that there really isn't any such thing as "destiny" as far as prophecies go, and the people who were telling Odin that Magni was fated to live past the aforesaid date just outright lied to Odin about it. So even if there was such a thing as fate at work in the background, the prophecy wasn't true to begin with.
  • If the player is good enough, it's possible for Kratos to do this in the Valhalla DLC. Forcing open Valhalla's doors gets you a big debuff, and you're supposed to die and get forced out so Sigrun can explain how to enter Valhalla properly, but it's entirely possible to just defeat everything on the first go while still debuffed, until you reach the last room where Helios forces you out. This will net you unique dialogue between Kratos and Mimir.
• Act of True Love:
  • When Atreus falls gravely ill due to igniting his own Spartan Rage, Kratos is told that the only cure can only be found in Helheim, one of the most dangerous realms where his weapons and magic will be useless, and that he will need something powerful enough to burn through the icy hordes there. He then realizes the only weapon that will work is the one reminder of his true, monstrous nature: his Blades of Chaos. When he unwraps them, his breath quickens and his hands visibly shake as if he's having a panic attack, but takes up his old weapons once again without hesitation to save his son.
  • In Valhalla Kratos is forced to place something in a furnace that will surely incinerate everything within in order to proceed, rather than allow Mimir to endure it, he willingly steps into the furnace himself and endures every second of agony until Valhalla deems the trial won and sends them back to the shore - and Kratos explicitly states he did it for him. Mimir is left speechless by this.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Downplayed thrice.
  • When Atreus innocently laughs at the idea of Faye teaching Kratos something instead of the other way around, Kratos quietly agrees that it is humorous.
  • When Atreus makes a pun about a submerged water wheel being an underwater wheel, Kratos snorts. He then immediately claims that he never laughs.
  • When Mimir makes a joke about dragon poop under the guise of teaching Atreus, Kratos sounds faintly amused when he tells Artreus the head is having fun with him.
• Aesop Amnesia: To an extent. Kratos has learned the futility of vengeance, the consequences of giving in to blind rage, and the necessities of discipline and taking responsibility for one's actions. But he has not fully internalized how his selfishness, amorality, and single-mindedness are massive catalysts to the things that have gone wrong in his life, and this leads to all sorts of complications between him and Atreus. Finally Subverted in Ragnarök, where Kratos' conversation with the Norns reveals to him that predestined fate does not exist, making him realize it is his own flaws that lead him to suffering and that he needs to master them if he wants to move on.
• The Ageless: Double-subverted. Despite anywhere between 100 and 1000 years passing since the end of the Greek saga, Kratos only looks about a decade older than he did then. However, he struggles mightly against Baldur, who claims that Kratos' "old body will break eventually", and it seems he just isn't the fighter he once was. But once Kratos starts to knock off the rust, it becomes clear that even after all those years, he's still just as strong and skilled as he once was, if not more so.
• The Aloner: In God of War (PS4), Kratos would rather be left alone to raise Atreus and spread Faye's ashes. Unfortunately for him, the gods have other plans.
• Always Need What You Gave Up: Kratos locked away his Blades of Chaos after moving to Midgard, using the Leviathan Axe in their place as his main weapon throughout most of the game. However, when Atreus ends up suffering from a serious illness, the cure of which can only be found in Helheim, a realm where no flame in all the nine realms could ever burn, Kratos realizes there is only one thing that can help him. Luckily, but unfortunately for Kratos, the Blades of Chaos aren't from the Nine Realms.
• Amazon Chaser: A conversation with Atreus earlier in the game implies that this amongst other reasons is what attracted him to Faye.
  Atreus: She could fight, couldn't she?
  Kratos: Yes. She fought... beautifully.
• Animal Motifs: Bears. Kratos is a solitary figure, a tough survivor in a harsh wilderness, his beard is thick and coarse like their fur and, as his enemies learn, the most dangerous position for them to be in is between Kratos and Atreus, the latter of who is able to transform into a bear, the biggest reflection that he's inherited his father's rage. Supplementary works have lines in relation to a bear, which are definitely referring to Kratos; In the steel book version of the game, the translated version of the runes on the cover regards Kratos as a bear. The Norse translation is "This is the story of a bear and a wolf, who wandered the realms of nine to fulfill a promise of one before; they walk the twilight path, destined to discover the truth that is to come." And the lyrics in Blood Upon the Snow, it's mentioned "The bear that keeps to his own line".
• Anti-Hero:
  • At the beginning of the journey, he is a pronounced Nominal Hero, as opposed to being an out-and-out Villain Protagonist. He still puts his own goals over actively thinking of others, and continues to very much despise the gods. But now, Kratos actively goes out of his way to solve problems non-violently, only resorting to violence when he finds no other option available. He also deeply regrets the many terrible things he had done while in Greece, even the killing of Zeus, and as such tries to instill in his son the importance of discipline. Thanks to his bonds with the people he meets upon his journey, such as Sindri and Brok, along with Mimir's and Atreus's influence, he becomes a much more protective and actively heroic character by saving Sindri from a rampaging dragon and preventing Baldur from killing his mother. This moves him towards being a Classic Anti Hero as, and by the end of the game, after making peace with his past and reconciling with Atreus, he transitions into a Pragmatic Hero.
  • By the end of Ragnarök, after realizing that there is no fate but what he makes after a meeting with the Norse version of the Fates and guilt after giving into his anger and killing Heimdall, he transitions into a Knight in Sour Armor, still gruff and aggressive, but only using violence when absolutely necessary and even sparing his enemies instead of killing them, going out of his way to try to redeem Thor instead of killing him. After defeating Odin, he's perfectly okay with Atreus' solution of imprisoning him instead of killing him. After seeing a prophetic mural showing him being a beloved and worshipped god of the people, he goes out of his way to repair the damage that Ragnarök did, showing that Kratos may even be transitioning into becoming a full Ideal Hero.
• The Anti-Nihilist: He's fully aware of the fact that no matter what he does, he will possibly never be able to redeem himself for his past mistakes and by his own admission he will always be a monster. However he's no longer the Greek Pantheon's monster and can use his experience and wisdom to help prevent his son from making the same mistakes as he did, and try to dissuade Baldur from going down the same path. He might not be able to atone for all the harm he's done, but he'll certainly try.
  Atreus: [...]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.
• Anti-Villain: Kratos's act of killing the final boss of the PS4 title was done entirely with noble intentions in mind, in order to prevent him from killing his own mother and perpetuating the cycle of patricide that plagues even the Aesir. But despite being completely in the right, Kratos's actions have set the entirety of Asgard against him and his son, namely because the death of Baldur has triggered Ragnarök hundreds of years ahead of time. Mimir even lampshades this:
  Mimir: Guess we're the bad guys now.
• Apologetic Attacker: After killing the gatekeeper and carving out his heart, you can see Kratos momentarily placing his hand on the gatekeeper's chest, indicating an apology.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: He scoffs at the idea of the World Serpent being flung back in time to before his own birth. Apparently just ignoring how he himself was thrust back into his own past during his duel with the Sisters of Fate.
• Arc Words: Kratos's advice to Atreus whenever the boy fails or is on the verge of despair is always some variation of "be better". On the one hand, this highlights his nature as a Stern Teacher, since Kratos will just give Atreus an order to improve without really telling him how to improve. But on the other hand, it also shows that Kratos wants to make sure that Atreus doesn't turn out like his father. Faye told him this when he tells her he fears for Atreus. She tells him "We are not our failures. We must be better".
• Ascended Extra: Played with; Kratos isn't directly based on any mythological character, but in the end of God of War (PS4), the prophecies of the Jötnar call him Fárbauti, making the character the protagonist of the series. Fárbauti himself is rather scarcely mentioned in the myths, being only attested as Loki's father.
• At Least I Admit It: When the specter of Athena visits to mock Kratos in his attempt to save Atreus, she tells him a teacher, husband, and father is something he can never be—but that he will always be a monster. Kratos doesn't deny it, but replies with how he is no longer her monster.
• The Atoner: Valhalla has Kratos going through all manner of trials and personal challenges in order to accept and confront his past crimes. He also reveals some of his more personal sins to Mimir, including the captain he killed simply to further his own goals when saving him would have cost him nothing. While Kratos knows he can never truly atone for those he wronged in the past, Valhalla allows him to see that his past actions were not entirely self-serving (his pact with Ares was originally made to save the people of Sparta, after all) and that he can indeed become a hero in the path forward if he accepts all facets of his past and use it to do better.
• Audience Surrogate: As a Greek warrior in Ancient Norway, Kratos lacks knowledge about the Gods and lore of this new land, requiring others to explain it for him, putting him in the shoes of fans who also lacks said knowledge.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Kratos isn't afraid to perform some gloriously brutal acts of violence upon his enemies, even when he's right in front of his son, but he is well aware that there's a difference between being witness to violent acts and actually acting them out. When he and Atreus are confronted by bandits early on in their journey, Kratos reminds Atreus to keep his distance and even asserts, "When we encounter them, you will leave them to me." When Atreus is forced to kill one of the bandits in self-defense, he falls into a Heroic BSoD and in response, Kratos comforts him as best as he possibly can...but maintains that they have to continue their journey. Likewise, Kratos absolutely refuses to let Atreus get involved in any business with the Norse gods, though this is more because the Aesir Would Hurt a Child, have much more experience in combat than Atreus, and because Atreus simply isn't yet ready for the consequences of killing a god.
• Baritone of Strength: In a sharp contrast to his younger self's No Indoor Voice, Kratos has gained a much lower and more gravelly voice with age which perfectly compliments his true raw power that he deliberately conceals under the surface.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: Kratos is forced to grab his Blades of Chaos, which he originally planned to never touch again, once Atreus becomes ill and he has to travel to Helheim, where his Leviathan Axe would be about useless.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: During the Greek era, Kratos was a monster, feared and hated by most, selfishly waging war against the gods for the sake of his own vengeance, only seeming to come to a Heel Realization after all was said and done and he'd single-handedly ravaged his own homeland. By the end of Ragnarök, he's become empathetic, selfless, and a genuine hero, seemingly destined to become a beloved figure after justly bringing about the downfall of Odin. Kratos is near tears to realize that he's successfully become the polar opposite of the man he once was.
• Berserk Button: Ordering him to kill. While he doesn't mind fighting if it's to help his friends or protect his son, he doesn't like being ordered to, as it reminds him of his past as a monster being led around by Ares and Athena. The only time he gets actually angry with Freya (who, keep in mind, was trying to kill him not even a few hours earlier) is when she tells him to disdainfully to stop talking and "kill things", saying that he will not be hers, or anyone's, monster.
• Best Friend: With Mimir, of all people. By Ragnarök, the two confide in each other, snipe harmless insults, and give moral support all while not being afraid of criticizing the other.
• Beyond Redemption: At one point, he's confronted by the spirit of Athena, who tells him point-blank that no matter how much he tries to be a better person, he can't change and will always be a monster, to which Kratos concurs. However, while Kratos is convinced he can't be redeemed, he still makes an effort to ensure Atreus doesn't walk down the same path as he did, and by the end of the game, he seems to have realized that he can at least keep trying.
  • Firmly defied in Ragnarök. During his dealings with Thor who asserts that they are both destroyers, Kratos rebukes them, saying that they are not doomed to be monsters or destroyers, they are people, and they control their own destiny. By the end of the game, Kratos sees a prophecy that shows him as a widely adored deity, showing that even if he hasn't yet forgiven himself, the world around him no longer sees him as a merciless destroyer.
• Big Good: Kratos' Character Development in the Norse Saga centers around not only fulfilling his role as a father to Atreus and becoming a better person and god overall, but also accepting that he can embody everything Odin was not: a revered and esteemed deity who safeguards his people.
  • At the end of the PS4 game, with the Norse pantheon being just as evil if not worse than the Greek gods, as well as Freya swearing vengeance on Kratos for the death of Baldur, Kratos has taken it upon himself to instruct Atreus on the responsibilities of being a god. He even tells him that they must be better than the generations of gods that spawned them. Come the next installment, he shows great improvement.
  • In Ragnarök, Kratos is the leader of the group of allies that eventually assemble around him. During the final battle he's even formally placed as general and commander of the entire multi-realm force storming Asgard. By the end of the game Kratos is well on his way to fulfilling a prophecy that shows him as an adored godly protector of the people. Taken further after the Valhalla DLC where he is given a more fitting title: the God of Hope.
• Blessed with Suck: Kratos has come to view his godhood as a curse; a lifetime of having to suffer thanks to the treachery of his own pantheon, as well as self-loathing at his own arrogance after having become a god himself, has convinced him that "there are no good gods," and as such he desperately wants to spare Atreus from the life of tragedy that comes with being a god. Subverted by Ragnarök, by the end Kratos embraces his godhood after seeing a prophecy showing him as a beloved deity.
• Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: Kratos had an Archnemesis Dad dynamic with his father Zeus. Zeus in turn was an enemy of his own father, Cronus, who was an enemy of his father Ouranos. Kratos expects that this trend might continue with Atreus, and is initially resigned to it because he's willing to sacrifice his own life to ensure Atreus' future, but by the end of God of War (PS4) he resolves to break the cycle by nuturing his relationship with Atreus instead.
• Break Out the Museum Piece:
  • When Atreus becomes ill and Freya asks Kratos to bring her the heart of Helheim's Gatekeeper to cure him, she warns that Hel is deathly cold, that no magic in the Nine Realms can make a blaze, and the ice magic of the Leviathan Axe would not avail him against the cold denizens of Hel. Kratos grimly realizes that he must unbury his past and returns home, retrieving his old Blades of Chaos hidden beneath the floorboards. The Blades, having been forged in the depths of Hades and infused with magic outside the Nine Realms, nicely fit his needs.
  • He unintentionally breaks out another during the events of the Valhalla DLC for Ragnarök, the Blade of Olympus—or at least a manifestation of the memory of it—that he is able to channel under his own volition once more as a unique Rage mode complete with its magics.
• Brought Down to Badass: A boat conversation in Ragnarök has Kratos reveal that after the destruction of Greece at the end of ''III'. he can no longer invoke the magic that he was able to use in the Greek era games. Atreus believes it's because magic is tied to a domain, so when Greece died, so did Kratos' magic. Despite this, Kratos still retains his Super-Strength, immortality, Healing Factor, and Spartan Rage.
• Brutal Honesty: Kratos, after a life of near-constant conflict, understandably doesn't handle social situations well, and often tends to shut down conversation as bluntly as possible.
  Atreus: But why would a fire troll burn mother's garden? And since when are draugr so close to the house? And what was that frozen thing that attacked us?
  Kratos: I do not know. Now be silent. We are almost home.
  • Even his non-combat life lessons for Atreus are very taciturn and grim, driving home their importance by being "brief and purposeful", as he puts it. When collecting Gullveig's bones from across the Lake of Nine, he repeatedly states that the spirit is lying to them so that his son doesn't get his hopes up for speaking with Faye one last time; later, he senses another spirit playing the role of a fool for trying to wage war against Thor in the afterlife, because — even if Kratos doesn't know yet how impossible it is to escape Hel — the ghost of a long-dead mortal man still has no chance against a god.
• Burning with Anger: His Spartan Rage takes the form of his fists becoming covered in fire. As shown by Atreus's brief, unsuccessful use of it, this seems to be derived from his own divine Greek powers as the God of War, much like Ares's own pyrokinetic affinity.
• Cannot Tell a Joke:
  • Or in this case rather, a story; He bungles in telling the story of The Tortoise and The Hare to his son, emphasizing the tortoise's victory due to the Hare's foolishness and the Tortoise's discipline, never mentioning the specific action therof that the Hare took a nap halfway through the race. He gets better at telling stories later.
  • A less funny example later on is when he tells the story of the thief on death row who bit off his mother's ear because she showed him nothing but love instead of discipline. Kratos either forgot, was never told, or deliberately omitted that in the original fable, the mother spoiled the thief since he was a child, overlooking and forgiving every one of his crimes, and he never learned about consequences until it was too late.
• Cannot Spit It Out: A platonic example. His training, history, and personality have greatly reduced his ability to thank the people who help him, or to tell his son that he loves him. His actions, however, eventually show quite enough. Unfortunately, this often leads to his intentions being misunderstood while he refuses to clarify until it's too late; for example, Atreus genuinely believes that Kratos doesn't care about him because Kratos never told him the reason for his distant behavior. Sindri eventually comes to believe that Kratos was using him for similar reasons; though the players know that being a grump like always but occasionally risking his life for someone (like saving Sindri from a dragon) is Kratos's way of saying thanks, but the grief-stricken Sindri isn't in the state of mind to put that together and would've liked a clear affirmation that Kratos did indeed care about their friendship.
• Canon Character All Along: A bizarre example; Kratos is referred to in murals throughout Jötunheim as Fárbauti. The name itself means "cruel striker", but in traditional Norse legends, it is the name of the father of Loki... which is revealed to have been the name given unto Atreus by Faye.
• Canon Welding: A discussion with Mimir in Ragnarök reveals that one of the stories he has heard about Kratos is how he fought in a tournament, with Kratos replying that he has fought in several contests. The people referenced however heavily hint that this is a reference to the events of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale of all things, though Kratos refuses to talk about it any further. With that in mind, his comment about fighting in other contests could be a reference to him being a guest fighter in games like Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny and Mortal Kombat 9. Since most of these games had character exclusive endings for Kratos, if we assume these guest appearances are indeed canon that means Kratos lost these fights since the endings often show him gaining some sort of new power which would conflict with God of War canon.
• Character Development: Kratos's odyssey throughout Norse mythology can be succinctly described in two words: Be Better.
  • It's clear at this point that Kratos deeply regrets his past actions, the worst of which being the destruction of Greece from his Roaring Rampage of Revenge, and has become a stoic yet more empathetic individual. Though he is still largely self-interested, he has gained greater control over his rage and is more willing to accept his own faults as a person.
  • He still holds great disdain for any deity in his way, but doesn't go out of his way to massacre them indiscriminately, knowing the consequences of killing one can be disastrous, and doesn't want to repeat what had happened in III.
  • The simple act of finding love with Faye shows that he's managed to move past the deaths of his original family. Though he spends a whole game trying to run away from his traumatic past life, his time spent with Atreus and others forces him to come to terms with who he is and what he's done, and by the end of 2018, he undoes the bandages along his forearms — symbolically signifying that Kratos has finally accepted himself and forgiven himself for his past sins, thanks to Atreus's acceptance of him.
  • By Ragnarök, he staunchly wants to avoid the impending war with Asgard despite them threatening him and Atreus, and refuses Atreus's pleas to think like a general in order to stop Asgard, knowing and regretting what he did the last time he was a general (which itself is the inverse of his behvaiour in III, where he harbored little regret over the war he intigated). This mindset breaks when he visits the Norns and learns that predestined fate does not exist, making him realize that it was his own flaws that kept leading him down the same miserable path across the ages. This causes him to take great strides to become a better person, and by the end of the game, he's gone all the way to being an Ideal Hero.
  • By Ragnarök, Kratos regularly and proactively seeks counsel from others, asking Mimir and other allies for their thoughts or suggestions, and even taking suggestions to heart even if he when not asked for such as when Mimir suggests he goes along with Atreus' plan to find Tyr. He's also far open about himself and his past - even volunteering the story of his first family to Freya to show he knows what losing a child to one's own actions feels like.
  • After Atreus almost died due his mortal mind and godly body conflicting, Kratos has learned the price of keeping secrets, especially from his son, and so avoids keeping important information from Atreus when possible throughout Ragnarök.
  • During the war in Asgard, Atreus seeing civilians getting injured has him command his allies to save any civilians getting caught in the crossfire, as they did not want to kill innocents. This is a huge development for him because previously, it was a bad idea for anyone to remain in his path, regardless if they are a soldier or civilian in his own wars. Furthermore, while in the previous installment Kratos mostly only did favors because he wanted to find valuable spoils and gain rewards or teach Atreus a lesson, in Ragnarök he does them out of genuine empathy and desire to spend time with his son.
  • The Valhalla DLC is the most direct depiction of this yet. With the help of the real Tyr, Kratos is able to mentally process his biggest failures: accepting servitute to Ares in exchange for defeating the barbarian horde, his slaughter of the Greek pantheon, and opening Pandora's box. Through this, he eventually accepts the post of the Norse God of War, knowing that he's grown as a person and can serve the role more altruistically as a God of Hope.
• Chronic Self-Deprecation:
  • Kratos constantly rejects any suggestion that he can be better than the god-slayer he was in the Greek saga, including positions of power or affluence, preferring to live as the humblest of men in the woods. Even as he does make visible improvements, he never acknowledges them himself. It takes the events of Ragnarök, its ending, and his journeys through the Valhalla DLC to fully accept that he IS indeed capable of being better.
  • In the Valhalla DLC of Ragnarök, in the upper levels Kratos is almost always accompanied by the head of Helios instead of Mimir, who does nothing but belittle Kratos, including insulting his intelligence, calling him an uncaring butcher, and criticizing him for anything less than utter perfection in battle. This occurs even in the post-game when Kratos has fully come to terms with himself, and it's implied that this is because Kratos sees the criticism as nessecary. Since everything in Valhalla is an extension of one's mind, it's not difficult to imagine that Helios is a direct mouthpiece of Kratos' negative thoughts on himself after all the criticisms the Greek gods made of him, as well as his very harsh Spartan upbringing.
• Classical Anti-Hero: Kratos has moved on from being a modern Anti-Hero, and has become a much more Classical example. While he's still a stoic One-Man Army capable of tossing around very large, heavy objects, he's now faced with a situation in which he's completely unprepared for. He's often very stern and distant from his son, to the point where his actions can be classified as Parental Neglect if not outright abusive. But, underneath his constant frowning, Kratos is very clearly terrified of losing Atreus, having Atreus make the same mistakes he once did as a War God, or even letting Atreus know the truth behind his Dark and Troubled Past.
• Clingy MacGuffin: It's revealed in the novelization (and mentioned in Ragnarök) that Kratos tried multiple times to be rid of the Blades of Chaos, but they'd always find their way back to him through various contrived situations. One of the strangest offenders of this was when he tried to dump them into the ocean while on a ship, and the sea got so "angry" that it wrecked his vessel and left him ashore with the Blades. Giving up, he decided to just keep them under the floorboards of his house as an eternal, painful reminder.
• Combat and Support: Kratos does most of the dirty work up-close while Atreus generally supports him with his arrows.
• Comes Great Responsibility: Outright states this to Atreus, after he reveals his Divine Parentage to him. Kratos is now fully aware of the responsibilities and dangers that come with being a god, and does not want his son to suffer the same way he once did.
  Atreus: So I'm a man now... Like you?
  Kratos: No. We are not men. We are more than that. The responsibility is far greater. And you must be better than me. Understand?
• The Comically Serious: Midgard's a lot more whimsical than Greece was, so Kratos becomes this when put next to characters like Brok, Sindri, Mimir, and Ratatoskr. Ragnarök amps it up even further, as Kratos is more willing to indulge Atreus' whims but is also visibly biting his tongue over the shenanigans and dangers he gets them involved in.
• Competitive Balance:
  • The Leviathan Axe has the best single-target damage, but outside certain runic attacks, isn't too amazing when dealing with mobs.
  • The Fist/Shield combo has the fastest attack speed and best stun damage, but is the weakest physical damage and has no elemental damage, in addition to sharing the same area of effect weakness as the Leviathan Axe. On the plus side, it builds up Spartan Rage the fastest.
  • The Blades of Chaos have the best Area of Effect damage, best used for large mobs, but is noticeably worse for fighting single bosses than the Leviathan Axe due to the lower damage.
  • The Draupnir Spear, forged during the events of Ragnarok is easily the most effective weapon at range and deals hefty damage with the right set up, but many of its most effective attacks require time to set up, and in terms of basic combo damage it's outclassed by the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The original series is very much this to Kratos. Though he's now become a father, and he deeply cares for his son, it's clear that Kratos is still wracked with guilt over what he used to be.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Stern Teacher and Sink or Swim Fatherhood; Kratos' violent past and breathtaking family issues still haunt him and hamper his own ability to function as a father, and his internalization of Greek values versus Norse values drives a wedge between him and his more emotional son. While Kratos does genuinely want to atone for his past, he also still doesn't fully understand how his selfishness and inability to recognize the consequences of his actions continues to affect his behavior. Overcoming his flaws and his own violent tendencies is essential if he's going to make sure Atreus doesn't go down the same path he did.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Even with hundreds if not thousands of years gone by, Kratos still holds true to the values and ways of his homeland, making him a little inscrutable to some in the Nine Realms.
  • Along with his emotionally distant nature and determination to teach his boy to survive in the unforgiving world of Midgard, his own upbringing in Sparta has made him a stern, sometimes harsh father. Eventually, after mending his relationship with his son, he admits that he stopped training Atreus as a Spartan because he saw him as capable of being something else.
  • He very much believes in Sacred Hospitality, even if it presents an inconvenience to himself as either a guest or host. He doesn't shut the door in Baldur's face at first even though he had every right to, and he (warily) lets Thor inside and goes through the motions of entertaining him in spite of knowing that he would kill them both if he could, all with a very grim look on his face. The stories of Thor killing his hosts in a drunken rage and Freyr being tortured by the Aesir hit a special nerve for him because both were invited to Midgard and Asgard, respectively.
  • While exploring Helheim, Mimir tells Kratos that it's where those who died dishonorable deaths go. Kratos assumes this means criminals, but Mimir explains it means everyone who didn't die in battle, including death from "disease, mishap [and] age". Kratos, coming from a culture where elderly veterans were celebrated for their skill and wisdom, is surprised that it is considered dishonorable to grow old.
  • Played for laughs at one point in Ragnarök, when Kratos maintains that the primitive ancient Greek idea of stagecraft — one act, no scene changes, mostly expository and choral — is a good way of telling a story because it's "clear" what's happening. Mimir points out that a bunch of people entering, saying that things happened off-stage, and then exiting, doesn't sound all that engaging for the audience.
• Dented Iron: Zigzagged. The writers have clarified that Kratos has in fact only grown stronger in the norse realm, stated to be undeniably capable of winning against his younger self, but it appears that while his other physical abilities and combat skills are sharper than ever, his age has caused his once staunch stamina to decline and he is also more prone to getting injured. While a younger Kratos has never been shown to rest and is capable capable of tearing through hordes of enemies and killing gods without needing to stop to even take a breather, rarely being winded by his fights, he now appears to require time to regain his strength after going through hard stuff and sufficiently strong enemies are capable of leaving him visibly battered, as shown by his battles with Baldur and Thor, both of which left him bloodied and exhausted. That said, it's also clarified that Kratos is supressing his power and has never really used his fullest strength at this age, it's unclear if this is just him learning to be more vulnerable from Faye's influence.
• Determinator: Kratos doesn't know when to quit, and will do anything to protect his son. Baldur even asks him why he can't just give up.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Kratos killing Magni came as a surprise to everyone — Atreus, awestruck that his supposedly mortal father slew a god; Modi, traumatized, devastated, and in disbelief at the death of his brother, which wasn't supposed to have been possible; Mimir, dreading Thor's response to Magni's death.
  Mimir: (after an awestruck Atreus mentions Thor) Not [a] "minor" [god]. Not minor at all, him. This will not go over well in Asgard.
• Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Kratos may be quiet and doing his best not to talk about her much, but when Atreus claims he doesn't actually care about his mom dying, he corrects him very quickly.
  Kratos: Mind your tongue, boy! Until our journey is over, one of us must remain focused. Do not mistake my silence for lack of grief. Mourn how you wish, leave me to my own.
• Discard and Draw: Kratos discarded his signature chain blades and instead uses a magical axe as his primary weapon. He eventually recovers his old weapons, revealed to be hidden under the floorboards of his cabin.
• Doesn't Trust Those Guys: He rather understandably has an instinctual hatred of all gods, claiming that there are no "good" ones and that they aren’t worthy of worship. This behavior negatively colors his experiences with Freya, but he seems to be okay with Mimir, mostly because he has a similar opinion on most of them.
  • He eventually comes to grow out of this mindset by Ragnarök, having met several gods who were demonstrably decent people and befriending many of them.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Kratos really doesn't like it when Mimir finds out who he is and calls him the Ghost of Sparta.
• Double Meaning: Kratos remains enigmatic about his past and during key plot points when he speaks to Atreus. It sounds like he's trying to assure himself more than Atreus.
• The Dragonslayer: Ends up adding dragon-slaying to his list of feats when he kills Hræzlyr to save Sindri. Notably, Kratos doesn't go out of his way to kill dragons, as there are three trapped dragons that he releases without any intent to kill after Atreus asks him to help them - he only kills Hræzlyr because the latter was trying to eat the dwarf. Ragnarök sees him add over a dozen more dragons and dragon-adjacent creatures to his kill count, including the legendary Draconic Abomination Niðhögg.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap:
  • Literately, all of his lessened performance compared to when he was in Greece is confirmed by writers to be attributed to multiple handicaps preventing him from using his full abilities, which is deemed to be capable of making him a Story-Breaker Power level character. It's not a case of Feeling Their Age but it's more that he has gotten rusty after years of only fighting mediocre monsters whereas back in Greece he had all the time in the world to slaughter Titans and Gods. Not only that, he is later revealed to have been holding back the entire time as he doesn't want Atreus to suspect him being a god, and as Atreus is inexperienced and not able to use much of the strengths he gained from being Kratos and Faye's son, having him around actually makes it more difficult for Kratos rather than helping him. When he is free to display his full capabilities, pushing building-sized objects with his bare hands and summarily dispatching Magni and even killing Baldur several times displays that he certainly is still capable of performing at a similar level to his Greek Era self if he is allowed to go all-out.
  • In a boat conversation in Ragnarök he admits to Mimir and Atreus that he's lost much of his magical powers he had in Greece. He's tried to use them again, to no effect. Atreus suspects that these powers were tied to Greece itself, and when Greece died in God Of War III, Kratos' magic went with it.
• The Dreaded: Mimir recognizing Kratos as the infamous Ghost of Sparta who destroyed the Greek Pantheon makes it clear that the gods of other realms, including the Aesir, know of his exploits and possibly fear him. And given Odin's paranoia, it would make sense that he would send his best tracker after the guy who killed gods left and right during his rampage. It's eventually revealed to be a Red Herring, though Kratos does end up becoming an actual legitimate one after defying one prophecy after another (killing Magni and Baldur, the former meant to survive Ragnarök with his brother and Baldur's meant to signal the beginning of Ragnarök). In the latter case, he kickstarts Ragnarök years before it's even meant to start.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After decades of the series running and two entirely different eras of him being a Cosmic Plaything, Kratos finally not only redeems himself for all of his past failures by the end of God of War Ragnarök but is promised a hopeful future he never considered once as becoming the Hope Bringer much like Tyr had been, not to mention he is happy to see Atreus having matured into a responsible man looking to fulfill his own destiny, telling him he's ready to go out on his own.
• Elemental Powers: As the game goes on, Kratos gets the capabilities of utilizing the four classical elements and beyond.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: With Spartan Rage, Kratos can generate small tremors with his fists and feet and rip boulders from the ground to hurl from enemies.
  • An Ice Person: Faye's Leviathan Axe was bequeathed to him after her death, and allows Kratos to utilize cryokinesis to freeze and decimate foes. It's said to be infused with the "echoing screams of 20 Frost Trolls".
  • Playing with Fire: Once he picks the Blades of Chaos back up, Kratos regains his abilities to incinerate enemies in battle. Kratos' Spartan Rage also lights his fists ablaze.
  • Blow You Away: The Draupnir Spear is a self-duplicating spear with spearheads that Kratos can detonate in wind explosions. He can use wind to pull enemies in and blow them backwards, attack enemies from afar with Razor Wind, and summon cyclones.
  • Light 'em Up: With the Glaive of Dødher relic or by using Elemental Siphon on Bifröst-wielding enemies, Kratos can wield Bifröst energy. The Hilt of Angrvadall relic also grants him access to more traditional light attacks.
  • Shock and Awe: By using the Hilt of Ridill relic or using Elemental Siphon on electricity-wielding enemies, Kratos can call lightning down on opponents.
• Emerging from the Shadows: How he's introduced in the trailer for the 2018 game.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • While he is still gruff and anti-social, he calls out Atreus when he talks down on Sindri, and hurts his feelings, stating that he had no reason to talk to him so cruelly. He's also a bit annoyed when Atreus bluntly asks Sindri about Brok's blue skin.
  • When Mimir explains that dying of old age is dishonorable enough to end up in Hel, Kratos is given genuine pause at the punishment for the "crime". This does make sense as a bit of Deliberate Values Dissonance though; with how brutal and short-lived ancient Spartans were, one that could live to old age was likely exceptionally badass, and were venerated as having earned their peaceful golden years, and almost guaranteed a peaceful eternity in the Elysian fields for their valor (if not their heroism, bloodthirsty as the Spartans were). It's the whole reason why "Beware of an Old Man in a profession where Men die Young" is a common and well-known phrase to begin with.
  • He's visibly disgusted by Modi's wounds that were caused by Thor, his own father, and even goes as far as to openly show disgust at Thor for always putting Modi last even in death and blaming Kratos for his death when it was Thor who beat him to where just a single stab from a mere knife is enough to kill him. For all his flaws, Kratos would never play favorites with his children or abuse them in the same way as Thor.
  • He's also now against needless killing, unlike the old him who would potantially kill people just for being in his way. He repeatedly offers Baldur the chance to just walk away, even refusing to fight back while being hit until Baldur has made it clear he isn't leaving and Kratos must put him down. He also ignores Modi's insults towards him and Faye, as he's already beaten and specifically stating, not worth killing. When Atreus kills Modi anyway, Kratos is genuinely angered and horrified that Atreus killed a defenseless opponent "as an indulgence", saying that they should only kill in self-defense. In Ragnarök, he fights the valkyrie which attacks him near their home but he doesn't want to kill her - he channels his Spartan Rage into Valor, healing himself so he can shield Atreus. When the valkyrie turns out to be Freya, he doesn't even try to defend himself against her and instead focuses on calming down a raging Atreus, reminding him that she used to be their friend.
  • Related to the above he's now decisively against seeking revenge. He shows absolutely no desire to go after the Aesir Gods even after they send Baldur and Magni and Modi to hunt them down and was seemingly content to just live in peace with his son until Thor and Odin came calling. In general he seems to operate on the principle of only attacking those who threaten him/the ones he loves and has no interest in pursuing someone once they are no longer a threat. After seeing all the damage his quest for revenge caused to his homeland, Kratos' position is more than understandable.
  • He doesn't even hesitate to reject Odin's offer to deal with Freya in exchange for peace, straight up admitting in his thoughts that regardless of Freya being an enemy, to work with her ex-husband to handle her is something he would never cross.
  • He is especially aghast when he learns that Freyr was attacked and burned by the Aesir while he was their guest. Sacred Hospitality is a big thing in Greek culture, after all.
  • When he learns that Odin's ravens are the souls of sacrificed children who were corrupted by The Raven Keeper, Kratos is, once a bit uncharacteristically, horrified and taken aback by this revelation but he quickly and calmly decides to find and kill The Raven Keeper before she corrupts any more souls. Even after killing her, Kratos still asks if there's more he can do for them.
  • Likely due to his servitude to Ares in the Greek Era, Kratos detests slavery in any form. He's especially disappointed with, and chides, Mimir when Mimir tells about the Lyngbakr, a huge whale-like beast, whom Mimir had trapped and enslaved to gain favor with Odin over a century ago. Kratos, without hesitation, works to free the creature shortly after finding it.
• Exposed to the Elements: Despite the fact that Northern Europe is far colder than the Mediterranean, the most he wears is a leather shoulder-strap on his upper body by default. He can however equip actual chestplates that cover his body.
• Face Death with Dignity: Upon seeing the Jotun prophecy of his death and Atreus holding him in his last moments, Kratos is calm and accepting of this - possibly because it also shows Atreus surviving and continuing on his own path.
  Atreus: Come on, we're so close to the end now!
  Kratos: Yes... Yes we are.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • As he's mostly gotten past the whole Never My Fault thing by this point, perhaps the most destructive flaw Kratos has nowadays is his inability to just talk to his son. So many problems in the game could have been avoided had Kratos been able to communicate with Atreus: besides keeping Atreus's true nature from the boy, which caused Atreus's illness as detailed below, even after revealing the truth he keeps key tidbits away from Atreus, and this causes the boy to go Drunk with Power. Case in point, Kratos mentions that there are consequences to killing gods after Atreus kills Modi, and refuses to elaborate: predictably, Atreus blows him off and continues on his path down the slippery slope.
  • His self-loathing and refusal to face his past actions. Though Kratos wants to protect Atreus from the knowledge of being a god, it's revealed later on that Atreus's body is wrestling with his divine nature. If Kratos had entrusted Atreus with the truth from the very beginning, Atreus would never have become ill. Later on, Kratos is forced to face the shame of his past actions; while it's clear he deeply regrets who he once was, what's most troubling to him is what his son might think of him. Even when making a confession, Kratos remains vague. He admits to killing his father Zeus, but settles on leaving out many other details for another time.
  • His shortsightedness rears up every once in a while. Even after moving up to Midgard, Kratos is primarily focused on caring for his son and getting Faye's ashes to the highest peak in all the realms. Despite his intentions being significantly more noble than they were before, he focuses on his relationship with Atreus and their goal so much that he brushes off the prophesies of the mural in Jötunheim — namely the fact that Atreus will trigger Ragnarök through Kratos's death — along with the implication that Faye had intended for all of it to happen.
  • Per the Norns in Ragnarök, he, and most other gods, share an utter inability to actually act to rectify their flaws, on the off chance they actually acknowledge them in the first place. He makes numerous attempts throughout the series to better himself, but when push comes to shove he always makes the same choices, which usually entail killing anyone who gets in his way and damn the consequences. Subverted at the end: While he does end up killing Heimdall anyway, he makes every possible effort to avoid it, even when Heimdall goes out of his own way to provoke Kratos. He notably doesn't end up killing Thor or Odin and becomes more willing to prevent harm to innocent bystanders during Ragnarök when he decides to save as many people as possible.
  Urd: He still slays gods, but now he's sad about it? You are the sum of your choices, nothing more. And because your choices never change, you will learn that Heimdall intends to kill your son in Asgard and you will do what you do best.
  • Also in Ragnarök as brought up by Atreus — inaction. He's learned his lesson about going on pantheon-murdering rampages, but his self-hatred and fears that he'll fall back into old habits means that he adamantly refuses to get involved with the Aesir, even when it becomes clear that a) Odin is a tyrant who's hurt basically everyone in the Nine Realms and will continue to do so until he's stopped, and b)the Aesir fully intend to get involved with him whether he wants it or not. This drives a major wedge between him and Atreus, who's much more interested in the idea of stopping Odin, and much like Achilles before him, it takes Odin crossing a very personal line by murdering Brok for him to acquiesce to becoming the general of Ragnarok, and even then it's clear it's not so much that he wants to do it as he's resigned himself to having no other options than being a destroyer like he once was. He only realizes that he was wrong and his Character Development has stuck when he's confronted with Midgardian casualties and realizes he's not willing to let them die just for being in his way.
  Atreus: Inaction is also a risk. You taught that. Stop thinking like a father for a moment and start thinking like a General.
• The Fettered: Time and realizing the extent of the consequences of his actions has forced Kratos to become this, something he's trying to teach his son Atreus lest he turn out like Kratos had been in the past.
• Fire/Water Juxtaposition: Kratos' new axe deals Frost damage and freezes his opponents in contrast to his Blades from the old games, which were constantly on fire and burned whoever touched them. He ends up wielding both, and will often need to switch between them depending on what he's facing: helwalkers, for instance, are immune to his axe but vulnerable to the Blades.
• Foil: Done subtly, but every god that Kratos encounter is played as a foil of his in some capacity.
  • To the Norse Pantheon:
    • In the case of Baldur, Kratos and he are at two ends of the same path; being that Baldur is very much like the unstable, violence-prone god Kratos once was, and has since overcome. Both also want to kill one of their parents, albeit Zeus tried to kill Kratos, and Freya tried to protect Baldur too much. This is highlighted when the two enter Hel; Baldur’s biggest regret is that he didn’t kill one of his parents, whereas Kratos's is that he did.
    • Kratos and Freya share commonality as they both at times have selfishly put the needs of themselves over the needs of their offspring. Freya condemned her son to a living hell for her own sake, whereas Kratos kept himself aloof from Atreus so that he might keep his shameful past hidden from the boy, which caused Atreus to resent his father. The most startling commonality, however, is that both Kratos and Freya are completely willing let their own children kill them if it meant that they (the children) would survive.
    • Magni and Modi, also being demigods with a terrible father, seem to represent everything he has risen above; namely his immature bloodlust, cruelty, and shades of cowardice.
    • There is also more than a passing similarity between him and Mimir. Both, driven by ambition, swore allegiances to gods that they would vehemently come to regret. But whereas Mimir started to realize his mistake due to a growing sense of compassion, Kratos had to be personally harmed by his decision before he forswore any allegiance.
    • Thor. Kratos and the god of thunder are the sons of their resident Top God, they are both destroyers, legendary for wreaking havoc across their realms and feared by all. But Kratos has made immense strides in moving beyond his awful past, while Thor remains stuck in place, firmly under Odin's thumb. Kratos makes efforts to teach and bond with his son, while Thor treats his sons extremely poorly, savagely beating Modi for his failure when he returned to Asgard following Magni's death.
    • Heimdall. Kratos is much more reserved, quiet and attempts to downplay himself in terms of power in spite of his large, muscular appearance, whilst Heimdall is smaller and slimmer in comparison yet constantly runs his mouth due to his powers giving him a swollen ego. Whilst Kratos seeks out the appropriate means to take on a foe, including against Heimdall himself, Heimdall completely falls to pieces when his precognitive abilities fail him against the Draupnir Spear. Kratos is naturally protective of his son Atreus, whilst Heimdall almost immediately has it out for the young man. And whilst Kratos uses a shield and prefers to block attacks over dodging them, Heimdall uses his precognition to avoid any attacks with casual dodges.
    • Odin. Kratos destroyed his home of Greece by killing the gods whilst Odin fashioned the Nine Realms out of Ymir's body after killing him. Whilst Odin is the leader of the Aesir long before the game begins, Kratos becomes the leader of the army against Asgard by the very end of Ragnarok. The most dramatic difference is that Kratos has become deeply ashamed of his past actions and goes on to make up for them any way he can, whilst Odin never takes account of his own flaws leading to results he never desired. The secret mural even demonstrates that Kratos is well on his way to being everything Odin wasn't; an adored and respected god who protects his people.
  • Kratos has also become this to his father, Zeus. When confronted with the possibility that his children would overthrow him, Zeus would rather kill his own offspring out of a desperate need to preserve his reign. Kratos, on the other hand, bluntly admits he would allow Atreus to kill him if that meant the boy would live. There's also the fact that while Zeus usurped Cronos' position as the ruler of the Greek realms, Kratos regretted the destruction of Olympus so much that he exiled himself away to seek a more mundane life up north. All of this underlines the primary difference between the two: Zeus sought to preserve his glory as King of Olympus at the cost of his children, while Kratos has begun making strides to better himself for the sake of his son.
  • Finally, the former God of War has no greater foil than his own son, who is everything he was almost entirely not: kind, thoughtful, attentive, curious, friendly, full of hope, and has a lust for life that Kratos has long since abandoned. The developmental team even stated that when they were designing the boy, they gave him a diametrically different set of skills and abilities. Where Kratos is an up-close-and-personal berserker with as much finesse as a dump truck, Atreus fires precise arrows and magic from afar, distracting, disabling, or holding their enemies in place so his father can punch their heads off.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse:
  • Kratos appears to have developed this mindset after God of War 3, when Mimir explains the villainy and cruelty of Magni and Modi as stemming from the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father, Thor. Atreus sympathizes with them but Kratos dismisses it, saying that the two are adults now and no longer have that excuse. Considering in the previous series Kratos blamed a large number of his troubles on his father Zeus even as he murdered about anything and everything in his way for revenge, he's had plenty of experience with this kind of thinking. That said, his sheer disgust toward Thor's abuse, which Kratos expresses during their first battle, shows he does have some sympathy toward their plight, particularly Modi, though this happens after his Character Development in between both games.
  • The narrative in both Norse games makes it clear that while he shows immense regret, it doesn't excuse the fact that he's deliberately hiding things from Atreus, which strains their relationship as their journey goes on. Kratos wants to be a better person, but he thinks he's beyond redemption, and the Norns even pointed this fact to his face when he sees them. Even Faye thinks he shouldn't let his own flaws and excuses to cloud his judgment and be better.
  • Discussed in the Valhalla DLC, Kratos asks Tyr whether he's excusing Kratos binding himself to Ares and going on to slaughter thousands of people. Tyr explains that rather than justifying his actions, he's seeking to understand them and offer Kratos some measure of understanding and healing.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Kratos may have been a War God, but in the land of Midgard, he's practically just some guy living with his family, in a shack in the middle of the woods. He ends up killing Baldur, thus kickstarting Fimbulwinter and signaling the beginning of the end times. What's more, his Second Love Faye turns out to have been Laufey the Just, and their son is destined to become Loki, the herald of Ragnarök itself.
  • By the end of Ragnarök, Kratos has killed Heimdall, kickstarted Ragnarök, turned all of the realms against Asgard, defeated Thor and Odin back to back (the former with no assistance from his allies), and become the closest thing left to a Top God in the nine realms. Not bad for a shack-dwelling retiree.

G-M

• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Kratos has the ability to regenerate or heal himself as shown with the fight against The Stranger however he doesn't use this ability when fighting in game, requiring him to find healing stones in order to properly recover. The closest explanation could be that Kratos never knew he had this ability until he impaled himself or he never wanted to use it. It could be that this power weakened or slowed down with age, which is why Kratos used this as a last resort albeit strenuously. This is implied to be the case in Ragnarök, where Kratos is able to use this ability as a replacement to Spartan Rage during his fight with Heimdall.
  • That being said, in both the original and new games Kratos can survive getting hit with absolutely devestatingly brutal attacks, which even his increased durability dont explain. It can be rationalized that the HP bar represents his vitality and strength to sustain his healing, with him recieving a fatal blow when it runs too low.
• Genre Refugee: Literally, having fled from the Greek tragedy he caused in his homeland and landing in the middle of a Norse Saga. Despite the centuries between both eras, Kratos still conducts himself like a character from a Greek epic, standing out among the noticeably casual and crass Norse cast he interacts with by speaking very composed and formally, (when he speaks at all that is).
• Gentle Giant: Especially in Ragnarok. Kratos wants peace more than anything and will not resort to violence unless in self-defense, showing restraint at times where physical retaliation would have long since been justified (such as his first meeting with Baldur in God of War). Push him too far, however, and this goes out the window.
• Given Name Reveal: Kratos never introduces himself by name in the entire game and is only ever referred to by nicknames, pronouns, and titles like "sir" or "father." The first of two exceptions is in a flashback where a figure from Kratos' past calls him by name. Since it's Zeus saying it, the name and Kratos' parentage are fittingly revealed in the same moment.
• God Is Good: After everything that’s happened to him and because of him in the original series, Kratos acknowledges that the things he’s done can never be redeemed, and as such pleads with Atreus to "be better than him,” not because he wants to atone for his past mistakes, but rather because he doesn’t want his son to repeat them. After the defeat of Baldur, Kratos even declares to Atreus that they "will be the gods they choose to be," and he makes it clear that they must be better than the generations that spawned them. By Ragnarök, Kratos is more openly respectful to others and better understands why his son has felt others' pain. By Valhalla, Kratos is appointed as the "God of Hope", as he decides to truly live up to the title.
• Godzilla Threshold: When Atreus falls ill, Kratos is informed that the only cure is in the deathly cold realm of Helheim, where no magic in the Nine Realms can make a blaze, and the ice magic of the Leviathan Axe would not avail him against the cold denizens of Hel. With no other options, Kratos goes back home and retrieves the Blades of Chaos from under the floorboards; he hates having to use them, since they remind him of his shitty past, but he needs them, since their Greek magic means that they'll work just fine, even in Helheim.
• Gone Horribly Right: Early on, Kratos makes an effort to teach Atreus not to feel for his enemies, because they won't return the favor. He also justifies any of his callousness towards the people they meet as 'we do what we want to complete our mission,' and later says that as gods, they must be/are better than men. It works a little too well; after learning of his godhood, Atreus, suffering from Acquired Situational Narcissism, kills Modi, who was beaten bloody and defenseless, in cold blood despite Kratos ordering him not to on the grounds he was already beaten and Not Worth Killing, even repeating that 'they can do whatever they want'.
• Good Is Not Nice: By the time we meet him centuries after he destroyed Greece, Kratos is still a pretty self-serving individual, but he is a much better person than who he used to be, and while not a saint yet in the first Norse game, to his credit he is trying to be a better human being, even if it is with some difficulty, but if you hurt the ones he loves, all bets are off the table - this is the God of War, one of the last of the Greek Pantheon, after all. After his substantial Character Development in Ragnarök, where he warns that harming his son could make him show the god who he used to be, he sheds most of the selfish aspects of his character and even openly shows warmth towards several characters, putting him all the more in the Good Is Not Soft camp.
• Good Is Not Soft: Where his character ends up after his development in Ragnarök. He's a far more patient man capable of showing great empathy to others, but that doesn't make him a pacifist. If his loved ones are on the line, he will kill if the being threatening them refuses to stand down.
• Grumpy Old Man: Falls into this, especially when he's anti-social with other characters.
• Happily Married: Kratos deeply loved Faye, and though he maintains a stoic and grim demeanor throughout the journey to spread her ashes, her absence causes him great turmoil. It's apparent that Faye cared for Kratos as well, as the default shield Kratos uses throughout the journey was given by Faye as a gift celebrating the anniversary of the day they met. How much Faye truly cared for Kratos is initially put in question thanks to The Reveal, but Ragnarök clarifies that Faye did legitimately love Kratos, with the journey she posthumously put him and Atreus on meant to help him grow and for the rift between him and their son to heal.
• Hates Small Talk: Speaks with purpose, and is as blunt and honest as Spartans tend to be. He used to be pretty keen on yelling his lungs out, and so it's clear that part of his attempt to rein in his more violent side is his decision to be more concise with his words.
• Healing Factor: By the time of the Norse era, Kratos has somehow developed the ability to concentrate hard enough that he can regenerate from wounds (at least in cutscenes). This would explain how he survived impaling himself in the previous game. Though, whether he developed this power thanks to his natural divinity as Zeus's son, or if he regained his godly power after impaling himself on the Blade of Olympus is unclear.
• Hearing Voices: It is not clear if he is hallucinating or being haunted by the ghost of Athena, but he's the one who can see or hear her.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: By the end of the Valhalla DLC, Kratos has embraced becoming the God of Hope rather than the God of War, reflecting that it is that hope that has ever lived in himself that allowed him to become a better man and by extension, to defeat Odin and repair Midguard after Ragnarök.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • After Kratos' killing of Zeus is played out before his and Atreus' eyes in Helheim, Kratos can only mutter in shock about the event, and is only comforted by Atreus' claim that he saw nothing.
  • In Ragnarök, after Kratos kills Heimdall, Kratos briefly sits in shock as he realizes what he just did and as he leaves the area, he's only talking in grunts and wheezes to Mimir.
  • At the end of Ragnarök, Kratos uncovers a mural of him being worshipped and loved by people. This renders him utterly speechless, shocked, and trembling, seemingly on the verge of Tears of Joy, realizing that the mural is showing his path in the future and admits he never thought he would be capable of fully redeeming himself.
• Heroic Neutral: All things considered, he just wants to be left alone to raise his son. Unfortunately, trouble keeps on finding its way to him.
• Heroic Safe Mode: Kratos knows he can't exactly cry his eyes out for his dead wife while fighting Draugr on the battlefield, so he keeps himself steady and stoic throughout most of his journey with Atreus, despite grieving immensely for the loss of Faye.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Well, wolves given the setting, but despite his gruff personality Kratos quite clearly has affection for Speki, Svanna, Fenrir, Sköll, and Hati. There's even a scene in Vanaheim where Kratos tries to see the twin wolves again, and gets somewhat teased about it by Freya.
• Heroic BSoD: After killing Heimdall, Kratos briefly goes into this as he realizes what he's done. Mimir's attempts to talk to Kratos are met with grunts and wheezes as Kratos still grapples with what just happened.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: As of Ragnarök, Kratos and Mimir serve as this. Kratos has even come to see Mimir as a brother, valuing his input and his help in rearing Atreus.
• Hey, You!: While the Greek-era Kratos was either more 'forced' or inclined to calling people by their name, this much older Kratos has become very withdrawn and seldom does so, to the point that saying someone's name frequently invokes O.O.C. Is Serious Business.
  • His default term of address for his son Atreus is "boy". He only uses his actual name when he is seriously concerned for his safety.
  • He exclusively refers to Mimir as "Head".
  • He always refer to Brok and Sindri as the "dwarves".
  • He briefly calls Freya "woman" but this is subverted later on when he regularly calls her name.
    • He seems to have dropped this habit by Ragnarök, almost exclusively referring to people by name and only calling Atreus "boy" once to try to prevent him from running from him.
• Hidden Depths: Despite not caring much for Kvasir's Poems, he does admit to Mimir that he does have a favorite one from his homeland - one about a war fought over forbidden love and involved a wooden horse. In Ragnarok, he demonstrates at least a passing familiarity with the Classical Unities, as he explains the concept of Unity of Place to Mimir when he criticizes Oedipus the King for having too many things take place offstage.
• Hiding Your Heritage: Kratos has not told Atreus that he's a demigod of Zeus, and has not told Atreus that he too is a demigod. Kratos refused to tell Atreus that he's demigod because he believes godhood is more a curse than a blessing and wants his son to be as normal as possible. However, Atreus is eventually put in a coma when he inadvertantly uses Spartan Rage for the first time, as he's spent his whole life believing that he's a normal kid. Forcing Kratos to reveal their godhood to prevent this from happening again.
• Hope Bringer: By the end of Ragnarok, Kratos discovers a second shrine behind Atreus', and the final panel reveals a golden-colored Kratos, uniting all the realms and being loved by gods and mortals. This revelation shows that Kratos can change for the better and become a force for goodness and hope instead of war and bloodshed. Played literally as Kratos accepts the position of the "God of Hope" in Valhalla.
• Humble Goal: He's not out to kill a deity in the name of petty vengeance. All he wants is to get to the highest peak in all the nine realms and spread the ashes of his dead wife along with his son. The deicide just sort of happens because even the Aesir participate in the time-honored tradition of bullying Kratos.
• Humble Hero: Becomes this by the end of Ragnarök. Instead of endlessly hating himself for his past and wishing to hide from it, he now accepts his sins and works to atone for them by not only changing his behavior for the better, but from going to a Badass Bystander who wanted to be left alone to helping the people of the Nine Realms out of wanting to do justice by them for centuries of Odin's monstrous behavior.
• Hypocritical Humor: He's genuinely stunned by Mimir's theory that Jörmungandr is actually from the future and he was thrown back in time after a chaotic battle with Thor. Kratos calls this theory "madness" despite Kratos himself killing the Sisters of Fate and going back in time to change his own fate to kill Zeus.
• I Am a Monster: He clearly admits this in his short exchange with the spectre of Athena. But that doesn't mean he is her monster any longer.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: The writers state that Kratos is holding back through the game, explaining why he struggles more with monsters and gods in the Norse Realm and only shows his true strength when absolutely necessary.
  • Baldur proving persistent? Kratos goes full rage mode on him and throws him off a cliff with a broken neck. Magni holding him to a standstill and Modi has Atreus? Kratos instantly pushes Magni away and splits open his head in seconds. Modi electrocuting him and Atreus unconscious? Kratos activates Spartan Rage, knocks aside Modi's gear and punches him to a wall, sending him crying back to Asgard.
  • Played for Laughs in Ragnarök, where after an eventful and frustrating ride through the mines, he is suddenly attacked by a troll, seemingly setting up a boss fight to cap things off. By this point Kratos is so angry and done (not to mention having beaten a legion of trolls in the previous game) that he immediately hacks the troll's head off with little hesitation or even input from the player.
  • Played for Drama much later on in Ragnarök, in his fight with Heimdall. After a whole brawl of trying to avoid killing Heimdall as was "fated", the young god's arrogant taunting, staunch refusal to surrender even after losing his arm, and pushing Kratos' buttons by going into detail on how he's going to kill Atreus one too many times, Kratos eventually snaps and the fight ends immediately after. His face changes into a familiar wide-eyed gritted scowl, and he absolutely batters Heimdall, knocking him around like a ragdoll and beating his face bloody into the ground; before he finally grips his neck and slowly crushes it. Unlike the bare-handed beatdowns of the original trilogy, this scene is played for it's utmost horror, highlighting how Kratos is starting to slip back into his old ways.
• I Hate Past Me:
  • Kratos has repeatedly approached his past with shame and utter regret, having come to terms with the fact that much of the horrors taking place in the original series were largely his fault. He opts to Change the Uncomfortable Subject when people bring up his past, talk of patricide renders him silent, and being called the Ghost of Sparta has become a trigger. This self-loathing is one of the major reasons why his and Atreus's relationship is so strained, as not only is Kratos quite insecure with the idea of being a dad again, but also his refusal to open up to his own son causes the boy to be resentful towards him.
  • Downplayed in Ragnarok; while Kratos still hates the person he once was, he's made some peace with it and he isn't afraid to forgive himself or open up about his past to those he trusts. He even displays the Blades of Chaos, the ultimate symbol of his wrath, alongside the Leviathan Axe in his home, rather than hiding them below the floor like he once did.
  • At the end of Valhalla, he's confronted with a vision of his past self seated on Ares' throne, and proceeds to give his past self a "The Reason You Suck" Speech. However he ends the speech by finally accepting the monster he was isn't all there is to it and he can be more, as he finally accepts his new role as the God of Hope.
• I Have No Idea What I'm Doing: A Played for Drama example. The death of his second wife Faye leaves Kratos adrift in a position he admits he's just not yet ready to return to: having to be a father figure again. Despite the fact that his hugely traumatic past life is centuries behind him at this point, Kratos is still so terrified of messing up with Atreus (as he has with so many other things) that he really doesn't know what to do or how to act, now that he and the boy are forced to deal with each other. It certainly doesn't help that Kratos kept himself distant from Atreus throughout most of the boy's childhood, again likely because of his own insecurities towards being a father again. Faye had always been the mediator between father and son, and now without her, Kratos is left grasping at straws. Aggravating this is Kratos' deep loathing of himself and his past, and his fear of Atreus picking up his worst traits.
  Kratos: Faye... What do I do? Our son is not ready to carry your ashes to the top of the mountain... and neither am I. I do not know how to do this without you.
• Ideal Hero: The ending of Ragnarök shows that he is on his way to becoming this, if not already there. Whereas Kratos was once a psychopathic brute whose love for his family drove him mad, he has now exhibits a more healthy and stable form of love with Atreus and restrains himself from giving into his rage. Beyond that, he has now come to care for people beyond his immediate family, such as Freya, Mimir, Brok and Sindri, etc. and goes out of his way to help victims of Odin's cruelty, whereas the old Kratos cared "little" as he once said, to virtually nothing for those whom he wasn't related to and didn't give a fuck about how the Gods also affected them.
• Insecure Love Interest: An inverted version. His personal insecurities had nothing to do with Faye, but with Atreus after his birth. He loves Faye and Atreus, but he worries Atreus might Turn Out Like His Father at the worst possible way. Faye tells him Atreus isn't his past, and he need to be better.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Kratos wants absolutely nothing to do with gods of any kind, and would be more than happy to just live his life pretending to be just a normal man. Encountering the Stranger, and facing the consequences of hiding the truth from Atreus, resigns him to the fact that he can never live a normal life, and convinces him that the best thing that he can do at this point is to make sure that Atreus never repeats his mistakes.
• It Began with a Twist of Fate: Kratos's decision to migrate to Midgard was simply him trying to run from his past; he had no interest in engaging with the locals and even his relationship with Faye was something he never planned for or expected. But that decision ultimate leads to the start of Ragnarok, resulting in the deaths of half the Aesir and the near destruction of the Nine Realms.
• It's All My Fault: Blames himself entirely for the destruction he caused in the first three games. And when Atreus suffers a Heroic RRoD thanks to his godly powers going haywire, Kratos took full blame for Atreus falling ill. A surprising change from the man who once rarely accepted fault for any of his own actions.
• It Was a Gift: Both the axe and shield were gifted to him by Faye.
• I Was Just Passing Through: In the various sidequests, he initially states that he's merely taking them on to gather resources for his and Atreus's journey, and those goals just so happens to align with helping others... but oh so gradually, he begins to more genuinely care for, respect and show compassion towards the world around him the more he helps people.
• Jock Dad, Nerd Son: He was raised to be a Spartan soldier and has a fitting personality, whereas his son is scholarly.
• Kick the Dog: During his battle with Thor in Ragnarok, Thor pulls "And This Is for..." on him, and eventually says "this is for Modi!" Despite it being perfectly reasonable for him to mention his younger son last^note Kratos' other victims were Thor's brother and elder son, Kratos jabs that he "puts Modi last, even in death!" When Thor is outraged at his accusation, Kratos tells him that Modi died of the wounds Thor gave him when he beat him; while not an outright lie, the fatal blow was dealt by Atreus and it was plausible Modi could have lived. Though he was distorting the truth to protect his son and indeed expressing genuine disgust for Thor's treatment of Modi, telling Thor that he accidentally killed his own son was cruel, and the effect it has on Thor can be seen later in the game.
• Kill the God: It's kind of what he does. Though in this case it's treated sympathetically as he's learned from the Greek era and doesn't want to kill anyone, but the Aesir keep forcing his hand no matter how many chances he gives them. He kills Magni because Magni and Modi ambushed him and Atreus, and Magni was keeping him from protecting Atreus from Modi. He kills Baldur because Baldur made it clear that nothing would dissuade him from trying to kill Freya or drag Kratos and Atreus to Odin. In Ragnarok, his sole Aesir kill leaves him deeply shaken and terrified that he's falling back to old habits, even though Heimdall had explicitly rejected mercy and repeatedly threatened Atreus's life, leaving Kratos with little choice but to put him down. The only god who actually listens to Kratos and stands down is Thor.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Kratos normally gets the answers he demands and keeps the secrets he wants to. But when Mimir refuses to answer his question about a section of Hel and tells him sternly to "Never go there.", Kratos takes heed and backs down.
• Lack of Empathy:
  • In the first Norse installment, it seems apparent, though some lines of dialogue vastly contradict how, despite not trusting gods, Kratos was still generally willing to let Baldur go after threatening him and his son. Encountering spirits and raiding tombs, eithwer way, isn't his problem at this point unless there's some value to gain from it. He makes it clear that he was not much for assisting against the plight of spirits and generally considers them annoying, but Atreus has to egg him in helping anyway. He reluctantly agrees if it's in their way and that they would not stop to help unless asked.
  • In Alfheim, Atreus thinks he doesn't care about Faye's passing, and took offense to it. He makes it very clear that he does grieve for her, but he has keep himself focused on their journey. Atreus apologizes for thinking this, since Kratos has grieved his own way.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Him being a demigod and the son of Zeus were massive spoilers, back in the original series. Here, Kratos being a god is brought up in the first two hours of the first Norse entry, and Kratos outright reveals Zeus is his father when Helheim conjures up a vision of Zeus to torment Kratos.
• Like Father, Like Son: Though Atreus is significantly more virtuous and generally a lot more sociable than his gruff, pragmatic-to-a-fault father, the boy can very easily lose his temper and fly into a mad rage. Kratos is fully aware of how this could cause problems for the boy in the future, and constantly tries to reign his son's more violent tendencies in by exercising his discipline and focus. Sadly, with the reveal that his son is none other than Loki, one of the biggest proponents of Ragnarök and the Satanic Archetype of Norse mythology, it's likely that his efforts to prevent his son from making his past mistakes might be all for naught. Fortunately, destiny turns out to be malleable in the titular sequel, and Atreus manages to bring about the prophesized event in a way that doesn't lead to the complete destruction of the Nine Realms.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Kratos is abrasive, single-mindedly focused on his mission to spread Faye's ashes, blunt to the point of insensitivity, and generally unsociable even in situations where it'd benefit him greatly to simply talk and ask others for help. Atreus, on the other hand, is gregarious and forthcoming, always willing to help others in need, greatly concerned for the well-being of innocent life, and fully embraces the adventures presented by the world around him. This is even portrayed through gameplay, in that while Kratos gets up-close and personal with his weapons, Atreus keeps himself at a distance and fires using arrows. It's shown as the game progresses that as much as Atreus's cheery personality can irritate Kratos at times, he would much prefer it over Atreus taking after him.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Seemingly on purpose. Due to his time in the Greek era, he has zero desire to have anything to do with mythological figures, and so makes no attempt to learn anything about Norse culture. This is in direct contrast to how the story of Ragnarök is known to quite a few figures across that era to the point of it being common knowledge to nearly everybody except himself, and leads to him killing Magni and Modi who were meant to survive Ragnarök and killing Baldur, starting the event itself.
• Love at First Punch: Kratos met Faye near a river, and according to her, they nearly took each others' heads off. This is after his genocide of the Greek Gods, and she manages to calm him down. That point onward, they would fall in love, and bore Atreus.
• Loved by All: Implied in the shrine he saw of himself at the end of Ragnarök. By the end of his story in the Norse era, he managed to save almost all the realms, save for Asgard, and its inhabitants from the apocalypse and ended Odin's long reign of terror. Although, he was willing to save the remaining Asgardians from Ragnarök who would soon begin to broker peace with the Vanir. Multiple characters have expressed their gratitude to the Spartan warrior for such a monumental achievement.
• Love Redeems: Kratos initially does not believe that he deserves redemption for the things he's done, but it is thanks to his love for his son that he manages to find it in himself to improve as a person. He knows he'll never be able to make up for his past sins, but is equally aware now that he has every opportunity to do better for himself and for his child.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Kratos was gifted a retractable shield from his wife Faye, along with his other weapons, to protect himself from strikes and projectiles alike.
• Manly Tears: He remains The Stoic throughout the Norse games, though moments clearly wound him emotionally, like the death of his second wife, Faye. But in Ragnarök, he finally caves when he sees the Giant Shrine Faye had painted of him, particularly of his future: being worshipped and beloved by all. Seeing a future where he can finally be seen, not as Kratos, The Ghost of Sparta, The God-Killer, The Destroyer of Greece, but as Kratos, The Hero, The Good God, The Savior; seeing a future he had convinced himself that he could never have, his stoic walls cave in, the sight driving him to tears as he braces himself against the shrine.
• Martial Pacifist: It's clear that Kratos has come to loathe his inability to control himself, and actively makes an effort to rein his more violent impulses in; he also constantly tries to hammer in the importance of discipline to Atreus, in hopes that the boy won't Turn Out Like His Father. He initially refuses to fight the Stranger, simply warning him to leave and insisting that the Stranger does not want this fight. The Stranger not only refuses to leave, but starts actively provoking and punching him; Kratos gives in, pulls off a Punch Catch, and lays him out flat after saying the following:
  Kratos: I warned you. You would not listen.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: Played with. Kratos is by no means short, but due to a shift in art style, his older self has lost over a foot in height, going from, by word of mouth, 7'6" to 6'4". This is because the art style of the older games used comic book style proportions while the newer games shifted to more realistic proportions.
• Mundane Solution: Tyr needed The Unity Stone, a supernatural MacGuffin so ancient that Mimir wasn't even sure it existed, in order to travel to and from different mythologies. As for Kratos, the novelization reveals he was able to make it to Midgard through ship.
• Mundane Utility: Kratos wields the Leviathan Axe, a magical weapon imbued with the powers of frost and can be remotely recalled, forged by Brok and Sindri to rival Mjolnir, the greatest weapon ever made, and he uses it to mow through hoards of undead, monsters, and even gods. He also uses it to chop down trees, solve puzzles, and traverse ziplines.
  • Discussed in Ragnarök, when Mimir asks if Kratos has ever tried to use the Blades of Chaos flames to cook meat. Kratos admits that he actually did try… but the blood from all the countless victims spoils the food.
  • In Ragnarök, Kratos reveals to Sindri that he uses the mystical dimension-travelling Bifrost as a light source in dark areas.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When he shoves Atreus to the ground in a fit of anger at the boy's insubordination. He immediately realizes what he did and attempts to stammer out an apology before a furious Atreus nails him with a lightning arrow.
  • In Ragnarök, he realizes that his desire to keep Atreus safe has become an obsession to the point of ignoring that his son is becoming an adult capable of making his own decisions, and that his behavior has been pushing Atreus away, for which he gives a truly heartfelt apology.
• My Greatest Failure: By the time of the reboot/sequel, he considers his massacre of the Greek gods, particularly his father, to be this (though he does hold a pretty dim view of gods in general). He is so ashamed of it that he does everything he can to hide it from his son. At his worst, he not only ignores but actively feeds into Atreus's growing god complex to avoid having his son learn that he did a terrible thing.

N-R

• Never-Forgotten Skill: Wanna know how much of a Genius Bruiser Kratos really is? When Kratos wields the Blades of Chaos, after having refused to use them for what must have been a very long time (implied to be hundreds of years), he retains most of his moveset from his days in Greece.
  • Also applies to the Draupnir Spear in Ragnarok. Despite not wielding a spear since the events of God of War 2, he takes to the new weapon easily, including mastering its infinite duplication and wind powers. He justifies the basic ability by explaining to Brok that a spear was the first weapon learned to wield by up-and-coming Spartans.
  • In the Valhalla DLC, this applies to the Blade of Olympus. In Greece, Kratos used the weapon for a fairly short time frame, and it was at least 100 years ago, but he still swings it with the same skill and elegance as when he first held it.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: Downplayed. Kratos didn't spend as much time as he should have with Faye and Atreus in their early days as a family, likely because of his own insecurities towards them. After Faye is cremated, Kratos keeps the pouch of her ashes latched onto his person for as long as he can, to the point of refusing Atreus's requests to carry her. He's clearly trying, in some fashion, to make up for the lack of time he'd spent with her. By the end of the game, he lets Atreus carry her ashes himself, signifying Kratos's newfound acceptance of himself and of Faye's passing.
• Never Learned to Read: While he's conversant in the local language, Kratos cannot read Nordic runes and requires Atreus to translate them for him. He does point out to Atreus that he can read, just not the local tongue. Atreus at one point does make attempts at trying to teach him how to read runes only to interrupted by an ambush from Modi.
  • By Ragnarök he's become fluent in written Nordic, no longer requiring Atreus to read it for him.
• The Nicknamer: Kratos rarely seems comfortable with calling anyone by name, even his own son whom he named; with rare exceptions, Atreus is simply "Boy". Additionally, Mimir is "Head", Freya is "the witch", and Brok and Sindri are "the dwarf/dwarves" (there's also "the blue one" for Brok). This trait seems to be symbolic of his inability, or at least his issues with, connecting to others — back in the Greek era, addressing everyone he met by name (usually by bellowing it at them) was practically a Character Tic. Here, the only person he easily addresses by name, is his deceased wife Faye, and of course, she is dead.
  • By Ragnarök, he has dropped this habit and addresses everyone by their proper name unless he is significantly displeased with them. It aligns with his Character Development of learning to grow attached to others again. Interestingly, Kratos himself is being addressed by his name more during the events of Ragnarök too.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Kratos delivers an absolutely brutal but satisfying one to the arrogant, bullying Heimdall, smacking him down to the ground before subsequently smashing his face into the ground repeatedly and choking the life out of him.
• Nominal Hero: Despite being FAR nicer than the Greek entries, he's still ultimately a self-serving and would nearly only help people if it helps him and (especially Atreus) get stronger or if there is a reward out of it. He gets better, though. He eventually grows out of the "nominal" part by the end of Ragnarok, regretting his earlier inaction and actively deciding to help people in need.
• Noodle Incident: In Ragnarök, Mimir expresses disbelief about a story he heard of Kratos's past, when he fought in a tournament involving beasts, scoundrels, princesses, the undead, automatons, and "the world's greatest musician." Kratos mumbles, seemingly embarrassed, "I would not speak of this."
• "No More Holding Back" Speech: Gives a short but effective one to Athena's ghost.
  Athena: Put as much distance between you and the truth as you want, it changes nothing. Pretend to be everything you are not... Teacher... Husband... Father... But there is one unavoidable truth you cannot escape: You cannot change. You will always be a monster.
  Kratos: I know. But I am your monster no longer.
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: His response to the taunting of Athena's specter.
• No-Sell: Kratos does this to Modi's lightning when Atreus collapses from unleashing his Spartan Rage for the first time.
• No Social Skills: Kratos has a hard time bonding with anyone and talks to people because he has a purpose. This puts a strain on his relationship with Atreus, as the latter thinks Kratos doesn't really care about him.
• Not So Above It All:
  • Kratos puts on a no-nonsense attitude at pretty much all times throughout his and Atreus's journey, but even he shows that his sense of humor (or at least an ability to be mildly sarcastic) isn't completely gone, such as when Kratos pushes an entire bridge in an arc with his bare hands alone. Afterwards, he feels the need to dryly clarify that he isn't that old to his own son:
    Atreus: You didn't hurt your back, did you?
    Kratos: [indignantly] I did not hurt my back.
  • At several points in the game, the player has to carry large crystals and place them in racks so Atreus can shoot them with his arrows, creating pathways upon which to walk. The first time Kratos hoists one of the crystals over his shoulder, we get this dialogue as the player searches for a place to put it:
    Atreus: You gonna carry that everywhere?
    Kratos: I just might.
  • When Kratos warns Atreus not to trust a spirit they encounter, the boy remains optimistic that it will keep its word to reward them for their assistance. When it tries to kill them instead, he resigns that his father was right. Kratos responds with ice-cold sarcasm:
    Atreus: Alright. Say it. "I told you so."
    Kratos: I told you so.
    Atreus: "You are a naive, foolish boy."
    Kratos: This is true as well.
  • When Kratos summons Sköll and Hati the second time by player input, he actually admits that he wants to see them again.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Just before the final battle the two have, Kratos tells Baldur that he has seen the path Baldur is walking down by trying to kill his mother, Freya, and that it won't bring him peace. Baldur, however, is too far gone to care. This is also how he deals with Thor, pointing out that though they might be destroyer gods, they're both fathers, and thus have a duty to be better for their children. It works, and Thor defies Odin for the first time in his life.
• Not So Stoic:
  • Kratos has become a lot more stone-faced and reserved with his emotions, having learned to temper them to a degree through time and experience (while still a Perpetual Frowner, he now merely looks stern all the time rather than furious). The few times he breaks out of being The Stoic frequently involve Atreus's safety; the mere idea of his son being in danger is enough to make him uncharacteristically restless, and when Atreus suddenly falls ill due to his body and mind in conflict over his divine nature, Kratos immediately does everything in his power to cure the boy, even going so far as to unearth an old memento of his dark past. The very first moment in the game shows Kratos tenderly caressing a tree that his wife once marked, and then later grasping at the pouch of her cremated ashes, clearly showing that he's experiencing immense grief, only to snap back to a stone-cold visage without a hitch.
  • When he has to put on his Blades of Chaos to save his son, his hands are visibly shaking. This is a guy who has literally gone to hell and back without breaking a sweat in almost every one of his games, but it's clear that this is less a fear of danger, and more of becoming the monster he used to be.
  • Kratos comes close to tears multiple times in Ragnarök, most notably during an emotional heart-to-heart with Atreus, and multiple times during the ending of the game. Namely when Atreus goes off to make his own way, and when he sees a prophetic mural showing him as a Hope Bringer to the mortals of Midgard.
• Obsessively Normal: Kratos hates the gods for how they treated and tortured him. He hates himself for what he did to Greece and now lives in the Nine Realms in an attempt to sever all ties to his past and to the gods, and makes no attempt to learn anything about them. His greatest fear is Atreus finding out about his godhood and turning into a monster because of it. He now lives a reclusive lifestyle to avoid gods and conflict.
• Oh, Crap!: Being The Stoic, it takes a lot to get genuine shock out of Kratos, but the aftermath of his trip into the Alfhelm Light, which took WAY longer than he thought, completely takes the wind out of his sails.
  Kratos: BOY, I WAS GONE ONLY...(sees the mounds and mounds and mounds of dead Dark Elves that Atreus has killed in the time he was gone)...moments?
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain:
  • Kratos, who appears to be in his fifties, but is believed to be well over two centuries old, is pitted against The Stranger, a Norse deity named Baldur, who looks to be in his twenties but may be no more than two hundred years old.
  • Kratos repeats the same dynamic he used against Baldur with Heimdall, who seems to be among the youngest Aesir and appears to be an older adolescent or young adult compared to Thor, Týr, and Baldur, despite having a slight stubble. Granted, the Aesir do not age in the same manner as mortals.
• Older and Wiser: He's much calmer in the 2018 PS4 game, years after the end of GoW III, but he had a really low bar to clear. This isn't just reflected in his personality, but also his fighting style: methodical and measured, without the overt sadism and brutality shown in the earlier games. His killing of Baldur is the best example of this. No eye-gouging, ruthless pummeling or stabbing once his opponent was beaten: just a quick, clean Neck Snap.
• Old Soldier: Once a Spartan warrior-turned-God of War, Kratos is now simply an old man who wants to live his life without conflict, though the Norse gods appear more than willing to break him out of his comfort zone.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Kratos is a very old warrior (in sheer numbers of years) who has faced titans the size of mountains without a hint of fear or hesitation, and yet when his son falls ill and he cradles the boy in his arms, he has a very obvious panic attack and is barely able to contain himself.
  • When he goes back home to retrieve the Blades of Chaos, his hands are visibly shaking, and he has to psyche himself several times to chain them back to his arms. This is doubly out-of-character, because he's willingly putting on the symbols of his enslavement, something his former self literally killed an entire world to escape from.
  • During the final stretch of escaping Helheim, Kratos witnessing a vision of his own past self killing Zeus in the presence of Atreus causes him such a massive Heroic BSoD that completely shuts him down in horror, freezing in the middle of an intense situation until Atreus takes the reins and forces him to move to action, but even then, he shows a slight hesitance and fear around his son until Atreus lies to Kratos that he witnessed nothing to get him back on his feet.
  • In Ragnarök, after brutally killing Heimdall, Kratos briefly goes into this as he realizes what he just did, rendering him speechless and staggering to leave the area.
  • In Ragnarök, after killing enough of the Spectral Ravens, it being revealed that they are the souls of literal children horrifies Kratos to the point of near speechlessness, and by the end of the questline is openly asking if any more can be done for the poor souls.
  • By Ragnarök, Kratos and Mimir are close as brothers, and he treats Mimir with unconditional kindness and listens to his council, however, when he discovers that Mimir had captured an innocent creature for Odin so that its blubber can be harvested in a torturous procedure, he's audibly shocked and furious with Mimir.
  • In the opening chapter of Ragnarök, Kratos' shield is damaged by Thor. Kratos usually places little value on items of equipment, telling Atreus that weapons are just tools to be used and replaced like any other, but his shield was given to him by Faye, and even after being told by the dwarves that they could just replace it, he softly says he wants them to repair it because it's important to him.
  • Throughout the entire Norse era, Kratos often gives Atreus a lesson that emotions can not get in the way over the course of two games, but when Sindri's compromised emotions cause him to not do what he's told, especially after Brok’s death, Kratos is at loss for words, likely sympathizing with the latter after all that’s happened.
• Open-Minded Parent: In Ragnarök, has he gradually opens himself to other people, he's willing to let Atreus open his own path, and lets him go so that Atreus can go on his own to find the missing giants.
• Outdated Hero vs. Improved Society: The spirit of the trope is what causes friction between him and Atreus, as he and his son can’t reconcile the differences between his Ancient Greek pragmatism and Atreus’s more modern moralism.
• Outside-Context Problem: After the events of III, Kratos somehow managed to find his way into Midgard, and judging from Mimir's dialogue, it appears that the Aesir have caught wind of his reputation as a god-slayer. This is actually something of a plot point; Kratos's mere presence as a Greek god in a Norse world appears to be shifting the balance somewhat, as he's directly responsible for, or is at least partially related to, several events that defy Norse mythology's own mythos: the deaths of Magni and Móði (both of whom were fated to survive Ragnarök itself), the death of Baldur (which was slated for hundreds of years into the future), and the triggering of Fimbulwinter (which heralds Ragnarök, having come hundreds of years too early—in conjunction with the death of Baldur).
• Papa Wolf: An obvious way to get on his bad side is to go after his son— The Stranger even obliquely making a threat against the boy is enough to make Kratos go into Spartan Rage, and try and turn him into a bloody smear; with the implication that Kratos hasn't used the Spartan Rage since he left Greece. Kratos may have a hard time connecting with the boy, and at times make poor decisions and flat out mistakes in raising him, but the love is clearly there. Kratos is willing literally willing to go through hell for his son and to getting the Blades of Chaos for this express purpose, despite swearing to never use them again. Later, when Atreus asks Kratos if he would let his own son kill him, Kratos replies that he would if meant that Atreus would live. In the comic he was willing to spare a group of Norse Berserkers until they invade his home and try to kill his son, at which point he returns the favour and burns their compound to the ground, leaving no survivors for daring to come after his family.
  • A good chunk of his motivations in Ragnarök are hinged heavily on seeing that Atreus survives the titular event, and when he hears from the Norns that Heimdall will kill Atreus in the future, Kratos immediately starts making plans to kill the god himself in order to protect his son. A course of action that he ultimately makes good on after giving Heimdall multiple chances to back down to no avail.
    Kratos: I do not seek war...but if Odin has stolen my son, do NOT doubt the lengths I will go to.
• Parental Neglect: In the 2018 game, Kratos has spent most of Atreus's life a cold and distant father, to the extent that Atreus was closer to Faye than Kratos and goes so far as to wish that Kratos had died instead of Faye (though he quickly takes it back). A big part of the game is Kratos moving past this and genuinely bonding with his son.
  • Kratos is never shown to be physically abusive, but his abrasive demeanor and deliberate distance from Atreus have obviously damaged the boy, ironic in that Kratos is trying to protect Atreus from his bloody past as the Ghost of Sparta. As the game wears on, Kratos undergoes Character Development and learns to bond with Atreus.
• Parents as People: Kratos has difficulty bonding with Atreus, to put it mildly.
  • Their relationship is so strained that Atreus at one point concludes that Kratos 'never wanted him and views the boy's weak constitution as a curse. Kratos's sour disposition certainly doesn't help, and more often than not his attempts to prepare Atreus for the cruelty of the world end up damaging the boy's self-esteem and innocence. Kratos truly does love Atreus, but it is difficult for him to be a father again, especially since he killed'' his first family, and spent most of his life from then on engaged in warfare. He wants to be good, and doesn't want Atreus to make the same mistakes he once did, but is so focused on strengthening the boy and teaching him to survive that he neglects to show proper affection. A big part of the game comes from Kratos learning to become a father once again, and recovering the humanity he had long ago buried beneath rage and vengeance.
  • His flawed off-hand parenting is demonstrated during the two instances when Atreus truly resents his father. The first instance is in Alfheim when Atreus is enraged at Kratos for disappearing into the Light of Alfheim for way too long, even though it's only a few minutes from Kratos's perspective. Kratos doesn't try to ask what's wrong with the boy nor properly explain his encounter inside and continues to push Atreus around even as the latter continues to snark at his supposed negligence. The next instance is when Atreus becomes Drunk with Power over his status as a god, and Kratos doesn't really do much to quell his perceived godhood even when the latter demands the truth. Kratos just keeps silent which just gives the boy no reason as to why he shouldn't be arrogant and rude which is highly contrasted by Mimir trying hard to quell this trait by informing what good gods are like. In both instances, Kratos's unwillingness to open up or console his son end up making the problem worse than it has to be, and only end with Atreus being regretful for his actions.
  • He's also, especially at the start of the game, reluctant to give praise to Atreus. For example at the very start of the game, when Atreus correctly identifies tracks Kratos had spotted as belonging to goats, not deer, Kratos notes that "{his} mother taught him well", rather than complimenting Atreus on doing well. Atreus notably cools at the lack of praise (and reminder of his dead mother).
• Pelts of the Barbarian:
  • Kratos noticeably dresses in lots of pelts after moving to the inhospitable climes of Midgard, with his shoulder and waist guards lined with fur. His wardrobe only gets more beastly◊ after Fimbulwinter begins.
  • The start of Ragnarök sees him in a bear-fur cloak and mantle, though it's quickly lost in an ambush. The New Game+ update not only brings it back as the "Cloak of the Black Bear", but makes it Kratos's default NG+ loadout and the basis for a high-level, upgradeable armor set.
• Practically Different Generations: Has Atreus centuries after having and losing his daughter Calliope, and due to his father being Zeus many gods would be his half-siblings despite being centuries older than him.
• Pragmatic Hero: Kratos isn't opposed to Atreus being a Cheerful Child, but is well aware that anything but ruthless pragmatism won't help in the heat of battle. And in a world where the Norse gods are total assholes, we can see where he's coming from.
• Post-Victory Collapse:
  • After supposedly killing the Stranger for the first time, Kratos spends a few seconds on the ground gasping for air before getting up and slowly walking back to the house.
  • He early suffers another after his first fight with Thor, doubling over and grabbing his ribs in pain after Thor calls off the fight and flies away.
• The Power of Love: It is implied that Kratos's transformation from a monstrous Hair-Trigger Temper Villain Protagonist War God to a much more mellow and stoic hunter-gatherer is largely because of how Faye's love and acceptance of him brought about a change. Years of reflection and regret notwithstanding, Kratos is a better man partly because Faye's presence gave him an avenue to mature and find a new life in Midgard. There's also his relationship with Atreus, as only through the boy's acceptance of him does Kratos find some measure of redemption for his past sins. Ultimately, it's Faye's trust and posthumous support of him that Kratos shakes off his bloody nature and decides to actively help the Nine Realms find peace.
• The Power of Trust: Kratos's intense shame of who he used to be isn't unwarranted. But his refusal to open up about his past, along with his emphasis on teaching Atreus discipline over providing actual fatherly affection, creates a massive rift between himself and the boy. Only when Kratos finally decides to tell the boy the truth behind his Divine Parentage do they truly form a bond. In Ragnarok, despite their lack of trust in each other driving each other away for a bit, when both he and Atreus learn to completely trust in each other's judgement, do they perform at their very best,, and ultimately, saves Kratos from dying as prophecy foretold.
• Properly Paranoid: In Ragnarok, Kratos has very good reason to be prepared when something is or going to easy in their journey. When discussing the plan on using the now completed mask Atreus obtained, Kratos gives his thoughts on the matter to the group. He claims that the knowledge given from the mask is too good to be true, and that "Shortcuts always have a high price". Despite this, he still allows Atreus to make the final call about the Mask, since it was he who earned it. Also, when they convince Surtr to become Ragnarok on his own and it's all going well, Kratos tells Atreus that it is going too well for his liking, since Odin knows they would do this. His worry are proven right when Odin sent two Valkyries against the two to stop Ragnarok from happening.
• Race Lift: From what little we know of the mythical Fárbauti, it can definitely be said that he wasn't a Greek God of War.
• Rage Breaking Point: Throughout his first fight with The Stranger, he spends much of the fight trying to forcefully persuade him to leave. But when he makes a threat of going after Atreus, Kratos completely loses it and spends the remainder of the fight dead set on killing the Stranger.
  • During his first battle with Thor, Kratos remains even-headed even as Thor howls and hollers in something between rage and playful glee at getting to fight the God of War. This changes when Thor grabs him in a choke and says that Odin has plans for his son. Kratos immediately breaks the hold and knocks out one of Thor's teeth with a powerful punch. Spot a trend?
• Real Men Hate Affection: Played with. Kratos is The Stoic and has a very difficult time bonding with Atreus emotionally, but it's not out of some perceived sense of pride or manhood, but rather because he's still very shell-shocked from the events of Greece, and is so intent on teaching his son discipline that he neglects to show proper affection or concern and otherwise just finds it difficult (multiple times near the beginning of the story, he reaches to comfort Atreus when the latter is sad, only to pause and awkwardly lower his hand). Eventually subverted as he begins to encourage, compliment, apologize to, comfort and finally even hug Atreus as they begin to properly bond as Father and Son on their epic saga. That being said, he does play this straight at times, for a few laughs.
  Atreus: (sees a submerged wheel structure) Hey, that looks like a water wheel. Or I guess...an UNDER-water wheel.
  Kratos: Hmph.
  Atreus: Did you just...laugh at that?
  Kratos: No.
  Atreus: Are you sure?
  Kratos: Yes. I do not laugh.
  Atreus: Don't I know it.
• Really 700 Years Old: God of War (PS4) is apparently set centuries after the third game, despite the fact that Kratos looks like he's merely aged up by a few decades. Judging from how he was an adult during the Persian Wars, he would be pushing a thousand years old by this point.
  • And with the revelation that he's a veteran of The Trojan War, that bumps his age up closer to two thousand.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He and his son zigzag positions between both. Naturally, when compared to his son, Kratos definitely more of a Red Oni—volatile, ill-tempered, sometimes ill-mannered, and just plain abrasive. However, Atreus is a lot more capable of flipping out in times of extreme duress, and the more experienced Kratos is the one who tries to rein in his more violent tendencies by instilling discipline into the boy.
• Redemption Earns Life: By the end of God of War Ragnarök, after much Character Development and atonement, he finally conquers his Death Seeker ways and the worst of his faults to earn his redemption from the Villain Protagonist he was at the beginning of the series due to the death of his original family to the Ideal Hero he is by end thanks to Atreus, Faye, and everyone he met along the way's influence on him. The fact he goes from a bitter loner who'd rather not get involved with the world out of shame of his prior actions to actively wanting to get involved with rebuilding the world in the wake of Rangarök shows how far he's come.
  • This is most represented at the end of Ragnarok by a story he tells his son to comfort him when he cant sleep on the eve of the namesake battle itself. He tells him the story about a man who served his village his entire life by carrying and chopping logs every day until he finds himself old and weak, unable to bear the burdensome logs any longer, with death responding to his call. Becoming increasingly distraight as he tell the story, he stops before the end when he realizes Atreus has fallen asleep. The game establishing this as a straight example of his Death Seeker status and sets up a red flag for his prophesized death as Atreus previously asked to make sure to "finish his story in the morning" incase he fell asleep, indicating Kratos will do so by dying. This is subverted however as during in the epilogue, Kratos has survived to continue the story, changing the ending by saying that upon seeing death come, the old man realized he wished to continue living and instead asks death to help him carry his logs so he could return home to his loved ones.
• Redemption Rejection: Of a sort. Kratos just wants to wash his hands of any divine affairs and is perfectly content to live as a normal man, with Atreus. He doesn't concern himself with seeking any form of redemption because he simply believes it's too late for him to be anything but a monster, instead he just wants to ensure that Atreus does not repeat his own mistakes. Athena even arrives just to insult his attempts at being a family man again, only for Kratos to admit that he will always be a monster, but he will no longer be hers.
  • In Ragnarök, Kratos, gradually decides to change this. A much needed talk with the Norns gives him insight to the fact that his fate has always been in his own hands, and Atreus and Faye's memory pushes him to open himself up to others and strive to be better. After seeing Faye's mural depicting him as a benevolent God loved by many, Kratos sheds tears at the realization that he actually can become a better person and actively decides to help the Nine Realms recover from Odin's rampage.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Kratos wants nothing to do with gods of any sort, and his decision to live a mundane life posing as a mortal is largely driven by his guilt over his past actions as a god. He tries his best to end conflicts in a non-violent manner, but will resort to violence the second he decides it's necessary. There's also the fact that while he's not trying to antagonize anybody, his brusqueness as well as his self-centeredness easily rubs people the wrong way, and causes rifts during his interactions with others who might otherwise be willing to help him. Indeed, the only reason Kratos ends up on good terms with roughly anybody is because his son is often endearing enough to compensate for his father's lack of social skills, though this diminished over time.
• Reformed, but Rejected: He's long since cast away the Ghost of Sparta, but his enemies insist that he will never change, and he'll always be that man. Kratos initially agrees with them, though by the end of his and Atreus's journey, he's come to accept that they're wrong.
  Freya: You are just an animal, passing on your cruelty and rage. You will never change.
  Kratos: Then you do not know me.
• Reluctant Psycho: In God of War (PS4) Kratos prefers to give stern warnings to any threats to him and Atreus. He'll only be violent when he needs to protect his son or himself.
• Resurrective Immortality: The novelization of the first Norse entry indicates that Kratos is essentially cursed to live with the guilt of his sins forever, to the point where when he tried killing himself all the way back in III, he was brought back to life. It's even pointed out that when impaling himself on the Blade of Olympus failed, he hurled himself off a nearby cliff, only to be carried back onto land without a hitch. It's also made clear that this is why he can never part with his chained blades. Even when he tries to rid himself of them, they will always come back to him in some form or another.
• Retired Monster: A slight subversion, in that Kratos knows that he will never be able to atone for all the atrocities he committed, but he is ashamed of what he has done, and has long since cast aside his rage to live a life of peace and isolation. But if you are foolish enough to try and endanger his son, he will show you just how much of a monster he still is. At the end of Ragnarök, both "Retired" and "Monster" no longer apply. Kratos instead resolves to help rebuild the Realms.

S-Z

• Screw Destiny: By killing Magni, he defied the prophecy of Ragnarök. On the other hand, by killing Baldur, he's also kickstarted it much sooner than it was meant to happen. By the next game, it gets more complicated than that. For one thing, the "prophecy" was bollocks; the seer who Odin manipulated into telling him about Ragnarok lied, because that's what happens when you try to trick people who can tell the future. On the other hand, Kratos does avert the giants' real prophecy that Thor would kill him and that Heimdall would kill Atreus. Then it turns out predestination is not actually a thing; the key to avoiding destiny is to simply make better choices to create a better future. Kratos does this, and it turns out that Faye, due to her trust in him, was able to see him change and foresee a future where he is a revered deity- a prediction that the ending shows he's on the way to fulfilling.
• Seen It All: He has centuries of experience with monsters, gods, and magic, and as such things that are surprising to Atreus and other characters are commonplace to him. When they have to go down Jormungandr's gullet, even the well-traveled Mimir finds it a novel experience, while Kratos just says it's only novel because the giant in question isn't trying to eat him this time.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: Kratos has changed his appearance greatly with age and untold years of regret for his past. Gone are any flashy ornamental shoulder guards or elaborate Spartan garb— he is instead content to wear a simple leather pauldron and similarly a unremarkable leather tunic and pants. Furthermore, his physical attributes have changed as well; his red tattoos have faded tremendously and he no longer has a lithe but muscular and athletic-looking Greek ideal body type, instead being more burly with an emphasis on his treelike chest, shoulders and arms like that of a grizzled Norseman.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • After Angrboda saves everyone's lives during Ragnarök, Kratos shows interest in seeing her and Atreus together and trusts her with his life as much as Atreus would.. After seeing her paintings, Kratos mentions that Atreus also paints, possibly trying to impress her. Helping Angrboda's case is her saying that Atreus needs discipline to hone his artistic talents, something that amuses Kratos enough to chuckle and say he likes her.
  • He's also shown to be quite encouraging toward Mimir's relationship with Sigrun, and almost sounds eager for Mimir to tell him the story of how they met in Valhalla.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!:
  • When Kratos is confronted by the spirit of Athena, she tells him that no matter how much he pretends otherwise or tries to change, he cannot be redeemed and will never be anything more than a monster. Kratos acknowledges this, but responds with one of these before dismissing them.
  "I know. But I am your monster no longer."
  • When Odin informs Kratos that Atreus is falling under his control and he would be able to avert Ragnarok, he taunts Kratos on his bloody past to get under his skin. Kratos, nonchalantly says this to Odin, after which the former quietly decides to change the topic.
  "Return my son. Or you may meet the god I once was."
• Sink or Swim Fatherhood: Kratos loves Atreus, but spent most of the boy's childhood as a distant figure. Atreus had a much better relationship with his mother Faye, and with her death, Kratos is forced to raise the boy by himself. Given Kratos's massive history of family issues, it's clear that though through his stoic facade, he's very afraid of failing as a father again.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • He and Atreus defeat Baldur hundreds of years prior to his fated death in Ragnarök, and in doing so they kickstart the world-ending event rather early. It is even implied that Kratos's very presence as an Outside-Context Problem in Midgard is causing some reality-bending and literal fate-defying issues, and as such he's capable of altering or outright breaking prophesied events.
  • Ultimately this is because in this continuity, predetermined fate doesn't exist as a fixed future, predicting "fate" is just being an Excellent Judge of Character and counting on them to not change their character, as well as Groa giving Odin a fake prophecy in defiance of Odin's earlier genocide of the giants. Magni and Baldur only perished due to them not taking the chance to back off when Kratos gave them the opportunity, and Odin didn't bother to suspect for a little bit that Groa may have it in her interests to deceive Odin and folks, thus being completely surprised when seeing her real prophecy.
• The Spartan Way: Subverted; While he tends to be harsh and strict towards Atreus it's explicitly stated that he didn't give him the exact type of Spartan upbringing that he personally went through. Not because he saw Atreus as weak, but because he thinks that no child should ever have to go through such an ordeal.
• Spock Speak: Once he gets to the 4th main game, every sentence of his is lexically well-crafted and notably averse to slang and profanity (the latter of which he even goes as far as to chide Atreus for using, even in a dire situation).
• Stern Teacher: Kratos is still nursing some old wounds from the original series, and attempts to impart upon Atreus his knowledge of how cruel the world can be, in an attempt to prepare the boy for the future hardships he's undoubtedly going to face. When Kratos is trying to teach Atreus something, he'll give the "what" without giving the "how" or expect his son to just figure it out on his own. When telling Atreus to hunt deer, his only advice on how to hunt them is to go "in the direction of deer" (the idea being that Atreus knows how to track deer if he can do such a thing). And when Atreus shoots a deer without Kratos's permission, he yanks the bow away and only tells him to "be better".
• Still Got It: Upon retrieving his Blades of Chaos, Kratos is quick to prove that he can still brandish them as skillfully as he did in the original Greek series.
  • When he gets the Draupnir Spear, Kratos remarks that it's the very first thing a young Spartan learns to wield, and as such, hard to forget despite his years without using one.
• The Stoic: Kratos deeply loathes the Villain Protagonist Psychopathic Manchild he used to be, and so his attempts at control his impulses has led to him becoming much more stone-faced. Though this could just be because he's old, tired, and wartorn.
• The Storyteller: Kratos starts telling stories to Atreus at the boy's urging; at first his stories are brief and straightforward but have poor lessons or meanings to them. By the time they spread Faye’s ashes, throughout all their experiences, it’s displayed that the pair have truly bonded when Kratos tells the story of an old friend called Atreus. Atreus remarks on this by admitting that Kratos finally told a good story and Mimir would be ashamed to have missed it.
• Supporting Protagonist: It's made clear by the end of the game that while the player is controlling Kratos, Atreus is the one whom the plot and future events revolve around.
• Suppressed Rage: His Unstoppable Rage has progressed to this over the hundreds of years since the Greek era. He does his best to keep it in check, even if he does lash out and yell, but if his son is in danger, he will let loose.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Kratos can't stand being around the dwarves Brok and Sindri, and it seems that the only reason he sticks around them is to get them to upgrade his stuff. Though, to be fair, he clearly recognizes their skill as blacksmiths, and is more than impressed with their handiwork on his weapons.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Word of God confirms that his age hasn't actually made him weaker. While Kratos maintains his godly powers and strategic mind, he's been holding himself back for several decades and it's taken a toll on his fighting abilities and overall stamina Not only that, as Kratos himself has long since forsaken his brutally efficient ways, it shows itself as his victories aren't as spectacular or theatrical as the older games because he no longer wants to use that level of energy. For example in God of War 3, he kills Poseidon by first having Gaia send Kratos on a collision course with Poseidon's human form, which Kratos rips out of the watery construct and onto a platform. He then beats Poseidon uncontrollably; slamming his uncle's face repeatedly against a wall, and hitting him with his own head, before throwing him to a nearby wall. Where Kratos then breaks Poseidon's neck after gouging his eyes out. In God of War (PS4), he struggles against Baldur and Magni more than ever due to having not fought such high-level opponents for a long time. He does win, but he kills Magni by embedding his axe into Magni's skull and kills Baldur by breaking his neck. A far, quicker cry from his past brutalities.
  • While Kratos has matured considerably from his past self, he still has a very long way to go before he can truly be redeemed for his sins. He may have taken a level in kindness and is trying his damndest to be a good father to Atreus. But he's so deeply set in his self-serving and pragmatic ways that, despite his willingness to go the distance for his loved ones, he still has the potential to alienate them and anyone close to them due to his impenetrably grim demeanor.
  Cory Barlog: ...because in that beginning pitch, that I talked to people about, I kept talking about this idea that...it's not like we're gonna erase Kratos's past. It's not like, all of a sudden, you start this game, and Kratos is this great guy, and he's gonna be saving people, and he's gonna be a good dad. No, he's the same guy, right? It's just that, in the previous games, the monster that was inside of him was let out all the time. And in this one, he's making the attempts to keep the monster inside.
  • Valhalla more closely examines the consequences of his prior actions, namely his guilt complex causing him to intensely Accentuate the Negative about his past deeds and choosing to focus heavily on how his blind rage destroyed everything in the end, when in reality the decisions he was forced to face were far more complicated than a simple "right or wrong" answer as both Týr and Mimir repeatedly hammer home to Kratos — even his infamous deal with Ares that started much of his pains over the entire series to begin with wasn't as simple as a need to satisfy the Glory Seeker in himself, but the reality that if he hadn't reached out to Ares, Sparta would have been devastated and its people violated by the Barbarian hordes (with potentially his family would have been a victim either way). The lesson to be learned isn't to excuse his actions in some fashion, but to understand that his choices made him the man he became in the Greek saga because he was going off only how he saw them at the time, and it can in turn help prove definitively that Kratos doesn't have to stay trapped by his guilt and find redemption by "being better".
• Terse Talker: His dialogue is always concise and to the point. Of course, he is from Laconia (a region of Greece that included Sparta), the source of the very word 'laconic'.
• They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: So ashamed is he of his past as a War God that he deliberately keeps his son out of any divine affairs unless forced to, and when pressed by anyone to just come out with the truth, he bluntly shuts them down when he can't just Change the Uncomfortable Subject. It's also apparent, however, that Kratos's evasiveness only builds barriers between himself and Atreus, and that if he and the boy are going to have a chance at a healthy relationship now that Faye is dead, he must learn to accept himself and his past for what they are. And a big part of that, as painful as it is for him, involves facing that pain, taking responsibility for it, and finding the courage to forgive himself.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • By the Norse Era, he is a relatively calm, yet stern father to his son. He still has his Spartan Rage, and does yell at him at times, but he actively reins himself invto be a better father, as opposed to his own father.
  • By Ragnarök he's taken another level. He's less taciturn and far more willing to seek out advice and listen to others' opinions. He calls people by their name rather than blunt generic nicknames like "Boy" and "Head", and he's far more willing to do side-quests to help people unlike before where he'd do it begrudgingly for potential rewards. This furthers as the game goes on where Kratos develops into a straight up heroic figure. For example he asks Brok to bless his spear while Brok is having a Heroic BSoD over missing part of his soul to help the Dwarf find peace. He even tries to rein in his rage further, realizing how succumbing to it is what so often leads him to foreseeable tragedy. And finally during Ragnarök, he appeals to Thor to be a better man for the sake of Thrúd. The game ends with Faye having left an image of Kratos' future, as a beloved, worshipped god, which convinces Kratos to stay in Midgard and help repair the nine realms.
  • The Valhalla DLC doubles down on this development, as the whole center of the conflict is Kratos coming to terms with the fact he is a changed man from the cruel monster he was perceived as in the Greek saga, recognizing that for as horrible (and rightly so) as his actions were, he doesn't have to continue hating himself because he has proven beyond a doubt he's not bound to repeat the mistakes of his past with his ability to self-reflect and the people he's befriended along the way. By the very end, Kratos earnestly accepts the godhood he once forsook and deeply resented to help the world heal.
• Tough Love: Kratos can appear distant, harsh and cold towards his son, but he genuinely wants to prepare Atreus to survive as he explains, being a god like him means they will have a target painted on their backs until the end of their days. It becomes clear though that Kratos doesn't mean to be harsh; while he is indeed a stern teacher, he has genuine trouble expressing affection and opening up, no doubt out of shame over his past.
• Tragic Keepsake: The Leviathan Axe he wields belonged to his late wife. Similarly, the Guardian Shield was built by her which is why he asks Brok to repair it instead of just replacing it for a new one when it is heavily damaged by Thor in the beginning of the game.
  Brok: Wouldn't ya rather I just whip ya up a new one?
  Kratos: (Softly) It is...important to me.
• Tranquil Fury: He's trying to conquer his demons and keep himself emotionally controlled, but a couple of times the control slips. Seeing how he's motivated and pretty much has Unstoppable Rage as his default emotion in the trilogy beforehand, this is especially notable.
• Turn Out Like His Father: Defied. By the time of the 2018 game, Kratos does everything he can to prevent his son from making his mistakes.
• Unstoppable Rage: The Spartan Rage mechanic is an embodiment of Kratos' deep fury, but unlike most examples of this trope, this is portrayed somewhat positively. While Kratos fears that he is still capable of becoming the monster that he once was, he has better control over his rage and can release it as pinpoint bursts rather than be consumed by it. In doing so, he can access extreme fonts of power that quickly overwhelm his opponents, then subdue his rage and exploit the openings with precision. The best example of this is in Ragnarok, during his fight against Heimdall. The latter has precognition powers that make him nearly impossible to hit, so Kratos continually gets angrier and angrier throughout the fight until he just begins wildly flailing without any thought. This means that there's nothing for Heimdall's precognition to predict in his movements, so Kratos lands a serious blow to his face that causes the Heimdall to become enraged himself and begin ignoring his own powers in favor of beating Kratos down. This gives Kratos an edge and ends up winning him the fight.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It is heavily implied that Faye intends for Atreus (whose birth name was Loki) to trigger Ragnarök, meaning that Kratos's efforts to protect his son are essentially helping kickstart another god-apocalypse.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: After spending most of the previous series in a state of Revenge Before Reason, he has come to this realization, warning his enemies that revenge will not bring them peace. Sadly for Kratos, the message he's sending sails right over the heads of anyone who hears it.
  "This path you walk... vengeance. You will find no peace. I know."
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Kratos and Mimir serve as this. The two constantly engage in Snark-to-Snark Combat, ranging from genuine compliments to occasional, possible insults, but remain on good terms.
  Mimir: Ah, a Sgian-dubh from my homeland (a Sgian-dubh is a small knife). Used to have one of my own back in the day. You should take it, boy!
  Kratos: Yes, boy... take it. We might need to butter bread somewhere on our travels.
  Mimir: This is why no one likes you.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Dramatic inversion; Kratos is wrought with regret and self loathing to the point of being blunt and no-nonsense, while Atreus is a more-often Cheerful Child who enjoys doing the right thing even when there isn't a benefit to their journey.
• War Is Hell: In his younger years, Kratos's default reaction to those who wronged him in any way (even if he was in the wrong) was to exact violent vengeance upon them in the most brutal way possible. Though he'd experienced severe bouts of PTSD, and had often been maddened by visions of his past brutalities, he'd use violence to solve his problems because he often didn't know how else to react otherwise. Having come to terms with the weight of his mistakes years after the destruction of Greece, he has at this point decided to abstain from acts of wanton violence. Dialogue with Mimir and others reveals that even the War God Kratos has come to view war itself as a senseless loss of life.
• Was It Really Worth It?: In his old age Kratos has come to regret his path of destruction and revenge against the Olympians, viewing his revenge as hollow. He also speaks of Zeus in a mournful tone in Helheim, implying that he regrets killing his father.
• The Watson: In the Norse-era games, Kratos mentions he hasn't bothered to learn much about the lore and mythology of the land and its gods. While Faye told Atreus many stories about them, Kratos never paid much attention. This gives a perfect excuse for Atreus and Mimir, among others, to give him (and the player) exposition and backstory when necessary.
• Weirdness Magnet: What started out as a simple task of spreading his wife's ashes lead to a battle against the Norse pantheon and a quest to reach Jötunheim. Even Mimir has a hard time believing that Baldur just came to the door and started a fight. He highlights this when he finds out Kratos's origin.
  Mimir: I knew you hate gods, but you really can't stay away from them, can you?
  • Several of the conversations in Ragnarök has Mimir asking about the stories he's heard of his past, specifically which part were hyperbole or not. When Kratos mentions that he has actual experience with time travel, Mimir just rolls with it.
• What If the Baby Is Like Me: One of Kratos's principal fears is the idea of Atreus inheriting the more unhealthy parts of his personality. Sadly, his insecurities concerning his own past constantly inch the boy closer and closer into turning out like his father, due to a combination of both the boy's resentment towards his father's evasiveness, as well as Atreus's desire to prove himself in his father's eyes.
• When He Smiles: It's extremely rare to see him smile, and even then his beard can make it hard to tell. But when he does, it's surprisingly heartwarming. A couple stories from Mimir actually get him to chuckle.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: From the very beginning, it's clear that Kratos was very absent for most of Atreus's childhood, and Faye spent far more time raising the boy. Kratos has to even ask Atreus if he knows how to hunt, something that many have noted makes it look like he literally just showed up into the boy's life.
• Worf Had the Flu: In the Norse Realm, a combination of being Willfully Weak, years not engaging in any fights for his life, only hunting untrained monsters, losing access to magical enchantments and weaponry of the Greek world, and having to keep his son safe while also engaging in genuine fights for the first time in a quite long time has clearly reduced his efficiency in battle. That said, the Norse Gods are no pushovers themselves, and he's still capable of moving building-sized objects with his bare hands.
  • During the fourth game, he visibly struggles against Baldur, partly because of Baldur's own extreme power but mainly due to his invulnerability, and notably despite the fact that Baldur would resurrect shortly after Kratos killed him completely healed, he still manages to eventually secure a win by breaking his neck for the third kill while not having the time to recover like Baldur easily did. Likewise, even after taking a brief pummeling from Baldur, he still manages to turn the tides on him, although he accidentally destroys the gateway to Jotunheim. Their final fight ends with Kratos snapping his neck. To a lesser extent, Magni manages to hold him to a stalemate with his sword bearing down on his shield while Modi actually briefly incapacitates him, though on both occasions, the sons of Thor had the element of surprise and once he has enough, he instantly destroys them.
  • In Ragnarök, he gets this twice. The first moments of the story has Freya managing to repeatedly corner and get vicious shots at him, although he only had the usage of a single hand, which still ends with Kratos eventually coming out on top, and when she gets her Valkyrie wings back, he actually nearly loses to her, but it's more due to being caught by surprise upon recognizing her, and as Freya noted, Kratos never actually fought her with real lethal intent, as he didn't wish to kill her. Likewise, to show just how much more formidable Thor is compared to his sons and even Baldur, the God of Thunder repeatedly manages to beat him down and give him a hell of a struggle to break out of his grips. Kratos actually has the Guardian Shield broken and Thor choking him at the end of the fight, only narrowly reaching a stalemate when he is reminded of Atreus and punches Thor hard enough to rip out a teeth, which does nothing but make Thor amused and he calmly leaves by flying away while Kratos actually reels from his wounds, showing just how close he came to losing the fight. However, Thor himself states that the Kratos he was fighting was a lesser version of the God of War he once was in Greece and when they do fight it out to the max, Kratos no longer holding himself back and taking the entire Ragnarök as a true war he must win, he comes out on top, although not without a serious struggle. When he and Odin finally battle, Kratos was already worn out from his previous fights, allowing Odin to gain the upper hand, despite previously being unwilling to tangle with him, and it took Freya and Atreus working together to defeat him.
• Would Not Hurt A Child: As cold and stern and authoritarian as he is, he would never attack his son. The closest he ever comes to corporal punishment is grabbing Atreus firmly by the wrist. When Atreus accidentally strikes a gaping wound in Kratos's side, Kratos reflexively shoves Atreus to the ground and he immediately tries to stammer out a horrified apology.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Throughout the Valhalla DLC, Kratos is conflicted about joining Freya's new pantheon, having spent so long trying to run from who he used to be and fearing the responsibilities that come with the title of a god. When faced with a vision of his younger self, he initially gives himself a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, calling out all the cruelty and selfishness he once indulged in, but rounds it off by saying that he still has hope, believing that he, Kratos has the potential to be better than he was; he just needed to see it for himself, and as such willingly chooses to take his throne, not as the God of War, but the God of Hope.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Partway through the game, Kratos and Atreus come upon Tyr's hidden vault, and discover that it is filled with relics from other realms...including a vase depicting an image of Kratos, pulled directly from Greece. Seeing as how there'd been no mention of the appearance of Tyr or foreign gods in the original Greek series implies that the vase was procured after the events of III, hinting that Greece was ultimately able to recover from Kratos's god-killing rampage. Kratos likely won't ever return, out of shame for what he'd done.
• Your Days Are Numbered:
  • While walking through Jötunheim, the two uncover a mural of the Giants' prophecies, foretold with perfect accuracy what would happen on their travels — including one that only Kratos chances to see, depicting Atreus in the near future, cradling his father's body and birthing the World Serpent in grief. This clearly troubles Kratos, but moreso for the implication that his son is going to do something he won't be able to stop.
  Atreus: C'mon, we're so close to the end now!
  Kratos: ...Yes. Yes, we are.
  • Ultimately, the mural turns out to be wrong. The bearded, dying man in Atreus' arms is Odin (and this happens after Ragnarök is triggered), whereas Kratos ends up going out to rebuild the realms with Freya and Mimir. The fact that fate doesn't exist and is actually a construct formed from predictable choices helps here, by finally taking responsibility for his personal failings, resolving to be a better person, and raising Atreus to be better than him Kratos successfully breaks the cycle of violence and averts a potentially grim future.
• Zen Survivor: Kratos is an Old Soldier who wants nothing more than to live peacefully with his son, in the outback of Scandinavia. But when his back is against the wall, he proves he’s still good enough to take on Physical Gods, if a little rusty.