Do we like Kratos?
A character from God of War (2005–present)
Our score: 6 out of 10. He's a brutal man with a lot of blood on his hands. We still back him, because he works hard to become a better person, especially as a father.
Kratos is a Spartan warrior who is bound in service to the gods of Olympus and haunted by terrible memories. The games follow him through mythic worlds full of monsters, gods and impossible odds. He is first a furious, vengeful fighter who throws himself at every obstacle. Across the series he is voiced by TC Carson in the Greek era and by Christopher Judge in the Norse era.
His score comes from the gap between what he does and what he wants. In the early games he is hard to like. He is angry, ruthless, and leaves a lot of collateral damage behind him. He is not a simple villain, though. He is driven by guilt and grief, and you can see he is a man wearing himself down.
In the Greek games, Kratos is tricked into killing his own family. He swears revenge on Ares, kills him, and takes his place as the God of War. The title doesn't bring him peace. It only deepens his torment and sets off more fights with the Olympian gods.
The 2018 reboot and its sequel move Kratos to a Norse setting, where he is older and more restrained. He is also a reluctant father to his son Atreus. He is gruff, emotionally guarded and not always good at it, but he tries to protect the boy and to be better than he was. That change in him is why we mostly back him, even with his past.