God of war
1,2,3,4
God of war 1
Kratos is a warrior who serves the Greek gods of Olympus. Flashbacks reveal that he was once a successful but bloodthirsty captain in the Spartan army and led his men to several victories before being defeated by a barbarian king. Facing death, Kratos called on the God of War, Ares, whom he promised to serve if the god would spare his men and provide the power to destroy their enemies. Ares agreed and bonded the Blades of Chaos, a pair of chained blades forged in the depths of Tartarus, to his new servant. Kratos, equipped with the blades, then decapitated the barbarian king.[17]
Kratos waged war at the behest of Ares, eventually leading an attack on a village occupied by worshipers of Athena. Unknown to Kratos, Ares had secretly transported Kratos' wife and daughter to the village; during his frenzied attack on its temple, Kratos accidentally killed them in a blind fury. Although Ares believed this act would free Kratos to become the perfect warrior, the horrified and saddened Spartan instead renounced his pledge of servitude to the god and swore vengeance against him. The oracle of the destroyed village cursed Kratos by bonding the ashes of his dead family to his skin, turning it ash-white and earning him the nickname, "Ghost of Sparta". Plagued by nightmares of his horrible deed, Kratos vowed to serve the other gods in hope of ridding himself of the visions.[17]
When the game starts, Kratos has been serving the gods for ten years. He kills the Hydra on behalf of Poseidon, but he has grown tired of his service and suffering. He summons Athena, who states that if Kratos performs one final act—the murder of Ares—he will be forgiven for killing his family. Ares is waging war on the city of Athens out of hatred of his sister Athena, who assigns Kratos to destroy Ares because Zeus has forbidden divine intervention. Athena guides Kratos to the war-torn Athens. After a strange encounter with a gravedigger who encourages him to continue his task, Kratos battles his way to Athens' oracle, finds her, and learns that the only way to defeat Ares is with Pandora's Box, a mythical artifact that grants the power to kill a god.[17]
Kratos enters the Desert of Lost Souls, and Athena tells him Pandora's Box is hidden in a temple chained to the back of the Titan Cronos—a punishment by Zeus for Cronos' role in the Great War. Kratos summons Cronos, climbs for three days before reaching the Temple entrance, overcomes an array of deadly traps and an army of monsters, and eventually finds the Box. But Ares, aware of his former servant's success, kills Kratos as he is leaving the Temple by hurling a large pillar into him. While harpies take the Box to Ares, Kratos falls into the Underworld. He battles his way through the fiery realm of the dead, and with help from the mysterious gravedigger, who tells him Athena is not the only god watching over him, he escapes and returns to Athens.[17]
Kratos recovers Pandora's Box from Ares, opens it, and uses its power to become godlike and engages Ares in a fierce battle. Despite Ares' best efforts to destroy Kratos physically and mentally, including stripping him of all weapons and magic and then forcing him to relive his family’s death, Kratos overcomes and kills Ares with the Blade of the Gods, a giant sword that was being used as an ornamental bridge to Athens. The city is saved, and Athena tells Kratos that although his sins are forgiven, the gods cannot erase his nightmares. Forsaken by the gods, he tries to commit suicide by casting himself into the Aegean Sea, but Athena intervenes and transports him to Mount Olympus. As a reward for his services to the gods, Athena provides Kratos with a new set of blades and the seat as the new God of War.
God of war 2
Kratos, the new God of War following Ares' death,[N 1] is still haunted by nightmares of his past and is shunned by the other gods for his destructive ways. Ignoring Athena's warnings, Kratos joins the Spartan army in an attack on Rhodes, during which a giant eagle, which Kratos assumes to be Athena, suddenly drains a huge portion of his powers and uses it to animate the Colossus of Rhodes. While battling the statue, Zeus offers Kratos the Blade of Olympus, a mighty sword that Zeus had used to end the Great War, requiring Kratos to infuse the blade with the remainder of his godly power. Although mortal once again, Kratos defeats the Colossus but is mortally wounded. The eagle reveals itself to have been Zeus all along, who states he was forced to intervene as Athena refused to do so. Zeus then grants Kratos a final opportunity to be loyal to the gods, but Kratos refuses. Enraged by his defiance, Zeus kills him with the blade and destroys the Spartan army.
Kratos is slowly dragged to the Underworld, but is saved by the Titan Gaia. Gaia tells Kratos that she once raised the young Zeus, who eventually betrayed the Titans as vengeance for the cruelty inflicted on his siblings by Zeus' father, Cronos. She instructs Kratos to find the Sisters of Fate, who can alter time, prevent his death, and allow him his revenge on Zeus. With the aid of Pegasus, Kratos finds the lair of Gaia's brother Typhon. Imprisoned under a mountain, Typhon is angered at the intrusion and traps Pegasus, forcing Kratos to explore on foot. Kratos encounters the Titan Prometheus, who is chained in mortal form and tortured at Zeus' directive for giving fire to mankind. Prometheus begs to be released from his torment, so Kratos confronts Typhon to steal his magical bow. He blinds the massive Titan with it to escape and then uses it to free Prometheus, who falls into the Flames of Olympus and dies, finally free of eternal torture. The immolation releases the power of the Titans which Kratos absorbs, using it to free Pegasus and then fly to the Island of Creation.
Just before reaching the island, Kratos fights and kills Theseus to awaken the gigantic stone Steeds of Time—a gift to the Sisters of Fate from Cronos in an attempt to change his own fate—which grants Kratos access to the island. There, Kratos encounters and defeats several foes, some of whom are also seeking the Sisters of Fate, including an undead version of his old foe the Barbarian King, the Gorgon Euryale, Perseus, and a deranged Icarus, who throws himself with Kratos into Tartarus. After defeating Icarus, Kratos eventually encounters the imprisoned Titan Atlas, who initially resents Kratos for his current predicament.[N 2] After Kratos explains his intent, Atlas reveals that Gaia and the other Titans also seek revenge on Zeus for their defeat in the Great War. Atlas also reveals that the Blade of Olympus is the key to defeating Zeus and helps Kratos to reach the Palace of the Fates.
After evading traps and defeating more enemies, Kratos encounters an unseen foe, revealed to be a loyal Spartan soldier also in search of the Sisters. Before he dies, the soldier informs Kratos that Zeus has destroyed Sparta in Kratos' absence. Outraged, Kratos defeats the Kraken and frees a phoenix, riding the creature to the Sisters' stronghold where he confronts two, Lakhesis and Atropos. After they refuse his request to alter time, Kratos battles them. During this, the Sisters try to change the outcome of Kratos' battle with Ares, but Kratos kills them both, then confronts the remaining Sister, Clotho. He kills her using her own traps, and acquires the Loom of Fate in order to return to the point at which Zeus betrayed him.
Kratos surprises Zeus, seizes the Blade of Olympus, and finally incapacitates him. Athena intervenes and implores Kratos to stop, as by killing Zeus, he will destroy Olympus. Kratos ignores her and tries to kill Zeus, but Athena sacrifices herself by impaling herself upon the blade, granting Zeus' escape. Before she dies, Athena reveals that Kratos is actually Zeus' son. Zeus was afraid Kratos would usurp him, just as Zeus had usurped his own father, Cronos. Kratos declares that the rule of the gods is at an end, then travels back in time and rescues the Titans just before their defeat in the Great War. He returns with the Titans to the present, and the gods watch as their former foes climb Mount Olympus. Kratos, standing on the back of Gaia, declares that he has brought the destruction of Olympus.
God of war 3
Kratos, Gaia, and the other Titans ascend Mount Olympus to destroy the Olympian gods.[N 1] Poseidon launches an assault against them, but is killed by Kratos and Gaia; his death causes the oceans to flood Greece. Reaching Olympus' peak, they try to attack Zeus, but he drives them back and knocks them off the mountain. As Gaia clings to the mountainside, she refuses to save Kratos, calling him a pawn for the Titans' revenge.
Kratos falls into the River Styx, where he loses the Blade of Olympus before the souls of the Underworld weaken him and ruin the Blades of Athena. Climbing from the river, he is greeted by Athena's spirit, who ascended to a higher existence after sacrificing herself to save Zeus from Kratos,[N 2] and had witnessed truths which she previously could not see. She gives Kratos the Blades of Exile and tells him he must extinguish the Flame of Olympus to kill Zeus. After finding the three Judges of the Underworld and the Chain of Balance, Kratos briefly meets the spirit of Pandora, whom he initially mistook for his dead daughter, Calliope. Following an encounter with the Olympian blacksmith Hephaestus and recovering the Blade of Olympus, he kills Hades[N 3] and releases the souls of the Underworld. Kratos considers searching for Calliope's soul, but Athena reminds him of his quest, and he leaves the Underworld. Kratos reaches Olympia and finds the wounded Gaia pleading for help, only for Kratos to sever her arm as payback for earlier betrayal, causing her to fall to her apparent death.
Kratos (bottom left) battles enemies on Cronos' arm. The image also depicts the size of the Titans featured in the game.
Kratos continues his ascent, murdering powerful foes such as the Titan Perses and the god Helios; plunging Greece into eternal darkness in the process. He also pursues the overconfident Hermes to the Chamber of the Flame and finds Pandora's Box is held within the Flame of Olympus, which Athena says can only be quelled by Pandora herself. Kratos manages to catch Hermes and kill him, releasing a plague upon Greece. At the Forum, he has an audience with the drunken Hera, who ignores his request for Pandora's location and summons Hercules. After discussing his jealousy of his half-brother, Hercules attacks Kratos, but is killed. Kratos then encounters Aphrodite, who is indifferent to his war on Olympus. She leads him back to her estranged husband, Hephaestus, through Hyperion's Gate. The blacksmith, learning of Kratos’s plan to quell the Flame of Olympus, sends him to Tartarus to retrieve the Omphalos Stone, claiming he will forge a new weapon for the Spartan. Kratos faces Cronos, kills the Titan for the stone, and returns to Hephaestus. After forging the weapon, the god tries to kill Kratos but is fatally wounded. Before dying, Hephaestus admits that he was trying to protect his daughter Pandora, who was imprisoned in the Labyrinth after Kratos opened her box,[N 4] and pleads with Kratos to spare her. Reusing the Hyperion Gate, Kratos travels through Hera's Gardens, where he kills Hera for disrespecting Pandora, ending all Greek plant life, before making his way to the Labyrinth.
The imprisoned architect, Daedalus, distraught to learn of his son's death, dies as Kratos proceeds to unite the Labyrinth and venture through the aerial puzzle to rescue Pandora. Neutralizing the judges and breaking the Chain of Balance, Kratos raises the Labyrinth, and Pandora tries to enter the Flame. Zeus intervenes and fights Kratos, but Pandora sacrifices herself despite Kratos' reluctance. Finding Pandora's Box empty, Kratos attacks Zeus before Gaia joins the frays and attempts to kill them both. They escape through an open wound on her body and continue their battle inside her chest. Kratos impales Zeus against Gaia's heart, killing her and apparently Zeus. Believing he is done, Kratos is attacked by Zeus' spirit, who removes his weapons and powers. Before Zeus can finish him off, Kratos is saved by a vision of Pandora during a journey into his psyche. With the help from the spirits of Calliope and his wife Lysandra, Kratos forgives himself before regaining consciousness along with the power of hope. He forces Zeus' spirit back into his body and then beats him to death, releasing a column of lightning into the sky.
Kratos looks upon the apocalyptic Greece standing into complete chaos, a result of him killing the whole Greek pantheon. Athena reappears, demanding that Kratos return what she thinks he took from Pandora's Box. When Kratos tells her it was empty, she refuses to believe this, explaining that when Zeus sealed the evils of the world in the box, she placed the power of hope in it as well; foreseeing that it would eventually be opened. Athena realizes that when Kratos opened the box to defeat Ares, the evils escaped and slowly corrupted the gods while Kratos was imbued with hope, which had been hidden by his guilt. She demands Kratos return her power with the intention of establishing her own rule over Greece. But Kratos refuses and seemingly kills himself with the Blade of Olympus so that hope can be disbursed among mankind. A disappointed Athena leaves empty-handed while Kratos collapses on a mural of a phoenix.
In a post-credits scene, a trail of blood is seen leading away from the abandoned Blade of Olympus; implying Kratos' survival[N 5] but leaving his whereabouts unknown.
God of war 4 ( 2018 )
Many years after defeating the Olympian gods,[e] Kratos lives with his son Atreus in the realm of Midgard and is often abrasive and passive aggressive towards him. After cremating the body of Faye, Kratos is confronted by a stranger with godly powers. The two battle and Kratos seemingly kills the stranger, after which Kratos and Atreus begin their journey to honor Faye's last wish: to scatter her ashes at the highest peak in the nine realms. Along the way, they encounter the kindly Witch of the Woods, who recognizes Kratos as a god.
Kratos and Atreus find their path blocked by impenetrable black mist; the Witch instructs them to travel to Alfheim and secure its magical light to extinguish the mist. Successful, they reach Midgard's peak and overhear a conversation between the stranger—revealed to be Baldur—his nephews, Modi and Magni, and the imprisoned Mímir. After they leave, Kratos and Atreus confront Mímir, who reveals the highest peak is actually in Jötunheim, but the Giants have blocked travel there. Knowing of another passage, Mímir instructs Kratos to behead him and have his head revived by the Witch of the Woods, whom, upon resurrection, he reveals to be the goddess Freya. Kratos' longstanding hatred of gods causes him to distrust her, but both Freya and Mímir warn him he must tell Atreus about his true nature.
Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir are attacked by Modi and Magni. After Kratos kills Magni, Modi flees but later ambushes the trio. Kratos fends him off, but Atreus collapses, overcome by illness due to the contradiction of a god believing himself to be mortal. Freya instructs Kratos to retrieve the heart of a specific troll in Helheim; however, his frost-based Leviathan Axe is useless in the icy realm. Kratos returns home to unearth his old weapons, the fiery Blades of Chaos, and is haunted by Athena's spirit. After retrieving the heart, he has a haunting vision of Zeus. Freya revives Atreus, and Kratos tells him they are gods. Atreus becomes increasingly arrogant and, against Kratos' orders, murders a weakened Modi, who was beaten by Thor for not avenging Magni. At Midgard's peak, Kratos and Atreus are ambushed by Baldur, resulting in Jötunheim's portal being destroyed. Their battle descends to Týr's Temple, and the group ends up in Helheim.
Atreus makes amends with Kratos. They learn of Freya and Baldur's familial relationship and the spell of invulnerability she cast on him. Returning to Midgard, Mímir realizes another way to reach Jötunheim but needs his missing eye. After obtaining it, the group are attacked by Baldur once more, but Freya intervenes to protect her son. Baldur is pierced by Atreus' mistletoe arrow, breaking Freya's spell. Baldur is finally defeated but attempts to strangle Freya, and Kratos kills him. A grieving Freya swears vengeance on Kratos. Kratos tells Atreus about his own past and how he killed his own father. Atreus laments this cycle of violence, and Kratos tells him they should not repeat the mistakes of their predecessors. A silent Freya leaves with Baldur's corpse.
Kratos and Atreus reach Jötunheim. They find an abandoned temple with a mural depicting their adventures, showing that the Giants, renowned for their gift of prophecy, had foretold their journey. They discover Faye was a Giant who had decided to stay in Midgard, meaning Atreus is half Giant, one-quarter god, and one-quarter mortal. Their fight with Baldur is shown, revealing he sought Faye the whole time under orders from Odin, unaware she was dead and Atreus was referred to as Loki by his mother and the Giants. Kratos chooses to ignore a covered mural depicting what appears to be him dying in Atreus' arms. They fulfill their promise and spread Faye's ashes at the peak. Afterward, Kratos reveals to Atreus his given name was that of a compassionate Spartan comrade. Returning to Midgard, they retrieve Mímir, who warns them Baldur's death has caused the three-year-long Fimbulwinter to begin nearly a century earlier than prophesized, meaning Ragnarök is soon to follow.
In a secret ending, Kratos and Atreus, along with Mímir, return home and slumber. Atreus has a vision of Thor arriving at the end of Fimbulwinter to confront them.