Kratos

[UtopiaV1]

......

HOW DARE YOU DENY THE GOD OF TETRIS!?

That was fantastic! You had me laughing so hard some milk i was drinkin just squirted out my nose... thanks!

 

[VondeVon]

currently Australian-based writer

I see this often. Is this why you have that famous chip on your shoulder? You don't like being in Australia? Where would you rather be based? If you were there, would you remove the 'currently' from your introduction?

I think I identify more with #2. Kratos violently kills everything he trips over. Why? Because he can. Yeah, that's the kind of reasoning I can get behind.

 

[Negativ Solution]

I remember something about there being a storyline about Kratos' brother/friend who was left an orphan or something somewhere on the first GOW(in the extras?), what happened to that idea? I think that would have been easy enough to write and include the gods being dicks storyline in there somewhere, still would have preferred that story even without the gods at all.

 

[suhlEap]

am i the only one that wants to know more about the progress on fun space game : the game!?
i'm genuinely interested in it.

 

[mindsale]

I thought Kratos was an angry dick in the beginning of GoW2 because he'd become, y'know, the GOD OF WAR. He had inherited that bellicose disposition. Plus his family was dead, so kill-crazy rampages prob'ly keep his one-track mind on track. So then when he's put in time out and de-deified he's all "NUH UH FUCK THIS SHIT" and seeks revenge for being disempowered simply because what the fuck else is he gonna do? Get his ass served to him by a guy in a wheelchair?

 

[Harmondale2]

I love the young ones

 

[Knight1172]

Kratos is no longer a character. He is an event, like genocide, or an outbreak of the ebola virus...

Just that frame of thought makes me miss Literature.

 

[Something Amyss]

"It's the eternal love story between a man and the internal organs of various other bigger men."

And this is why I love Yahtzee.

The comparison between Kratos and Batman is also good, but harder to quote succinctly.

 

[Eldarion]

I would have to disagree with Yahtzee about his Kratos/Batman comparison. Yeah, his initial motive of vengeance is stale and uninteresting at this day and age, but you know what else drives Batman to do what he does? Helping to prevent the same misery that had been forced onto him.

Batman helps the defenseless and inspires those who feel they should do the same. You know; like what a hero does. He's not out to save the world on any grand scheme; he's just doing his part to turn the tide of evil that plagues his home city. If Batman is as uninteresting as Yahtzee says he is, then why is he still around? I'll tell you why (in the corniest way possible): Batman is as much a symbol of hope as Superman is. And the writers, editors, artists and fans know this, too.*

Kratos, on the other hand, started off as the tragic hero and ended up being the anti-hero, badass, that would sell Michael Bay films. He went from being a somewhat well-rounded character to a cardboard cut-out who would kill kittens if they looked at him funny. You might as well have an explosion go off while he walks slowly away from it. To put it bluntly, Kratos is boring.

/end nerd rage

I don't have to post now, you said everything I wanted to.

Yhea vengeance isn't a huge part of who batman is, if it was then why does he just turn bag guys into the authorities and never kill anyone? Because he is more about stopping others from suffering like he did, yhea what you said.

 

[wolffour]

He still killed Laser cat :[

 

[CopperBoom]

I love how cleanly every week he explains his ideas (be they radical or not).
It kind of made me want to play these three.

 

[Deacon Cole]

What Yahtzee appears to not understand is that there are two major kinds of storytelling: arched and situational

Arched stories are where the character grows and changes as a result of the consequences of their actions as the story unfolds. Acrched stories are kind of in vogue right now. They always have been, but it's to the point that many think it is the only way that a story should be written.

Situational stories do not develop the characters. Rather, they are established with a handful of traits, usually with a similarly established supporting cast, that gets thrown into a situation that takes the duration of the story to resolve. This sort of story has fallen out of favor because it is lighter and not as deep as arched stories. However, I think this does this sort of story a grave disservice.

Where situational stories shine is in long running series. Comic books were rife with them in the 50's and 60's. Television sitcoms are still a penultimate situational storytelling medium. The lighter feel may work better with comedy. But the beauty of it is that once you establish the characters and lock their status quo into place, then the show can, theoretically run forever. This is why they are desirable for television shows, comic books, and video games.

They could have done something deeper with God of War 3, but then what do they do for God of War 4? And why bother coming up with anything nifty when most of the fanbase just wants to kill stuff in a red skirt? This is why Zelda and Mario games are still popular after all these years despite not changing a whole lot. It works.

 

[internetzealot1]

So basically, Yahtzee likes Kratos because he's like Johhny Knoxville, except Kratos is an ass to other people instead of himself.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Eh, I have to disagree slightly.
God of War 1: He's promised an end to his suffering, to the very nightmares he's been forced to live with (especially after the events of Chains of Olympus). He goes through Hell (or in this case, Hades) and back, to eventually obtain the power needed to defeat Ares. Having done so, the Gods turn their back upon him, telling him he will have to live with them and there is nothing they can do. When he throws himself over a cliff, the Gods, once again, refuse to let him rest, and in turn make him the newest god of war.

God of War 2 starts off then. He's found kin in the spartan army, which he uses to keep his mind off the fact he is unable to die, and that the death's of his family will never be cleared of his mind. When the Spartans are about to claim another victory in his name, he descends from his throne to help in the final moments, before the Gods, again, go against him and his wishes, bringing to life the Colossus of Rhodes and restricting Kratos as best they can (by shrinking him). Zeus offers Kratos the power to win, but it turns out to be a trap set by the king of Gods to make Kratos vulnerable, allowing Zeus to kill his son. Kratos, as he is dragged back into Hades for the 3rd time in the series, is given new resolve by the Earthmother Gaea, and thus he escapes for a 3rd time. He tells the surviving soldier to collect the survivors and that he'll return.
Don't feel like typing much of what happens next, but Kratos ends up killing that very soldier on his way to the sisters of fate, and he does show some remorse for it. Despite what people might be saying, Kratos had a connection with the Spartans, and seeing them slain was almost the same as seeing his family die.
Long story short, Kratos get's a delorean and goes back to the future on Zeus's ass, only for athena to object to his death and get killed in the process.

God of war 3 picks up right at this point. Major spoilers here, so click only if you beaten GoW3 or don't care.

Spoiler

Kratos assaults Olympus, but like the Gods, the Titans discard Kratos as soon as possible. He's been betrayed the 3rd time in the series, and well, more than a little ticked. Everyone Kratos kills was needed, Hephaestus tried to betray Kratos, so make that 4 times, which is why he killed him. Kratos see's his own daughter in Pandora, who he defends adamantly, only to lose her due to Zeus again, saying things he shouldn't. When he opens Pandora's Box, nothing is inside it.
The very reason Kratos was able to slay the gods was that the power he had taken in was that of Athena's, the power of Hope. The evils sealed within the box had possessed the Gods, filling Zeus with paranoia over Kratos, which is why the events of GoW2 occurred in the first place. Kratos ends the game by killing himself instead of returning the power to Athena, releasing Hope into the world, to which she cried out "No! They have no idea on how to use it!" or something akin to that.
Odd enough, the game ends with Kratos's body being mysteriously absent, so who knows what might of happened. With the wound he gave himself, it's unlikely he could of walked away or even gotten up, so the future of the series after this is uncertain.

I'll admit his character does change drastically between 1 and 2, and that a major part of it was just so it would be a vehicle for the slaughter Kratos commits in it, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's no reason why they happened in the first place.

Just typing mainly to let you know that someone read that amazing block of text of yours. I will give you points that you seem to give Kratos some motivation, but it is largely as you put it 'a vehicle used to be driven to the slaughter house,'

 

[flamezlord]

I agree with Yahtzee's opinion of what a character in fiction should act like. Rorschach's one of my favorite characters ever to be published in written form, but it's certainly not because he thinks killing people is more important than preventing Armageddon. As his therapist put it, he's fascinatingly ugly, and that's all their is to his appeal.

 

[biodrew]

Batman/Kratos Grate comparison there.

 

[Hollywooda]

You obviously know very little about Batman Yahtzee. Batman & Bruce Wayne as comic book characters go are incredible complex & multi-layered & this is the reason why Batman is possible the great comic book hero ever. I'm not gonna rant on here too much as you'll never read this & it will be a waste of time, But do your research first please.

Cheers,
Scott.