Fridge / God of War (PS4)

WARNING: Spoilers Off applies to Fridge pages.

Fridge Brilliance

• Historically speaking, the Norseman didn't have a written version of their myths until they opened up trade routes with Greco-Roman societies. In the Germania, the Norse Gods are described using Roman and even Egyptian Gods. Mercury, Mars, Heracles and Isis are mentioned, and are most likely stand-ins for Odin, Tyr, Thor, and Freya, respectively. So it not only makes sense that Kratos would discover another Pantheon of gods, but he'd also discover they're no different from the Greek Pantheon he left behind.
• A lot of the stranger interpretations of the Norse gods make sense if you consider the history beyond Norse mythology and its Germanic and older Indo-European roots. For example, Tyr is responsible for Odin's kinder traits, which is fitting since he’s hypothesized to be the original Top God in Germanic religion due to his name's etymology being shared with Zeus and other heads of pantheons. Frigg and Freya are considered to have been originally the same goddess that for some reason became two in the Scandinavian offshoot of the Germanic religion.
• Atreus' other name, Loki, which is the supposed identity of Jörmungandr's father, made much sense when we remember that in the Norse myth there are multiple giants using the name Loki such as Uthgard-Loki and Logi (representation of fire).
  • In real life, It’s a common practice to use the name from prophetic predictions, such as Mahdi and Meitreya. The Jotunns might be doing the same thing.
  • If Atreus turns out to be the Loki, that raises the question of how Jörmungandr exists, if he ends up fathering Jörmungandr in this interpretation anyway. Well, Mimir mentions in an idle conversation that the battle between Jörmungandr and Thor come Ragnarok will shake the World Tree so violently, it disrupts time-space and sends the World Serpent back in time before his birth.
  • This must also mean the World Serpent, having been sent back in time from the time of Ragnarok, will already exist in Midgard at the time of his own birth. Because the serpent has been sent far enough back in time to meet his own father as a child, this means that two world serpents will have to exist at the same point in time before ‘Ragnarok’. One will then battle Thor and then be sent back in time (continuing to exist in a time travelling loop).
• The ‘Black Rune’ in Tyr’s Vault is blank when Kratos first grabs it, leading him to believe it’s useless. When Atreus picks it up, the Rune appears. Fearing the possibility that Odin or another Aesir might find it, Tyr likely made sure that only a Giant could view the rune (with Atreus being part Jotnar thanks to Faye).
• The Witch being so loving and forgiving makes sense when you consider she’s Freya, the Goddess of Love. While she’s often associated with love the same way Aphrodite was, that also includes unconditional love, as well as having traits of Frigga, the Goddess of Motherhood.
  • Even with that in mind, her willingness to forgive Baldur is still quite likely to stretch one's suspension of disbelief, until you consider that Freya is familiar with Ragnarok. She knows that Baldur's death is more than just the loss of her beloved son, it's the beginning of the end of the world. A being who is defined by love and compassion would be particularly desperate to prevent such an event from taking place.
  • There is also a hypothesis that mythological Freya is actually Frigga, since Freya isn't found in Germanic myth.
  • The mythology states Baldur was a god beloved by all, but the Baldur in this game seemed to only be loved by his mother Freya, possibly by his brother Thor, and disliked or hated by everyone else. Freya, the Goddess of Love, may have spread stories around that made it seem like Baldur was beloved.
• Freya's reaction to Atreus carrying mistletoe arrows suddenly makes a lot more sense after you find out she is Baldur's mother and that mistletoe is Baldur's weakness.
• One of the things Kratos and Atreus find among the treasures is a pharaoh's crown. When Atreus asks of that realm, which Mimir stated to be far away, had any gods and if they were good, Mimir said they did but it wasn't that simple. Egyptian Gods never operated on good or evil but Order and Chaos. To them, it wouldn't matter how 'good' you were if you turned out to be Chaotic - you would bring disaster to them regardless.
• Leaving the vault for the second time, Kratos and Atreus share a bottle of wine acquired from Greece, more specifically the island of Lemnos, which is fairly close to Sparta. While the moment itself is heartwarming, this is the last kind moment they share before Atreus starts abusing his power as the son of a god. Considering their scene before, this is the game subtly pointing out Atreus is becoming drunk with power.
  • Not only that, but given that the wine comes from Kratos' homeland, it's easy to perceive this as Kratos watching his son go on a power lust not too dissimilar to his own past. Drunk on the Dark Side like his own father was once before.
• In Norse myths, Loki's father was Fárbauti whose name means "cruel striker". which is quite fitting for Kratos. Hell, the murals seen at the end of the game refer to Kratos as Fárbauti.
  • In the real world, there is scholarly speculation that many of the Norse gods were allegories for nature. One theory posits that Fárbauti was actually a stand-in for lightning striking earth and creating wildfire (Loki). Remember that Kratos is the son of Zeus, a god of thunder and the sky, and his signature weapons summon magical fire unlike anything else in the Nine Realms, and his role as Loki's father is even more incredibly fleshed out.
• Atreus being a lot more closer to his mother than father mirrors that of mythological Loki, who used his mother's name as surname instead of his father.
• The Leviathan Axe's ability to Summon to Hand at first seems like a handy gameplay mechanic, and another touch of "magical ambiance" the whole world has going. Until you meet the dwarven brothers Brok and Sindri, who explain they made the axe... And they also made Mjolnir. Another magical weapon with the same famous ability to Summon to Hand.
• Why is Kratos so hard on Atreus? Well, look at his upbringing. Not only is he a Spartan, a warrior who went through one of the harshest childhoods ever, but the son of Zeus. Of course he doesn't want his son to turn out like himself. And he admits it at the end of the game. However, he literally does not know how to be a good father, since he was raised in barracks from the age of seven, per Spartan tradition.
  • On the plus side, Kratos never once strikes Atreus outside of a minor sparring match, and while he is callous and cold, he is not cruel to Atreus the way Zeus was to him, or how Kratos himself was to his original family. Maybe he did learn something from his evil past after all.
• According to lore, draugrs are the undead spirits of those that fell into battle, but did not listen the Valkyrie's call to go to Valhalla. One has to wonder how there can be so many undead in this game until they remember that the Valkyries were corrupted and trapped in their physical form in Midgard, which is preventing them from leading the dead to the afterlife.
• After finishing the game, re-watch the start of the fight against the Stranger. Consider the new context Baldur's words and taunts take now that you know he was looking for a Giant, rather than a Greek God with a troubled past. "I thought you'd be taller" indeed.
  • In addition, when he punches a hole in the roof he takes notice that there are two beds and starts asking Kratos who he's hiding. Kratos assumes he's talking about Atreus but what's easily missed the first time is that Balder only notices that there are two beds, because he's looking for Faye. He completely missed that there are THREE pillows.
  • It also explains his antagonistic attitude beyond just being a Jerkass: after all, if your father had consistently drilled into your head hatred for the Frost Giants, then of course you’re going to be taunting them and mocking their supposed “enlightenment.”
    • Takes on yet another meaning when you consider that the Greeks during the time period that Kratos would have existed really did consider themselves more civilized and enlightened than everyone else in the world, including Northern Europeans. Baldur's words are true regardless of whether or not you or Kratos think he's referring to Kratos as a Greek or as a Jötunn.
• In the Norse Mythology, Loki was the one who was responsible for Baldur’s death but he wasn’t the one who personally killed him. He tricked another god into doing it for him. Atreus, who might be the Loki, may have accidentally stabbed Baldur with a mistletoe arrow when the god punched him but it was Kratos who personally killed him.
• The prophecy stated Baldur would die a needless death. Kratos and Atreus gave Baldur the choice to walk away but was killed by Kratos when the god simply would not abandon his hatred for what his mother did to him, despite the "curse" having been lifted and allowing him to feel again. He died a needless death simply because he couldn’t get over his desire for revenge.
  • It's also needless plot-wise, as a) Baldur was a Plot-Irrelevant Villain from the get-go, b) as said above, his reason to be involved in the plot (breaking the curse) had ended and he'd been given a free pass out of it, c) he'd already given the player a climactic boss fight and d) the only real consequence of his death (Freya hating and trying to kill Kratos) only figures into the sequel's plot. The game would have proceeded just the same if Baldur had gracefully bowed out, but he insisted on still being the villain, so he suffered the same fate of most of Kratos's villains.
• It's stated that Thor trusts Baldur. In the Eddas, Thor is the one god most upset at Baldur's death, tossing a dwarf into the pyre.
• Once again, Kratos is hated by the Queen of The Gods for what he has done. Hera hated him for being Zeus' child with another woman and for what he had done to Greece by murdering the Gods and now Freya hates him for killing her son Baldur.
• How come Kratos can still kill gods even when he shouldn't be able to? It may have something to do with the fact that gods in Norse Mythology aren’t exactly immortal. Their form of immortality was very different from real-world mythology. While they couldn't die from disease, they could age and had to eat Apples of Idunn in order to stay young, further anyone familiar with Ragnarok knows they can be killed in battle. The Norse Gods are hard to kill, but they can be killed...
• A bit of gameplay fridge brilliance kicks in if you examine the chest armours' styles you can get in game, the single pauldron gives you mainly strength build, perfect for the leviathan axe which is a strength build weapon, the breastplate style gives you a boost usually to def and vitality, the tank build, and the double pauldrons style boosts runic which the Blades of Chaos are runic based, even note that the single pauldron style is on his right arm, the arm he uses for the axe, whereas the double style is obviously because he uses both arms to wield the Blades of Chaos.
• Crosses over into Horror a little, but when Kratos is heading back to his home to retrieve the Blades of Chaos, a thunderstorm kicks up. This is a case of Empathic Environment, as the world is reacting to Atreus, aka Loki, being near death from Modi's attack. This is a clear nod to the effects caused by a Greek God dying in the previous game since Atreus is technically one too.
  • Word of God said that the eye of the storm is located on their house. As foreign gods (Atreus by blood), the only place they can call their domain is their home.
  • Another possibility is that the universe was freaking out, trying to figure out how to handle a theoretical situation of Loki dying well in advance of his destined time after beginning Ragnarok. If Kratos hadn't managed to find the means to save him, we could have been looking at a Time Crash.
  • As people have noticed, Kratos believed himself mortal and didn't have the problems Atreus did. However, at the end of the game it's revealed that Atreus is part giant, meaning the discrepancy is that Kratos is part deity, while Atreus is part deity and part giant.
  • Its also worth noting that all the lightinging and thunder might be due to the fact that Thor, the thunderer, should right around that point be beating the ever loving shit out of Modi for the death of Magni.
• Kratos' Blades of Chaos cause the burn status, are capable of igniting things that no Nordic flame can, and were forged by Ares, the former Greek God of War. Kratos' literally brought Greek Fire to Midgard.
• Helheim:
  • When the Stranger, along with Kratos and Atreus were trapped in Helheim, the Stranger was tortured by Hel's visions meant to be for souls of criminals. The stranger, a.k.a Baldur, saw the vision of when he tried killing his mother after receiving the curse that gave him his invulnerability (and loss of senses). After seeing that vision, Baldur dropped and cry that he's a coward. While it could be seen that he's crying because his past failed to commit matricide, it takes another meaning when connected to Prose Edda, where Baldur become depressed when he had the same prophetic dream of his death as his mother Frigga (here in God of War is another name of Freya). In Prose Edda, this dream and depression of Baldur is what convince his mother to make him invulnerable. He could be partly blaming himself as well for his loss of senses
    • Speaking of the Stranger, just how did he escape Helheim? Depending on how one played the game, there are two possibilities. First, he simply climbed his way out and back to the temple, no one present because they were all busy. Second, one of the Valkyries rescued him.
  • When in Helheim, Kratos is tortured by visions of killing Zeus, despite the magnitude of his past sins. However, Kratos killed Zeus after forgiving himself for those sins, and learned that Zeus acted out of fear, in the previous game. That was the only specific sin the realm could use on Kratos.
• Kratos guiding Atreus so he can shoot a boar and Atreus is eventually able to do it himself. Boars are regarded as a sacred animal to Ares, the Greek god of war and Kratos' former master. The game is basically about Kratos moving forward, accepting his new life and bonding with Atreus. Him and Atreus start genuinely bonding while hunting the boar as it symbolizes Kratos' dimming blood-lust. But when the Witch forces them to heal it, Kratos is immediately told that he can't and shouldn't hide from his past. This was most likely an unintentional case of symbolism, but interesting nonetheless.
• Tyr was a near-universally beloved figure in the setting by both Aesir and Jotun, as well as Greeks, Egyptians and whatever pantheon he interacted. Considering one of Tyr's domains besides war was also justice, he would be The Cape in Norse mythology which goes a long way explaining why is he so likable.
  • This would also explain how Baldur and presumably every other Norse god knows about the existence of the Greek pantheon, as they were one of the many pantheons Tyr met in his travels.
• During one of the boat rides Atreus asks for a story and Kratos tells him of the Stag, the Horse and the Human which is subtle hinting at his own backstory. The Barbarians represented The Stag who were about to kill Kratos who makes a deal with Ares to destroy them as The Horse did with The Human. Ares does but from then on like with The Horse and The Human, Kratos is now a slave to Ares and The Gods.
• There is no way to know if this was intentional, but as is noted on the Nightmare Fuel subpage, when Atreus angrily rants at Sindri for always complaining about Brok, a thunderstorm starts as he rants. In the original greek myths, Ouranos' weather powers were not inherited by Kronus, but Zeus got them. Since Kratos also doesn't have them, maybe they always skip a generation.
• Over at YouTube, many have made the guess that the reason Jörmungandr so quickly responds to Atreus' call during the climax battle is because Atreus is really Loki, in other words, he would be Jörmungandr's father. While it's not confirmed if they'll be related like that in the game's universe, one conversation with Mimir reveals that Jörmungandr said Atreus looked familiar to him, which certainly supports the idea. In other words, Jörmungandr wasn't just being nice to two random travelers, he was saving his own father. Or at the very least, someone he already knew from the future.
• It would seem a little odd that Odin would intentionally corrupt the Valkyries, as it is they who are responsible for guiding the souls of warriors who died in battle to Valhalla, where they will join him in battle come Ragnarok. Why would the Allfather want to deny himself a growing army of the most badass mortal warriors ever assembled to fight beside him in Ragnarok? Because: A. He knows he’s not well loved by anyone outside of the Aesir, and he knows that the Valkyries are more loyal to Freya than he. And then the mural in Jotunheim reveals Kratos will, in the near future, be killed by something or someone. As Odin is desperately trying to stop Ragnarok from happening, he likely foresaw the Valkyries aiding Kratos in escaping Helheim, and reasoned that to keep Kratos in Helheim, it would be best to remove what may be his only means of escape. Thus, in his eyes, preventing Ragnarok and any need to bolster his forces.
  • Odin might have corrupted the Valkyries so that the sheer number of undead will slow down the Jotnar army, since they're the ones that are supposed to kill him.
    • It could be even worse. Rather then hoping for the dead to help in the fight Odin decided he had enough warriors. At that point with the Vanir in the picture or not, the Valkyries are now a threat rather than a benefit.

Regardless of their function to balance the world, he needs them out of the picture to satisfy his paranoia.

• Ragnarok answers this: corrupting the original Valkyries got them out of the way while he replaced them with Gna, Hrist, and Mist, who were unquestioningly loyal to him and wouldn't complain when he started using the Einherjar as his own personal army even before Ragnarok.

• Early in the game, Kratos instructs Atreus to "distract" enemies for him rather than actually engage them himself. In other words, he's trying to instill The Trickster mentality in his son by having him use trickery as his primary tool. And who's the most well-known trickster in Norse Mythology? Why the Trickster God himself, Loki.
• The three lingering plot-holes between this game and the previous are: How did Kratos survive impaling himself, where did he get the Blades of Chaos, and why did he keep them. As the first fight with Baldur shows, Kratos has a Healing Factor that he has limited control over. We still don't know where he found the blades, but he took them with him when he went north because what was left of Greece was over run with monsters from his rampage and they would be the only magic weapons left at that point. Kratos tried to throw the Blades of Chaos away, but something kept sending them back, and he ultimately decided to bury them under his house.
• It seemed Kratos has gotten the ability to defy what must come to pass after he killed the Sisters of Fate. He manages to kill Magni, who is fortold to survive the events of Ragnarok with his brother, Modi. Also, he also indirectly causes Modi's death because of Magni's death. Finally, he was the one who kills Baldur, which sets off the beginning of Ragnarok several centuries before it is foretold to happen.
• During one of his stories, Mimir will reveal that he was originally "an errand boy and part-time jester to a Fairy King" and that he and his mates used to be called "Goodfellows". In other words, he either is or at least knew Puck. During the course of the main story, he reveals that he has knowledge of Greece. A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in Greece (Athens to be precise). It's entirely possible that AMND actually happened in God of War canon!
• Atreus is hardly affected by his father's supernatural strength and feats but Atreus has been ill for most of his life and hasn't even left the forest area until the start of the game. He wouldn't know that most people cannot lift a fallen tree with one arm or move a building-size contraption with their bare hands; he has naturally assumed that people like his father are the norm.
  • And in hindsight, given who his mother was, it's likely that she too was super strong, so Atreus really has no point of comparison for how strong normal people should be.
• An easy to miss detail on Atreus: his facial scars mimic Kratos' tattoo. While his uncle Deimos had the same mark, it also serves as a cue that Atreus is much like his father.
• Atreus's gift for languages may not come solely from his mother. While she is clearly a talented and possibly mystical stonemason like Thamur, it is possible that Kratos's affinity with magical artifacts and relics also influenced his son's divine powers. Throughout previous God of War games, Kratos has acquired or created mystical artifacts and expertly used them with little to no training. It is possible that this ability to expertly utilise mystical artefacts translated to Atreus' gift for learning languages with almost no external assistance.
• As most people already know, there's a pretty fun nod to Avengers: Infinity War in the form of the Gauntlet of Ages an Expy of the Infinity Gauntlet, what most people don't know is that the way the game delivers the infinity stones of God of War mirrors Infinity War, the Eye of the Outer Realm (the Space Stone) is found during the course of the story and Muspelheim Eye of Power (the power stone) can be bought from Sindri and Brok, the easiest to obtain mirroring how Thanos started out the film with these two stones, Andvari's Soul (the soul stone) is, ironically, obtained after they show mercy to Andvari and get his willing help, the opposite way on how Thanos obtained the stone, and Asgard’s Shard of Existence, Ivaldi’s Corrupted Mind and Njord’s Temporal Stone are obtained by fighting the Valkyries, just as how Thanos had to fight the heroes to obtain the reality, mind and time stone.
• How Kratos and Atreus react upon doing a sidequest most likely mirrors the thoughts of players doing a sidequest in any other open ended game - The former doing them just to level up their gear while the latter is roleplaying as a straight up hero.
• During the second trip up the mountain, Atreus asks if Kratos left his home because he used the Blades of Chaos to kill a god. He isn't entirely wrong- Kratos did use the blades to kill a god - his daughter Calliope.
• Throughout the game, Kratos usually calls Atreus "boy," and occasionally uses his given name, but he never calls him "son" except on two occasions, one which is at the very end. This may in fact be because that word reminds him of his own father, Zeus, who would often refer to Kratos as "my son." He didn't find the strength to feel comfortable using the word until he finally learned to reconcile his past.
• At some point, Freya figured out who Kratos is, as she addressed him by name before the final boss despite never getting a formal introduction. Obviously, Tyr was the one who would've relayed the knowledge of Kratos' existence since he had a vase of the latter in his vault. When they first met, she knew Kratos was a foreign deity. She also knew that the Leviathan used ice magic, despite Kratos never canonically using the axe in front of her. When Kratos left for Helheim, the land of unyielding cold where no magic in the nine realms could start a fire, he said he had to dig up his past, holding his arm. When he returned, Kratos had his blades back, which even Brok knew were foreign magic. It was at some point after this that Freya connected the dots and realized who he was.
  • This could also qualify for Fridge Horror. Because of the above, Freya realized that she had been helping the Ghost of Sparta, the same person who had ravaged an entire pantheon of gods... so imagine what's going through her head when that same man ends up fighting her son.
• The game is notably absent of quick-time events... with one exception during the final battle with Baldur. A keen eye will notice that all of the QTEs in this case control Atreus, making the entire sequence a beautifully meta Passing the Torch moment.
• In their first trip through the cave, Atreus investigates the leftover sky lanterns, eventually figuring out how to use them. While leaving Helheim, Atreus compares Kratos making their boat airborne to making a giant sky lantern. Chances are that's where Kratos got the idea.
• The hook that Kratos’ Leviathan Axe rests on looks unmistakably like an Omega character, symbolizing that his past is literally right behind him.
• Before Kratos and company enter the World Serpent's belly to retrieve Mimir's eye, Atreus says he's had dreams about being eaten. This is foreshadowing that Atreus can see the future. Same goes for after The Stinger, where Atreus mentions having a dream of Thor attacking them.
• As said above, Baldur shares some of Kratos' former characteristics - rage and a need for revenge against a certain parent. But looking at Atreus and Baldur, they share a lot of identifying features - blue eyes, brown hair, lean build, runes tattooed on them - as well as disdain for a parent. Baldur is not just a foil to Kratos and Atreus, embodying what the former was and what the latter could become, but also embodies the cause of strife in the entire series: an angry, albeit justified, person rebelling against a cruel parent.
  • Yet for all the similarities, there are differences. Atreus had Faye to talk to and Kratos did open up to him, plus he only had a few years to develop a grudge. Kratos had Athena, who tried to help him but couldn't bring herself to defy Zeus. Also, Kratos knows he's as much to blame for his decades-long grudge as the Olympians were. Lastly, both father and son could at least enjoy themselves somehow (food, hunting, other stimuli). Baldur had no one to help him with something that was entirely not his fault, and could only stew in his anger as it grew for a century, with no means to cope because he couldn't feel anything. Utterly tragic and saddening, but understandably why he was so far gone.
• Baldur's absorbing both ice and fire and use it himself seems to come out of nowhere during the final battle, especially as he is supposed to be the norse God of Light with no active association over fire and ice. However, unlike Greek Gods which mostly born with their power over certain domains (Zeus over lightning, Poseidon over oceans, and Hades over souls), Norse Gods are capable taking their power for themselves (Odin and Freya are both being God of Magic and War due to their active participation in their domain). In this sense, it's not so strange for Baldur to take ice and fire as his own power. It's likely that Baldur's love/insanity over the feeling of these two elements allows him to take them as his own strength.
  • Now Zeus, Poseidon and Hades may not have been the best examples, since those three won their respective spheres of influence from drawing lots. Heck, they only got the right to draw lots in the first place by winning the Titan War. The game series took a lot of creative liberties and thus changed many things established in the myths to suite the story. If the God of War games are all you have to go on, most people wouldn't even realize Zeus NEVER had the ability to conjure lightning ex nihilo – that was a gift from the Cyclopes and one of the few details the many versions of the Greek myths actually agree on. The point still stands though. The vast majority of Greek deities were born with their domains and powers.
• A very obvious one: Kratos tells Atreus the tale of The Tortoise and The Hare, a story which of course originates from Kratos' Greece.
• Mimir and the Jotun shrines tell a lot of stories. Some of the stories are very old ones, but others are ones which Loki should have been involved in, such as the story of Asgard's Wall. Loki notoriously turned into a mare and became pregnant in order to distract the builder's horse from completing the wall. Heck, BROK'S story involves him making a bet with Loki that Loki loses. Despite this, Loki's name never comes up. Why? Because he is Atreus and Atreus being a kid has done none of this things!
• When Freya is introduced saving the boar that Atreus and Kratos were hunting, Atreus asks her if the boar will die to which she responds “I will not let him”. This is not only a subtle hint towards her past and connection with Baldur but it also crosses over into horror by suggesting that she may place the same curse on the boar to stop him from dying as well (which she may have done when she “healed” him after getting the ingredients from Kratos and Atreus).
• Loki is The Trickster, the God of deception. After the worldwide success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, players would probably start this game wondering where Thor and Loki are. It turns out that Loki was Hiding in Plain Sight as Kratos' son.
• In Helheim, Kratos is shocked to discover that dying of old age is considered a dishonorable way to die and doing so will bar you from entering Valhalla. The reason why Kratos is shocked is that the elderly are actually venerated in Sparta because they survived enough battles in their lifetime to reach old age.
  • Kratos isn't worried about Faye being in Helheim when Mimir goes over dishonorable deaths. She went down fighting.
    • There's also the fact that Faye was a Giant, and they go to the Lake of Souls upon death.
• In Atreus's dream, Thor makes an appearance in clothes that cover his entire body and when Ragnarok revealed Thor's beefy build, it's in stark contrast to Atreus's dream. There is an actual justification for this, Atreus has never seen Thor before and has only ever seen statues of him. Because of this, Thor's appearance in the dream more resembles the statues than the actual person.
• Modi is characterised as a bully with an abrasive personality who likes to target people weaker than himself and makes fun of them by targeting recent tragedies to upset/enrage them. Modi's theme for the boss battle with his half-brother is the extended version of the Troll boss theme.
• Kratos can find Hel-Walkers inside of chests on rare occasions. It seems confusing why would an enemy hide inside of a chest waiting for the player at first, until you remember that the boxes Kratos opens for treasure are actually caskets, and the Hel-Walkers, reanimated corpses. The ones the player fights most likely came back still inside of their tombs and were trapped within until Kratos opened them.
• Mimir appears to be outright afraid of Helheim. While the place is confirmed to be quite horrifying to be in anyway, Mimir is a detached head kept alive by magic - Helheim is a barren wasteland with little life, so if Kratos and/or Atreus were to die there, Mimir would be forever trapped wherever his head lands, unable to move, without anyone to help (or kill) him. No wonder he wants the people carrying him to leave the place as quickly as possible.
• During their boat ride Kratos delivers many Laconic renditions of Aesop's Fables. The word laconic comes from Laconia, the region of Greece that Sparta is in.
• Baldur's immortality makes him unable to feel, taste or smell anything. So how did he manage to become the best tracker in the Norse pantheon? He still has the ability to see and hear. Since those are the only two senses he has left, and since he absolutely resents his condition, he probably hyper-focused on any visual or auditory stimuli in an attempt to feel something. The ability to notice minute details would greatly help any tracker. Plus, there's the fact that he can't get fatigued or hurt, and probably doesn't need to sleep; which would allow him to simply keep marching towards his target without stopping until he catches up with it.
• Magni's beard is in the chin beard category (likely an Old Dutch beard style) and this style of beard does correlate with Magni's character. Magni's beard distinctly lacks a moustache, which is ironic because moustaches were generally associated with war as they are often part of the uniform in some military services and thus shaving it was considered a rejection of militarism and a declaration of pacifism, which goes against Magni's lust for battle. However, the game has a strong theme about the horrors of war and the impact of trauma on its survivors as Kratos wants Atreus to be better than him and avoid learning his history as a god slayer. Magni, on the other hand, has no understanding of the true weight of war and looks for fights because he's never been challenged before due to being one of the strongest Aesir demigods. So, Magni lacking a moustache largely reflects how he has nothing in common with the wise and disciplined soldiers and comes across as a callow glory-seeker in comparison to Kratos, who has the knowledge and experience to understand that war isn't a game and not something to be taken lightly.
• While the player, as Kratos, can use Spartan Rage whenever the rage meter is full, making him nigh-unstoppable and boosting his strength, there are only three times when the game will prompt the player to activate it, potentially making them the only "canonical"/storyline times the ability is used, and each time it happens, it's when Atreus is in danger. In fact, the ability doesn't become available to the player until the first fight with Baldur, appearing once Baldur realizes there's someone else inside the cabin and that if Kratos won't talk, maybe whoever is inside will. The second time is in Alfheim, when Atreus is taken by Svartáljǫfurr, the third time is when Modi attacks the pair in Tyr's vault, where the prompt appears right after Atreus falls unconscious from the strain of trying to use his powers.
• When Baldur ambushes Kratos and Atreus at the first gate to Jotunheim, Kratos tosses Baldur at the pillar of it and destroys it. Most would see it as an example of Kratos letting his rage get the best of him and destroying their, at the time, only way to Jotunheim. However, during their travels, Mimir said that Odin has interest in Jotunheim, especially Thor, the Giant Killer, and at the time, Kratos and Atreus have no idea that the Giants are all dead. Kratos didn't destroy it because he got too mad, he destroyed it because Baldur just found a way into the realm, and Kratos would rather risk never completing Faye's final wish than to let Baldur and Odin have it.
• Baldur is basically a Nordic version of Kratos at his worst, so it's only appropriate that he's defeated by a representation of Kratos at his best; Sindri gave him the mistletoe arrows because Kratos saved his life (possibly Kratos's first unambiguously heroic deed), the arrowhead wasn't burned with the others because Kratos used it to fix Atreus's quiver (showing his fatherly love), and it hits Baldur because Atreus loved his father and acted to protect him.
• Kratos is reluctant to give the Leviathan Axe to the Huldra Brothers for upgrading, but he shows no hesitation with the Blades of Chaos. Not only does he not have the emotional connection to them that he does to the axe, he also knows that the dwarves couldn't steal them if they tried.
• When Kratos discovers the vase depicting his old self in Tyr's Vault, this is likely the first time he's truly seen his rampage in III the same way the people of Greece did. He isn't portrayed as a man or even a furious god, but as an unstoppable monster wielding blood-stained blades and leaving nothing but death in his wake. No wonder the vase shook him the way it did; it's one thing to know the atrocities you've committed, but it's another to see them through the eyes of your victims.
• Kratos isn’t the only Greek relic who’s changed for the better; his blades have, too, and their upgrades reflect this. In past games, the Blades of Chaos got bigger and sharper as they were upgraded, gaining jagged edges, spikes, and markings resembling volcanic rock. Here, they still get bigger and sharper, but in a more elegant, refined way. Their jagged edges are now smooth and polished, the spikes are gone, and the red markings are replaced with engraved runes. Even their hilts begin to look less like vicious monsters and more like vigilant gargoyles. The Blades of Chaos have gone from destroyers to protectors, just as their master has.
• "Leviathan" is an adjective meaning "large or formidable". Who was the Leviathan Axe made for? That's right, a Giant.
• When Kratos and Atreus save Sindri from Hraezlyr, it's noted that the dwarves' ability to avoid sight by slipping into the Realm Between Realms doesn't work on dragons. Now, although Hraezlyr is not based on any specific part of Norse mythology, the dragons Fafnir, Otr, and Reginn are - and they were not born as dragons, but as dwarves. Perhaps it's not so surprising that they're able to see through dwarven realm-shifting...

Fridge Horror

• The deer that Atreus hunts at the very start of the game is clearly supernatural due to the glowing marks in its body. Much later in the game, they hunt a boar with similar features but we find out from Freya that its not a common boar, but a (barely) sentient shapeshifter locked in a boar form and said to be the Last of His Kind. What if the deer that they killed also happened to be a similar being too?
  • At least we know he's not in the "Last of His Kind" boat the boar was in, because you see at least one other stag like him a few times around Freya's hut. But since there is a herd of this kind of deer in her forest (Assuming the many doe are of the same magical "species", regardless of if this is natural) the chance she befriended that specific deer is higher too.
  • In addition to the above, consider this: Atreus can hear the thoughts of animals. Meaning that, as Kratos was telling Atreus to finish the job, Atreus could likely hear the deer begging for mercy. Really casts a new light on the boy's hesitation, doesn't it?
• Kratos releases the power of Hope to the world after he 'kills himself' in the ending of III. This is definitely a good thing, yes, since it helped the world recover after Kratos thoroughly ruined it, but what about the evils that infected the other gods? We saw the evil essence leaving Zeus after he was beaten by Kratos, and it's never revealed where it went afterward. Chances are those same evils that were unleashed when Kratos killed all those gods might have gone to infect some other gods in other places, which might explain the Norse gods' Adaptational Villainy. And since this game heavily implies that there are other gods other than the Greek and the Norse as well somewhere else in the world, it doesn't bode well for the future of humanity.
  • The fallacies of naive or reckless Hope appear within several characters. As mentioned above, Odin's a prime example of a villain, whose refusal to accept their fate has contributed to their evil. However, characters such Tyr and Freya also highlight the negative aspects of Hope with the formers hope's for peace leading him to nearly betray the Giants to Odin and the later's desperate desire to protect her son from harm leading her to destroy his life and sanity in the vain hope of staving off his doom. Even Kratos highlights the risks of Hope, with his desire to conceal his past and divinity from his son causing serious turmoil between the two and nearly killing Atreus. Athena may well have been right when she said mankind would "not know what to do with" the Hope Kratos released onto the world.
  • Considering that Odin was said to have unfairly killed Ymir and done many other atrocities very early on in his reign and the existence of the Norse world, and that it is unlikely Kratos lived his solitary life longer than an entirely new creation and rise of a pantheon and the presumed rebuilding of his original world on top of that, this likely is not the case. Which also leads to another kind of Fridge Horror: Odin and the other Aesir really are this horrible, all on their own, without any excuse or outside force...
  • In the God of War canon, each region with its own myths and gods (basically every region) is essentially its own separate world. Kratos murdering the Olympians and then "killing" himself may have had far-reaching effects on Greece, but places like Scandinavia, Egypt, Mesoamerica, etc, would've been completely unaffected because they have their own myths.
• It's pretty much prophesied that Kratos will die in Atreus'/Loki's arms, and will be the trigger for Ragnarok, but what's to stop Kratos from coming back from the dead (he's done it multiple times before) and witnessing the end of the world AGAIN, but this time by his own son's hands?
  • Word of God said that Kratos is the sole playable character of God of War, hence this theory might be more true than we think.
• Atreus actually being Loki is extremely horrifying when one remembers the fate of Loki in the original myths, namely becoming entangled in the entrails of his dead son(s), and having poison dripped into his eyes. Additionally, since the freeing of Loki from this prison brings about Ragnarok in the myths, and the implication of Kratos' death being what marks the beginning of Ragnarok in the games, Kratos, being who he is, will most likely free Atreus from his torment only to die in the process, bringing about the end of the world. Make of that what you will.
  • Also, assuming Jörmungandr being temporally displaced is foreshadowing of him actually being Loki's child after all, this kid retains Loki's sexual deviancy. He will go on to have sex with a horse and getting troll-abortions.
    • Well he is the grandson of the Zeus. The god that dragged Europa in the body of a bull and had ant-on-ant sex with Eurymedousa.
    • Though this is understandably averted, at least with Sleipnir, if you dig a bit deeper into the game, as he is already born and the circumstances of his birth (the builder of the walls of Asgard having simply finished his work, rather than Loki having to distract his horse, and a small image of a distinctly eight-legged horse is shown already in one part of the game) did not occur. This presumably leaves Atreus and Sleipnir Unrelated in the Adaptation.
• After the end of the game, you can go back to the witch's home to trigger conversation where Atreus and Mimir warned Kratos about how it's a bad idea to see Freya when she's still enraged, as well as how she might be planning Kratos' death at that very moment. Atreus also wonder if she will resurrect Baldur like she did Mimir. Mimir doesn't believe that Freya will bestow such unpleasant fate to her own son. Given that in the original myth Baldur is resurrected after Ragnarok..... One might wonder if Mimir is wrong on this one.
• Kratos' adventure was likely recorded by Odin's ravens. In fact, it's not a stretch to say Odin already knows who Kratos is, given that Freya addressed Kratos by name before the final boss fight, likely with the same magic she taught Odin. Could Odin have sent his son and grandsons to die at Kratos' hands in a twisted plan to thwart Ragnarok?
  • It could be worse: Thor is Odin's top enforcer, and second to Odin in power. In-game, Thor fought the World Serpent to a standstill, in a battle felt across all nine realms. Meanwhile Baldur knocked the serpent out in three hits, his curse allowing him to hit as hard as he physically could without risk of injury. Magni and Modi are supposed to survive Ragnarok and become stronger then Thor. Given that Odin is described by Mimir as seeking to take out any potential threat to his rule, he could've done simply that by siccing them on Kratos.
• One question from the end of the game that has no comforting answer. who killed the giants in Jotenheim? The most obvious answer would be Odin except that is not even remotely possible due to the shear number of hoops Kratos and Atreus had to traverse just to get there. AND even that was all with the guidance of one of the giants and a all-knowing ally. Yet some how every giant was killed in their home realm in spite of the fact that they locked it away precisely to save themselves. Which leaves just one question: Who are they, Where have they been through all this? what do they want?
  • There is one possible answer - those giants who did escape to Jotunheim were already badly wounded by Thor by the time they were able to cross the bridge, and they all died of their wounds over time.
  • Ragnarok finally clears this up: nobody. The corpses were faked just in case Odin managed to get into Jotunheim.
• It may have been for the best that Atreus killed Modi. Modi's last words were a retort to Atreus' line about him and Kratos' being gods. If they let him live, he could've had a light-bulb moment and warned Baldur. While Atreus did say he was a god when Baldur ambushed them, that situation devolved so fast he likely forgot about it, but mulling it over during the trip up the mountain? He could've called for back-up.
  • At this point, I don't think it'd matter to Baldur. He's shown to be very confident in his invincibility in his first fight as the Stranger, and he thinks Kratos and Atreus are Jotnar (a race definitely capable of matching gods in combat), so he probably wouldn't think it would make much of a difference.
• When Kratos uncovers the Blades of Chaos, the Norse lyrics are "Útlægr Gud Smán födur Von modur Und svídur Ger fortíd upp." In English: "Exiled god, Father’s shame, Mother’s hope, Wounds remain. Confront the past." Faye, being a Jotnar, knew what would happen to Atreus, but felt powerless to change anything because of her goal to defeat the Aesir. Even if she knew he'd be fine, that had to have been nearly impossible to hide from her family.
• One other part of the Jotunheim mural after the scene of Kratos's death is still partially intact - Atreus walking alone, his father gone, and only two wolves to keep him company - Skoll and Hati, the great wolves destined to consume the sun and moon. Even if Kratos manages to conquer death one more time and crawl out of Helheim, Atreus will likely still be halfway down the path to becoming Loki proper by the time he escapes.
  • Alternatively, it just shows that Atreus will survive Ragnarok and set out on his own with the wolves. Though that implies that whatever happens to Kratos, he can never be with his son again.
• This game establishes that a mortal not realizing they are a god can affect their development, causing sickness in them at times. Kratos admits that he was born a god due to Zeus being his father, meaning that Calliope's sickness in the original God of War series was a result of Kratos unwittingly harming her due to his godly nature being passed to her.