Kratos

Kratos, the God of War is the main and titular protagonist of the God of War series. He is a demigod son of his father Zeus and mother Callisto, as well as a brother of Deimos. Kratos is also the father of Calliope and Atreus, and was married to Lysandra and Laufey. Once the brutal captain of the Spartan army, Kratos led his men through numerous conquests across Greece, eventually facing the Barbarians. Overwhelmed and on the verge of death, Kratos struck a deal with Ares by committing atrocity under his name. Even his own family grew horrified by his actions. Tragically, Ares tricked him into killing his wife and child, branding him the "Ghost of Sparta" with their ashes fused to his skin. Seeking redemption, Kratos served the other Gods of Olympus for ten years, enduring their labors that deepened his hatred for them. Ultimately, he defeated Ares and claimed the throne of the "God of War", but his fury against the Olympians led to a series of battles that determined Greece's fate. Eventually leaving Greece as well as his bloody past behind, Kratos ends up in Ancient Egypt and makes his way into Midgard. Having come to view his troubled past with great shame, Kratos has taken the initiative to mature and grow past his self-destructive tendencies, choosing to live as a man under the Norse Pantheon. He even finds love again with a woman named Faye, eventually fathering a son with her named Atreus. When Faye dies of unknown circumstances, Kratos and Atreus set out on a journey to spread her ashes from the highest peak in all the Nine Realms as it was her final wish. However, the two come into conflict with various Nordic creatures along their way, and are constantly pursued by a mysterious Stranger — seemingly under orders from the King of the Norse Pantheon himself, Odin. As Ragnarök unfolds, Kratos and Atreus were confronted by Odin and Thor. While embarking on a perilous journey across the Nine realms in a desperate attempt to stop Ragnarök, they join Freya's forces, but despite their efforts, it could not be prevented. Uniting allies from across the realms, they waged war against Asgard, with Kratos facing Thor once more and ultimately defeating Odin. As Asgard fell, the trio returned to Midgard, where Atreus (now "Loki") — set out to seek any remaining Giants, bidding a heartfelt farewell to his father. Meanwhile, Kratos and Freya, alongside Mímir, began the monumental task of rebuilding and restoring the Nine realms. While also finally accepting his past while traveling in Valhalla, he decides to join Freya's council of Gods and reclaim the throne of the "God of War" once again while also becoming a ''God of Hope''.

Apperance: Kratos is the epitome of what a Spartan soldier is in that he is essentially made for battle. He is very tall, being around 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) at Greece, and 1.94 metres (6 ft 4 in) throughout the Norse Pantheon. Kratos also currently weights in at roughly 250 pounds (110 kg). Due to his long lifetime as a warrior, Kratos is in peak physical condition of a large, athletic frame with a well-defined and muscular build. During his youth, Kratos wore a brown cloth draped over his shoulders, while a Spartan blanket with orange patterns hung down near his legs, adding a touch of Spartan heritage to his attire. His left arm was wrapped in bandages to protect himself from injuries. He even trained barefoot, a common practice to toughen his feet and improve his agility. Then he also has a teenage deep voice and while training with his younger brother Deimos, Kratos carries a wooden spear with him and a shield sometimes. As Kratos matures, he sported a red tattoo going down the majority of his upper body and up to his face, a tattoo he wore in honour of his brother, Deimos. On his face, besides the aforementioned tattoo, he has a scar on his right eye and a black goatee and hazel brown eyes. The scar was caused by Ares when Kratos was a child and tried to save his brother from the raid of Gods on Sparta. When he was promoted as a Spartan general, Kratos wore a sleeveless bronze chestplate, showing his muscular arms. The armor featured an orange symbol in the center, marking his high rank and authority to his army. Besides that, he wore a simple loincloth, allowing him to keep his equipment. Kratos also carries the Sword of Valor during his battles. For his feet as well, Kratos wore a metalic sandal. As time went on in the Greek era, his skin turns ashen white, a result of being covered in the ashes of his dead family, a mark of his past and a curse. His prominent red tattoo running from his left eye, over his head, and down his left shoulder made this his distinctive look. Kratos typically wears a Greek-style armored skirt, that is made of leather and metal strips. This offers warmth while allowing for freedom of movement in battle. He also has armbands, providing protection for his arms while also having metal greaves for his lower legs. Apart from his armor and weapons, Kratos’ attire is quite minimal, which also shows his muscles and some scars on his skin. Other than that, he does wield other mythical weapons, such as the Blades of Chaos, the Blade of Olympus, and more extra equipments each adding to his arsenal during combat.

Personality: Kratos was originally an incredibly destructive, ruthless, violent, fierce, brave, and brutal warrior who is focused mainly on his own goals, and turning what guilt he has into anger. Whenever he is wronged, he becomes obsessed with revenge and will destroy who or whatever he has to get his vengeance. At first, Kratos wanted revenge on Ares for making him kill his family, then Zeus for betraying and trying to kill him, and his lust for vengeance consumed him to where he no longer cared for the world as it was destroyed by his actions. His inability to accept full responsibility for his actions makes him shift the blame to others for his actions. Due to his many painful memories, Kratos is often stoic and silent, but brutally vocal in battle. At the early stages of his time in Greece, Kratos still had a degree of morality, being genuinely shameful of his reputation as the “Ghost of Sparta”, visibly aghast by the fear and hatred others have for him, as shown by his reaction when he asked to a woman in Athens to give him a key. However, she ran away in terror and call him a monster. With this as well, he shows clear remorse and anguish as he observed the massacres committed by Ares' minions, causing him to question what he had done and become. He even shows a willingness to save others and show regret when he fails, as displayed by his failed attempts to save Aletheia, giving them comfort when he failed, and he refuses to kill Orkos—who offered him genuine aid—at first despite knowing killing him is the only way to be free from Ares. He also pushed an innocent man out of the way of an incoming attack that would have killed him on Delos. In addition, Kratos genuinely cared for and was loyal to his home and his people, Sparta. However, Zeus would later destroy his home causing Kratos to be devastated and making him openly rebel against the Gods and defy fate to save Sparta. Even at his worst, Kratos displayed remorse for killing Hephaestus, bearing him no actual ill will—understanding that he was only trying to protect his daughter—and seeing him as a better parent than himself, and his accidental slaying of Athena when she died for Zeus. During his servitude to the Gods, while he was defiant, he showed them respect by calling them "Lord"—although he did not address female gods this way. He was also respectful to Gaia for her aid, though did show initial skepticism when he first arrived on the Island of Creation. Following betrayals from both parties, he has lost all respect for divine beings shown by lack of hesitance in sending Gaia plummeting from Olympus for her betrayal or insulting Hermes. He showed no qualms killing Titans or Gods, when they got in his way. Even as Kratos became more self-centered and obsessed with revenge, he is still capable of showing mercy. Having only desired the death of Zeus, Kratos would not hesitate to kill any of the Olympians who tried to get in his way, but on numerous occasions, he also proves to be quite willing to warn or try reasoning with and telling his half-siblings or other relatives to step aside, only fighting them when they fought him openly or when they provoked him deeply, as displayed by Kratos warning Theseus to step aside lest he face death before ultimately killing him, attempting to reason with Hercules, displaying some pity for his brother's efforts to earn Zeus' favoritism, knowing fully well Zeus didn't care much for his family. He would also ignore Hermes until his provocation became too much and Hera until she insulted Pandora. He also seems to retain a degree of honor, both before and after he became utterly obsessed with vengeance, as he absolutely loathes cowardice and is more than willing to intervene and kill any such people with selfish self-preservation, as displayed by his disgust of the scholars of the Island of Creation for their willingness to use others as a human sacrifice and straight up telling them to "die with honor", his immediate brutal murder of the Persian King for his cowardly willingness to sell his kingdom to Kratos for mercy, him sinking the Boat Captain while inside the Hydra King out of contempt for his willingness to abandon his own men, and his utter disgust for Castor's cowardice, sparing the slaves he ordered to remove Kratos when they fled and brutally killing him. For all his faults, Kratos deeply loved his family, his murder of them being his deepest regret and driving him into madness. In fact, the only time he is happy being when he got to see Calliope again, displaying enormous pain and hesitation to leave her behind to save her and the world. Kratos also deeply cared for Deimos, to where he tried to protect him even in the face of possible death against Ares and Athena. And even years later, he did his best to rescue him from Thanatos, even allowing his brother to vent his anger and beat him down and being so enraged by his death that he was able to kill the God of Death afterwards. With this as well, he genuinely felt very remorseful over killing his mother, Callisto and with Deimos' death, he would vow vengeance against the Gods. Kratos' growing madness from the visions of his deeds and his efforts to rid himself of his nightmares had led him to promiscuity, laying with random women. Even during conflicts such as the Persian invasion and the siege of Rhodes, Kratos had taken what opportunity he could when engaging in affairs with many beautiful women. At times, however, he received very little to no comfort especially when such encounters had constantly reminded him of his first wife Lysandra. Kratos has also shown a noticeable dislike and hatred towards being indebted to someone. This was evident by how he coldly told Athena he did not owe her anything, even though she made him a God, shielded him from Zeus and Olympus' wrath, and aided in his revenge against Zeus. Furthermore, he was initially willing to spare Helios and giving him only one and final chance to help him find the Flame of Olympus and only resorting to killing him after Helios remained defiant and tried to cruelly trick him. Reminded of his own daughter later on, Kratos developed a strong bond with Pandora and was unwilling to sacrifice her to acquire the power needed to kill Zeus and destroy Olympus entirely. Her sacrifice affected him dearly, causing him to bitterly lament she died for his vengeance and being inspired by her to discover the power of Hope, and it was the fact that her sacrifice was in a sense meaningless that finally overcame his desire for vengeance and sacrifice himself to release Hope for humanity as Pandora had wished. During his time in the Norse Pantheon, Kratos has accepted full responsibility for his actions in Greece, displaying extreme sadness and regret, and at times even falling into a state of depression, when confronted about his past behavior. He also now dreads being called the "Ghost of Sparta", angrily telling Mimir not to call him that. This remorse and shame is due to the fact that Kratos has realized how meaningless and hollow vengeance feels, as despite succeeding in killing Zeus and the Olympians, it amounted to nothing but burdening Kratos with the ultimate sin of leaving Greece near-completely destroyed and gave him absolutely no solace or joy, causing him to genuinely regret killing his father, realizing how horrible and selfish the act was. He shows genuine empathy towards Baldur for attempting to get revenge on Freya, after learning how she ruined his life by taking away his ability to feel, viewing it as similar to his old quest for revenge against Zeus, and tries to talk him out of it, understanding that Freya only did what she did out of love, even if it was misguided and overprotective, and is willing to kill him only when he attempts to do so, wishing to end the cycle of children killing their parents. At first, Kratos saw the godhood of him and his son as a curse, going to great lengths to cover up his past as a God from Atreus and at first wishing that Atreus would just live as a normal human. However, after seeing how his secrecy nearly killed his son, Kratos came to terms with the fact that Gods, including him and his son, have the responsibility with the power they have to not be reckless. As such, Kratos becomes the voice of reason towards Atreus when his godhood makes Atreus arrogant and ruthless—which concerned the former as he used to be like that, eventually successfully getting through him. His love for his son proved to be Kratos' redeeming point, as despite initially attempting to hide his past, realizing that his secrecy would only lead to Atreus suffering allowed him to overcome his shame and anguish over his past and confess to Atreus a summary of everything he did back in Greece. He was even willing to take up the Blades of Chaos in order to save his son, despite his tormented feelings over his past and strong attempts to leave it be. While Kratos still resents the Gods of Olympus, as displayed by his cold response to the spirit of Athena, and distrusts divine beings, he has become much more reasonable in dealing with them. Kratos shows no desire to oppose the Norse Gods, simply wishing to avoid interactions with them, having come to realize that the consequences of killing a God can be catastrophic for the world around him and not wishing to repeat what he had done in Greece, and is even willing to accept them as allies should they prove worthy of his trust. Kratos also willingly trusted Mimir, after the latter showed genuine desire to help him and his son and eventually came to be fond of him later on, confiding in him his deepest doubts and darkest secrets, and viewing him as a brother figure, even calling him "brother" once and eventually getting interested in Mimir's own life and struggles such as his relationship with Sigrun, whereas he would be unconcerned with other's affairs before. Despite having always been on the edge with Freya and growing to distrust her completely after learning she was a God, he was able to come to trust and care for her after she saved his son, and even learning Freya had bewitched Mimir to prevent them from learning Baldur's weakness did not dwindle Kratos' reasonable side, as he cared enough for her to fight Baldur for her and later saved her life by killing Baldur when he attempted to choke her to death. He did not harm her when she swore vengeance on him, understanding the pain she feels, having felt the same after killing his family, and believes that time will eventually cause her to forgive him. Once Kratos and Freya make amends, his trust further deepens, even admitting to Mimir, he valued her as a friend though he expressed his doubts about whether she saw him as a friend or simply found him useful, only for Mimir to scoff at the doubts. Moreover, upon meeting the real Týr, and having heard of his good deeds, he also came to deeply respect and trust him and took the time to listen to his advice, as the latter was genuine in his desire to help Kratos come to terms with his past in Valhalla and offer wisdom. He also accepted Freyr, and later on Sif and Thrúd as allies once he saw their goodness or they managed to redeem themselves. Over the years since their last journey, the bond between his companions had only grew stronger, but also making efforts to further being more inclined to show affection through both gestures and words. However, Kratos was still not without his flaws, struggling with Atreus' increasing independence due to how much it contrasted the discipline taught to him and his Spartan brethren, causing him to still retain a degree of stern distance and commanding presence over his son. This was also due to Kratos having seen prophecy in Jötunheim foretelling his death, becoming more determined to prepare him to survive on his own. With it, he even shows a degree of hypocrisy, as he is angered by the revelation that Atreus was sneaking out without permission, despite the fact Kratos too had kept secrets for so long from Atreus. Moreover, upon meeting Thor and recognizing the latter's violent and destructive behavior and how he was being manipulated by Odin, he developed sympathy towards him—likely viewing his situation as having been similar to his and Zeus' in the past—and tried to convince him to let go of his hatred and violent behavior by reminding him of his love for his daughter, eventually succeeding in getting through to him only for it to not amount to anything as Thor is callously killed by Odin for disobeying. He eventually realized how much his attitude was wrong, toxic and cruel. This realization ultimately compelled Kratos to sincerely apologize to his son and finally show support of his decisions, culminating in Kratos accepting Atreus' path to leave the Norse lands to search for the Giants and showing great pride that his son has matured and no longer requires him. On the other hand, Kratos initially refused to lead during Ragnarök because he was haunted by his past mistakes, where his reckless actions led to disaster. But by the end of this war, he realized that Gods could be both good and bad, which made him embrace his godhood. He accepted the responsibility of using his powers to help others but didn't want to be officially recognized as a God. Fearing he might fall back into his old ways again, he chose not to join Freya's council and decided to be a helpful God without holding any authority. After facing the trials of Valhalla and receiving encouragement from Týr, Mimir, Freya, and the Valkyries, Kratos came to greatly feel remorse for several meaningless murders he committed in Greece, such as the Boat Captain and Helios. He addressed his remorse while undergoing his trials in Valhalla to come to terms with his past life. He eventually realized that his actions of releasing Hope into Greece and helping the Nine Realms were enough to atone for his sins. This led him to dedicate himself to again becoming the "God of War". Kratos starts by experiencing an illusion of being with his wife, Lysandra, at their home in Sparta. The Furies create this illusion, but Orkos helps Kratos see that it isn't real. This moment highlights Kratos' deep pain and his ability to recognize and reject deception. Orkos then tasks Kratos with finding the Oracle, Aletheia. Kratos' acceptance of this mission shows his willingness to seek the truth and break free from his ties to Ares, driven by his desire for redemption. Upon reaching his destination, Kratos encounters Castor and Pollux. Their impatience leads to a fight, where Kratos' combat skills and fighting styles shine through. He then finds Aletheia, who is dying from her injuries. She tells him about the Eyes of Truth and directs him to the island of Delos. This interaction shows a more thoughtful side of him. While traveling to Delos, Kratos meets Orkos again in a ship. Orkos reveals more about Ares' past, adding depth to Kratos' understanding of his situation and fueling his determination to break free. On the island of Delos, Kratos explores the ruins of Apollo's Statue and fights many enemies. He is once again deceived by the Furies, who create illusions of his dead wife and daughter Calliope, his King, and a Spartan soldier. These illusions torment Kratos, reflecting his ongoing struggle with guilt and grief. Unfortunately, Kratos is recaptured and tortured by the Furies in the Prison of the Damned for two weeks. Despite their efforts to persuade him to return to Ares' service, Kratos remains defiant. His resilience and refusal to give up showcase his strong will. After defeating the Furies, Kratos returns to Sparta and meets Orkos (for the final time). Orkos asks Kratos to kill him to break the bond with Ares. Kratos complies, freeing himself but also restoring painful memories of killing his wife and child. This act highlights Kratos' inner conflict and the heavy burden of his past.

Abilities: Transcendental God Physiology Immortality Superhuman Strength Nigh-Invulnerability Superhuman Speed and Reflexes Superhuman Agility Superhuman Stamina Regenerative Healing Factor Superhuman Senses Rage Empowerment Fate Immunity