What does Kratos mean? Part I

Well I’ve finally seen the new “Epic Scale” trailer for God of War 3 and I was just blown away! just this CG trailer, but using what could be MGS4 style in-game graphics for the cutscenes, made you feel like you are about to go into something HUGE!, GINORMOUS!, LARGER THEN LIFE! experience and that you could somehow get a heart attack just trying to deal with fighting undead soldier, giant cyclops, not getting tossed hundreds of feet off a Titan and trying to save yourself by hanging on to harpies by catching them in midair while jumping off these walking mountain creatures while all those hundreds of feet of of space between you and the ground are still present… Man! Kratos is so badass!

Anywhooo… What kinda kept echoing in my mind were the lines Kratos spoke during the trailer, yeah I know he doesn’t speak much but that’s kinda Kratos thing when he speaks you listen cause its probably a life or death deal involved in whatever 30 seconds speech he decides to give out; he also almost whispers them, you know why? “To make you listen”. So I’m gonna try to brake it down as I see things going on with K’s words and what it could mean to the future of the game and why I think he could try to pull a One Winged Angel trick in this final instalment as this blog goes along.

“DEATH… IS IN MY BLOOD”

Kratos just before dropping some fools

Obviously this is no new statement for a badass anti-hero like  K, but this is usually a statement brought on by someone who, in many cases, has had all of those close to him die because of actions directly linked to them. I’m guessing being someone of Kratos’ life experience is not such a good thing, you know with the wanting power and selling your soul to the thing closest to the devil in Greek mythology, being betrayed and murdered multiple times (Kratos might literally be referring to the murder in the “Death” statement), etc.

Of course, there are people unaware of Kratos’ history, as to why he thinks death flows within him, as well as the innocent people caught in the line of fire of Kratos’ personal vendetta… So, here is a small list of people closest to Kratos, who were murdered or basically wiped-off the face off the land because of their connection to the fallen God:

• His Wife and Daughter. These two people were special enough to subdue, with just kindness, and love a very angry and power hungry guy. Then some evil jerk tricks Kratos into killing them with his own hands in a blind and murderous rage… I think you can start seeing where Kratos is coming from. I mean Calliope (daughter) must have been very very very special to Kratos to have him sit under a tree, carve a wooden flute and hear her play it in the middle of an open field! You know, Kratos, he is a very hard dude to get to stay still (not even several deaths could do the trick :S ).

Why daddy?! Why?!

• Athena. Yes, she rolls with the Olympus entourage and yes, she kinda slipped the old “Well, technically I said…” trick on Kratos (lame )… but you forget that she was doing it on orders of Zeus and because of his twisted father-son issue with Kratos and actually wanted better for Kratos before her death by trying to free him from that sad destiny. She was also kinda like Kratos’ mentor and sponsor, she kept him in line, advised him, recommended him for the open God of War job position, took compassion of him even after he slaughtered her villages, saved his life twice, she was the only god to try to change Kratos’ power hungry ways after he became a god and gave a good word of him to some gods (maybe to persuade them to take away the nightmares after finishing his services and rightfully compensating him).
  

Dude, I like war as much as the next god, but your taking it too far.

I think those few points above would kinda get her on Kratos’ goodside. So it must have really hurt to put a huge sword through her and see how see gave her life to prevent him from killing his new found true enemy.

• The people and kingdom of Sparta. Well I think this could be a bit more ambiguous point to defend Kratos’ statement with, but lets remember that there was a time, before he became the lone wolf we all know and love, where he bled and fought for this kingdom. His family was from there, maybe some friends and towards the non official end of his reign as God of War the people of Sparta fought in his honour and glory. He was a good god to them by leading them to victory in battle and taking care of them as a good ruler would do for his people. So this an O.G.-street rule back in the days of Zeus: “You take something from me and you can be damn sure I’m taking something from you”. I mean we all saw his reaction when the gods/The Fates tricked him (again!) by making him kill the last survivor of Sparta who was looking for a way to apeace Zeus after his genocidal spree on the kingdom and it’s people just for being close to Kratos.

I think these 3 points could kinda make me see why Kratos is pissed and why he would declare such a bold statement as to link himself so deeply to death itself.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot, I still gotta kick dad's ass.

Another thing that came to my mind when I heard Kratos making his statement is how basically he could be at the end of his rope. Not that he could kill himself as in the first game but I could see him going on very, almost wanting it, careless/suicidal path. Point in case, in the trailer he didn’t even try to fight off the undead soldiers but just went towards them and even let them pile up on him… which I guess he got out of because his third statement woke him up to remember why he has gotten this far. He now basically doesn’t even think twice, he will just charge toward his enemies no matter how big or small, strong or weak, a huge centaur or zombie soldier they could be.

With death in his blood (to paraphrase) he could also be trying to act as an agent of Death… something like the Grim Reaper but the only Grim Reaper capable of taking down the gods definitively because, I’m guessing, normal death couldn’t take down immortals and around that mythology the action of death was ruled by another god (Thanatos) who abided by Olympus’ rules.

So, I´m guessing just his [Kratos] mere presence will soon signify the end of existence for Zeus and his allies.