History TearJerker / GodOfWarPS4

** Later, Kratos and Atreus find the remains of the spirit's son, who was betrayed by his own men who didn't take him murdering his father very well. In a note Atreus finds, the son expresses his regret for killing his father to avenged his grandfather, but Kratos says that the son should've thought of that ''before'' killing him.

* Atreus's fate. As Loki he will be father to the Jörmungandr, Fenrir, and Hel, and these will fight against and slay the gods of Asgard at Ragnarok. Kratos's family will continue his legacy of destruction. Kratos's hope for forgiveness and redemption for his crimes is doomed to end in failure.

* The demo shows an elderly and battle worn Kratos teaching Atreus, his son, how to hunt. You'd think there'd be plentiful amounts of him yelling and ripping heads off deer right? You'd be surprised that by now Kratos is not just battle scarred... he's worn out and tired. He just looks like he wants to lie down and sleep. A far cry from the battle hungry Spartan he started out as.

** Even more painful is the fact that he has to hide the Blades of Chaos from his son-- he ''clearly'' hasn't forgiven himself for all of his past misdeeds.
* The entire extended scene of Faye's Funeral, starting with the reveal of her wrapped body in the house up until Kratos gathers her ashes in a bag. You see the sheer defeated and sad look on Kratos' face as he just looks at the remains of Faye and you realize that after everything he went through in the other games, he managed to find some semblance of love and companionship afterwards, only to be lost again.

-->'''Kratos''': Faye... what do I do? Our son is not yet ready... to carry your ashes to the top of the mountain... ''and neither am I''... I do not know... how to do this without you. '''[[{{Beat}} (Beat)]]''' ''But we cannot stay here...''
* Atreus having to take his first human life in self defense (and with his dead body falling on top of the poor kid no less) he understandably begins to break down as Kratos tries to comfort him. It really brings home that, son of The God of War or not, he’s still a child.

** It gets worse. After pulling him out, it's revealed that Atreus had been waiting a "long, long time" for Kratos to come out. WordOfGod revealed that Atreus waited ''"at least a whole day"'' for Kratos while he was in there. And throughout that entire time, he had to [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome fight off a horde of Dark Elves]]. While it's [[BadassAdorable incredibly badass that he pulled this off]], it is terrible to think that he was left to fend for himself a whole day. Atreus is understandably upset, especially at Kratos "leaving him again" after promising not to do so after the fight with The Stranger. Kratos, meanwhile, was completely unaware that he was gone for so long, because [[YearOutsideHourInside for him it felt like "only moments passed"]].

* Even with the death of the Olympians, Kratos ''still'' has his wife and daughter's ashes bound to his skin. His nightmares may be gone, centuries have passed, and he has started over with a new life, but his original sin can never truly be erased. And that's just... ''cruel''.

** Even more painful is the fact that he has to hide them from his son, meaning he ''hasn't'' entirely forgiven himself.

* Even with the death of the Olympians, Kratos ''still'' has his wife and daughter's ashes bound to his skin. His nightmares may be gone, and he has now forgiven himself for his past deeds, but his original sin can never truly be erased. And that's just.... ''cruel''.

*** It has also been [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYAtLHCGho animated]], to the same effect but with the added detail of Kratos' saddened expression to go along with the painful memory of the moment that led to [[IHatePastMe everything he now bitterly regrets]], even more emotionally-powerful than the last example since it pauses the pace of dialogue in order to magnify the aforementioned sin of blind rage-induced murder of his wife and child before concludes the last bit of dialogue...

*** It has also been [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYAtLHCGho animated]], to the same effect but with the added detail of Kratos saddened expression to go along with the painful memory of the moment that led to everything he now bitterly regrets.

*** It has also been [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYAtLHCGho animated]], to the same effect but the added detail of Kratos saddened expression to go along with the painful memory of the moment that led to everything he now bitterly regrets.

*** It has also been [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYAtLHCGho animated]], to the same effect but the added detail of Kratos saddened expression to go along with the painful memory he is sharing of the moment that led to every one of his regrets and losses.

* Meta: The announcement that Kratos' mocap actor, Shad Gaspard, died saving his son from drowning. Makes any quote from Kratos in this game utterly heartbreaking in hindsight.

** Later, Kratos and Atreus find the remains of the spirit's son, who was betrayed by his own men who didn't take him murdering his father very well. In a note Atreus finds, the son expresses his regret for killing his father just so he could prove he was ready to lead, but Kratos says that the son should've thought of that ''before'' killing him.

*** [[GodOfWarRagnarok The sequel]] manages to retroactively make this ''worse'' by revealing that despite being abusive, Thor ''genuinely loved'' both of his sons. Imagine how he felt after he'd come to his senses and realized what he'd done in a drunken rage to his own child, and that poor Modi died believing that his own father didn't love him. Is it any wonder that this incident was what caused Sif to deliver an ultimatum for them both to stop drinking?

*** [[https://youtube.com/shorts/4jIFGxXoOQU?feature=share Somebody played the audio of Kratos telling this story to Atreus over some of the flashback cutscenes of the previous games.]] Hearing the story on its own is one thing, but actually ''seeing'' the events and people Kratos is referring to as he narrates just makes the story even more powerful.

*** A [=YouTuber=] pointed out that this was a repeated line from Zeus in God of War 2, after he stabbed Kratos with the Blade of Olympus. Not only that but Kratos says the line sadly, as if he knows the consequences of killing Baldur and that he's put both himself and Atreus in a deadly position with the norse gods.

* After killing the Mountain Dragon, Atreus is all happy and cheerful about how they went from just hunting lessons to taking down creatures of legend. When Kratos reprimanded Atreus for being too cocky, Atreus replies that it just felt nice to be strong. Which Kratos hesitantly agrees. You can feel the impactful weight since he knows ''all to well'' how being strong is.

-->'''Atreus:''' Sure...I know...It's just...It's good to feel strong. You know?

-->'''Kratos:''' There was... a horse. The horse sought vengeance against his enemy, a stag. But he could not kill the stag alone. The horse met a man, a hunter, and made a deal. He took the man's bit and bridle, and allowed him to ride in a saddle on his back. Together, they killed the stag, and the horse tasted victory...But the hunter would not release the horse, and made a slave of him.\\

'''Kratos:''' ''[Solemn]'' It was not.

* After killing the Mountain Dragon, Atreus is all happy and cheerful about how they went from just hunting lessons to taking down creatures of legend. When Kratos reprimaced Atreus for being too cocky, Atreus replies that it just felt nice to be strong. Which Kratos hesitantly agrees. You can feel the impactful weight since he knows ''all to well'' how being strong is.

'''WARNING: Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies to Tear Jerker pages.'''

-->'''Kratos''': Faye...what do I do? Our son is not yet ready...to carry your ashes to the top of the mountain...''and neither am I''...I do not know...how to do this without you. '''[[{{Beat}} (Beat)]]''' ''But we cannot stay here...''

* The entire extended scene of Faye's Funeral, starting with the reveal of her wrapped body in the house up until Kratos gathers her ashes in a bag. You see the the sheer defeated and sad look on Kratos' face as he just looks at the remains of Faye and you realize that after everything he went through in the other games, he managed to find some semblance of love and companionship afterwards, only to be lost again.

-->'''Mimir:''' He tortures me, you know... Every day, brother. Odin himself sees to it personally and believe me... there is no end to his "creativity". '''Every. Single. Day.''' This... '''This isn't living.'''

** Also worth mentioning in terms of call backs, is a subtle one to Ghost of Sparta. When Kratos comes to rescue his brother Deimos his brother is deeply embittered by Kratos' failure to save him from Ares, and moves to attack him. During this encounter Deimos flat out says "I will never forgive you." Hearing Baldur say the same thing to his mother Freya must have been very haunting for Kratos.

** Another story Kratos tells is that of a frog and his son, who have to leave to find a new home after their pond dries up. When they find a well, the son, seeing water below, makes to jump in, but the father frog stops him, as they would not be able to escape the well should the water in it dry up as well. Atreus complains that the story is boring, remarking that if the son jumped in while the father watches helplessly, unable to save his son, it would make for a better story. If you imagine that this story as another metaphor for Kratos and Atreus, then Atreus jumping down a hole, down a dark path, one that Kratos has been down before and fears he cannot save his son from, [[AdultFear is Kratos' worst nightmare]], and Atreus just [[DramaticIrony casually suggested it would be more interesting.]] And considering what the ending reveals, this may just be the fate of both father and son...