- [Dan] Sure, the God of
War series is about rampages of revenge but it's also about family. From Greek gods, to
cursed brothers tortured by Death itself, Kratos has one of the more interesting
family trees out there. So, we're tracing the God
of War's Greek lineage, as well as some big players
in the Norse pantheon. This is the God of War Family Tree. (upbeat music) Zeus, so yeah, Kratos' father is the King of the Greek gods himself. Son of the Titans Cronos and Rhea, he was sent to be raised by Gaia before Cronos could eat him. When Zeus grew up, he
went back and freed all of his siblings that Cronos already ate and declared war on all
Titans, including Gaia. This Great War only ended when Zeus forged the Blade of Olympus, struck down the Titans and sealed them in the
foulest pits of Tartarus. Despite the victory, Great Evils were born from the battle that threatened
god and mankind alike. So, Zeus sealed them
away in Pandora's box, stuck that box in a temple
on Cronos' back, and sent him to wander the Desert of
Lost Souls for eternity. So, all's well that ends well, right? Well, no. Zeus sired plenty of
children, including Kratos. Zeus betrayed Kratos, fearing him to be the marked warrior
who was fated to defeat him. So, Kratos took revenge and
killed the entire Greek pantheon before slaying Gaia and
Zeus at the same time. Callisto, one of Zeus's many lovers, she had two sons, Deimos and Kratos. Unfortunately for her,
Zeus had Deimos stolen from her out of fear that
he was the marked warrior. Kratos attempted to save his brother, only to be smacked to
the side for Callisto to find later and raise herself. Eventually, Zeus hid
Callisto away in Atlantis. Kratos ran into Callisto
in Atlantis himself, but she was in rough shape
by the time he got there. She asks him to find
Deimos in Thanatos' realm, before it was too late. But right before she can
tell Kratos any more, she transformed into a monster
that Kratos had to battle. After the battle,
Callisto dies in his arms, unable to explain how
Zeus trapped her there. Deimos, son of Zeus and Callisto, Deimos spent most of
his childhood training with his brother Kratos
to join the Spartan army. However, unlike Kratos, he was born with unnatural marks all over his body. Zeus, figured those marks meant Deimos was the marked warrior, so he sent Ares and
Athena to capture the boy. Despite Kratos' effort to save him, Deimos was taken away
to be tortured regularly by the God of Death himself, Thanatos. After years and years of torture, Deimos blames his brother
Kratos for not saving him. Kratos eventually freed him, but Deimos still wanted revenge
for the pain he endured. He and Kratos fought, but they eventually teamed
up against Thanatos, taking on death itself. Despite their best efforts, Thanatos landed a mortal blow on Deimos. Kratos then killed Thanatos
and carried his brother to his final resting place,
swearing vengeance on the gods. Kratos, Kratos was raised in Sparta, and grew to become a great warrior. Like I said before, in his childhood, his brother Deimos was
taken by Ares and Athena, but Kratos was actually the
marked warrior all along; he gained his own marks as tattoos in tribute to his brother. As a captain in Sparta's army, he led conquest after conquest, only eventually falling to the Barbarians. Humiliated and desperate, Kratos called on Ares to
give him the strength to win. Ares agreed, bound Kratos
with the Blades of Chaos and killed his enemies. As a servant of Ares,
Kratos ravaged cities and committed countless atrocities, all in the name of the God of War. On one of these pillages, Ares placed Kratos' wife
and daughter in a temple, and Kratos slaughtered them
in a bloodthirsty daze. Once Kratos came to his
senses, he was distraught. So, he let their bodies
burn inside the temple as an oracle cursed
him to wear their ashes on his skin forever as
the Ghost of Sparta. Then, Kratos broke his oath with Ares by first killing the
Furies and then Orkos, the Oathkeeper of the Gods, before serving the other gods in general. Kratos served the gods for 10 years before Athena gave him
a final task, kill Ares. To kill him, Kratos
retrieved Pandora's Box to use the power of hope inside of it. But Ares impaled him and
took the box for himself. Eventually, Kratos fought
his way back to Ares, killed him and earned the
throne as the new God of War. Too bad he didn't keep it for long. Zeus started to worry
about Kratos' strength, so he betrayed him. He drained Kratos' godhood
with the Blade of Olympus, then killed him. But, Kratos didn't let that stop him; he just killed the sisters of
Fate to prevent his own death. Right before he could kill
Zeus, Athena jumped in the way, telling Kratos that Zeus was
his father as she passed. Enraged, Kratos went back
in time, saved the Titans, and led all of them in
storming Mount Olympus. But Kratos' partnership
with the Titans didn't last. After Kratos defeated Poseidon, Zeus smacked him off the
mountain, and the Titans, in particular Gaia, left Kratos to fall straight into the underworld, again. Just then, Athena returned as a ghost, and offered to direct Kratos
in his quest to kill the gods. He killed Hades, made
it back up to Olympus, and began slaughtering the
rest of gods, including Zeus. After all of the death and destruction, Kratos was finally done; his quest for vengeance only brought ruin. But, unfortunately, the spirit
of Athena demanded the power of Hope for herself. Kratos was done taking orders, so he stabbed himself
with the Blade of Olympus and released hope unto all of man. Athena angrily pulled the
blade out of his chest, leaving him to die. But Kratos dragged himself into the sea. Eventually, Kratos landed in
the realm of Norse mythology, married a woman named Faye
and had a son, Atreus. They led a quiet and happy life together until Faye passed away when
Atreus was still a boy. Shortly after her death, the Norse God Baldur
attacks Kratos at home. Kratos and Atreus then set
out to spread Faye's ashes at the highest peak in the nine realms. The quest is perilous,
full of undead, dragons, and more gods out for blood. Along the way, Kratos and
Atreus form a stronger bond, and they spread Faye's ashes
in the land of Jotunheim. We'll get back to Faye
and Atreus in a bit, but first, let's take a look at more of his family from Greece. Lysandra and Calliope, Kratos'
first family stood by him through his ascension
to a servant of Ares. His wife, Lysandra always supported him, but she began to question
his countless slaughters. Ares moved Lysandra and Calliope
into the Temple of Athena, and Kratos slaughtered
them both in a blind rage. These deaths would stain
Kratos, quite literally, for the rest of his life. So, even though Kratos' nuclear
family was lost to his rage, he's got plenty of distant relatives through his dad a theme we'll
point out as we go along. Athena, Athena's the Greek
God of Wisdom and War, but since she's Zeus daughter, that technically makes
her Kratos' half-sister. Her mother is Metis, the Greek Goddess of cunning and wisdom, Zeus ate her after hearing a prophecy that their child would be
more powerful than Zeus. Well, Zeus started getting
a lot of headaches, so he asked Hephaestus to
split his head open for him. Sure enough, Athena popped
out of his skull as a grown, battle-ready adult and
goes on to build her career as a Goddess of War and Wisdom. Zeus always preferred Athena over Ares, so Ares attacked Athens
out of anger and jealousy. Zeus forbade gods from
warring with each other, so he just had Athena help
Kratos kill Ares instead. With Ares dead, Athena
brought Kratos up to Olympus to crown him God of War
as a token of gratitude. She also gave him sick new blades, and all seemed pretty good for
everyone for a little while. Athena warned Kratos not to
abuse his power as a god, but Kratos just laid
waste to Greece anyway. Zeus messed him up, but when Kratos tried
to kill him for revenge, Athena jumped in and sacrificed herself, telling Kratos that Zeus was his father. But hey, turns out, she
wasn't as gone as we thought! After Kratos was betrayed by Gaia, Ghost Athena met him at the River Styx and she seemed way more cool
with destroying Olympus. She directed him to destroy
the Flames of Olympus to open Pandora's Box once again. So Kratos did just that and
brought death to all on Olympus. Athena begged Kratos to give her the power so she could become queen, but Kratos does his own thing, again, and she leaves him to die. Ares, the original, and
actual Greek God of War was the son of Zeus and Hera, making him Kratos' half-brother. Ares was the most hated of the gods. So he started conspiring
against the rest of the gods to take Zeus' throne. Once he learned of the
prophecy of the marked warrior, he aligned himself with the Furies and tried to conceive that
child with the Fury Alecto. We know Kratos was the marked warrior, but Ares did have Orkos, the Oath Keeper. We know the story from here. Ares helps Kratos,
Kratos kills his family, Ares attacks Athens, Kratos kills Ares. So, let's just move on to some more of Kratos' extended family. Hera, she's the Greek Goddess
of Women and Marriage, the Queen of Olympus and
technically Zeus' sister which kind of makes her
Kratos' aunt/step-mom? Anyway, she was always mad
at Zeus for cheating on her which is like, kind of his thing. When Kratos was born, she asked Zeus to kill him immediately. Zeus was a little kinder
back then, so ironically, he let Kratos grow up to
kill him and all of Olympus. Kratos actually met Hera when
she was drunk off her ass. She sent Hercules to kill Kratos, but Kratos beat him easily. Hera just kept taunting
and taunting Kratos until he finally snapped and killed her when she
called Pandora a whore. Hephaestus, as the God of Smithing, Hephaestus was the most prized
craftsman in all of Olympus, and Zeus' son with Hera. When the Great War
unleashed all the evils, Zeus had him make Pandora's Box
to contain all of the evils, and a little hope, of course. He forged and covered the box
with the Flames of Olympus, but the key to subduing
the flames turned out to be his daughter, Pandora. So, to protect her,
Hephaestus lied to Zeus, and insisted that he seal
the box on Cronos' back. Well, after Kratos took
the box, Zeus took Pandora and beat Hephaestus so
bad that he deformed him. When Kratos eventually stumbled
into Hephaestus' workshop, Hephaestus helped him out, giving him details about
the Flame of Chaos. He also asked Kratos to
deliver Pandora back to him, but Kratos needed Pandora to open the box. Well, Hephaestus sent Kratos
to be killed by Cronos, and sure enough, Kratos killed Cronos, and then Hephaestus once he returned. Poseidon, the God of the Sea fought in the Great War alongside
Zeus and his other siblings. With the Titans were cast into Tartarus, he was given dominion over all of the seas and the kingdom of Atlantis. At first, he helped Kratos
in his quest to kill Ares, granting him Poseidon's
Rage and Poseidon's Trident. Well, once Kratos sank Atlantis and teamed up with the Titans, Poseidon had some beef
with our Ghost of Sparta. Too bad Kratos killed him pretty quickly on the way up to Olympus. Hades, when Hades helped his
brother Zeus defeat the Titans, he got to rule the underworld
with Persephone as his queen. Like his siblings, Hades initially helped his
nephew Kratos defeat Ares. But once his nephew
Kratos killed Persephone, that left him pretty upset. And then Kratos killed
Poseidon, Hades' brother, and then Athena. Look, by the time Kratos
fell into the underworld, Hades was out for blood. But of course, Kratos
ripped Hades' soul out with his own chains. Hermes, Hermes is probably
the most annoying of the gods, but is also one of the most useful. He's the God of Travelers,
Heralds, Thieves, Commerce, Sports, and Boundaries, on top of all of that, he's also the the son of
Zeus and the Pleiad Maia, daughter of the Titan Atlas. He would also help guide
lost souls to the underworld. Hermes fought alongside the
Olympians in both Great Wars, and always taunted
Kratos, his half-brother. He led Kratos on a chase through Olympus, making fun of his lack of speed. But clearly, Hermes
wasn't paying attention to Kratos' kill count;
Kratos caught up to him, beat his ass, ripped his legs
off, and stole his shoes! A plague erupted from Hermes' body, but hey, at least he finally shut up. Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty and Love has a few different origins. If you ask Hesiod and his Theogony, she was born from Cronos' father Uranus. Cronos cut his dad's junk off and threw it into the ocean. But, Homer's Iliad says she's
actually Zeus' daughter. So she's either Kratos' great
aunt or his half-sister. Ugh, I swear, this family
tree's, like a single branch. Either way, Zeus gifted her to Hephaestus for his craftsmanship. Aphrodite would go on to
have countless affairs, including one with the
former God of War Ares. Kratos first met Aphrodite as a statue, and she asked him to slay
Medusa and use her gaze to freeze some Minotaurs
before she could let him pass. When Aphrodite met Kratos in person, she refused to give him information unless he completed a
quick-time event with her. Well, after Kratos got
some extra red orbs, she opened a pathway directly
to Hephaestus instead. Hercules, when Zeus was on a roll, he had another love child, this time with a mortal
woman named Alcmene. Hera drove Hercules mad and
led him to kill his own family, kinda like what happened to
his half-brother, Kratos. To be absolved of his sin, Hercules had to complete 12 labors. When Kratos encountered
Hera in the garden, Hera sent Hercules to take care of him. Kratos didn't wanna fight
him, but Hercules was jealous, and wanted to make killing
Kratos his 13th labor to take his place as God of War. That didn't work out too well; Kratos left Hercules in the
sewer and continued his quest. Perseus Hey, we've got
another half-brother of Kratos to throw onto the pile. The son of Zeus and Danae, Perseus was most famous for killing Medusa but Kratos did that instead? So, moving on. Perseus went to the Island of Creation to find the Sisters of Fate
and bring back his dead lover. But, he got trapped in a
bathhouse and went mad instead. When Kratos also got
trapped in the bathhouse, Perseus tried to kill him to
prove himself to the Fates but Kratos stabbed him with his own sword and smashed him into a
wall, revealing the exit. So, that covers Kratos'
whole extended Greek family. But after he, you know, killed them all, he started a new life with a new family once he made his way to Midgard. Faye, aka Laufey the Just. Before she married Kratos, Faye was a renowned giant
warrior known as Laufey the Just. Wielding her Leviathan Axe, she stood up to the
Aesir gods Odin and Thor, and worked with Norse God
of War Tyr to hide Jotunheim and protect the giants from Odin's wrath. Odin wiped all the giants out anyway, but Faye hid in Midgard as
the Guardian of the Giants, married Kratos and had a son, Atreus. Before Faye died, she instructed Atreus and Kratos to cremate
her and spread her ashes on the highest peak in all the realms. She just didn't mention
that was in Jotunheim. As a Giant, she could see into the future, so she laid markers for Kratos and Atreus to follow on their journey. Atreus, when Atreus was a little kid, his mother taught him all
kinds of stuff like bowhunting and reading different languages
across the Nine Realms. He spent plenty of time with Faye, but Kratos spent countless
hours in the forest, so they never really got close. Oh, and Atreus' folks never
told him he was part god, which ended up making
him a pretty sickly kid. Across their journey to
scatter Faye's ashes, Atreus grew as a warrior and as a person. Sure, his ego went way outta control when he found out he was a god, and he even killed a defenseless Modi. But after some real talk with Kratos, Atreus learned what it means
to have the power of a god, and Kratos let him to
hold his mother's ashes on the last leg of the journey. Of course, there's a little
more to Atreus' story, but it's like, the biggest
spoiler of the entire game. So, I'm gonna quickly cover
the line of Norse gods we meet, or at least hear about. Odin, while we could technically go all the way back to Ymir, the original ancestor of all life, let's start with the
Allfather himself, Odin. We haven't met him in person just yet, but I'm not exactly looking forward to it. This guy's reputation as a paranoid, power-hungry maniac precedes him. He wiped out the Vanir and the giants, all to secure his place
as the absolute power of the nine realms. He's fated to get his during Ragnarok, but for now, he's just a looming presence for Kratos and Atreus to think about. Thor, Odin's son Thor is no peach either. With his mighty hammer Mjolnir, the God of Thunder was
basically Odin's instrument in killing all of the giants in Midgard. The only one that got the
best of Thor was Jormungandr, the world serpent. Their battle ended in a stalemate, but was so cataclysmic that
they split the world tree, propelling Jormungandr back in time. Again, we haven't really met Thor yet, aside from Atreus' vision, but I'll bet you he's pissed
that his two sons are dead. Magni and Modi. Okay, I'm sure Thor's upset
that Modi's gone, maybe, but Magni was the real loss. When these two were kids,
they lifted the slain giant, Hrungnir, off of Thor, freeing him. But, since Magni was blonde,
everyone saw him first and just assumed he did it all by himself. Sure enough, Magni was celebrated
as Thor's favorite son, and Modi was, like, the other one. Even in the end, Modi couldn't
escape Magni's shadow, and basically crumbled
once Kratos buried an ax in Magni's head. Thor beat his ass nearly to death, and Atreus finished
him off with his knife. Freya, though on a lesser scale than Zeus, Odin shacked up with
tons of different women. Freya was the leader of the Vanir, but she married Odin as a truce
to end the Aesir-Vanir war. She became the leader of the Valkyries, and had a son with Odin, Baldur. Odin started harnessing
Freya's Vanir magic for all kinds of bad stuff. She ended up leaving him,
but Odin put a curse on her, preventing her from harming
any living creature. Defenseless, Freya fled to Midgard to hide out as the Witch of the Woods. She was sympathetic to Kratos
and Atreus for a while, but she turned on them real
quick when they killed Baldur, her bright shining boy. Baldur, for the God of Light, Baldur has an overwhelmingly
dark backstory. When Freya received a vision of his death, she cast a spell on him, making him invulnerable to
everything except mistletoe. Trouble was, even though
he couldn't feel pain, he couldn't feel anything,
not even the good stuff. Baldur asked her to undo the spell, but Freya wouldn't budge, so he grew to hate her over the years. At one point, he almost killed her, but decided to spare her on the condition that she never see him again. From there, he went to Asgard
to train with his dad Odin, his half-brother, Thor, and
his nephews, Magni and Modi. When Baldur rolled up to Kratos' door, he was actually looking
for Faye, the last giant. Well, as we know, he kicked
the wrong Spartan hornet nest, and Kratos ended up killing Baldur after he just would not give up. Tyr, I also wanted to shout out one of Odin's other sons, Tyr. The Norse God of War is
probably long dead before Kratos and Atreus' journey even kicks off, but he left a lasting impact
throughout the nine realms. Unlike Kratos and Ares and
any typical God of War, Tyr was a die-hard pacifist; he always strove to make
peace between the nine realms, especially the Aesir and the Giants. He built Tyr's temple in the Lake of Nine as a quick easy way to link the Realms. When Odin started killing all the Giants, Tyr tried to help them out by working with Faye to hide Jotunheim. Sure enough, Odin accused Tyr
of conspiring with the giants, which he kind of was, so he locked him up. There's still lots to
learn about the Aesir, but I'm sure we'll get to know the ones that are still alive in
the next God of War game. But for now, there's
one more branch missing in this family tree if you haven't finished God of War on PS4, here's your last chance to avoid
spoilers and there it went. All right, time to talk about Jormungandr, the World Serpent. Yeah, so remember how
Jormungandr got sent back from the future after his fight with Thor? Turns out, he's Loki's
future son and Atreus is Loki so Jormungandr is Atreus' son, and Kratos' grandson,
for what that's worth! That certainly explains why
Jormungandr was so helpful! Look, I don't know how
things are gonna play out, but judging by that mural in Jotunheim, it doesn't look like Jormungandr's birth is gonna be a pleasant
experience for anyone. All we know is that the
World Serpent is destined to battle Thor during Ragnarok. I don't know what else
to expect in Ragnarok, but you can expect we're gonna
cover it on the Leaderboard! From Indie to triple A, we
love the games you play, so show us some love by subscribing! I've been your host, Dan,
thank you for watching!
