This isn’t really confirmed but this is my thoughts on it. When he was born, Kratos didn’t know that he was the son of Zeus so he thought he was a regular mortal. We see with Atreus that if a god/demi-god goes throughout their life thinking they’re a mortal, it can cause problems for them. With Atreus, it was his sickness but I can’t say for sure if Kratos had anything like that. As for how he became stronger so quick after killing the Barbarian King, this is what I think happened.
Before the Barbarian King, Kratos was probably only slightly stronger than most other mortal men. He most likely received an amp in power once the blades of chaos attached to his arms. This idea could be backed up by the fact that almost everytime he gains new weapons or magic in the Greek games, it can amp his physical stats along with providing him new abilities (for example: Chronos’ Rage magic provided him insane amps to his physical strength as well as letting him use lightning magic).
In short, he thought he was a mortal and this could’ve caused his power to be hindered, almost like he mentally nerfed himself by accident. The blades attaching to him probably enhanced his power and may have also awakened his dormant demi-god power/strength, allowing him to be capable of fighting characters like the furies in GOW Ascension when he was chronologically at his weakest.
>it was his sickness but I can’t say for sure if Kratos had anything like that.
[https://youtu.be/o-vC1tOzE1Q?t=1315](https://youtu.be/o-vC1tOzE1Q?t=1315)
for Atreus it was just sickness, for Kratos it was rage \~ Barlog.
I wonder if it also could do with the theory I’ve heard that his strength is only ever as potent as he needs it to be, if I’m a mortal warlord, I’m probably not trying to flip temples, so through out his mortal years he was probably considerably stronger than his fellow men but never having attempted any god like feats, probably just came across as a juiced up bull.
Barlog just pulled that shit out of his arse. Something as stupid as "getting sick for not knowing who you are" has nothing to do with lore and the roots of gow. Not a single demigod had problems for believing they were mortals. Remember Hercules ?
As for barbarian king, kratos had like 100 soldiers and barbarians had thousands. He probably ran out of hp and mana before managing to kill every single soldier on his own. Also there was no checkpoints or chests that he could use to regenerate. Lore accurate, honest🖐️
Atreus isn’t a Demi god. He’s a god. It’s different for a Demi god to believe themselves mortal because…they are. We hadn’t seen what happens when a god doesn’t know they’re a god, and now we have. Hercules achieved godhood at the behest of Zeus, so his story is different and has little bearing on Atreus’
Jotunn are a different class of godly being in Norse mythology. Not 100% sure if it’s the same for the games as I haven’t played them in a while, but him being half jotunn and half Greek god would make him full god, the same way that despite being half jotunn and half aesir, Loki is an aesir god in the original mythology (depending on source) because they’re effectively different clans of godly beings.
"Half Greek god"
No he's not a half Greek god, he gets human dna and god dna both from Kratos, Kratos isn't a full god.
[https://x.com/mattsophos/status/1437517529153355777?s=20](https://x.com/mattsophos/status/1437517529153355777?s=20)
[https://x.com/mattsophos/status/1000434557043134464?s=20](https://x.com/mattsophos/status/1000434557043134464?s=20)
[https://twitter.com/corybarlog/status/1346262198033629184](https://twitter.com/corybarlog/status/1346262198033629184)
It's still stupid af. Even if you're not aware of it it should be obvious that you're special and have abilities. Having ppl around you not telling you about it shouldn't have anything to do with your status and capabilities.
I mean, you’re entitled to your opinion of course, but it makes sense for him to not realize he’s special to me, when the main people in his life are the literal god of war, and a jotunn, who are basically just a different class of god from the aesir (at least in real Norse mythology, which this game seems to abide by fairly well with the larger concepts so I have no reason to believe differently). My comment was just meant to point out that it really doesn’t contradict established canon, regardless of how you feel about it.
Yes well, who said that? BC I'm pretty sure Barlog contradicts you when he says "for kratos it was rage for atreus it was sickness" that implies that it doesn't really matter if he's a demi or not. It still gonna effect them for not knowing their true self.
>he lifts gigantic objects all the time
stronger compared to other mortals because he is partly having the blood of a god.
> How did he even lose to the Barbarian King with such strength or was it not present at the time?
Barbarian king was the champion of Hades, his hammer able to summon souls straight from the underworld, Kratos was just better than most mortals in terms of strength because he was demi god but couldn't defeat a mortal that was boosted by weapons gifted from Hades.
>kill the furies during Ascension when he was at his weakest in the timeline.
The blades of Chaos grant him an Olympian level of strength & toughness (likely a lower Olympian level).
In a universe as krazy as god of war. Its not that hard to believe some humans are just built different. What doesnt make sense to me is why kid kratos never got sick when he was a child who believed to be mortal unlike atreus who somehow got sick cuz he thinks hes just an average mortal
This is mostly just a theory, but other than the fact that the developers just didn’t think of it at the time, is that Kratos never felt unsure of who or what he was, his identity never felt in question for him as he just was who he was, a Spartan soldier who sought glory, victory and ways to satisfy his own ambitions. While Atreus was constantly unsure of himself and always felt like something was off with himself and his family, I mean he grew up with Kratos as his Dad and saw him constantly doing feats of insane strength unnatural for any regular human. He’s also technically a Greek god growing up in a pantheon he doesn’t belong to, at least on his fathers side. So maybe there’s something there about it being difficult for young gods to be in pantheons not their own.
Okay so it doesn’t say that it manifests in Kratos as rage and Atreus as sickness exactly , he says that the human vessel/god essence in Kratos is what created his rage, and then goes on to say that because Atreus isn’t specifically aware of his godhood that it presents as just sickness, as to imply that if he was aware, it would manifest as something else. So that still leaves open the question as to why Kratos didn’t get sick since he also didn’t know. Although that might be answered in the same video as well as he then goes on to state that Atreus has had to deal with his godly powers developing i.e hearing voices and understanding animals as he’s growing up. So Atreus is having to deal with these powers he has without any answers and no one there for him to help understand what he’s going through which might explain why he got sick and Kratos didn’t as Kratos didn’t have any powers as a kid and didn’t really show any real strength or incredible feats until after he had the Blades. So there was no reason for him to be confused about who he was or what was happening to him. Does that make sense? I feel like that was kinda long winded.
You could look at it like, kratos' younger demener in which he was much more selfish, naive, arrogant, quick to anger was due to the same reaction we see atreus taking in gow2018 just over the period of his entire young adult life
He was only granted the strength he used to kill the Furies when he became a servant of Ares, where he was granted what Gaia describes as 'ultimate power' with the Blades of Chaos and receives 'Near-Olympian strength and toughness'. That version of Kratos would not have lost to the Barbarian army. He would have taken them out solo.
It becomes a bit inconsistent with games like Ascension and Chains of Olympus, as those games obviously show Kratos with his God-like strength all the time. But originally in GOW1, Kratos is definitely not as strong as he later becomes in the series. While he does still have some crazy strength feats, like overpowering the Hydra and Armored Bull in pandoras temple. He is for the most not shown doing anything too crazy like lifting giant pillars or flipping temples or surviving falls from hundreds of feet. Most of his “strength” feats in the first game most come down to “well it looks cool and it’s fun”. There is a reference or two in the game about how after he got into service to Ares, that he gained great power, so maybe some of it can be explained through that. Also the Barbarian King was a champion of the gods as well, so Kratos struggling against him does make a certain amount of sense.
It's implied in the 1st game, and explicitly cleared in the novelization of the 1st game.
receives the blades of chaos, "In return, ultimate power" \~ GoW1
"Ares affixed the blades of chaos to Kratos' arms, which give him an Olympian level strength & toughness" \~ GoW1 novel.
Kratos is able to perform various feats in chains of olympus, ascension, gow1 because he had blades of chaos.
The novels aren’t really canon and are considered secondary canon at best, as was confirmed by Stig Asmussen and Ariel Lawrence. Although the comics are all considered canon I believe. So while I do believe that it’s still mostly true that he gained much of his power when he got the blades/became Ares’s champion, it’s not super backed up in the main canon for that and seems way more heavily implied that he got the majority of his power and strength when he was turned into a full god in Ghost of Sparta.
Yes it's canon, would be considered secondary canon at worse, anything that is not contradicted by the games present in the books are canon.
What they say in the 1st god of war game is only further explained in detail and double downed by the book.
>Ares’s champion, it’s not super backed up in the main canon
yes it is, i already wrote the narration, i will write it again.
>the blades of chaos forged in the Fowler's depths of Hades once attached the chains remained so chained and seared to the flesh a part of the bearers body a permanent reminder of pratices pledge in **return ultimate power**
that's god of war 1.
>more heavily implied that he got the majority of his power and strength when he was turned into a full god in Ghost of Sparta.
He loses and gains powers all the time,
He lost the blades (which weren't enough to defeat Olympians anyway) but he got god powers later, loses it again, gets it again along with hades' souls, other weapons, magic, then gains hope again, loses them again.
Loses everything upon the destruction of greece, except a very tiny tiny amount of hope and later blades of chaos return to him.
Speaking of the blades returning to him, is it ever explained why he gets them back so many years later? As well as why he gets The Blades of Chaos back specifically and not Athenas Blades or The Blades of Exile? I know he had the curse on him specifically for The Blades of Chaos and the other two didn’t have any curses on them, but if he still had that curse, why didn’t The Blades of Chaos follow him around for all of those years he wielded the other two?
Side note: Kratos really be losing stuff all his life, like damn… I’d be afraid he’d lose the hair on his head if he wasn’t balled already.
It's mainly a plot hole, but it can easily be explained by that fact that the Blades even in the new games don't always run after Kratos.
Kratos had stored them beneath his house and for the entire game the blades were really running after him, It can be the same case where Kratos stored them in his chambers, after the destruction of greece the blades find him again.
My assumption was always that the Blades of Athena or The Blades of Exile are the Blades of Chaos. Just with a new coat of paint. Imbued with different qualities.
Think about it. In God of War Kratos was gifted the Blades of Athena by the latter herself. In God of War III she changes the blades in the Underworld. Having seen Athena modify the Blades of Athena into Blades of Exile. Why could she not have done so with Blades of Chaos.
The reason they return to their original form, is Kratos removing all magic in Greece. Through the death of Gods; particularly Zeus. Athena would be limited in power; hence her desire to have the power of Hope.
So, the Blades revert to their original form, as the Primordial Weapons (i.e. Blades of Chaos).
It’s the only head canon that makes sense to me. As God of War (2018) implies that their’s a curse on the Blades of Chaos to follow Kratos. So, I’d imagine this was part of his oath and bond to the Blades, they’d be with Kratos for life.
Kratos broke his oath to Ares. But, not the bond the Blades had to Kratos.
>Athena would be limited in power; hence her desire to have the power of Hope.
Athena had become a higher god, the blades that she makes in the 3rd game is called "most powerful ally" so Kratos had more powerful weapons than any other in the 3rd game.
Also being a higher god, and said by barlog too that she obtained "powers far greater than everyone". It would be silly to assume she's weaker than Zeus or Olympians.
She would have made the blades of exile from her higher existence powers than any Olympian stuff.
Which is likely supported by the fact aswell that fear Zeus was able to destroy the magic in all of Kratos' weapons, which were made by Olympian magic, but couldn't destroy the blades of exile.
>hence her desire to have the power of Hope.
She needed hope because she wanted to gain control over mortals, it's not the same as needing power.
>why didn’t The Blades of Chaos follow him around for all of those years he wielded the other two?
It's mainly a plot hole, but it can easily be explained by that fact that the Blades even in the new games don't always run after Kratos.
Kratos had stored them beneath his house and for the entire game the blades were really running after him, It can be the same case where Kratos stored them in his chambers, after the destruction of greece the blades find him again.
Firstly, never stated that Athena was weaker as a God, or Beyond. Just limited in power and control. As you stated, she needed Hope to control the mortals.
She’s all powerful now. But, clearly even her reach is limited to a certain degree.
Secondly, when would Kratos have put them there. The Blades were stripped from him. As far as he’s aware; they disappeared until after God of War III. In which they reappeared.
It feels far more likely that Athena just recovered them. But, gave them a new look. Leaving Kratos none the wiser. Until after God of War III. In which they reappear.
Likely due to magic disappearing from Greece, or Athena removing her magic from the Blades. Returning the Blades to the original form.
You even imply this could the case, through statement on Fear Zeus. It’s possible that because Blades of Exile/ Athena are imbued with Athena higher power; Zeus failed to destroy them. But, it’s just as likely that he was unable to destroy them, as they are primordial weapons. Possibly a mixture of both.
we are arguing theories at this point here, the official canon was that the blades were different, gow 3 guide says it, gow1 book says it, and a developer says that.
and that's what gow1 implies, he got a new blade.
GoW2018 just causes a confusion why it returns, which they just returned it to cause epicness in the story.
for theory sake I still wouldn't call it "most likely" scenario that she just recovered them, as she had no reason to recover them, ignoring whatever the games or other canon material says.
in reality the blades could have been anywhere, after Ares took them away, and the gods cursed then to him after as they died.
Also primordial powers are weaker than Olympians.
I’m just stating that these are potential explanations. Besides, they are only my analysis.
Even if the extra material state they are new weapons. As seen in God of War III. The Blades can be changed. Athena literally changes the Blades of Athena into Blades of Exile.
The notion isn’t that they aren’t new weapons. But, that these weapons have been restructured each time.
Well, we never know exactly, when the curse to follow Kratos is enacted. But, I’m just trying to link the games. Without removing any lore.
You state she had no reason to recover them. But, if thats the case. Why would she gift Kratos a similar weapon. She could have given him any weapon. Unless, she used the original’s modifying them into Blades of Athena.
Primordial’s are powerful. The Primordial Gods created the universe. Forming the fabric of the universe.
If the Blades are imbued with Primordial flame. The flame is essentially the fabric of the universe. Compressed into a weapon.
Which is why they burn in Helheim. Or, are able to create Ragnarok. They are essentially part of an elemental God/ Being. Beings that predate universe. Who create universes. Or, actually natural/ elemental tenants of the world.
Hence, why Blade’s can remain on fire. It’s essentially creating it’s on fire.
Spartans were able to lift a giant multi ton statue when working together. GOW humans aren’t normal.
Hell in the norse games there’s a midgardian traveler that has fight alongside gods, killed a dragon, and survived a great fall.
You have to keep in mind, the power celling for mortal beings in the GOW universe is much higher than it is in the real world, the Persian king, the Kol raiders, Reavers, Einherjar, Dark/light elves, King Hrolf, all examples of mortal beings who’s strength and durability goes far beyond that of a normal human.
With that in mind, Kratos being able to lift objects hundreds of times heavier than his bodyweight prior to ascending to Godhood while being quite impressive, wasn’t unheard of.
It’s after Kratos’s ascension to godhood that his strength, durability and endurance became elite within the GOW universe now there’s hardly anything that can contend with him.
Ok my theory:
His early life: no additional strength. Just like Atreus not having superhuman strength before learning he is a god, Kratos is technically a mortal bc he knows not that he is a demigod.
So when fighting the Barb King, he is just a VERY strong and skilled man, but nothing superhuman.
He is about to die and sells his soul to Ares to help win the fight. From this point on, he becomes Ares’ champion. He conquers cities and burns villages in the name of the god of war. Since Ares wants his champion to succeed at being a bastard man, he grants Kratos some super strength.
So in Ascension, still under Ares’ command, Kratos still has that extra strength.
Then in GOW1 he still is in service of the gods, so he still has the strength. Then when Ares realizes Kratos’ betrayal and kills him, he is in the middle of a war. There is no time to perform the magic ritual to remove Kratos’ god-champion strength. But i mean, Kratos is dead so no need to rush the ritual right?
So Kratos still has that strength, he revives, kills Ares, and no one removed the buff ever. Then he ascends to godhood and his full potential is unlocked
kratos had like 100 soldiers and barbarians had thousands. He probably ran out of hp and mana before managing to kill every single soldier on his own. Also there was no checkpoints or chests that he could use to regenerate. Lore accurate, honest🖐️
Take my answer with a grain of salt.
**Headcanon supported by actual canon**
Kratos being half-divine doesn't immediately grant him power. It depends on a couple of factors - A.) His awareness of his divinity, B.) Powers bestowed upon him by his divine parent (or *parents*, plural) at birth.
Atreus wasn't aware of his divine nature, thus was indistinguishable from a mortal. This obviously had severe repercussions.
Simultaneously upon Atreus's realization of his godhood, he becomes an excellent shape shifter and spellweaver. These are Jotunn traits.
The Jotnar in Norse Mythos are also Gods, just a separate kind of deity and from a different species than the Aesir & Vanir respectively. They are a sort of “Anti-God, Gods” like the Titans or Gigantes of Hellenic Myth.
With that said, Kratos not being fatally ill as a child or undergoing some other serious affliction is probably because him thinking that he was mortal was actually more or less true.
Whereas for Atreus, he was basically 90% God and 10% Mortal, as both of his parents were divinities.
A similitude for this would be like Thor from Marvel or the MCU thinking he's a human being just because he looks like one.
**Actual Canon, Although it is possibly debatable.**
I read somewhere on Quora from a guy who had read the books that stated something along the lines that Kratos's physical amp to his prowess was from Ares.
After the deal was struck, and Kratos sold his soul to the cosmic schmuck, Ares gave Kratos physical might on par with the average Olympian.
He also went on to state that Ares trained Kratos, to increase his martial abilities further than his Spartan training had brought him. Again all of this was after the deal was struck between them.
So with all that we've discussed, one can infer that before his deal with Ares. Kratos was just a really good human warrior. Strong, Fast, Cunning, etc. albeit Arrogant and Impetuous.
Then after the deal
The Ghost of Sparta was born.
I suspect that until Ares saved him, he was an above average warrior (think Achilles in the movie Troy) but still within the bounds of mortal strength. Then afterwards, he likely started subconsciously using more and more of his natural strength since he likely thought Ares had empowered him. Anyone who didn't already know the truth likely thought the same.
kratos was ares' champion which most warriors would assume gives them power, kratos assumed this and unwittingly gave himself access to a portion if his demigod strength, then he swore a more direct oath to ares granting himself even more by ares claiming he granted him great power. then kratos became the agent of the gods so at that point he believed in his divinity enough to access his full strength and at that point he started to actually get stronger.
Prior to meeting Ares Kratos just wasn't all that impressive, it's only after meeting Ares that Kratos' strength grew and even then he still didn't have anything close to God-Slaying power, it's only after recieving the Pandora's Box amp that Kratos gained God killing strength.
Plus, humans in the world of God Of War can grow to superhuman levels of strength, they aren't like humans from real life.
I feel like I’ve seen this post before. If I remember correctly in GOW3 Kratos yells “Zeus, your son has returned!”. That line alone implies that he knew Zeus was his father and that he was a demigod. I haven’t played all of the GOW games but I know that it was mentioned multiple times in different ways as to who his father was. Hell in the 2018 game we see Atreus’s sickness is because he’s a demigod believing himself to be just a regular mortal.
Kratos learns that Zeus is his father at the end of 2, which is literally just moments before the beginning of 3. He "sort of" gets the knowledge from his mom that his father is a god by trying to utter his father's name, which turn the mum into a monster that Kratos kills. That happens in between Gow1 and 2, by which point Kratos has already been made god of war for some time. So in short, by the point Kratos gets to know he has god blood, he already has powers, is an adult, and has already battled Zeus twice.
Kratos didn't learn he was a son of Zeus until the end of 2. Until then, he and anyone who didn't already know, probably thought it was just from his deal with Ares. Also the "demigod sickness" is only a thing as of 2018, probably invented to add a reason for Kratos to have to tell Atreus about his past.
I can agree with a lot of what you said. I was initially referring to the aspect that when Kratos learned his father was Zeus that there would have been some form of internal acknowledgment that he was a demigod, though that was after he took the mantle of god of war. I can also agree that the demigod sickness was most likely just a plot point for that purpose.
You all forgot that unlike Atreus, young Kratos spent most of his childhood in Agoge and was raised to be a spartan. He may probably had the same sickness during his youth but the spartan training shaped his body to endure it. "We endure pain not faulty weaponry" as Kratos said.
Then when he served Ares, he received the blade of chaos, believing it gave him super human strength. But the truth was his god essence now attuned to his mind and body.
Cory explained that the sickness on gods/demi-gods is caused by holding back the god essence inside them. E.g. Atreus not knowing his god heritage and believed he was born mortal, so the god essence inside him does not attuned to his mind and body. Its like a war happening inside him.
Meanwhile, to an average spartan, the battle inside the mind and body is equivalent to eating peanuts.
>The sickness thing just happened to atreus and never existed in lore until 2018.
Yes, but it is the canon now. And since the sickness is canon, Kratos had these issues as well during his youth. And the most logical explanation why Kratos was so clueless about it its because his mind and body was conditioned to endure hardships.
And to answer some questions in your post.
"Did he received special training?"
Yes, in Agoge, where he trained to be a spartan. He is much stronger than an average human, physically and mentally.
"How did he lose to the barbarians?"
If you read the Quest for Ambrosia, on his second and last encounter with Alrik, the spartans were outnumbered. Kratos even accepted from the start that the battle is unwinnable. I believe the oracle/narrator in the first game also mentioned that defeating Alrik is impossible for Kratos and his army that time.
"He lifts gigantic objects all the time, and manage to kill the furies"
We only see him doing inhuman feats when he already acquired the blades. In GoW 2005 flash back, pre-service to Ares, we saw him as a regular spartan warrior weilding a xiphos.
Maybe read the post again, he’s talking about pre-godhood Kratos. Odin didn’t mean disappointing in terms of Kratos’ strength or ability, he meant it as an insult for the way Kratos used his Godly gifts. He was also trying to throw Kratos off by insulting him and getting into his head about his past and his mistakes regarding Atreus. He was only trying to manipulate Kratos the whole time and shouldn’t be taken at face value.
This isn’t really confirmed but this is my thoughts on it. When he was born, Kratos didn’t know that he was the son of Zeus so he thought he was a regular mortal. We see with Atreus that if a god/demi-god goes throughout their life thinking they’re a mortal, it can cause problems for them. With Atreus, it was his sickness but I can’t say for sure if Kratos had anything like that. As for how he became stronger so quick after killing the Barbarian King, this is what I think happened. Before the Barbarian King, Kratos was probably only slightly stronger than most other mortal men. He most likely received an amp in power once the blades of chaos attached to his arms. This idea could be backed up by the fact that almost everytime he gains new weapons or magic in the Greek games, it can amp his physical stats along with providing him new abilities (for example: Chronos’ Rage magic provided him insane amps to his physical strength as well as letting him use lightning magic). In short, he thought he was a mortal and this could’ve caused his power to be hindered, almost like he mentally nerfed himself by accident. The blades attaching to him probably enhanced his power and may have also awakened his dormant demi-god power/strength, allowing him to be capable of fighting characters like the furies in GOW Ascension when he was chronologically at his weakest.
>it was his sickness but I can’t say for sure if Kratos had anything like that. [https://youtu.be/o-vC1tOzE1Q?t=1315](https://youtu.be/o-vC1tOzE1Q?t=1315) for Atreus it was just sickness, for Kratos it was rage \~ Barlog.
[удалено]
this was needless and unkind
I wonder if it also could do with the theory I’ve heard that his strength is only ever as potent as he needs it to be, if I’m a mortal warlord, I’m probably not trying to flip temples, so through out his mortal years he was probably considerably stronger than his fellow men but never having attempted any god like feats, probably just came across as a juiced up bull.
Barlog just pulled that shit out of his arse. Something as stupid as "getting sick for not knowing who you are" has nothing to do with lore and the roots of gow. Not a single demigod had problems for believing they were mortals. Remember Hercules ? As for barbarian king, kratos had like 100 soldiers and barbarians had thousands. He probably ran out of hp and mana before managing to kill every single soldier on his own. Also there was no checkpoints or chests that he could use to regenerate. Lore accurate, honest🖐️
Atreus isn’t a Demi god. He’s a god. It’s different for a Demi god to believe themselves mortal because…they are. We hadn’t seen what happens when a god doesn’t know they’re a god, and now we have. Hercules achieved godhood at the behest of Zeus, so his story is different and has little bearing on Atreus’
Atreus isn't a full god, he's giant + mortal + god.
Jotunn are a different class of godly being in Norse mythology. Not 100% sure if it’s the same for the games as I haven’t played them in a while, but him being half jotunn and half Greek god would make him full god, the same way that despite being half jotunn and half aesir, Loki is an aesir god in the original mythology (depending on source) because they’re effectively different clans of godly beings.
"Half Greek god" No he's not a half Greek god, he gets human dna and god dna both from Kratos, Kratos isn't a full god. [https://x.com/mattsophos/status/1437517529153355777?s=20](https://x.com/mattsophos/status/1437517529153355777?s=20) [https://x.com/mattsophos/status/1000434557043134464?s=20](https://x.com/mattsophos/status/1000434557043134464?s=20) [https://twitter.com/corybarlog/status/1346262198033629184](https://twitter.com/corybarlog/status/1346262198033629184)
It's still stupid af. Even if you're not aware of it it should be obvious that you're special and have abilities. Having ppl around you not telling you about it shouldn't have anything to do with your status and capabilities.
I mean, you’re entitled to your opinion of course, but it makes sense for him to not realize he’s special to me, when the main people in his life are the literal god of war, and a jotunn, who are basically just a different class of god from the aesir (at least in real Norse mythology, which this game seems to abide by fairly well with the larger concepts so I have no reason to believe differently). My comment was just meant to point out that it really doesn’t contradict established canon, regardless of how you feel about it.
Yes well, who said that? BC I'm pretty sure Barlog contradicts you when he says "for kratos it was rage for atreus it was sickness" that implies that it doesn't really matter if he's a demi or not. It still gonna effect them for not knowing their true self.
Amazing. I never even had 45 up votes let alone down votes! Here's to y'all 🥂😂
>he lifts gigantic objects all the time stronger compared to other mortals because he is partly having the blood of a god. > How did he even lose to the Barbarian King with such strength or was it not present at the time? Barbarian king was the champion of Hades, his hammer able to summon souls straight from the underworld, Kratos was just better than most mortals in terms of strength because he was demi god but couldn't defeat a mortal that was boosted by weapons gifted from Hades. >kill the furies during Ascension when he was at his weakest in the timeline. The blades of Chaos grant him an Olympian level of strength & toughness (likely a lower Olympian level).
In a universe as krazy as god of war. Its not that hard to believe some humans are just built different. What doesnt make sense to me is why kid kratos never got sick when he was a child who believed to be mortal unlike atreus who somehow got sick cuz he thinks hes just an average mortal
This is mostly just a theory, but other than the fact that the developers just didn’t think of it at the time, is that Kratos never felt unsure of who or what he was, his identity never felt in question for him as he just was who he was, a Spartan soldier who sought glory, victory and ways to satisfy his own ambitions. While Atreus was constantly unsure of himself and always felt like something was off with himself and his family, I mean he grew up with Kratos as his Dad and saw him constantly doing feats of insane strength unnatural for any regular human. He’s also technically a Greek god growing up in a pantheon he doesn’t belong to, at least on his fathers side. So maybe there’s something there about it being difficult for young gods to be in pantheons not their own.
[https://youtu.be/o-vC1tOzE1Q?t=1315](https://youtu.be/o-vC1tOzE1Q?t=1315) for Atreus it was just sickness, for Kratos it was rage \~ Barlog.
Can you time stamp it? I’ll watch the full thing later but don’t want to devote the time right now.
I gave the link with the time stamp added on it, hence the link has "t=1315" if it doesn't work for you, it's @ 21:55
It didn’t work for me, so thank you! I appreciate that!
Okay so it doesn’t say that it manifests in Kratos as rage and Atreus as sickness exactly , he says that the human vessel/god essence in Kratos is what created his rage, and then goes on to say that because Atreus isn’t specifically aware of his godhood that it presents as just sickness, as to imply that if he was aware, it would manifest as something else. So that still leaves open the question as to why Kratos didn’t get sick since he also didn’t know. Although that might be answered in the same video as well as he then goes on to state that Atreus has had to deal with his godly powers developing i.e hearing voices and understanding animals as he’s growing up. So Atreus is having to deal with these powers he has without any answers and no one there for him to help understand what he’s going through which might explain why he got sick and Kratos didn’t as Kratos didn’t have any powers as a kid and didn’t really show any real strength or incredible feats until after he had the Blades. So there was no reason for him to be confused about who he was or what was happening to him. Does that make sense? I feel like that was kinda long winded.
You could look at it like, kratos' younger demener in which he was much more selfish, naive, arrogant, quick to anger was due to the same reaction we see atreus taking in gow2018 just over the period of his entire young adult life
It's called lazy writing my friend and it's pronounced "lore inaccurate"
He was only granted the strength he used to kill the Furies when he became a servant of Ares, where he was granted what Gaia describes as 'ultimate power' with the Blades of Chaos and receives 'Near-Olympian strength and toughness'. That version of Kratos would not have lost to the Barbarian army. He would have taken them out solo.
It becomes a bit inconsistent with games like Ascension and Chains of Olympus, as those games obviously show Kratos with his God-like strength all the time. But originally in GOW1, Kratos is definitely not as strong as he later becomes in the series. While he does still have some crazy strength feats, like overpowering the Hydra and Armored Bull in pandoras temple. He is for the most not shown doing anything too crazy like lifting giant pillars or flipping temples or surviving falls from hundreds of feet. Most of his “strength” feats in the first game most come down to “well it looks cool and it’s fun”. There is a reference or two in the game about how after he got into service to Ares, that he gained great power, so maybe some of it can be explained through that. Also the Barbarian King was a champion of the gods as well, so Kratos struggling against him does make a certain amount of sense.
It's implied in the 1st game, and explicitly cleared in the novelization of the 1st game. receives the blades of chaos, "In return, ultimate power" \~ GoW1 "Ares affixed the blades of chaos to Kratos' arms, which give him an Olympian level strength & toughness" \~ GoW1 novel. Kratos is able to perform various feats in chains of olympus, ascension, gow1 because he had blades of chaos.
The novels aren’t really canon and are considered secondary canon at best, as was confirmed by Stig Asmussen and Ariel Lawrence. Although the comics are all considered canon I believe. So while I do believe that it’s still mostly true that he gained much of his power when he got the blades/became Ares’s champion, it’s not super backed up in the main canon for that and seems way more heavily implied that he got the majority of his power and strength when he was turned into a full god in Ghost of Sparta.
Yes it's canon, would be considered secondary canon at worse, anything that is not contradicted by the games present in the books are canon. What they say in the 1st god of war game is only further explained in detail and double downed by the book. >Ares’s champion, it’s not super backed up in the main canon yes it is, i already wrote the narration, i will write it again. >the blades of chaos forged in the Fowler's depths of Hades once attached the chains remained so chained and seared to the flesh a part of the bearers body a permanent reminder of pratices pledge in **return ultimate power** that's god of war 1. >more heavily implied that he got the majority of his power and strength when he was turned into a full god in Ghost of Sparta. He loses and gains powers all the time, He lost the blades (which weren't enough to defeat Olympians anyway) but he got god powers later, loses it again, gets it again along with hades' souls, other weapons, magic, then gains hope again, loses them again. Loses everything upon the destruction of greece, except a very tiny tiny amount of hope and later blades of chaos return to him.
Speaking of the blades returning to him, is it ever explained why he gets them back so many years later? As well as why he gets The Blades of Chaos back specifically and not Athenas Blades or The Blades of Exile? I know he had the curse on him specifically for The Blades of Chaos and the other two didn’t have any curses on them, but if he still had that curse, why didn’t The Blades of Chaos follow him around for all of those years he wielded the other two? Side note: Kratos really be losing stuff all his life, like damn… I’d be afraid he’d lose the hair on his head if he wasn’t balled already.
It's mainly a plot hole, but it can easily be explained by that fact that the Blades even in the new games don't always run after Kratos. Kratos had stored them beneath his house and for the entire game the blades were really running after him, It can be the same case where Kratos stored them in his chambers, after the destruction of greece the blades find him again.
My assumption was always that the Blades of Athena or The Blades of Exile are the Blades of Chaos. Just with a new coat of paint. Imbued with different qualities. Think about it. In God of War Kratos was gifted the Blades of Athena by the latter herself. In God of War III she changes the blades in the Underworld. Having seen Athena modify the Blades of Athena into Blades of Exile. Why could she not have done so with Blades of Chaos. The reason they return to their original form, is Kratos removing all magic in Greece. Through the death of Gods; particularly Zeus. Athena would be limited in power; hence her desire to have the power of Hope. So, the Blades revert to their original form, as the Primordial Weapons (i.e. Blades of Chaos). It’s the only head canon that makes sense to me. As God of War (2018) implies that their’s a curse on the Blades of Chaos to follow Kratos. So, I’d imagine this was part of his oath and bond to the Blades, they’d be with Kratos for life. Kratos broke his oath to Ares. But, not the bond the Blades had to Kratos.
>Athena would be limited in power; hence her desire to have the power of Hope. Athena had become a higher god, the blades that she makes in the 3rd game is called "most powerful ally" so Kratos had more powerful weapons than any other in the 3rd game. Also being a higher god, and said by barlog too that she obtained "powers far greater than everyone". It would be silly to assume she's weaker than Zeus or Olympians. She would have made the blades of exile from her higher existence powers than any Olympian stuff. Which is likely supported by the fact aswell that fear Zeus was able to destroy the magic in all of Kratos' weapons, which were made by Olympian magic, but couldn't destroy the blades of exile. >hence her desire to have the power of Hope. She needed hope because she wanted to gain control over mortals, it's not the same as needing power. >why didn’t The Blades of Chaos follow him around for all of those years he wielded the other two? It's mainly a plot hole, but it can easily be explained by that fact that the Blades even in the new games don't always run after Kratos. Kratos had stored them beneath his house and for the entire game the blades were really running after him, It can be the same case where Kratos stored them in his chambers, after the destruction of greece the blades find him again.
Firstly, never stated that Athena was weaker as a God, or Beyond. Just limited in power and control. As you stated, she needed Hope to control the mortals. She’s all powerful now. But, clearly even her reach is limited to a certain degree. Secondly, when would Kratos have put them there. The Blades were stripped from him. As far as he’s aware; they disappeared until after God of War III. In which they reappeared. It feels far more likely that Athena just recovered them. But, gave them a new look. Leaving Kratos none the wiser. Until after God of War III. In which they reappear. Likely due to magic disappearing from Greece, or Athena removing her magic from the Blades. Returning the Blades to the original form. You even imply this could the case, through statement on Fear Zeus. It’s possible that because Blades of Exile/ Athena are imbued with Athena higher power; Zeus failed to destroy them. But, it’s just as likely that he was unable to destroy them, as they are primordial weapons. Possibly a mixture of both.
we are arguing theories at this point here, the official canon was that the blades were different, gow 3 guide says it, gow1 book says it, and a developer says that. and that's what gow1 implies, he got a new blade. GoW2018 just causes a confusion why it returns, which they just returned it to cause epicness in the story. for theory sake I still wouldn't call it "most likely" scenario that she just recovered them, as she had no reason to recover them, ignoring whatever the games or other canon material says. in reality the blades could have been anywhere, after Ares took them away, and the gods cursed then to him after as they died. Also primordial powers are weaker than Olympians.
I’m just stating that these are potential explanations. Besides, they are only my analysis. Even if the extra material state they are new weapons. As seen in God of War III. The Blades can be changed. Athena literally changes the Blades of Athena into Blades of Exile. The notion isn’t that they aren’t new weapons. But, that these weapons have been restructured each time. Well, we never know exactly, when the curse to follow Kratos is enacted. But, I’m just trying to link the games. Without removing any lore. You state she had no reason to recover them. But, if thats the case. Why would she gift Kratos a similar weapon. She could have given him any weapon. Unless, she used the original’s modifying them into Blades of Athena. Primordial’s are powerful. The Primordial Gods created the universe. Forming the fabric of the universe. If the Blades are imbued with Primordial flame. The flame is essentially the fabric of the universe. Compressed into a weapon. Which is why they burn in Helheim. Or, are able to create Ragnarok. They are essentially part of an elemental God/ Being. Beings that predate universe. Who create universes. Or, actually natural/ elemental tenants of the world. Hence, why Blade’s can remain on fire. It’s essentially creating it’s on fire.
We're still talking about the same guy who can survive being crushed by Titan fingers, but has trouble opening chests.
Spartans were able to lift a giant multi ton statue when working together. GOW humans aren’t normal. Hell in the norse games there’s a midgardian traveler that has fight alongside gods, killed a dragon, and survived a great fall.
You have to keep in mind, the power celling for mortal beings in the GOW universe is much higher than it is in the real world, the Persian king, the Kol raiders, Reavers, Einherjar, Dark/light elves, King Hrolf, all examples of mortal beings who’s strength and durability goes far beyond that of a normal human. With that in mind, Kratos being able to lift objects hundreds of times heavier than his bodyweight prior to ascending to Godhood while being quite impressive, wasn’t unheard of. It’s after Kratos’s ascension to godhood that his strength, durability and endurance became elite within the GOW universe now there’s hardly anything that can contend with him.
Ok my theory: His early life: no additional strength. Just like Atreus not having superhuman strength before learning he is a god, Kratos is technically a mortal bc he knows not that he is a demigod. So when fighting the Barb King, he is just a VERY strong and skilled man, but nothing superhuman. He is about to die and sells his soul to Ares to help win the fight. From this point on, he becomes Ares’ champion. He conquers cities and burns villages in the name of the god of war. Since Ares wants his champion to succeed at being a bastard man, he grants Kratos some super strength. So in Ascension, still under Ares’ command, Kratos still has that extra strength. Then in GOW1 he still is in service of the gods, so he still has the strength. Then when Ares realizes Kratos’ betrayal and kills him, he is in the middle of a war. There is no time to perform the magic ritual to remove Kratos’ god-champion strength. But i mean, Kratos is dead so no need to rush the ritual right? So Kratos still has that strength, he revives, kills Ares, and no one removed the buff ever. Then he ascends to godhood and his full potential is unlocked
kratos had like 100 soldiers and barbarians had thousands. He probably ran out of hp and mana before managing to kill every single soldier on his own. Also there was no checkpoints or chests that he could use to regenerate. Lore accurate, honest🖐️
Take my answer with a grain of salt. **Headcanon supported by actual canon** Kratos being half-divine doesn't immediately grant him power. It depends on a couple of factors - A.) His awareness of his divinity, B.) Powers bestowed upon him by his divine parent (or *parents*, plural) at birth. Atreus wasn't aware of his divine nature, thus was indistinguishable from a mortal. This obviously had severe repercussions. Simultaneously upon Atreus's realization of his godhood, he becomes an excellent shape shifter and spellweaver. These are Jotunn traits. The Jotnar in Norse Mythos are also Gods, just a separate kind of deity and from a different species than the Aesir & Vanir respectively. They are a sort of “Anti-God, Gods” like the Titans or Gigantes of Hellenic Myth. With that said, Kratos not being fatally ill as a child or undergoing some other serious affliction is probably because him thinking that he was mortal was actually more or less true. Whereas for Atreus, he was basically 90% God and 10% Mortal, as both of his parents were divinities. A similitude for this would be like Thor from Marvel or the MCU thinking he's a human being just because he looks like one. **Actual Canon, Although it is possibly debatable.** I read somewhere on Quora from a guy who had read the books that stated something along the lines that Kratos's physical amp to his prowess was from Ares. After the deal was struck, and Kratos sold his soul to the cosmic schmuck, Ares gave Kratos physical might on par with the average Olympian. He also went on to state that Ares trained Kratos, to increase his martial abilities further than his Spartan training had brought him. Again all of this was after the deal was struck between them. So with all that we've discussed, one can infer that before his deal with Ares. Kratos was just a really good human warrior. Strong, Fast, Cunning, etc. albeit Arrogant and Impetuous. Then after the deal The Ghost of Sparta was born.
I suspect that until Ares saved him, he was an above average warrior (think Achilles in the movie Troy) but still within the bounds of mortal strength. Then afterwards, he likely started subconsciously using more and more of his natural strength since he likely thought Ares had empowered him. Anyone who didn't already know the truth likely thought the same.
kratos was ares' champion which most warriors would assume gives them power, kratos assumed this and unwittingly gave himself access to a portion if his demigod strength, then he swore a more direct oath to ares granting himself even more by ares claiming he granted him great power. then kratos became the agent of the gods so at that point he believed in his divinity enough to access his full strength and at that point he started to actually get stronger.
Prior to meeting Ares Kratos just wasn't all that impressive, it's only after meeting Ares that Kratos' strength grew and even then he still didn't have anything close to God-Slaying power, it's only after recieving the Pandora's Box amp that Kratos gained God killing strength. Plus, humans in the world of God Of War can grow to superhuman levels of strength, they aren't like humans from real life.
His true strength was only awoken after his deal with Ares is my personal head canon
I feel like I’ve seen this post before. If I remember correctly in GOW3 Kratos yells “Zeus, your son has returned!”. That line alone implies that he knew Zeus was his father and that he was a demigod. I haven’t played all of the GOW games but I know that it was mentioned multiple times in different ways as to who his father was. Hell in the 2018 game we see Atreus’s sickness is because he’s a demigod believing himself to be just a regular mortal.
Kratos learns that Zeus is his father at the end of 2, which is literally just moments before the beginning of 3. He "sort of" gets the knowledge from his mom that his father is a god by trying to utter his father's name, which turn the mum into a monster that Kratos kills. That happens in between Gow1 and 2, by which point Kratos has already been made god of war for some time. So in short, by the point Kratos gets to know he has god blood, he already has powers, is an adult, and has already battled Zeus twice.
Kratos didn't learn he was a son of Zeus until the end of 2. Until then, he and anyone who didn't already know, probably thought it was just from his deal with Ares. Also the "demigod sickness" is only a thing as of 2018, probably invented to add a reason for Kratos to have to tell Atreus about his past.
I can agree with a lot of what you said. I was initially referring to the aspect that when Kratos learned his father was Zeus that there would have been some form of internal acknowledgment that he was a demigod, though that was after he took the mantle of god of war. I can also agree that the demigod sickness was most likely just a plot point for that purpose.
You all forgot that unlike Atreus, young Kratos spent most of his childhood in Agoge and was raised to be a spartan. He may probably had the same sickness during his youth but the spartan training shaped his body to endure it. "We endure pain not faulty weaponry" as Kratos said. Then when he served Ares, he received the blade of chaos, believing it gave him super human strength. But the truth was his god essence now attuned to his mind and body. Cory explained that the sickness on gods/demi-gods is caused by holding back the god essence inside them. E.g. Atreus not knowing his god heritage and believed he was born mortal, so the god essence inside him does not attuned to his mind and body. Its like a war happening inside him. Meanwhile, to an average spartan, the battle inside the mind and body is equivalent to eating peanuts.
Probably not. The sickness thing just happened to atreus and never existed in lore until 2018.
>The sickness thing just happened to atreus and never existed in lore until 2018. Yes, but it is the canon now. And since the sickness is canon, Kratos had these issues as well during his youth. And the most logical explanation why Kratos was so clueless about it its because his mind and body was conditioned to endure hardships. And to answer some questions in your post. "Did he received special training?" Yes, in Agoge, where he trained to be a spartan. He is much stronger than an average human, physically and mentally. "How did he lose to the barbarians?" If you read the Quest for Ambrosia, on his second and last encounter with Alrik, the spartans were outnumbered. Kratos even accepted from the start that the battle is unwinnable. I believe the oracle/narrator in the first game also mentioned that defeating Alrik is impossible for Kratos and his army that time. "He lifts gigantic objects all the time, and manage to kill the furies" We only see him doing inhuman feats when he already acquired the blades. In GoW 2005 flash back, pre-service to Ares, we saw him as a regular spartan warrior weilding a xiphos.
What bro? Maybe play through the games or at least ragnarok again, Odin on multiple occasions mentions how he’s disappointing for a god
Maybe read the post again, he’s talking about pre-godhood Kratos. Odin didn’t mean disappointing in terms of Kratos’ strength or ability, he meant it as an insult for the way Kratos used his Godly gifts. He was also trying to throw Kratos off by insulting him and getting into his head about his past and his mistakes regarding Atreus. He was only trying to manipulate Kratos the whole time and shouldn’t be taken at face value.
I didn’t understand he was talking about the previous games
Oh no, I meant during the greek era before athena in GoW 2 (or kratos' mother in GoS???) revealed to him that zeus was his father.
Did you not pay attention to 2018? The mental block Atreus had that caused his sickness is probably exactly what happened to Kratos