Orkos
the Oath Keeper
Orkos was a Fury, the half-god son of Ares and the Fury queen Alecto, made Oath Keeper after his father disowned him. Seeing the injustice of Kratos' blood oath to Ares, he aided the Spartan against the Furies, and in the end begged Kratos to grant him an honorable death so both might be freed.
Orkos was a Fury, the half-god and half-Fury son of Ares and the Fury queen Alecto. Disowned by his father and bound as the Oath Keeper, he came to see the injustice in the blood oath that chained Kratos to the War God, and stood against his own kin to help the Spartan win his freedom.
Birth and disownment#
Ares, the God of War, sought to create a perfect warrior through whom he might overthrow Zeus and seize Olympus for himself. To this end he mated with Alecto, Queen of the Furies, and they conceived a child, Orkos. But the son was not what Ares had hoped, and the War God, disappointed, disowned him. The Furies spared the boy and made him their Oath Keeper, charged with guarding the oaths sworn to the gods.
Orkos bore the burden heavily, suffering pain and agony through his tenure, yet he endured out of loyalty to the Furies, whom he called his mothers. Humble by nature, he wanted only to please those who claimed to love him, and though he grieved at being cast aside by his father he never voiced his discontent, choosing instead to obey.
The injustice of the oath#
Orkos saw the wrong in the blood oath that bound Kratos to Ares. The War God had tricked the Spartan into slaying his own wife and child, and Kratos had turned against him, yet the oath still held. With the help of Aletheia, the Oracle of Delphi, Orkos tried to warn Zeus of Ares' scheme against Olympus, but the Furies were loosed to stop him. The Oracle was punished for the attempt, while Orkos broke away and reached Kratos, who was himself being hunted by the Furies for breaking his oath.
Their first meeting alarmed the Spartan, who attacked, but Kratos relented once Orkos explained his purpose. The two were captured together at Delos, where the Furies imprisoned Kratos within the Hecatonchire Aegaeon. After the Spartan escaped the hundred-handed giant and destroyed the Furies, he returned to his home in Sparta.
Death and freedom#
Orkos met Kratos at his home and praised him for his victory, then revealed a final cruelty. Before their defeat, the Furies had bound Orkos once more as Kratos' oath keeper, so that despite all his efforts Ares would keep his hold over both of them unless the Spartan killed him.
Begging for an honorable death, Orkos placed his own blade in Kratos' hands, and the Spartan reluctantly stabbed him in the abdomen, killing him and freeing them both from their bonds to Ares. Kratos then burned down his home with the body of Orkos inside before departing. His death broke the oath, but it also loosed upon Kratos the memories of his murdered wife and child, the torment that would drive the Spartan to seek out the gods to be rid of them.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Orkos?
- Orkos was a Fury, the half-god and half-Fury son of Ares and the Fury queen Alecto. Disowned by his father and bound as the Oath Keeper, he came to see the injustice in the blood oath that chained Kratos to the War God.
- Why did Ares disown Orkos?
- Ares conceived Orkos with Alecto in a bid to breed a perfect warrior through whom he might overthrow Zeus and seize Olympus. The son was not what Ares had hoped, and the disappointed War God disowned him, after which the Furies spared the boy and made him their Oath Keeper.
- Why did Orkos help Kratos?
- Orkos saw the wrong in the blood oath that bound Kratos to Ares, who had tricked the Spartan into slaying his own wife and child. He first tried through Aletheia, the Oracle of Delphi, to warn Zeus of Ares' scheme, and when the Furies hunted him he broke away and reached Kratos instead.
- How did Orkos die?
- After the Furies were destroyed, Orkos revealed they had bound him once more as Kratos' oath keeper, meaning Ares would keep his hold over both unless Kratos killed him. Begging for an honorable death, Orkos placed his own blade in Kratos' hands, and the Spartan reluctantly stabbed him, freeing them both.
- What did Orkos' death mean for Kratos?
- His death broke the oath, but it also loosed upon Kratos the memories of his murdered wife and child. That torment would drive the Spartan to seek out the gods to be rid of it.
Gallery
Images via God of War Wiki
Sources
- WikiOrkos — God of War Wiki entry
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Aegaeon: the Hecatonchires made a prison
Aegaeon was one of the three Hecatonchires, a giant of many hands who broke a blood oath with Zeus and was punished by the Furies. His vast body was transformed into the living dungeon called the Prison of the Damned, in which Kratos was once chained.
Alecto
Alecto was the Queen of the Furies and the Goddess of Anger, the sister who ruled the trio that hunted Kratos. She mated with Ares to bear the disowned Orkos, ensnared her victims in illusion and black goo, and transformed into a monstrous sea creature before falling to the Spartan's blades.
Ares
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The God of War was a title held by a deity unmatched in battle, wielding peerless combat skill and brutal godly power. It passed from Ares to Kratos in the Greek age, while the Norse realms knew their own God of War in Tyr.
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Aegaeon: the Hecatonchires made a prison
Aegaeon was one of the three Hecatonchires, a giant of many hands who broke a blood oath with Zeus and was punished by the Furies. His vast body was transformed into the living dungeon called the Prison of the Damned, in which Kratos was once chained.
Alecto
Alecto was the Queen of the Furies and the Goddess of Anger, the sister who ruled the trio that hunted Kratos. She mated with Ares to bear the disowned Orkos, ensnared her victims in illusion and black goo, and transformed into a monstrous sea creature before falling to the Spartan's blades.
Ares
Ares was the first Olympian God of War, the eldest son of Zeus and Hera and the most hated god on Olympus. Coveting his father's throne, he tricked Kratos into killing his own family to forge the perfect weapon, and so set in motion the fall of the Gods before dying at that same Spartan's hand.
Castor
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Castor and Pollux
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Pollux
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The Furies
The Furies were an ancient trio of sisters born of primordial rage who hunted those who broke their blood oaths to the gods. Once fair judges, they were corrupted by Ares and set upon Kratos after he renounced his bond, until the Spartan saw through their illusions and destroyed all three.
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