Deimos

Deimos was the younger son of Zeus and the mortal Callisto, and the younger brother of Kratos. Born in Sparta and marked from birth by a strange birthmark across his body, he was taken from his family as a child to avert a prophecy that foretold the fall of Mount Olympus at the hands of a Marked Warrior. For years he endured torture in the Domain of Death before his brother freed him, and his death soon afterward became the wound that turned Kratos against the gods entirely.

Childhood in Sparta#

Deimos was born a few years after Kratos, bearing a remarkable birthmark across his body, and the two brothers grew up together under the eye of their mother Callisto in Sparta, dreaming of one day joining the Spartan army. Neither knew that they were the sons of Zeus. They were inseparable as children and trained with the traditional spear and shield, Kratos teaching the younger boy that a Spartan never lets his back hit the ground.

The Marked Warrior prophecy#

Long before, the Oracle had foretold the destruction of the Olympians at the hands of the Marked Warrior. Because of his unusual birthmark, the gods feared that Deimos was the warrior of the prophecy and devised a plan to take him from his family so that it could never come to pass. One day Ares and Athena descended upon Sparta, loosing an army of centaurs upon the populace as they searched. They found the young Deimos as he trained with Kratos and seized him. Kratos lunged to stop Ares and was struck down, scarred across his right eye, and Ares would have killed the boy had Athena not stopped him, since they already held the one they sought. Ares carried Deimos to Thanatos in the Domain of Death, where he was left to be tormented so that the prophecy might never be fulfilled. For years Deimos believed Kratos would come to free him; as the years wore on, that hope faded and was replaced by hatred for the brother who had left him to rot.

Reunion and death#

Having defeated Callisto in Atlantis and learned the truth, Kratos was driven to find his brother at any cost. He crossed Greece and at last found Deimos deep within the Temple of Thanatos, suspended from a tree. Freed from his chains, save for a single massive gauntlet still locked to his right arm, Deimos turned on Kratos in fury, swearing he would never forgive him for the abandonment. The reunion was cut short when Thanatos seized Deimos and carried him to Suicide Bluffs to cast him from the edge.

Barely able to stand, Kratos followed and reached his brother in time to save him from the fall. He swore never to leave Deimos again and gave him the Arms of Sparta, and the two charged the God of Death side by side. Thanatos taunted them, saying Ares had chosen poorly in taking Deimos when he should have taken Kratos, and that Kratos was only a pawn in a game he did not know was being played. As they fought, Thanatos transformed into a gigantic winged monster, seized Deimos, and crushed him against the cliffside, killing him. Consumed by rage, Kratos unleashed his power at an inhuman level and destroyed Thanatos, avenging his brother. He carried the body to the top of the Bluffs along the Path of Solitude, where the Grave Digger had prepared a grave beside that of their mother, and laid Deimos to rest, declaring him free at last.

Aftermath and legacy#

Deimos was the only deceased relative whom Kratos did not kill himself, and his death was the final injury that turned Kratos against the gods, drawing from him a vow that they would pay for what they had done to his brother and mother. In time Kratos fulfilled that vow by destroying the Olympians, and in doing so he became the very Marked Warrior the gods had sought to suppress. Zeus would later refer to Deimos dismissively as the Other One, suggesting it was Deimos whom Gaia ought to have chosen as her champion.

Unlike Kratos, Deimos had been softhearted and kind in childhood, though the torment he suffered left him aggressive and warlike. Even so he retained a measure of compassion for his brother, shown in their reconciliation and their shared resolve to stop Thanatos. Centuries later, in the Norse realms, Kratos retold his brother's story to the goddess Freya while urging her to mend her own bond with her brother, and confided to Mimir and others that he had never apologized to Deimos, believing himself unworthy of forgiveness for failing to save him in time.