God of War Ragnarok’s Story Almost Gave Kratos a Very Different Fate

Warning: The below article has spoilers for 2018’s God of War and God of War Ragnarok.

In an early draft of God of War Ragnarok, Kratos was originally going to die at Thor’s hand. According to narrative director Matt Sophos, Thor would kill Kratos during their fight at the beginning of the game.

“It wasn’t a permanent death. He would get pulled out of Hel, essentially, by Atreus. But it’s now been 20 years have passed,” Sophos explained in an interview with MinnMax. However, this outline didn’t stay around for long as it didn’t feel right to the development team. Kratos has come back from death plenty of times in previous games.

Sophos continued, “As we were developing the story, we knew that we wanted the story to be one about letting go and changing…nothing is written that can’t be unwritten. As long as you’re willing to change, then you’re not bound to fate.” In God of War (2018), Kratos was prophesized to die. So if he had indeed perished, then that would’ve undermined the message of the game.

God of War Ragnarok was one of the biggest games of 2022, winning multiple accolades at last year’s The Game Awards, as well as selling 11 million copies so far. The game is also receiving a New Game Plus option sometime this spring.

In IGN’s God of War Ragnarok review, we said, “An enthralling spectacle to behold and an even more exciting one to take the reins of, God of War Ragnarok melds action and adventure together to create a new, unforgettable Norse saga.”

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey