The Captain

The Captain was the leading sailor of a fleet of ships that once sailed the Aegean Sea during the Greek era, when Kratos had been set the task of killing the Hydra King as part of his service to the gods of Olympus. A minor but recurring figure across the saga, he was remembered chiefly for the manner of his death and for the regret it left in the man who caused it. Even many years later, in the Norse lands, Kratos still recalled how he had wronged him.

Devoured by the Hydra#

While sailing the Aegean Sea, the Captain saw his ship cornered by the heads of the Hydra and was swallowed by the Hydra King. He and his crew attempted to fight off the monster's many heads but were devoured. After Kratos killed the Hydra King, the Spartan travelled down into its throat to retrieve the key the Captain carried. At first the Captain was relieved, praising the Ghost of Sparta for coming back for him, but to his horror Kratos took what he wanted and let him fall down the beast's throat, stating that he had not come back for him.

Among the damned#

The Captain did not escape Kratos even in death. After Kratos was killed by Ares and cast down into the depths of the Underworld, the Spartan halted his own freefall by seizing the legs of the Captain, who was himself struggling to avoid plunging into the River Styx below. Kratos used the man as leverage to haul himself back to solid ground, and once the two recognized each other, the displeased Captain was kicked into the river. He surfaced again during Kratos' duel with the Barbarian King, summoned as another soul to fight, only to flee around the arena rather than face the Spartan, and was struck down once more.

His torment endured in the Underworld, where a scribbled note in his hand could be found among the damned, raging that the Ghost of Sparta had held his life in his hand and still let go, and damning him to suffer in Hades as the Captain had. In a place where Kratos was confronted by his own fears, the Captain's voice was heard crying out at the sight of him.

A wrong remembered#

Through nearly every age of his life, the suffering of the Captain could be traced to Kratos. Long after the Greek world had fallen and Kratos had made a new life in the Norse realms, he still carried the memory. Recounting the tale to Mimir, Kratos confessed that he greatly regretted his actions, that he could have saved the Captain and chose not to, and that he had been more of a monster to the man than the Hydra had ever been. He acknowledged that the Captain had lost his freedom and suffered because of the person Kratos had once been and the things he had done.