Kratos is the God of War in Greek Mythology. To put it bluntly, he will be cursed to roam the earth till the end of days. But he can’t bring himself to take his own life, so he’ll probably just get old and die. In spite of this, he simply can’t bring himself to commit suicide, so he’ll eventually succumb to old age. After stabbing himself Skoll and Hati saved him dragging him to the Midgard.
God of War, How Did You Finally Let Kratos Die for the First time?
Kratos had previously only died once, towards the beginning of the first God of War game. Kratos’s wife and daughter were murdered, and his quest in the game was to find the legendary Pandora’s Box and utilize its power to destroy Ares in retaliation. This tragedy was the defining point of Kratos’s life, leaving a permanent scar on his pale complexion. Even though Kratos eventually located the Box, Ares immediately became aware of his whereabouts. He stabbed Kratos with a big spike he hurled and then ran off with the Box.
After Kratos died and went to Hades, his rage and determination were greater than death itself, and he made an effort to climb back up to the land of the living bodily. Fortunately, Kratos had some assistance: a mysterious figure known only as The Gravekeeper (who was revealed to be Zeus in disguise) had built a tunnel down into the Underworld through which Kratos might emerge.
Kratos used the element of surprise to slay Ares after he thought he was dead in order to reclaim his position as God of War at the conclusion of the first game.
Kratos, in God of War II, fought to reverse his own demise.
In God of War II, Kratos meets the same end as in the first game, except this time it’s at Zeus’s hands. Zeus duped Kratos into relinquishing his heavenly abilities during their battle against the animated Colossus of Rhodes because Kratos had been ruthless and haughty throughout his time as the new God of War. Kratos ultimately prevailed, but he was terribly hurt and crippled when the Colossus’s weight pinned him under it during its fall, allowing Zeus to ambush him. After then, Zeus stabbed Kratos to death with the Blade of Olympus.
When Kratos died, he went to the Underworld where he met the Titan Gaia, who used her powers to bring him back to life and send him back up to the surface. Gaia then led Kratos through the game to the Sisters of Fate so that he might reverse time and prevent his own death at Zeus’ hands. He prevailed in the end, however, Athena intervened before Kratos could complete his defeat of Zeus, setting the stage for God of War III.
Thoughts about Kratos in the God of War series
Even though Kratos stabbed himself at the conclusion of God of War 3, his return to Norse mythology is fascinating. Think of it this way, though: he took out the two gods who controlled the underworld and death itself: Thanatos and Hades. Therefore, without them, no one can lead Kratos’s spirit into the underworld. His immortality means that it is impossible to kill him.
The next logical inquiry is why no other gods are still active if this is the case. To be fair, however, we don’t learn anything about the afterlife or the return of any deity’s spirit. So it seems like they just skip on to the afterlife. Similarly to the Norse belief that those who die as a result of old age, sickness, or dishonor go to Helheim while those who die as heroes in combat go to Valhalla, we may imagine a similar system in which those who die as heroes go to a different afterlife. And gods go out on missions as ghosts or reincarnate as superior beings like Athena. The Greek gods created Hades, the realm of the dead, specifically for human souls. When gods like Hermes or Poseidon were slain in the games, natural disasters or plagues broke out all across the earth. Upon their demise, the gods let loose the chaos they personified.
As of right now, Kratos is a cast-out deity. After being beaten up by Baldur in their initial meeting, we later saw him all healed up on his own. Two possible explanations spring to mind: either he still has the healing abilities he gained when Gaia revived him in GOW 2, or he picked up the technique from his second wife Faye. Anyhow, he has murdered and continues to butcher major figures from Greek mythology in the north. It wouldn’t surprise me if he picked up the ability to heal himself along the way. As with any game created by humans, certain questions will remain unanswered. They had to keep certain things under wraps to make the mythology flexible enough to be adapted into a series of games that went on to win several awards.
Conclusion
Kratos has died and then been brought back to life several times throughout the series. Kratos has come dangerously near to death on several occasions, such as when he accidentally stabbed himself with the Blade of Olympus at the conclusion of God of War III and when Persephone almost duped Kratos into giving himself over to the Fields of Elysium in Chains of Olympus. There have been rumors of Kratos’ death and resurrection several times, most notably during the original trilogy, but as far as documented deaths go, he has only died and been reborn three times thus far.