"So you think you can conquer the Temple of the Gods, do you? It's never been done you know. Sooner or later the Harpies will bring whats left of you for me to burn. The Gods hid Pandora's Box in here so no mortal could claim it's power and yet year after year, I open the gate for more and more soldiers and place more and more bodies on these pyres. If I were you, I'd leave now. But I can see you are determined. Very well. May the Gods grant you strength to conquer the perils that lay before you. Good luck Spartan." - The Body Burner
The Body Burner is a character in God of War.
History
The Body Burner was the first to enter the Temple of Pandora and in his own words, the first to die. Punished by the gods to burn the body of anyone who dies in the temple (although there are several bodies still inside the temple), he is immortal of spirit but not of body, hence his rotting visage it may also be that he is burned.
Only the Body Burner can unlock the doors to Pandora's Temple for Kratos, after he proves himself by fighting the Cyclops Desert Kings pair outside the gate. When he speaks to Kratos he sounds very "monotonous" as if he says the exact same things to every person he lets into the temple. The Harpies of the temple seem to work for him, bringing back the dead bodies of those who have failed, and opening the gates to the temple. After Kratos is impaled with the pillar, however, the Harpies take Pandora's Box from him and give it to Ares.
In God of War III, Cronos appears in the Pits of Tartarus after being banished by Zeus there, also Pandora's Temple is still chained on his back, but the Body Burner's presence is nowhere known. The Body Burner was probably able to finally rest after Pandora's Box was taken from the temple.