God of War's Kratos Originally a "Little Elf"

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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God of War's Kratos Originally a "Little Elf"



The bloodthirsty protagonist of God of War [http://www.amazon.com/God-War-Collection-Playstation-3/dp/B002NN7AKU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1279566444&sr=1-2] wasn't always the maniac we know and (sort of) love.

Think about Sony's God of War series, and there's a good bet that the image that first pops into your mind is of the series antihero protagonist, Kratos. Kratos cuts a very recognizable figure, what with his stark red-and-white skin, the blades grafted onto his arms, and his willingness to slaughter his way through hell and back to get what he wants.

Understandably, though, it took a while to get the design of Kratos right. "I think it took us a year-and-a-half to come up with Kratos," Ken Feldman - lead environmental artist on the first God of War (and now series art director as a whole) - told Official PlayStation Magazine UK in the magazine's latest issue.

"That was the most difficult thing. Everything had to be based around this character - the story, the weapons. The first guy we came up with was a little elf character, he was hysterical. His animations looked like Disney." Other original concepts for Kratos included an escaped slave and a monk carrying a baby, revealed Feldman.

Thankfully, series creator David Jaffe had a much clearer idea of what he wanted Kratos to look like - a vision based off of his love for action-adventure movies and games, and Greek mythology. A good thing, too, or else we could have been playing a God of War with a very, very different character.

I wonder if a little Disney elf would have had two candycanes grafted to his arms instead of swords.

(Via CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=235473])

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Cherry Cola

Your daddy, your Rock'n'Rolla
Jun 26, 2009
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DEAR GOD! I... kinda already knew most of this. I've seen artwork for Kratos.

But still, Kratos being an elf.......

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
 

hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
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Never played God of War, but that had better come in GoW 3 as an unlockable skin.
 

Cherry Cola

Your daddy, your Rock'n'Rolla
Jun 26, 2009
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SUPA FRANKY said:
Kratos: This is blasphemy! *Goes on a rampage*
Blasphemy?

This...

Is...

... Yeah, I'll stop right here. I must not make a cheap This is Sparta joke!
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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If it had been an elf I couldnt see them ripping god and titans apart XD
 

CuddlyCombine

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Sep 12, 2007
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If you watch the Making Of documentary that comes with God of War 2, they explain the design process for a lot of the figures in the game (including Kratos), and even show off pictures. Some of them are ridiculously bizarre.
 

Ridonculous_Ninja

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Apr 15, 2009
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mspencer82 said:
Kingdom Hearts originally had chainsaws, Kratos was originally an elf....have game developers banded together to tell us this stuff as an elaborate setup to an April Fools joke?

Edit:

That picture made me lol so hard. Thank you.
 

VanBasten

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Aug 20, 2009
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Ken Feldman said:
"I think it took us a year-and-a-half to come up with Kratos"
Seriously, a year and a half for bald facepainted guy with oversized muscles in a loincloth?
Seriously? ;)
 

Scrythe

Premium Gasoline
Jun 23, 2009
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Huh, that's a weird article. I distinctly remember seeing on the DVD that came with God of War II where they explain how Kratos came to be, and there was no mention of rendering anything elf-like.

And unless my memory's failing me, the artist who designed him started from a chickenscratch drawing on a coffee shop napkin while he was out on break, which basically looked like Kratos sans tattoo, with hair.

I'll go back and watch it again, though. Maybe they did do some elf shit, who knows?
 

Premonition

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Jan 25, 2010
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Come see Link in his brand new adventure: The legend of the God of War, the Ocarina up your intestants!
 

Mstrswrd

Always playing Touhou. Always.
Mar 2, 2008
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The first game had a ton of "concept and making of" stuff in it if you unlocked it. For example, at one point, Kratos was kinda like a Shaman from a traditional African Tribe (and, yes, he was black). At another point, he had dreadlocks. At another point, he had a dog, and then they wanted the dog to end up being a Cerberus pup that you would have to eventually kill once it matured, and then they decided it wouldn't work.

They had some pretty interesting ideas, and scrapped a lot of them.