God of War: Ragnarok’s Norse Mythology Accuracy Is Better Than Most

are you a calm and reasonable person God of War Ragnarok is of course steeped in Norse mythology now characters like Thor atreus Odin and many others are all within the expansive world of the video game series now what fascinates me about the God of War franchise is its unique take on Norse mythology and some of the depictions of the Gods therein now throughout its history the God of War franchise has subverted the mythology of different cultures in a way that we've never seen done with such attention to detail related to The Source material now bringing Gods like Thor and kratos's Son atreus AKA Loki into the God of War Pantheon are ones I think are well worth highlighting to explore how they in particular have been depicted throughout movies television shows and games because quite honestly let's face it the God of War video game series has done it way better than most including Marvel new monster hey explore again you know the God of Thunder oh that's right yes go cry to your father you little weasel oh and for the sake of this particular video unless otherwise noted any mention of Ragnarok is in reference to the upcoming God of War game not the mythological event the MCU movie the Netflix show the anime or any of the heavy metal bands albums or songs who borrowed that particular name because this can get confusing the prophecies say femal winter leads to Ragnarok war is coming I mentioned Marvel off top because you know what let's face it when the majority of people think of figures like Thor or Loki they almost immediately think of Marvel's depictions of each in the MCU I personally was never a fan of how Marvel depicts Norse gods because I never think of divine beings as superheroes from another world although I guess Asgard is technically another world and director taika waititi had this to say the aliens mate the aliens this space alien they're space Vikings okay well you know what you can choose to believe that if you will but I digress now let's focus on the appearances now in Marvel Comics Marvel movies Etc Thor's aesthetic is muscular tall with long flowing blonde hair now taking a look at God of War Ragnarok Thor's appearance is the wider bearded with red hair and with a bit of a belly now it gave off Marvel's fat Thor Vibes when we first saw his reveal which is the only similarity between the two depictions you look like melted ice cream that and the fact that he wields a hammer although that changed later on in the MCU with Thor's use of Stormbreaker now throwing a little bit more weight behind it pun intended Thor's Hefty appearance in the MCU at this particular point was due to him feeling depressed blaming himself for that now Infamous moment God of War is depiction of Thor is fat because well that's how he was built based on his Godly genetics NOW Thor of Mythology is described as having red hair with a beard and beards in Norse culture were indicative of masculinity now you take a look at most Vikings the majority were represented with long beards so you can see that particular notion now Thor's physical appearance in God of War Ragnarok is far more accurate to the Mythos and is rather fitting for the World created in the God of War video games now while I've never been a big fan of how mythological figures are depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe I still applaud their inclusion yes because in some instances the MCU has managed to acknowledge a few elements from The Source material Loki for example was an amazing Disney plus Series where we were introduced to different variants of Loki hello now in Norse mythology Loki's shape-shifting abilities render him quite malleable meaning he can take various different forms and we see this in the Disney plus series with alligator Loki being one of my my personal favorite variants I loved him now Loki within the God of War franchise has yet to rear his head at least by that particular name now trace's mother wanted to name him Loki which means a trance is likely the God of War Ragnarok incarnation of the Norse god and will likely be explored in depth in the upcoming game now as to whether or not the mcu's depiction of Loki is superior to that of God of Wars remains to be seen at least until the video game is released now Ragnarok setting taking place during the ancient times of Scandinavia is what makes Ragnarok feel more accurate than the mcu's placement of these Norse gods in modern times in our world but what kind of vibe do you really get when you take a character out of the days of yore and place them within a more futuristic setting like does it even feel the same from the beautiful Scandinavian backgrounds to the Relentless brutal Valkyrie God of War really immerses you in ancient mythological times like Thor's appearance is so fitting in this environment but what would happen if he were transported 2 000 years into the future had cybernetic parts and lived in a futuristic world based on Norse mythology like how accurate would his depiction be and what would you call it well you'd call it too human yes too human a 2008 action role-playing game developed by silicon Knights of Eternal darkness and Metal Gear Solid twin Snakes Fame two human presents Thor and the other Norse gods as cybernetically enhanced beings tasked with protecting civilization from Loki and his menacing machines now in the game it's revealed that 95 percent of Thor's body is replaced with cybernetics like like why a literal God needs to be enhanced like some cyberpunk 2077 Thug is beyond me be quiet two human was published by Microsoft games Studios and may very well have been Xbox's attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Mythology seen in the God of War series of games which first hit the PS2 in 2005. now much like the original God of War series two human had plans to be a trilogy but due to some legal troubles with epic games and having to file for bankruptcy the dev team behind the game never saw that plan come to fruition now two human might have succumbed to its own mortality sooner than intended but I'd like for us to think about the direction two human took in comparison to that of the God of War series like why take these mythological beings and and place them in a futuristic setting like I always question the displacement of these Divine beings but then I I guess I have to remind myself that it's just a creative choice so is Sony Santa Monica's creative Direction with Ragnarok and with it it feels like a stronger representation of Norse mythology giving the gods represented therein a more accurate aesthetic God of War ragnarok's Thor definitely trumps any other 3D appearance of the character including all the countless Marvel video games but what about his other non-marvel 2D variants [Music] a Thor has appeared in anime like record of Ragnarok possibly sporting the largest mill near anyone has ever seen he's also made his appearance in DC both in the Sandman and Wonder Woman line of comics now each of these representations of Thor hold close to the source material and yet differ vastly from one another like for example regular ragnarok's depiction of Thor has Thor with a Sleek muscular build red hair but with a beating freaking heart located within his hammer that can grow to an exaggerated size you know you can always count on anime to make everything over the top nice and taking a look at DC comics's depiction of Thor it seems they took close note to the Norse mythology similar to Santa Monica Studios now a lot of these depictions in the DC pages and displayed in the aforementioned Netflix anime were great it seems Thor is primed to really set things off more than these variations have when he takes up arms against Kratos and Ragnarok now after all we're entering Norse mythology's version of End of Times here with Ragnarok now this is essentially hell on Earth and cradles will undoubtedly have to answer for his actions stemming from the previous game and with it we're getting what I believe to be the most creative take on Norse mythology we've seen across any form of media now what started off as a mere Revenge story against the God of War has transformed into a father-son tale of survival and keeping one's tormented past a secret in order to find some semblance of normalcy but of course the gods talk you know they're up there talking it ain't no way those deities weren't aware of a god-killing guy roaming around in the land of The Mortals they were aware of ukratos come on you can't hide forever anyways Santa Monica's ability to remain accurate to the source material while infusing it with its unique and creative take is something special and honestly I gotta say it's a sight to behold now taking a look at all these other representations of both Norse gods and mythology from other creative sources should give you a better appreciation of what Santa Monica Studios is doing and has been doing with the God of War franchise the accuracy and attention to detail from what we've seen so far is stunning and should get anyone and I mean anyone who has been a fan of the franchise since its humble beginnings hyped to help Kratos as he continues to eradicate every single freaking gaudy encounters now we'll see if Thor is a formidable Foe and if he survives God of War's version of the end game thankfully we won't have to wait too long for more God of War please check out this video of our resident Norse mythology expert reacting to Ragnarok storytelling and for more gaming coverage keep it right here on IGN

Channel: IGN

Views: 206,357

Keywords: Action, God of War, God of War: Ragnarok, PlayStation 5, Santa Monica Studio, gow, gow ragnarok, god of war ragnarok, god of war, god of war ragnarok kratos, kratos, kratos god of war, kratos god of war ragnarok, thor, god of war thor, god of war atreus, god of war loki, god of war norse mythology, ragnarok, norse mythology, god of war ragnarok norse mythology, kratos atreus, god of war ragnarok odin, ragnarok review, ragnarok god of war, kratos vs thor, kratos odin

Id: iyLfU-NP5FM

Length: 10min 45sec (645 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 07 2022