History VideoGame / GodOfWarSeries

* KillEmAll: By the end of the trilogy, the only named characters left alive are [[spoiler:Artemis, Atlas and Aphrodite.]] The ending is still surprisingly hopeful.

->''"The gods of Olympus have abandoned me."''

%%* FiveBadBand: The gods in the third game definitely qualify.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Lampshaded in the third game. There's a sex minigame that's played with Aphrodite as your partner. The camera then pans over to her two female concubines who provide reactions and commentary while you put in the action commands. One of the bits of commentary is as follows: [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "Wow, this really is for mature audiences only!" "Parents shouldn't let their kids watch this!"]] [[invoked]]

''God of War'' is a HackAndSlash and ActionAdventure video game series for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation line by Creator/SCESantaMonicaStudio based in ancient Greece, but an ancient Greece where all those bizarre things you read about in Myth/ClassicalMythology textbooks exist. One Spartan soldier, Kratos, has a personal relationship with the Gods that can best be described as complicated. A brutal, tormented man, Kratos begins the series as the sword of Olympus, fighting the enemies of the gods while trying to escape the horrors of his past.

''God of War'' is a HackAndSlash and ActionAdventure video game series for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation line by Sony based in ancient Greece, but an ancient Greece where all those bizarre things you read about in Myth/ClassicalMythology textbooks exist. One Spartan soldier, Kratos, has a personal relationship with the Gods that can best be described as complicated. A brutal, tormented man, Kratos begins the series as the sword of Olympus, fighting the enemies of the gods while trying to escape the horrors of his past.

* BackFromTheDead: Kratos has escaped from the Afterlife not once, not twice, not even ''thrice'' times but ''[[SerialEscalation four]]'' times. There's also the Barbarian King, whom Kratos killed before the first game began and who returned as a boss in the second.
** While the first game was because of the Gravekeeper's help, after ''Ghost of Sparta'' it seems this is because [[spoiler:Kratos killed ''the god of Death himself''.]]
** This is probably partly true. In ''God of War II'', Kratos is saved by [[spoiler: Gaia before he actually dies]] but in three, Kratos might have survived his fall from Olympus because of that exact reason. But he escaped Hell because he [[spoiler: killed Hades.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Pictured: Kratos (left) [[ButForMeItWasTuesday on one of his usual Tuesday afternoons.]]]]

* TwoPartTrilogy: The first game ends with Kratos sitting on Ares' throne, with flash-forwards suggesting he will preside over human warfare until the modern day. The second game sees him with lose his throne, and ends him with leading a crusade against all of Olympus that then takes up the third game.

** Another video showed Cronos' remains being discovered in modern day, with soldiers entering Pandora's Temple. Any idea they had for this sequel would have been ''radically'' different than what we got.

The games don't change much from the original; the combat interface is almost completely unchanged, [[BagOfSpilling and while Kratos loses his magical powers at the beginning of each game]], the new magic granted to him each game closely resembles the powers he earned in the previous.

* BadassGrandpa: Zeus and Cronos.

* TheAtoner: Subverted to a point. Kratos may be on a RedemptionQuest in the first game, but it's only because he wants to be able to sleep at night without being assaulted by memories of the awful deeds he has committed in the past, including [[spoiler:murdering his own wife and child]]. He has no qualms about slaughtering just about everybody he encounters, either. By the start of the second game, he's stopped caring about redemption altogether, and just goes back to trying to help Sparta conquer the world.
** In the third game [[spoiler:he had the power of hope inside of him the whole time after opening Pandora's box to fight Ares. He kills himself with the Blade of Olympus, letting its power seep into the now ruined world and Athena is simply disappointed in Kratos. It is indeterminate if this was to truly atone or to spite Athena. ]]

The games don't change much from the original ; the combat interface is almost completely unchanged, [[BagOfSpilling and while Kratos loses his magical powers at the beginning of each game]], the new magic granted to him each game closely resembles the powers he earned in the previous.

It was also something of a "slash" game, and that's not just in reference to the bloody combat. Primarily in the action/adventure genre, ''God of War'' included platforming and puzzle aspects as well. These usually involved Kratos swinging over bottomless chasms, pushing blocks into position, and so forth.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Kratos is shown to enter this trope. When Callisto turns into a monster, that Kratos had to kill, he shown to be very sad about it and than he takes her into his arms. Also, he does her will and looks for Deimos, his younger brother.

* DownerEnding: By the end of GOWIII, the natural order has completely broken down, monsters roam the Earth, storms wreck the skies, disease is rampant, floods have covered everything except the highest mountains, and pretty much all of humanity is dead. Kratos realizes he has gained nothing, destroyed everything, and commits suicide as one last insult to Athena releasing Hope into the world which is supposedly a good thing, but there is no one left to use it.

* DownerBeginning: Most notably, the beginning stage of God Of War 2, where Kratos launches a brutal invasion of Rhodes and is subsequently punished and killed by Zeus. He also loses all the extra power he has gained from the previous game. He later manages to climb his way out of Tartarus, though.

* DeathBySex: Inverted. [[spoiler:Aphrodite, who has sex with Kratos in the third game, is the only Greek God in the games spared of his wrath.]] To be fair, Kratos consistently maintained that if the Gods would stay out of his way on the path to kill Zeus he would leave them alone. Just most of the Gods decided to try to kill/stop/piss him off royally. Aphrodite was very helpful...in her own way. As was Hephestaus... until he wasn't... which you can't really blame him for considering what Kratos did concerning Aphrodite and what he was going to do to Pandora.

* DarkMessiah: Kratos in God of War III, by the time the game ends.

* AmazonBrigade: God Of War: Acension features those as enemies.

** This is probably partly true. In ''God of War 2'', Kratos is saved by [[spoiler: Gaia before he actually dies]] but in three, Kratos might have survived his fall from Olympus because of that exact reason. But he escaped Hell because he [[spoiler: killed Hades.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Arguably God of War III.

* ElderAbuse: ''God of War 2'' [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential allows the player]] to partake in ElderAbuse via a quick time event in which you have to brutally beat and kill a helpless protesting elderly scholar in order to get him to read a book you can't.

** Kratos does this ''again'' in God of War III, dragging "Poseidon's Princess", along with him in order to use her still living body to jam a gear mechanism so that he can make it through a door. She is very painfully crushed.
** In God of War 2, he puts a wounded soldier on a ConveyorBeltOfDoom to jam it.

** Surprisingly averted with [[spoiler: Pandora]] in God of War III. While you help her get to [[spoiler: Pandora's Box]], she only really is in dire need of protection from enemies maybe twice. She is quite competent at avoiding enemy attacks, which is great, due to the major enemy rushes that happen.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Due to NoNameGiven (a lot of them at that), this is natural. Even Pathos Verdes III, who's one of the very few [=NPCs=] with an actual name, he's more often called Pandora's Architect. Even with TheReveal of the Barbarian King's name and Kratos' Wife, there still addressed as such. Granted, this is probably because most people aren't even aware that they've been revealed, due to the names being revealed in the God of War miniseries of comics. Also, their names are [[spoiler: Alrik and Lysandra]] [[SpoilerHound in case you're wondering]].

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Kratos goes through a gradual one over the course of God of War 3. While he's still not a great person, he becomes noticably more concerned for his fellow man by the end. Thanks, Pandora.]]
* [[spoiler: TheHeroDies: Implied at the end of God Of War III. It's happened more than once before, but this time, it might just stick.]]

** David Jaffe (the game's creator) has admitted ''God of War'' was heavily inspired by Harryhausen Movies. Harry Hamlin even has a cameo in ''God of War 2'', as his original character, and skeletons clearly inspired by ''Jason And The Argonauts'' show up as well.

** The ending of God of War III has a version of this. [[spoiler:During the mind trip caused by Zeus, Kratos repeats his opening line from the first game.]]

*** [[spoiler: "I owe you nothing."]] Said at the start of God of War 2.

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind : Done in God of War 3. [[spoiler: Kratos ''loses'' the final fight against Zeus, and while he's dying he explores his own mind. In there, he learns to have compassion for his fellow man, to never give up hope, and to forgive himself for killing his family, which gives him the strength to come back to life and defeat Zeus]].

** It seems like Kratos's script for God of War II in particular had the instruction "Yell every single line at the top of your voice" written on it. He frequently bellows his lines at characters even when he's RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM and they could probably hear him fine if he talked normally.

** [[spoiler:Pandora in God of War III, mainly because she reminds Kratos of Calliope. In fact, she actually succeeds in forcing Kratos to see the consequences of his actions, making him feel genuine guilt.]]
* MoralGuardian: If you have played the Japanese localized version of God of War 1, you'll notice the naked breasts of Kratos' prostitutes and the sex moans have been censored.

* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: TheStinger in God Of War III shows a blood trail that leads off a cliff.]]

* NoNameGiven: With the exception of Kratos, Calliope, and Pathos Verdes III (Pandora's Architect) no character that wasn't originally from Myth/GreekMythology has a name. [[spoiler: Subverted, somewhat, in the God of War comics where the Barbarian King (Alrik) and Kratos' Wife's (Lysandra) names have been given.]]

* NonhumansLackAttributes: Averted for several monsters. The gorgons and harpys have breasts, and in ''God Of War 3'' the centaurs have barely noticeable sheaths. Played straight with the Cyclops in the first game, which were planned to have penises, but they were taken out.

* OptionalSexualEncounter: Each game has one of these. You get a decent amount of red orbs for doing them, although this is useless in ''God of War 2'' since you lose all your red orbs shortly after, before you have a chance to use them. However it could be worse - you could get blue orbs.

** God of War 3 has the biggest example of this. After all of his years of suffering because of the Gods of Olympus, [[spoiler: especially Zeus, he succeeds in [[TheresNokillLikeOverkill killing Zeus]] and [[KillEmAll destroying Olympus]]. However, he realizes that because he was so [[RevengeBeforeReason dead set on revenge]] [[NiceJobBreakingIthero he destroyed the world by plunging it into chaos]], also, he then realizes that [[{{ThisMeansWar}} though many have wronged him]] a lot of his suffering [[ItsAllMyFault was his fault]]. In the end, [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty he wasn't satisfied with killing Zeus]], so it [[WasItReallyWorthIt wasn't worth]] all the death and destruction he caused.]] [[{{SociopathicHero}} Kratos]] [[CharacterDevelopment finally gives a damn about others]].

** Of course he then proceeds to kick several dogs in God of War III, returning to the tried and true tactic of sacrificing innocent bystanders in order to get through doors.

** A special award goes to PandorasBox, which has in common with the original legend: 1. It's a box (Actually Pandora's Box was a ''pithos'', a type of jar, but there was a mistranslation that stuck); 2. They're both from Greece (Although the God of War Greece contains a desert); and 3. Something happens if you open it (not the same something, just generally ''something'').

* SexGod: Kratos. In God of War 3, his having sex with Aphrodite turns on her servants so much, they start making out with each other. In Ghost of Sparta he starts having a threesome, and by the end of it, at least 10 girls are in his bed.

* ShipTease: Quite a bit of it between Kratos and Athena, especially in God of War II. This gets subverted big time at the end of God of War III though when it turns out that [[spoiler:Athena has just been manipulating Kratos (possibly for as long as he has been serving the gods) and is no better than the rest of the gods and Titans Kratos has killed.]]

** The titans also qualify, since in God of War II they able to give Kratos powers, implying they have powers themselves, yet during God of War III they don't display any beyond their size.

* UnwittingPawn: Kratos tends to be too easily manipulated by both the gods and the Titans. By the end of God of War III, Kratos has finally had enough and sees through [[spoiler:Athena's attempt to regain her power and become Greece's only goddess]].

** God of War III gives us ''dueling'' Variable Length Chains, when Kratos fights Hades, who has some very similar weapons.

* VillainProtagonist: Let's be honest here, Kratos starts off ''God of War 2'' doing the ''exact'' same thing Ares did in the first game. He also willingly sacrifices others in order accomplish his goals. He's subsequently killed in the ATasteOfPower segment of the game, and spends the remainder of 2 and almost every second of 3 on a rampage against his killer for... stopping exactly what he was told to stop in the first game.

** We never really see what becomes of most of the other Titans assaulting Mount Olympus in God of War III, because Kratos is otherwise occupied for much of the game. We see at least one (Perses) about halfway through the game, but most of the rest apparently failed in their assault on the gods.

** In God Of War III, Kratos can find letters in Hades written about him. One is from his mother lamenting how everything around her son dies and that she failed as a mother, and another is from the boat captain damning Kratos to Hades.

** Subverted in God of War III. [[spoiler:Kratos actually refuses to let Pandora sacrifice herself.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: The games claim to be this in regards to their Myth/ClassicalMythology source material. ''God of War'' I and II are around the same level of darkness, but III manages to one-up the original stories by a mile. Let's face it, works like The Odyssey were dark, but they didn't involve [[{{Gotterdammerung}} the death of the gods]] and [[ApocalypseHow catastrophes of apolyptic scale]].

** There's also a Curb Stomp ''[[UpToEleven War]]'' early on in ''God of War III'': the Gods manage to down a half dozen of the Titans climbing Mount Olympus within the first ten minutes of gameplay, and the rest more or less are beaten ''off-screen''. Odds are, without Kratos on the Titan's side, the ''war'' would have been wrapped up in a half hour with the Gods being victorious.

** Happening again with God of War Origins Collection, also on [=PS3=]. This has both PSP games, updated to HD with optional stereoscopic 3D. Now the only game not on [=PS3=] is the mobile phone game Betrayal.
** The first two God of War games have now been made portable with the release of the God of War Collection on the Vita, with the trophies of the [=PS3=] version included and a control scheme that utilizes the touch screen and rear touch pad.

** It will also include a code for unlocking [[PreviewPiggybacking an exclusive God Of War III demo]].