God of War Series – Other Characters / Characters

Besides the Gods and Jötnar, Norse mythology is also home to plenty of other sapient beings (elves, dwarves, valkyries and many others). This page mostly deals with characters from these races, but it is also used for regular mortal humans.

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The Stranger

See his page here.

The Witch of the Woods

A solitary but friendly witch that lives in the wilds that meets Kratos and Atreus when they wander into her territory hunting a magic boar that happened to be her friend. She provides support and healing to Kratos and his son throughout the game. See this page for information about her and her true identity. (Warning: Spoilers for God of War (PS4))

Faye

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_07_19_at_32619_pm.png

Faye in the digital comic prequel.

^{Click to see her true appearance (spoilers)}

Voiced by: Deborah Ann Woll (English)

"We are not our failures. We must be better."

Kratos's second wife and Atreus's mother, whose final request before her untimely death was for her husband and son to scatter her ashes from the highest peak in all the Nine Realms.

Action Mom: She was apparently one, given she is the one who taught Atreus how to hunt, and did most of the work herself. The Leviathan Axe was also hers, meaning she probably knew how to use it. Sindri even mentions that she was a very great warrior, and Kratos at one point remarks that watching her use the Leviathan Axe was a sight to behold. She was in fact one of the most powerful beings in The 'Verse, as she was capable of fighting evenly against the likes of Kratos and Thor.
Kratos: She fought. Beautifully.
Affectionate Nickname: Ragnarök reveals that she liked to refer to Kratos as "Grumbles" because of his tendency to respond with grunting and stoic anger.
All-Loving Hero: If Atreus is to be believed, Faye would have been happy to help everyone who'd cross her path. Brok and Sindri also mention that she helped the weak, whoever they were, and that is why they made the Leviathan Axe for her free of charge. In any case, who else would accept Kratos after everything he's done? Possibly subverted come the ending, which reveals that the name she chose for Atreus was Loki. Double-subverted in Ragnarök, where it's revealed that she decided against following through on the prophecy, destroying Loki's shrine so that her son would be free to choose his own destiny.
Ambiguously Evil: With The Reveal that Atreus' true name is "Loki," the ability of giants to foretell the future, Faye's own expressed disdain for the gods and her affinity towards such dangerous creatures as the World Serpent, it’s entirely possible that she gave birth to Atreus specifically to kickstart Ragnarök, and bring forth the end of the gods. Though to be fair, the "evil" part of the trope is very questionable considering the gods certainly have it coming... the question is whether the rest of the world deserves it too. Sindri gives the idea that Faye was originally planning to avenge the Jötnar but after meeting Kratos, she had a change of plan and decided to follow the path of Bergelmir the Beloved.
- Subverted in the end, Faye ultimately just wanted both Kratos and Atreus to forge their own path, and had absolute faith that they would be able to rise above their failings to seek a brighter future.
An Ice Person: She was the original owner of the Leviathan Axe, a weapon that had cryokinetic properties.
Batman Gambit:
- When Faye's people foretold that Loki will bring about Ragnarök, Faye asked Kratos and Atreus to scatter her ashes. She was well aware that Kratos would never have Atreus go down his path, so she intentionally kept him in the dark. She also failed to tell Kratos that the Aesir Gods would be after Atreus. When Faye tells Kratos to chop down the protective trees, it allows the gods to find them, and it forces Kratos's hand in having them leave, regardless if he believes Atreus is ready or not.
- Ultimately it is subverted. Ragnarök reveals she destroyed Loki's shrine so Atreus would be free to chose his own destiny, rather than following the giant's visions and plans for him.
The Berserker: It may be surprising to learn, given her being near universally regarded as an All-Loving Hero, but Faye once possessed an incredibly destructive hatred and fury. Her battle with Thor was wild and uncontrolled, tearing an entire inhabited valley apart, and the restless spirits that were caught in the collateral damage remark upon how terrifying the rage between the two combatants was.
Beware the Nice Ones: Faye was so kind, patient and altruistic that almost everyone who encountered her, even Kratos, remembered her with nothing but affection, admiration and respect. However, she was also a warrior skilled enough to stalemate Kratos when they first met. And as the eyewitnesses to her battle with Thor can attest, was capable of flying into an Unstoppable Rage just as intense as those of her husband, if not more so.
Birds of a Feather: Faye is said to have been unfailingly kind, a powerful warrior, and a loving mother. A shocking contrast to Kratos, surely, but then you find out that she hated divine beings as well, and suddenly it makes more sense that the two would be drawn together. And then comes The Reveal that she possibly intends to trigger The End of the World as We Know It through her son, Loki/Atreus, and suddenly the similarities to Kratos are all too tragic.
- Ultimately subverted on intending to trigger The End of the World as We Know It, Faye simply wanted her husband and son to seek their own bright future, and trusted that they would be able to overcome themselves to do so. It is revealed however that Faye was once an extraordinarily powerful warrior who possessed a terrifying inner rage, making her very similar to Kratos in a different way, though she had since moved past that by the time she met him.
Body Motifs: Hands- or, more specifically, handprints. Faye marked the trees she wished used for her funeral pyre by pressing her gold-painted palm against them, and the significance of this is made clear when it's revealed she wished to have her ashes scattered from the peak of the Giant's Fingers, a hand-shaped mountain in Jötunheim. At the Giant's Fingers, Kratos and Atreus discover Faye's handprint at the final ridge they need to climb, revealing that Faye was responsible for carving in the golden marks directing father and son throughout their journey, having directed them on where to go from the very beginning.
Broken Ace: She is seemingly a kind, smart, and strong woman whose influence over others causes everyone to look up to her, including Kratos, Atreus, and the dwarves. However, she also lost every one of her kind due to the Aesir and bore a strong hatred for them, so she desires revenge against them by bearing a child so as to kickstart Ragnarök, which implies that she only used Kratos for the sake of vengeance. However, Ragnarök reveals that her love for Kratos and Atreus was legitimate, and she ultimately decided against fulfilling the prophecy in favor of nudging her two loved ones towards a path where they could overcome their respective demons and become better people.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Faye is the "Gentle" to Kratos' "Brooding." Based off her actions posthumously and in Kratos' dreams in Ragnarök, Faye is compassionate, patient, and understanding compared to Kratos being guarded, stoic, and cautious. This is more downplayed in Ragnarök when her battle with Thor comes to light, showcasing she was more similar to Kratos before they met.
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie: Faye has asked her family to scatter her ashes atop the highest mountain among the nine realms, which constitutes Kratos's main quest in the game. For a time, Kratos and Atreus think she meant the peak they can see in Midgard, but in reality, she meant the peak of Jötunheim, the realm of frost giants, her former home.
Canon Character All Along: She is revealed to be the giantess Laufey, mother of Loki (i.e. Atreus).
Chekhov's Gun: All the yellow markings indicating where Kratos and Atreus are meant to go? They were all hand-painted and carved by Faye herself, as she foresaw literally every single step her family would take throughout their quest.
The Chessmaster: The ability to see the future certainly helps. She intended for her husband and her son to realize their destined roles in Ragnarök, and laid out their path directly to ensure they'd be able to reach Jötunheim.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: Was said to be a kind, yet fierce warrior who sought to use her skills to help as many people she could. Even Kratos, a man driven largely by self-interests, found himself enraptured by the purity of her desire to help others, and even views Atreus developing these traits as well with pride (though he does express annoyance at the boy's willingness to help everybody he comes across). It is revealed later on that she was addressed by those who knew her true nature as Laufey the Just.
Color Motif: Yellow. Her protection stave and the Guardian Shield she gives to Kratos are gold-colored and she uses yellow paint to mark things important to her, such as the trees she marked for her pyre, the designs on the cliffs, and the image of Kratos where she painted over the final image of his shrine. She's also seen wearing a gold dress in the Jotnar mural depicting her as the Guardian. Atreus's outfit in Ragnarok reflects this with his yellow shirt representing his mother.
Deadpan Snarker: Have her moments, as highlighted in one flashback conversation between Kratos and Faye regarding differences in funeral arrangements in Midgard and Greece.
Kratos: In my land, we entomb our loved ones.
Faye: You would have me trapped in the ground for eternity?
Kratos: I would have you close to me.
Faye: How touching. My rotting corpse will bring you such comfort.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: Atreus thought the world of his mother, who was kind to him, unlike the more sullen and withdrawn Kratos. Too bad she's dead.
Distaff Counterpart: To her own husband, believe it or not. They both hate the gods and have a personal vendetta against them which involved the death of their families. They are also Berserker-styled Dance Battlers. And then they met each other, and nearly took each others' heads off. Their major difference is that Faye decided against going down the path of bloodshed and revenge against the Aesir while Kratos slew the Greek Pantheon, and lived to regret it.
Dramatically Missing the Point: Possibly. She is said to have decided against getting bloody vengeance against the Aesir for their slaughter of the giants and instead follow the path of Bergelmir the Beloved. Except, while Bergelmir made settling down and having children his 'revenge', a distinct possibility is that Faye settled down and had a son so he could get revenge for her. But this turns out to be averted come Ragnarök. She actually didn't want Atreus to bring about Ragnarök, instead destroying his shrine to encourage him to find his own path.
Fiery Redhead: Downplayed. Her time with Kratos and Atreus shows Faye being patient, demure, and utterly kind along bieng a very capable warrior. However, she was the epitome of this during her past, especially during her literally cataclysmic fight with Thor, rivalling a temper with Kratos.
Foreshadowing: Atreus brings up the fact that Faye, like Kratos, demonstrated more than a little disdain towards the Aesir and even spoke highly of Jörmungandr — despite Jörmungandr being a Beast of the Apocalypse fated to kill Thor during Ragnarök. This makes a whole ton of sense when it's revealed she was a giant.
- There's also Atreus's remark of giants as Kratos crawls through one of their mines; namely that they're not all actually gigantic, lending credence to the idea that Kratos could mistake Faye for a regular human.
- The fact that her axe handed to Kratos was an Ice Elemental weapon, should have been a hint at her true nature of an Ice Giantess. Likewise, the seemingly innocuously-named Guardian Shield she gave Kratos as an anniversary gift celebrating the day they met is named as such because she was given the title of "the guardian" by her fellow giants, meant to stay in Midgard and help usher in an age where "gods grow good."
- Early on, it's shown that the woods she and her family lived in were guarded by a protection stave and she tricked Kratos into cutting down trees that maintained it. The implications of both the deception and its immediate aftermath, a visit from the Stranger, clearly unsettles Kratos. The final part of the game reveals at the time the mural of their travels was painted Faye intended, or at least was fine with, Kratos and Atreus coming into serious conflict with the Aesir that will involve Kratos's death. Ragnarok subverts this by revealing Faye grew disillusioned with the plan and worked to undermine it.
- The mural depicting Faye in Jotunheim shows her in some sort of conflict with the other giants- odd considering none of the previous scraps of information mention 'the Guardian' opposing her fellows, and the implication that Faye was following the giants' plans all along. The next mural has also been vandalized. Ragnarok reveals that the argument Faye had with the other Jotnar was about this prophecy- she didn't want it to come to pass and so sabotaged it, while the other giants were fine with Kratos dying in Ragnarok.
Foil: To her husband, Kratos; they both have bloody, vengeful pasts filled with violence and conflict with the gods, and both of them seek to move on from that by the time they meet and fall in love, but Kratos stews in regret for his actions, becoming withdrawn and laconic, while Faye chooses not to let her past define her, instead remaining warm and loving to others. On that note, Kratos was once a self-focused destroyer, laying waste to all in his path in selfish pursuit of vengeance, while Faye, by all accounts, was always an altruistic protector of others. Kratos starts the Norse era as a cynic who sees himself as a monster, but Faye sees better elements to him, a faith that proves well-founded by the end of Kratos' journeys. Driving this comparison home, visiting the Crater in Vanaheim reveals that, like Kratos, Faye had clashed with Thor, leaving a frozen lightning bolt as a reminder of their duel (fought with the very same weapon, the Leviathan Axe).
From a Certain Point of View: Kratos tells Atreus what he knows of Faye's past during their excursion to Alfheim, revealing that Faye's family had been brutally murdered, and though Faye once sought to exact retribution, ultimately her vengeance was "to live on." These words take on an entirely new meaning by the time Kratos and Atreus reach Jötunheim, revealing that Faye was referring to the other Jötnar as her "family," that those she'd sought vengeance upon were the Aesir, and that in living on she gave birth to the instigator of the apocalypse. Ragnarök ultimately reveals it to be closer to the initial meaning; Faye's vengeance was to make sure that her husband and son received better fates than the rest of her race.
The Ghost: Never seen, despite her crucial role in the plot; even in the digital comic prequel released for the game, her face is always obscured. The closest she gets to a physical appearance is a body wrapped in an anonymous burial shroud and a single engraving on the walls of Jötunheim, the latter of which is too simplified to make out any real detail and is most easily identified as her because she has the Leviathan Axe. Ragnarök changes that as Kratos has multiple flashbacks of his time with her.
Greater-Scope Paragon: Was a positive influence upon the lives of Kratos, Atreus, the Huldra brothers and ultimately even multitudes of people suffering under the Aesir's thumb. It's telling how devoted her husband and son are to her when they're told that the destination she'd intended for them to spread her ashes from is in Jötunheim — their disdain at the revelation comes not from how utterly ridiculous her request was, but rather because they are once again delayed in their mission. This is further proven when it's revealed in Ragnarok that she didn't want Kratos to die or Atreus to serve Odin and instead wanted them to find their own path and be better people.
Happily Married: Kratos deeply loved Faye, and though he maintains a stoic and grim demeanor throughout the journey to spread her ashes, her absence causes him great turmoil. It's apparent that Faye cared for Kratos as well, as the default shield Kratos uses throughout the journey was given by Faye as a gift celebrating the anniversary of the day they met. How much Faye truly cared for Kratos, however, is put in question thanks to The Reveal. In Ragnarök, it's confirmed to be earnest as Faye only set Kratos and Atreus on the path intended for them by the other Jötunn to protect them and facilitate their Character Development, and even kept their original ending planned for them a complete secret to help them realize they really can Screw Destiny and as well as ensure Kratos finally accomplishes his redemption he spent centuries trying to accomplish and grow to become the Hope Bringer and Ideal Hero she knows he can be.
Hero of Another Story: Though dead by the beginning of the fourth game, it becomes clear in Ragnarok that, before and to an extent during her marriage to Kratos, Faye lived a very interesting and occasionally violent life, but we never see any of it; only the aftereffects.
Ink Suit Actress: When she's finally seen in Ragnarök, she resembles her voice actress Deborah Ann Woll.
Kinky Spanking: Implied by Word of God when asked if Kratos is a "spanker."invoked
Cory Barlog: Of his children? No.
Last of His Kind: Faye was thought to be the last of the Frost Giants.
Last Request: Her last wish was for Kratos and Atreus to cremate her, then carry her ashes to the highest peak in all of the Realms to spread them there. It's heavily implied that Faye did this to take Kratos and Atreus past things that would reveal hidden secrets to them about Atreus, the Aesir, and the Norse gods in general.
Life Will Kill You: Faye is revealed to have been among the most powerful warriors within the universe of God of War, capable of fighting the likes of Kratos and Thor to a standstill. There's no indication she died of anything but natural causes, simple misfortune doing what a genocidal war with the Aesir couldn't.
Living Emotional Crutch: To both Kratos and Atreus. Atreus loved his mother dearly, and in a vision in Alfheim, he even briefly states that Kratos should've died instead of her (though he recants immediately after), and pleads for her to come back if Kratos fails to improve as a father figure. Likewise, after Kratos defeats The Stranger for the first time, he helplessly limps back home while pleading for guidance from Faye, proclaiming that neither he nor Atreus are ready yet to carry her ashes to the top of the mountain.
The Lost Lenore: Her death, though offscreen, affects Kratos and Atreus so profoundly that it changes their relationship from the ground up. Kratos has to become more emotionally available (since prior to this he had been incredibly aloof), and Atreus has to take his father's brutal yet pragmatic example to heart (since Faye had taught him nothing but kindness before).
Love at First Punch: It's revealed in Ragnarök that she first encountered Kratos in a Duel to the Death. Faye managed to fight Kratos to a complete standstill. When Kratos finally simmered down as much as he could, she opened up a dialogue with him. The rest is history.
The Magnificent: She was widely regaled as Laufey the Just, named precisely because of her heroic and kind personality, as well as her willingness to mess around with the Aesir and foil a ton of their more devious schemes.
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Faye serves the narrative as Kratos's second love, and one whose kind, loving and has a somewhat playful nature is used to pull him back from the brink of mindless rage and despair. Nearly all of her actions revealed in Ragnarök are likewise devoted to helping her husband overcome his dark past and grant him new meaning in the form of a brighter future. This is justified by the fact that Faye herself was a warrior with a Dark and Troubled Past of loss, grief, bloodshed and violence, and had successfully let go of that darkness to emerge from the other side a better person. Having personally experienced a similar life, she more than perhaps anyone could understand Kratos' struggle and more importantly could see the potential he had deep down to be a better person.
Meaningful Name: Her name, Laufey, means "full of leaves." Considering that she lived with Kratos and Atreus in a forest, it's quite fitting.
Muscles Are Meaningless: While she's tall, she's of relatively average build. She's still able to lift logs with ease and was capable of being a match for Kratos and Thor.
Nay-Theist: Atreus remarks that she felt more than a little disdain towards the gods in life, much like Kratos. It is implied through The Reveal that Faye possibly intends to trigger Ragnarök through Atreus, taking this to a completely new level. Subverted in the sequel, since she destroyed Atreus/Loki's shrine depicting his prophecy so that he and Kratos could carve the paths they wanted for themselves.
Nice Girl: An incredibly kindhearted woman who helped the less fortunate and most likely had a positive effect on Kratos himself.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She kept many secrets, most notably her husband's and son's prophecies, in the hope that they would be free to forge their own future without falling into Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. In Ragnarök, however, these secrets create a rift between Kratos and Atreus, with Atreus deciding that since both his parents hid things from him it's acceptable to keep secrets from Kratos, and Kratos feeling betrayed by it and becoming suspicious and distrustful of his son for keeping things from him.
No Badass to His Valet: Well, his wife. Kratos' gruff and violent manner did not phase Faye in the slightest, with her nicknaming him Grumbles and teasing him about his tendency to grunt rather than speak. Since she was his equal on the battlefield she had no reason to fear him or defer to him, which Kratos loved her for.
Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: Faye herself recants how she and Kratos first met in Ragnarök, and they did not meet on good terms at all as they basically got locked into a Duel to the Death seemingly given their respective comments to one another. And somehow, despite being at the point where Kratos was, relatively-speaking, still fresh off killing the entire Greek Pantheon and still in his "Ghost of Sparta" tendencies, Faye managed to fight Kratos to a complete standstill before they finally calmed down and began to talk. The rest is history. Ragnarök also revealed through conversations with various ghosts that Faye similarly battled Thor, who wiped out the rest of the Giants from Midgard, and not only survived but gave him the fight of his life. Fighting him to at least a draw, and possibly even had the upper hand.
Person of Mass Destruction: Her battle with Thor literally tore the Valley they fought in apart.
Plot-Triggering Death: Her death kickstarts the plot of God of War (PS4) as her husband and son embark on a journey to scatter her ashes.
Posthumous Character: By the time the 2018 game begins, Faye is dead. The story opens with Kratos and Atreus gathering supplies for her funeral pyre, and the reason they leave their home in the first place is to honor her last request to spread her ashes from the highest peak in all of the Nine Realms. Considering that Kratos and Atreus have to spread news to other characters about her passing, it's shown that Faye's death was relatively recent in-universe. Her appearances in Ragnarök show what she looks like, but only when Kratos is Dreaming of Times Gone By; Faye is dead throughout the entirety of the Norse saga.
Power Glows: Her ashes glow a bright orange when Kratos and Atreus finally spread them at the peak of the Giant's Fingers.
The Power of Love: It is implied that Kratos's transformation from a monstrous and wrathful Villain Protagonist War God to a much more mellow and stoic hunter-gatherer is large because of how Faye's love and acceptance of him forced him to change. Years of reflection and regret notwithstanding, Kratos became a better man partly because Faye's presence gave him an avenue to mature and find a new life in Midgard.
Retired Badass: Just like Kratos, she was a powerful warrior that decided to settle down in a remote cottage in the woods.
The Reveal: The ending reveals so much about Faye it hurts. The mural in Jötunheim reveals that she was actually a jötunn and that her people were able to foretell not only her meeting Kratos but also Kratos and Atreus' journey to Jötunheim, as well as the death of Kratos himself in Atreus' arms. This makes Kratos realise Baldur wasn't looking for him, but for Faye, but he didn't know she was already dead. Next, Atreus discovers through the mural that the name Faye wanted to give him was Loki. This reveals that Faye is in truth the giantess Laufey, and given the role of Loki in Ragnarök, the implication then and there comes out that she's most likely planning to trigger Ragnarök through Atreus — by way of the death of Kratos. This exchange after Kratos and Atreus see the murals that foretold their roles in triggering Ragnarök pretty much sums everything up.
Atreus: What does it mean?
Kratos: It means I wasn't the only parent with secrets.
- The reveals of Ragnarök puts all this in significantly less menacing light. While Faye did secretly set events in motion that would bring Kratos and Atreus into conflict with the Aesir, she did so with the intention of pushing them to grow past their flaws and rise above their supposed destinies. The reason the mural in Jotunheim showed her arguing with the other Jotnar is because she didn't want Atreus or Kratos to die, even painting over a mural showing their fates with her own visions of them earning their happy endings.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Subverted. Faye's entire family had been murdered, and though she once sought to exact revenge upon their killers, she decided to settle and find a new life with Kratos at her side. However, with the reveal that she knowingly bore a child destined to become the Norse Satanic Archetype Loki, as well as the fact that she kept this detail secret from Kratos and their son all the way up 'til the very end of their journey, implies that she planned all along to get her vengeance through her son.
- In Ragnarök it's triple subverted, as Faye actually set Kratos and Atreus's journey in motion in the hopes that they would defy their fate and find their own path.
Screw Destiny: She wanted Kratos to live and Atreus to defy his fate, going as far as preparing both Kratos and Atreus' journey, hoping that both will come out of it as better people. Come the end of Ragnarök, Kratos lives and Atreus does not end up serving Odin, and it's shown she even extended this desire to the point of complete opposition of her own people, sabotaging and defacing their murals involving the two so they wouldn't influence them, and in two cases painting over them to show her own visions.
Second Love: For Kratos, who managed to find love again after Lysandra's death.
Spanner in the Works: Like her husband, Faye often got in the Aesir's way multiple times and frequently botched up their plans, to the point where Thor is said to have been raring for a chance to face her in battle.
- One of the major reveals in Ragnarök is that she was this to her own people in regards to Kratos and Atreus. It's revealed that she willingly defied the fate her people had planned for her future husband and child, Kratos dying in battle with Thor and Loki joining Asgard and starting Ragnarök leading to his own death, effectively sacrificing them in a long game against the Aesir. Faye destroyed Kratos' and Atreus' mural in Jötunheim, so they wouldn't be influenced by it, and at the very end it's shown she even literally overwrote their "future" murals with her own visions, of Atreus exploring the world and Kratos becoming a god celebrated and beloved by all, metaphorically (and maybe literally) rewriting fate to save them and become better people.
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Faye is revealed to be Laufey, Loki's mother, who will bring forth Ragnarök, and intended to name her son Loki as well, relenting due to Kratos's desire to honor his soldiers, and also put them in their journey to scatter her ashes in Jotunheim which put Kratos and Atreus facing off against several of the Norse pantheon, putting her real motivations into question. Ragnarök reveals while Faye used to be vengeful towards Odin and the Aesir, she never wanted Kratos and Atreus to destroy the Norse pantheon, believing Kratos to be a far better man that even he gave himself credit for, and Atreus to not end up serving Odin. She's also the one who vandalized the giant murals depicting Ragnarok because she didn't want them to come to pass, and she painted over Kratos's shrine, which showed Thor killing him, with him earning his happy ending, because that was what she, as the only one who truly believed in him, could see.
Small Role, Big Impact: Never gets a spoken line in throughout the entire game until Ragnarök, nor even a flashback concerning her but is the single driving force behind Kratos and Atreus' journey. And with The Reveal, this trope is played twofold, in that she deliberately bore a child destined to bring about the apocalypse.
Statuesque Stunner: Kratos' dreams in Ragnarök shows that Faye was roughly equal in height with him.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: Ragnarok's flashbacks show that her relationship with Kratos involved a lot of friendly teasing from her over Kratos's gruff and laconic nature.
Strong Family Resemblance: She's where Atreus got his red hair and his soft features.
Thanatos Gambit: She practically engineered the whole quest to lead Atreus to Jotunheim so that he could learn his real heritage.
Together in Death: At the end of the PlayStation 4 game, Atreus and Kratos spread her ashes over Jotunheim, finally reuniting her with her kin who'd died in Odin's purges and fulfilling the prophecy of the Guardian returning.
Unreliable Narrator: She was understandably and heavily biased against the Aesir, given how they genocided her entire species and had many glowing things to say about other enemies of the gods.
Unseen No More: A variant; it makes sense that she'd never be seen in the 2018 game given that she died before the prologue. Come Ragnarök though and she starts appearing in several flashbacks and dream sequences, the result of Kratos reminiscing.
Unstoppable Rage: In the past as Laufey, she had at Thor with the freshly minted Leviathan Axe, a weapon forged by the Sindri and Brok specifically to be a hard counter against Mjölnir. At the time, Thor was drunk on mead, and when Laufey had at him, she was drunk on rage. The battle tore the valley apart and left a frozen lightning bolt after the two dwarvencraft weapons clashed against each other. She managed to force Thor to flee.
Walking Spoiler: Learning more about Faye leads to some very big twists in the story of the Norse Saga, so many that it's difficult to talk about her at length.
Was It All a Lie?: It's left up in the air by the time Kratos and Atreus reach Jötunheim if Faye had ever even truly cared about Kratos to begin with, or merely saw him as the man best suited to become the father of Loki. Word of God states that the affection between her and Kratos was mutual, and Ragnarök confirms this, showing that Faye really did love Kratos earnestly and did everything she could to help him become the man she knows he can be.invoked
What Does She See in Him?: Never outright stated in-game, but when comparing the self-serving and often-brutal Kratos to the saintly figure everyone describes Faye as, one can't help but wonder just how they could've ever hit it off beyond their shared opinions concerning gods. It's later revealed that Faye and Kratos are far more similar than initial appearances suggest, both of them being incredibly powerful warriors with histories of bloodshed and violence and a dark inner rage within them, the main difference being that Faye had managed to move past this to become a widely beloved All-Loving Hero. The implication is that Faye was initially drawn to Kratos because she could understand him, and furthermore could see the better man he had the potential to be deep down.
Worthy Opponent: Part of the reason how Faye and Kratos fell in love with each other was because they both fought each other to a stand still multiple times. She is not afraid of him and can even have fun with him.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Flashbacks in Ragnarök show that Faye thought much more highly of Kratos than Kratos thought of himself, playfully trying to get some humor out of her husband and, more seriously, telling him that they didn't have to be defined by their pasts and that they could "be better". Her mural, shown at the end of the game, makes it clear just how highly Faye thought of her husband; she foresaw him becoming a great hero who could heal the wounds Odin left on the realms and become widely beloved. Seeing her mural about this and realizing the faith Faye had in him leaves Kratos on the brink of tears.
Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Just looking at Atreus's thoughts from early in the game it's clear his mother had many good things to say about the traditional enemies of the Aesir gods, depicting them to her son as persecuted or misunderstood while painting the gods as entitled or unjust persecutors of those who MIGHT threaten them. The revelation that she was really a Jotun, typically the most prominent of the Aesir's enemies, explains everything.

Gullveig

When speaking with a ghost on the Lake of Nine's coast, Kratos and Atreus get a chance to be reunited with Faye if they find and gather all the remains of the ghost's beloved sorceress who was executed because of her knowledge in Seidr magic.

Ascended Extra: Downplayed. Gullveig wasn't a major character in Norse legends and she isn't a major character in the game either, with her role as the cause of the Aesir-Vanir war is instead given to Freyr, but she is the focus of a side-quest and an optional boss.
Decomposite Character: Her role in the myths as instigator of the Aesir-Vanir War is instead given to Freyr.
Exact Words: The ghost said they will be reunited... he didn't mention if they will be alive. Kratos knew to foresee this, unlike the young, inexperienced, and naïve Atreus. It even gets lampshaded after they defeat her.
Atreus: Alright. Say it. "I told you so"
Kratos: I told you so.
Atreus: "You are naive, foolish boy."
Kratos: This is true as well. But do not take your disappointment out on me, boy. Take it as a lesson.
Mook Promotion: Is basically a more powerful version of the Revenant enemies with a boss health bar.
Mythology Gag: Possibly. In Norse legends Gullveig was said to be killed and resurrected three times. In the game her corpse is divided into three pieces.
Optional Boss: The mission "Anatomy of Hope" and therefore the fight with her is completely optional and not a part of the story's main objective, contrary to what the ghost tells you.
Summon Magic: Due to being versed in Seidr magic, she can call upon weaker mooks for help.
Ungrateful Bastard: Her first thing to do when she is revived? Kill the people that revived her... who have probably killed dozens of other Revenants before her.
Wicked Witch: The reason why she was hated (and eventually executed) by both the Norse people and Gods.

Wayward Spirits

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/god_of_war_wayward_spirit.jpg

Wayward Spirit: "I can't remember the last time I saw something walk these islands that wasn't dead or corrupted."

The lost souls of deceased humans that are found throughout Midgard and cannot pass to the afterlife. They are basically quest-givers that serve as optional side missions, therefore if Kratos and Atreus help these spirits, they will award the player with loot and useful items. There are also similarly lost souls walking in Helheim, however, they do not interact with the protagonists whatsoever.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The spirit who asks that the bones of his lover Gullveig be reunited looks and sounds innocent. However, he is actually trying to get unwary explorers into a scary death trap.
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Depending on their personality and means of death, the ghosts are differently colored — the angry one who was killed by Thor despite the former worshipping the latter is fiery yellow-orange, the neutral or friendly ones are pale green, while the sad one that feels remorse for his sailors turning into Hel-Walkers is deep blue. Interestingly, the one who attempts tricking the leads into getting killed by Gullveig is dark-skinned with glowing eyes and intestines while having golden arms and legs. The neutral and friendly ones are gray-blue in Ragnarök.
Friendly Ghost: Aside from Gullveig's treacherous husband and, at first, the reaver in Fafnir's deposit, the spirits are usually friendly and welcoming to the protagonists, being grateful for the opportunity of finishing their unresolved matters.
Ghost Amnesia: All of the spirits in the Crater of Vanaheim struggle to remember how they died, as their souls had been fragmented between their bodies and some of their material possessions during their death. Once Kratos and Atreus or Freya help them to become whole again, they remember more details and reveal the unusual circumstances and eventually the origins of the frozen lightining present in the crater identical to the one formed when Kratos and Thor had fought, reaching the conclusion that it had been made by a fight between Thor and Faye.
Mirror Character: Their backstories and objectives many times mirror the ones of the characters, such as Kratos remembering of how he killed his own father when he heard of the cycle of patricide from the spirit in Fafnir's deposit and how the father and son in Svartalfheim meeting their demise due to not being together during their challenges mirrors the struggles in Kratos and Atreus' relationship.
Monochrome Apparition: They appear in monochromatic colors, often a ghostly blue.
Our Ghosts Are Different: Most of the ghosts all have the same male human in-game model in the first game, though they are differently colored and have various personalities and backstories (e.g. one was a thief betrayed and murdered by his crew members, another died via drowning, etc). However, this could be justified by the fact that all humans that haven't died in combat are fated to end up in Helheim. Ragnarök shows female spirits as well.
Patricide: The spirit in Fafnir's deposit was a reaver who killed his own father to become leader of the clan, but in an act of irony, he was killed by his son in revenge for his grandfather. However, when he learns that his son deeply regretted it and died fighting, meaning he went to Valhalla, the spirit finds peace.
Quest Giver: The ones that populate Midgard, Svartalfheim and Vanaheim will give side missions to the player and when the objective has been completed, they will award our heroes with either ingredients used in crafting, experience points, hacksilver or even valuable trinkets. Averted with the silent ones in Helheim walking around.
Together in Death: A father-and-son duo heard of a hidden treasure in Svartalfheim, but the father forbid his son of going alonside him due to believing the journey would be too dangerous. The son tried to help anyway, but in a tragic irony, they both died due to not managing to conclude the journey alone. When Kratos reassures both of them of what happened to the other, the spirit of the father finds peace in the fact that both will be able to see each other again in the Afterlife after so much time.
Treacherous Quest Giver: The spirit who asks for the protagonists to assemble the bones of his lover Gullveig promises Atreus that her magic would let the boy see his recently-deceased mother again; what he didn't say was that Gullveig planned to do it so by killing whoever helped her to be whole again.
Unfinished Business: The reason they haven't been able to go to the Afterlife, and why they ask Kratos, Atreus, and Freya for help. Their reasons and motivations vary, from a captain wishing that his sailors were put out of their misery after they were reanimated as Hel-Walkers, to a drowning victim just wanting to see the sky again, to a female citizen who adored Freya to plant gardens in worship of her.

The Norns

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_nornir.jpg

From left to right: Urð, Verðandi, and Skuld

Voiced by: Emily O'Brien (English, Verðandi), Shelby Young (English, Skuld), Kate Miller (English, Urð)

"You come to us, piteous archetypes, seeking freedom from your scripts — as if knowing your lines would grant you the power to rewrite them."

— Urð

The Nine Realms' Goddesses of Fate: Urð, Verðandi, and Skuld.

Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed only by virtue of them not being nigh-omnipotent fate weavers as they are in the original Norse Mythology, which is revealed to be because there is no such thing as destiny, only the consequences of one's actions, thus they cannot control something that doesn't actually exist, but they are still no laughing matter as they hold incredible power still with their illusioncraft and seeming prescience. The fact that Odin attempted to kill himself by hanging above their lair as to harness whatever power lingering over their realm in order to discover the secret to knowledge left him so traumatized that he swore off approaching it through that means again shows how frighteningly powerful the Norns' specific influence is still.
All There in the Script: Their names are only mentioned in the subtitles and the Codex; writing about them, Kratos refers to them by name, but notes that he doesn't know how he knows them.
Break Them by Talking: Their modus operandi, they speak the truth about one's fate or rather, the logical endpoints of people's actions, and will brutally and mercilessly not mince any words in telling them what they need to know rather than what they wish to know, regardless of whether that makes them uncomfortable.
Brutal Honesty: They do not mince words, bluntly informing Kratos and Freya the reason they weren't able to avert fate previously was their mutual absolute refusal to consider the whole context of the prophecy - and with it, their own culpability in their own fates.
Cassandra Truth: They get into Kratos's head by telling him that he will always be a god-killer because of his rage and he will kill Heimdall because it's what he does. Kratos tries to avert this by attempting to spare Heimdall but is ultimately forced to kill him in both self-defense and to protect Atreus. They weren't only showing Kratos's fate, they were also telling Heimdall's fate without any context as his fragile ego couldn't handle the thought of being spared out of pity and it led to his own death.
Deadpan Snarker: They treat others about the way you'd expect a group of Meta Girls who find themselves surrounded by "piteous archetypes" to treat others: With an attitude that can at at best be regarded as a continuous eyeroll at all the silly and predictable (but still mildly amusing) clichés.
Excellent Judge of Character: Personified. In fact it's the reason why their "fates" are so accurate. The dirty little secret of the Norns is that fate doesn't really exist for them to control or predict, but they are able to determine where people's actions and personalities will lead them with a frightening amount of accuracy — predicting events and predicting the people that cause them is a distinction with little difference.
Urð: There is no grand design. No script. Only the choices you make. That your choices are so predictable merely makes us seem prescient.
The Gadfly: Urð and Verðandi are caustic and smug, but still offer counsel to visitors in their own way. Skuld, on the other hand, is content to flit about the sanctum and mimic visitors as they're talking, which quickly drives them mad with frustration... which she will then also mimic.
Good Counterpart:
- To the Greek Fates; while the Fates decided to crush Kratos' dreams of redemption while stringing him along for entertainment, the Norns are up front and honest about doubts Kratos and Freya will be able to escape their fate because as they reveal, dark fate is a Self-Inflicted Hell, where free will means that prophecy is simply a prediction of what will happen if you don't account for your own choices. This provokes a Jerkass Realization on both Kratos and Freya's part.
- To Heimdall, a god who can also read other people's minds and is just as much of a deadpan snarky Jerkass as the Norns, if not worse. The difference is that the "The Reason You Suck" Speeches they deliver is actually helpful for Kratos and Freya to rethink their ways, while Heimdall only dissects other people's flaws out of sheer spite. And while Heimdall's foresight powers ironically make him a worse judge of character, pledging Undying Loyalty to Odin, the Norns are such excellent judges of character that everyone believes they can truly see the future.
Good is Not Nice: While calling them good is a bit of a stretch since they are entirely neutral, they do mean well to those who approach them at least since they unveil people's insecurities for what they are to open their minds to the consequences of their actions but are entirely indifferent to whether or not the person in question takes their truth-saying to heart or placating the harshness of their words and will merciless troll those too conceited to care.
The Hecate Sisters: Skuld is the energetic, flighty Child, Verðandi the stately and self-possessed Matron, and Urð the wise Crone. This makes thematic sense, as their roles in prophecy have been interpreted by scholars as What Will Be, What Is, and What Has Been, respectively.
Horned Humanoid: They have goats' horns, one of several touches that set them apart from other humanoid characters in the game.
Jerkass Has a Point: While they are not in the least bit tactful about it, they are 100% right in telling Freya and Kratos that they are responsible for their personal tragedies.
- Kratos may talk of guilt and trying to better himself but he's barely done anything to sincerely change for the better, he's still largely sullen and withdrawn, he still reacts to any threat with great violence, he still slays Gods, he just feels bad about it now.
- Although Freya loved Baldur, she selfishly put her needs above his own. She held on so tightly to Baldur that it broke the relationship and led to a needless death that could have been avoided had she just had more faith in him to look after himself. And, at present, she's just looking to blame someone else for what happened to Baldur, even though that entire tragedy was entirely by her own design, and take revenge on whoever she picks as her scapegoat to make herself feel better.
Meta Girls: The three of them speak as though they aren't godlike beings who know all and more like a trio of Genre Savvy readers and writers reading the script aloud and Lampshade Hanging the plot as it unfolds. This is enforced by their use of a lot theatrical terms. Urd mentions that fate has no script. Verdandi refers to Ragnarök with "exeunt omnes"^note. Skuld keeps reading Kratos', Freya's and Mimir's lines out loud, as if she's already seen this movie before, and refers to them as "The Protagonists". Urd notes Kratos "focuses on the second act to the exclusion of the final. A common mistake in storycraft" and tells him that she "enjoyed his story".
Mythology Gag: In the original Norse stories, Urð represents the past, Verðandi represents the present, and Skuld represents the future. This is reflected in their behavior in Ragnarok; Urð talks about "character archtypes" and "stories" that have already been established, Verðandi narrates what is currently happening, and Skuld knows what the characters are going to say before they say it.
Metaphorically True: The Norns toy with Kratos by telling him that, upon learning that Heimdall's planning on murdering Atreus, Kratos will "do what you do best." Although The Norns told Kratos that he will kill Heimdall, they never mentioned the context of why Kratos would kill him: Heimdall would have to be put down in self-defense because he was too proud to accept mercy, was unrelentingly vicious in the fight, and would tell Kratos straight to his face that he'd kill Atreus as revenge for Kratos showing him mercy. Heimdall's death was the fate that his own choices were leading him towards because he lacked humility and made the choice to fight to the bitter end, and Kratos doing what he's most infamous for was just the consequence of Heimdall's pride and his own lack of foresight finally coming back to bite him.
Prescience by Analysis: Combined with mind-reading, this is their actual superpower. They understand their targets even better than the targets understand themselves, and from that perfect comprehension the Norns draw conclusions about others’ futures that are nearly always correct. After all; Freya selfishly wants to keep Baldur, Baldur is angry enough to want to kill her, and of course killing gods is Kratos' entire reason for existing. Putting two and two and two together, they have a pretty good idea of how Baldur meets his untimely end.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: They practically specialize in this, as possessing complete knowledge of every person's history makes them brutally effective at picking apart their flaws and personal failings. In particular when Kratos, Freya and Mimir seek an audience they are each presented with vision exposing their deepest fears and regrets:
- Freya is confronted by Baldur who once again tears into her for robbing him of sensation in her obsessive attempt to control his life, as well as herself as Frigg who clutches Baldur to her chest as she rants and raves about how she will let no one hurt her son... except herself. Pointing out the hypocrisy in how she tried to protect Baldur from all harm, only to ignore how that very protection harmed him.
  "Frigg": You will not touch him! You will not harm him! Nobody harms my boy... But ME.
- Mimir finds himself once again trapped within his tree and confronted by his lover Sigrun who berates him for having helped Odin in his mad quest for knowledge and control for so long, sacrificing innocent lives in his attempts to curry favor with the despot.
  "Sigrun": Why did you never turn on Odin?
  Mimir: But I did! I tried to stop him any way I could!
  "Sigrun": Don't LIE to me! You served Odin from the day you met to the day he put you in that tree! You sought his favor! You plotted his wars! You watched him mistreat everyone and everything! And you never gave a damn until he turned on you!
- Kratos is confronted by Atreus who flees from him, screaming his past sins at him in terrified horror, right into Odin's arms. Odin then taunts him for having driven his own son away with his lack of trust and understanding. Pointing out how both Kratos' unresolved tension over his Dark and Troubled Past and his inability to find common ground with his son is threatening to cost him everything.
  "Odin": Why didn't you trust your own son? Why wouldn't you see him the way he wants to be seen? That's all I had to do... and now he's mine.
  "Atreus": All-Father! Help me! He's a monster!
- The actual meeting with them also basically is made of this. They point out to Freya how she's responsible for her son's death. And point out to Kratos that for all the talk about how he must be better and his shame over his past, he hasn't actually moved on from what he did back in Greece and does what he's always done, only now he ''feels sad'' about it. When Kratos focuses on the threat Heimdall poses to Atreus, they point that once more Kratos is falling into bad habits. Mimir catches on to what they are saying and lightly tries to talk Kratos out of his decision to kill Heimdall. By the time Kratos reunites with Atreus he decides to not do as he planned - only for Heimdall to later force the issue.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: They reveal that all prophecies are self-fulfilling. Or perhaps rather that people write their own fates and prophecies are simply just spoilers regarding the logical conclusion that people's choices are leading them towards. For example, Freya's Fatal Flaw was her selfishness so, when she learned from the Norns that Baldur would die a pointless death, she naturally did all in her power to protect him, his own opinions be damned. These efforts naturally resulted in Baldur becoming resentful and obsessed with revenge, making it necessary to put him down. And, wouldn't you know it, "putting down gods" is precisely what Kratos always does. And because all three of these people were unwilling to reflect upon themselves and change to any meaningful extent, the prophecy wrote itself... So yeah, gee, who in their right mind could've ever guessed that Baldur would end up dying a pointless death?
Sour Supporter: They reveal more than what either Kratos or Freya wanted to know about themselves, despite being convinced they won't change themselves for the better, because the sisters would rather them know the consequences of their actions so they can decide for themselves whether or not to bother to take charge of their own stories.
Tough Love: They're absolutely brutal, no doubt about that, but there's also no doubt that Kratos and Freya (and Mimir to a lesser extent) really needed that verbal kick in the pants to break them out of their bad habits.
Trickster Mentor: They are aloof Meta Guys with little in the way of tact, but they are also dispensers of the most genuine advice Kratos has ever heard: that prophecy is accurate because people never consider their own choices and responsibility in bringing it about, with a side dish of brutally parodying exactly what they're doing wrong and the awful ends it leads to.
The Weird Sisters: A bit of a straighter example than the Greek Fates as they are not only collectively a Non-Action Guy, but they have no particular loyalty to anyone and are entirely neutral who tell the truths of other's actions who stand before them and where the consequences of those particular actions end up whether they like it or not.

The Berserkers of Hrólf Kraki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hrolf.png

The ghostly spirits of long dead Berserkers that used to serve King Hrólf Kraki, now haunting their graves thoughout the Nine Realms. Later in Ragnarök Kratos can find the Hilt of Skofnung, which allows him to summon the ghosts of these Berserkers from their graves to fight.

And Your Little Dog, Too!: Starólfr the Troublesome was infamous for assassinating the family members of her enemies instead of her enemies themselves, aiming to break them mentally.
Authority Equals Asskicking: King Hrólf Kraki is just as strong as Sigrun and will make even a maxed out and geared up Kratos earn his victory against this long dead king. He's the only berserker who resists Kratos' Finishing Move, knocking away the Leviathan Axe with Skofnung and trying to attack the unarmed Kratos with it one last time before he's overpowered, impaled with the blade himself and then decapitated on the backswing when Kratos summons the axe back to him.
Battle Couple: Bodvar and Starolfr are madly in love, flirting with one another as they fight Kratos.
Beard of Evil: Haklangr's beard was apparently so impressive he was named after it. However, since he's now a skeletal ghost, he doesn't have it anymore. Kratos makes fun of his Non-Indicative Name in his journal, asking what use was his beard if he couldn't take it with him in the afterlife.
The Berserker: Naturally, being dead hasn't calmed their rage down.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Harðrefill the Callous got his nickname from slowly dismembering his enemies alive in battle, and the Sisters of Illska were known for giving their enemies blood eagles, a form of Norse torture where the ribs were broken off and the lungs pulled out to hang from the body.
Contrasting Replacement Character: To the Valkyries, who had to be cursed into serving Odin in defiance of their original queen, Freya. The Berserkers, however, are fanatically loyal to Hrólf, praising his name even in death. The Valkyries were acrobatic, winged opponents who used their agility and flight to great effect, while the Berserkers are earthbound powerhouses who rely on overwhelming strength. The Valkyries weren't evil by choice, but the Berserkers knowingly and proudly serve a usurper and bear monikers that make them seem barely a step removed from Card Carrying Villains. In defeat, the Valkyries thanked Kratos for freeing them, while the Berserkers die roaring in defiance. Finally, the Valkyries serve a vital role in the Nine Realms, while the Berserkers are treated as little more than a plague to be removed.
Defiant to the End: After being defeated, Hrólf fights back against Kratos' Finishing Move, clearly unwilling to give up easily (for a given value of "easy").
Desecrating the Dead: Hjalti the Stolid was known in life to not stop attacking once an opponent had died, and would bludgeon the corpse into pulp with her maces.
Dual Boss: Bödvar the Fierce and Starolfr the Troublesome are fought as a pair, while Svipdagr the Cold and the Sisters of Illska are fought as a triple boss (though the Sisters only have a single health bar, preserving the impression of a Dual Boss).
Dumb Muscle: Bödvar the Fierce has "all the brains of a hammer". Kratos particularly disdains thugs like him, as a Genius Bruiser general.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Bodvar and Starolfr are madly in love with each other, and the Sisters of Illska fight side-by-side in battle. The sisters also think of Svipdagr as a sister and will lament her death if Kratos kills her before them.
Evil Sorcerer: Hvítserkr was a necromancer in life, and a reverse necromancer (an undead summoning living creatures) in death.
Historical Domain Character: King Hrólf was actually a legendary Danish king, and The Saga of Hrolf Kraki is a legendary Icelandic Saga that tells the story of this mythical Danish king who would have lived – if he lived - in the early 6th century. Hrólf Kraki has a similar legendary status as King Arthur of Britain, in that he may have or may not have existed in real life. However, this version is much more villainous and less legitimate.
Historical Villain Upgrade: In actual Norse legend, not only was Hrólf a scylding(a member of a legendary Danish royal family) and already the legitimate king of Lejre, but the reason he killed Adils was because Adils killed his father and raped his mother. This backstory is omitted in the game, making Hrólf's deeds more villainous and Adils more sympathetic.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Hrólf is ultimately defeated when Kratos overpowers him in a struggle with Skofnung, impaling him with it to weaken him enough to decapitate him, resulting in his soul getting sealed inside the blade to empower it as well, just like his Berserker servants.
Legendary Weapon: Hrólf's sword, Skofnung, is essentially the Norse equivalent of Excalibur. Fighting him requires all the berserkers and sealing their souls within the hilt to empower the blade before placing the hilt within Hrólf's gravestone last, upon which he manifests the full blade to use in his fight against Kratos.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Their epithets aren't very subtle. The Callous, the Fierce, the Feared, Illska (which translates to "evil").
Nothing Is Scarier: Beigaðr's atrocities were so heinous that Mimir, whose tales often end in the worst bloodshed and cruelty, refused to elaborate. Kratos notes in his journal that his death was indeed a good thing.
Off with His Head!: Kratos finishes each of them off this way. Appropriate, since Mimir has enmity with each of them for their actions and is nothing but a head by the present time. Hrólf resists it with Skofnung, but still ultimately gets the chop.
The Power of Acting: Kratos notes that Vöttr, in his time, would have been considered a rhapsode, and the nimble agility and strength she honed as a travelling performer made her especially dangerous when coupled with seiðr magic.
Scary Skeleton: They're all spectral, green-tinted skeletons with ghastly skulls for faces.
Sibling Team: The Sisters of Illska.
Superboss: They serve the same role of the Valkyries in Ragnarök and are just as brutally hard as them.
Synchronization: The Sisters of Illska share a single health bar, sharing damage and both being defeated if one is killed.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: Mimir doesn't recognize Hrólf as a legitimate king, because he usurped the previous one in a military coup.
Undying Loyalty: Even in death, they remain fiercely loyal to Hrólf, often shouting hails to his name during combat and asking for their king's guidance.
Unrelated in the Adaptation: The (probably) real Hrólf, being a scylding and thus a member of a legendary Danish royal family, would have been a descendant to Skjöldr, the legendary first king of Denmark. Due to Skjöldr being is his teens and Hrólf and his men being long-dead undead wraiths, as well as Hrólf's scydling heritage not existing in the game. this is very unlikely to be the case here.

The Lady of the Forge

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_5_64.jpg

A Celtic mermaid who lives in Nidavellir and is capable of forging divine weapons.

Cute Monster Girl: Or, more specifically, Regal Monster Lady. She's obviously inhuman, but graceful and refined rather than hideous and loathsome, with her brief appearance in the story being a moment of otherworldly wonder.
Disapproving Look: When she takes Kratos' blood, requiring the blood of a god to complete the Draupnir Spear, she gives this look when the blood cloud takes the form of the Omega symbol. Her expression noticeably softens when it then takes the form of the Greek letter lambda and integrates it into the new weapon.
Enigmatic Empowering Entity: She is a Celtic mermaid who dwells in a lake in Nidavellir and through seemingly mystical means, forges divine weapons for those she deems worthy.
The Fair Folk: Like Mimir aka Puck/Robin Goodfellow and the Kelpie rode by Kratos and Freya to meet the Norns, as a merrow she too originates from Celtic mythology rather than Norse.
Innocently Insensitive: From what we see of her, she bears no malice towards Kratos and Brok, even showing joy while creating Kratos' new weapon. That said, she appears to completely disregard Brok's presence much to his chagrin, although Mimir quickly realizes why: since mermaids only communicate through the souls of the living, because Brok's soul is incomplete due to being revived by Sindri, she didn't even know he was there at all.
Meaningful Name: While we have no idea if she actually has a name, being The Voiceless and all, her given moniker as "The Lady of the Forge" is fitting as, unlike the traditional forge Kratos was expecting, her Ultimate Blacksmith capabilities denote the fact that she is the forge.
Our Mermaids Are Different: She is a merrow, a kind of mermaid in Celtic mythology, and appears more fishlike than human. She's also able to communicate with a person's soul, using this to judge their worthiness of the divine weapons she creates.
Ultimate Blacksmith: With the right ingredients, she can magically create powerful divine weapons with skill and finesse that awes even Sidri and especially Brok. This seems to be a common feature of Celtic mermaids, as Mimir notes he once knew another merrow who specialized in swords, and wonders what became of her and her ambitions to change the world with them.
The Voiceless: She never says a word, which adds to her mysterious nature.

Huginn and Muninn

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/huginn.png

Hugginn

Muninn

Odin's personal raven spies, they act as the main gatherers of information for the All-Father, whispering to him secrets from all over the realms and transporting Odin and any willing ally of his anywhere they wish.

Animated Tattoo: They can disappear into and be summoned from the tattoos in Odin's forearms.
Clever Crows: They are highly intelligent and can understand and talk with Odin to act as his informants and messangers. Atreus even tries to have a conversation with Huginn when the raven guides him through Asgard's wall.
Color Contrast: Huginn has red dots and wing feathers, whereas Muninn has blue ones, which helps to set them apart.
Feathered Fiend: They are Odin's eyes and ears and thus help him to maintain his iron fist over the nine worlds by ensuring he is always a step ahead of everyone. Mimir even describes them as "rightful pricks, even for birds". That said, Odin wiped their memories and experimented on them to make them obey his will, and at least Huginn didn't seem to hold a grudge against Atreus after Odin's death, making ambiguous how willful they were in taking part of Odin's schemes.
Occult Blue Eyes: What sets them apart from mundane ravens is their supernatural pale blue eyes.
Super-Toughness: They are more durable than normal ravens, as Huginn survives a point-blank arrow from Atreus and even appears to him after Ragnarök's aftermath. Muninn wasn't as lucky though, being killed with a Neck Snap from Freya.
Uplifted Animal: Different from the blue-colored spectral ones, which are actually the souls of children, Huginn and Muninn were once normal ravens, but Odin captured their flock and experimented on the pair to turn them into his loyal magical spies.
Villain Teleportation: They can fly anywhere in the Nine Realms, as well as instantly transport the main antagonist of the Norse era, Odin, and any number of his allies anywhere he wishes by summoning an unkindness of ravens to circle the travelers. The exception are places enchanted to prevent Odin's presence, such as Jötunheim. The main limitations for their teleport, however, are that the ravens cannot use this power to enter the realm between realms which is why Odin leaves Muginn in Sindri's broom closet as an anchor for him to get out and go back to the house and they can only transport willing people, meaning Odin cannot use them to kidnap anyone nor transport prisoners and hostages.

Dwarves

Sindri and Brok

See their page for more info

Andvari

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gow_bestiary_friends_54.jpg

The Andvaranaut

A dwarf who lived under a waterfall and had the power to change himself into a fish at will. He had a magical ring Andvaranaut, which saved his life and helped him become wealthy.

Adaptational Superpower Change: Not himself, but his ring. In the Völsunga saga, the Andvaranaut is a magic ring that helps its wearer to find gold and make a fortune, but it was cursed by Andvari after it was stolen so it'd also bring misfortune and destruction to whoever possessed it. In the game, Andvaranaut is a normal ring enchanted by Andvari to contain his soul in an attempt to escape from a Soul Eater, which granted it magical properties like improving Kratos's equipment instead.
Amplifier Artifact: His ring which contains his soul and grants Kratos a high chance of recovering health when scoring a kill with his Runic Moves. He eventually accepts his fate of becoming a trinket for Kratos to wear.
Composite Character: In Norse Mythology, after causing the death of Baldur, Loki hid himself in an underground pond by disguising himself as a fish, something that Andavari was capable of. This may be what gives Atreus/Loki this idea for the future.
Death by Adaptation: Played With: In the myths, Andvari is obligated to give his gold and magic ring to Loki in order to be freed, but he survives the story and finds his stolen treasure years later. In the game, he is killed by a Soul Eater, but transfers his soul to his ring as a last resource in order to save himself, and can still communicate through it.
Everyone Has Standards: After discovering the flaw in the creation of Soul Eaters, he regretted sending a large number of them to Surtr, dreading what the king of Muspelheim had planned for them. Considering the even tougher Soul Devourers encountered once in Midgard and multiple times in the Muspelheim trials he had very good reason to worry.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Is the creator of the Soul Eaters, and eventually meets his death from one of them.
Monster Progenitor: Of a sort. The Soul Eaters are his creation, an attempt at domesticating Ancients as beasts of burden that resulted in them immolating Souls due to lacking their own. Andvari died regretting ever creating them.
Posthumous Character: Zig-Zagged. He's very dead, but his soul is still present in a ring and is met by the player in person.
Put on a Bus: He doesn't appear in Ragnarök, despite Kratos and Atreus choosing to keep him with them in the previous installment. Atreus comments he lent him to Sindri some time before the events of the story, who then allegedly lost him.
Ring of Power: Before he died he placed an enchantment on his ring. That turned out to save him from being subjected to Cessation of Existence courtesy of a Soul Eater. Because of that, the ring has magical properties and can improve Kratos' weapons and armors.
Related in the Adaptation: In the games, he is Mótsognir's brother, with both being sons of Ivaldi. In the myths there was no mention of a relationship between the two apart from Mótsognir being one of the first dwarves.
Soul Jar: His ring contains his soul, which is why it has magical properties.

Mótsognir

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mtsognir.png

The progenitor and first ruler of all dwarves.

Adaptational Wimp: In the mythology, Mótsognir was said to be the father of Dwarves and created by Odin and his brothers. Here, Mótsognir is the son of Ivaldi.
The Caligula: He was once a good king but his desire for treasure and a magical armor drove him insane, causing him to enslave and kill plenty of innocents. Though it is implied he realized how horrible he had become on his deathbed.
Cool Crown: A traditional horned Norse helmet.
Foil: To Odin's own paranoia and attempts to defy fate. Just as Odin's attempt to delay Ragnarök starts a series of events that gets his son Baldur killed and brings on the Fimbulwinter earlier than prophecized, so does Mótsognir's fear that his kingdom will perish lead him to set its destruction in motion.
Karmic Death: The magical armor which he sought was made of three ingredients. While he found the first two, the third ingredient eluded him until he died. It was his own life, which means that his greed is what ultimately killed him.
Our Dwarves Are All the Same: The first of their kind and their (former) king. Fittingly, he falls prey to the most common Dwarven vice: Greed.
Posthumous Character: By the time you reach him, all that's left is his corpse with the clothes and weaponry intact.
Sins of Our Fathers: He wanted to protect his people from a prophecy, only to realise his actions were just as foolish as his father's.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The scroll beside his body reveals that he suffered nightmares/visions of his people all dying. He believed that the legendary dwarven armor, the Dvegræðikr, was the key to saving them; to gather the ingredients needed to craft it; he captured dragons to harvest their "fury", and secretly sacrificed his people by ordering them to hunt monsters, thereby collecting their "screams". By the end of it all, he was thoroughly disgusted with himself and hoped that his loss of morality was the third ingredient, "ultimate sacrifice". As he laid dying after his subjects came back as Hel reavers and attacked him, he realized that his life was the "ultimate sacrifice". The scroll ends with him berating himself for turning his attempt to save his kingdom from destruction into a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

Fafnir

Fafnir as a dragon.

A greedy dwarf who stole treasures from others and kept them all to himself, which eventually turned him into a dragon.

Adaptational Heroism: The fact that his greed caused him to transform into a dragon in the first place in The Saga of the Volsungs is brought up only sparingly, with the Lore "Fafnir's Tail" being a petulant message to anyone looking to steal from him that he knows he's turning into a dragon, and he still won't hesitate to defend the treasure that's cursing him. The worst that's mentioned is Sindri describing him as an "aggressive collector" of magic artifacts; that said, Sindri also notes he hasn’t seen him in a while and assumes he is dead, so there isn’t so much added heroism as there is a lack of knowledge of any perceived evil, such as whether he murdered his kin for his gold.
Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Inverted; his draconian form bears resemblance to ceratopsian dinosaurs like ''Triceratops'', possessing a frill, beak and two horns above his eyes.
Forced Transformation: Unlike the myths, here it's said he wasn't transformed directly by his own greed, but rather because he "must've stolen a trinket from the wrong Vanir goddess." However, it's not specified if he was cursed as punishment by said god/goddess or the object itself transformed him, though a note you can find near where he's chained up says that he was transformed from gazing into a magic mirror he stole from the Vanir.
Our Dwarves Are All the Same/Our Dragons Are Different: We don't see him in his normal and original dwarf state, but as a dragon, he has the same powers as the others seen in the game — flight, electric breath, super strength, durability, etc.
Sidequest: Finding and setting him free (along with the other two dragons Otr and Reginn) is completely optional and doesn't affect the main story.

Ivaldi

A dwarf renowned for building a maze in the deadly mist realm of Niflheim, full of traps and treasure. His workshop has valuable items, in particular, the Mist Echoes and the legendary Mist Armor.

Famed In-Story: Held in high esteem from his people and even others for his great work, so much that many dwarves are referred to as "the sons of Ivaldi".
Hoist by His Own Petard: He ultimately died from the poisonous mists he himself cursed in the depths of his workshop.
Our Dwarves Are All the Same: We don't know what he looks like, though it can be assumed he's similar to the others and originates from Svartalfheim.
Posthumous Character: He's long dead, but his workshop is still hidden away in one of the Nine Realms.
Sidequest: Like Muspelheim, unlocking and exploring Niflheim is entirely optional. However, both realms offer great endgame loot and gear, as well as being very useful to farm resources (something which Ivaldi himself exploited).
Trap Master: He engineered the Mist of Niflheim as a poisonous weapon, and figured out how to make his hidden work complex self-rebuilding.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Brok and Sindri may be the greatest dwarf blacksmiths who are still alive, but Ivaldi was the greatest blacksmith of all time bar none. He managed to build a complex structure in a primordial realm full of toxic gas, harnessed its power (which was considered impossible) AND forged a suit of armor out of it. Said armor is one of the best, if not the best in the entire game. It's for this reason that Odin had him killed out of paranoia.

Durlin

Voiced by: Usman Ally (English)

A Dwarf who once led a rebellion against the Aesir to free Svartalfheim from their grasp. The rebellion ended badly, and now Durlin is shunned by his people, manning Niðavellir's safety office.

Advertised Extra: Despite being seen in trailers and even has his own character poster before the game was released, he doesn’t really have much impact on the overall plot of Ragnarok.
Could Say It, But...: Pretends to refuse to help Atreus and Kratos, by giving them a fine for various minor offenses. It's actually the directions they asked for to find Tyr.
Double Agent: In his first scene, he gives away Tyr's location while pretending he's not to keep his involvement hidden, but later we find out that he's also (reluctantly) working for Odin, who actually wants Kratos & co. to find "Tyr". That said, it's unclear how much Durlin actually knew about this plan.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a plate on the back of his skull and some burn marks from Heimdall hitting him when Durlin tried to lead a dwarven rebellion against the Aesir.
High-Class Glass: He wears a monocle held on by a chain over one eye.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's introduced as bitter and foul-tempered, getting very vitriolic towards Kratos and Atreus in their first meeting. But it's also quickly established that he greatly cares of the people of his realm, hence why he attempted a rebellion in the past. He also had a deep respect for Faye, looking melancholic when he hears that she's passed. And despite being quite belligerent towards the heroes, he covertly assists them in finding Tyr anyway, knowing it could land him in even deeper trouble with Odin. He's also one to ignore the Hundra's Brother pariah status and still admittedly respect them, hence why he was so sadden to hear of Brok's death and how badly Sindri was taking it.
Loyal Animal Companion: Parodied; he has an octopus-sized kraken hatchling for a pet... that he keeps in a comically tiny tank on his desk and has named "Dìnner". Much like Brok milking Fucking Gratitude dry and unceremoniously eating her, it suggests that dwarfs aren't very sentimental about their pets.
Unexplained Accent: Unlike the more general American accent most of the characters use, Durlin sports an Afrikaans accent for no established reason.

Ræb

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fjgtfevveaazvm.jpg

Voiced by: Bear McCreary (English)

A dwarven musician and owner of a tavern in Niðavellir who gives Durlin's location to Kratos and Atreus, as well as a homage to a certain composer.

Creator Cameo: He was portrayed and inspired by Bear McCreary, the main composer of the Norse saga's soundtrack, hence his position as Niðavellir's local musician.
Sdrawkcab Name: His name is Bear's name spelled backwards, as a hint of the homage to the composer.
While Rome Burns: Ræb isn't fazed in the slightest by the alarm ordering all of the dwarves to hide in their homes due to Kratos and Atreus' arrival in the city, preferring to stay in his tavern playing his hurdy-gurdy. Even when he meets Kratos, he rather casually asks to finish his music first if they plan to kill him:
Ræb: Well, if you're plannin' on killing me, at least lemme finish this song. That alarm was just in the perfect key...

Elves

Dark Elves

"Unlike the Light Elves of Alfheim, the Dark Elves prefer dark places. Maybe that's why they want to cover up the Light? They can fly and seem pretty smart and well-coordinated; more so than most of the enemies we've fought so far. Their weapons are useful; effective up close and at a distance. Kind of like Father's axe!"

A race of insect-like elves who are locked in an eternal war with the Light Elves over the Light of Alfheim.

Dark Is Evil: They're called Dark Elves and are at war with Light Elves. In a twist, however, they use light. Subverted according to the leader of their invasion of Alfheim, who seems to indicate that it’s not that simple; Ragnarök confirms this. The Dark Elves view the light as sacred and wish to leave it alone, and the Light Elves overuse of it has left their home, the once thriving deserts of Alfheim, a barren wasteland plagued by constant sandstorms. It's little wonder that they continue to hold a grudge.
Enemy Summoner: Some of them have spears that can summon more soldier into battle.
Forever War: Locked into one with the Light Elves. Control of the Light has changed hands over 200 times according to Mimir. In the novel, Svartáljǫfurr's final words are translated and it's suggested that the Dark Elves believe the Light Elves are slavers and conquerors. According to Mimir and Tyr, the light elves are actually necromancers and had built a temple centuries ago to harness power from the lake of souls, something that altered their bodies and caused an addiction to their newfound power. The dark elves are untainted and are trying to stop them from exploiting the souls of the dead.
Svartáljǫfurr: "You… grave… mistake. Oppressors… will… enslave… all."
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: One of the kill animations of Dark Elves involves Kratos impaling a Dark Elf with his own spear and tossing it like a javelin.
Insectoid Aliens: Distinctly buglike, with wings and dwelling in a massive hive, fitting to their desire for the light.
Hive Mind: They attack in coordinated groups and swarms, unlike most other enemies.
Light Is Not Good: In spite of their name, most have light colours (a few are even white), wear gold and use the light they steal to power themselves.
Our Elves Are Different: Insect-like and in control of weird biological technology. Their light counterparts look more like ghosts.
Undying Loyalty: Towards Freyr, the king of Alfheim. When the Vanir god returns to ask for their aid in Ragnarök, they quickly abandon the long war and fight alongside their luminous counterparts against the Aesir.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Their hive matter trapped hafgufas under the ground, and their songs from under the sands caused endless sandstorms that made Alfheim's deserts even more unhabitable; however, Mimir points out the Elves should not be entirely to blame for this, as hafgufas naturally burrow in the sand and thus they might've gotten themselves trapped by accident.
Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: Against both types of Dark Elves, Kratos' stun grab uses their spears for the kill: with the foot soldiers, he grabs their spear from them and harpoons them through the stomach; with the Lords, he slams them on the ground and impales them through the back.

Light Elves

The other race of Elves encountered at Alfheim. When Kratos and Atreus first arrive at the realm, they are on the losing side of a war.

Crapsaccharine World: Alfheim is both a beautiful, lush realm teeming with colorful plant life, an eternal battleground, and an expansive desert.
Drunk on the Dark Side: In Ragnarök, it's revealed that the Light of Alfheim has this effect on the Light Elves. It's hinted at early in the story but confirmed by Byggvir, a Light Elf aligned with Freyr who's been separated from the Light, that the Light has outright addictive characteristics with the Light Elves. It makes them feel powerful, mighty, and it fills them with the desire to want even more of the Light, to the point of wanting to fight and kill anyone who isn't a Light Elf to protect it. And the only way to save them is to drag them away from the light until it fully exits their body.
Dual Wielding: Most Light Elves use synchronized dual-swords in combat, symbolizing their pursuit for elegance, harmony and gracefulness even in war — Mimir even says that, if they weren't so deadly, their fighting moves could likely pass as a dance.
Ethereal White Dress: Light Elves wear long white flowing robes, helping to give them a spiritual and otherwordly appearance.
Forever War: Locked into one with the Dark Elves. Control of the Light has changed hands over 200 times according to Mimir. In the novel, Svartáljǫfurr's final words are translated and it's suggested that the Dark Elves believe the Light Elves are slavers and conquerors. According to Mimir and Tyr, the light elves are actually necromancers and had built a temple centuries ago to harness power from the lake of souls, something that altered their bodies and caused an addiction to their newfound power. The dark elves are untainted and are trying to stop them from exploiting the souls of the dead. Due to this, Alfheim was separated from the other Nine Realms so it can deal with the war on its own until Ragnarok.
Ghostly Glide: This is how they move around, instead of actually flying like their winged dark relatives.
Horned Humanoid: It isn't as noticeable in the 2018 installment, but much like their dark relatives, they have horns. Civillians cut them and hide the stumps in their veils, representing the Light Elves' desire for perfeccionism and for distancing themselves as much as possible from the Dark Elves despite both having been part of the same race in the past. The members of the military have them fully exposed, however.
Insectoid Aliens: Not as blatant as their dark counterparts, but close enough.
Light 'em Up: They use the Light of Alfheim both in their infrastructure, harnessing it in crystals to build bridges and walls of Hard Light, and during their attacks, such as healing themselves, in the case of Alva, stunning their opponents with light grenades and powering up their weapons.
Light Is Not Good: Zigzagged; while they will never attack or threaten Kratos or Atreus, Mimir hints that their violent relationship with the Dark Elves is not one-sided. Explained further in Ragnarök as they are called what they are because they are willing to use the Light of Alfheim to power their technology, causing catastrophic damage to the Alfheim environment, while the Dark Elves want to leave the light alone as sacred and concentrate on other existing resources like hive matter.
Mirroring Factions: Despite their eternal war against the Dark Elves, they are much closer to their dark relatives than they show, as both factions were part of the same people once. They have the same Leitmotif, also blind enemies with bombs, but with light instead of darkness, also have horns, which they hide in their veils, can fly, and one is first seen in Ragnarök killing a helpless Dark Elf in the same way the Dark Elves were introduced in the previous game, just with the roles reversed.
Our Elves Are Different: Floating, ethereal beings in long white flowing robes, with elegant golden technology utilizing light.
Undying Loyalty: Like all Elves, they are forever loyal to their leader Freyr, to the point that they make a truce with their dark relatives when Freyr asks for their armies so they can fight as one during Ragnarök.
Ungrateful Bastard: They don't thank Kratos and Atreus nor give them anything for their assistance. They just brush past them to reclaim the Light of Alfheim, something that Atreus notably misses. It hinted the only reason they didn't fight Kratos is because they had nothing to protect without the Light in their possession whereas the Dark Elves had everything to lose with Kratos's interference. In fact, they immediately attack the duo when they return to Alfheim a few years later in Ragnarök.
The Voiceless: We don't ever hear a single word or sound from any of the Light Elves. This is possibly due to them as seeing Kratos and Atreus as beneath them. Averted in Ragnarök with The Maven, who talks in her own tongue and is translated by Mimir, and Byggvir, who talks in the same language as the other characters.
Won the War, Lost the Peace: Mimir hints that this isn’t the end of the Forever War with the Dark Elves.

Svartáljǫfurr

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/svartljfurr_god_of_war_2018.png

The king of the Dark Elves, he leads them during the war against the Light Elves in hopes of taking control over the sacred Light of Alfheim. While he was initially victorious, his plans were thwarted by Kratos and Atreus.

Authority Equals Asskicking: The strongest of the Dark Elves is also their leader. Befitting for a species of insect-like beings.
Blinded by the Light: His attacks can affect the player with the "Blinded" status effect.
Combat Pragmatist: Exploits the fact he can fly unlike the protagonists, ambushes them from behind, kidnaps Atreus at one point and can blind Kratos, which leaves him more exposed and vulnerable.
Cool Crown: Which gives him a horned appearance.
Dark Is Evil: A very straightforward example. Or not, if one believes his dying words.
Fantastic Racism: The Dark and Light Elves hate each other and are in a Forever War for control over the Light of Alfheim. However before dying his final words ominously state that Kratos and Atreus have "made a grave mistake", implying that things are not that simple with the Dark and Light Elves being not so different.
Last Man Standing: Played with. He's the final Elf to be fought in Alfheim but isn't the final Elf enemy in the game. And that's even taking into account the wide-open nature of the game since several optional side areas also contain Dark Elves as mooks.
Meaningful Name: Svartáljǫfurr means "black elf chief" in Old Norse.
Mook Promotion: He's basically a Dark Elf mook with improved moveset, stats, and a boss health bar.
- Degraded Boss: The "Dark Elf Lord" enemies introduced later in the game are basically weaker versions of Svartáljǫfurr.
Near-Villain Victory: He did succeed in capturing the Light of Alfheim... until Kratos and Atreus intervened.
Organic Technology: The Dark Elves use pink, fleshy vines which cover the scenery and absorb the magical energy of Alfheim.
Our Elves Are Different: Light Elves resemble ghosts or stylized angels, while Dark Elves resemble Insectoid Aliens or stylized demons. Given that all surviving records of Norse legends are influenced by Christianity, the symbolism is pretty blatant.
Too Dumb to Live: Kratos actively disliked the idea of taking sides in the Elf war, but did not get a choice thanks to relentless attempts of the Dark Elves and their king to slaughter him and Atreus on sight.
Villainous Valor: Before his boss fight, he announces his intentions to defeat Kratos and Atreus for spoiling his plans after they've proven they're extremely dangerous foes, and unlike most of the Flunky Bosses in the game, he does so two-on-one, not summoning any of his people to help him out.
Winged Humanoid: Has insectoid wings.

Alva

The Queen of the Light Elves, she is now the guardian of the Temple of Light after the death of King Svartáljǫfurr.

A Dog Named "Dog": "Älva" means "elf" in Swedish, the same with "Alv" in Norwegian.
An Arm and a Leg: Kratos literally disarms her to figuratively disarm her.
Authority Equals Asskicking: Just as Svartáljǫfurr was the strongest of all Dark Elves, Alva is the strongest of all Light Elves.
Cool Crown: Wears a golden headdress presumably reserved for the Temple of Light's guardian.
Dual Wielding: Alva wields two swords into battle, which can also be united to make a spear.
Healing Boss: Alva can heal herself with the Light by shoving her swords in the ground whenever her health is low, only being stopped by a shield attack from Kratos.
Light Is Not Good: On top of literally being the Queen of the Light Elves, she looks very angelic, dressing in white and gold. However, she's no better than her Obviously Evil Dark Elf counterpart.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: The Elves are nothing if not meritocratic.
Silent Antagonist: Unlike Svartáljǫfurr, Alva doesn't speak a single word to her opponents.

The Maven

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maven.png

The guardian of the Elven Sanctum, she takes issue with Kratos looting her library.

Anti-Villain: When you think about it, she's really just a librarian trying to stop Kratos from spreading knowledge she believes to be harmful to her people. She even asks him to stop before engaging him instead of ambushing him like most enemies. It is the consequences of her censorship what makes her actions harmful, as preventing the Elves from discovering more about their past only ends up prolonging their Forever War. But ultimately, when Kratos spares her life and explains his motives, she bows in gratitude and doesn't trouble him again.
Bilingual Bonus: Like the Einherjar, she exclusively speaks in Old Norse.
Defeat Means Friendship: The Maven is one of the very few people to have fought Kratos and lived to tell the tale, as he spared her and left on good terms.
Dual Wielding: Being a reskin of Queen Alva, she wields two swords that can combine into a spear.
Healing Boss: Like Alva, she starts to regenerate her health bar by the end of her battle.
Graceful Loser: After failing to stop Kratos from taking her book by force she only makes one last plea explaining her position for keeping knowledge safeguarded and hidden, and when Kratos firmly states his intention to leave with the book she calmly accepts the outcome, even bowing her head in respect for sparing her.
Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge: She guards the Elves' dark secrets, especially the information of their shared past, before their separation between Dark and Light.
Optional Boss: Her bossfight is the climax of the Elven sanctuary Side Quest, and thus isn't necessary to complete the story.
Scary Librarian: The Elves must take their academia very seriously, if they get people capable of going toe-to-toe with the God of War just to guard their books.
You All Look Familiar: Her character model is reused from Alva.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: She has good intentions, as she wants to spare the Elves of further suffering. But her methods — enforcing ignorance through censorship and thus prolonging the eternal war between Dark and Light Elves — are what makes her an antagonist. That said, she's perfectly reasonable; once Kratos wins their fight and explains his motives, the Maven accepts it and allows him to leave in peace.

Humans

Skjöldr

Voiced by: AJ LoCascio (English)

A mortal Midgardian, who was taken by Odin to Asgard.

Amazon Chaser: He's very clearly smitten with Thrud and does his dangest to treat her well.
Canon Character All Along: It's implied he is the same Skjöldr who is among the first legendary kings of Denmark.
Catchphrase: Frequently expresses his surprise with a friendly "no shit?", to the point where Atreus ends up using it himself in their final on-screen conversation after Ragnarok is over.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A kind and polite young man with a very vibrant head of blonde hair.
Motor Mouth: He's a bit of a chatterbox, having a bit of trouble finally closing out a conversation, especially when Thrud is concerned.
Nice Guy: A polite, friendly and welcoming fellow who immediately bonds with Atreus and aids relief efforts for the wounded after Ragnarök.
Rags to Royalty: It's implied he'll use the Aesir coin Kratos threw away at the beginning of the game to raise a fortune and become King of Denmark.

Cannibals

Cannibal: "We'll have to keep them alive. Strip off their meat... a little at a time."

The cannibals, also known as Reavers, are a group of humans that appear as minor enemies in God of War (2018).

And Then John Was a Zombie: They plan to eat their victims alive so they will not reanimate as Hel-wakers, but they themselves reanimate once Kratos and Atreus kill the final two members.
Bullying a Dragon: They planned to use Kratos and Atreus as food and keep them alive to prevent them from returning as Hel-Walkers. As humans, they will be killed in one hit. Even on the hardest difficulty, they're all depicted as being lower-levelled than Kratos and which he can kill with absolute ease, even choosing to disregard using the Leviathan Axe in favour of beating them to death with his fists.
Cannibal Tribe: They are a group of cannibals.
I'm a Humanitarian: They planned to hunt Kratos and Atreus, as well as any other wanderers who fell into their trap.
Shout-Out: One of their members was called Siegmund, this is the name of one of the family members from the Völsunga saga. It's unclear if they simply share the same name or are the same person.
Small Role, Big Impact: Their presence causes Atreus to kill a human for the first time and he's clearly affected by it.
This Cannot Be!: They are absolutely stunned at how one man can beat them single-handedly and wield magic.
Unique Enemy: They only appear in one segment extremely early on and nowhere else. This also makes them the only mortal, non-superhuman enemies in the entire game.
Would Hurt a Child: They have no qualms about cannibalising Atreus.

Raiders

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yefim_kligerman_berserkerdeer_yk_007template.jpg

"It is the ashen god's fault. She told us. The witch. Said the ashen god murdered Baldur and in so doing started Fimbulwinter. She said if the god dies, Fimbulwinter will end. No more night. No more cold. No Ragnarök. We ran out of food a week ago, no matter. Soon we will feast on godflesh."

Hostile and aggressive tribes of humans from Midgard who transformed their fylgja - their Guardian Spirit, which takes traits of animals - in order to survive the harsh cold of the Fimbulwinter. In her desire for revenge, Freya told them that Kratos was the cause of the long winter and that killing him would bring an end to it, and they have been trying to do it so since then.

Action Bomb: Kol Raiders will throw fire bombs on the ground after being defeated in a last attempt to take down their enemies.
Ambushing Enemy: Raiders can hide in the snow and catch the player by surprise as soon as they get nearby. Hel-Raiders may also suddenly sprout from the snow after being reanimated.
Animal Motif: The Raiders favour different animals for their fylgja so they can adapt themselves to the unforgiving conditions of the Fimbulwinter, and thus have various associations with them: most Raiders favour stags and are seen wearing the skulls and antlers of those animals, scouts chose owls and have feathers in their vestiments, as well as preferring projectiles over direct combat and using scream attacks, and chiefs chose oxes, being the burliest and strongest of the Raiders and heading straight to the attack.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Mimir explains in the Codex that their chiefs are traditionally chosen through a series of combats between their strongest warriors, which lasts several days and often ends with most, if not all of the participants dead, including the winner. Due to how much those contests lower their numbers, Mimir presumes they eventually changed their methods.
Bad People Abuse Animals: They have been terrorizing the animals from Midgard, and Kratos and Atreus saved their wolves Speki and Svanna from a Raider camp. They were apparently so mistreated that they get uneasy merely by feeling the smell of Raiders nearby.
Barbarian Tribe: Animal-themed and aggressive warriors that wear garments of fur to stave off the long winter and attack any intruders on sight, as well as deciding their chief through several days of combat trials, in which most if not all of the contestants end up dying, and only speaking in a different language from the characters.
Elite Mook: The Raider Chiefs chose the ox for their fylgja and are thus much stronger and more durable than other enemies of the same kind.
I Am a Humanitarian: Like the reavers from the previous game, a scroll reveals that, besides thinking that killing Kratos will end the Fimbulwinter, the Raiders plan to eat him afterwards.
Let's You and Him Fight: The reason why they are fighting Kratos and Atreus in the first place is because Freya deliberately sicced the Raider tribes onto the two in hopes of wearing them down through attrition by revealing their hand at causing Fimbulwinter, and if they successfully kill him, so too will Fimbulwinter end. Thus, the Raiders relentlessly throw themselves at Kratos regardless of their actual chances against him out of a combination of desperation and fury.
Super-Scream: Befitting their owl motifs, Raider Scouts can let out disorienting scream attacks against Kratos.
Turns Red: In a way; due to Hel being once again overcrowded, some Raiders return as undead Hel-Raiders after being killed either by Kratos or by Stalkers, only being taken down with fire. They are more feral and aggressive in this state, fighting with their bare hands rather than with their weapons.
Underground Monkey: The Kol Raiders are a group that uses fire in their attacks.

World Tree

Yggdrasil

"The tree nourishes our soils. The dew from its leaves feeds our valleys and rivers. The tree's very existence supports all of creation along its boughs. It's life energy interwoven into the tapestry of life... birth, growth, death, and rebirth."

The sacred and divine Yggdrasil is a massive yew tree, believed to be the center of the Norse cosmos. Each of the Nine Realms exists among the branches and roots of the tree, with the tree itself existing in the Realm between Realms. Within the realms, the tree has multiple utilities. Collecting dew from its branches (which can be found near bodies of water) will provide permanent stat upgrades. Additionally, crystallized Yggdrasil sap is a powerful conductor of electricity: hitting it with any electricity will create an explosion. By using Mystic Gateways, one can enter the Realm between Realms and walk along the World Tree's branches to more quickly reach other realms. Should one stray from the branch's path, they will be erased from being unless they have proper protection, such as the Unity Stone. As the Yggdrasil is said to transcend time and space, there can be no origin ascribed to it. Symbols and artistic representations of Yggdrasil appear heavily everywhere, most importantly in the rune travel room of Tyr's temple. When the giants retreated to Jötunheim, they enlisted the help of Týr to hide the travel tower among one of the World Tree's roots, preventing any Aesir from reaching their home. It would later be returned by Kratos and Atreus. According to prophecy, the battle between Jörmungandr and Thor will shake Yggdrasil so violently that it will splinter, sending the World Serpent back to a time before its birth. Implied to have a sentience and will of its own, Yggdrasil is important enough to warrant its own entry.

Adaptational Context Change: Both Svartalfheim and Nidavellir have scarce information in both Eddas, only that Svartalfheim was described as the home of the Dark Elves, and the realm Nidavellir sometimes as the home of the dwarves. In Ragnarok, the realm Svartalfheim is the home of the dwarves, has a large explorable area with several constructions, mines, and bodies of water, with Nidavellir as a major city Kratos can visit. The Dark Elves are found to be living in Alfheim, putting a twist on the Elemental Plane aspect — Svartalfheim being the "Dark" element would be attributed to the interiors of mines, with Nidavellir having a possible translation of its name as "Dark Fields" referring to the smoke of the mining rigs before Kratos can shut them down.
Cosmic Keystone: For the entire Norse cosmology and therefore the franchise's second mythic era.
Elemental Plane: Each of the Nine Realms seems to correspond and themed after a certain element. Midgard features plenty of water and a lot of the game takes place around the Lake of Nine, therefore it's Water. Alfheim is a bright sunny place with the mission being focused on reaching its eponymous light source, therefore it's Light. Helheim is a cold and frozen barren wasteland, therefore it's Ice. Jötunheim is mostly rocky hills and statues made of stone, therefore it's Earth/Rock. Muspelheim is a volcano full of lava, therefore it's Fire/Magma. Niflheim appears to be filled with a poison mist, therefore it's Poison/Mist. ^note Asgard, Vanaheim, and Svartalfheim represent the elements of Air/Sky, Plants and Darkness respectively. And finally, as stated above and below Yggdrasil and Ginnungagap are Void.
Genius Loci: To an unknown extent, the World Tree is intelligent; enough to uplift Ratatoskr from a normal squirrel and make him its caretaker, as well kick Odin back to the living when Odin to steal its secrets.
Hub World: The player can use the tree to fast-travel to every previously visited area in the game.
Non-Standard Game Over: When Kratos and Atreus travel between the realms on the branches of Yggdrasil, they can jump off the branches if the player wants, despite being warned by everyone around them that it's a bad idea. What happens? They die. Except when he and his son obtain a secret protective rune which allows them to land near the location of Jötunheim's hidden portal.
Brok: And whatever do you, never, never, EVER, never, ever, ever, ever, ever throw yourself over the edge of the path... lest you want death.
Void Between the Worlds: The tree is located in "the realm between realms", which is made from the leftover of the Ginnungagap ("yawning abyss") aka the primordial void.
World Tree: Yup, exactly like its myth counterpart.

Ratatoskr

Voiced by: SungWon Cho (English)

The actual squirrel that runs up and down the world tree. Much nicer than his Bitter shadow.

Adaptational Badass: In Norse mythology Ratatoskr's sole purpose seems to be to ferry insults between the eagle at the top of the World Tree and Nidhoggr at the bottom. In Ragnarök he was selected by Yggdrasil to be its caretaker, and he oversees Nidhoggr, its spawn the Lyndworms, and the Stags of Seasons.
Adaptational Nice Guy: In the Eddas, he is said to spread slanderous gossips between the eagle at the top of the Yggdrasil and Nidhogg in the roots, while in the game (apart from his spectral aspects) he is a more approachable caretaker of the World Tree, overseeing important cosmic activities and being respectful to Nidhoggr.
Blessed with Suck: How he describes his ability to separate the negative aspects of his personality from himself. Doing so allows him to think more clearly without those parts of him clouding his mind but as beings of pure emotion, they can only be apart from the whole for a limited time or they'll feed back on themselves. When he reabsorbs them, all of the emotions come rushing back at once, a process he describes as highly unpleasant.
Eyepatch of Power: He's a divine squirrel living on the world tree, and sports an eyepatch. It's implied he lost it in the same predator attack that got him in Yggdrasil's service.
Funny Animal: A giant talking squirrel wearing clothes and an eyepatch.
Genre Refugee: His demeanour and antics and the fact that he is a fuzzy Funny Animal make him feel he belongs more in something like Looney Tunes than God of War.
Hates Being Alone: Cheerfully admits to Kratos that he wants to adopt Nidhoggr's offspring in part to alleviate his crushing loneliness as the World Tree's steward.
Insistent Terminology: Yggdrasil is "his" tree.
Literal Split Personality: He's excised his more negative personality traits into ghostly squirrels he uses as minions to explore the realms. The ones we see include Bitterness (as Bitter), Arrogance, Anxiety, and Perfectionism.
No Sense of Personal Space: He climbs on both Kratos and Atreus' bodies, much to the former's annoyance.
Non-Standard Character Design: In addition to being an anthropomorphic squirrel man, his motion capture is slightly exaggerated with squash and stretch, giving his movements a noticeably "bouncier" quality to them when compared to the gritty, realistic physics of his surroundings.
Not So Above It All: When actively annoyed by ringing his calling chime repeatedly while he's present, he will jokingly deride that he's "not easily swayed" and won't lose it so easily... only to then snap angrily not unlike Bitter if they insist hitting it a couple more times, before composing himself as he wonders where that outburst came from.
Ratatoskr: STOP WITH THE STUPID CHIME! Oh, oh dear. I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from.
Plucky Comic Relief: Ragnarök's director Eric Williams said how one of the reasons they introduced the character was to provide moments of levity and humor to compensate for the darker and more somber missions whenever the player returns to Yggdrasil, with his witty and humorous personality and cartoonish design.
Precision F-Strike: Normally the soul of patience, due to expelling his negative emotions, but he doesn't try to hide his anger when Atreus releases Garm from his imprisonment in Hel. He demands Kratos and Atreus go resolve the issue immediately, and as they're on the way out the door...
Ratatoskr: And do try not to FUCK IT UP!
Quest Giver: He gives various side-quests to Kratos, such as finding the Stags of Seasons after his spectral forms ended up setting them free and capturing Lindwurms after Kratos and Freya killed Nidhoggr, as well as possibilating new mystic portals to be accessed through Yggrdasil seeds.
Rodents of Unusual Size: He's about the size of a small chimpanzee.
Uplifted Animal: He was originally just a normal squirrel before being given intelligence by the World Tree.

Bitter Squirrel

Bitter Squirrel / "Ratatoskr"

Ratatoskr's spectral form.

Voiced by: Troy Baker (English)^{additional VAs}

A squirrel who runs up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to carry messages between its many different inhabitants. Atreus learns to summon him to find health and rage pickups... which, as indicated by how the skill's name is Bitter Squirrel, he's not happy about. Is actually a shadow of the real Ratatoskr, which the latter disapproves of.

The Artifact: He's the only one of Ratatoskr's aspects not voiced by SungWon Cho, as his introduction predates the very notion that he's merely an aspect of Ratatoskr. Baker remains in the role in Ragnarok for consistency.
Inconvenient Summons: He often throws complaints and insults whenever he's called for help.
Irrelevant Sidequest: Finding him is not necessary, but the rewards he reaps are well worth it.
Literal Split Personality: As Ratatoskr explains in Ragnarök, the grouchy and foul-mouthed spirit that Kratos and Atreus have been summoning for aid (and which he himself refers to as "Bitter Squirrel") is only a small spectral aspect of himself, and not representative of the friendlier, more personable whole.
Ratatoskr: I consider him so far removed from myself that he's practically a different person. Speaking of — Bitter, would you like to come out and see your "friends"?
Bitter Squirrel: [distantly] Fuck off, I'm busy!
Ratatoskr: I suppose that was to be expected.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: All the other summoned animals are used to deal additional damage to enemies. He, however, is used to finding and unearthing crystals which refill the player's health and rage.
Screwball Squirrel: He's a squirrel who likes to badmouth Atreus and Kratos for his own amusement whenever they summon him.
Sir Swears Alot: Several of his quotes are quite colorful. Ironically he's the only summon that can talk.
Summon Magic: Atreus can use him in the same vein as the other runic summons (boars, elks, wolves, bears, falcons, and crows).

Nidhogg

See her entry here.

Valkyries

In General

Atreus: Father, these are Valkyries! They're the ones who keep the dead from overrunning Midgard!
Kratos: Then they are terrible at their job.

The Valkyries are spirits serving Odin who take the souls of the worthy to Valhalla. Their task is crucial as they cull the souls and stop Helheim from being overrun with the dead. By the time of the game, Kratos encounters the Valkyries in a physical and corrupted form, making them ravenous and violent creatures while preventing them from performing their duties. Kratos can fight them, liberating their spirits and investigate the cause of their corruption.

The nine Valkyries encountered are:

Eir: The Healer of the Valkyries. Unlike her sisters, Eir was calm and collected and would heal warriors and gods alike.
Hildr: The Mistress of Battle. She went along well with Odin, and spent a lot of time in Midgard observing discord between the living but also cause it herself sometimes.
Geirdriful: The Master of Arms of Valhalla. She is responsible for training the souls in Valhalla in preparation for Ragnarök.
Göndul: The most beautiful of the Valkyries who could drive men insane because of her beauty. Odin even forbid her to go into Midgard for a time because of the insanity she'd induce to the souls.
Gunnr: Mistress of War, she would fly to war and arrive first to select the worthy souls. She was one of Odin's favorite, and her judgement was precious to Odin.
Kara: A Valkyrie renowned for her temper. As the embodiment of the Storm, her fury could cause them.
Olrun: She was the daughter of a chieftain and died defending him. In the afterlife, she'd devote herself to the pursuit of knowledge and Odin, seeing a kindred spirit, made her a Valkyrie, and their historian.
Ròta: A Chooser of the Slain. She is the one actually responsible for judging whose souls are worthy. Alongside Gunnr and Skuld, she judges the souls on the battlefield to prevent Hel from being overflowed.
Sigrun: The Queen of the Valkyries. She is their leader and detests Odin. Her duties made it so she served Asgard, but at one point she and her sisters were trapped in physical bodies, corrupting them in the process.

Ragnarök further introduces Hrist and Mist, as well as the new queen Gná, as Valkyries loyal to Odin.

A Day in the Limelight: The Valhalla DLC gives Sigrun, Gunnr and Eir some additional screentime as they help guide Kratos through Valhalla itself.
Animal Motif: Birds. In the mythology, Valkyries could transform into swans and had some association with ravens, but in the game, the Valkyries each have a different set of bird wings. In addition to them being literally caged in more ways than one, some of the Valkyries' helmets are also made to resemble feathers or wings that typically match their own patterns. Kara, for instance, has bright orange and blue feathers, Gunnr has a more hawk-like plumage, and Sigrun has blood-red wings barely visible from underneath her solid gold armor befitting her rank.
Back for the Finale: They all appear in Ragnarök for the final battle in Asgard in uncorrupted corporeal forms and are now known as "Shield Maidens".
Bling of War: Some Valkyrie have typically gold looking armor on their wings which can help with their attacks and each has a unique helmet that even has a face detailed into it. Sigrun takes thing a step further by being so covered in armor it's easy to mistake them for her actual feathers from a distance.
Brainwashed and Crazy: They are currently corrupted by Odin's arcane magic and only killing their physical bodies allows their spirits to be released.
Clip Its Wings: Kratos always finishes the Valkyries off by tearing off their wings. For extra squickiness, a cutscene will always show their back, with the exposed flesh and bone where the wings were attached.
Conflicting Loyalty: Subverted. After liberating the last Valkyrie, Sigrun states both that she and the rest of the Valkyries are indebted to Kratos and also that Freya is their true queen. Freya, who by the end of the game is set to avenge Kratos's killing Baldur. The Valkyries aren't looking at a fun time in the sequel. Come Ragnarök, however, Kratos and Freya are able to mend their friendship, and all parties are a united front for the invasion of Asgard.
Cool Helmet: Each Valkyrie has one very ornate helmet with either horns or wing ornaments. They are quest-relevant collectibles.
Dash Attack: Using their wings, they can rapidly fly toward Kratos for a surprisingly fast attack. Most will be scythe attacks, but some of these are grab variants, where the Valkyrie grabs Kratos's head and crushes it against the ground.
Fallen Hero: Valkyries are an essential and benevolent part of the Norse mythos. However they are now trapped in physical forms and corrupted, so Kratos has to fight them.
Feather Flechettes: They can occasionally throw feathers as projectiles.
Finishing Stomp: One of their nastiest attacks is to shoot up into the sky and dive-bomb Kratos. If this connects, they'll start viciously stomping on his head until he pushes them off. If this kills Kratos, they'll end it by snapping his neck under their heel.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: Their corrupted form shows their eyes glowing in an otherworldly light.
Ground Pound: A Valkyrie will occasionally jump high into the air to violently land on Kratos, following up with a series of foot stomps on his face for massive damage.
Heel–Face Turn: Freed from Odin's corruption, the Valkyries, redubbed the Shield-Maidens, rally behind their former queen Freya, fighting alongside the heroes during Ragnarök.
Large Ham: The third Valkyrie you save, regardless of order, will scream all her lines, even after being freed, and the subtitles will be in all-caps.
Lightning Bruiser: The Valkyries are among the toughest enemies Kratos will face. They pack quite a punch, taking a good chunk of the health bar each time they hit, and their wings give them unparalleled maneuverability in the arena.
The Medic: Eir serves as the group's healer, and is shown treating casualties from the titular battle in Ragnarök, even being the first thing Atreus sees after he regains consciousness.
Mercy Kill: Killing them releases them from their corrupted physical form, provided you actually fight them.
Mysterious Past: Not a lot is known about the Valkyries. Even Mimir doesn't know their origin, except Olrun who was mortal before she died and joined them. Since Sigrun thinks of Freya as the real queen of the Valkyries, it can be inferred that they were originally Vanir.
- Come Ragnarök, we learn any woman warrior capable enough could become a Valkyrie, with Sigrun being originally a human princess from Midgard and Thrud hoping to join them one day.
Not So Above It All: The uncorrupted Valkyries seem angellike in their levelheadedness and grace. However, upon hearing of Gná's death, Sigrun, Eir, and Gunnr burst into maniacal laughter and openly fantasize about her gruesomely mutilated corpse like a bunch of kids gushing about Mortal Kombat fatalities. They're disappointed to learn Freya gave her a swift and clean death.
Optional Boss: Each of them are completely optional, are hidden in various corners of the map, and are more difficult than average.
Razor Wings: They can use their wings as secondary weapons, swiping them at Kratos.
Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: A lot of the corrupted Valkyries, as well as Hrist, Mist, and Gna, have a lot of skin showing, while the reformed Shield Maidens are all completely covered up.
Sketchy Successor: Sigrun considers herself one to who she considers the real and only Queen of the Valkyries: Freya.
- Gná, to both, in Ragnarök.
Sinister Scythe: All of the Valkyries wield a scythe whose blade glows yellow from magical energy.
Small Role, Big Impact: In the game proper they're nothing more than a series of Optional Bosses whose backstories serve to demonstrate how far off the deep end Odin's gone. However, it's because of the fact that they've been locked away and kept from sorting through and culling deceased souls that Helheim's become overcrowded and Midgard has become a desolate wasteland filled with undead by the time Kratos and Atreus begin their journey.
So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Göndul. She was so beautiful that she was temporally banned from Midgard because her beauty is so alluring and maddening to humans. Even Mimir can't speak properly around her.
Sword Beam: Geirdriful can plant her scythe on the ground and then lift it up quickly to unleash a wave of energy.
Valkyries: Of course, though they haven't been leading any fallen warriors to Valhalla recently due to them being turned into corrupted monsters.
Undeathly Pallor: In their corrupted forms, they all have greyish skin. Upon being restored to their Shield Maiden forms, they regain their normal skin.
Wind from Beneath My Wings: Geirdriful can generate a powerful gale by flapping her wings, either in all directions or concentrated in one direction.
Winged Humanoid: The Valkyries possess bird wings allowing them to fly around.
World's Most Beautiful Woman: Göndul's beauty is unparalleled and maddening. Mimir is at a loss for words when he sees her spiritual form and describes how Odin banished her from Midgard due to her looks driving the Valhalla elected spirits insane.
Mimir: (After stuttering and being reigned in by Atreus) Er, sorry lad. The sight of Göndul always took my breath away. Göndul had a silver tongue, a sharp wit, and struck a figure so stunning, it literally drove men insane.

Sigrún

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sigrun_0.png

Voiced by: Lani Minella (English, God of War [2018]); Misty Lee (English, God of War: Ragnarök)

The former Valkyrie Queen.

Broken Pedestal: Subverted. At first Mimir holds her as a paragon of purity and goodness and honor, blinded by his own love for her. A side quest reveals Sigrun has a darker past, as she joined the Valkyries after cursing her own brother, when he'd killed her lover in revenge for said lover killing their entire family. However learning that his lover has her own mistakes she's trying to atone for makes Mimir even more in love with her as he finds it to be something they both have in common.
But Now I Must Go: At the end of the Valhalla DLC, Sigrun decides she wants to take a step back from her Valkyrie duties and travel the realms, for her own purposes and not as an authority of Asgard.
Final-Exam Boss: She is only available to fight after defeating the other 8 Valkyries, has all of the abilities of the other Valkyries, has the highest health bar of any boss in the game, and hits like a freight train. While she is technically available before the Final Boss, she is intended to be fought in the post-game with the best equipment in the games.
Old Flame: In Ragnarök, right before the final battle, she'll ask to spend the night with Mimir, as she clearly still loves him, and if she's to die the next day she wants to spend her last night listening to his stories.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Heavily implied with Mimir due to Odin's machinations. Odin caught wind of Mimir feeding him with mushrooms that caused Mushroom Samba, and Sigrun tried to contain her sisters' insanity before she went mad as well.
- Before that, she was originally a princess of Midgard. She fell in love with the king of a different fief, who her father did not approve of. It ended badly for all concerned.
Superboss: The toughest optional boss of the 2018 game.
Walking the Earth: She reveals this desire at the end of the Valhalla DLC, wishing to take a break from her Valkyrie calling to travel the realms for purposes other than her divine duty. Mimir even notes she's always dreamed of a "grand sea voyage".
Undying Loyalty: To Freya, whom she insists is the true Valkyrie Queen.

Hrist and Mist

Voiced by: Erica Lindbeck (English, Hrist), Mara Junot (English, Mist)

A pair of Valkyries serving under Gná who are sent to the Spark of the World to prevent the rise of Ragnarök.

Amazing Technicolor Population: For some reason, they have red and blue skin. No other Valkyrie is like this. It could be elaborate war-paint.
The Dividual: Twindividuals. While they are separate entities in Norse mythology and show some differing character traits (Hrist is more aggressive and Mist is more mission-focused), they always appear together, are fought together, and their role is basically to show that Odin still has Valkyries (plural) serving him.
The Bully: They’re shown to be dishonorably mean-spirited, with one of them holding Atreus (a 14 year old, mind you) down while the other wails on his face like a couple of schoolyard bullies. They’re needlessly cruel to their own Einherjar recruits too.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: They submit the Einherjar to Training from Hell in preparation for Ragnarok. Even Odin tells them to tone it down. To be fair though, the Einherjar are immortal.
Dual Boss: Both Valkyries are fought together, against Kratos and Atreus (who by then are likely at the heights of their power).
Fire/Ice Duo: Hrist and Mist respectively, using the associated elements in their magic.
Half the Man He Used to Be: Atreus in his bear form rips Hrist in half during the fight in Muspelheim.
Neck Snap: Kratos breaks Mist's neck during the fight in Muspelheim.
Not Brainwashed: Unlike the Valkyries of the first game, they serve Odin out of choice, making them true villains instead of tragic antagonists like their sisters.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Literally. The red-skinned Hrist is much more aggressive in both dialogue and gameplay than her blue-skinned sister. Hrist also looks like a literal Oni, what with her red skin and scowling, ghoulish mask.
Pretender Diss: They insult Kratos and Atreus as false gods, likely believing only the Aesir deserve the title.
Synchronization: Apparently so, since despite having two separate life bars attacking just one of them damages them both.
Worthy Opponent: Kratos compliments their power and ability to work together in his codex entry on the two, and expresses regret that he couldn't save them because they weren't corrupted like the Valkyries from the last game.
You Are Too Late: By the time they arrive, Ragnarök has already been created, meaning their likely goal is for naught. On the other hand, considering how powerful Surtr demonstrated himself to be when swatting Kratos and Atreus away, it's arguable attacking them beforehand would have resulted in him easily obliterating them without a fight, meaning they had to wait until the most powerful enemy was gone first.

Gná

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gna.png

Voiced by: Evanne Friedmann (English)

The Norse goddess of wind, and the new Valkyrie Queen.

Adaptational Badass: Not a Valkyrie in Norse myth, but a messenger goddess in service of Frigg.
Dragon Ascendant: Played with. She takes charge of the remnants of Asgard after Odin dies, but it doesn’t amount to much more than staying at the wreckage or trying to prevent the break in at Niflheim. She is killed before she can bring them back to prominence.
Dragon Their Feet: Her battle is available in the post-game after the fall of Asgard and after Odin's death.
Evil Counterpart: Serves as one to Sigrun especially, given she is a Valkyrie Queen who has immense loyalty to her ruler… but said ruler is Odin.
Face Death with Dignity: After defeating her, Freya attempts to get her to listen to reason and let go of her hate. All she says in return is to finish it and drops her head ready for Freya to deliver by far the tamest Valkyrie death in the series.
Fatal Flaw: Uncompromising loyalty. Gná swore her loyalty to Asgard and Odin, and to that end she opposes anyone who would turn their back on or fight against Odin or his realm, no matter the circumstances. This is the source of her enmity with Freya and her fellow Valkyries, even though they all turned on Odin because he had abused them, Gná remained steadfast by his side, either blind to or simply uncaring of his tyranny. This also drives her to try to rally the fragmented Einherjar continue fight in Asgard's name after the events of Ragnarök, fighting for a doomed cause that earns her nothing but scorn.
Honour Before Reason: Oddly, in the post-game we can find her in Muspelheim after defeating the rest of the remnants of Asgard that are loyal to Odin and despite having every reason to want Kratos and Freya dead she will only fight when they attack first. It's heavily implied that her actions post-Asgard's fall are less out of genuine belief in Odin, but more a desire to uphold her oaths and refusal to accept Freya as the victor in their rivalry, even if she's aware that doing so only condemns her in the end.
Hypocrite:
- In condemning Freya and the other Valkyries for forsaking Odin, Gná proves her own lack of sisterhood by remaining loyal to a man who abused and corrupted her comrades.
- In her journal, Gná bitterly anticipates Freya writing off her former friend's actions by playing the victim yet again, but this doesn't stop Gná from acting as though she were the wronged party when Freya turned on Odin (for good reason). Even when a matured Freya offers her a hand in friendship, Gná rejects it out of hand.
- For all her loyalty to Odin, he actually isn't her rightful ruler, since she's a Vanir goddess and the Aesir and Vanir are once again at war after Odin's marriage to Freya dissolved.
Hypocrite Has a Point: She's possibly the last person who should be bitching about anyone having a victim complex, since she's the one who chose to stubbornly follow Odin despite him repeatedly proving himself totally unworthy in every possible way and then whines about how all the other Valkyries betrayed her, but when her target is Freya, she isn't wrong.
Irony: Gná is defined by her fierce, uncompromising loyalty and resolute refusal to forsake her vows of allegiance. All of these qualities are spent in service to Odin, a Consummate Liar who has no loyalty to anyone or anything beyond himself and a bad case of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder.
Moral Myopia: Despite having a legitimate point when it comes to Freya's victim complex, Gná ignores the genuine wrongs that Odin has done to his ex-wife (she was banished for refusing to use the invulnerability curse on Odin) and her fellow Valkyries (who Odin corrupted because they were doing their jobs correctly and would stop him from manipulating the Einherjar for his own gain), and despite this ill treatment, she considers everyone else the traitor for opposing Odin, when in reality, it's Gná who has betrayed her queen and fellow Valkyries by willingly remaining in Odin's service.
My Master, Right or Wrong: By the fall of Asgard, she is one of the only being in all the realms who still believes in Odin. She does lead The Remnant of Asgard's forces (the fallen pieces and the remaining Einherjar), but it is blatantly obvious that nobody else liked him, with her attempt at vengeance being emphasized as completely pointless given there is no way that Asgard can return.
Not Brainwashed: Unlike the nine Valkyries that were defeated by Kratos and Atreus, Gná is fully loyal to Odin of her own free will.
Off with Her Head!: Freya beheads her after the battle.
Redemption Rejection: After Gná is defeated, Freya tries to persuade her to let go of her hatred, but Gná spurns her and tells her to just get it over with.
Superboss: The most challenging optional boss of Ragnarök.
Undying Loyalty: Ironically despite being despised by most of her fellow Valkyries as a traitor, Gná's most noted attribute was her fierce and unwavering loyalty. It just happened to be that her loyalty was to Asgard and the All-Father, possibly the person least deserving of such loyalty in all the Nine Realms.
Villain Has a Point: Her journal reveals that her animosity towards Freya is partly due to her playing the victim in the tragedies in her life, when she often either freely chose to enter whatever situation or actively caused her own problems. This is true; the Norns also say as much to Freya when she visits them. Of course, Gná is doing the exact same thing by portraying herself as the lone patriot amongst the other traitorous Valkyries (when in fact the others were the ones who remained loyal to their true leader, Freya, and Gná is the one remaining willfully ignorant of how Odin betrayed them first), but a post-character development Freya sympathizes with her on this because she knows that she was in the same boat.
Villainous Valour: Despite her loyalty to Odin being badly misplaced, Gná is steadfast and continues to fight for Odin's cause after his downfall, eagerly challenging Kratos and Freya when they find her, though she honorably waits for them to make the first move. In defeat, Gná does prove gracious enough to hear Freya out, even if she refuses to let go of her hatred, and when her death comes, she accepts it with dignity and grace.
We Used to Be Friends: She was once close to Freya and her fellow Valkyries, but her refusal to side with them against Odin has long since soured those bonds into mutual enmity. Once she's defeated and killed, most of her sisters are actively thrilled at the news and gleefully ask for details on how brutal her death was.^note

Freyr's resistance

In General

Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: A Vanir god leading a Traveler, a Dark Elf & Light Elf couple, a Dwarf and a dog.
Undying Loyalty: All of them towards Freyr. He's been a positive influence for all of them and they are all fiercely loyal to him because of it.

Freyr

See his entry here.

Byggvir and Beyla

Voiced by: Daniel Kountz (English, Byggvir), Morla Gorrondona (English, Beyla)

A couple made up of a Light Elf (Byggvir) and a Dark Elf (Beyla) who abandoned the war in their realm and joined their leader Freyr in Vanaheim.

Ascended Extra: Downplayed since they're still minor side-characters, but they do get some backstory and characterization whereas in the Norse myths they only appear very briefly in the Lokasenna poem solely to be insulted by Loki.
Adaptation Species Change: In myth both of them are Vanir gods (or perhaps Freyr's human servants). Here they are both different species of Elves.
Battle Couple: While Beyla is the most experienced fighter of the group, the couple fights side by side during Ragnarök.
Forbidden Love: The two are married, despite their races being in a Forever War. Thus they live in exile.
Happily Married: Despite the contrast between Byggvir's more approachable and polite and Beyla's colder and more stoic personality, it's left clear the two love each other immensely.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Both want to know more as to how the original Elves divided into light and dark, despite both species leadership's obsession. Both also hope for coexistence between both types of Elves. Byggvir's been jailed by his own kind for these thoughts.
Nice Guy: Byggvir is considerably more polite and welcoming towards Kratos than his wife is.
Opposites Attract: Besides being on the opposites sides of a long war and representing light and dark, Byggvir is a welcoming scholar who is interested in learning about Kratos' homeland due to Greece's fame of philosophers and poets, while Beyla is a stoic and laconic warrior and the best fighter from Freyr's resistence. Regardless, the two fell in love and hope for the reconnection between both kinds of Elves one day.
Token Heroic Orc: Both the Light and Dark Elves act as enemies and attack anyone they consider a threat to their victory on sight, but Byggvir and Beyla hope for a day in which the two kinds coexist and are friendly to Kratos.

Birgir

Voiced by: Jim Pirri (English)

A traveler that lost his way, until he met Freyr.

BFS: He wield a giant glowing, rune-inscribed sword.
The Big Guy: Both figuratively and literally among Freyr's resistance.
Defector from Decadence: He's a former traveler, now who fights to liberate Vaneheim.
Heroic Sacrifice: Jumps out of Freyr's flying boat to take out attacking Wyvern, falling seemingly to his death. Turns out he survived... by rolling.
Made of Iron: He survives flinging himself off Freyr's flying boat and can be found in Vanaheim later on. When asked how he simply replies "I rolled." Ironically right after his fall Freyr correctly guesses Birgir's still alive and uninjured.
Mighty Glacier: As befitting a former Traveler. He's also huge, almost as tall as Kratos while just sitting at the campfire.
Retired Badass: By the end of the game.
Token Heroic Orc: He is the only Traveler to not only be not hostile, but friendly towards the player, having realized his fanatism for the Path was unfounded and leaving his old ways. On the quest to rescue him, Kratos will encounter no fewer than three other Travelers hunting him down for abandoning the Path.
Wrecked Weapon: His greatsword is broken a third of the way from the tip. And even then, it's still almost as long as he is tall.
Undying Loyalty: He's fiercely loyal to Freyr for giving him a purpose in life.

Lúnda

Voiced by: Milana Vayntrub (English)

A dwarf and an old friend of Brok. She serves a support role with Freyr's group, building gear, traps and medicine.

Ambiguously Bi: Can come onto Freya at one point yet also admires Kratos' figure and calls him handsome.
The Blacksmith: Like Brok and Sindri to Team Kratos, she's the blacksmith of Freyr's group. Following Brok's death and Sindri's estrangement from his friends, she adds them to her client list.
Butch Lesbian: She is either this or Butch Bisexual (given her possible interest in Kratos), but either way, she has an obvious attraction Freya, as seen by her flirting when she talks about upgrading Freya's gear, and her working in a smithy, coupled with her overall demeanor, is very macho.
Chekhov's Skill: Brok teaches her the same Offscreen Teleportation skills he and his brother use. Following Brok's death she is able to use it to take their place in providing upgrades.
Chivalrous Pervert: Although she's very blatant in hitting on Kratos, she does ask him if he's comfortable with it and asks if he wants her to stop. Kratos was initially uncomfortable but got used to it.
Distaff Counterpart: She's basically a female Brok, with the same colorful vernacular and skills, including being able to move between worlds and, after Brok's death (and Sindri's refusal to have anything to do with Atreus) being the source of upgrades and enhancements for Kratos and co..
Eating the Eye Candy: Makes numerous observations about the attractiveness of both Kratos and Freya. At one point, she asks Kratos if she should stop about him. He tells her no.
Goggles Do Nothing: She wears welding goggles on her head but never actually uses them to protect her eyes when working on her forge.
Insubstantial Ingredients: Freyr can mention in ambient dialogue that she once made a suit of armor out of a dog's barks.
The Medic: She's the one in charge of medicine in camp.
Unexplained Accent: For some reason, she has a Southern US accent, complete with using euphemisms common with it.

Helka

A hound that Freyr rescued.

Big Friendly Dog: A bigger than average bloodhound.
Dark and Troubled Past: Was near death when the resistance found her and most of them thought she was done for, except Freyr who nursed her back to health.
The Nose Knows: She is a bloodhound. And is able to smell Birgir from miles away.
Team Pet: Is this for the resistance.

Hildisvíni

See his entry here

Characters / God of War Series – Other Characters

Dwarves

Elves

Humans

World Tree

Bitter Squirrel / "Ratatoskr"

Valkyries

Freyr's resistance

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Characters / God of War Series – Other Characters

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Dwarves

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Humans

World Tree

Bitter Squirrel / "Ratatoskr"

Valkyries

Freyr's resistance

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