This article contains lore based on real-life sources from Norse mythology as introduced from the God of War Norse era.
| “ | My goodness, what a strapping physique. Capable of an astounding variety of acts of violence, I imagine. | ” |
–Ratatoskr inspects Kratos | ||
Ratatoskr is a squirrel who guards the World Tree of Yggdrasil.
In God of War (2018), he only appears as a foul-mouthed runic animal whom Atreus can summon to give Kratos stones. Atreus and Kratos meet the "real" Ratatoskr in God of War Ragnarök, who explains the runic animal they know is simply one of his spectral counterparts.
Quick Answers
What role does Ratatoskr play in the God of War Norse era?
How does Atreus interact with Ratatoskr in God of War?
What is the meaning behind Ratatoskr's name?
What is the significance of Ratatoskr's spectral counterparts in God of War Ragnarök?
How does Ratatoskr guard the World Tree of Yggdrasil in Norse mythology?
Norse Mythology[]
Ratatoskr (generally considered to mean "drill-tooth"[1] or "bore-tooth"[2]) is a squirrel who runs up and down Yggdrasil, the world tree, to carry messages between the eagle perched atop, Hræsvelgr, and the serpent Níðhöggr, who dwells beneath one of the three roots of the tree. Ratatoskr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda.
In God of War[]
History[]
According to Ratatoskr, he was originally just a normal squirrel who almost died to a predator, but as he arrived on the World Tree, the World Tree saw potential in him and made him Yggdrasil's tenant, granting him immortality and other powers at the cost of not being able to leave the World Tree, giving him the responsibility of overlooking the Nine Realms and ensuring their status as well as tending to the World Tree, fulfilling it's needs. He had a working relationship with Níðhögg, who had tended to the World Tree long before him, and eventually removed aspects of his personality that he found disturbing so he could focus more on the World Tree. This also allowed Ratatoskr to sense events happening in the Nine Realms, granting him sight over it to compensate for his inability to leave the World Tree and making him able to be prepared whenever occurrences in a Realm requires his interference in the World Tree.
God of War (2018)[]
| “ | (Mimir): Ah, Ratatoskr! Interesting story there. He once- (Kratos): Head, be silent! |
” |
–Mimir, trying to tell a tale about Ratatoskr, when summoned in-battle | ||
- Main article: Bitter Squirrel (Runic Summon)
While Ratatoskr himself doesn't appear in God of War (2018), Atreus can obtain Bitter Squirrel as a Runic Summon, from the top of the Light Elf Outpost in Midgard. When summoned, Bitterness will scurry over to Kratos' position, and dig up to three Healthstones (if Atreus has Light Arrows equipped) or Ragestones (if Atreus has Shock arrows equipped), depending on upgrades. Bitter Squirrel will berate, insult and hurl obscenities at the father and son every time. On one occasion, Mimir tries to tell the duo a story about Ratatoskr mid-battle, but is immediately cut off by Kratos.
God of War Ragnarök[]
Ratatoskr is first mentioned as the landlord of Sindri's House, the Squirrel of the World Tree having allowed Brok and Sindri to set their house in the World Tree.
He appears first to Kratos and Atreus when they were about to travel to Alfheim, where he cheerfully introduced himself and polished the resin on Kratos' Realm Seed before instructing them on how they would need Realm Seeds to open Realm Travel to the other Realms with Brok and Sindri having perform reconfiguration. Upon their return to Yggdrasil, Ratatoskr granted Kratos a chime that could summon him whenever needed and also happily answered Atreus's question on the dragons he noticed, telling him about how they were Nidhogg's children.
Ratatoskr can be seen with the spectres of his personality parts as he shared knowledge on why he created them and introduced Anxiety the first time while being dismissive of Bitter. He also willingly shared knowledge on how he became the tenant of the World Tree and his duty as the tenant of the World Tree. Arrogance's appearance and boasts would irritate Ratatoskr, as did Perfectionist's chatising comments, causing him to apologize to Kratos for their difficult personalities. Ratatoskr later confessed the cost of having the power to split his personality was quite a hassle for him, and recommended that they not attempt the same before wishing them the best of luck.
Ratatoskr also at one point asked Kratos about how he could travel between Realms and how teleportation was possible in Greece. He was highly astounded to hear that Greece had no World Tree and fascinated by Kratos' ability to travel between mythologies with a boat or feet.
After Níðhögg was killed by Kratos and Freya, Ratatoskr was left worried as it was unlikely anything except her death could have kept her away from her children. He eventually discovered that it was Kratos and Freya but bore no ill will towards them, blaming Odin and praising Kratos for his willingness to take responsibility. He tasked only that Kratos use a capture device to bring her Lindwyrms to him after they escaped so as to prevent them from mischievously eating out the Nine Realms and allow him to be a proper role model for them. Commenting on their personalities and how he plans to look after them, Ratatoskr thanked Kratos for his help and confessed he would enjoy having them as family, being alone for so many years, while he was also grateful that Kratos helped Anxiety be more confident and praised his emotional intelligence, rewarding Kratos with certain materials and hacksilver. In time, the Lindwyrms began to acknowledge him as their father and not an appetizer, although he confessed there was still much to be done.
When Garm was freed, Ratatoskr was immediately put on alert. Outraged on Atreus' part on it, Ratatoskr immediately demanded that Kratos and Atreus return to Hel and put an end to Garm's terror as soon as possible, while Ratatoskr would tend to the damage Garm did to the Nine Realms and the World Tree. Upon Garm being possessed by Fenrir and no longer a threat, Ratatoskr was already aware of it and thanked Kratos, praising his ability to fulfill great responsibility and apologizing for his change in demeanor, even more so as Kratos denied being uncomfortable with his rudeness and impudence, promising to make up for it.
When Bitter tricked Arrogance into releasing the Stags of the Four Season, Ratatoskr was greatly irritated by his personality parts conduit but while looking for a way to punish both of them, a difficult task due to their character, he needed Kratos' assistance with Fimbulwinter preventing the Stags from returning, as the Stags are required to keep the World Tree in condition and the World Tree is starting to be overgrown, made worse by the fact that all of his personality aspects keep eating the food to draw the Stags. Ratatoskr would be grateful yet again to Kratos for his help in allowing Arrogance to return them to the World Tree, acknowledging him saving the Nine Realms from horticultural danger and promising to punish Arrogance.
After Brok was killed by Odin, Ratatoskr quickly checked up on Kratos and Atreus. He was devastated that he failed to see through Odin's disguise and sickened by how his employee's death happened on his Tree of all places. He was relieved to hear Sindri was safe but worried for his mental state and expressed his condolences and asked them to take care of themselves.
Kratos and Ratatoskr eventually have a genuine talk as friends as Ratatoskr lamented his inability to prevent the potential catastrophes that were unleashed upon the Nine Realms that Kratos solved and questioned with his poor performance recently, who was he without his job as the Tenant of the World Tree, but Ratatoskr was comforted by Kratos' simple acceptance of him being Ratatoskr.
After Asgard was destroyed, Ratatoskr noticed the Realm Tree was shaken to where numerous Realm Seeds were dislodged. Upon Kratos contacting him, Ratatoskr praised Kratos for all that he had done for the Nine Realms and assured him Brok would be proud, expressing he terribly missed Brok, before giving him the Realm Seeds for his trouble. He finally expressed his deep appreciation towards Kratos for everything he had done to the Tree and stated he envied Kratos for his seeming all-powerful and composed demeanor as Ratatoskr was frustrated with his limitations, but understood from watching him that Kratos did have limitations and he had to work hard to bypass them, and so Ratatoskr expressed Kratos would be welcome any time at his Tree as an honored quest.
Personality[]
True Self[]
Contrarily to his rude spectral counterpart, the real Ratastoskr is humble, polite and kind and never insults anyone, and always refers to people as "Master", as a form of politeness. Ratatoskr has shown true loyalty and genuine care towards his associates, as displayed by how he left behind the chime that would allow Kratos to summon him whenever he needed counsel and was openly devastated that Brok was killed by Odin, particularly that it happened in his home, sincerely apologizing for his inability to prevent the death of Brok, and admitted he sorely missed him, and showed concern towards Sindri's mental state afterwards.
He is also quite understanding and grateful, as displayed by his acceptance of Kratos and Freya killing Níðhögg and even praising him for his willingness to acknowledge his mistakes in stark contrast to Odin's callousness. He expressed deep admiration towards Kratos for his ability to accomplish such significant deeds for the Nine Realms, and acknowledged him as a very much welcome guest to the World Tree.
However, as he has the power to remove aspects of his personality that he finds distracting, negative emotions are still considered to be part of his personality. He could show anger and frustration, as displayed by how Kratos sounds the chimes used to summon him multiple times, after which Ratatoskr will become angry and speak like his Bitter self, and his clear outrage over the release of Garm, straight-up demanding Kratos and Atreus to fix the mistake they had made.
He has shown to be possessive of the World Tree. When first mentioned, Brok refers him as the landlord, which Sindri firmly states he isn't. When first met, however, he refers the Huldra brothers as his tenants, and the World Tree as his. He doesn't seem to mind sharing his home with the others.
Bitter Aspect[]
"Fuck off! I'm busy!" - Bitterness when Ratatoskr attempted get him to say 'hi'.
Befitting his alias as the Bitter Squirrel, the Bitter Ratatoskr is a sarcastic, foul-mouthed and rude animal who will always take the opportunity to insult the party members whenever he is summoned. However, despite this, he never tries to screw Kratos and Atreus over and seem to always give the stones that Atreus has asked for even when he is repeatedly summoned. Kratos ignores his seemingly ceaseless barrage of vituperations.
Arrogant Aspect[]
"How dare you belittle my accomplishments?" - Arrogance when Ratatoskr refused to speak about him.
A narcissistic part of Ratatoskr's personality, who is incapable of seeing the error of his ways and gets annoyed when he isn't shown attention. He is shown to be easy to goad, as Bitterness said he was a chicken if he didn't release the Four Stags from the Realm Between Realms, and as a result, he released them. He attempts to get attention through poor jokes, such as calling Kratos "Biceptimus", who replies that he doesn't like him, the only aspect he has verbally disliked.
Anxious Aspect[]
"Ahh! People!" - Anxiety when Ratatoskr introduces him to Kratos and company.
Anxiety is shown to be quite nervous, to the point of stuttering several times, and even feels that he has offended others. He is quick to upset and gets uncomfortable at a whim. He seems to be paranoid, as when Mimir and Ratatoskr talk about him, he thought he did something wrong, which was briefly exacerbated when Bitterness nastily claimed they said nasty things about him. He states that everyone hates him and that he is sent out to the realms more often than the others. He was relieved when Kratos told him he didn't have a strong opinion on him because he was a stranger and Anxiety took it well.
Perfectionist Aspect[]
"Fewer words, greater impact." - Perfectionist criticizing Ratatoskr's overuse of words.
Rarely seen and laconic, this personality is shown to approve of perfectionism and is dismissive of flaws, such as not completing tasks or talking too much. He is the only aspect that doesn't refer to Ratatoskr as 'Boss'. At one point he corrects Ratatoskr's use of words. This is the only one that Kratos seemed to like, possibly relating to his laconism.
Appearance[]
Ratatoskr himself appears as an abnormally large squirrel with anthropomorphic traits, such as a more humanoid face. He is missing his left eye and wears clothing and pauldrons. His spectral counterparts appear the same size and shape as normal squirrels, albeit with a ghostly figure.
In God of War (2018), Bitter takes the appearance of a white and transparent spectral squirrel. In God of War Ragnarok, however, his colour is now blue, with glowing white eyes.
Arrogant is red with glowing white eyes.
Anxiety is purple with glowing white eyes.
Perfectionist is light green with glowing white eyes.
Powers & Abilities[]
As the Caretaker of Yggdrasil, Ratatoskr is an entity of mysterious powers and abilities.
- Immortality: One of the powers granted by the World Tree to Ratatoskr is immortality, allowing him to live for several centuries, if not even longer, since he was almost killed as a mortal squirrel only to be empowered by the World Tree. It's unclear if he is capable of being killed, but it's likely that as his powers come from the World Tree, the only way for him to die is for the World Tree itself to be destroyed. He also cannot leave the confines of the World Tree, outsourcing his aspects to travel to the other realms in his stead.
- Reality Warping: It appears Ratatoskr can warp reality to an extent, as he was able to conjure items such as a chime that responds only to Kratos' Leviathan Axe and rewards for Kratos whenever he completed a task Ratatoskr asked him to do. He was also capable of fixing the damage Garm did to the fabric of reality across the World Tree among the Nine Realms, although it took him a considerable amount of time, preventing him from answering any of Kratos' calls until he was finished.
- Emotional Projection: Ratatoskr has the power to remove certain aspects of his personality that he finds disturbing. They appear to wield some of Ratatoskr's own powers, and Ratatoskr himself can see through their eyes, allowing him to bypass to a certain extent, the limitation of him being unable to leave the World Tree.
- Conjuration: The Bitter Squirrel was able to conjure mystical stones for Kratos and Atreus.
- Portal Opening: The Arrogant Squirrel was able to create portals for the Stags of the Seasons to return.
- Superhuman Speed: Ratatoskr is indicated to be remarkably fast, as he could effortlessly reach Kratos' location from the branches of the World Tree within a matter of moments, regardless of his previous location.
- Cosmic Awareness: As the Caretaker of Yggdrasil, it appears Ratatoskr can quickly detect any disturbances in the Tree, as he was swiftly aware that Níðhögg was slain and that it was Kratos and Freya who killed her. He was also quick to detect Garm's release and the damage he had done across the Realms and the Tree, and instantly detected Odin murdering Brok. With help from his personality aspects, Ratatoskr was also able to be aware of the events happening in the Nine Realms.
Quotes:[]
God of War (2018)[]
Openings:
~"What am I-your first call?"
~"Oh, come on, you're fine..."
~"You called me for this?"
~"You barely have a scratch!"
~"Oh please... walk it off!"
~"Have you no respect for my time?"
~"Try swinging the axe, instead of letting it hang limp, like a dick."
Closings:
~"Happy to be of service... you shit."
~"Seriously, please stop. I'm begging you."
~"Learn to block!"
~"Scumbo!"
~"Ugh, whatever."
~"Happy to be of service. Now kindly fuck off!"
~"There you go, fucko."
~"You're welcome, asshole!"
~"Oh here's a tip! Try not getting hit! Yeah."
~"You two suck at this."
~"Here, Asshole."
~"Your shield is shit!"
God of War Ragnarök[]
Ratatoskr[]
~ (To Kratos) "Excuse me, sir! Mind if I take a little peek at you? I promise I'll be brief."
Bitter Squirrel[]
~ (To Ratatoskr) "Fuck off, I'm busy!"
- (To Brok) "Bite me now and eternally!"
~ (To Atreus) "Oh no, I'm so sorry, that chime only responds to the axe, yeah. And people whose balls have dropped. Sorry."
~ (To Atreus) ''What? Go away. You're twelve.''
~ (To Anxiety) "Oh, you should have heard the shit they were talking. Savage!"
Anxiety[]
~"Oh no. Why are you talking about me? What did I do?"
~ "What? Oh, dear, oh, dear."
Arrogance[]
~"I get that a lot."
Perfectionism[]
~"No."
~ (Correcting Ratatoskr) "Perseverance."
~”Fewer words, greater impact.”
Behind the scenes[]
The God of War Ragnarök version of Ratatoskr was created to provide some levity to the game's otherwise dark tone. He is designed as something of an "animated Disney sidekick", being the only animal in the game to speak perfect English and clamboring around Kratos and Atreus: compared to the relatively realistic animations of other characters, Ratatoskr in Ragnarök is animated using methods players may recognize from cartoons, including the "squash and stretch" technique revolutionized by Disney animation. Though some developers at Santa Monica Studio found him to be too bizarre, director Eric Williams felt adding a comedic character was necessary.[1]
Williams wanted voice actor SungWon Cho, who is known for his comedic sketches online, for the role, feeling Cho had the vocal talents and comedic ability to voice Ratatoskr and his various counterparts. As it turned out, writer Anthony Burch happened to know Cho and reached out to him at Williams' request. Cho was unaware what game Williams was asking him to work on until during an in-person meeting when Williams pointed to a giant God of War poster in the room. Besides voicing Ratatoskr, Cho also performed the character's motion capture, a process he found challenging due to the character's size and movements compared to other characters in the series. During motion capture sessions, Cho would watch a puppeteer move a plush Ratatoskr around Christopher Judge's body, and would mimic the motions on a series of bars and platforms that had been set up for him.[1]
In addition to voicing Ratatoskr, Cho joined the writing team for the game and was given free reign to develop Ratatoskr's personality. It was Cho's decision to change Ratatoskr's personality from the Bitter Squirrel depicted in God of War (2018) into a more "eager-to-please, not entirely trustworthy type", pitched as "almost like a car salesman who wants you to like him so he can sell you more cars." Though Cho left the writing team once he had finished writing his scenes – and some of his dialogue was reworked before he returned to record his lines – the entire introduction scene as Cho wrote it went unchanged.[1]
Ratatoskr's spectral counterparts in Ragnarök were modeled after the emotions from the Disney-Pixar film Inside Out, which allowed them to bring back Troy Baker from God of War (2018) to voice the Bitter Squirrel while still using Cho's interpretation of the character. Williams and the team considered having different voice actors voice the spectral counterparts, but eventually settled on just keeping Baker as Bitter Squirrel and letting Cho change up his voice for the other counterparts.[1]
Gallery[]
Concept Art[]
Trivia[]
True Personality[]
- Like most of the Nine Realms, Ratatoskr is implied to be on antagonistic terms with Asgard, as he is shown to be resigned to Odin's callousness in using Níðhögg as the guard to Freya's curse that keeps her from leaving Midgard and even helps begin Ragnarök by giving Freya a Muspelheim seed. He also shows no remorse for Asgard's destruction beyond being worried for the impact it caused the World Tree, and happily gives Kratos the seeds for further realm travel as a reward for both preventing the World Tree from being destroyed and annihilating Asgard.
- Strangely enough, Odin seems to hold a measure of respect for him, as while disguised as Tyr, he describes Ratatoskr as the most dapper squirrel he's ever conversed with, despite his willingness to act out of character while maintaining the guise of Tyr. This may be due to Ratatoskr being an effective immortal, thus causing Odin to an extent admire him for being possibly impossible to kill unless the World Tree itself is destroyed.
- It is also implied from Ratatoskr's words of how Níðhögg's death is far from the first time Odin has inconvienced the World Tree and his clear shock that Odin managed to deceive him while disguised as Tyr that he's had to repel Odin's efforts to exploit the World Tree numerous times before. It may have been Ratatoskr who caught Odin's efforts to roam the World Tree and plunder it's secrets and forcefully banished his spirit back to his body, considering his ability to likewise stop the damage Garm had done to the World Tree. Leaving aside his disgust of Odin's lust for power and control, he may also personally despise Odin for his capacity for cunning and desire for knowledge. That would also explain Odin's acknowledgment of him, as he would have known Ratatoskr's power and both feared and respected him for it.
Bitter Aspect[]
- The stones that he gives to Kratos is entirely dependent on the arrow Atreus is using right now; a Light arrow will give him a health stone while a Shock arrow will give him a Rage stone.
- Ratatoskr claims to have rabies, despite being a spectral animal, and occasionally mentions this to Kratos and Atreus when summoned. However, since Ratatoskr has been known to sometimes spread falsehoods when carrying messages in the World Tree, he most likely lies about having to it to spite Kratos and Atreus.
- On a few specific markings, you can summon Ratatoskr and he will unearth a large amount of Hacksilver.
- Ratatoskr's insults will change depending on your current state. If you summoned him while you're healthy, he will insult you for summoning him while barely having a scratch. If summoned when Kratos' health is low, he will mock his skills and will sarcastically claims himself as their savior.
- If he is summoned for the first time in the middle of a battle, Mimir would try to make a comment about the squirrel but Kratos told him to be silent.