Kratos

[Denamic]

Kratos is a really militant atheist.

You know, it's not many games in which you get to play the bad guy.
I'd honestly like more of them.

 

[AdamRBi]

I've only played the first GoW, so I don't know exactly what happens in the 2nd and 3rd. But if Kratos really did turn in to the monster he once sought to destroy then it would have been a brilliant ending to GoW3 if he ended up rekilling his family or a family like his in his rage. Then looking down upon them as he did in the first game, cursing his existence Maybe even leading back up to him committing suicide.

Or maybe it was Aries, God of War, who has projected these memories into Kratos to turn him into an unstoppable killing machine. Thus upon killing his family he breaks from Aries' control to hunt him down to kill him, thus becoming the new god of war. Hey, that'd make a great game.

It's like the game that never ends, you turn to the beginning of the book and keep reading because the ending leads right in to the beginning.

 

[Necromancer1991]

Kratos had some depth of character in GoW, but that was thrown out the window in GoWII, is Kratos Bad-ass, well sorta... he mainly does stuff causes "new ally A, B, & C" tell him to, he's nothing more than a sword for other people to kill each other with.

 

[Nerdygamer89]

It's worth considering that Kratos actually HAS gone insane by the time the events in God of War 2 begin. Kratos is constantly plagued by nightmares, and memories of slaughtering his own family, coupled with his rage toward the Gods (he was never a big fan of 'em in the first place). In essence, by the time the second game rolls around his mind is so warped and twisted with his own rage and remorse, he just doesn't give a shit anymore.

I'd argue that the character is in no way inconsistent from the first game to the second -- he's the same old (anti-)hero in the second game, his extreme bloodlust is just the product of a shattered mind.

 

[Stabby Joe]

In regards to the Batman comments, yes it is true that nowadays Batman is not the most interesting character BUT that wasn't always the case.

I for one felt that the 90s Batman: The Animated Series version had much more depth and character, thus making him interesting (in many cases more so than the villains) whereas the Christian Bale role is nothing more than a gravely voice.

 

[Wolfinton]

Very good read.

You weren't supposed to relate to the Young Ones?

 

[omegawyrm]

Clearly Yahtzee has never read Last Rites, Hush, The Dark Knight Returns, The Cult, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Arkham Asylum, Batman R.I.P. or any of the other brilliant Batman stories where he's developed as a great character.

 

[Thrair]

By the end of the 3rd game (hell, if not sooner), Kratos is bat-shit frickin' insane. Who else would rip a guys head off and use it like a flashlight?


If his table broke, he would find the nearest animal, rip it's leg off, use that to beat someone to death, take that guys personal information to track down his family, and then enter his house kill everyone, including the family dog. He would do this several times. And the sole purpose would be to compare the tables he found in the homes to his, to see what type of wood would suit his living room. Not that he really cares that much about it, he just doesn't want the ghost of Athena whining to him about crappy decor.

 

[senataur]

You weren't supposed to relate to the Young Ones?

And here I thought Vivian and I shared so much in common...

True Fact: Everyone who thought they were Vyvian, were actually Rick...

Look inside yourself, you know it to be true.

 

[Rogue Chedder]

Thanks for the last second spoiler alert! I was reading too fast to stop and now I know batmans parents were shot. Bugger, I was waiting for the yet to be named Batman series to start in the 2020's to get that nugget of insight

 

[Cherry Cola]

You weren't supposed to relate to the Young Ones?

And here I thought Vivian and I shared so much in common...

True Fact: Everyone who thought they were Vyvian, were actually Rick...

Look inside yourself, you know it to be true.

Oh shut up, Neal

 

[Pyotr Romanov]

The Gods of the Greek mythologies were static in character themselves, displaying nothing at all by way of personal growth. They were what they were and it couldn't be changed. Only the human characters ever showed any variability, due of course to their mortality.

I am reading the original version of the Odysee in school atm, and, being at verse 85, I would have to say the Gods themselves really are characters with personalities. More so than Odyseus himself, so far. Athena wants to help Odyseus escape from Poseidon's wrath, not because she is the goddess of wisdom, but because she herself thinks Odyseus to be quite a nice guy in comparison to a lot of other mortals. He's always offered and respected the gods, so she's against punishing him.
Aside from that, I think you're quite right.

 

[Ericb]

Clearly Yahtzee has never read Last Rites, Hush, The Dark Knight Returns, The Cult, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Arkham Asylum, Batman R.I.P. or any of the other brilliant Batman stories where he's developed as a great character.

Clearly you have forgotten to mention the majority of hero comic book writing which shows that your examples are the fortunate exceptions to a decades-old tradition of winging it.

 

[David Bray]

Yeah, i've noticed that with Batman. My mate always says at least he's better than superman, but he's not really. He's still a boy scout, just one thats been a lot of the gravel path

 

[saintchristopher]

Didn't I already write this article like, four days ago?

 

[Sphinx86]

I'm curious Yahtzee, since you've played Chains of Olympus, do you believe that Kratos in some small way deserves the humanizing they try to force feed his character in the last hour or so of the game? For the better part of the trilogy, like you mentioned, Kratos is pretty much a nihilistic, misanthropic ass wipe, so does anything he did in Chains of Olympus really matter enough to salvage what's left of the character?

I wouldn't say that they force feed the humanisation in the last hour. Throughout the game whenever he heard Calliope's song he showed his humanity. The humanity to gametime ratio in Chains of Olympics was probably a comparable amount to GoW 1, but the shorter game meant less time in min:sec. If anything that story gives even more reason for him to be pissed at the Gods, he gave up a chance with his daughter to save the world and they still used him, promising a redemption they knew they couldn't give.

That said you could argue that they believed that his doing good to the world might assuage his conscience. Still a dick move to raise him to Godhood when he'd rather die.

 

[Coalhada]

I agree with most of what Yahtzee said, but I need to say something: (spoiler alert, I think)

At the end of GoW:1, the motivation for Kratos to kill Ares was both vengeance AND the "sort of" riddled promise Athena made him to "forget his deeds". Kratos wanted Athena to erase the memories of him murdering his own spouse and daughter. However, when K-man ends Ares' godly life, she says that she meant that the gods will forget his actions, but no one - not even gods - can erase the memories of said actions. And by some weird god law or something, Kratos becomes the god of war ("you keep what you kill" style), which wasn't what he was seeking as a reward for being a good pet assassin.

So, I think Kratos is MOSTLY pissed because he was tricked, YET AGAIN, by the gods. If you add that to the fact that he is a guilt-ridden sociopath (weird, right?), and you MIGHT have a reason for who he's become in the later installments.

But to be honest, I only played GoW for the gore and destruction. Indeed, Kratos now only stands for what his name stands: "Power".

 

[TheSquirrelisKing]

Am I the only one who thinks that "getting sucked up into space on their way home from the chip shop" would be an excellent excuse for a quirky flash game?
Other than that, I couldn't agree with Yahtzee more on this subject. But I still love Batman.