Who is Kratos? The Greek God of War Warrior

Join us to learn who is Kratos, one of the best-known characters in the world of video games, for his cruelty, lack of mercy, skill in battle, and disrespect to the gods. He is a Spartan, a semi-god son of Zeus himself. As a Spartan general, he fought under the command of Ares.

A key moment for the character is when he accidentally kills his family by order of the God of War. This event causes him to be called the “Ghost of Sparta,” and he seeks revenge on his former Lord. As a result, Kratos allies first with Zeus to defeat his half-brother and take his place as god of war. However, he is also betrayed by Zeus, seeking revenge.

This video game character appeared for the first time in 2005 on PlayStation 2. After that, several PC versions and new game editions for other PS models were released.  

Who is Kratos?

Image: Santa Monica Studio

Kratos is a video game character who initially had a Greek origin, being the son of Zeus. He belonged to the warrior race of the Spartans, of which he was General of their armies. He was under the command of his half-brother Ares until the latter made him kill his family.

This warrior stars in the entire God of War franchise, which even today produces new editions after such a long time. The latest versions of the game were placed not of Greek origin but Norse origin, radically changing the missions he has to perform.

His way of being is relentless. He performs the missions to accomplish his goal. He shows no mercy to his enemy and annihilates him mercilessly, as demonstrated in the fourth edition of the game, when he dismembered the gods of Olympus, including Zeus. 

Kratos’s Role in God of War Game

Image: Santa Monica Studio

In the God of War game, he has the role of an avenger, seeking revenge on all the important characters in the game. In the first edition, he seeks revenge on Ares for causing the death of his wife and daughter. He also wants to take his place as the God of War on Olympus.

In this version, Zeus helps him to overcome the obstacles placed by his half-brother. Ultimately, he manages to exterminate Ares and take his place as a god, although it does not last long since he is betrayed by his father Zeus, stripping him of his powers. The latter makes him see that he only used him, which provokes the wrath of Kratos.

In this new mission, he seeks the power to kill Zeus, but no longer as a full god, but as a semi-god. This time he seeks divine weapons to help him exterminate the gods of Olympus. In this, he receives the help of the Titans, who also betrayed him, sometime later (Kratos kills them too).

In the end, he manages to kill all the gods of Olympus, such as Poseidon, Apollo, Athena, Hades, and Hermes. He steals their divine weapons and then kills his father. Finally, he takes his own life to end all the gods of Olympus. 

His Birth and History in the Comics

Image: Dark Horse Comics

This character appears in two series. The first one is called Fallen God, which tells the story of Kratos’ youth. The second is called God of War and tells the story of the birth of his daughter and a mission he had to perform to keep her alive. The publisher of these series is Dark Horse.

Fallen God

Fallen God’s case begins with the oracle declaring the end of Olympus and its gods. However, it would not be at the hands of the Titans. The cause would be a mortal with a distinctive mark on his body.

The gods Ares, Zeus, and Athena thought that the warrior who would cause this disaster was Kratos’ younger brother, Deimos. He was born with a birthmark on his body, which caused Ares to go on a quest to capture him. His brother tried to stop the gods. However, he was wounded by the god of war, leaving him with a scar on his eye.

Deimos was imprisoned and tortured in the underworld, guarded by the god of death, Thanatos. This event caused Kratos to make a similar mark on his body to honor his younger brother, thinking he was dead.

God of War

In the God of War comic, we see the Spartan with his wife, Lysandra, having their daughter named Calliope. At birth, she was infected with the plague, causing her to be in agony. Kratos seeks help to save his daughter and receives the mission to find the Ambrosia of Asclepius. This plant produces an elixir that cures any disease.

Kratos didn’t know that it was all part of a bet between the five gods of Olympus. Each god chose a champion, and Ares picked him for the challenge, which he completed, defeating the other champions and getting the ambrosia.

In another issue, we see the tragedy of Kratos, who was slowly gaining strength and victories. These accomplishments made him proud, wanting to participate in all possible battles, ignoring the pleas of his wife and daughter. In one of the battles, the Spartan army was overcome by the barbarian hordes.

With a thirst for absolute victory, he asked Ares for help in exchange for obedience. The latter accepted the offer and gave him the Swords of Chaos, with which he mercilessly destroyed his enemies. He followed Ares’ orders, gradually losing his feelings and increasing his thirst for blood. 

Ares, to finish removing his emotions, ordered him to attack a temple of Athena and transported his wife and son there. Kratos killed everyone in the temple, including his family. When he realized what he had done and what he had become, he renounced Ares. This would carry a curse imposed by the oracle, which impregnated his skin with the ashes of his loved ones. For all this, he became known as “The Ghost of Sparta.”

Ascension, Chains of Olympus, and God of War

Image: Santa Monica Studio

In Ascension 2013, we see an enraged and sad Kratos who wants to eliminate his ties with Ares. However, upon performing this action, he is captured and tortured by the three fury sisters. Orks would free this, and he eliminated the three sisters but also had to kill him to free himself from the chains of Ares. After this, Kratos was placed at the service of the gods to receive forgiveness and relief from his nightmares.

Then we see in Chains of Olympus with Kratos still in the service of the gods. Yet, they are more and more reluctant to obey them. These ordered him to rescue Helios, who was kidnapped by Persephone and taken to the underworld. The Spartans renounced the gods when Hades’ wife offered him to see his daughter again.

An important fact was that he had to change his mind when this goddess freed the titan Atlas to destroy the world, even though this would save his daughter. Kratos had to imprison Atlas, kill Persephone, and free Helios.

When the events of God of War of PS2 take place, Kratos had already been in the service of Olympus for ten years. He was tired of so much torment and decided to talk to his patron, the goddess Athena. She told him to be forgiven and have a peaceful life. He should exterminate Ares. For that, Kratos found and used Pandora’s Box. 

Subsequently, he confronted Ares and eliminated him, being forgiven and freed from the influence of the swords of chaos. However, the nightmares did not cease, which led this character to attempt suicide. After this, Athena intervenes, takes him to Olympus, and makes him the new God of War, receiving the Swords of Athena.     

Comics (present), Ghost of Sparta and Betrayal

Image: Dark Horse

The Spartan looks for the Ambrosia of Asclepius in a new comic published by Dark Horse (2010-2011). This time not to use it, but to destroy it, to prevent the followers of Ares from reviving this god. He manages to destroy this object, to search for his mother, who is in Atlantis.

When he met his mother, Callisto, he revealed to her who his father was (Zeus). However, she transformed into a beast, and Kratos had to eliminate her. Before dying, she told him to look for his brother and that he could get information from him in Sparta. This one released the titan Thera who destroyed the city of Atlantis, causing the fury of Poseidon. 

Kratos later went to Sparta, where he discovered that Deimos was in the world of death. When the two met, they quarreled due to the hostility shown by the latter towards Kratos. However, when Thanatos intervened and tried to kill Deimos, the two allied to fight against the god.

In the battle, Thanatos realized that the mortal who would destroy the gods and Olympus was not Deimos but Kratos. During the conflict, the God of Death fought against both. He killed the younger brother and was eliminated by the elder. Kratos, angry about what happened, decided to go against the gods.

Faced with such treason, the gods of Olympus did not remain calm and immediately rejected him. The Spartans formed an army and invaded Greece. But he was accused of having killed Argos, which was false. Yet, he did eliminate Helios, Hermes’s son, to prevent Kratos from catching the real murderer. 

God of War II

In God of War II, we see how an enraged Kratos goes against the gods. However, Zeus deceives him, so he loses his god powers and kills him. Kratos swears revenge, and when he goes to the underworld, Gaia, one of the titans locked in Tartarus, saves him.

This circumstance tells him that he must find the sisters of destiny to be able to go back in time to the moment when Zeus stripped him of his powers and killed him. With an unprecedented obsession, the Spartans killed anyone who opposed him, including the sisters of destiny. In doing so, he went back in time and regained his powers. When confronted by Zeus, Athena appears and sacrifices herself to save her father, although she reveals to Kratos that they are half-siblings.

Kratos rejects any link with Zeus and decides to free the Titans and, together with them, invade and destroy Olympus.

God of War III

In this new sequel, Kraton eliminates Poseidon, king of the seas. However, Gaia betrays him, and he ends up in the underworld. He swears revenge on the Titans and the gods. Later the spirit of Athena helps him to leave the kingdom of Hades. She gives him the Sword of Exile and tells him that the flame of Olympus is the key to killing Zeus. 

He confronts Titans and gods, including Apollo, whom he mercilessly butchers. He finds Pandora’s box, which is the key to using the flame of Olympus. However, he discovers that Pandora must die, which he does not accept at first. He creates a bond with her because she looks like his daughter.

When confronted with Zeus, the titan Gaia intervenes and attacks them both. Kratos eliminates him and then attacks the God of Lightning. In doing so, he dies but returns in spirit form, attacks, and kills Kratos momentarily. Pandora speaks to her Psyche and tells him to use the power of hope to kill the king of Olympus.

Kratos uses it, reviving and killing his enemy, and then speaks to the spirit of Athena. She tells him to place the power of hope in the box and give it to her, but he thrusts the sword of Olympus into his chest, releasing the power for the rest of humanity. The goddess takes the sword from him and leaves disappointed, thinking that he died, although, at the end of the credits, we can see that it is not.   

God of War (2018)

After killing Zeus, Kratos left Greece and went to the Nordic countries. The warrior created a new family and had a wife who called him Faye, whose name was Laufey. He also had a son named Atreus. This one gets sick, which forces the Spartan to use the swords of chaos again to cure him. This weapon is to kill the Troll who guards the only site that would save him in Helheim.

Upon healing him, he reveals to Atreus that he is a god. He also meets the goddess Freya. She cast a spell on her son Baldur to make him invulnerable, but he felt nothing in his body. Her son attacks her, and to defend her, Kratos kills Baldur. The goddess leaves vowing revenge and laughing at the Spartan for his past.

Kratos explains his past to his son with a flashback of a summary of the previous three games. He also details his origin, and this game ends when Atreus has a vision that Thor will seek a fight with them two after the Fimbulwinter.

Kratos Ragnarök

In this game, Kratos and Atreus must save the world from Ragnarok after the Fimbulwinter. They must seek the goddess Tyr to discover how to avoid it. However, they will have to face other gods, such as Freya, who seeks revenge for her son and against Thor.

Skills and Armament

Kratos has superhuman agility and strength from his kinship with the god Zeus. This skill allows him to strike with super-strength and have fantastic agility with weapons. The weaponry he uses is his twin swords. At the beginning were the swords of chaos, then were the swords of Athena, and finally, the swords of exile.

Appearances of Kratos

Image: Project Soul

Apart from the comics mentioned above and the God of War video games, Kratos appeared in other opportunities, although in a secondary way. This character was in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, in which he was a downloadable element. He also appeared as an additional character in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, released in 2009.

This character appears in other games, such as Mortal Kombat, from 2011. This game has a battle environment designed to resemble a Greek temple.

Cultural Impact

Kratos is seen by the whole world, especially gamers, as a very violent character. He is obsessed with revenge and will kill anyone who crosses his path and hinders his goal. Some declare that this is pure determination and that his bloodlust is the only greater thing.

Kratos Merchandising

Image: NECA

The National Entertainment Collectibles Association created two editions of Kratos. In one, he wears the swords of Athena, and in the other, he holds the Golden Fleece. Another collectible toy it created was a figure that speaks phrases from the game. They also created dolls with armor from the game.

Another line that was created based on the character is called DC Unlimited. This line features relevant characters from God of War III. Among these, we have Zeus, the Spartan Hercules, and Hades. 

This character is highly known worldwide because his games were a resounding success. The game is available on the Playstation consoles, as well as in the PC version. He is recognized for being violent and vindictive but easy to fool, considering everyone took advantage of him.

His recognition started with his game Initiate in 2005, which sold more than 4.2 million copies, only in the United Kingdom. From there, gamers’ interest increased, becoming more and more successful. 

Featured Image Via Santa Monica Studio

I am a circus aerialist influenced by Dick Grayson and Spider-Man. Fortunate to write about the characters that inspired me. I also have a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Master's degree in International Trade.