The Amulet of Uroborus in God of War: Ascension.
| “ | Stolen from the Oracle Aletheia by the Prophet Castor, this Amulet's gem can show the life and death of an object. | ” |
–Description | ||
The Amulet of Uroborus was an item that was used by Kratos in God of War: Ascension. It was a golden amulet that was built around a blue-green gem that could manipulate time in a variety of ways.
In Ancient Greece
The Amulet did not exist in Mythology, but Ouroboros was an ancient Greek Symbol and was used specially in alchemy.
The symbol was a serpent or dragon that bit its own tail. It represented eternity, evolution (turning back to itself), movement, continuity, self-fertilization and, consequently, eternal return.
God of War: Ascension
The Amulet belonged to Oracle Aletheia, but was stolen by the false prophet Castor and Pollux. The brothers used its powers against Kratos, but he defeated them before he claimed the amulet for himself. He tried to heal the mortally wounded Aletheia with it, but she told him that it couldn't heal her wounds and left her to die peacefully, but not before she told Kratos the plans of The Furies and the way to the Statue of Apollo. With the ability to decay buildings or rebuild them, Kratos used the amulet to solve many puzzles through the game, including on the island of Delos to reconstruct a structure that was previously destroyed by Alecto. After Kratos was captured by the Furies, the Amulet of Uroborus was held by Megaera. Following his escape from the Prison of the Damned, Kratos killed Megaera and reclaimed the Amulet for his use.
Gameplay
By manipulating time and space, the Amulet of Uroborus was capable of rebuilding enormous structures, such as the Statue of Apollo and large sections of the Hecatonchires. When activated, the area that was glowed Green. When it was used to rebuild something that was previously broken, Kratos got close to the object that he wanted to heal/decay until a green glow appeared above his head. When the Amulet was active, Kratos could make broken pieces of structures float in the correct places for him to proceed, or reversed the space to solve puzzles in different ways (such as in the broken water wheel). In the first demo of the game, Kratos needed to stay in a green circle in order to manipulate the object with the Amulet.
The Amulet could also be used in combat: if the green beam hit an enemy, they were slowed down (smaller enemies also levitated) for a few seconds, and therefore, left them open to combos. That power was especially useful when it was used against big enemies, like Elemental Talos (when they're not invincible): if they were slowed down a moment before they performed a strong attack, the attack was canceled and they were left open to combos from Kratos for a short time. Some bosses could also be slowed down, but their attacks weren't canceled.
Orb Costs
- Level 1 - n/a
- Level 2 - 5,000 Orbs
Attacks
Level 1
- Certain Destiny - Hold Down L1 and press O to Target objects. Then Hold down L2 and move R Analog - Right to heal, and Left to decay objects.
- Certain Destiny (Air) - Kratos shoots out a blast of energy that decays enemies.
Level 2
- Increased Area of Effect
- Decreased Cool-down Time
=Gallery
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Trivia
- It was unknown what happened to the item after Kratos killed the Furies. They were supposedly destroyed alongside Daimon.
- The Amulet of Uroborus was similar to the Amulet of the Fates from God of War II, as both had temporal abilities with a green beam.
- It was formerly known as the Life Cycle.
- The Amulet made an appearance in the Rise of the Warrior Webseries, under the name of Gem of Uruborus.
- As stated above, the Symbol of Ouroboros was a serpent that bit its own tail. It made sense that it's kept in Delphi, the location of the most important Oracle Temple in Greece and where the most famous serpent of Greek Mythology, Python, was killed and was still much worshipped.
- The Giant Snake Structures in Delphi were made to travel through many points of it until all of them finally got to the Tower of Delphi. There, each mechanical serpent bit a lever like structure and then spun it, which spun it all around the tower, which was circular, until it finally got to the top of it. The way that they did that was very similar to Ouroboros itself and it's probably another reference from the game.
- Based on Castor and Pollux's use of the Amulet of Uroborus, it could also make the user teleport, heal people/animals, shoot an energy time beam, and manipulate the ages of living things. Kratos's inability to use those powers was likely a matter of game balance, but in-universe, he probably lacked the intimate magical knowledge to use the amulet's more advanced abilities.
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