The Life Of Kratos

Kratos The Brave Spartan

Kratos is the quintessential anti-hero, often making immoral decisions to further his goal; sacrificing unprotected humans for example. Kratos was the youngest and most promising captain in Sparta's army, quickly gaining recognition due to his violent tactics. His fate drastically changed when during an attack by a barbarian tribe, his Spartan army was hopelessly outnumbered. However, before being killed by the barbarian king, Kratos summoned Ares, the Greek god of war, and offered his soul in exchange for a victory.

He continued to serve Ares until the god tricked him into killing his own family. His skin is seen completely lacking pigmentation; the reason for him being cursed a village oracle, who fastened the ashes of his murdered daughter and wife to his skin, which is also how he got the nickname, the "Ghost of Sparta". He continued to serve several of the Greek gods for a decade. After becoming tired of serving the gods to erase the memories of his family's murder, he contacted Athena, who offered him forgiveness if he was able to stop Ares' destruction of Athens.

After defeating several monsters which were attacking citizens, Kratos saves the city's oracle who tells him to retrieve Pandora's box in order to defeat Ares. Kratos succeeds in this task, but is killed by Ares and sent to Hades. After escaping from the underworld he returns to Athens and confronts Ares, regaining control of Pandora's box and using its power to kill the god. When he discovers that the gods' forgiveness does not include allowing him to forget his sins, he attempts suicide, but is stopped by Athena who informs him that he has been granted Ares' throne on Mount Olympus.

Kratos As God Of War (Warning: Spoiler Ahead)

Kratos was chosen as Ares' successor as the new god of war. He however had chosen to avoid the other gods, instead using his powers to aid the Spartans in battle. This angered several of the other Olympians, but after receiving an ultimatum, Kratos ignored it and decided to destroy the city of Rhodes, where the Spartan army was fighting.

Upon descending to the city, Zeus brings the Colossus of Rhodes to life and tricks Kratos into transferring all of his godly strength into the Blade of Olympus, the sword used to defeat the Titans in the Titanomachy (see post about Titanomachy). Zeus then gains control of the sword and stabs him with it, declaring to Kratos "you will never be the ruler of Olympus".

After this, Gaia (the primal goddess of "Mother Earth") aids Kratos in escaping from Hades and tells him to find the Sisters of Fates in order to change his destiny. He travels to the island of the Fates, where he retrieves the Golden Fleece and the power of some of the surviving Titans. Kratos eventually reaches the temple of the Fates with the help of Atlas and confronts them. The Sisters decline to help him, citing that his destiny was already determined. Seeing that the Fates were not going to help him, Kratos fights and kills them. He then rewinds the thread that controlled his life and returns to the moment when Zeus betrayed him, regaining control of the Blade of Olympus. Both engage in battle, Zeus becomes badly injured, but Athena intervenes before Kratos can kill him, resulting in her getting mortally wounded. Before dying, Athena reveals to Kratos that he is Zeus' son.

Kratos then rewinds the thread a second time and returned to the moment of the Titanomachy, where he convinces the Titans to accompany him back to his time and engage in a decisive battle against Zeus and the Olympians.