The 10 Craziest Things Kratos Has Survived

The 10 Craziest Things Kratos Has Survived

Welcome to MojoPlays and you don’t get to walk away from the complete destruction of two separate mythological pantheons without facing death more than once!

Elysium

“God of War: Chains of Olympus” (2008) 

The guilt of Kratos accidentally killing his wife and young daughter is one of the driving forces behind the Spartan’s journey of revenge through the Greek pantheon. So of course, if given the chance to see his daughter again, Kratos would have done anything to make that happen. After being haunted by visions of Calliope throughout his journey through the underworld, Kratos is given the chance to remain in Elysium with his young daughter by Persephone in exchange for all the powers and strength he had acquired to get there. Naturally Kratos obliges and is reunited with Calliope only to discover the fate of the world should he remain. One of Kratos’ first trips to the Underworld could have been his last as Persephone easily could have left him captured there unable to do anything to stop the destruction of the world.

Endless Hallucinations

“God of War Ascension” (2013)

After attempting to sever his bond to Ares, Kratos was punished by the Furies for daring to break his oath with endless hallucinations simply for their own entertainment. We have no idea how many different realities Kratos experienced before the events of Ascension but even the few we witnessed would have been enough to drive us mad. From believing he’d successfully killed one of the Furies to Alecto impersonating his wife and leading Kratos to believe he was home and even offering Kratos the chance to live forever in this illusion, it’s very likely anyone besides Kratos could have easily succumbed to the hallucinations and lost their minds in the process.

Roguelike

“God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla” (2023)

Kratos’ journey through Norse mythology didn’t end after the events of Ragnarok, and after accepting an invitation from a secretive host, Kratos finds himself in Valhalla. Here, Kratos battles his way through the labyrinthian maze, battling both enemies and his own demons. Each death brings not only new revelations, but also more challenges. Seemingly unable to escape, Kratos is forced to endure repeated deaths, restarting each run from the beach where he landed and pushing himself further into Valhalla and its secrets with every successful run. Kratos putting himself into the Chamber of Punishment, knowing full well what is about to happen is arguably one of the worst ways Kratos could have died and a direct callback to his actions in Greece when he submitted a Spartan soldier to the same fate.

Falling to His Death

“God of War III” (2010)

As if scaling the cliffs of Olympus on the back of a Titan, battling Poseidon and the entirety of the ocean itself, AND facing down the King of the Gods who also happens to be your father wasn’t already a death-defying stunt unto itself… Kratos’ pathway to end the reign of the Gods was never going to be an easy one, but after finally reaching the top of Olympus and his ultimate goal, Kratos is betrayed once again as Gaia allows him to plummet to what should have been a quick death from the tallest peak in Greece to the literal underworld. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the River Styx drains Kratos of all the strength and powers he’d gained before ascending the cliffs, forcing him to begin his journey to not only reclaim his powers but also his ascension to the throne of Zeus all over again.

Fighting the Ferryman

“God of War: Chains of Olympus” (2008)

Naturally Kratos encountered no shortage of struggles and difficulties during his journey into the Underworld while investigating the events of Chains of Olympus. The Spartan’s first major hurdle comes in the form of Charon, the Ferryman of the Underworld who refuses to grant him passage due to the fact of Kratos still being alive. After Kratos attempts to force the Ferryman’s hand, Charon easily bests Kratos and dumps his lifeless body into the pit of Tartarus to join the legions of the dead. Naturally Kratos doesn’t take kindly to this injustice and eventually gets his revenge on Charon, but as Kratos was pre-God at this point, his first encounter with Charon could have been the end of the Spartan for good had Charon not been so merciful.

Impaled

“God of War” (2005)

With the end in sight, Kratos pushes Pandora’s Box to the outside of the temple. All his struggles within the labyrinth led to this moment in which victory over Ares is at his fingertips. Only for Ares to sense the power of Pandora’s Box and nail a one in a million throw and impale Kratos to the wall with a pillar thrown by the God of War. As if this wasn’t already bad enough, Kratos descends into the pit of Hades along with the hundreds of other souls at the end of their lives. Managing to prevail over even more trials, Kratos emerges from the depths of Hades, having survived all manner of beasts, traps and blades. So, so many blades. In his quest for revenge, Kratos quite literally pulled himself out of the depths of hell itself.

Stabbed

“God of War II” (2007)

 By all accounts, Kratos thrived during his time as the new God of War, with legions of soldiers willing to lay down their lives in pursuit of his conquests. However, this ambition would not go unnoticed and soon, Kratos had drawn the ire of the other Gods of Olympus, and with his assault of Rhodes, Kratos had taken things too far even for the Gods to overlook. Tricking Kratos into syphoning his powers into the Blade of Olympus to claim victory over the Colossus of Rhodes, Zeus then swoops in and then uses the same blade to kill Kratos, stabbing him through the chest with the enormous sword, only to once again be sent to the underworld. His stay is short-lived however, as he is saved once again from death, driven once again by his pursuit of vengeance against the Greek Gods.

Thor

“God of War Ragnarok” (2022)

The anticipation of the climactic clash between Kratos and Thor had been brewing since the teaser at the end of God of War 2018, and while the fight didn’t begin the way many gamers might have expected, it nevertheless led to an epic showdown on the Lake of Nine. However, despite the constant preparation for Ragnarok, Kratos appeared to have forgotten or lost most of his powers between the events of 2018 and Ragnarok as Thor easily mopped the floor with the former God of War. Kratos is easily knocked out and would have been credits on Kratos’ latest Norse adventure had Thor not wanted to face the Spartan at the height of his godly power. With one strike of his mighty hammer, Thor resurrects Kratos from the brink of death and unknowingly sets the events of Ragnarok in motion.

Himself

“God of War III” (2010) 

With all the gods defeated, Olympus is in ruin and at the end of the Greek Pantheon, Kratos stands victorious over the collapse of the world. All is not lost however, as Athena explains that within Kratos lies the power of “hope” and with it, she and what remains of humanity can rebuild. Kratos has had enough of being a pawn of the Gods and triumphantly stabs himself with the Blade of Olympus releasing that hope into the world so that reconstruction can begin without the imposing rule of the Gods. A furious Athena leaves Kratos to bleed out on a mural of a Phoenix, only for Kratos to somehow survive his mortal injuries, this time without the aid of the Gods or the Titans through nothing but his sheer will to live and ends up escaping the apocalyptic wasteland of Greece.

Time

“God of War” (2018)

After narrowly surviving his own attempted unaliving, Kratos not only managed to somehow make his way to Midgard, but seemingly everything else in his way to establishing a new life in the Norse pantheon. However, according to game director Cory Barlog, God of War 2018 takes place roughly 1000 years after the events of God of War 3. Which means, not only did Kratos somehow survive the Blade of Olympus giving him a new breathing hole but also took a millennium to learn how to manage his anger, build a new life and heal his life threatening wounds. This also raises the question about exactly how immortal the Gods of this series truly are and supposing if Kratos kept his head down for the next couple thousand years, could we see a modern-day entry in the God of War series with an even older and more grizzled Kratos? We can only hope. Do you think there’s anything that can finally kill Kratos for good? Share your thoughts in the comments below.