God of War: How the Greek Gods Shaped Kratos Before He Traveled to the Norse World

gamerant.com:

By the time that God of War's Norse saga comes to an end, Kratos will have rubbed shoulders with some of the most iconic characters from the ancient world. While plenty of monsters have appeared within the franchise since its PS2-era debut, it’s arguably the gods of the universe that stand out above everything else. Considering the stakes involved with many of these encounters, it's unsurprising that Kratos has been shaped in some way by most of the deities he’s crossed paths with.

It’s clear from Kratos’ personality and physical depiction in God of War 2018 that the Greek pantheon in particular has left the deepest impression on his characterization. From just a quick glance at the aforementioned game, players can almost sense the weight of the journey that's led the Ghost of Sparta to the Norse world. With the climactic God of War: Ragnarok still on course to make its debut on PS4 and PS5 in 2022, now is the perfect time to examine how these gods have shaped the series' protagonist.

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While Kratos would eventually discover that his origins and fate were tied intrinsically to the Greek pantheon of gods, for the first few decades of his life the character lived in blissful ignorance of this. That’s not to say that Mount Olympus didn’t exact its influence on the youngster during this time though. On the contrary, Kratos’ first conscious interaction with Greek mythology occurred at an early age, and left him with several scars that are still visible to this day.

Following the discovery of a prophecy that predicted the demise of the Greek gods, Athena and Ares were dispatched to seek out a marked child said to be at the center of the apocalypse. Having invaded Sparta to do so,