God of War Characters: Every Major Character, Greek and Norse

God of War's characters fall into two casts. The Greek games set Kratos against the gods and Titans of Olympus, and nearly all of them die by his hand. The Norse games pick him up years later with a son, a new set of gods led by Odin, and friends he never had before. This guide covers the characters people actually look up, grouped by era, with a link to each one's full article. For the plot in order, see God of War story explained. Full spoilers ahead. (God of War (2005); God of War III; God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

The lead#

Kratos#

Kratos is a Spartan captain who pledged himself to Ares to win a battle and was tricked into killing his own wife and daughter. He killed Ares, became the God of War, and then turned on Olympus when Zeus betrayed him, killing most of the Greek gods. Years later he lives in Midgard, raising his son and trying to keep his temper and his past buried. By the end of the Valhalla epilogue he has accepted the title of God of War again, this time by choice. (God of War (2005); God of War III; God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla)

Greek era: Kratos's family#

Lysandra#

Lysandra was Kratos's wife in Sparta. Ares placed her and their daughter in a village temple that Kratos attacked in a battle rage, and he killed them both without seeing who they were. Their ashes, fixed to his skin by the village oracle, are why he is called the Ghost of Sparta. (God of War (2005))

Calliope#

Calliope was the daughter of Kratos and Lysandra, killed with her mother in that temple. In Chains of Olympus Kratos finds her in Elysium and gives up his powers to stay with her, then has to take them back and leave her to stop the world ending. (God of War (2005); God of War: Chains of Olympus)

Deimos#

Deimos is Kratos's younger brother, taken from Sparta as a boy by Ares and Athena because his birthmark seemed to match a prophecy about the fall of Olympus. He spent years in the Domain of Death as a prisoner of Thanatos, the god of death. Kratos frees him, but Thanatos kills him, and Kratos's red tattoo copies Deimos's birthmark in his memory. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta)

Callisto#

Callisto is Kratos's mortal mother, found alive in Atlantis. She tells him Deimos still lives and starts to name his father, but a curse turns her into a monster and Kratos has to kill her. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta)

Greek era: the gods of Olympus#

Zeus#

Zeus is king of the gods and the main villain of the Greek saga. Afraid that his son would overthrow him as he had overthrown Cronos, he drained Kratos's power at Rhodes and killed him with the Blade of Olympus. Athena reveals that Kratos is his son. Kratos beats him to death at the end of God of War III. (God of War II; God of War III)

Athena#

Athena is the goddess who guided Kratos through his early service and raised him to Olympus after he killed Ares. She dies taking a blow meant for Zeus and tells Kratos the truth about his father with her last breath. She returns as a spirit in God of War III, and at the end she asks for the Hope inside Kratos, which he refuses to give her. (God of War (2005); God of War II; God of War III)

Ares#

Ares is the original God of War, the villain of the first game. He saved Kratos in battle in exchange for his service, bound the Blades of Chaos to him, and then tricked him into killing his family to make him the perfect warrior. Kratos kills him at Athens with the Blade of the Gods and takes his throne. (God of War (2005))

Poseidon#

Poseidon is god of the sea. He lends Kratos a share of his power to fight the Hydra in the first game, and Poseidon is the first god he kills in God of War III, which floods the mortal world. (God of War (2005); God of War III)

Hades#

Hades is god of the Underworld and Persephone's husband. In God of War III he fights Kratos in his own domain, and Kratos tears out his soul, taking his weapon, the Claws of Hades. (God of War III)

Hera#

Hera is queen of the gods, Zeus's wife and no friend to his bastard son. Kratos meets her drunk in her garden on Olympus and kills her, which withers the plants of the mortal world. (God of War III)

Hermes#

Hermes is the messenger god, who taunts Kratos through a long chase across Olympus. When Kratos catches him, he cuts off his legs and takes his winged boots. (God of War III)

Hercules#

Hercules is Kratos's half-brother, another son of Zeus, bitter that Kratos was given the title of God of War. He fights Kratos for it in God of War III and is beaten to death, leaving Kratos his Nemean Cestus. (God of War III)

Helios#

Helios is the sun god. In Chains of Olympus his disappearance plunges the world into darkness and Kratos goes to find him; in God of War III Kratos tears off his head and uses it as a lantern. (God of War: Chains of Olympus; God of War III)

Hephaestus#

Hephaestus is the smith of the gods, who forged Pandora's Box and the Blades of Chaos. He helps Kratos in God of War III, then turns on him to protect Pandora, whom he treats as his daughter, and Kratos kills him. (God of War III)

Persephone#

Persephone is queen of the Underworld, unhappy in her marriage to Hades. She freed Atlas to destroy the Pillar of the World and end all life, and tempted Kratos with a reunion with Calliope. He kills her at the Pillar. (God of War: Chains of Olympus)

Greek era: Titans and others#

Gaia#

Gaia is the mother of the Titans and the narrator of God of War II. She saves Kratos from death and sides with him against Olympus, then drops him from the mountain in God of War III, admitting he was only her weapon. Kratos kills her with the Blade of Olympus. (God of War II; God of War III)

Pandora#

Pandora is a girl made by Hephaestus to be the key to the Flame of Olympus, which guards Pandora's Box. She grows close to Kratos, who sees his daughter in her, and she gives her life to put out the Flame. (God of War III)

Norse era: Kratos's new family#

Atreus#

Atreus is the son of Kratos and Faye, raised in Midgard without knowing his father's past or that he is a god. On the trip to scatter his mother's ashes he learns that the giants named him Loki. In Ragnarök he searches for Tyr, meets Angrboda and helps bring down Odin, then leaves to find the last of the giants. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

Faye#

Faye is Kratos's second wife and Atreus's mother, dead before the 2018 game begins. She was a giant named Laufey, and her foresight let her plan the route her ashes would take and the murals waiting at the end of it. (God of War (2018))

Norse era: friends and allies#

Mimir#

Mimir was once Odin's advisor, imprisoned in a tree for over a century before Kratos cuts off his head and Freya revives it. He rides on Kratos's belt for the rest of the saga as guide, storyteller and friend, and joins Kratos in Valhalla. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla)

Freya#

Freya is a Vanir goddess, Odin's former wife and the mother of Baldur. She helps Kratos and Atreus as a witch living in the woods until Kratos kills her son, and she spends the start of Ragnarök trying to kill him. They make peace after he helps free her from Odin's curse, and in Valhalla she asks him to take up the role of God of War. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök; God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla)

Brok#

Brok is a foul-mouthed blue dwarf smith who upgrades Kratos's weapons with his brother Sindri. In Ragnarök he is murdered by Odin, who has been posing as Tyr. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

Sindri#

Sindri is Brok's fussier brother, who made Mjolnir and the Leviathan Axe with him. Grief over Brok's death sets him against Kratos and Atreus, and after Ragnarök he crushes the marble that holds Odin's soul. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

Angrboda#

Angrboda is a young giant who grew up in Ironwood. She befriends Atreus, shows him the giants' prophecy, and gives him the soul marbles of the lost giants. (God of War Ragnarök)

Tyr#

Tyr is the Norse god of war who turned to peace. For most of Ragnarök the "Tyr" Kratos and Atreus free is Odin in disguise. The real Tyr appears in Valhalla, where he puts Kratos through his past and questions him about it. (God of War Ragnarök; God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla)

Jormungandr#

Jormungandr is the World Serpent, a giant so vast he circles Midgard in the Lake of Nine. In Ragnarök, Thor strikes him so hard that he is thrown back in time, which is how an older serpent already exists in the present. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

Norse era: the Aesir and other enemies#

Odin#

Odin is the All-Father of the Aesir, ruler of Asgard and the main villain of Ragnarök. He wants to know what lies beyond death and tries to use Atreus to get it, while posing as Tyr to stay close to them. Kratos, Atreus and Freya beat him at the end of Ragnarök and Sindri destroys his soul. (God of War Ragnarök)

Baldur#

Baldur is Odin's son, the stranger who hunts Kratos and Atreus through the 2018 game. Freya's spell made him unable to be hurt but also unable to feel anything. A mistletoe arrow breaks it, and when Baldur tries to kill his mother, Kratos snaps his neck. (God of War (2018))

Thor#

Thor is Odin's son and his enforcer, who killed most of Midgard's giants with Mjolnir. He comes looking for Kratos after the deaths of Magni and Modi. At Ragnarök Kratos beats him and spares him, and when Thor refuses to fight on, Odin kills him with Gungnir. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

Heimdall#

Heimdall is the watchman of Asgard, whose foresight lets him read minds and dodge any blow. He threatens Atreus, and Kratos kills him in Ragnarök. (God of War Ragnarök)

Sif#

Sif is Thor's wife and the mother of Thrud. Grief for her dead sons turns her against Odin, and she survives Ragnarök to lead the Aesir who are left. (God of War Ragnarök)

Thrud#

Thrud is the daughter of Thor and Sif, who wants to be a Valkyrie and befriends Atreus in Asgard. After Odin kills her father, she takes up Mjolnir. (God of War Ragnarök)

Magni and Modi#

Magni and Modi are Thor's sons, sent after Kratos and Atreus in the 2018 game. Kratos kills Magni in a fight, and Atreus, newly sure he is a god, kills the beaten Modi against his father's wishes. (God of War (2018))