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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shame.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:[[Music/{{Sabaton}} "Know his name,]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone know his shame will last forever..."]]]]
3Bear in mind, a franchise about a vengeful and bloodthirsty Spartan warrior who slaughters gods that stand in his way isn't complete without it's moments of Tragedy and Sorrow.
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5'''Moment Subpages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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8* Kratos killing his wife and daughter in the last of ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'''s flashbacks.
9** Hell, how about his suicide attempt at the end of the [[VideoGame/GodOfWarI first game]]? As horrible as Kratos was, it's hard not to feel for someone that regrets what he did that horribly. He did everything to kill Ares as much to preserve his own sanity as it was for revenge, and it was AllForNothing as the Olympians welch on their deal to remove the memories of his crimes. Kratos just sounds so ''broken'' afterwards...
10** Even worse: In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarChainsOfOlympus'', upon reuniting with his daughter Calliope he is forced to abandon her to save the world. The scene where he must push his daughter away is made even more tragic as it is interactive, forcing the player to mash on the circle button to ditch poor Calliope as she tries to hold on to her beloved monster of a father.
11*** As this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF2EsI7Vo5Y Youtuber]] points out, mashing the circle button usually happens when Kratos needs to use every ounce of his strength for something, and it takes ''three'' of these for him to push Calliope away. In other words, the strength it took for Kratos to push away Calliope was roughly equivalent to the strength it would take for him to kill '''three minotaurs'''.
12* The last two hours or so of ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII.'' Oh, where to begin?
13** The entire Daedalus subplot is just.... depressing. He's been chained up inside the Labrynth, hanging from the ceiling because Zeus is a jerk, and is willing himself alive on the hope that his son Icarus will come and save him. His dream comes true when he sees someone with Icarus' wings flying around and solving the puzzle... and then he learns it's Kratos, who brutally killed his son in the previous game.
14** Seeing Kratos' wife and child die in III. The scene implies that they ''knew'' that it was Kratos who killed them.
15** The ending. Kratos finally kills Zeus, but has [[PyrrhicVictory destroyed the world in the process.]] Athena pulls a FaceHeelTurn and demands Kratos surrenders the power of Hope. The spartan moves to finish her off, raises the Blade of Olympus... and then flips it around and runs himself through. Hope rushes across the world while Kratos bleeds to death, the screen going dark as he gasps for breath. The last shot is a blood trail leading over the edge of a cliff, while the sun shines through for the first time since Helios' death.
16* The ending of ''Ghost of Sparta'', where Kratos buries his brother Deimos after fighting beside him for the first and only time as a true Spartan. Kratos, in a moment of terrible calm, walks steadily up the edge of the Suicide Bluffs and begins to step forward off the cliff, then pauses and moves back, asking himself in clear horror, ''"By the gods, what have I become?"''
17** The whole situation with Deimos was just downright heartbreaking in itself, to the point where simply killing him as a child would've been a better mercy instead of what the Gods planned for him. Even worse, because the prophecy involving Olympus' downfall applied to Kratos instead of him, it means all those years of suffering and torture he endured for a crime he was supposedly destined to commit was completely pointless.
18* Hephaestus's death. Believing that Kratos would kill Pandora, Hephaestus attempted to crush Kratos but failed and gets impaled on his own anvil. With his dying words, he plead Kratos to spare Pandoras's life and ask her for forgiveness. Even after killing him, Kratos remains sympathetic to him and possess no ill will or grudge against him, as Kratos acknowledges that Hephaestus only did what he was supposed to do as a father.
19** On that note, Pandora's death. Especially cruel since it's one of the few times Kratos is trying to ''stop'' something horrible from happening.
20*** Not to mention that the box was empty and Pandora died for nothing.
21-->'''Zeus:''' Ha ha ha ha! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PjTxCcSsec#t=1m48s Empty?]] (mockingly [[MirthlessLaughter laughs]] at Kratos' misfortune) After all you have sought, after all you have sacrificed, it ends in another '''stunning failure!''' Ah ha ha ha ha ha!
22* On somewhat the same level as Hephaestus' death; Athena. At that point she was practically the only god feeling something akin to sympathy for Kratos and then he runs her through with the sword meant for Zeus'. Hers was probably the only death he regretted, as he, after a LittleNo, in near tears asks her why she'd sacrifice herself for someone like [[TheCaligula Zeus]]. Made worse by the fact that Zeus, her father, [[UngratefulBastard ''leaves'' her there]]. If you think about it, it makes it even worse for Kratos, because he just saw a father abandoning his daughter.
23* For all his ChewingTheScenery, Kratos' moments of emotion work. The sheer determination in his voice when he cries "I ''will save my family''!" fills the player with a sense of desperation; it's particularly heart-wrenching when you know he's doomed to fail.
24* Kratos hugging his wife and daughter, just sort of enveloping them in his arms, like he's trying to form a barrier of love and protection around them all. This will also replenish their energy until you release the circle button.
25** It doesn't ''just'' replenish their health - it transfers Kratos' health to them.
26* Kratos' reaction if he fails to protect his family from Ares' clones, before they jump on him and tear him to bits
27--> '''Kratos''': I couldn't stop them, they were too strong...
28* Kratos' mother was cursed to turn into a horrible monster if she revealed to him where Deimos was being held captive. She does it anyways, even knowing her own son will have to kill her. Kratos does the deed and mournfully carries her body out of the temple.
29* Kratos being forced to MercyKill Orkos. Orkos is one of the few truly noble characters in the franchise, and even Kratos has come to respect Orkos as a friend. However, the Furies have ensured that Kratos will only be free if he kills Orkos. Kratos genuinely doesn't want to do it, and it's only when Orkos begs him that Kratos ascents to do it. Then the memories that will haunt him the rest of the series resurface. It's at this point that it all goes downhill.
30* The "From Ashes" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDhfTGkLTg trailer]] for ''Ascension''. It's Kratos' pained and rage-filled expression that clinches it.
31* Kratos comforting The Oracle as she dies. He takes her hand, and for somebody who's usually as sociopathic and callous as Kratos, it's particularly jarring.
32* [[VillainProtagonist Kratos]] ''himself''. Yes. Think about it. He's a violent, sociopathic, horrifically selfish, and constantly angry individual whom absolutely ''no one'' should even want to be...but underneath it all, to call him broken would be the hugest understatement you could make about him. He's lost pretty much everything, and it's mostly because of his own ruthless ambition. And he knows it. But he doesn't want to accept it, instead opting to put the blame on ''everyone'' else. And it's this self-loathing that pushes him to rage and froth like a monster, which gives him ''even more'' pain and suffering along the way. He's very much like a spoiled child, and in no way is that correlation something to be PlayedForLaughs; all in all, Kratos is just a sad man whose rage is just a defense mechanism to shield him from the pain of ''everything'' the Gods - and he - have dealt upon him.
33** Kratos' recklessness and rage, from his deal with Ares onward, reads very clearly as someone who is quickly running out of reasons to live. This isn't even subtext, it's clear from the number of times Kratos attempts (or nearly attempts) suicide. The fact that he's survived this long is an amazing feat of determination, with his rage and his need to take revenge keeping him going, but also a tragic reminder of how Kratos' fate is never in his own hands.
34* In God of War 3, Kratos can read notes left by Poseidon which are apologies to his princess for taking his anger out on her and in another note he regards Zeus as "no longer the brother I knew".
35* In ''God of War (2018)'', all Atreus needs is lots and lots and lots of hugs... And only does after melting that thick wall of ice around Kratos' heart.
36** Baldur's final moments near the end of the game. After a lifetime of being unable to feel anything (and going mad as a result), his last moments are spent with a wondrous smile on his face as he finally feels the snow...
37* Speaking of Baldur, the backstory-revealing scene of him when spotting him suffering an illusion in Helheim, showing that he is [[AlasPoorVillain utterly depressed and suffering immensely]], thanks to his invincibility spell taking away his ability to taste, enjoy warmth, feel pleasure, drown his sorrows, anything! And it's revealed that not only was Freya the one responsible for all this, but she is his mother! Imagine having such a horrible fate inflicted by your own mother! Not to mention, in both the flashback illusion and the present day, Baldur bursts into tears, over the way his mother ruined his life.
38*** ''"What you did to me...(sobs)...WHAT YOU DID TO ME!!! (Cries his eyes out)" ''
39* It's easy to miss, but when Kratos is explaining his past to Atreus after killing Baldur, his voice cracks slightly when he says the word "god", as if the mere ''thought'' of Ares is almost enough to make him cry. Even after 100 years, no one haunts Kratos quite like Ares does.
40* [[spoiler:"I love you, Brok."]]
41* For all the times that Thrud defended her grandfather's actions, one doesn't have to imagine the sheer heartbreak and horror she feels upon seeing [[spoiler:Odin fatally impaling her father Thor with his spear after the God of Thunder resisted him. Their last interaction is Thor reaching out a hand weakly towards her before dissolving into godly ash, followed shortly by Odin [[BlatantLies trying to convince her it was the enemy's fault]]. Thrud tries to rush the dropped Mjolnir and strike back, only to get her father's weapon and her [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter misplaced belief]] thrown back at her.]]

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