History NightmareFuel / GodOfWarPS4

* The Aesir Gods are just as bad, if not worse, than the Olympians. Odin is a treacherous paranoid madman obsessed with the future and preventing his own death, Thor commits murders and genocide for fun, Magni and Modi are violent assholes and gods only know what Modi wanted Atreus for, Baldur might have once been nice but now he's a demented blood knight thanks to centuries of sensory deprivation in return for immortality that he didn't even want. And [[NothingIsScarier we don't even see Odin and Thor]] until ''Ragnarök''.

* A new console generation means newer and more violent ways to kill enemies. The God of War series was already over-the-top, but some of the new kill animations just serve to remind that Kratos' time in self-imposed exile hasn't dulled his edge. One [[SarcasmMode lovely example]] is grabbing a Wulvur's jaw and ripping it off, along with ''the entire front section of the creature'', exposing bloody muscle.

* It's a short moment, but when Atreus turns around after praying over his mother's dead body, the camera shifts over to Kratos standing in the doorway and covered in shadow while his theme song plays which consists of terrifying, deep-sounding chants. It actually can be a terrifying moment for a child to realize that their mother is dead and the only one who can take care of them is this intimidating, cold tower of a man who at this point of the game, barely acknowledges Atreus.

* The Aesir Gods are just as bad, if not worse, than the Olympians. Odin is a treacherous paranoid madman obsessed with the future and preventing his own death, Thor commits murders and genocide for fun, Magni and Modi are violent assholes and gods only know what Modi wanted Atreus for, Baldur might have once been nice but now he's a demented blood knight thanks to centuries of sensory deprivation in return for immortality that he didn't even want.
* Horror kicks in during a moment when Atreus goes to chase off a boar and suddenly he is separated from Kratos. He begins searching for Atreus and you can tell [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness this is serious when you notice the worry in Kratos' voice]]. Anyone who searched for a lost one in the woods can sympathize with this. Thankfully, Atreus is found by someone friendly.

** Atreus starts displaying all too familiar traits including the power of Spartan's Rage. Then it is revealed Atreus is Loki. Loki is suppose to bring forth Ragnarok, which is described in Norse myth as a battle that ends with the gods killed and the world plagued by various natural disasters and swallowed by a great flood and the only survivors will be two mortals. What’s worse is that if the murals of Jötunheimr are any indication what will set Loki off and on to Ragnarok will be the death of his father, (Kratos). Now recall ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'' and how Kratos' own battle against the Olympians, which started with the death of his first family, ended; with the gods killed and the world plagued by various natural disasters and swallowed by a great flood. Despite Kratos' best efforts it would seem Atreus is doomed to walk down the ''exact'' same path as his father.

** This also horrifically confirms everything Mimir and other characters have said about Thor. Up until this point it could have been put to a bias narrative from the Giants who were all absent and whom Mimir was on good terms with. It wouldn't be the first time in a God of War game that someone misled the players for their own gain but after seeing what Thor did to his own kid it's all but confirmed he's the exact sort of dangerous sociopathic murderer Mimir and giants claimed. Even with is godly durability Modi could barely stay upright kneeling.

--> '''Mimir''': (referring to his bound state)This... this isn't living.
** In one random dialogue Mimir reveals that he used to go by a different name: Robin Goodfellow, aka ''[[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Puck]]''. According to him he used to cause unspecified mischief against humans with some friends in a distant land, and got away with it as long as he kept the forest lords amused. And then one day [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they weren't amused]]. TheFairFolk are confirmed to exist, and they may be as dangerous as the Aesir.

* While it's unknown if it'll play a part as far as the series' canon is concerned, it's worth noting that in the myth, Baldur is [[BackFromTheDead destined to return]] following Ragnarok. If this ''does'' come into play, it's safe to say he'll be very unhappy.

* The game is absolutely horrifying from the Aesir's perspective; to them, they single-handedly wiped the Jotnar and prevented Ragnarok. They then discover another Jotunn and send Baldur to investigate and get rid of them. Only for Baldur to return defeated from the battle; thinking not much of it, they send Magni and Modi because they were formidable during the Aesir-Vanir war and are prophesied to survive Ragnarok. Only for Modi to return alone and announce Magni's death. The former is then beaten to a pulp by his father and is soon killed by a child not long after he returns to Midgard. They send in Baldur again but he is eventually killed as well, leading to the earliest stage of Ragnarok. And worst of all, sooner or later, they realize the Jotunn isn't a Jotunn at all but the man who brought down a whole other pantheon by himself...
** And unlike the Greek pantheon, corrupted by Pandora's Box as a side-effect they should've seen coming on top of their petty conflicts among one another, the Aesir were nowhere near as bad off. Had things stayed to the prophecies, they had at least a hundred more years of power and little to get in their way. Here comes the SpannerInTheWorks that entered the scene out of ''nowhere'' as far as they could tell, and Odin and Thor's own paranoia about some "mere half-Jotunn" ended up kickstarting their prophesized downfall a century too early. And with their downfall comes another inevitable cataclysm for the world, something Kratos already inadvertently caused and tried to mend once before. From Kratos' own perspective, you also have the horror of the entire Aesir after his son's head because they kept getting in the pair's way, and a second EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt to deal with and try to get his son through.

* A new console generation means newer and more violent ways to kill enemies. The God of War series was already over-the-top, but some of the new kill animations just serve to remind that Kratos is still a killing machine. One [[SarcasmMode lovely example]] is grabbing a Wulvur's jaw and ripping it off, along with ''the entire front section of the creature'', exposing bloody muscle.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hearthold.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[AndShowItToYou The things a father does for his son...]]]]

* The final confrontation with Baldur as Freya's attempt to stop the fight binds Kratos but Baldur dodges and incapacitates her. Then to Kratos', and likely the player's, horror Atreus gets between Baldur's punch and Kratos and takes the blow for him, reducing the poor child to a wheezing wreck splattered in blood. Thankfully the only real harm done to Atreus is the force of the punch knocking the wind out of him as once he recovers his breath, it turns out it's not ''[[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll his]]'' blood.

* The game is absolutely horrifying from the Aesir's perspective; to them, they single-handedly wiped the Jotnar and prevented Ragnarok. They then discover another Jotunn and send Baldur to investigate and get rid of them. Only for Baldur to return defeated from the battle; thinking not much of it, they send Magni and Modi because they were formidable during the Aesir-Vanir war and are prophesied to survive Ragnarok. Only for Modi to return alone and announce Magni's death. The former is then beaten to a pulp by his father and is soon killed by a child not long after he returns to Midgard. They send in Baldur again but he is eventually killed as well, leading to the earliest stage of Ragnarok...

!Administrivia/SpoilersOff! Beware of unmarked spoilers below!

'''Administrivia/SpoilersOff! Beware of unmarked spoilers below!'''

* [[MysteriousStranger The Stranger]] himself counts, as he is [[NotSoHarmlessVillain one of the only characters in the entire series who can match Kratos blow by blow]], [[ImplacableMan and prove to be an insurmountably difficult opponent for Kratos just to disable]], let alone be able to actually [[CompleteImmortality kill]]... but that's not the scary part. The scary part is his almost [[AxCrazy stalker-ish]], BloodKnight attitude as he pummels and torments Kratos, with an added bonus of pure AdultFear after he finds out Kratos has a son and takes more of an interest in ''[[TermsOfEndangerment him]]''.

* AdultFear kicks in during a moment when Atreus goes to chase off a boar and suddenly he is separated from Kratos. He begins searching for Atreus and you can tell [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness this is serious when you notice the worry in Kratos' voice]]. Anyone who searched for a lost one in the woods can sympathize with this. Thankfully, Atreus is found by someone friendly.

* AdultFear strikes ''hard'' in the final confrontation with Baldur as Freya's attempt to stop the fight binds Kratos but Baldur dodges and incapacitates her. Then to Kratos', and likely the player's, horror Atreus gets between Baldur's punch and Kratos and takes the blow for him, reducing the poor child to a wheezing wreck splattered in blood. Thankfully the only real harm done to Atreus is the force of the punch knocking the wind out of him as once he recovers his breath, it turns out it's not ''[[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll his]]'' blood.
** The AdultFear is on Freya's side too as she figured out Kratos' name and identity. Once Baldur punched the mistletoe in Atreus' quiver, breaking the spell on him, there was nothing between him and the Ghost of Sparta, whose crimes actually ''surpass'' Thor's.

** And unlike the Greek pantheon, corrupted by Pandora's Box as a side-effect they should've seen coming on top of their petty conflicts among one another, the Aesir were nowhere near as bad off. Had things stayed to the prophecies, they had at least a hundred more years of power and little to get in their way. Here comes the SpannerInTheWorks that entered the scene out of ''nowhere'' as far as they could tell, and Odin and Thor's own paranoia about some "mere half-Jotunn" ended up kickstarting their prophesized downfall a century too early. And with their downfall comes another inevitable cataclysm for the world, something Kratos already inadvertently caused and tried to mend once before. From Kratos' own perspective, you also have the AdultFear of the entire Aesir after his son's head because they kept getting in the pair's way, and a second EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt to deal with and try to get his son through.

* A new console generation means newer and more violent ways to kill enemies. The God of War series was already over-the-top, but some of the new kill animations just serve to remind that Kratos is still a killing machine. One [[SarcasmMode lovely example]] is grabbing a Wulvur's jaw and ripping it off, along with ''the entire front section of the creature''.

** '''''“Kratooooos…”''''' For context, Kratos has just won the battle with the bridgekeeper, ripping out his heart in a desperate bid to save Atreus. He looks off towards the horizon, where Hræsvelg is… and then the distant clouds come together to form a nightmarish visage of ''Zeus's face'', calling out to Kratos in ominous fury. All Kratos can do is mumble Zeus’s name in shock and horror; a cold reminder of his guilt and the path he still needs to walk. And when Kratos demands from Mimir the name of where he saw Zeus's face, Mimir only says, "[[Sincerity Mode Never go there.]]"

** '''''“Kratooooos…”''''' For context, Kratos has just won the battle with the bridgekeeper, ripping out his heart in a desperate bid to save Atreus. He looks off towards the horizon, where Hræsvelg is… and then the distant clouds come together to form a nightmarish visage of ''Zeus's face'', calling out to Kratos in ominous fury. All Kratos can do is mumble Zeus’s name in shock and horror; a cold reminder of his guilt and the path he still needs to walk. And when Kratos demands from Mimir the name of where he saw Zeus's face, Mimir only says, [[Sincerity Mode "Never go there."]]

** '''''“Kratooooos…”''''' For context, Kratos has just won the battle with the bridgekeeper, ripping out his heart in a desperate bid to save Atreus. He looks off towards the horizon, where Hræsvelg is… and then the distant clouds come together to form a nightmarish visage of ''Zeus's face'', calling out to Kratos in ominous fury. All Kratos can do is mumble Zeus’s name in shock and horror; a cold reminder of his guilt and the path he still needs to walk.

*** In the ''Prose Edda'' Thor wore a belt that doubled his strength. If true, given how the series tweaks mythology, then Thor is essentially someone on 'Roid Rage.

** The AdultFear is on Freya's side too as she figured out Krato's name and identity. Once Baldur punched the mistletoe in Atreus' quiver, breaking the spell on him, there was nothing between him and the Ghost of Sparta, whose crimes actually ''surpass'' Thor's.

* The game is absolutely horrifying from the Aesir's perspective; to them, they single-handedly wiped the Jotnar and prevented Ragnarok. They then discover another Jotunn and send Baldur to investigate and get rid of them. Only for Baldur to return defeated from the battle; thinking not much of it, they send Magni and Modi because they were formidable during the Aesir-Vanir war and are prophesied to survive Ragnarok. Only for Modi to return alone and announce Magni's death. The former is then beaten to a pulp by his father and is soon killed by a child not long after he returns to Midgard. They send in Baldur again but he is eventually killed as well, leading to the earliest stage of Ragnarok...

* Seeing Freya absolutely seething with hatred towards Kratos and swearing she will bring upon him unimaginable pain and then parade his corpse across the Nine Realms after the man killed her son Baldur, who by the way was about to kill her. Freya was once your ally and treated Atreus with affection, like an aunt would to her nephew. Kratos trusted her to save Atreus when his illness flared up. To see her so full of hatred and anguish afterwards is both startling and heartbreaking. Keep this in mind: Odin cursed her so she can't use a weapon, not even to defend herself. It's later hinted that she might persuade him to change his mind. [[spoiler: And there is the fact that she was once Queen of the Valkyries. You thought the new Queen Sigrun was tough? Imagine how tough Freya must be when she gets her fighting spirit back!]]

* AdultFear strikes ''hard'' in the final confrontation with Baldur as Freya's attempt to stop the fight binds Kratos but Baldur dodges and incapacitates her. Then to Kratos', and likely the player's, horror Atreus gets between Baldur's punch and Kratos and takes the blow for him, reducing the poor child to a wheezing wreck splattered in blood. [[spoiler: Thankfully the only real harm done to Atreus is the force of the punch knocking the wind out of him as once he recovers his breath, it turns out it's not ''[[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll his]]'' blood.]]
** The AdultFear is on Freya's side too as [[spoiler:she figured out Krato's name and identity. Once Baldur punched the mistletoe in Atreus' quiver, breaking the spell on him, there was nothing between him and the Ghost of Sparta, whose crimes actually ''surpass'' Thor's.]]

* TheStinger after the credits,[[spoiler: Kratos and his son are awakened from their sleep by a storm so violent it threatens to rip their home apart. As the wind howls and lightning rains all over the place they run outside to see Thor's hulking figure waiting for them in all his godly, terrifying glory. No threats, no shouts, no speeches, he simply sweeps his fur cape aside and prepares to draw Mjolnir. The God Of Thunder has arrived.]]

** Atreus starts displaying all too familiar traits including the power of Spartan's Rage. Then it is revealed Atreus is Loki. Loki is suppose to bring forth Ragnarok, which is described in Norse myth as a battle that ends with the gods killed and the world plagued by various natural disasters and swallowed by a great flood. What’s worse is that if the murals of Jötunheimr are any indication what will set Loki off and on to Ragnarok will be the death of his father, (Kratos). Now recall ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'' and how Kratos' own battle against the Olympians, which started with the death of his first family, ended; with the gods killed and the world plagued by various natural disasters and swallowed by a great flood. Despite Kratos' best efforts it would seem Atreus is doomed to walk down the ''exact'' same path as his father.