Before the long-running God of War sequence was reestablished with a 2018 entry that moved the story from a mythological historic Greece to a mythological historic Scandinavia, its protagonist, Kratos, was an unparalleled jerk. Mouth fastened in a everlasting sneer, hell-bent on revenge in opposition to the pantheon of gods who tricked him into murdering his household, the sooner Kratos roared, growled, and ripped aside each deity in his approach till he’d toppled a complete civilization’s metaphysical framework.

With God of War’s Norse reimagining, although, Kratos began to develop up. In Santa Monica Studio’s new imaginative and prescient, he was depicted as a sullen widower now left to forge a relationship along with his son, Atreus, after heading north to flee his previous. Its being an motion sport starring a residing god means it isn’t lengthy, after all, earlier than that previous catches as much as him and he’s compelled to reckon along with his little one, studying the household historical past and defending him from the undesirable consideration of the Norse gods. Over the course of the story—which tones down a lot of the beforehand over-the-top gore and does away with the goofy, rhythm sport intercourse scenes of the Greek sequence—Kratos ultimately realized easy methods to speak to his son in additional than monosyllables and grunts, changing into one thing like a practical dad or mum over the course of their journey to scatter his late spouse’s ashes.

The not too long ago launched Ragnarök is a direct sequel to that sport, choosing up after its predecessor revealed that Kratos’ son, Atreus, is definitely the Norse god Loki, and that the mythological finish instances— Ragnarök—are upon them. With Odin trying to find Atreus/Loki, and Kratos now determined to discover a approach to maintain his son protected whereas permitting him to embrace his divine id with out serving to deliver the world to an finish (typical dad or mum stuff, actually), the stakes are a lot greater for the protagonist on each a private and existential stage. Naturally, then, Kratos’ position as a father and a personality basically continues to vary too. Though the 2018 God of War had established him as a kinder, gentler type of bloodthirsty musclebound warrior—one able to forming a correct relationship along with his son—the sequel poses a follow-up query: How does Kratos behave as soon as that relationship is put to the take a look at by his little one rising into an grownup and being introduced into confrontation with the Norse gods?

Santa Monica Studio, Ragnarök’s creators, knew that their newest sport would proceed to indicate Kratos transfer additional away from his unique character. In an electronic mail interview with WIRED, narrative director Matt Sophos writes that his workforce “definitely knew we wanted Kratos to continue to evolve” in each massive and small methods. He cites a line from the top of the earlier sport by which Kratos tells Atreus that the pair “must be better” as one thing that the character really meant—a central philosophy guiding his additional growth.

Ragnarök assessments this sentiment by intensifying the interference of Odin and the Norse gods of their lives, and in addition by displaying the strains within the father-son relationship when the adolescent Atreus goes in opposition to his father’s will in pursuit of his personal id.

Sunny Suljic, the 17-year-old voice and motion-capture actor who portrayed Atreus in each God of War (2018) and Ragnarök, defined over electronic mail that this side of the character was relatable for him, particularly since he and Atreus are “about the same age.”