| “ | I never got to kill anything. She always did that part. | ” |
–Atreus about his mother while training as a hunter. | ||
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Atreus, also known as Loki, is the son of Kratos and Faye. He is the deuteragonist of God of War.
Biography
Early Life
Atreus was conceived between Greek Godslayer Kratos and a Giant native of Jötunheimr named Faye. His past has not been extensively revealed, however, it is implied that he and his mother lived without Kratos for a time, as Kratos himself is unsure of the boy's hunting ability and, in accordance to Faye's wishes, did not teach his son himself. Sometime later, Kratos returns. It is shown that the mother had seemingly passed away, for reasons unclarified.
Sometime after his mother's death, Atreus begins learning to hunt and kill with his father Kratos. Kratos also teaches him to fight, the boy taking up an assistant role with his electrified arrows. Unlike Kratos, Atreus is not a born killer and seems to hesitate at the prospect of ending a life, even one of a monster attacking his father. He is, however, willing to fight. The two then began a quest to take his mother's ashes to the highest peak of the Nordic Realm. After spreading his mother's ashes with his father, he asks him why was he referred to as Loki in the wall drawings they found prior depicting their journey. Kratos tells him that his mother was insistent he be named Loki and speculated that is the name she told the Frost Giants, however, Kratos goes on and says he convinced her to let him be named Atreus instead. Kratos tells him Atreus was a great Spartan warrior who unlike the usual spartan was happy and filled with life and during and after battles would fill them with hope with his jolly demeanor. Kratos says that when Atreus was killed Kratos himself carried him back to Sparta on his shield and personally buried him. Kratos wanted his son to be named Atreus as he fills him with joy.
Weapons & Powers
| “ | I do not know the extent of your godhood. | ” |
–Kratos to Atreus. | ||
- Talon Bow - Atreus wields a bow and, provided he isn't distracted, is an accurate archer. After receiving the bowstring enchanted with Alfheim's magic and powering it up with the light of Alfheim, Atreus could create bridges that were made by the elves. After having the bow enchanted with the properties of a dragon's tooth, it gained the ability to fire lightning arrows. Atreus also received arrows made from Mistletoe but most of them were destroyed by Freyja because those arrows were able to break the spell of immortality placed on Freyja’s son Baldur.
- Faye’s Knife: 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.
- Superhuman Stamina - While not as great as his father, Atreus has tremendous stamina and is able to run long distances through the forest while showing no signs of fatigue.
- Omnilingualism - In addition to the runes taught to him by his mother, Atreus has the innate talent to understand written and spoken languages he has never heard of or read before.
- He can even understand some animals as he understood what Brok's beast-of-burden was feeling.
- He could understand the native language spoken by the dwarves and dark elves.
- 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.
- There are limits to this ability such as the dead language spoken by the World Serpent.
- Spartan's Rage: Atreus can use Spartan's Rage like Kratos under extreme rage when Modi tries to kill his father and mocks his mother, but due to his lack of experience and physical prowess, he collapses soon after from the stress.
- Superhuman Senses - He states on many occasions that he can sense others, including their power and can hear voices because of this ability.
- Durability - Atreus can withstand numerous injuries as he could fall all great distances and land without breaking any bones. He also withstood a powerful punch from Baldur during the last battle against him.
Personality
Atreus is a friendly, curious child who is kind to others when he engages in conversation with them, believing that they should help people whether they be living or dead. He is fond of exploring and learning of Norse mythology, particularly from Mimir.
As a child, Atreus learned the various Norse languages and hunting from his mother. However, his gentle disposition initially makes him hesitant on taking a life, whether it was a deer or a troll that attacked his father. Despite this, Atreus constantly tries to prove to his father that he can handle himself.
Despite all of these traits, Atreus has many flaws stemming from youth and lack of experience but seems to have also inherited some of his father's flaws, most notably his rage.
When Atreus learns about his godhood from his father, it slowly starts to negatively change him due to misunderstanding what it means to be a god, combined with his father’s words to be better. He grows cocky and impulsive, often charging recklessly into enemies without hesitation. Soon he has no problem taking a life, such as when he kills Modi, believing that since he is a god, it gives him the right to do anything he wants. It also makes him very careless in battle. This is evident in the fight with Baldur with Atreus disobeying his father's orders to stand back, causing the two to be teleported to Hel. After being lectured by Kratos on the meaning of being a god, Atreus returns to his former personality, for the most part. After learning the truth about Kratos’ past, Atreus becomes much more humble, repulsed by the idea about the cycle of patricide after having learned of his grandfather, Zeus' death at the hands of Kratos, combined with having witnessed Baldur try to kill his own mother. Despite learning about his godhood he still retains his child-like qualities. He also retains his compassion as seen when he tries to protect Kratos during the final battle against Baldur.
Appearance
Atreus is a young boy with brown hair. He has light freckling on his face and his eyes are an icy blue. He is dressed in leathers and hides of fur. He comes up to his father's hip and looks to be around ten years of age.
Trivia
- Atreus is the first child of Kratos to be born after the death of the Olympian Gods and not be born in Greece.
- He is not aware of his father's status as a Demigod initially and just assumed his father was very very strong with never being surprised at his physical feats. Upon learning of his father status as a god, Atreus changes in personality to be much more cold and callous as it slowly began to corrupt him which visibly disturbs Kratos. This is the very reason why Kratos was hesitant to reveal his status as a god. The reason for revealing his status as a god to Atreus is due to Mimir stating that if Kratos does not reveal his status as a god to him it might cause more damage to Atreus' personality in the future.
- Before the Sony Livecast on June 14, 2016, Charlie was the codename Atreus received.
- 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.
- It has been confirmed at the second trailer, that he will be a playable character during certain segments of the game, marking the first time a character other than Kratos is playable in the God of War franchise, not counting multiplayer.
- 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 Fathers tattoo and Uncles birthmark.
- Like Deimos, Atreus is a partner, only attacking on Kratos's command.
- After learning of his godhood, he asks his father if he can transform into a animal, such as a wolf. Both Greek and Nordic gods had powers to shapeshift into animals. This is also a foreshadowing of his true identity as Loki, the Norse God of Mischief who is capable of shapeshifting.
- Despite his other name being Loki, Atreus is never shown to be especially mischievous.
- The A.I. for Atreus changes as the main story continues. When told of his godhood, he starts attacking enemies by himself with his knife and even firing arrows without Kratos saying so. If he is angry at Kratos, Arteus will not help him in some battles, even leaving Kratos to fend for himself.
- Atreus is the second character in the God Of War series to kill a god.
References
