This article contains lore based on real-life sources from Norse mythology as introduced from the God of War Norse era.
“ | We've got to be more than a bunch of stories with our endings already written. | ” |
–Loki to Angrboda |
Atreus (Greek: Ἀτρεύς) / Loki (Nordic: ᛚᛟᚲᛁ) also known as Loki Laufeyson (Translation: Loki, son of Laufey), is the Norse God of Mischief and the Champion of the Jötnar. He is the deuteragonist of God of War (2018) and one of the two protagonists of God of War Ragnarök along with Kratos.
Introduced as the son of Kratos and Faye, Atreus joins his father on a journey to spread his deceased mother's ashes on top of the highest peak in all the Nine Realms. On their journey, Kratos teaches Atreus how to survive and fight as a warrior while Atreus teaches Kratos to open up to those that can help them.
As Atreus and Kratos reach Jötunheim to spread Faye's ashes on the Giant Finger's mountain, they learn that she was a Jötunn. As Atreus wonders about his heritage, he also learns that his mother gave him the birth name Loki.
During Fimbulwinter, Atreus seeks answers about his Jötunn heritage, something Kratos cannot answer. This makes Atreus secretly partner up with Sindri to reexamine the Jötnar shrines, where they learn that a God of War and Champion will be of great importance during Ragnarök. As Kratos finds out about Atreus' secret activities, he reluctantly agrees to help him, hoping to prevent Ragnarök.
After Atreus reconciles with his father, he manages to infiltrate Asgard and steal Odin's most prized possession, a mask with infinite knowledge. At Sindri’s house, it is revealed that Týr have been Odin in disguise and kills Brok. As the group manages to drive Odin away and retrieve the mask, they decide to start Ragnarök in order to bring Odin to justice for his crimes against the Nine Realms.
Atreus, Kratos, Freya, and Mimir have a final battle with Odin, resulting in Atreus killing Odin by extracting his soul, who is then denied an afterlife by a vengeful Sindri who destroys his soul in revenge for Brok's demise. As Fimbulwinter ends, Atreus makes his way through the survivors to tell Angrboda and his father that he is going explore the lands outside of the Nine Realms, hoping to find the rest of the Giants. With Kratos' acceptance of his son's birthright, Loki would thus leave for his next adventure.
Quick Answers
What is the relationship between Atreus and Kratos in God of War?
How does Atreus' role evolve from God of War to God of War Ragnarök?
Is there a connection between Atreus and the Norse God Loki?
What is the significance of Atreus' name in Norse mythology?
How old is Atreus in God of War Ragnarök?
Norse Mythology
Loki is the willy trickster God who is neither good nor evil as he both helps and causes problems across the Nine Realms. Loki's mischiefs varies from loony antics to prophesied apocalypses as he is the main reason for starting Ragnarök.
Very little is known about Loki, while his appearance is only mentioned of being handsome, it is believed that Loki is part Jötunn and part God, but not of Æsir nor Vanir origin. He is also the only Norse figure that presents himself with a matronymic surname, Laufeyson. Being the son of Laufey implies that Loki's father is the Giant, Fárbauti, and his siblings are Helblindi and Býleistr. One day, Loki met the female Jötunn, Angrboða in the Ironwoods and together they had three children: the Giant wolf Fenrir, the World Serpent Jörmungandr and the half-dead/half-living Goddess, Hel. Eventually, Loki would later marry the Goddess Sigyn, and together, they had two sons named Váli and Narfi.
While the exact circumstances of Loki meeting Odin is unknown, it most likely happened while the latter wandered across the Nine Realms. The two Gods formed a strong bond with one another as they mixed their blood together in an oath of loyalty, making them blood-brothers. After this event, Loki journeyed back to Asgard with Odin and formed a close comradeship with another Æsir God, Thor, who he would journey together with on many legendary adventures. In Asgard, Loki had a very mixed reputation. Not only were many Gods jealous of Loki's close bond with Odin and Thor, but also of him being naturally gifted in his magical abilities of shapeshifting, artifice and machiavellian intelligence which made him able to solve numerous problems that no other God could.
Eventually, Loki had a falling out with the Norse Gods when he orchestrated Höðr killing Baldr with a mistletoe arrow. As he had a flyting with the Gods, he publicly told each and every Æsir and Vanir of their most immoral, embarrassing sins proving that they were as bad (if not worse) as he was. Angered by Loki, the Norse Gods decided to punish him for the death of Baldr which led to Loki fleeing and hiding in Midgard before he eventually was captured near the lake, Franangrsfors in the form of a salmon. Loki was thus bound by a Serpent who dripped poison into his eyes causing him to writhe and create earthquakes. As Loki was eventually able to break free from his bonds, he sided with the forces of the Jötnar, started Ragnarök which resulted in Loki fighting Heimdallr and the two killing one another.
In hindsight, Loki is shrouded in mystery as nothing is ever certain about him which has lead to scholars debating about him for centuries with no clear answers. Some believe that Sigyn, Váli and Narfi are respectively the same deities as Angrboða, Fenrir and Jörmungandr since Váli was transformed into a wolf, and Narfi was transformed into a venomous serpent from his entrails. Some suggest that Loki survived Ragnarök as he might have faked his own death, and have many other undocumented abilities he might have kept hidden when he travelled across, between and beyond the Nine Realms.
In the God of War Series
God of War: Lore and Legends
Early life
Born in the Wildwoods of Midgard, Loki, later named Atreus was conceived between the Greek God, Kratos and the Jötunn, Faye. Unbeknownst of his true heritage, Atreus spent most of his childhood as a sickly child and was taken care of by his mother while his father was absent for long periods of time to hunt food. In reality, Kratos was gone so he could learn to control his rage.
As Atreus grew older, he slowly grew healthy enough to walk. However, his sickness still occurred with heavy coughs whenever he got overwhelmed with emotions; worst-case scenario, Atreus would pass out and ended up being sick for days. Faye would later teach him the Norse languages, how to track and hunt for animals, and tell him Norse stories.
At the age of six, Faye decides to teach Atreus how to write down his stories as he moves through life, with the first two years being his practice journal. After two successful years, Atreus and Faye celebrated by burning his practice pages so he can then begin writing his real journals.
God of War (Dark Horse Comics)
The Berserkers
One night, Kratos returns home much earlier than usual, having been gone less than a day. Atreus compliments his father for having been able to win in a fight against wolves with his bare hands. Kratos immediately scolds Atreus and tells him that while he won the fight, he lost the only battle that truly mattered to him.
The next day, Faye tells Atreus that she will be out hunting and will return before nightfall. Before Kratos leaves, he scolds Atreus playing with his wooden figures instead of chopping firewood. Later that day when Kratos returns home, he is followed by Beast-Men who blame Kratos for killing their brother. As they engage in combat, the Beast-Men reveal themselves to be shapeshifters as they transform into bears. After Kratos kills the group, the leader proclaims that he will return with the rest of the clan to take revenge at him and to avenge one of his fallen brothers.
Knowing that their home isn't safe until the threat had been dealt with, Kratos decides to take Atreus with him as they hunt down the leader. As Kratos loses his trail, Atreus further suggests that they could visit the old seer down the valley, who Faye sometimes visits to help them. With no other option, Kratos agrees and Atreus guides them to the seer. While arriving on time at her hut, the seer tells them that the Beast-Men are able to shapeshift themselves thanks to a bear-totem and she also hinted the clan is currently occupied in the Longhouse. Kratos then decides to make the journey by walking himself alone, while leaving Atreus behind with the seer, believing that he is not ready yet.
The elderly seer tells Atreus that his father has successfully killed the Beast-Men and has taken away most of their own shapeshifting abilities by destroying the bear-totem. She then hands Atreus a knife and tells him that he must do something before Kratos returns to them. Suddenly, the Beast-Men leader appears and kills the seer while Atreus is able to defend himself. As the seer dies, Kratos and Atreus make her a funeral pyre. As they walk home, Kratos compliments Atreus' defense but says he is still not ready to fight yet.
God of War: Codex
The Talon Bow
One day, Faye tells Atreus that an old friend of hers taught her how to craft a long bow, and she will now pass the knowledge onto Atreus to make one. As Faye finishes the bow, Atreus bestows it with the name as Talon Bow. Because of this, it eventually became one of his first official weapon and he immediately starts practicing together with his mother. As his father returns to their home, he tests the bowstring without firing it, much to Atreus' confusion. Later, Kratos compliments the weapon, making Atreus happy of finally having received his father's attention without being scolded.
As Atreus practices with his bow and runic charms, he starts to develop abilities and magic he cannot explain such as extrasensory perception, telepathic readings, and understanding the feelings of animals. When Faye learns all about this, she appears to be pleased with his son.
God of War: A Call from the Wilds
The Deer & Draugrs
During a normal day, Atreus cides to test his telepathic abilities and hears an animal voice cry out in pain. Despite his mother warning him of not wandering too far out to the woods, Atreus grabs his bow and pack his arrows. Therefore, he sets forth on his first adventure where he hears a mysterious cry of a pained animal asking for help . As he continues forth, passing a tree with a yellow hand print that is adorned to its bark, he suddenly finds himself lost in an unfamiliar terrain. Atreus eventually finds the animal which is a large doe on the ground with an arrow stuck in its own neck. He eventually calms down, comforts the doe, and eases her passing by reciting Norse death rites. To Atreus' surprise, he finds the corpse of the doe’s hunter who is sadly dismembered in pieces.
As Atreus panics, he eventually finds the ones responsible for the carnage, two draugrs, which engage him in combat. As Atreus even manages to kill one of the draugrs, the other one sliced his arm. In pain, Atreus begins to feel a blinding rage come over which makes him pass out, right before he sees his father easily kill the remaining draugr. Atreus then awakens to find himself being carried by Kratos while running at unimaginable speeds. Atreus feels his arm wound, as Kratos scolds him and tells Atreus to guide them at home.
God of War: The Lost Pages of Norse Mythology
The Death of Faye
One night, Atreus noticed that his mother was unusually quiet. As he tried to use his telepathic ability, he noticed she was sad. As she noticed Atreus was reading her mind, she turned happy again and told him another Norse story with a tired voice. For next past months, Atreus notices that Kratos and Faye have switched roles with his father staying at home and cooking food while his mother leaves them for days at a time. It is later revealed that Faye is terminally ill and is going to die soon.
God of War (2018)
The Long Journey
After his mother's death, Atreus encounters his father, who was chopping down a tree which Faye marked. Atreus helps his father prepare his mother's body for cremation and takes his mother's knife. While they wait for her body to completely burn to ashes, Kratos orders Atreus to hunt deer in order to see whether he has the skills to survive the journey to fulfill his mother's dying wish; to scatter her ashes at the highest peak in all the realms. They track and find a deer, but Atreus shoots too hastily and fails to kill the deer in a single shot, which earns him a scolding from Kratos. They eventually find the deer and Atreus manages to incapacitate it, but is shocked when Kratos orders him to deliver the killing blow as he had never killed something before. With his father's assistance, Atreus stabs the deer in the throat. Unfortunately, their success was short-lived as a troll attacks them. Faced with danger, Atreus assists his father with his archery in the ensuing fight and both of them successfully kill the troll. However, Atreus loses control of his rage and continues attacking the corpse, only stopping after Kratos brings him back to his senses. Because of this, Kratos declares the boy not ready for the journey, much to his disappointment and they head back home.
However, a stranger arrives at their doorstep soon after they head home. Kratos orders Atreus to hide in the basement while he confronts the stranger. After Kratos fights and wins against the stranger, he heads back to the house and orders Atreus to prepare for the journey, declaring their home no longer safe. As they journey towards the highest mountain in the land, Atreus notices that their home was surrounded by a magical grove of trees which was broken when Kratos cut down a tree from the said magical grove, breaking the protection it provided.
The boy and his father began a quest to take his mother's ashes to the highest peak of the Nordic Realm, which they assume to be the highest mountain visible to them. Along the way they encounter many monsters such as draugr, hel-walkers, and revenants. They also encounter Brok, a blue dwarven blacksmith who claims to have made Atreus' mother's axe and offers them merchant and/or smithing services. Sometime later on the journey, they encounter a boar. This time Atreus lands a critical blow to the animal, but is caught up in the thrill of the chase and follows the boar, leaving his father behind. He eventually catches up to the boar being tended to by a witch who says the boar is her friend. They follow the witch to her home and help her heal the boar. In return, the witch leads them through a secret passage from her home, assigns them with a mark to hide them from 'people who would disrupt their journey' and a compass which leads them to their set goal.
Atreus and Kratos leave the witch's home and take a boat. Eventually, they arrived at a lake, while the boy identified the stranger as Baldur. They find a submerged statue in the middle of the lake with a writing in the middle of the water, telling them to "throw their arms to the lake." When Kratos complies and throws the Leviathan into the lake, they inadvertently summon Jörmungandr, the World Serpent, whose awakening causes the lake to drain and revealed the previously submerged structure, the Bifröst, underneath and opening the path for their journey.
Atreus and Kratos continue on foot and encounter Sindri, Brok's brother who is also a blacksmith and opens his shop to them as well. They begin to climb the mountain only to find the path blocked by a dark magic called the 'Black Breath'. Unable to pass, the witch arrives and tells them the only way to dispel the magic is by journeying to Alfheim and collecting the Light of Alfheim. They journey back to the Bifröst and reactivate the machinery within. With the witch's instruction, the three of them reactivate the Bifröst and journey together to Alfheim. However, they find the Light has dwindled. To make matters worse, the spell which prevents the witch from travelling through realms takes effect and she is pulled back into Midgard, leaving Atreus and his father to fend for themselves in the foreign realm.
Atreus and Kratos journey deeper into Alfheim and get caught up in an ongoing war between its inhabitants, the dark elves and the light elves. The former, being the dominating faction, immediately regard the two visitors as hostile and attack them through their journey. The pair battle through these hostile elves and other monsters, eventually making their way to the temple and the Light of Alfheim housed within. Kratos goes inside the Light and leaves Atreus with his axe to wait. However, Kratos fails to come out after a long period of time, leaving Atreus to fend for himself against hordes of dark elves with his bow and the axe. A frustrated and worried Atreus eventually pulled his father out of the Light. Kratos, who was unaware of how much time had passed inside the Light, reprimands Atreus for pulling him out, causing the boy to snap back at his father for abandoning him fending for himself against a force of Dark Elves alongside a leviathan axe he wielded. With the Light collected, Kratos imbues Atreus' bow with the Light, allowing the boy to create bridges made of light by shooting Light-imbued arrows to light crystals. The newfound power helps the pair get out of the temple and after fighting and killing the dark elf leader, Svartáljǫfurr, make their way through the Bifröst. However, Atreus' frustration with his father's seeming lack of empathy causes him to accuse Kratos of not caring about Faye. Kratos is immediately angered at the accusation and tells the boy to leave him to mourn in his own way. Realizing that his father felt grief for his mother, Atreus immediately apologized. Kratos showed his understanding and admitted it has not been easy for his son as well and the two reconciled.
With the Light of Alfheim in their possession, the pair make their way back to Midgard and the blocked passage. They use the Light to dispel the black breath and enter the mines within. They reactivate the elevator mechanism within, but on their ascent are interrupted by a variety of creatures and finally, Hræzlyr, a dragon that resides within the mines. They fend off the dragon and get out of the mines but find the dragon on the verge of eating Sindri. Not wanting the dwarf to die, Atreus momentarily distracts the dragon while Kratos moves to attack it. While Kratos fights the dragon, Atreus rescues Sindri and leads him to safety but is soon noticed by the dragon. It lunges at them, leaving Atreus in a nearby crane mechanism. Atreus then wait for Kratos' command to shoot down the crane, which Kratos uses to impale the dragon into a crystal of hardened world tree sap, killing it. A grateful Sindri then gives Atreus mistletoe arrows and imbues his bow with the dead dragon's lightning in gratitude.
As they neared the summit, Kratos noticed that Atreus' quiver strap was loose and used a piece of mistletoe to fasten it. Climbing towards the peak, they heard voices up above. It was the stranger, whom Atreus earlier identified as the Aesir God Baldur, and his nephews Magni and Modi questioning a man in the tree for Kratos' whereabouts, now aware that he's traveling with a child, but the latter couldn't answer due to the Witch's mark concealing them. After the Aesir had departed, father and son ascended the summit, meeting the man in the tree, who introduced himself as Mimir, self-proclaimed smartest man alive. Despite his own self-assurance that they were alone, Atreus reluctantly followed his father's orders to check if the Aesir had doubled back. Subsequently, they explained their objective to Mimir, who informed them that the true highest peak in all the realms was in Jötunheim, to Atreus' frustration. To prove his point, Mimir showed them a projection of their destination in the only Jötunn portal. Mimir offered to help father and son reach Jötunheim. However, as Odin had made his wooden prison invulnerable even to Mjölnir, Mimir requested Kratos behead him; Atreus attempted to prove him wrong by cutting at the tree with his knife to no avail. He then averted his eyes before his father did the deed.
They then take Mimir's head back to the Witch to reanimate it. However, the Witch became alarmed upon seeing the mistletoe arms in Atreus' quiver and ordered him to surrender them. Atreus reluctantly conceded at this father's command. The Witch then destroyed the arrows, calling them "wicked", and made Atreus promise to destroy any more mistletoe he should come across, before giving him her arrows as compensation. After reanimating Mimir's head, Atreus was surprised when the Witch spat in his face and the head identifying her as Freya, the former Queen of the Vanir. His father was angry that the goddess didn't identify herself earlier and told Atreus they had to depart without even thanking her.
Now that they have their guide Kratos demands information on Baldur and how to defeat him when they run into him again, to which Mimir claims that Baldur is invulnerable to any threat physical or magical. Instead the father-son duo asks for the information they had agreed on, how to enter Jötunheim. The trio travel back to the Bifröst to consult the World Serpent according to whom they need three things, the chisel of a Giant, the travel rune for Jötunheim, and the gate they found next to Mimir's prison, and Mimir knows where they can get a chisel.
The duo reaches the corpse of Thamur, but realize that the ice is too thick to break through, so they climb to the top of the hammer and release it from its chains. After a while, they reach the chisel, only for the path to be blocked by Magni, who demands them to surrender. Kratos tells Atreus to flee but is intercepted by Modi. During the violent, bloody struggle, Modi decides to use this time to taunt Atreus about his mother causing Atreus to lose his senses and attack. Luckily, Kratos kills Magni, while Modi flees, with Atreus yelling at him to come back and fight him. Unfortunately, his anger triggers the return of his illness.
Later, as father and son return to Týr's Temple to retrieve the travel rune, Modi ambushes them and pins Kratos down with lightning, saying that he'll only earn his father's hammer by default and how he ruined everything. Atreus shouts at him to stop, only to receive another insult about Faye, causing him to charge at the God, but is knocked aside. Modi adds that he'll be his new brother soon. Atreus activates his Spartan Rage but falls into a coma. After Kratos beats Modi, Mimir suggests he take him to Freya, which he does. She lets him in and says that Kratos will need to find the heart of Mattugr Helson, the Bridge Keeper, but tells him that his axe will be useless, so he rushes home to dust off his Blades of Chaos.
After Kratos returns from Helheim, Atreus recovers and continues their quest. When he is asked, of why he's quiet, Atreus responds that he overheard his father call him cursed and regretted that he was 'not what his father wanted' and for his curse. Kratos tells him that he is a God, which astonishes him, and Kratos explains that the curse is a lifetime of misery and trauma. When he asks if he can turn into a wolf, Kratos says that he is welcome to surprise him. When Atreus questions why he is not like his father, Mimir explains that all gods are different, pointing out Atreus' supernatural skill with language as one of his abilities, which Kratos lacks. The duo return to Týr's Temple where Atreus activates the sandbowl which lowers them down to a hallway-like maze full of deadly traps. Atreus and Kratos realize that Týr has traveled across the world learning the culture and art of war in many realms, even Kratos' own.
Atreus starts to become cocky and arrogant over time, like yelling to Sindri about his brother being more talented than him and charging at enemies recklessly. After entering the mountain, Kratos and Atreus encounter a beaten Modi, who explains that his father had beaten him for his cowardice. Atreus threatens him to back off. Modi tries to attack, but is too badly beaten to do so. Against his father's orders, he kills Modi with Kratos explaining about kill ethics. Atreus brushes it off saying that nobody cared about him anyways. When Kratos says there are consequences to killing Gods, Atreus asks how he knows such a thing. Kratos doesn't respond.
After climbing the summit, Kratos activates the portal to Jötunheim, but Baldur ambushes them and after a scuffle where Atreus shoots his father with one of his arrows and tries to attack Baldur head on, the three ends up in the travel room where Baldur has Asgard locked in, but Kratos instead locks in Helheim and the three end up getting sucked in. After Kratos disciplines his son, they continue their journey, along the way, they realize that Freya is Baldur's mother and she cast a spell on him in which it makes him invulnerable, but unable to feel anything.
To return to Týr's Temple, Kratos improvised using pyres to allow a ship to fly. But due to constant attacks from the forces of Hel attempting to stop them, the bow of the ship was torn off just as they reached Týr's Temple. Suddenly, an illusion of Kratos furiously attacking what appeared to be his father. Ignoring the vision, Atreus urged his father to jump just as they were over the temple. Kratos quickly deployed his shield to break their fall as they crashed into a previously inaccessible section of the temple; Mimir commented that they were both insane.
Entering the adjoining chambers, which Mimir identifies as Odin's, they find the missing panel about Týr from his vault. As Kratos held Mimir up to the panel, he observed it depicting Týr traveling magically but was confused at why the giants would devote a shrine to him. Atreus then inquired about the four runes in the corners, but Mimir corrected that they were symbols from different lands and Kratos finished they meant war, recognizing the one in the upper right corner. Kratos observed that Týr's eyes were jewels like Mimir's. Upon proximity to Mimir's eye, the panel suddenly illuminated hidden illustrations, revealing secret plans for a key to a secret room that none but Týr and the Giants' confidants could access, indicating there was an alternate path to Jötunheim.
As they descended the elevator back into the Realm Travel Room, Kratos asked Atreus if he saw the illusion of himself with an old man back on the ship, though Atreus claimed to have seen nothing. They then realigned the bridge with Midgard, Kratos questioned Mimir why he never mentioned that Baldur was Freya's son. Mimir stated he felt both surprise as well as awareness of this fact. This prompted Kratos to inquire again about Baldur's weakness, causing Mimir to repeat his denial of such a thing. Kratos told Atreus his suspicion that Freya bewitched Mimir to prevent from speaking of Baldur's weakness. Mimir theorized Freya must have performed this spell when his head was at her mercy or when he deduced Baldur's weakness. Atreus then inquired what that weakness was only be frustrated as Freya's spell took hold of Mimir again. Kratos assured them both that Baldur's weakness does exist, and they had only to find it if they encounter him again.
As they met with Brok and requested he make the key, Brok outright refused because it wasn't a weapon and that his tools would be damaged forging such a delicate object. Suddenly, Sindri shows up and offers his aid. The Huldra brothers then reconcile and forge the key for the trio, branding it with their combined seal. Atreus expressed his joy at their reconciliation.
Using the key at another section of the temple, they find themselves underneath the Realm Travel Room and Kratos spots a light at the Jötunheim door on the ceiling. After circumventing Týr's traps to release the chains holding the Realm Travel Room so Kratos could flip it. Promptly ascending the structure, Atreus tells Mimir the value of teamwork and cooperation, despite their constant bickering, in passing Týr's test. They then reached the mysterious object, which Mimir identified as the Unity Stone. He deduced from the panel in Odin's library that depicted Týr traveling the Realms Between Realms.
Returning to the Realm Between Realms, Atreus climbed atop his father as they leaped off the path of the World Tree. With the Unity Stone protecting them, they find themselves on another branch with the Jötunheim tower at the other side. Entering the tower, Kratos inserted the Unity Stone into a pedestal, causing the tower to release enemies from other realms which they had to fight before finally returning to Midgard.
As they attempt to align the bridge with Jötunheim, Mimir points out that there's no travel crystal to refract the energy, and suspected that Týr used the Bifröst crystals in his own eyes as a final failsafe. Atreus recalled that Mimir had a Bifröst crystal as well but was reminded that he needed his other eye, which Odin plucked to keep him from traveling. However, he suspected that Brok and Sindri might know its hiding place as he had seen them lurking in the mountain when Odin came for his visits. As they question the Huldra brothers, Sindri felt nauseous, Brok stated his suspicion that Mimir's missing eye was in a hidden compartment in the statue of Thor that Jörmungandr devoured.
Summoning the World Serpent, Mimir convinced him to allow them to travel inside his belly to retrieve the eye, much to Atreus' disgust. But once they retrieve the eye, an outside force forces the Serpent to regurgitate them onto the shores near Thamur's corpse. Freya soon arrives, asking what happened to Jörmungandr. Atreus kept his distance from Freya at his father's advice, unsure whether to trust her. Baldur then emerged from the icy waters and blames the father and son for costing him so much. Freya then tried to make amends with her son but he was intent on killing her for cursing him. Kratos chose to intervene, warning Baldur against seeking vengeance. As they begin to fight, Atreus pleaded Freya to flee but she refused, believing she could reason with Baldur. She quickly restrained Kratos with vines but Baldur quickly escaped her grip. Baldur advised Atreus to look away, but he refused to allow his father to come to harm, resulting in the Aesir punching him in the chest. Atreus' vest was covered in blood but he insisted it wasn't his. Baldur's hand had gotten stabbed on the piece of mistletoe Atreus used to fasten his quiver strap, breaking his curse and rendering him vulnerable.
Suddenly, Freya restrains Baldur with vines and reanimates Thamur to grab Kratos and Atreus. Atreus then realized Freya destroyed his mistletoe arrows to avert Baldur's curse being broken. Furthermore, her spell on Mimir had lifted as he confirmed Baldur was vulnerable. They were then released back onto the icy plain where their battle continued before moving onto Thamur's chisel. Atreus shot his arrows repeatedly into Baldur as they leaped from the chisel back onto the ground. Baldur soon gained the upper hand as he grabbed them both by the throat, thanking them for performing what even the All-Father himself could not. Kratos forced Baldur to release them with his Spartan Rage and continued the fight on a plateau. Freya attempted to stop the fight by having Thamur breathe an icy wind. Suddenly, Atreus summoned Jörmungandr in his own tongue. The World Serpent attacked Thamur, forcing everyone back to the ground where the fight started.
Kratos held Baldur in a chokehold, but Atreus convinced his father that he was beaten and no longer a threat. Kratos warned Baldur not to come after them nor lay a hand on Freya. However, Baldur would not give up on his vengeance and began to strangle Freya. Frantically, Atreus pleaded his father to intervene and so Kratos stated the cycle must end as he snapped Baldur's neck, killing him. Freya swore vengeance against Kratos, much to Atreus' outrage at her lack of gratitude. Freya then coerced Kratos into revealing his past to Atreus. He explained that he was from a place called Sparta and his path began from pledging himself to a God that cost him everything. He killed many who were deserving and others who were not. Eventually, he killed his father. Atreus asked if being a God was all about murdering family. Kratos insisted they need to learn to be better. Freya then departed with Baldur's body.
As they made their way back to Týr's Temple, Atreus wondered why Baldur said they cost him so much. Mimir voiced his suspicion that Odin probably convinced Baldur that following them to Jötunheim would bring his cure, of which was certainly a lie. As for the boy's follow-up question regarding why mistletoe harmed Baldur, the head explained that as powerful as Vanir magic is, its rules remain slippery and elusive.
Returning to the Realm Travel Room, Atreus held Mimir's head to refract the energy, finally opening the portal to Jötunheim. Mimir decided to stay behind, believing this to be a family matter and was left with Brok and Sindri. As they crossed into Jötunheim, Kratos entrusted Faye's ashes to Atreus for the remainder of their journey.
They then entered a cave filled with the stone faces of giants. As they reached the exit, suddenly the walls start disintegrating at Atreus' touch, revealing hidden prophecies. The first depicted Faye arguing with the Giants. The others depicted all the events from their journey, indicating that the giants had foreseen their collective story. Kratos corrected this was all to prophesize Atreus' tale. They both came to the conclusion that Faye was in fact a giant, thus making Atreus part-Giant and wonders why his mother never told them the truth. His father suspected that sent them on this journey, knowing they'd find these prophecies and trusted she had good reason. He then concluded that Baldur was tracking Faye the whole time, not knowing she was only ashes. Atreus then chose to put his faith in his mother's plan, whatever it is since she hadn't been wrong once.
After spreading his mother's ashes with his father, he asked him why he was referred to as "Loki" on the wall drawings they found earlier which depicted their journey. Kratos then told him that his mother wanted to call him Loki, and speculated that this is the name she told the Jötnar. However, Kratos goes on and says he convinced her to let him be named Atreus instead.
Kratos tells his son that his namesake was a Spartan warrior who, unlike most Spartans, was happy and filled with life. During and after battles, he would fill his fellow Spartans with hope. When he was killed in battle, Kratos himself carried him back to Sparta on his shield and personally buried him. Kratos wanted his son to be named Atreus because he fills him with joy. Atreus was amazed by this account, commenting that his father actually told him a good story.
“ | Atreus, are you ready? Yeah, but... I had the weirdest dream. Fimbulwinter was ending. And Thor came to us, here at the house. It was only a dream. But it felt different. It felt real... it felt like the future. Then we will worry about it tomorrow. Today, there are still things we can do. Come. |
” |
–Atreus and Kratos about Ragnarök and Thor |
After fulfilling Faye's dying wish, Atreus and his father returned home for a well-deserved rest. That night, Atreus seemingly had a dream regarding future events, with Fimbulwinter concluding after a few years and Thor appearing at his doorstep, possibly to take revenge on the two for the death of his sons and his half-brother. He told Kratos about this, but the latter told his son that that's something they'll handle another day and that what they do today is what matters.
Between God of War (2018) & God of War Ragnarök
Fimbulwinter
A year after Baldur's death, Atreus begins writing in his journal once more, chronicling what has happened to the world. He remarks that the snow and ice have gotten worse with each passing day. He notes how he and his father now spends everyday training and gathering for supplies, but hunting has become a lot harder and that he can hear the animals fear about an incoming storm, unlike anything ever seen before.
He notes that both he and Mimir have noticed that Kratos has become despondent, due to the fact that his father knows this winter isn't normal, but a fated sign of things to come and that he cannot do anything about it even with all of his strength as it is completely out of his control. Mimir says that Odin has tried for centuries to fight this fate, but it is a pointless effort and the coming of Ragnarök as it cannot be stopped, by the Aesir or by Kratos. Atreus then asks Mimir whether or not his father could kill Thor, a question that had been plaguing his mind ever since he had the dream of the Thunder God showing up outside their house. Despite noting earlier that his father is the most frightening killer he has ever seen, Mimir replies that he doesn't know who would win.
On another day, Atreus writes how he's killed yet another raven. He notes how he can usually hear an animal's feelings and birds' feelings are as beautiful as the songs they sing, but these ravens were cold and silent inside. Atreus notes that Odin must have cast a shroud over his spies so their feelings could not be heard.
One day, Atreus notices a few wolves outside of their yards open gate. Nocking his bow with lightning arrows, Atreus steps out into the yard and notes that there are six wolves pacing near the gate, raising his bow. Noticing Atreus, the pack of wolves enter the yard and form a half circle around him begin howling at the sky in unison. Atreus notes that upon hearing the howls he felt a strangely familiar buzzing in his head and lowered his bow. The wolves continued to howl for a minute, until Kratos came running up from the river path where he had originally been cleaning the game they had caught earlier that day in preparation for storage, whereupon they quickly ran off and disappeared into the forest. Upon reaching Atreus, Kratos asked if he was alright and giving him a strange look. He replied that he was fine, and Kratos asked if the wolves had attacked him. The question almost made Atreus laugh, as he found the idea of the wolves attacking him to be genuinely funny, but he had no idea why.
Atreus notes that he keeps thinking about why his mother wanted to name him "Loki", as it did not sound like any Jötunn name he had ever heard of. He knows it must mean something important, as his mother never did anything without a good reason.
Another day, Atreus writes how things around them have changed drastically. He can feel that the forest itself is getting ready for something and is afraid. The Lake of Nine has now completely frozen over and Odin has completely blocked access to the travel room in Týr's Temple thereby stopping any sort of realm travel. He notes that Hel-Walkers are acting differently as well and are far more organised. Whenever he and Kratos engage in a fight with them, they fight back for a bit but then deliberately retreat. Atreus does not know whether or not this is because they are waiting for reinforcements or for an order to attack, which frustrates both him and his father. He notes that every day, more crazy things start happening and he doesn't know if he'll be able to keep writing in his journal.
Atreus then asks Laufey for guidance.
God of War Ragnarök
Three years later after Baldur's death, both Kratos and Atreus are training and surviving Fimbulwinter. During these three years, Atreus has become a better fighter and skilled climber and he has been traveling through Midgard looking at the Jötnar shrines trying to figure out a way to stop Ragnarök from occurring. During the long winter, Atreus has found proof that Týr the Norse God of War was still alive, but he had no idea where he was located. During Fimbulwinter, Atreus has been tracking clues on how to avert Ragnarök and during this time he has taught himself Jötnar magic and due to his personal quest to find Týr, Atreus has had help from Sindri to find Týr's location.
During Fimbulwinter, Kratos and Atreus find a pair of wolves Speki and Svanna from a pack of Raiders and some point after that, Atreus and Kratos find the wolf Fenrir, who Atreus cares for but he finds it hard to take care of the wolf because he is sick and dying for some time.
One day after hunting deer, as the father and son duo are heading back home the two are attacked by a vengeful Freya, both Kratos and Atreus are forced to fight Freya despite them both trying to convince her that they do not want to fight her. The duo escape Freya's wrath again and they make it back home. Once home, Atreus makes sure that Speki and Svanna are warm and fed before checking on Fenrir.
Atreus tries to make sure that Fenrir is eating but Fenrir is so weak that he doesn't have the strength to eat and Atreus comforts Fenrir, telling him that he can rest easy and he doesn't have to worry about Atreus and as Fenrir dies Atreus unknowingly transferred Fenrir's soul into his knife. After Fenrir passes away, Kratos wants to train Atreus so that he can control his emotions but Atreus saddened and angry over losing the wolf, asks his father to let him bury Fenrir in peace.
After burying Fenrir, Atreus' intense emotions overcame him and transformed him into a massive feral bear known as Björn. As Björn, Atreus rampages across the Wildwoods, killing several Raiders and a wild bear. Mimir soon notices that Atreus has not returned from burying Fenrir and alerts Kratos. The two set out to find Atreus until the uncontrollable Björn attacks them. Though Atreus proves resilient in this form, Kratos brutally beats and strangles Björn until it transforms back into the wounded and exhausted Atreus. Horrified, Kratos rushed to help Atreus heal his wounds, and Atreus deduced that his emotions were responsible for his bear form. Kratos informed his son that this was why he had to continue his training, resulting in a small argument between the two.
On their way back to the house, they encountered the corpse of the bear Atreus had killed, discovering that it was a mother with two cubs. Horrified by what he had done, Atreus asked if there was anything that they could do for the cubs, only for Kratos to reply that there was nothing they could do, and that nature would take its course with them. Atreus tried to comfort the cubs, only for them to run off into the woods. Kratos additionally had Atreus make another stave out of a nearby tree to repair the barrier around their home. After arriving home, father and son would go to sleep.
Thor and Odin's Arrival
Suddenly, a violent thunderstorm raged outside the house, jolting Kratos and Atreus awake. Grabbing their weapons, they rush to the door and open it to find that, just like in Atreus' dream three years prior, Thor stood outside their home, lightning crashing violently overhead. When the God of Thunder asked to come inside, Kratos hesitantly issued his son back into the house as Thor entered. The two gods sat at the table while Atreus got out a pair of drinking cups. Thor offered some mead to the boy, but Kratos grabbed his arm and pushed it away, causing Thor to tell him, "You could've told me before I poured".
After a brief conversation between Thor and Kratos, someone knocked on the door. Atreus went to answer, revealing Odin standing outside. The Allfather entered the home, offering a peaceful resolution to their problems, asking in particular that Atreus ceased his search for Týr, something Kratos had no idea he was doing. When Kratos refused Odin's offer, the latter allowed Thor to engage in battle with the Spartan. After Thor sent Kratos through the cabin’s roof, Odin spoke briefly with Atreus, requesting he accompany him to Asgard, additionally leaving an Asgardian coin with him as payment for the damage to their roof before leaving. After Kratos returned home from his battle with Thor, he confronted Atreus about sneaking around Midgard in pursuit of Týr without his knowledge. Atreus admitted that he did so because he knew his father wouldn't have let him if he knew about it. He claimed he had something to show Kratos and asked his father to trust him, only for Kratos to angrily state that he had broken his trust. Atreus then requested he be given the opportunity to regain his father's trust, claiming he had found something that proved Týr was still alive, located in the temple ruins north of their home. Kratos begrudgingly agrees to follow him.
When asked why he had gone to the temple before, Atreus told Mimir and his father that he had been lead there in his dreams. Eventually, after dealing with a small group of Raiders and being attacked by a Stalker, they come across the Jötnar shrine depicting the story of Sköl and Hati, the wolves who chase the Sun and Moon. Atreus reveals that he is able to access a secret portal in the shrine, which in turn reveals hidden truths to the story; at some point, Sköll and Hati were captured by the Aesir, but were eventually rescued and relocated to Vanaheim. It was also shown that the moon was somehow stolen and hidden away, and that it would eventually be found again, and that the wolves would continue their pursuit being led by an arrow shot into the sky. Another story showed that Týr was meant to lead an army against Asgard at Ragnarök, indicating that the Norse God of War had to still be alive. Atreus also believed that Týr would know who Loki was meant to be, and what he was meant to do.
After leaving the shrine, he showed Kratos and Mimir a series of drawings he had made on a wall nearby, as well as a “marble” he had found, which Mimir recognized as being of Jötnar make. When asked if he had been to Jötunheim again, Atreus revealed he had found it while exploring the other shrines in Midgard with Sindri, much to Kratos' displeasure. Atreus claims that he talked Sindri into helping him, and that his father shouldn't be too upset with the dwarf. Kratos began to think about what the murals said about Týr's location, citing the clues of “black smoke” and “bleeding earth”. Mimir states that this could be referring to Svartalfheim, where there are many mines and rigs that belch black smoke.
Determining that Týr is being held in Svartalfheim, Atreus becomes excited and asks what their next step will be, with Kratos stating they would return home for now. On their way out of the ruins, Atreus recalls the time they had fought the troll before journeying to scatter Faye's ashes, with Kratos adding that Atreus had lost control during the fight, causing the boy to sigh in displeasure. On their way home, Atreus attempted to convince Kratos that they should go to Svartalfheim, claiming they might be able to find valuable resources while they were there. However, much to his surprise, his father stated they would go, but that if they did not find Týr, Atreus would give up his search for good. Atreus promised his father that he wouldn't be disappointed.
The Hunt for Týr
After returning to their home, Atreus and Kratos are met by Sindri, who takes them through the nearby Mystic Gateway to travel to his house, offering for them to stay with him for the time being. When Brok sees Atreus, he is surprised by how different he looks, claiming that he was too big, before he declared that he blamed Kratos for this. When Atreus brought up how he and his father were going to look for Týr, Sindri feigned surprise at the Norse God of War still being alive, until Atreus revealed that Kratos already knew about his and Sindri's secret explorations, much to the dwarf's dismay.
Kratos confronted Sindri about aiding in his son's “disobedience”, but Sindri claimed he did no such thing, that he had been looking out for Atreus in his father's stead, before pleading for someone else to say something. Atreus then changed the subject, stating that they believed Týr was being held in Svartalfheim, before the Huldra brothers suggested they seek out Durlin, a “cousin of sorts” who had aided Faye in an attempted rebellion many years prior. Brok suggests that they provide Atreus with a better fitting set of armor before they set out.
After opening the Mystic Gateway outside the house up to travel between Realms, Sindri leads the father and son across the path to Svartalfheim, telling them to find Durlin in Niðavellir and cryptically warning them of the Grim that inhabit the areas outside the city. Upon entering Svartalfheim's wetlands, Atreus immediately takes note of how warm it is compared to Midgard. When attempting to get a nearby boat into the water, Atreus is alarmed by a pack of Wretches that emerge from the rocks. After dispatching the creatures, Kratos points out how Atreus let his guard down. Traveling down the river, Atreus inquires why Svartalfheim isn't covered in snow like Midgard, Mimir stating that Fimbulwinter seemed to effect each Realm differently, with Svartalfheim seeing an increase in both natural gas and frequency of earthquakes. Atreus says that he finds it interesting that Fimbulwinter doesn't always mean winter for all the Realms.
Upon arriving in Niðavellir, the dwarves retreat into their homes as an alarm sounds. Atreus tries to talk to some of them, but they all tell him to go away, not wanting any trouble. Reaching a small plaza, Atreus notices a statue of Odin, noting that the dwarves must really like him, with Kratos arguing it was built out of fear of the All-Father. The two encounter Sindri nearby, who equips Atreus' bow with a new drawstring imbued with Sonic magic, allowing him to clear pathways blocked by Soundstone. Soon after, Sindri additionally gifts them with a compass that would guide them to their chosen goal. On their way to find Durlin, Atreus suggests Kratos let him talk to the dwarf, so as not to intimidate him. Coming across a tavern, the father and son enter and are greeted by the dwarven musician Ræb. Ræb points them in the direction of Durlin's office, and, showing animosity towards Mimir, suggests they see if they can shut off the nearby rigs polluting the air.
On their way to Durlin's office, Atreus and Kratos choose to help shut off the rigs and help Mimir free a Lyngbakr the Fae had imprisoned while in service to Odin. While successful in destroying the rigs and clearing the air of their smoke, the Lyngbakr had grown accustomed to the chains that bound it and would not move even after being freed, much to Mimir's dismay. Atreus commented that it liked the feeling of the breeze on its face, Kratos adding that he hoped it would provide some comfort to the creature. A distraught Mimir argued that it wasn't enough for the Lyngbakr, to which Kratos replied, “It seldom is”.
Arriving at Durlin’s office, Atreus tried to speak with the dwarven official regarding the location of Týr, but didn't seem to get far. Durlin seemingly wrote up a fine for their unannounced arrival and for messing up his office, with his pet squidopus, Dínner, giving Atreus something from out of its tank before Durlin beckoned them out. After leaving the office, Atreus realized that Durlin had actually given them directions to the Jarnsmida Pitmines, where they might be able to find Týr. Coming across a derailed trolley, Kratos sets it back on the tracks, and the two use it to ascend the mountain to reach the mines.
During the ascent, Mimir briefly spoke of Heimdall after noticing the massive scar on Durlin’s head, and Kratos asked Atreus about the object Dínner had given him. Halfway up, the trolley is attacked by a pack of Grim and sent flying off the tracks, causing Atreus to begin cursing repeatedly out of fear. After Kratos mercy kills the Troll that broke their fall and the two dealt with the Grims, Mimir commented on Atreus’ choice of language, with Atreus arguing that they had heard worse things from Brok. After reaching the mine entrance, they encounter Sindri once again, who gives them a set of lanterns so that they would be able to see in the darker areas of the mines.
Venturing in, Kratos and Atreus began searching the mine, taking note of three large doors they might find Týr behind, but as time went on with no sign of Týr, Atreus began to grow frustrated. Kratos tried to reason with his son that they may not find Týr in the mines, but Atreus was adamant that he was there and that they would find him, telling Kratos to knock it off. Kratos scolded the young god, saying that he was only stating what he had seen, and that he would continue to help Atreus in his search, but he would not be spoken to in such a disrespectful manner.
Finally reaching the last of the three doors, the two were greeted by a seemingly empty room. Atreus becomes angry before Mimir points out that he can hear voices in the distance. Finding a hidden pathway, Kratos and Atreus discover a chamber with another large door. When Kratos attempts to break it down, they are confronted by a small group of Einherjar. After dispatching them, Kratos breaks down the door, where they find Týr laying at the back of a small room, slumped over with a rope tied around his neck. Atreus tried to speak to him, but Týr believed it was just another illusion of Odin’s. When Kratos cut the rope around his neck, Týr recognized the Blades of Chaos and began to panic, believing that the Ghost of Sparta had come to kill him. When Mimir tried to calm him down, Týr only became more frightened and ran off deeper into the mines. Atreus ran after him and was separated from his father when the pathway collapsed behind him.
Atreus continues to try and calm Týr down until Kratos reunites with him. After being convinced to collect himself, Atreus offers Týr a spear to fight with, but is surprised by the Norse God’s rejection of the weapon, stating he wasn't in need of a “walking stick”. As the three of them make their way out of the mines, Atreus introduces himself and his father. As they made their way through the wetlands, Atreus and Kratos fend off a small pack of Grim, during which Týr cowers nearby. Atreus asks him why he left them to fight by themselves when he was the God of War, to which he responded that after his many years of torture and imprisonment, he had sworn off all violence and wouldn't fight even if he wanted to.
Reaching a dwarven ferry, Týr asks his rescuers if they only freed him to lead them to war, in which case they should just kill him. Atreus tells him that they only want answers they believe he might have. Agreeing to help them, Týr and the others pull the ferry across the water as a group of Einherjar begin descending on Svartalfheim, aware of Týr’s escape and seeking to hunt him down. After a brief struggle, they manage to reach the Mystic Gateway they entered the Realm through and escaped.
After returning to Sindri’s house, Atreus said that he was feeling tired, and decided to enter his room. However, in reality, he hid outside the window of Kratos’ room and listened in on a conversation between his father and Mimir, the former stating his wish that Atreus wasn't so “restless”, with Mimir saying that the boy was eager to make a few mistakes of his own, woefully admitting that Týr might be one of them.
Seeking Answers
Atreus is startled by Sindri when the dwarf sneaks up behind him to inquire what he is doing. As they move away from the window, Atreus states that he has a plan to see an “old friend” in Midgard to get information about Loki and Ragnarök, who Sindri quickly deduced to be Freya. The dwarf tries to convince the young god not to do so, stating that Freya would likely try to kill him, especially since he was wearing the mistletoe arrowhead that led to Baldur’s death as a necklace (claiming it made him feel brave), and to instead try speaking with Jörmungandr, whom the he had located at an earlier point. However, Atreus insisted on meeting with the Vanir goddess, despite Sindri’s repeated protests, and that he would hide the arrowhead in his clothes before he reached her. He would also admit to Sindri that he viewed his rescue of Týr as a failure, as he offered no answers to who Loki was and refused to fight.
Reaching a pathway that led to the Council of Valkyries, Atreus and Sindri briefly parted ways, as the dwarf opted to stay and clean up an old workshop of his, while Atreus continued to climb. As he maneuvered the ruins along the pathway, he would begin talking to himself, expressing his desire to have Kratos trust him more, but realizing his lying to his father would make so difficult. He would later begin thinking of how he would begin his talking with Freya, but ultimately realized he hadn't thought his plan all the way through. Eventually reaching the Council of Valkyries, he would find Freya’s camp, where she was sharpening her sword by the campfire. Tucking his necklace into his tunic, he slowly began to approach her before calling to her, only to immediately be trapped in a large growth of vines by her.
When she demanded to know where Kratos was, Atreus only responded that he was “not here”. She stated that the Spartan had taken her son from her, and asked Atreus why he thought she wouldn't do the same to him as she held her blade to the boy’s neck, to which he pleaded that she was better than that. Freya then asked if he was willing to stake his life on that belief. Before he could answer, she used her sword to pull the arrowhead necklace out of his clothes before taking it. Shortly after, she released Atreus from the vines, and he revealed to her that Odin had come to his home, inviting him to Asgard, and that he was half Jötunn, referred to as Loki by the Giants. He would propose forming an alliance to fight against Odin, but Freya refused as it would mean working with Kratos. She knocked Atreus away and formed a wall of vines, telling him to leave and not return, and to not expect the same mercy for his father.
After he left and returned to Sindri, the dwarf asked him what happened to his necklace. Atreus claimed he decided to throw it away before he spoke to Freya, but Sindri correctly guessed that she had taken it from him. After dealing with a small group of Draugr, the two set out to find Jörmungandr. On the way, Sindri revealed a hidden truth to Atreus; Brok had actually died while they were forging the Leviathan Axe, and, not wanting to be left alone, Sindri journeyed to Alfheim’s Lake of Souls to retrieve his brother’s soul. However, he was only able to get three of his four soul fragments back. Brok’s death is what caused his skin to turn blue, and he believed that he had only been knocked out. Atreus tells Sindri that he should tell Brok, saying he deserves to know the truth. Sindri claims he would when the time was right, and that Atreus should do the same with Kratos, though Atreus argues that his situation is different from Sindri’s.
Reaching one of the Realm Towers at the now-frozen Lake of Nine, Atreus remarks that they can't use the horn at Týr’s Temple to summon Jörmungandr anymore, to which Sindri stated he should try calling to him, since he had picked up the Jötnar language. Doing so, the ground began to shake, prompting the two to take shelter under one of the tower’s braziers. Jörmungandr appeared shortly after, and Atreus began talking with him. He asked if he knew anything about Loki or the prophecy of Ragnarök, to which the Serpent replied to seek out something called “Ironwood” before returning to sleep. Wondering what Ironwood meant, Sindri, now covered in Jörmungandr’s spit, replied that it meant they should have stayed home. With that, the two made their way to a Mystic Gateway and returned to the Realm between Realms.
Journey to Alfheim
After returning to Sindri’s house, Sindri would slip in through the back to avoid suspicion, while Atreus went through the front door, where he found everyone waiting at the table. When Kratos asked his son where he had been, Atreus claimed he had been “peeing”. Joining everyone at the table for breakfast, Atreus learned that they were planning to go to Alfheim to seek further information about Ragnarök, with Týr accompanying them. After completing their preparations, they were quickly introduced to Ratatoskr, who revealed the object Atreus had received from Dínner was actually an Yggdrasil Realm Seed. After learning from the squirrel how to use the Seed, the three gods opened the Mystic Gateway and set out for Alfheim.
After arriving in Alfheim, Atreus takes notice of the cries of a creature in pain somewhere in the distance. Putting this aside for the time being, the three Gods make their way to the Temple of Light, with Atreus telling Tyr about his and his father’s previous adventures in the realm, as well as his conflicting feelings on their inadvertently aiding the Light Elves in reclaiming the Light. Tyr, Kratos, and Mimir tell the young God that maybe there was no “right side” in the Elves’ war. Passing by the Light of Alfheim as they reached the top of the Temple, Atreus stopped Kratos from approaching the Light when the latter thought he heard Faye’s voice, reminding him that she was gone.
Upon reaching Gróa’s shrine, Atreus opened the portal within and the trio stepped inside. There, they learned the truth of Gróa’s prophecy of Ragnarök; she had tricked Odin with a false prophecy, whereas the true one involved the God of War (who Atreus believed to be Týr) leading an opposing army against Asgard at Ragnarök, mentions of an individual referred to as “The Champion”, and that only Asgard would be destroyed, allowing the remaining eight Realms to flourish and prosper. Atreus believed the Champion of the prophecy to be himself, but Kratos told him that he assumed too much. Additionally, the prophecy mentioned a location called “Ironwood”, Atreus nearly reveals his knowledge of the name from his encounter with Jörmungandr, but quickly feigns ignorance. He then learned from Mimir that Ironwood was a location known to the Jötnar, but that it was only a legend. As they leave the shrine, Atreus is surprised when Tyr, seemingly shaken by the revelations of the prophecy, declares his refusal to fight in Ragnarök, even though it is seemingly his destiny to do so.
After defeating the Light Elf warrior Alva, Atreus falls into the Lake of Souls when another Light Elf, previously thought to have been killed by Týr, severed their own leg to get away from the trio and caused the bridge of light they were walking on to disappear. After Kratos grabs him, and Týr pulls the father and son out of the water, Atreus attempts to apologize to Týr, who, in an irritated state, claims that he is the one who's sorry, stating he never should have accompanied them. Fleeing the Temple when a group of Dark Elves launched an attack, Atreus and Kratos open the Mystic Gateway they used to enter the Realm to let Týr leave. Before they followed, Atreus and Kratos had the option to investigate the desert nearby, where Atreus had heard the mysterious creature’s cries from before.
In the middle of a violent sandstorm, Kratos and Atreus come across an underground cavern overrun with Hive Matter. After exploring, the two come across a large, jellyfish-like creature ensnared by the Hive Matter, which Mimir reveals to be a Hafgufa, and the biggest he had ever seen at that. Atreus realized that the Hafgufa wasn't just crying in pain, but also attempting to sing, which Mimir explained was the “Song of the Sands”, and was responsible for the raging sandstorm on the surface, and so Kratos and Atreus decide to help the creature. Atreus refers to the Hafgufa as “Lúnch”, claiming that the last creature like this had been named “Dínner” (referencing Durlin’s pet squidopus), prompting Mimir to comment that, while he appreciated the boy’s attempt at humor, it was “truly awful wordplay”. After freeing the Hafgufa from its binds, the Gods returned to the surface and destroyed the remaining Hive Matter, allowing the Hafgufa to return to the skies and end the sandstorm. When Atreus asks Kratos why he wanted to help him free the creature, Mimir tells him that his father wants to spend some time with him while he still can, as they don't know what the future holds. Atreus thanks his father, saying that he was glad they had done this. Afterwards, they returned to Sindri’s home.
Ironwood
Upon returning to Sindri’s home, Atreus briefly spoke with Týr, who apologized to the young God for his behavior in Alfheim, claiming he had been overwhelmed by the events that took place. When everyone gathered at the table to eat, Týr made a comment that the food he had prepared was “fit for a champion”. While Kratos was somewhat irritated by this, Atreus claimed he didn't mind, since it was just a word, to which his father responded that it clouded his judgement. When Atreus brought up the Giants and his Jötunn alias, Kratos snapped at the boy, saying that he was his son and nothing else. Angered, Atreus claimed that he had lost his appetite and stormed off to his room while Týr apologized to Kratos, claiming he had chosen his words poorly. Sindri attempted to convince Atreus to eat, but the boy only yelled that he couldn't understand why Gróa would mention Ironwood in the Ragnarök prophecy if it didn't exist, and why his father didn't support his quest to uncover his purpose as Loki, slamming an arrow into a barrel out of frustration. Sindri consoled him, saying that he should just try to sleep and collect his thoughts, to which Atreus agreed. As he began to fall asleep, he held Hati’s marble and whispered “Ironwood”.
Atreus awoke when he heard someone call him “Loki”, finding himself in a strange realm formed from golden dust. He saw an image of his younger self reaching for what appeared to be a wooden mask, but it disappeared when he approached it, and began hearing his voice from three years ago, when he had become arrogant and cruel after learning of his godhood, claiming that he wouldn't have felt so bad about killing the Dark Elves and yelling at Sindri to shut up about his feud with Brok. Becoming overwhelmed, he then found himself in a reenactment of when he had killed Modi in the mountain, only with Atreus taking Modi’s place and being stabbed in the throat by his younger self. But before the illusionary Atreus could kick him off the cliff, the ground shook, causing the illusion to dissipate. Atreus then found himself in a large forest, where he encountered a wolf who told him to follow it. As he did so, more wolves began to appear and eventually led him to a small clearing, where he found a painting of what seemed to be him pointing his knife at someone.
He then heard someone behind him, claiming that the painting wasn't finished yet, startling him and causing him to fall down. He reached for his knife and pointed it at the person (fulfilling the image on the painting), who was revealed to be a young girl around his age. After a moment, he sheathed his knife and stood up, prompting the girl to comment that he was looked weirder than she had imagined, before she quickly apologized and claimed that weird could be a good thing. She introduced herself as Angrboda, a young Jötunn like Atreus, and claimed that she had been expecting him, referring to him as Loki. She asked him to follow her, saying that he would be able to get some of the answers to his questions about his destiny.
Following Angrboda through the forest, which she reveals to be the Ironwood in Jötunheim, the two young Giants arrive at her treehouse, where she shows Atreus a series of paintings. Here, he sees an old mural that he recognises from his previous visit to Jötunheim, noting that it had mostly been destroyed. Loki sees the mural in full which depicts him fighting Heimdall, mourning his father’s death at Thor’s hands and him allying himself with Odin. Atreus is horrified by this, trying to convince himself that everything he had experienced up to this point wasn't real. In his panicked state, he transforms into a wolf and claws at the painting until Angrboda calms him down, helping him return to normal. Atreus refuses to accept that this is his future, but Angrboda chastises him, saying that this was the only way things would turn out, and that he should just accept it. However, she quickly apologizes, realizing that he was overwhelmed and emotionally shaken by what he had learned. In order to help him take his mind off the prophecy, Angrboda teaches Atreus about his Jötunn heritage and how to use his newfound abilities, while having him assist her with her chores and introducing him to her pet yak, Jalla.
Atreus helps Angrboda gather roots and green bulbs for her animals to eat, and battle monsters that had managed to find their way into Jötunheim. Atreus also learned that a soul had somehow been imbued in his knife, which Angrboda claimed he shouldn't use until he figures out whose soul it was. After reaching a large rock formation that had a view of the Giants’ Fingers (the mountain where Kratos and Atreus had scattered Faye’s ashes three years prior), Angrboda gives Atreus a bag of marbles that he found familiar, with various names engraved in them. When he asked her if these belonged to the Giants, she revealed to him that they in fact were the Giants, having had their souls placed inside the marbles by Angrboda’s father so that, should the Aesir manage to find a way into Jötunheim, the bodies laying by the Giants’ Fingers would trick them into thinking that the remaining Giants had died out long before their arrival, while they awaited their prophesied Champion. Atreus then learned that the Champion was none other than himself, and that he was destined to be the keeper of the Giants’ souls, before Angrboda gave him the bag of marbles.
Atreus suggests that Angrboda return to Midgard with him, but she refuses due to believing that, since she had fulfilled her role in Loki’s prophecy, she no longer had any purpose in his story. As they began returning to Angrboda’s treehouse, they come across a wolf caught in a trap. Atreus attempts to help the wolf, but Angrboda stops him and makes him hide as the wolf is dragged away by an unseen person. Angrboda reveals that the person is her grandmother, Grýla, who lived in the Ironwood with her. After Angrboda’s parents died, Grýla had become cold and cruel from her grief, isolating herself from her granddaughter and capturing animals to steal their souls for her own purposes. Atreus insists they go rescue the animal, claiming that he'd buried enough wolves that winter, and the two find their way into Grýla’s house while she was still checking her other traps.
Entering the basement of the house, Atreus and Angrboda come across a large snake that had its soul stolen by Grýla, as she used the souls of animals to live vicariously through their memories in order to temporarily escape from her grief. Atreus suggests using one of the Giants’ souls to revive the snake, and while Angrboda is initially against the idea, she relents and helps him place the soul of one of the Giants into the snake, which immediately springs to life and slithers away. Atreus is left unsure if he made the right choice, and returns the bag of marbles to Angrboda, asking her to just call him Atreus. As they leave the basement, Grýla returns with the captured wolf, preparing to use her magic cauldron to steal its soul. Angrboda distracts Grýla by knocking a jar off of a table so that Atreus can sneak over and free the wolf. After doing so, however, he is immediately caught by Grýla, who is surprised to learn that he is the Loki of prophecy. She begins using her cauldron to attack the young Giants, taunting Atreus throughout the fight by referencing his prophesied allegiance to Odin and the death of his father, prompting him to yell at her to shut up. Eventually, Atreus and Angrboda overpower Grýla and destroy her cauldron, horrifying the elder Giant.
Grýla yells at her granddaughter and demands she leave her home, threatening her with a shard of her cauldron. Atreus prepares to fire at her, but Angrboda tells him to stand down before they turn to leave, with Grýla yelling after them that Angrboda was nothing, and that not even Atreus would remember her, as he would be too busy grieving over his father’s death. After leaving Grýla’s house, Atreus attempted to comfort a heartbroken Angrboda, who told him how she would leave her food despite saying she didn't care about her, claiming that she was just “broken”, not a monster. In an effort to cheer her up, Atreus suggests they have another race back to her treehouse, which she eventually agrees to, riding on top of her giant fox, Eisa, while Atreus turned into his wolf form. Their race ended with Angrboda winning once again. Returning to the treehouse, Angrboda tells Atreus that he scan stay as long as he likes, but that he should get home soon, since he's been gone longer than he thinks. She gives him another marble with his mother’s name, Laufey, written on it, so that he could use the Utangard (the dream world he was in before coming to Ironwood) to return home. Atreus tries to reassure her by promising that he would see her again, and that he would change his future and protect his father. Atreus then clutches his mother’s marble and thinks of “home” before falling asleep.
Atreus then wakes up, but is horrified to find that he has returned to his home in Midgard, which is currently surrounded by Hel-Walkers. He tries to use Laufey’s marble to travel to Sindri’s house, but was forced to flee the cabin when a Hel-Walker noticed him and attempted to stab him through the door. After dispatching the Hel-Walkers, he attempts to use the Mystic Gateway nearby to return to Sindri’s house, but bumps into Kratos as he steps through it. When his demands to know where he's been, Atreus attempts to lie by saying he was visiting Fenrir, only for Kratos to reveal he had been gone for two days, demanding that he not lie to him again. They argue briefly before being forced to battle another group of Hel-Walkers. Immediately afterwards, Kratos is attacked by a mysterious Valkyrie. During the battle, Kratos recognizes Freya in her and is distracted, because of which she temporarily gains the upper hand. Atreus tries to help his father by turning into his bear form and tried to attack her, but Kratos restrains him, trying to reason with him and remind him that Freya was their friend. Eventually, Atreus calms down and returns to normal. Freya tells Kratos to help her in Vanaheim, to which he agrees, before ordering Atreus to return home, saying they would continue their discussion later. Begrudgingly, he does so, with Brok and Sindri escorting him back at Kratos’ request so they could keep an eye on him in his father’s absence.
Fleeing to Asgard
Just prior to Kratos and Freya returning from Vanaheim, Brok briefly borrowed the Vanir Goddess’s bow in order to imbue Atreus’s Talon Bow with Sigil magic, after which Atreus and Sindri got into an argument regarding the young God’s disappearance and his interest in going to Asgard. Sindri storms out of Atreus’s room just as Kratos returns home, telling him he needs to "screw his son’s head back on tight". Kratos interrogates Atreus, suspecting that he has gone to Asgard, which the latter vehemently denies. When Kratos demands the truth from his son, Atreus tells him that he's being an asshole. Mimir too berates Atreus for his attitude towards his father, and reminding Atreus of the crimes Odin had committed, and the pain the All-Father had inflicted on Mimir, Freya and Týr. Atreus convinces his father, Freya, Mimir, Týr, Brok and Sindri that he was only thinking of going to Odin in Asgard for a good reason, to which Freya warns him that no matter what his intentions are, there is never a good reason for him to approach Odin. As their argument continues, Atreus believe that everyone was against him. When Kratos tells him to choose between being a secretive liar or his son, Atreus bitterly claims that he never gets to choose, and tells everyone to leave him alone. When Kratos grabs his arm, Atreus got into an outburst and loses control of himself, transforming into Björn once again. When Sindri tries desperately to calm the bear down, Björn aggressively throws him aside with a swipe of his claws, leaving the dwarf with a head injury, before breaking down the door to the house and reverting to Atreus. He desperately tries to open the Mystic Gateway as an enraged Kratos yells after him, calling him “Boy” for the first time in years. Atreus then forces the Gateway open, causing him to fall out of the sky and land in the middle of the Midgard wilderness.
Atreus begins searching for shelter from the snowstorm, fending off Hel-Walkers, Wisps, and Wights, before coming across Chaurli, nearly frozen to death after having been abandoned by Freya. He manages to get inside of Freya’s home and begins putting a fire together in the hearth to warm Chaurli up, taking note of several items belonging to Freya as he looked for materials. After building the fire, he tells Chaurli that he can't stay, but that the fire should last him long enough for someone else to come along and look after him before he hears a raven outside the window, opening it to reveal Huginn, who flies in and lands on the table. After a moment, Atreus tells Huginn that he's ready, and to take him to Asgard. A swarm of ravens promptly surrounds Atreus, teleporting him to Asgard, where he once again falls out of the sky and into a river. After pulling himself ashore, he begins making his way towards Hrimthur’s Wall, fighting off packs of Grim along the way. At the base of the Wall, Atreus comes across a small Midgardian settlement. Here, he meets a boy named Skjöldr, who tells him that he and the other Midgardians were brought here by Odin to save them from the Desolation, but they weren't allowed inside the Wall with the Aesir.
Atreus tells Skjöldr that he has to get over the Wall, as he is a guest of Odin’s, much to the latter’s surprise. When he learns there is no way up outside the Wall, he decides to climb up it himself. He bids Skjöldr farewell, who wishes him good luck, before he begins to scale the Wall, periodically fighting Wisps and Wights as he ascended. As he reached the top of the Wall, he was grabbed by the arm by an Asgardian man with purple eyes, who inquired why he was climbing the Wall. When Atreus told him he was invited by Odin, the man asked him why, if that was the case, he was on the outside of the Wall instead of inside, to which Atreus suggested they go ask Odin together. However, the man rejects this idea and threatens to drop him, with Atreus desperately pleading with him, claiming Odin would be upset with him if he killed his guest and introducing himself as “Loki of the Jötnar”. The man tells Atreus that the Jötnar are the “enemy of [his] people”, but Atreus swears he is not his enemy, after which the man begrudgingly agrees to pull him up. Atreus notices that the man has Gjallarhorn attached to his belt, realizing that the man was actually Heimdall.
Heimdall leads Atreus to a wooden lift that takes them down to Gladsheim, the city of the Aesir. As they descend the Wall, Heimdall asks why Atreus has come to Asgard, to which he replies that he came in order to help others. However, Heimdall doesn't agree with this answer, claiming that the boy had come to help himself, and was willing to manipulate and lie to anyone and everyone in order to get what he wanted. The Aesir calls him “chaos in a spiffy archer suit”, and states that no good would come from him being in Asgard. After reaching the bottom of the lift, the two Gods ride through the streets of Gladsheim on the back of Heimdall’s mount Gulltoppr, which Atreus found almost as impressive as Baldur taming a dragon. Heimdall tells Atreus that Baldur had the advantage of not caring how badly he got burned, whereas he earned Gulltoppr’s loyalty by outsmarting and dominating him.
As they travel through Gladsheim, Atreus learns from Heimdall that not all Aesir are considered Gods, mocking the young God for his lack of knowledge of Asgardian culture before arriving at the Great Lodge, Odin’s home. When Atreus remarks that the Lodge wasn't the great castle he was expecting it to be, Heimdall tells him that true royalty doesn't need to be flaunted, before he has Gulltoppr buck him off his back and onto the ground. Heimdall then summons a group of Einherjar to attack him, calling him a “practice dummy”. After dispatching the Einherjar, Atreus turns his attention to Heimdall, who is able to dodge or deflect his attacks with little to no effort while continuing to insult him. Heimdall knocks Atreus into the dirt, telling him that he was disappointed by his opponent’s performance before taking notice of a nearby thunderclap, signifying Thor’s arrival.
With his back turned, Atreus fires an arrow at Heimdall, who catches it and prepares to attack a him again. However, Thor arrives and steps between the two, warning Heimdall that whether he liked it or not, Atreus was Odin’s guest. Shortly after, Odin arrives and welcomes Atreus to his home, commenting on how he'd already met Heimdall, who acted as his personal mind-reader. Heimdall tells Odin that Atreus intended on betraying him, who asks if this is true, calling the boy a “little trickster”. Atreus becomes nervous, but Odin quickly reveals that he had been joking, knowing that Atreus had come to Asgard in order to get answers about his destiny. After Odin dismisses Thor and Heimdall, Atreus accompanies the All-Father as he meets with his Valkyries as they train the Einherjar, with Odin christening a trio of new recruits, before returning to the Great Lodge. While being led to his room, they are briefly stopped by the Goddess Sif, Thor’s wife, who is cold towards Atreus due to his involvement in Magni and Modi’s deaths. Odin brings him along for a stop in Svartalfheim, where the dwarves, led by Durlin, are working on constructing war machines for the Aesir. Durlin notices Atreus, but pretends not to recognize him as Odin checks in with the dwarf on the war machines’ progress. Afterwards, the two return to Asgard, and Odin leaves Atreus to situate himself in his room, telling him to meet him in his study after he is done.
After he is finished setting himself up, Atreus prepares to leave the room and opens the door, only to be met by an Aesir girl. She immediately holds him at swordpoint, backing him against his wardrobe while informing him that the room used to belong to her older brother, Modi, in a menacing tone. However, she quickly switches to a more friendly demeanor, her sword in the floor and telling Atreus to enjoy the room, since it belongs to him now, before introducing herself as Thrúd, the daughter of Thor. She offers to show him the way to her grandfather’s study, to which he agrees. He attempts to return Thrúd’s sword to her, but cannot pull it out of the floor, while she is able to retrieve it with ease, commenting that someone would take care of the hole in the floor later. While walking, Atreus inquired about her weapons, to which she reveals that she had them made for her due to wanting to become a Valkyrie, something her mother, Sif, doesn't approve of, much to her irritation. Taking her leave, Thrúd tells Atreus that they can talk more later, which he agrees to. Atreus meets with the All-Father, who is in the middle of a conversation with Huginn. While the All-Father is busy conversing with the raven, Atreus stealthily steals a scroll containing information of Heimdall's Gjallarhorn. Moments later, Atreus discovers a tied up a sentient sword, whose name is Ingrid, and Odin gifts the boy the sword as a perk of the job in working with him. Atreus shows his gratitude to the All-Father, who retorts, claiming that while his enemies sees him as a bad guy, he denies it.
Odin escorts Atreus down to his study and explains that he is only in search of knowledge, not war or power. The All-Father even compares Atreus about them being gods with mortals, claiming that as gods, they are more than just give meanings to mortals. Odin then showed Atreus of a magical rift in the aftermath of his fight with Ymir in the past, and a mask he had found. Odin explains how he aims to use the mask to look into the rift, but half of the mask piece is missing. Atreus asks if they could just look into it, but Odin stops him and shows him his missing eye, warning the young God of the consequences of looking into the rift without the mask. and was tasked to find a piece of the Mask. Odin acquired Thor to accompany Atreus to Muspelheim to find the first piece of the mask.
During the journey there, Atreus and Thor had a rocky start in their relationship to which Thor threw his Mjölnir at Atreus, pinning him against a wall after walking through a ledge. Thor was still in need for vengeance against Atreus for killing his son, but had no plans to do so thanks to the mask Odin introduces to him. Thor even remarked that while Modi had his problems, he was still his son. Atreus pleads with Thor, understanding that whole he does not like him, they should trust each other if they want to impress Odin, leaving Thor skeptical at first until he fought side-by-side with the Jötunn. Atreus managed to insist Thor to try out the trials that he and Kratos had once done before. While Thor is off to fight wave after wave of enemies in Muspelheim, Atreus visits a portal shrine and encounters Angrboda once again, to which she reveals the origin of Ragnarök through Sinmara and Surtr combining, and can only be called when Heimdall blows into Gjallarhorn, signalling Ragnarök's arrival. After learning the origins of Ragnarök, Atreus returns to Muspelheim and reunites with Thor, who boasts about his killing streak during the trials. Thor and Atreus continued their journey to find the first piece of the mask, with Thor "trusting" Atreus to fight against the draugrs, testing him of his strength since he had mentioned he and Kratos had once gone through the trials, with Thor mocking Atreus if he had really went through the trials or he relied on his father to complete it.
Eventually, Atreus managed to find the first piece of the mask that is underneath a lava and he mindlessly dips his hand into the lava to recover it. Thor mocks Atreus about putting his hand into the lava, to which the young God of Mischief tells the God of Thunder he wasn't thinking, resulting in Thor that it is better to not think. With the mission a success, Huginn returns the duo back to Asgard, with Thor warning Atreus not to play him again. While he approves the God of Mischief for his cooperation, the God of Thunder still sought vengeance against him. Upon their return, Odin eagerly asks Atreus of the mask, and the young God updated the All-father that while he has found the missing piece of the mask, it is still not completed. Odin then theorizes to Atreus that if they find all the missing pieces of the mask, they can wear the mask to look into the to seek the knowledge that both aim to achieve without consequently losing an eye or worse. Odin then turns to Thor and asks his son if he and Atreus made a good team and if they both behave during their mission, to which the young God acknowledges that Thor had taught him a lot during their journey in Muspelheim. Odin turns to Thor and ask what he had taught Atreus, but Thor replied that he had taught nothing to do the boy, and Odin coldly replied "exactly", proving the point that Odin manipulated Thor to become nothing but a mindless killing machine.
After Thor left, Atreus returns the scroll back to Odin, who wonders where that had been before asking Atreus if he had a change of heart. The God of Mischief explains that he has no clue why he's in Asgard, and convinces Odin that he's not here to be a spy, but asks Odin to trust him if he wants Atreus to help him on their pursuit for knowledge and to trust the All-Father. Odin understands that trust can only be earned. He returns the mask to Atreus, allowing him to keep it, under the condition that he is staying. A suspicious Atreus asks Odin what he aims to look for in the rift, but Odin avoids the question and asks that he translate what is written on the mask and he'll tell the boy what he needs to know in order to trust him. Atreus then asks Odin if he had always been abusive to Thor, suspecting that he is mad at the God of Thunder. Odin rejects the idea, convinces Atreus that it is the only language that Thor understands – through aggressive attitude. He also asks Atreus to try to be nice to Thor, and to see for himself what the God of Thunder's reaction be. Atreus returns back to his room in the Great Lodge and inspects the mask. The God of Mischief takes his knife and made a silent reflection on whether his choice of running away from Kratos was right or wrong, before putting the knife on a nearby barrel.
Freeing Garm
As Atreus continues to spend his time in Asgard, he is seen punching a stone wall in a shack outside of the walls of Asgard. He encounters Skjöldr again and asks humorously what the wall did to him, and Atreus explains that it is his way of focusing and maintaining control of his emotions, as his father taught him. Skjöldr asks him what he was focusing on, and Atreus spoke to the mortal of the God of Foresight, Heimdall, relentlessly bullying Atreus and his attempts to make Atreus lose control, and Atreus aims to resist and ignore Heimdall's relentless taunts. Eventually, Thrúd joins in the conversation, making Skjöldr blush upon her presence. The daughter of Thor found Atreus punching the wall and teasingly asks if he's training without her. Skjöldr starts to stammer, thinking training with her is a good idea, but asks if he would upset her mother and father for training with her. Thrúd believes that he made a good point before playfully giving the mortal a punch to his shoulder, making Skjöldr even more flustered. She turns to Atreus and informs him that Odin wants to see him, before being given a bottle of milk curd for Sif by Skjöldr as he makes his leave, telling Thrúd bashfully to send his regards to her mother. As she and Atreus departs, Thrúd comments about Midgardian boys being weird, to which Atreus jokes about weird being good, making Thrúd question with mild annoyance about him with Skjöldr. As they return to Atreus' room, the boy ask the Æsir what is in the jar, to which it is milk curd for Sif, which Thrúd states it is her mother's favourite and it is Skjöldr's way of helping. She bids farewell to Atreus, promising to catch up later.
Atreus, after preparing himself, finally goes to find Odin in his study. While Atreus is walking over to Odin, Thor is heard questioning his father on why the young Jötunn is even in Asgard if he was responsible for killing his sons. Again, Odin dismissed Thor's concerns, claiming that Thor wouldn't understand even if he explained it to him, and that Sif was clouding whatever was left of his brain. Having had enough of it, Odin sends Thor away to go break something, claiming he honestly thought of him better when he was drunk.
Appearance
God of War (2018)
Atreus is an eleven-year-old boy with red hair and a pale face. It is unknown if his skin tone stemmed from his father's curse passing onto him or from his illness. The birthmark on his face is pale resembling the marking his uncle Deimos has, He has light freckling and icy blue eyes. Passed down to him by his mother, Norse runes line Atreus’ arms as well as the right side of his back neck. Atreus has a wolf fur pelt as part of his Tunic of Hope. Underneath, he wears a worn mesh shirt. Also, around his neck, he wears a yellow scarf given to him by his mother and rests it underneath his clothing. Atreus’ quiver strap is held together with hemp and leather that hangs across his left shoulder. Over the waist scarf, Atreus has on a mesh rope that is acting as a belt and also holds his mother’s knife. Underneath his fur and top, Atreus has on a Norse leather skirt that is very worn on the bottom. Over this, he is also wearing a Greek waist scarf given to him by his father. Similar to his father, Atreus has leather Norse leg wraps as well as the mesh ropes over his dark shoes.
Atreus’ quiver is made out of leather and light fabric, which his mother taught him to tie together. Decorating it are simple drawings that show off some of Atreus’ childhood. Atreus’ bow is made out of a piece of wood from around his home, tied together by a rope strand. His mother helped create this and taught how to shoot. He added designs to it as inspired by his father with bandages and red paint near the end, Atreus’ arrow is simplistically carved with a sharp metal arrowhead and three feathers equally lining the end. Gifted by Atreus’ Mother, her Knife has a meaning that is sharper in importance than the tip of the blade itself. It empowers him with courage and a growing strength in combat, as he embarks on a very perilous journey with his Father.
God of War Ragnarök
Atreus is a fourteen year old teenager and has grown taller, towering above Brok and Sindri. He has gained a bulkier build, a deeper voice and his skin is less pale than it was when he was younger. Back in the day, Kratos cut his hair. These days it's mostly Atreus with some help from dad. He holds the Talon Bow on his back with an S-shaped hook patterned after Jörmungandr. He wears a yellow tunic lined with fur, the yellow reflects his strong connection to his mother and the Giants, the red stitching is in the same place as his father's tattoo. On his right arm he wears an Elven brass, He continues to wear his father's red sash and mother's yellow scarf. On the cuff of his sleeve he wears a burnished pewter cuff ornament, in addition he wears a leather arm guard, It's wolf themed to represent the speed and aggressiveness of the arrows he shoots, it also protects his arm from getting hit by his bowstring. Atreus also wears hand-engraved bronze hook buckles made by Brok. His boots are made of reindeer hide, according to Sindri Atreus had to learn how to make them himself. Additionally, he also wears the mistletoe arrowhead that allowed Baldur to be defeated as a necklace, stating that it makes him feel brave and is a reminder of his father telling him that they need to be better gods.
Atreus now uses an identical knife to his fathers, it is the knife his father made for him when he was born by mixing metals from his homeland and from the Nine realms. In terms of his bow, the style slightly changed overtime, his father made the new arrows with a robust design and construction.
Personality
“ | You have to stop. You can choose to be better. | ” |
–Atreus before killing Odin |
Atreus is a happy and curious child who is kind to others when he engages in conversation with them, believing that he should help people whether they be living or dead. He is fond of exploring and learning Norse mythology, particularly from Mimir and Freya.
When he was a child, Atreus learned various Norse languages and hunting from his mother. However, his gentle disposition initially made him hesitant to take a life, whether it was an innocent deer or a troll that attacked his father. Despite this, Atreus constantly tries to prove to his father that he can handle himself. It is implied that he feels unwanted by his father and that this sense of rejection is what drives him to become a better warrior. Due to growing up with him, Atreus shows absolutely no fear of Kratos and like his stepmother Lysandra, does not hesitate to call out his father when he needed to. He was also naïve initially, much like his half-sister Calliope.
Atreus has many flaws stemming from his youth and inexperience but seems to have also inherited some of his father's negative traits, most notably his rage and overconfidence. He attacked the dead body of a Troll in a blind rage and was greatly enraged at Modi's incessant provocation. When Atreus learns about his godhood, it slowly begins to change him due to a misunderstanding of what it means to be a God, in conjunction with his father's desire for him to be better. At this point, he grows cocky and impulsive, becoming rude to Sindri and telling him to shut up about his rivalry with his brother as he considered it a petty problem and telling Mimir to be quiet after the latter comments on his new change of attitude. He also often charges recklessly into battle without hesitation. Soon he has no problem taking a life, such as when he kills Modi, believing that being a god gives him the right to do anything he wants. It also makes him very careless in battle; this is evident during a fight with Baldur: Atreus disobeys his father's orders to stand back, eventually causing the two to be teleported to Hel. After being reprimanded by Kratos for his behavior, Atreus returns to his former personality for the most part. After witnessing Baldur's attempt to kill his own mother and learning the truth about Kratos' past, Atreus becomes much more humble. He is repulsed by the idea of the cycle of patricide after having learned of his grandfather Zeus' death at the hands of Kratos. Upon defeating Baldur, Atreus even reminded him that Baldur was beaten and no longer a threat, advice that he had arrogantly failed to heed earlier.
Despite learning about his godhood, he still retains his childlike qualities. He also retains his compassion, as seen when he tries to protect Kratos during the final battle against Baldur. Another thing of note is his continued devotion to his father. Atreus didn't seem disturbed or put off by his father's admission of killing one of his own family, and perhaps saw this as his father finally opening up to him. Atreus continued to be by his side as they spread the ashes of his mother and continued to talk to him.
Atreus has also shown to care quite a lot for Midgard, certainly more so than Kratos, as after realizing the importance of having the Valkyries restored due to them being the ones who keep the dead from overrunning Midgard, he quickly agreed whereas Kratos did not care that the imprisonment of the Valkyries means that Helheim will overflow with the souls of the dead.
Three years after Fimbulwinter begins, Atreus has displayed significant mental and emotional growth. He has made great strides in controlling his temper and no longer lashes out as he did before. He is largely unaffected by Heimdall’s insults and name-calling, though he was angered when called a "half-breed" (a reference to his mixed God and Giant heritage), though he still expresses anger when Grýla taunted him about his prophesied future, and when a drunken Thor refused to listen to him and called him “Boy”, rather than by his name. However, he has also become a typical teenager, no longer wanting to just simply follow his father's lead and follow his decisions. Atreus has also become more independent and is obsessed with figuring out who he is as an individual outside of his father, and expresses a lot of confusion and uncertainty on the matter. After having learned of his other identity of Loki, he feels that he should embrace that moniker and fulfill the prophecy the Giants had made of him, believing it is who he must become but has no idea what that entails. This results in him becoming more impulsive & making some questionable decisions, lying to his father and having Sindri help him search for Týr behind Kratos' back. He continues to lie and make reckless decisions behind his father's back, such as visiting Freya to convince her to help them stop Odin, which nearly got him killed. After going to Ironwood and learning of the prophecy foretelling his father's death and service to Odin, he becomes desperate to try and avert this fate. Not helping matters is that he has become somewhat overconfident, deciding to go visit Odin, believing he can trick the All-Father despite everyone around him explaining that Odin wasn't to be trusted and was the master of tricks, lies and manipulation. He would finally be humbled when he frees Garm, opening the Nine Realms up to disaster and causing Hel-Walkers to appear everywhere, though he genuinely expresses regret of having "killed" Garm, likely due to his attachment to wolves. However, Kratos expresses that throughout their journey, Atreus had grown into a warrior worthy of his namesake despite his flaws.
Still, it does not mean he is invulnerable to trauma, as he witnessed Brok's death up close by a disguised Odin posing as Týr whom Atreus and Kratos rescued earlier from Svartalfheim. Having lost a valuable member of his family prompted Atreus to go hunting with his father, wanting to get away from the pain and memory as he was the one who decided to look for Týr in the first place and was fooled all this time by Odin. Not to mention that because he invited Odin into Sindri's home, the close friendship between them was ultimately shattered thanks to Brok's death.
Powers & Abilities
“ | I do not know the reach of your godhood, but over time, we will learn. | ” |
–Kratos to Atreus |
Powers
Likely due to him being a son of the former Olympian God of War and a Frost Giantess, Atreus possesses considerable superhuman physical abilities but due to his age and years of sickness, he is significantly weaker than he should be. After Kratos tells him about his origin, his illness retreats and some of his power gradually appears. It is noteworthy that due to his young age, Atreus has yet to discover the extent of his abilities, as he is noted by Mimir to have great potential thanks to his unique heritage.
- Superhuman Strength: While not up to the extent of his father, Atreus appears to have a decent level of superhuman strength, as he was able to aid his father Kratos in pushing Thamur's Hammer, though how much of the moving Atreus is actually contributing to is unknown. He also apparently has little trouble brandishing the Leviathan Axe, which is almost as large as he is. He was even capable of staggering Baldur and causing him to bleed. During the battle against Odin, he was capable of harming the All-Father with his punches and kicks. This strength, however, seems to be irregular as Atreus struggles to lift a Pschent stuck on his head in Týr's Temple, although this could be attributed to his sickness making him weaker than he should have been. After three years of training during Fimbulwinter, Atreus has grown stronger but was no match for Aesir gods or stronger beings; neither was he able to pull out Thrúd’s sword from the floor when she planted it there. His strength, however, increases by many orders of magnitude while in bear form; he proved quite a challenge for his own father, and later was able to overpower and kill a Valkyrie.
- Superhuman Durability: Atreus, apparently inherited from his father and mother's status as among the most powerful of their species, has considerable superhuman durability and resilience. Hence, he can easily withstand attacks and falls from great distances with little to no damage. He also survived a powerful punch from Baldur without any lasting damage during the last battle against him. While apparently not able to tolerate the extreme environments as well as his father considering his repeated complaints, Atreus is shown able to survive in Hel and Muspelheim without suffering any visible harm.
- Superhuman Agility: Unlike his other abilities which are inferior in comparison to his father, Atreus is shown to be on par with Kratos in terms of agility as he has been shown leaping great distances and falling from up high with seemingly little to no discomfort. He also makes great use of his agility in combat.
- Superhuman Stamina: While not as great like his father, Atreus has tremendous stamina for his age and is able to run long distances through the forest and participate in long battles while showing no signs of fatigue. Most remarkably, he was capable of fighting against several elves by himself in Alfheim for an extended period of time while Kratos was stuck in the Light.
- Superhuman Senses: He states on many occasions that he can sense other beings and their thoughts and emotions, including their power, and can hear voices because of this ability. Atreus also notices the change around their home when Kratos cutting the marked trees.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Atreus also has a regenerative healing factor, albeit much less powerful than his father's regenerative abilities due to his young age. Upon pulling the knife Baldur impaled on his right arm, he quickly healed with no signs of injury. When injured in his fight against his father when he first transformed into a bear, Atreus was able to focus to consciously heal his injuries when guided by his father.
- Immortality: As with all Gods, Atreus is immortal and cannot be killed by anything not powerful enough.
“ | Your faculty for language is extraordinary for one so young. | ” |
–Mimir to Atreus |
- Enhanced Intelligence: For someone his age, Atreus already displays a very high level of intelligence, wisdom and understanding. Even Freya commented on Atreus' wisdom and higher intelligence, despite being so young. Given his young age, his already impressive intelligence has yet to fully develop and mature.
- Linguistic Abilities: In addition to the languages taught to him by his mother, Atreus has an almost supernatural talent to understand written and spoken languages he has never heard of or read before by tracing their connections. He explains it to Kratos as he may only be actually able to read a few words and letters but is usually enough to get what the sentence is trying to say. With language ciphers, Atreus can quickly learn how to read the Niflheim and Muspelheim languages. Given an amphora of Lemnian wine from Kratos' homeland, Atreus was able to learn how to read some of the words in Greek. Even Mimir, the smartest man in the Nine Realms, takes note of Atreus' linguistic capabilities for someone of his age.
- Zoolingualism: He can even understand some animals, as he understood what Brok's beast-of-burden was feeling and could hear the giant turtle above Freya's house and understand that his name was Chaurli.
- Native Languages: He could understand the native language spoken by the Dwarves and Dark Elves.
- Soul Language: He was also able to understand a soul that had trapped itself inside of a magical ring, who had placed himself there to escape from a soul eater. He can even use this to emotionally communicate with animals.
- Dead Languages: He was able to put together a sentence in the dead language of the World Serpent despite only hearing it a handful of times and later fully learned it. He was even able to read the language on the Mask, something which even Odin could not do.
- Photographic Memory: He has also shown an eidetic memory, being able to take one glance at a very complex rune and instantaneously memorize it without forgetting it.
- Linguistic Abilities: In addition to the languages taught to him by his mother, Atreus has an almost supernatural talent to understand written and spoken languages he has never heard of or read before by tracing their connections. He explains it to Kratos as he may only be actually able to read a few words and letters but is usually enough to get what the sentence is trying to say. With language ciphers, Atreus can quickly learn how to read the Niflheim and Muspelheim languages. Given an amphora of Lemnian wine from Kratos' homeland, Atreus was able to learn how to read some of the words in Greek. Even Mimir, the smartest man in the Nine Realms, takes note of Atreus' linguistic capabilities for someone of his age.
- Spartan Rage/Shapeshifting: Atreus attempted to use Spartan Rage when Modi tried to kill his father and mocked his mother, but due to his lack of experience and physical prowess, he collapses soon after from the stress. During the events of God of War Ragnarök, Atreus discovers that he can assume the forms of certain animals as manifestations of his rage, including (but not necessarily limited to) a wolf and a monstrous bear. While transformed, he becomes much more aggressive and gains tremendous strength, able to easily decimate smaller foes and contend with formidable, powerful opponents -- including Valkyries, high-ranking Einherjar and his own father.
- Precognition: Possibly due to his Jötunn heritage, he was able to experience subjective precognitive dreams of the future. Before he realized that he was a half-Jötunn, he mentioned that he dreamt of being eaten while in the belly of Jörmungandr. After his mother's quest and his heritage is revealed, Atreus has a prophetic dream about the future, when Fimbulwinter is ending and Thor shows up in front of their house. This ability may continue to grow in the future in the form of the God of Stories.
- Spell Casting: With his ability for ancient languages, Atreus can use magical enchantments. In response, his runic tattoos will emanate a yellow glow.
- Bow Abilities: Using his bow, he can shoot a stronger version of his arrow shoots.
- Spiritual Summoning: He can cast a spell which allows him to summon spirit helpers to help him fight.
- Soul Manipulation: Due to his half-Jötunn heritage, Atreus also has the ability to manipulate souls to a certain extent. He can even extract the souls of living beings and transfer them into another body or store them in an object. He was able to unknowingly put Fenrir's soul into his knife, which he then put into the body of Garm. He also used this ability to extract Odin's soul and place it in a Jötunn Marble, effectively incapacitating him.
Abilities
- Adept Combatant: While not as powerful or experienced as his father, Atreus is a fairly skilled combatant in his own right. Throughout their journey, Atreus proves to be a quick learner as his skills advance considerably compared to when they started (depending on the player's upgrades). He is able to take advantage of his small size and combine his archery skills with acrobatic feats such as incapacitating Draugr by climbing on them and choking them with his bow to give Kratos an opening or firing arrows in mid-air. When Kratos left him alone to collect the Light, he was able to kill off waves of Dark Elves by himself before he decides to rescue his father. In combat, Atreus effectively acts as a support and an extension of Kratos, allowing the pair to combine their combat styles into a synchronized offense. The most impressive display of this teamwork is during the final fight with Baldur, where Atreus helps his father take down the powerful God with a combination of archery, acrobatics, and melee combat. Three years later during the events of Fimbulwinter, Atreus has developed even further as a fighter. He is able to keep with his father in combat and he's also capable of fighting off multiple foes by himself. Another impressive display of combat is shown during Ragnarök during the final fight with Odin, where Atreus helps his father and Freya take down the Allfather with a combination of acrobatics and melee combat.
- Archery Skills/Staffmanship: Atreus uses a bow as his primary weapon in combat. He can use it not just for shooting enemies but also as a blunt weapon, akin to staff in combat to hit or choke them. His archery skills keeps getting better throughout the journey; at the beginning, he was too distracted and didn't have an accurate aim but he got calmer and that made his aim better. His archery skills rapidly improved during their journey; both his speed in aiming accuracy and his speed in charging. Later, he was able to shoot arrow after arrow, as Atreus demonstrated when he and Kratos fought Baldur for the very last time.
- Axemanship: It was worth noting that Atreus was able to use his mother's axe in combat when Kratos lent it to him, although how proficient he was with it was not shown.
- Master Tactician: As the God of Artifice and Mischief, Atreus is a cunning genius in orchestrating schemes. An example of this is successfully leading on Odin and the Aesir whilst in Asgard, albeit for a limited time. He can help Kratos in battles by using intelligent techniques and is overall an expert battle planner.
Weapons
- Talon Bow: Atreus wields a bow and, provided he isn't distracted, is a skilled archer. He's also proficient in using the bow as a blunt weapon, allowing him to trip or choke his adversary. His talon bow is also infused with some elemental abilities which augment his arrows, such as;
- Light Arrows: After receiving enchanted bowstring from Freya and having Kratos running it through the light of Alfheim, Atreus was able to reactivate the magic of the elves contained within certain elven architecture. It also allows Atreus to weaken the enemy and stunning them through the arrows laced with the light of Alfheim.
- Shock Arrows: After having the bow enchanted with the properties of a dragon's tooth, it gained the ability to fire lightning arrows. These arrows allow Atreus to trigger an explosion from a world tree's saps. The lightning arrows also shock and paralyze multiple victims as it can bounce several times between enemies.
- Mistletoe Arrows: Atreus also received these arrows from Sindri, but most of them were destroyed by Freya because (unbeknownst to both Atreus and Kratos) mistletoe is able to break the spell of immortality placed on Freya's son Baldur. Sindri mentioned that it was perfectly weighted and straighter than Heimdall, although it didn't have any actual impact on the gameplay itself. An arrowhead is seen being worn as a necklace on Atreus' neck until Freya uses her sword to remove it.
- Sonic Arrows: During the events of God of War Ragnarök, Atreus receives a brand new bowstring from Sindri that has sonic properties, allowing him to imbue his arrows with Sonic element that implodes at anything upon contact, whether that would an object or a creature. These sonic arrows would implode at enemies multiple times per hit and even put them into the air.
- Sigil Arrows: In God of War Ragnarök, Atreus got the sigil arrows from Brok after Kratos and Freya returned from Vanaheim. These sigil arrows allow him to inflict the hex status effect on his enemies and by combining it with elemental status effects, the sigil arrows amplifies the element of that status effect, causing a chain reaction of elemental explosions.
- Leviathan Axe (temporary): Atreus uses the axe to fend of an amount of Dark Elves while Kratos was inside the light of Alfheim.
- Faye's Knife (formerly): In addition to the bow he wields, Atreus also wields a knife that once belonged to his mother Faye. He uses it as a secondary weapon and has used it to kill a deer. The knife was destroyed after it was used to save his father from being killed by a trap when he stabbed the knife into a gear mechanism.
- Atreus' Knife: After Atreus sacrificed his mother's knife to save his father, he received a new knife from his father. The new knife was one of the two knives that Kratos made the day Atreus was born. It was made of a mix of metals from Kratos' homeland and metals from the lands they were currently in. One of the pair of knives was made for Kratos himself and the other knife was made to be given to Atreus the day he was ready to wield it. Atreus, in his arrogance after discovering he was part god, notes that the knife is much better than Faye's Knife.
- Jötnar Bow (optional): Introduced in God of War Ragnarök. A bow which empowers the status damage of Runic Arrows and shoots regular arrows in horizontal spreads. It first becomes available for Atreus to craft at Angrboda's Treehouse in Jötunheim.
- Aesir Bow (optional): Introduced in God of War Ragnarök. A bow which reduces the cooldown of Bow Abilities and Runic Summons, and shoots regular arrows in bursts of three. It first becomes available for Atreus to craft at The Great Lodge in Asgard.
- Ingrid (formerly): Atreus, while in Asgard, obtained Freyr's sword, which Odin called Ingrid. The sword would later return to its master.
Runes Translation
Note: Translations are done by fans and are subject to error, as well as the developers' use of the runes.
- The tattoo on his neck, "ᛚᛟᚷᚾ ᚺᚢᚷᚱ", translates to "logn hugr", which means "steady mind".
- He has "ᚺᚨᛈᛈᛊᚲᛖᛃᛏᚱ" two times circling his right arm, translating to "happ-skejtr" and meaning "lucky shot" or "fortune to strike".
- Then, running down the circle he has "ᛊᛏᛃᚱᚲᚱ ᚨᚱᛗᚱ" two times in a continuous line. It translates to "stjrkr-armr", meaning "strong arm", "skilled arm" or "main arm".
- And in the back of his hand, "ᚺᚱᚨᛞᚨ ᚺᛟᚾᛞ", translating to "hrađa hönd" and meaning "quick hand".
Trivia
In Mythology
- At the end of the story, it is revealed that Atreus is named Loki by his mother. He shares several similarities with his counterpart from the Norse myths:
- Both of their mothers are named Laufey. On the mural in Jötunheim, Kratos' name is written as Fárbauti (ᚠᚨᚱᛒᚨᚢᛏᛁ), which is the name of Loki's father in the myths, and Atreus bear the name: ᛚᛟᚲᛁ - which translates to Loki.
- After learning of his godhood, Atreus asks his father if he can transform into an animal, such as a wolf; Loki in the mythology is infamous for shapeshifting into various animals and other beings. Sure enough by the events of God of War: Ragnarök, Atreus has learned how to harness his Spartan Rage to transform into a bear and a wolf, though it is unknown if he can transform into other animals such as a bird.
- Atreus causes Baldur's death by breaking the spell with a mistletoe arrow shard and alerts Kratos to him trying to kill Freya forcing the latter to intervene to put him out of his misery; Loki causes Baldur's death by giving the blind god Höðr a mistletoe arrow, and then tricking him into shooting Baldur.
- Mimir says that Jörmungandr somehow recognizes Atreus; Jörmungandr is a son of Loki in the myths. When Atreus confronts Mimir saying it is impossible, Mimir replies the serpent might have been talking about the future, since it is said that the clash between Jörmungandr and Thor during Ragnarök will be so catastrophic that it'll splinter Yggdrasil and send the World Serpent back in time, before its own birth. Freya's comment about the serpent mysteriously appearing one day in the Lake of Nine seems to support this theory. A Jötnar Shrine confirms Jörmungandr is the son of "Loki" and Angrboða.
- In mythology, Loki had two younger siblings named Helblindi and Býleistr, but it's highly likely they don't exist in the God of War universe since Atreus is the only son of Kratos and Faye and there are no indications that Atreus ever had other siblings apart from Calliope.
- In mythology, Loki is also believed to be the mother of Sleipnir, Odin's horse. This was a result of Loki transforming into a mare to distract Svaðilfari so he would fail the wager against Odin. In the game, however, Svaðilfari was never distracted and the mason won the wager. Sleipnir appears as one of Atreus' wooden figures and appears on Hrungnir's shrine. Indicating that Sleipnir was conceived with a different mother.
- Atreus' name after Kratos' former comrade Atreus of Sparta. Also In Greek Myth, Atreus was a king of Mycenae in the Peloponnese, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Though the pronouncation of his name Atreus mainly ( /ˈeɪtruːs/ AY-trooss;) instead of Atreus (/əˈtreɪ.əs/ ə-TRAY-əs).
In General
- The original developer of the original God of War, David Jaffe, said it would be "very cool" if Atreus is gay when he is older, commenting games as a medium struggle with LGBT representation.[4]
- Atreus is the second character Kratos fights alongside with, the first being Deimos. He is also the first character to accompany Kratos throughout the story, the second being Freya after Atreus go on his personal mission.
- Like his father and uncle, he has markings on the left side of his face. Though very faint, the markings look similar to both his father's tattoo and uncle's birthmark.
- The A.I. for Atreus changes as the main story continues. After being told of his godhood, he starts attacking enemies by himself with his knife, even firing arrows without Kratos saying so or even engage not hostile enemies and will sometimes refuse to help or pick Kratos up if Kratos falls in battle. During this time his effectiveness in battle will take a noticeable fall which Kratos himself will comment on. If he is angry at Kratos, Atreus will not help him in some battles, even leaving Kratos to fend for himself. However, after Atreus was reprimanded by Kratos, Atreus now always helps his father in battle and always helps him get up, restoring much of his efficiency as a partner in the game, although he still attacks others even without Kratos commanding him to.
- Atreus is the fifth character in the series to kill a God counting Kratos, Zeus (who technically killed Kratos), Magni and Modi (who killed Nerthus) and afterwards, Odin (who killed [1]Thor) and Surtr (who killed Freyr and likely many more in Ragnarök).
- Similar to, Kratos, Atreus is ambidextrous despite preferring his left hand more often.
- When Atreus speaks in ancient Jötunn or is about to transform into his wolf or bear forms, his eyes glow bright bluish-green.
- GameSpot erroneously credited the name Charlie as the name of Atreus after the game's reveal in the E3 2016. At the time, Atreus' name was kept secret. The name Charlie stuck as a joke.[5]
- The writers promised director Cory Barlog that they would implement the joke at some point in the story, but refused to tell him where.
- The giant tortoise Freya lives below of was named Chaurli because of this. When Atreus addresses the tortoise by his name, Kratos shows disgust at the name.
- Atreus is partially based on Creative Director Cory Barlog's own son. Aspects of the game like Atreus having to translate Old Norse to Kratos were inspired by real-life situations he had with his son.
- Atreus has wooden figures of Thor, Sleipnir, and Dauði Kaupmaðr.
- When Atreus was dying due to the activation of his godly powers, a red storm (with its epicenter located above their cabin) started. According to Cory Barlog, it is a symptom of the world reacting to Atreus' dying state. This is a nod to the previous trilogy, where the death of the Greek Gods caused various disasters.[6]
- This is contradicted by the novel, where it is implied that the Gods of the land were trying to prevent Kratos from achieving his objective of saving his son.
- However, the Novel itself is not a faithful adaptation of the game, with several details of the main quest missing from the novel, such as Atreus verbally hurting Sindri after they had learned of the Black Rune of Jötunheim missing from the novel.
- This is contradicted by the novel, where it is implied that the Gods of the land were trying to prevent Kratos from achieving his objective of saving his son.
- Atreus and his offspring are the only known characters to have blood from different worlds, being descendants of both the Greek Gods and the Jötnar. In fact, Atreus' mixed heritage caused Heimdall to mockingly refer to him as a 'half-breed’.
- Atreus' funerary prayer in the beginning of the game is based on Buliwyf's from the film The 13th Warrior.
- Kratos frequent use of the term "boy" to call Atreus has become recurring jokes amongst fans and even various memes are produced based on it.
- At the Game Awards 2018, Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic, the voice actors of Kratos and Atreus, respectively, were chosen to announce an award. Telling Suljic to read the award winner, Judge said, "Read it, boy", referencing this meme, much to the audience's delight.
- During the cutscene where Atreus enters Spartan Rage, red arcs of electricity can be seen pulsing across his torso. Whether these hint at some kind of electrokinesis or are simply aesthetic is unknown.
- If the player returns to Helheim before being forced there by Baldur, Atreus will complain about the cold, saying that "This is unreasonable, I've seen enough."
- The name of Atreus' bear form, Björn, alludes the eponymous prince from a Norse folktale who was cursed into a bear by a witch and was subsequently slain by his father without knowing, which is surprisingly fitting considering the circumstances revolving their transformation culminated to them confronting their fathers. Yet whereas the former transformed due to an outside influence and perished in the end, Atreus unknowingly turned into a bear with his own growing divine powers and survived Kratos' killing blow albeit left incapacitated to the point of reverting to his human form.
- Atreus appears in 'bot form Astro Bot with the moniker "Boy" His description reads "Get him angry and things might turn grizzly..."
God of War Ragnarök
God of War 2018
Concept Arts
Cosplay Guide Ragnarök
Cosplay Guide 2018
References
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