Grave Digger
the mortal guise of the King of Olympus
The Grave Digger was a mysterious old man who dug graves outside the Temple of the Oracle in Athens and aided Kratos in his darkest hours. He was in truth Zeus, the King of the Gods, watching over the Ghost of Sparta in disguise.
The Grave Digger was a mysterious aged man who busied himself digging graves outside the Temple of the Oracle in Athens during the siege of the city. He claimed the grave he dug was meant for Kratos, yet he became an unexpected ally to the Spartan in his darkest hours. In truth the Grave Digger was the mortal guise of Zeus, the King of the Gods, who watched over Kratos in secret. (God of War; God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
The grave in Athens#
The Grave Digger first appeared digging a grave in front of the Oracle's Temple during the siege of Athens, recognizing Kratos at once. When Kratos asked who the grave was for, the old man answered that it was for him before sending the Spartan on his way. The words proved true. After Kratos was slain by Ares at the Temple of Pandora and fell into the Underworld, a stone with a rope tied to it dropped down through a hole, and Kratos climbed it back to the Oracle's Temple. There the Grave Digger met him again, having just finished digging the very hole that served as his portal out of death. When Kratos asked who he was, the man would only say that Athena was not the only god keeping watch over him, then vanished, his voice urging Kratos to defeat Ares so that his sins might be forgiven. (God of War)
Heraklion and the burials#
The Grave Digger appeared again as Kratos passed through the city of Heraklion in search of his brother. He counseled the Spartan to turn back and abandon his quest, but Kratos, set on finding Deimos, ignored the warning. After Kratos defeated Thanatos at the cost of Deimos' life, he carried his brother's body to the peak of the Suicide Bluffs, where the Grave Digger waited beside a freshly dug grave. Kratos laid Deimos to rest, and as he stood at the edge of the bluffs asking what he had become, the Grave Digger answered that he had become death, the destroyer of worlds, before disappearing. Later the old man appeared once more carrying the body of Callisto, Kratos' mother, and laid her in a grave of her own. Between the two graves lay a third, still empty, of which the Grave Digger said only that now one remained. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
The King in disguise#
The Grave Digger was the mortal guise of Zeus, who had taken on the worn form of an old man to watch over Kratos without revealing himself among the gods. The games never spell out why he helped Kratos reach Pandora's Box and destroy Ares. Zeus had forbidden the gods to fight one another, though, and quietly helping a mortal do the job would have rid Olympus of the War God without breaking that law. In Ghost of Sparta, choosing the Grave Digger in the Combat Arena makes him call down a thunderbolt and reveal Zeus beneath the disguise. His habit of calling Kratos "son" foreshadowed the later revelation that Zeus was his father. (God of War; God of War II; God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
Frequently asked questions
- Who was the Grave Digger?
- The Grave Digger was a mysterious old man who dug graves outside the Temple of the Oracle in Athens and later helped Kratos escape the Underworld. He was in truth the mortal guise of Zeus, the King of the Gods.
- How did the Grave Digger help Kratos?
- He dug the very grave through which Kratos climbed out of the Underworld after Ares killed him, telling the Spartan that the grave was for him. He later appeared in Heraklion warning Kratos to abandon his quest, and buried Deimos and Callisto.
- Was the Grave Digger really Zeus?
- Yes. The Grave Digger told Kratos that Athena was not the only god keeping watch over him, and his identity as Zeus was later confirmed in Ghost of Sparta, where his Combat Arena costume throws off the disguise to reveal Zeus. He referred to Kratos as 'son', foreshadowing the revelation that Zeus was his father.
Sources
- GameGod of War, Santa Monica Studio, 2005
- GameGod of War II, Santa Monica Studio, 2007
- GameGod of War: Ghost of Sparta, Ready at Dawn, 2010
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Callisto
Callisto was a Spartan woman and one of the many mortal lovers of Zeus, mother of Kratos and Deimos. Kept hidden in Atlantis and cursed by the King of the Gods, she died at her own son's hands while trying to name his father.
Deimos: the brother Kratos failed to save
Ares and Athena seized Deimos as a boy because his birthmark matched the prophecy of the Marked Warrior. Thanatos crushed him at Suicide Bluffs.
Kratos
Kratos was the demigod son of Zeus who rose from a Spartan general to the Greek God of War, destroyed the pantheon of Olympus in a quest for vengeance, and then began again in the Norse realms as a father seeking to leave his bloody past behind.
Pandora: the living key to Pandora's Box
Hephaestus made Pandora as the living key to Pandora's Box, and Zeus hid her in a labyrinth. She gave her life in the Flame of Olympus to reach it.
Ares: the god who made Kratos a killer
Ares tricked Kratos into slaughtering his own wife and daughter to bind him as a weapon. Kratos killed him at Athens and took his place as God of War.
Athena: from Kratos' guide to his enemy
Athena set Kratos against Ares to save Athens, then turned on him when his reign grew worse. She died taking a blow meant for Zeus, and named Kratos his son.
Mentioned in12 entries
Ares: the god who made Kratos a killer
Ares tricked Kratos into slaughtering his own wife and daughter to bind him as a weapon. Kratos killed him at Athens and took his place as God of War.
Callisto
Callisto was a Spartan woman and one of the many mortal lovers of Zeus, mother of Kratos and Deimos. Kept hidden in Atlantis and cursed by the King of the Gods, she died at her own son's hands while trying to name his father.
Deimos: the brother Kratos failed to save
Ares and Athena seized Deimos as a boy because his birthmark matched the prophecy of the Marked Warrior. Thanatos crushed him at Suicide Bluffs.
God of War (2005) Story Explained: Plot Summary and Ending
The whole story of the first God of War in order, from the Hydra in the Aegean to the death of Ares at Athens. Then the ending in plain terms: why Kratos jumped from the cliff, why Athena saved him, and how he ended up on Ares's throne.
God of War: Ghost of Sparta Story Explained
The plot of Ghost of Sparta in order, from Kratos's visions of his mother to the death of his brother Deimos in the Domain of Death. Then the ending explained: the marked warrior prophecy, Athena's apology, and why Kratos leaves at war with Olympus.
Oracle of Athens: seer of the besieged city
The Oracle of Athens was the mortal seer of Athena's city, gifted with foresight and the power to read the memories of any being. During the siege of Athens she alone held the secret of how a god could be killed, and she set Kratos on the road to Pandora's Box.
Pandora's Box: the power to kill a god
Hephaestus forged Pandora's Box from the Flame of Olympus to hold the Evils of the Great War. Opening it let Kratos kill Ares, and loosed the Evils on the gods.
Pandora's Box: the vessel of Olympus's evils and the power of Hope
Pandora's Box was an artifact forged by Hephaestus on Zeus's order to contain the Evils unleashed by the Titanomachy. It was the only means by which a mortal could gain the power to slay a god, and it carried within it the hidden power of Hope.
Thanatos
Thanatos was the primordial God of Death, an entity older than the Olympians who ruled the Domain of Death and imprisoned Deimos for years. When Kratos came to free his brother, Thanatos killed Deimos before the Spartan destroyed the God of Death.
The Underworld
The Underworld was the realm of the dead in Greece, a hellish landscape below the living world where the River Styx carried mortal souls to their rest. It was ruled by Hades until his death, and Kratos descended into it many times across his Greek campaigns.
What Happened to Kratos's Brother?
Kratos's younger brother Deimos was taken from Sparta as a boy by Ares and Athena, held for years in the Domain of Death, and killed by Thanatos soon after Kratos finally freed him. Here is the whole story from Ghost of Sparta, and how it still weighs on Kratos in Ragnarök.
Zeus
Zeus was the King of Olympus and ruler of the Greek Pantheon, the youngest son of Cronos who freed his siblings, ended the Great War, and claimed the heavens. Father of Kratos, he became the great antagonist of the Greek age and fell at last to the very son he had tried to destroy.
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