Kratos (God of War)
Kratos (Ancient Greek: Κράτος, lit. 'strength') is a character and the protagonist of Santa Monica Studio's God of War series, based on Greek mythology and, later, Norse mythology. He first appeared in the 2005 video game God of War, which led to the development of eight additional titles featuring the character as the protagonist. Kratos also appears as the protagonist of the 2010 and 2018 comic series, as well as three novels retelling the events of three of the games. The character was voiced by Terrence C. Carson from 2005 to 2013, with Christopher Judge taking over the role in 2018's continuation, also titled God of War. Antony Del Rio voiced a young Kratos in Ghost of Sparta.
This article is about the video game character. For the mythical figure, see Kratos (mythology).Kratos
God of War (2005)
Charlie Wen
- Terrence C. Carson (2005–2013)[1]
- Christopher Judge (2018–present)[1]
- Antony Del Rio (child, 2010)[1]
- Brandon Molale (2005)[2]
- Joseph Gatt (2007–2010)[3]
- Terrence C. Carson (2013)[4]
- Christopher Judge (2018–present)
- Eric Jacobus (2018–present)[5]
- Shad Gaspard (2018)[6]
Ghost of Sparta
Calliope (daughter)
Atreus "Loki" (son)
Sparta, Greece
Greek
Throughout the Greek era of the series, Kratos is portrayed as a Spartan warrior who becomes known as the "Ghost of Sparta" after being deceived by his former mentor Ares into murdering his family. He later avenges their deaths and becomes the new "God of War" after killing Ares. Kratos is eventually revealed to be a demigod and the son of Zeus, who later betrays him. He embarks on several adventures in attempts to avert disaster or to change his fate, and is generally portrayed as a tragic figure. Vengeance is a central theme of the Greek era, and installments focus on Kratos' origins and his relationships with his family and the Olympian gods. In the Norse era, Kratos finds himself controlling his rage and learning how to truly be a father and mentor to his son, Atreus, helping him come to terms with his divinity. Along their journey, they combat monsters and gods of the Norse realm, which inevitably leads to the catastrophic battle of Ragnarök. Redemption is a main theme of the Norse era and Kratos comes to terms with his godhood, eventually taking the mantle as the Norse God of War championing the ideals of hope.
The God of War franchise is a flagship title for the PlayStation brand and Kratos is one of its most popular characters. The character has been well-received by critics and has become a video game icon. Kratos is now associated with other products, having various cameos in games outside of the God of War series. Judge's performance as Kratos in the two Norse-based games was highly praised and received numerous awards and nominations.
Other appearances
Guest appearances
The Greek and Norse versions of Kratos have been featured as playable characters and costumes in several PlayStation games outside the God of War series. On August 21, 2008, Kratos was released as a downloadable character in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds along with his Clubs of Chaos.[41] As a pre-order bonus for LittleBigPlanet from GameStop, customers received a Sackboy Kratos costume along with ones for Medusa and a Minotaur, as well as a God of War level sticker kit.[42] These were later released for purchase on January 26, 2009.[43] Kratos was then a guest character in 2009's Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, which includes his own story mode.[44][45] As a pre-order bonus for ModNation Racers from GameStop, customers received a Kratos Mod along with his Kart of Chaos.[46] These were later released for purchase on November 2, 2010.[47] Kratos' next guest appearance was in the PlayStation 3 version of 2011's Mortal Kombat (and the PlayStation Vita version released in 2012), which features his own fighting stage and arcade ladder mode.[48] The character then appeared in the 2012 crossover fighting game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, which includes two God of War inspired stages, several God of War items,[49] as well as series antagonist Zeus, who was released as a downloadable character on March 19, 2013.[50] Kratos' appearance in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was seemingly made canon by a line of dialogue in 2022's God of War Ragnarök; Mímir asked Kratos about a tournament he was in to which Kratos replied that he did not want to talk about it.[51]
As part of the God of War franchise's 10th anniversary, Kratos appeared as a secret boss battle in the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita versions of Shovel Knight, released April 21, 2015.[52][53] His next guest appearance brought him back to the world of LittleBigPlanet in LittleBigPlanet 3 as another Sackboy costume, this time in his Fear Kratos form, along with Sackboy costumes of Zeus, Hercules, Poseidon, and Athena, and a costume of Hades for the character Toggle. The costumes' release coincided with that of God of War III Remastered on PlayStation 4 in July 2015.[54] A costume of Kratos as well as God of War custom decorations were included in the "Crafted Edition" of Tearaway Unfolded, which released on PlayStation 4 on September 8, 2015.[55] TC Carson provided Kratos' voice in all of these guest appearances,[41][45][56][57] except for LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, LittleBigPlanet 3, and Tearaway Unfolded where the character is only a costume, and in Shovel Knight which only has text dialogue.
The character has been parodied twice in The Simpsons franchise. He appeared as the "God of Wharf" on a billboard advertising a chowder restaurant in The Simpsons Game.[58] He later appeared on the Guts of War II: Entrails of Intestinox kiosk at "E4"—a parody of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)—in The Simpsons television episode, "The Food Wife".[59] Kratos has also been parodied by Adult Swim's clay-mation television series, Robot Chicken. He was first parodied in season 5, episode 15, "The Core, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover", where it is shown how far Kratos (voiced by Brian Austin Green) will go to collect blood orbs.[60] Sony later teamed up with Robot Chicken to produce a marketing campaign advertisement for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale that parodied Kratos and other characters from the game.[61]
In the PlayStation 5 launch game Astro's Playroom, which contains several homages to PlayStation's history, a couple of robots dressed as Kratos and Atreus are seen reenacting the two traveling in their boat in 2018's God of War.[62] The Nordic Kratos then became a cosmetic outfit in Fortnite Battle Royale's chapter two, season five event, Zero Point, which was released on December 3, 2020. Kratos is playable on all platforms that Fortnite is available on, marking the character's only appearance on the Xbox and Nintendo platforms as well as Apple and Android devices; these platforms, including Microsoft Windows, have Kratos' default appearance, while players on the PlayStation versions get an exclusive armored Kratos, based on the golden armor obtained from defeating the Valkyries in 2018's God of War.[63] There is also an armor inspired by Kratos that is obtainable in the Director's Cut of Ghost of Tsushima, which released on August 20, 2021, for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The top half of the armor and helmet is ash-white like Kratos' skin and also features his red tattoo, while the rest of the armor looks similar to Kratos' Nordic gear, including chains wrapped around the forearms.[64]
Returning to the world of LittleBigPlanet, costumes of the Nordic Kratos, along with Atreus and Freya, as well as emotes for each, were released for Sackboy: A Big Adventure on November 9, 2022, the same day as God of War Ragnarök's release.[65] An armor set inspired by Kratos was added to Destiny 2 as part of its Lightfall – Season of the Deep release on May 23, 2023. The set is for the Titan character class and purchasable on all platforms Destiny 2 is available on (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows). It features Kratos' red tattoo and breechcloth, it is light gray in color (to mimic Kratos' ash-white skin), it has straps around the forearms (to mimic the chains), and it has a design resembling the folded-up Guardian Shield on its left forearm. A special finishing maneuver was also added that mimics the Blades of Chaos.[66]
Novelizations
Kratos is the main character in novelizations of the game series by Matthew Stover, Robert E. Vardeman, and James M. Barlow, retelling the games' events and offering deeper insights into their stories. The first novel was written by Stover and Vardeman together, titled God of War, and was published in May 2010.[67] The second was written solely by Vardeman, titled God of War II, and was published in February 2013.[68] The third novel, titled God of War – The Official Novelization, was written by Barlog and released in August 2018—this novelization is of 2018's God of War, skipping a novelization of God of War III.[69]
Live-action adaptation
A live-action film adaptation of the original God of War was announced in 2005.[70][71] Although pre-production saw new writers get hired to adapt the game,[72] it remained in development hell. Following the release of 2018's God of War, rumors about a potential adaptation of that game began circulating.[73] In May 2021, however, a Sony spokesperson confirmed that there was no film adaptation of any God of War in development,[74] but in May 2022, it was announced that a streaming television series adaptation was in development for Amazon Prime Video,[75] adapting the Norse era, beginning with the events of the 2018 installment.[76]