Thanatos

“

The Oracle may have yet spoken truth. The Marked Warrior shall bring about the destruction of Olympus. Ares chose poorly that day. He took your brother when it should have been you. None of that matters now. Nothing you do is of your own choosing.

”

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Thanatos is the Greek Primordial God of Death, and the main antagonist in God of War: Ghost of Sparta. He is the ruler of the Domain of Death and the father of Erinys.

Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, Thánatos (in Greek, Θάνατος – "Death") was the daemon personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person. His name is transliterated in Latin as Thanatus, but his equivalent in Roman mythology is Mors or Letus/Letum, and he is sometimes identified erroneously with Orcus (Orcus himself had a Greek equivalent in the form of Horkos (Όρκος - "Oath"), God of the Oath).

In God of War Series

God of War: Ascension

Thanatos wasn't mentioned in the game itself, but it's curious to notice that, for being a Primordial god, it is very likely that he participated in their war, which was mentioned at the intro of the game.

The mentioned war was so vicious that almost all of the Primordials died during it, and Thanatos was one of its few survivors, which is also a proof of the great strength and power he possesses, even against other Gods. It is possible that, since many Gods were dying in the war and he is the God of Death, he was getting stronger at each time another God perished.

It is unknown how harmed he was in this war, however. If he gained any scars from the conflict, they are probably hidden under his clothes, and do not cause enough pain to stop him in a battle.

In the Multiplayer, when a warrior respawns after death, the announcer may sometimes say "Thanatos will have to wait".

God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Thanatos was an ancient and fearsome God, who predates the cycle of death, the end of life, and is the reaper of all souls. He imprisoned Deimos, who was believed to be the Marked Warrior by Zeus, Ares, and Athena, after Zeus sent the siblings to capture him and hide the Spartan where he wouldn't be found.

After Kratos, Deimos' brother and the real Marked Warrior, killed Ares and became the new God of War, he was summoned by his mother Callisto, who told him his brother was alive. This started Kratos' quest to find his brother.

Kratos' search for his brother led him to realize where Deimos was imprisoned. At one point of the journey, Thanatos used a corpse as a medium, warning Kratos to not pursue his path any further. The Spartan eventually confronted and killed Thanatos' daughter, Erinys.

Finally, Kratos made his way into the Domain of Death, where Deimos angrily attacked Kratos for failing to save him from Thanatos all those years ago. In the final moment of the battle between Kratos and Deimos, Thanatos appeared, snatched Deimos from behind, then reminded Kratos that he had killed his daughter and that he would 'suffer for it'.

Thanatos flew down with Deimos to Suicide Bluffs (the location of Kratos's attempted suicide); Kratos followed behind determined not to lose Deimos again. As Kratos arrived, Deimos attempted to resist the God of Death, but was ultimately overpowered by Thanatos and knocked over the edge. Kratos rescued Deimos at the very last minute, finally made peace with his brother, and decided to jointly confront Thanatos.

Thanatos, seeing the ashes of his wife and daughter fastened to Kratos' skin, realized that the prophesied "Marked Warrior," the warrior told to destroy Olympus, was not Deimos, but Kratos. He then remarked that Ares chose poorly not to take Kratos as his victim, then he cackled evilly and reminded Kratos that he was "nothing but a pawn in a game he doesn't know is being played". Both brothers ignored his mockeries and began to fight the God of Death.

During the battle, Thanatos fought Kratos and Deimos using his blade and took the form of a gigantic winged black dragon-like monster, similar to Erinys. In the heat of the battle Deimos saved Kratos from Thanatos' grip, only to be smashed into the rocks and killed. A furious Kratos attacked Thanatos, destroyed his monstrous thick armor and, mortally wounded, Thanatos reverted to his humanoid form.

Now with a weakened Thanatos, Kratos beat him down without mercy, only to be met with taunts. Kratos then grabbed Thanatos' cracked chest, opened it further and impaled him with his blades, ending his life. Before he perished, Thanatos taunted Kratos one final time by giving him a devilish grin before exploding into dust and light.

Later on, the mysterious Grave Digger revealed to Kratos he had become "Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Powers and Abilities

Being an entity older than the Olympians themselves, and the fact that very few gods nor mortals dared to enter his domain, Thanatos was a very powerful being.His great power was enough to let him survive the war of the Primordials. He was probably responsible for the deaths of many Primordial gods which is an incredible demonstration of the fact he is strong enough to fight and kill other gods and his kind.

Superhuman Strength: Thanatos as a Primordial God and one of the oldest and strongest among them, has an immense amount of strength enough to kill another Primordials or Gods. He proves himself to be physically on par with Kratos during a battle with him and Deimos and seemingly overpower them.
Superhuman Durability: Thanatos, as a God of Death, is extremely durable as one of the survivals from the war of Primordials. He was able to withstand punishment from both Kratos and Deimos seemingly unfazed. Thanatos is also shown to be very resistant against divine weapons as he was stomach penetrated his own blade but took her out completely unharmed and was only annoyed by this. Only after Kratos impales his heart with his blades was finally enough to destroy him.

immortality: As a Primordial God, Thanatos is immortal and can live forever. He does not age and is unaffected by time or succumbing to mortal frailty an, he could not be killed by earthly weapons; only divine forces and other gods, Titans or Primordials can kill him

Possession: Thanatos is capable of manipulating dead bodies and uses them as the medium as he did during Kratos journey to war him to leave his goal to save his brother fro hi domain.

Superhuman Speed: Despite his size, Thanatos is very mobile and is able to keep up with both Kratos and Deimos speed in combat. with his strength is able to leap great distance.

Superhuman Stamina: As a God, Thanatos has unlimited stamina and can remain in battles for very long periods without tiring.

Flight: Thanatos can reveal raven-like wings from his back which allow him to fly. In his second form are those wings much larger and are visible all the time.
Divine Light: Thanatos can emit dazzling light to stun and dazzle his opponents.

Master Combatant: Thanatos has proven to be a very formidable combatant as he defeats another Primordials during their war at the beginning of time and survived. He was even able to keep with Kratos and Deimos, both being extremely skilled and powerful combatant on their own. In fights, he prefers uses a long curved blade, which he uses with deadly proficiency.

Shapeshifting: Thanatos can transform into a large powerful armored dragon-like beast which grand him other abilities
Enchanted Strenght: his strength is increased to point when he can shake to ground itself, tear apart rocks and kill Deimos in two strikes.

Enchanted Durability: his skin becomes seemingly invulnerable and can be only injured via Thera ´s Bane.
Divine Blast: in this form, Thanatos can release blast similar to that Erynis from his mouth albeit much larger and powerful as the mere reflection of this attack is strong enough to knock even Thanatos himself temporarily.

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Trivia

At the end of the Rage of Sparta soundtrack, Thanatos' name, or "death" in the English translation, is chanted by the choir repeatedly.
Thanatos is the second son of Erebus and Nyx Kratos killed, the first being Charon.
In Hesiod's Theogony, it is said that the Moirai (Fates) are the sisters of Thanatos, Charon, and Hypnos.
Thanatos along with his sisters Hemera, Clotho, Lahkesis, and Atropos and brothers Hypnos, Charon and Aether are cousins of the Titans, Ouranos, and Typhon since Nyx and Gaia are sisters.
When Thanatos turns into a giant monster, his head resembles The Skull of Keres.
He seems to have a sour disposition towards Ares, as he called him "unwise", and even claimed that Ares chose poorly the day Deimos was taken. Despite this, Ares seems to have had the strongest relationship with Thanatos than any other god. Thanatos agrees to take Deimos from Ares, implying Ares is willing to enter the Domain of Death and the Skull of Keres is located in the Temple of Ares.
In the in-game cinematics, his eyes are pale, whereas during gameplay, they are not.
There may have been a reference to Thanatos in God of War III, when Kratos faces Zeus and tells him that "The hands of death could not defeat me." Although, he also could be referring to the events in the second game, where he escapes being dragged into the underworld, or possibly both.
In Greek mythology, Thanatos had no children.
At the end of God of War II, Kratos proclaims to Gaia, that both Ares and Athena were dead. He never mentioned the death of Thanatos. This may imply that Thanatos didn't choose sides during the Great War, so his death shouldn't make a difference or maybe because he is not an olympian.
Thanatos is the first one in the series who mentioned the Sisters of Fate and also the first who planned to defy them as he proclaims to Kratos that the Fates wouldn't hold him from killing him. Additionally, this foreshadows the end of the game.
After Kratos stabs Thanatos' chest, he had made a "girly" scream or possibly an error or the sound of the explosion.
It is possible that Thanatos had a human lover, who gave birth to his daughter, Erinys. Although he may have reproduced asexually.
Kratos reflected Thanatos' attack, although he does not possess the Golden Fleece or the Sun Shield. It is possible that the beam is weak enough to get reflected by the Blades of Athena or added at Kratos' godly powers.
The Blade of Thanatos is available for download on the PSN store. This sword focuses on ranged attacks, instead of melee ones.

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