“ | But that wasn't the worst of it, was it, Kratos? Killing me deprived Greece of the sun. They were plunged into perpetual cold and darkness. Crops ceased to grow. Famine descended on our homeland. Not that you cared. | ” |
–Valhalla's manifestation of Helios recounting Kratos on the consequences of his death, upon revisiting the memory of ripping his head off. |
Plagues are the result of a realm's gods having been killed, causing their domain being thrown into chaos depending on what they maintained order over, such as Poseidon's death causing the seas of Greece to flood the land and Helios' death depriving Greece of the sun.
List of Plagues[]
The following lists all of the changes that occurred in the Greek Saga of the God of War series after a god's death:
Confirmed Plagues[]
- Poseidon: A cataclysmic tidal wave rose from the sea, engulfing all of Greece but the highest of mountaintops in water.
- Hades: The souls of the underworld escape into the mortal realm, causing life and death to bleed into each other.
- Helios: Storm clouds blot out the sun, plunging Greece into never-ending darkness, storms and famine.
- Hermes: Insects carrying bacteria swarm across all of Greece, unleashing outbreaks of deadly pestilence.
- Hera: All vegetation in Greece slowly withers and rots away, depriving sustenance to animals and people alike.
- Zeus: Releases a powerful explosion of lightning that shatters the heavens above and plunges all of Greece into absolute chaos.
Unconfirmed Plagues[]
- Charon: The souls of the dead are unable to cross the Styx and Acheron Rivers.
- Persephone: Light erupted from her body in a small explosion that destroyed the Pillar of the World, and combined with Kratos chaining him in place earlier, curses Atlas to forever hold Greece on his shoulders.
- Ares: A massive explosion, somewhat resembling a nuclear bomb's mushroom-cloud shape ensued upon his death. His death likely brought about peace, but his throne was later taken by Kratos, likely bringing order back to his realm.
- Thanatos: A bright white explosion erupts from his body after his death. It is later revealed by the Grave Digger, though the exact meaning is unknown, that Kratos has become "Death, the Destroyer of Worlds."
- Athena: Like Persephone, a green light erupts from her body with unknown consequences. However, given that she ascended to a higher existence, it's unknown whether or not it restored order.
- Hephaestus: While no longer a god when he was killed, it is theorized triggered the eruption of volcanoes because of him being the god of fire.
- Kratos: While no longer a God at the time, he had been the former God of War due to killing Ares, and upon his death he released the power of Hope into the world, ending the reign of the Olympian Gods and allowing the mortals to learn how to live for themselves. However, he survived and escaped to the realm of Midgard, where he began a new life with a new family.
Trivia[]
- Some of the plagues bear similarities to the Ten Plagues of Egypt (ex. pestilence) and ended up wiping out the bulk of Greece.
- The plague that followed after Poseidon's death might have been the Great Flood that was part of the story of Noah and the Ark.