Pandora

“

Hope is what make us strong. It is why we are here, it is what we fight with when all else is lost.

”

Template:Infobox gods Pandora (Πανδώρα, "All gifts"), was the self-made and adoptive daughter of Hephaestus, and the Tritagonist in God of War III.

Greek Mythology

Pandora was the first woman to ever exist. She, and therefore, the female gender, was created as punishment for Prometheus' theft of fire - Hephaestus molded her from the Earth, and each God bestowed seductive gifts on her. She and Epimetheus, were entrusted with Pandora's Box by the Gods, either for safekeeping or a desire to punish mankind. The Box was said to contain all the evils of the world, and despite instructions not to open it, Pandora's curiosity betrayed her. In an attempt to peek inside, all of the evil energies within were released and left behind only Hope, who decided to stay inside the box to remain with humanity. Thus, despite having innocent intentions, Pandora was blamed for all the woes of mankind.

"Box," was in fact a mistranslation from the Greek word pithos, a large jar, into the Latin pyxis, a box.

God of War III

Created by Hephaestus, Pandora served as a key to the mythological Pandora's Box, which was rumored to bring about the end of the World. After Kratos found Pandora's Box, protected by the Flame of Olympus, Athena appeared before him, informed him of Pandora's role as key, and how to gain access to the Box's contents.

While visiting Hephaestus one more time, the Smith God revealed to Kratos that he had created Pandora as a key to the Box: she was an object neither living nor dead, but he sheltered her from Zeus and instead suggested Cronos as the perfect guardian for the box, as no Mortal could best a Titan. However, after Kratos used the box to defeat Ares, Zeus became fearful of the box's power and tortured Hephaestus until he revealed Pandora's location.

Zeus then hid the Box in the Flame of Olympus so that only Pandora could unseal it, then kidnapped Pandora, which prevented her from ever freeing the Box. Zeus then ordered Daedalus to construct a Labyrinth to keep Pandora imprisoned, much like he did with the Minotaur.

Pandora was able to communicate with Kratos through bronze statues in her likeness and appearined from a small blue flame in the statue's hands. She appeared several times through the Ghost of Sparta's journey, asked him to free her, and hinted at her location.

It was within the Labyrinth that Kratos eventually found Pandora, trapped at the very core of the structure. She helped Kratos escape the Labyrinth by guiding him along its cubes and entering small grates that he could not enter. On the other hand, Kratos had to save Pandora from several traps and protected her from hordes of monsters. Along the way to the Flame, Pandora talked about how much fear consumed the Gods: a fear of her and a fear of the "Marked Warrior."

She expressed how much she hated herself for seeing Hephaestus tortured by Zeus because of her. Kratos simply replied: "Hephaestus did what every father should: protect his child." Pandora continued and said that when the Gods' fear rose, her own fear was replaced by Hope, and even though Kratos believed that hope was for the weak, Pandora insisted that hope was what everyone had when all is lost.  When the two of them saw the hanging corpse of Daedalus, Kratos told her: "This is what Hope delivers, child. You should learn that now."

Eventually, Kratos brought Pandora to the Flame of Olympus and destroyed much of the Chamber of the Flame in the process. Kratos however, could not bring himself to use Pandora to free the Box from the Flames, and tried to stop her by vowing to find another way, even though she was already willing to sacrifice herself.

Zeus appeared shortly afterwards, and a fight between the Ghost of Sparta and the King of Olympus ensued. After he buried Zeus under a pile of rubble, Kratos attempted to stop Pandora from rushing into the Flames by grabbing onto her hand. At that point, Zeus and Pandora both attempted to influence Kratos' decision. Zeus demanded his son not to let her go, whilst Pandora demanded otherwise.

Ultimately, Kratos' hatred towards Zeus proved greater than his desire to safeguard Pandora. Kratos lashed out at Zeus, while Pandora disappeared into the flames. Having sacrificed her life to aid Kratos, Pandora succeeded in extinguishing the flames, only for Kratos to discover the box empty. Zeus, who witnessed the whole ordeal, stood near Kratos, gloated and laughed over another one of his "failures" before he fled outside.

Despite Pandora's apparent death, her spirit lived on and appeared to Kratos as a ball of flame when he was attacked by Zeus' Spirit. She was able to guide Kratos out of the Chaos and darkness in which Zeus had trapped him. Kratos eventually unlocked the power of Hope, which was sealed within his own soul and finally defeated the King of the Gods.

Relationships

Hephaestus

Contrary to real Mythology, Pandora was crafted and given the gift of life by the Smith God, Hephaestus. He grew fond of her, and considered Pandora his daughter, while Zeus viewed her as an unnatural abomination. He often referred to her as a "thing," or an "object."

Fearing Zeus' wrath for having kept Pandora's existence hidden from him, Hephaestus soon turned to Kratos. A broken man, Hephaestus pleaded Kratos to save Pandora from the God-King's relentless anger. Unable to do so himself after Zeus' initial punishment, the Gods' Smith could not stand to lose his own child. Reluctantly, Kratos accepted, if only to retrieve the means to kill his father from the Box. Over time, Kratos too saw Pandora's potential and grew fond of her.

Kratos

“	Don't confuse this...object,... this construction of Hephaestus with your own flesh and blood! But perhaps you already have, Spartan! Your quest for Pandora, your pathetic attempt for atonement from the family you slaughtered has caused nothing but havoc on Olympus! Look around at what you have done!	”
–Zeus

Pandora communicating with Kratos through one of her Statues.

Pandora reminded Kratos very much of his own daughter, Calliope, as when Kratos first heard Pandora's voice, he mistakenly took it for that of his daughter.

At first, Kratos saw her as nothing more than a sheer tool in his plot for revenge, but only after he heard Hera rudely insult Pandora by calling her: "that little whore," Kratos exploded with anger and mercilessly snapped her neck.

Despite him being bent on fulfilling his revenge and even went as far as told her that she wouldn't thank him when their journey came at an end, Kratos could not bear to sacrifice Pandora when the time arrived and told her that he would find another way.

Kratos repeatedly referred to Pandora as "child," which somewhat insinuated that he looked upon her as his actual daughter, or someone close to her. He indeed realized that losing Pandora would mirror losing another loved one, mainly because of Calliope's manifestation in Pandora. When Kratos confronted Zeus a second time, Zeus warned him not to confuse Pandora with his own flesh and blood. After he sneered that it was too late, Zeus implied Kratos' quest for Pandora and his desire for absolution over his murdered family had the same effect on the Gods.

It was most likely that Kratos was reminded of his own daughter that brought forth his change of heart, as well as maybe understanding what Hephaestus had told him about their own relationship, which made him see her as more than just a tool, but, in fact, just as much a human being as himself. It was also evident that Pandora's sacrifice took a heavy burden on Kratos, though perhaps not in vain, as she served as a spiritual guide in his dark mind, where he remembered her statements about hope clear as day.

Gallery

Early Concept Art of Pandora.

Trivia

• Because Pandora was created along with the Box, and both remained hidden for a thousand years, it could be assumed that because Pandora was "neither living nor dead," she didn't physically age and was effectively, Immortal.
• In early Concept Art, Pandora was seen with a blue version of Kratos' red tattoos, but in the final design, the tattoos were removed.
• In an Animation Demo Reel for God of War: Ascension, Pandora was shown escaping for a Cyclops only to run into another. She was shown being very acrobatic as she climbed on one and then another.
• She was voiced by Houko Kuwashima in the Japanese Version.
• Pandora was the first person to accompany Kratos who did not need to be safeguarded during gameplay. In God of War 1, the player had to safeguard Kratos' "family" during the battle with Ares. In God of War 2, the translators must be protected. With Pandora, however, she was able to dodge enemy attacks storywise. In gameplay, this allowed the player to fight the monsters in the Labyrinth without being inhibited by protecting Pandora from death.

Related Pages

• Hephaestus
• Pandora's Box
• Pandora's Temple
• Labyrinth
• The Flames of Olympus
• Hope