The Underworld

The Underworld was the realm of the dead in Greece, where all mortals went after they died, ruled by Hades until his death at the hands of Kratos. It was a hellish landscape directly below the living world, where the River Styx carried even the strongest mortal to an eternal resting place. The Underworld was divided into different parts, including the paradise of the Elysium Fields, the River Styx, and the deep pit of Tartarus. Kratos journeyed into it many times across his campaigns, sometimes by choice and sometimes by death, but always made his way back out.

The realm of Hades#

The Underworld was the destination of all mortals after death. Below the falling souls ran the River Styx, a current so strong that even the most powerful mortal could not escape it. The realm was split into parts: the fields of Elysium where the good and virtuous dwelt, the River Styx, and the pit of Tartarus where the wicked and the imprisoned Titans were held. Heroes of ancient times dwelt in Elysium, while Hades ruled over the realm as its god, with Persephone as its queen.

The search for Calliope#

In his quest to reach his daughter Calliope, Kratos was carried into the Underworld and met Charon on his boat along the River Styx. Charon overpowered him and cast him into the Pit of Tartarus, where the Titans were held, and there Kratos discovered that the prison of Atlas had been emptied. After escaping Tartarus, he defeated Charon and took his ferry, following the sunlight of Helios down the Styx to the Temple of Persephone, where he glimpsed Calliope. At the entrance to the Elysium Fields, Persephone told him he would have to surrender all his powers to enter and embrace his child. He did so, but their reunion was cut short when Persephone revealed her plan to destroy the Pillar of the World using Atlas. Forced to leave his daughter, Kratos slew the virtuous souls of Elysium to regain his powers, then pursued Persephone to the top of the pillar, defeated her, and bound Atlas to what remained of it, leaving the Titan to hold up the world forever.

Death and return#

After Kratos retrieved Pandora's Box, Ares hurled a pillar across the Desert of Lost Souls that pierced him through the chest, and he fell into the Underworld among many other souls. He seized the captain of the ship he had once sailed on, climbed past him, and fought his way upward through flame-wreathed creatures, demonic minotaurs, and screeching harpies until he escaped and was rescued by the Grave Digger. Later, when Zeus killed him with the Blade of Olympus, the Arms of Hades reached up and dragged his corpse down, but Gaia met him there and gave him the chance to resurface and change his fate, healing the wound that the blade had left.

The death of Hades#

In his final war against the gods, Kratos was cast aside by Gaia and fell into the River Styx, losing the Blade of Olympus and being stripped of his godly powers as the souls of the dead drained his strength. The ghost of Athena appeared and reforged his ruined blades into the Blades of Exile, telling him how to destroy the Flame of Olympus. Traveling deeper, Kratos came upon Peirithous, tortured by Hades in a cage of bramble, and took the Bow of Apollo before completing the Trials of Erebus to gain an audience with the Three Judges. At the Palace of Hades, Kratos fought the god, stole his claws, and used them to tear out Hades' own soul, killing him. With their master dead, the souls cast his corpse into the Styx and escaped to the mortal world. The realm that had been his became a desolate place where hopeless spirits roamed forever, never judged and never at peace, for the Three Judges had been destroyed.