Is Kratos Immortal?

Kratos is immortal in the sense the gods of the series are: he won't die of old age or sickness, and he can survive wounds that would kill any mortal. He is not unkillable. He has been killed several times across the games and has come back each time, and the series is clear that a god can die if something strong enough strikes him down. (God of War II; God of War III; God of War Ragnarök)

What immortal means in God of War#

The gods and Titans of the series don't die of age or disease, and they can shrug off injuries that would kill a person. But they can be killed, by another god, by a demigod strong enough, or by a weapon with godly power such as the Blade of Olympus. Kratos kills most of the Greek pantheon in God of War III to prove it. The site's page on immortality covers the rules in more depth. (God of War II; God of War III)

Kratos started out as a demigod, the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. He became a full god after killing Ares, when the gods gave him Ares's throne. So for most of the series he is a god, with a god's toughness and a god's weak spots. The story of how Kratos became the God of War has its own page. (God of War (2005); God of War II)

The times Kratos died#

Kratos dies more often than almost anyone in the series, and rarely stays dead. (God of War (2005); God of War II; God of War Ragnarök)

• God of War (2005). Not yet a god, Kratos is pinned to a wall by a column Ares hurls across the desert, and dies. He falls towards the River Styx, fights his way through the Underworld and climbs back out through his own grave. (God of War (2005))
• God of War II. Zeus drains his power and kills him with the Blade of Olympus. The Titan Gaia helps him out of the Underworld, and he uses the Sisters of Fate to go back to the moment of his death. (God of War II)
• God of War Ragnarök. In their first fight, Thor kills Kratos, then holds his hammer to Kratos's chest and brings him back with lightning so they can keep going. (God of War Ragnarök)

The times he should have died#

At the end of the first game Kratos throws himself off a cliff into the sea, and Athena pulls him out, saying the gods will not let him die by his own hand. (God of War (2005))

At the end of God of War III he drives the Blade of Olympus through his own body to release the power of Hope, and collapses on a cliff. After the credits his body is gone and a trail of blood leads away. God of War (2018) finds him alive in Midgard, with a scar across his stomach where the blade went in. How he survived is never explained. The Midgard question page covers that gap. (God of War III; God of War (2018))

Kratos in the Norse games#

By the 2018 game Kratos is older, grey and bearded. The games never say how quickly a god of his kind ages, only that he has lived in Midgard long enough to marry Faye and raise a son. He tells Atreus that they are both gods, and the boy has to learn what that means. (God of War (2018))

The north also shows what real deathlessness looks like. Baldur can't be hurt at all, because his mother Freya put a Vanir spell on him. The cost is that he can't feel anything, not pain, not warmth, not taste. Kratos has never had that kind of protection, and nothing in the games suggests he would want it. (God of War (2018))

Ragnarök puts his death on the table. Kratos believes the giants' prophecy shows him dying in the war. He goes to the final battle anyway, and lives. After it, behind Faye's shrine, he finds one of his own: a picture of him alive in the years to come. (God of War Ragnarök)

So, is he immortal?#

The short answer is no, not in the way people usually mean. Kratos is a god who doesn't age out or fall sick and who has walked out of the Underworld at least twice. Our reading is that the series uses that toughness for a darker point. Kratos has often wanted to die and been denied it, and his story in the Norse games is about deciding that living is worth more. (God of War (2005); God of War III; God of War Ragnarök)

For his full life story, see Kratos. (God of War (2005); God of War Ragnarök)