God of War Ragnarök Isn't a Redemption Story, Game Director Says

When Sony Santa Monica (just Santa Monica Studios back then) introduced fans to Kratos in the original God of War back in 2005, things looked a lot different than they do now. The Kratos of the original games felt more like untempered chaos, a fire let loose upon the world to ravage its way through his enemies.

And so, when Sony Santa Monica returned to the series in 2018, introducing fans to the father and son relationship building between Kratos and Atreus may have felt like an evolution of the character. But God of War Ragnarök game director Eric Williams says that this side of Kratos has always been there—fans just never got to explore it as fully in the original games.

"Before God of War 1, Kratos was a Spartan general. He was a father, and he was a husband. And this is a part that a lot of people don't talk about at all. So, to me, it isn't really an evolution. He's just getting back to who he originally was," Williams explained on a call with Newsweek.

"He had Calliope [and Lysandra] and he wanted nothing more than to protect them. He led an army and people respected him—we see that in Ghost of Sparta. People respected him, they show up and they're like, 'Dude, you're the guy now, and it isn't just because you're the new God of War. You're our guy. Screw Ares, we didn't like him anyhow, but you're from Sparta, you're our guy,' right," Williams continued.

"We see these elements all throughout," Williams explained. But, things change when Kratos loses what he cares about. "There's this age-old saying—and I'm going to put it in male terms because it is Kratos, but it applies to anyone—but it's the most dangerous man in the world is the person with nothing left to lose. And when he ends up killing his family, there's nothing left for him. He's just unbridled chaos. But, before that, he's not.

"He's got a job. He comes home and takes care of his family. So—to me—we're getting closer to that guy in God of War 2018, and then now we're pushing that even further, and we're starting to see that."

"So, I've never seen him as just that thing or this thing," Williams said as he brought the thought to a close. "He moves through it, depending on what his motivations are and where his focus is."

And now that his days of rushing toward revenge are over, Kratos' focus is once more on being a father—a focus that fans of the series can see pushed very heavily throughout God of War 2018, and even more in God of War Ragnarök, which picks up after the events of 2018's campaign.

But that past part of Kratos is always there, and that's something that Williams says will never go away.

"He can't get away from the things he did. He's still a s**tty person. He did terrible things. We're not looking for a redemption story. He's trying to leave the world a little bit better than he found it because he knows what he has done in the past—he can't erase it. It's always going to be a stain on him. It is physically a stain on him," Williams says, a callback to the curse an oracle put on Kratos in the original God of War, staining his skin with the ashes of his wife and daughter.

God of War Ragnarök is one of the most anticipated games of the year. When it releases on PlayStation consoles on November 9, fans will get to continue Kratos and Atreus' emotional journey as they search for answers about the prophecy revealed at the end of God of War 2018.

You can read Newsweek's preview of the upcoming sequel for a better idea of what to expect when it releases next month.