God of War - The story so far

The original God of War introduces us to Kratos, a warrior for the Greek Gods of Olympus. Once a captain in the Spartan army that was defeated, upon is death he called upon Ares to empower him, thus dedicating himself to Ares service.

Kratos was then instructed to fight in whatever Ares wanted him to, little knowing that Ares was also working against him. Due to his machinations, Kratos killed his own wife and daughter, causing Kratos to renounce his service and swear he would do whatever it took to kill the gods of Olympus.

Kratos works alongside the other gods in an attempt to make it to Ares and wreak his vengeance, travelling across worlds and performing quests for Poseidon, Zeus and Athena. As Athena instructs him to recover Pandora’s Box from Ares, he opens it and becomes unbelievably powerful, giving him the strength he needs to take on Ares one-on-one.

After a fierce battle, Kratos kills Ares and becomes the new God of War.

As the new God of War, Kratos is shunned by the other gods. Despite warnings, he joins the spartan army to attack Rhodes, during which he ends up having to fight the Colossal of Rhodes.

It turns out this was all created by Zeus, who asks Kratos to be loyal to the gods. Kratos, being Kratos, refuses and is killed by Zeus.

Kratos is dragged back to the underworld, or at least almost. He’s saved by Gaia, one of the Titans that Zeus betrayed. Gaia gives instructions to Kratos so that he can exact his revenge upon Olympus, and Kratos sets off to save Gaia’s brother, Typhon, and kill Theseus.

Kratos travels the world, facing off against much opposition such as the Sisters of Fate (who try to change the future), and other creatures of myth and legend such as the Gorgon. Obviously, Kratos defeats all of them and makes it to his final goal of mount Olympus itself.

The game ends with Kratos killing Athena and bringing back the Titans of old, stating that he will destroy Olympus with their help and kill all the gods for what they have done to him. 

God of War III picks up directly from the end of God of War II. Kratos and the Titans ascend Mount Olympus to kill the gods, and they manage to kill Poseidon.

However, the Titans betray Kratos and reveal they were simply using him as a pawn. Kratos falls into the river Styx and loses the Blade of Olympus and Athena.

Athena tells him he must kill Zeus, so Kratos travels through the underworld to kill Hades, release the souls of the underworld and inevitably escape himself. Kratos encounters and kills Gaia, while she begs for his help. 

Kratos ascends, murdering Perses and Helios, fighting to make his way to Zeus. Kratos continues his killing spree, killing Hercules, Hephaestus and Hera before finally reaching Zeus.

Kratos attacks Zeus when he finds Pandora’s Box empty, but Gaia returns and Kratos yet again has to kill her. Kratos also believes that he’s killed Zeus, but the spirit of Zeus attacks Kratos and removes his weapons/powers.

Kratos, being the badass he is, pushes the spirit of Zeus back into his body and beats him to death.

Athena demands that Kratos give back whatever was in Pandora’s box, before realising the truth. When Kratos opened the box, evil escaped and corrupted the gods, but Kratos was filled with hope.

Kratos kills himself in an attempt to give the world at large his power, but a scene after the credits implies that Kratos had survived this, leaving behind his old life.

This one is a prequel, set before all of the other games. Kratos begins the game imprisoned, chained and being tortured by the Furies for breaking his oath to Ares.

As you’d expect (and know by this stage), Kratos manages to break out inevitably. Flashing to three weeks prior, we discover that Kratos has been having visions instructing him to find the Oracle of Delphi, but he arrives too late.

The Oracle has been mortally wounded by Castor and Pollux, and in her final breath the Oracle gives Kratos the quest of retrieving the Eyes Of Truth. Kratos kills Castor and Pollux before pulling the Amulet of Uroborus from their corpses, then he makes his way across the oceans to Delos, a journey that changes him forever.

Once Kratos arrives at the island of Delos, he’s captured by the Furies, but is rescued by Orkos. As Orkos gives Kratos his Oath stone and retrieves the eyes of the Oracle, the Furies capture him yet again and take everything off him.

As we flash forward to the present day, we discover that Tisiphone and Daemon are casting illusions to trick Kratos, but he’s far too strong to fall for them and breaks out. After breaking out of several illusions, Kratos kills Alecto and Tisiphone in a brutal battle, killing all of the furies and destroying the entire prison. 

As we approach the end of God of War: Ascension, we set Kratos off onto the quest we’ve always known him to be on. He returns to Sparta, as Orkos reveals that, despite his victory over the Furies, he has to kill Orkos to be free of Ares.

Kratos regretfully kills Orkos and burns down his house, leaving to become the champion of the gods.

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!

God of War (2018) is where things radically change for the God of War series. For starters, Kratos has a young child called Atreus and a dead wife.

The story of this game revolves around Kratos and Atreus attempting to scatter the ashes of Atreus’s mother at the top of the highest peak of Norse mythology. There’s a small snag in the plan though, and that’s the existence of Norse mythology itself.

As Kratos and Atreus are preparing themselves for their quest, a strange man shows up at their doorstep and beats Kratos to within an inch of his life with the greatest of ease. Kratos seemingly manages to kill the strange man, only for him to come back to life as if nothing even happened.

So, as is expected at this stage, Kratos travels through the world, destroying anything that opposes him while attempting to raise his boy. I don’t have time to get into the full minutia of the plot here, but along the way you meet Freya, a kindly woman that helps you heal Atreus from a deadly wound, and Mimir, a talkative severed head that also happens to be Scottish (and extremely funny).

The stranger is Baldur and he won’t stop until you’re dead and crushed under his boot. So there’s only one course of action here, kill Baldur. 

The only issue with killing Baldur is that Freya, the woman you met earlier, is his mother. She’s not too happy about your plan, and she’s definitely not too happy about the fact you manage to actually kill her son.

As she walks away, she promises vengeance on Kratos, before him and Atreus travel to the mountain of the Giant’s to scatter Atreus’s mothers ashes. Here the game ends, but not before two final revelations. Atreus is really Loki (Yes, that Loki) and is destined to kill his father one day. Not content with this, Sony Santa Monica decides to drop the bombshell that Thor himself is waiting on Kratos’ doorstep.