List of God of War characters
The characters of the God of War video game franchise belong to a fictional universe based on Greek mythology and Norse mythology. As such, the series features a range of traditional figures, including those from Greek mythology, such as the Olympian Gods, Titans, and Greek heroes, and those from Norse mythology, including the Æsir and Vanir gods and other beings. A number of original characters have also been created to supplement storylines.
The overall story arc focuses on the series' primary playable single-player character, the protagonist Kratos, a Spartan warrior haunted by visions of himself accidentally killing his wife and child. The character finally avenges his family by killing his former master and manipulator, Ares, the God of War. Although Kratos became the new God of War, he was still plagued by nightmares and eventually betrayed by Zeus, the King of the Olympian Gods—revealed by the goddess Athena to be Kratos' father. The constant machinations of the gods and Titans and their misuse of Kratos eventually drove him to destroy Mount Olympus. Many years following the destruction of Olympus, Kratos ended up in ancient Scandinavia in the realm of Midgard fathering a son named Atreus with the Jötunn warrior Faye. Their journey to keep a promise to the boy's late mother ended with Kratos and Atreus becoming enemies to the Norse gods, and ultimately set about the events of Ragnarök, a catastrophic event that the Allfather Odin was desperate to prevent, but ultimately ends with Odin's death and the destruction of Asgard. After facing the trials of Valhalla, Kratos finally comes to terms with his past and becomes the new Norse God of War, championing the ideals of hope.
God of War, created by Sony's Santa Monica Studio, was the inaugural game in the series, the main part of which continued with God of War II, God of War III, and series prequel Ascension ; and side games Betrayal, Chains of Olympus, and Ghost of Sparta. These seven games comprised the Greek era of the series. The Norse era began with the sequel to God of War III, which is also titled God of War and concluded with Ragnarök, which received an epilogue in the form of an expansion pack titled Valhalla. The God of War mythos expanded into literature, with a novelization of the original God of War published in 2010, and a six-issue comic series that introduced new characters and plot developments, telling a parallel story of Kratos's present and past, taking place immediately after the 2005 installment while also exploring a journey from when he was a Spartan soldier prior to his pledge to Ares. A novelization of God of War II was published in 2013. A prequel graphic novel titled Rise of the Warrior was released in the lead up to Ascension and is the backstory of the player's multiplayer character. To go along with the 2018 installment, a text-based game, A Call from the Wilds, a short prequel story about Atreus's first adventure into the wilderness, was released in February 2018, followed by a novelization in August, and then a two-volume comic series, with the first volume showing Kratos just before the 2018 installment, trying to settle down in the Norse world with his new wife Faye and their son Atreus, while the second volume follows Kratos's journey from ancient Greece to Norway after God of War III.
God of War has become a highly lucrative franchise on account of the commercial and critical success of the series. Products include action figures, artwork, clothing, Slurpee cups, sweepstakes, and special edition video game consoles. The character of Kratos received positive comments from reviewers, with his original Greek variation described as a "sympathetic antihero" by GameSpy. Game Guru claimed "Practically anyone, even if they hadn't played any of the God of War games, would know about Kratos". Several reviewers have praised the portrayal of other characters: PALGN claimed that the original God of Wars voice acting was "up there with the best", while IGN complimented most of the games in the series, saying of God of War II that the characters were "timeless" and the voice acting was "great". The Norse era was also well received, with the interactions between Kratos and Atreus in 2018's God of War receiving praise and the humanization of Kratos, who was regarded as conveying more character than in the Greek games. The characterizations of the Norse gods in Ragnarök were also praised as being uniquely different than popular portrayals, such as seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Concept and creation
During the creation of the original God of War, the game's director David Jaffe attempted to create a version of Kratos that looked brutal but had a different appearance from what is considered to be the traditional Greek hero. The character's traditional armor was removed to show the character's individualism, and details such as hair and other "flowing things" were removed. Jaffe said of his final version of the character, that while " may not totally feel at home in Ancient Greece from a costume standpoint, I think he achieves the greater purpose which is to give players a character who they can play who really does just let them go nuts and unleash the nasty fantasies that they have in their head". Kratos' appearance was updated in 2018's God of War due to the new Nordic setting. The designers gave Kratos a Nordic look that includes a full beard and changed his main weapon to a magical battle ax to make the combat more grounded. Unlike previous games, players can change and upgrade Kratos's three armor pieces, one of the game's role playing video game elements.When designing Ares, Charlie Wen was advised that the character should be 90% elemental and 5–10% human, then began sketching. He said that the rest of the team liked the designs, but were uncertain about execution. The transition towards Ares' human form was slow, and Wen said of the final design, "he's still a huge guy, but he's got all this armor on that allows him to do all these things". Like most of the Olympian gods in the original God of War, Zeus first appeared as a floating translucent head, and was modeled on the typical representation of the god in Greek mythology. God of War IIs game director Cory Barlog said that for that game, they wanted to maintain Zeus' appearance from literature, but also to add their own interpretation to the character. Zeus' human appearance was originally designed by Charlie Wen for God of War II. This design was also used in God of War III, with updated graphics and the addition of an arm piece during the final fight. Andy Park was responsible for designing Zeus' spirit form for the final fight. Park produced several sketches, and imagined Zeus as a "massive tornado creature with lightning searing throughout the form". Park said that the ultimate goal was that "we are looking at Zeus, but it is him transformed into a big cloud of smoke".
File:Hades GoW1 vs Hades GoW2&3.jpg|thumb|right|Hades in 2005's God of War and the reimagined appearance introduced in 2007's God of War II
Hades first appeared in 2005's God of War; the original design portrayed Hades as a fiery, demonic face with horns. Statues in the game adhered to this design. Hades' character design was changed in God of War II, with the character now appearing in a more human-like form with spikes protruding from his body and wielding a pair of chained claws, similar to Kratos' chained blades. The updated design featured a helmet that appeared to cover a fiery face, which in God of War III is revealed to be very grotesque but more human-like than the original design from the first game. Hermes was originally designed for God of War II by Andy Park and did appear in the final cut scene of the game. For God of War III, Park updated the design and painting of the character. Park said he "wanted to create a character that was sly, cunning, and a bit comical in both appearance and personality" and he imagined he would be "much like a dancer".
The Titan Oceanus was sketched by Erik San Juan and was originally intended to appear in God of War II in a completely watery form with no feet. This concept, however, was cut during development. Oceanus appeared in God of War III, with a similar appearance to the other Titans and with an emphasis on lightning instead of the original watery design. Oceanus's original watery design was the basis of the design for Poseidon's avatar sea construct for God of War III.
The character Daedalus was designed by Izzy Medrano, who said that he imagined Daedalus as a brilliant architect gone mad, and that Daedalus, similar to Kratos, was a pawn of the gods. The character was originally intended to have long white hair, but was eventually rendered bald, "as long hair is a difficult thing to manage". Icarus was conceived as an "old disgusting man" and portrayed as an evil, although slightly comedic, character.
Medrano also designed Pandora, who he said is vital in reintroducing the player to the human side of Kratos. Medrano also said that they knew Pandora had to be young and reminiscent of Kratos' daughter, Calliope, and that " had to be pretty without being sexy and spunky without being saucy". Medrano said the character's final attire was a "Greek Punk" fashion style.
The first version of the Gorgon, Medusa, was to have five feet, but due to perceived animation difficulties, the final version had one tail. Other Gorgons in the game adhered to this design. The goddess Artemis was considered for inclusion in God of War: Ascension as a playable female character, offering alternative combat options. Game Director Todd Papy said she would have been depicted as half-human and half-feline, with the head and torso of a woman and the legs of a lioness. However, she was ultimately cut from the game and thus only appears in the original God of War as a translucent head.
Unlike the popular portrayal of Thor by Chris Hemsworth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Thor in God of War Ragnarök looks closer to his depiction in Norse mythological literature, having a hefty build with long red hair and beard. This type of design portrayal was similarly done for the other Norse gods, as in the literature, the Norse gods were not as extravagant as the Greek gods.