Kratos Originally Died in God of War Ragnarök (2024)

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Kratos was originally killed by Thor in God of War Ragnarok

The original plan for Kratos in God of War Ragnarok was for him to suffer an untimely death at the hands of Thor, one of the game’s antagonists. This controversial decision was set to happen early in the game, before developer Santa Monica Studio decided against it.

In an interview with Minnmax (via VGC), Narrative Director Matt Sophos said the following:

“The earliest, earliest draft of an outline that we had come up with that we took to Eric… Kratos died in the Thor fight at the very beginning of the game. He was going to die, and it wasn’t a permanent death. He would get pulled out of Hel essentially by Atreus but now 20 years have passed.”

It’s an interesting idea to consider, that Atreus would be a fully-fledged adult for the majority of the game. It’d certainly change the dynamic between the two characters, with Atreus now a completely different character than before, and Kratos having to come to terms with the fact that his son has grown up without him for such a long time.

Sophos continues:

“As we were developing the story, we knew that we wanted the story to be one about letting go and changing. Knowing that Norse mythology is all about fate and prophecy, we wanted to say ‘that’s bullsh*t, nothing is written that can’t be unwritten, as long as you’re willing to change or make changes in your life then you’re not bound to fate.’