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theodorobrejablog · 9 months

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9.Emotions - Analysing Kratos’ emotional development over God of War game series

In this blog post I will analyse the emotional development of Kratos and his journey starting as a revenge driven slayer, up to the father figure we got to know in the latest games from the series.

Fig.1 God of War Cover

God of War (fig.1) is an action RPG (role playing game) series, launched by Soni’s Santa Monica Studios in 2005. The first games are based on mythology and present the story of Kratos, a Spartan warrior who was tricked by Ares, the previous Greek god of war, into killing his own family. As a result, Kratos goes on a rampage seeking revenge and killing all the Olympian gods. During this process, Kratos kills Ares and becomes the new god of war. The latest games started in 2018 focus on Norse mythology. After the flood at the end of God of War 3, Kratos is forced to leave Greece and make his way to Midgard. The second part of the franchise starts with Kratos’ second wife Faye passing away, leaving Krathos alone to take care of his son Atreus. Throughout the second part of the series, Kratos and Atreus fight the obstacles of Midgard to spread the Ashes of Faye from the highest peak and stop Ragnarok, the apocalypse of the realm. During the game they discover the bridges between the 9 realms, explaining how Kratos came from Greece to Midgard and leaving an open ending for the future realms.

Fig.2 Different stages of Kratos in God of War

Given such a complex series with multiple games, we get to know up close the complex main character, Kratos, and his emotional development over a long period of time. I found his emotional journey very interesting given through how many terrors and sacrifices he had to face. In the first games, Kratos shows no remorse for killing innocent people that get in his way of seeking revenge, for example, the woman he encounters who was enslaved by gods. As we get to understand his story, we realise that most of his violence comes from his no-choice behaviour (fig.2). This means, he believes that his only way to defeat the gods and get his revenge is to become a killing machine, as he has nothing else to lose. As the first games portrait Kratos as a merciless killer, features usually connected with the villain, it is interesting to see why so many people fell in love with the character. The first level on which the player has to connect with the character is the emotional one, in order to fully enjoy an RPG (role playing game). Players understand the grief and injustice and transform it into their own. Another interesting effect that I believe attracted so many players, is the use of violence because of anger and frustration in a constrained and safe environment. The oppressed rage people keep under control in the society, can be released through Kratos.

Fig.3 Pandora's death

We can see glimpses of his humanity in the first games when he rescues Pandora, who reminded him of his passed daughter. She is the first character Kratos chooses not to kill. However, when put in the situation to choose between saving Pandora and getting revenge over Zeus, Kratos chooses to fight Zeus and lose Pandora (fig.3). In the first games, he is a character overwhelmed and ruled by emotions, especially anger, whereas in the second part of the series, when he becomes a paternal figure for Athreus, we get to see a totally changed character, a Kratos who hides all his emotions and always tries to stay in control and discipline. One of the main reasons for his emotional change is due to Atreus. Kratos wants to hide his past life from his son, out of shame, as well as fear that Atreus may follow his steps. As a result, from the killing machine driven by anger and revenge, we get to discover a new disciplined Kratos who tries to control and cover his emotional outbursts.

The animators have done an amazing job capturing the emotions of the character, especially in the later games, with the advanced motion capture technology. From body movement, to face expressions, the player can fully understand the emotions of Krathos and emphasise his strong emotions such as pain, anger, fear etc. Previously, animators had a difficult time to manually capture emotions with 3D characters “However, the difficulty is that the viewer of an animations is perceiving emotion through the filter of the animator” (Mobbs 2015;80). I believe that barrier has faded tremendously, as nowadays actors are the ones who give life to the 3D models and technology transfers it into the digital world.

Fig.4 Kratos tree cutting scene

The first key scene which perfectly demonstrates the emotional development is in the beginning of God of War(2018) when Kratos cuts down the marked tree Faye chose to be burned after her death, as their tradition requires (fig.4). Before cutting the tree, Kratos gently hugs the tree and puts his head on the tree trunk, still feeling that connection with Faye. He then starts furiously cutting the tree, until Atreus comes and suddenly Kratos hides his emotions. As the scene develops, Kratos fixes his hand bandages to cover up the scars from his previous weapons, as a symbol of covering his past. Another symbol can be found in his body movement when Atreus moves from one side to another, Kratos moves as well, to hide his arm scars from Atreus, hiding his ugly past from him. Feeling ashamed and trying to cover their actions is a common behaviour of people who have violent outburst episodes. These could be a result of past traumas which is also the case with our character.

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Fig.5 Kratos and Atreus hug

In their article “Playing with Character”, the authors discuss how the character that we get to know is a combination between the avatar (the 3D model) and their emotional traits “constellations of different character traits, combined into a coherent “bundle of differential elements” (Frow, 2014, p. 24) that composes the prattōn's ēthos.” (Vandewalle, A., Malliet, S., & Demoen, K. (2023). ‘Playing with Character: A Framework of Characterization in Video Games.’ Games and Culture). Kratos’ main traits change throughout the game series, which shows his perpetual development “traits are static or dynamic, depending on whether they remain the same throughout the narrative or change as an indication of character development (Eder et al., 2010; Margolin, 1986)” (Vandewalle, A., Malliet, S., & Demoen, K. (2023). ‘Playing with Character: A Framework of Characterization in Video Games.’ Games and Culture). The change from anger and frustration as emotional pillars for his character, to compassion, discipline and fear for his son’s protection, shows the huge emotional journey our main character goes through in the series (fig.5). With the emotional change of the character, the player's emotional bond and perspective also changes. From a way to express anger and become a killing machine, the player now fights to protect the other characters and prevent the apocalypse. It can also be said that from the selfish objective of the first games (revenge over the Olympian gods), Kratos takes a more heroic approach, but not in a stereotypical way. He only accepts to fight in these adventures to protect Atreus and his friends, not as a virtuous character. The players now have an altruist motivation rather than revenge as in first games. The “first-person deepening technique” (Freeman 2004: 4) shows that the way players connect with the character is through responsibility, making choices and sacrificing, all actions with high emotional impact.

In a nutshell, I believe Kratos has one of the most complex character development I have seen so far, illustrating how we are the sum not only of our actions and decisions, but also the sum of our traumas and emotional scars. Beside his fight with the others, through the series, Kratos has an ongoing battle with himself and his emotions. This analysis helped me realise how important it is to add emotional depth to the characters I make, to break them from just an “avatar”. Moreover, it made me be mindful about the emotional traits of my future characters and what effect they would have over the players.

Bibliography:

Fig.1: Steampowered.com. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1593500/God_of_War/ (Accessed: December 31, 2023).

Fig.2: Quick, W. A. (2021) God of war: Every god and mortal Kratos has killed, TheGamer. Available at: https://www.thegamer.com/god-of-war-every-god-mortal-kratos-killed/ (Accessed: December 31, 2023).

FIg.3: Nocookie.net. Available at: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/godofwar/images/7/7b/Pandora1.png/revision/latest?cb=20100315085425 (Accessed: December 31, 2023).

Fig.4: Gamingbolt.com. Available at: https://gamingbolt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/40844888651_b2f3fb5b46_o.jpg (Accessed: January 2, 2024).

Fig.5: OCGaming (2022) Kratos Hugs Atreus Scene | GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK cinematic (PS5). Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mqyI8Q_7r8 (Accessed: January 2, 2024).

Wikipedia contributors (2023c) Kratos (mythology), Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kratos_(mythology)&oldid=1191335117.

FatBrett (2023) Kratos: The incredible transformation of a gaming icon - part one. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCvsnPFIYaQ (Accessed: January 2, 2024).

FatBrett (2023b) Kratos: The incredible transformation of a gaming icon - part two. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd_KRoMF-5U (Accessed: January 2, 2024).

Freeman, David (2004), ‘Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering’, ACM Computers in Entertainment, 2: 3, Article 8a, pp. 1–11

Kopp, D. (2022) God of war’s most herculean effort is making Kratos a relatable, humanized father, CBR. Available at: https://www.cbr.com/god-of-war-kratos-character-evolution-playstation/ (Accessed: January 2, 2024).

Reeves, B. (2018) “Review: God of War’s emotional journey elevates Kratos and the series,” Geeks Of Color, 3 May. Available at: https://geeksofcolor.co/2018/05/03/god-war-emotional-kratos-series/ (Accessed: January 2, 2024).

Lindner, N. (2021) God of War: How Kratos got from Greek to Norse mythology in canon, ScreenRant. Available at: https://screenrant.com/god-war-kratos-greek-norse-mythology-canon-change/ (Accessed: January 2, 2024).

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