Kratos is arguably one of the most compelling and layered video game protagonists. Fans have been astounded by the character’s journey from being a blood-soaked spartan fueled by rage to developing a wise demeanor over time, trying to sustain his bond with his son in the Norse realm of Midgard.
And the recent installment in the franchise hasn’t disappointed in the slightest and has exceeded fans’ expectations, just falling short of Elden Rings in winning the Game of the Year award. But it appears that the developers initially had a different path for Kratos’ story in GOW Ragnarök, which was eventually scrapped.
Kratos was supposed to die at the hands of Thor
It appears that the developers of the sequel to the 2018’s Game of the year winner, initially had a much different plan for the Ghost of Sparta. In an interview with MinnMax, Matt Sophos revealed that the initial draft of the game witnessed Kratos getting slayed by the God of Thunder, Thor. And even though it wouldn’t have been a permanent death, the story would have observed a massive time jump of 20 years into the future. Sophos explained,
“It wasn’t a permanent death, he would get pulled out of Hel by Atreus, but now twenty years have passed, it was going to be a big-time jump.”
But the developers eventually scrapped the storyline as the lead director of the game, Eric Williams thought that it would be too repetitive and wouldn’t carry much emotional weight.
The developers felt that killing off Kratos would have been repetitive
Although they were keen on killing off Kratos at the beginning in the hands of Thor, the developers eventually felt that it would not carry the same emotional weight as it wouldn’t be permanent. And they also realized that it would have been too repetitive, considering that he had died several times in the previous games. Sophos said,
“That was a version of it, and it didn’t, ultimately, feel right. Eric (Williams) was like, ‘I don’t want to do that. Kratos has died and comes back from it too many times.’ It’ll feel a little bit too, ‘Oh, you said he was gonna die. Oh, you just killed him, but he came right back.’ The hook, the emotion wasn’t really there, and he was absolutely right, and that’s why it didn’t last very long.”
Even though Thor didn’t permanently kill Kratos in the final output, he kind of does kill the gruff protagonist during their battle but instantly revives him. Although it would have been intriguing to witness their initial plans for Kratos’ storyline, the eventual result didn’t fail to live up to its predecessor and even surpassed it in certain factors.
Source: MinnMax
