How did Kratos end up in Midgard?

After mercilessly killing the Greek pantheon in God of War III, including his father Zeus and uncle Poseidon to take revenge for years of manipulation and betrayals, Kratos was cursed to walk the Earth for eternity. Rather than fade away, the Ghost of Sparta took passage aboard a simple boat and embarked into the flooded world left ravaged in the wake of his vengeance.

A God Crossing Mythologies – Kratos‘ Journey to Midgard

With no specific destination in mind other than to put distance between himself and the ruins of his past, Kratos sailed for many years across the various mythologies said to border one another on the grand spheres making up the realms. Occasionally stopping when fatigue, hunger or some new threat seeking to make a name for vanquishing this fallen God called for it.

After more than a century thus, fate and fortune eventually deposited Kratos beyond the North Sea, to a rich, fertile land of magic and monsters – Midgard. The Norse World Tree, with its legendary nine realms, sprawling out before him.

By The Numbers – Kratos‘ Voyage to Midgard

Having endured travels vast enough to cross our modern world 150 times over, Kratos discovered Midgard as the chaotic waters from the global flooding he inadvertently triggered finally calmed. Exhausted mentally and physically from prolonged exposure living only for battle and bloodshed, the shift offered appealing change.

Starting Anew – What Drew Kratos to Settle in Midgard

Emerging from isolation on the sea granted Kratos perspective to reflect. He began to acknowledge that ruthlessly pursuing the destruction of others, even those who wronged him unforgivably, also led to destroying himself.

The verdant and unspoiled Norse wilds called to Kratos‘ world-weariness. The land radiated with magic, hosting legends of gods, heroes and creatures both terrible and noble. A far cry from the arid climes of Greece and sands of Egypt he‘d wandered after slaughtering their pantheons in misguided vengeance.

To live within the Northmen‘s lands represented a chance at reclaiming the humanity forfeit since Ares manipulated the Spartan into murdering his own family. If change proved impossible for the Ghost of Sparta here, where great events beyond even the gods seemed destined, then perhaps redemption was beyond even myth and magic to grant.

And so it was under the world tree Yggdrasil itself, binding together all realms physical and spiritual, that Kratos laid down his chains and blades and decided to live once more.

A Second Chance – Kratos‘ New Family

Exposure and struggling against the bitter elements eventually drew Kratos toward a settlement. Relying on skills acquired from a youth spent training as a Spartan warrior and decades as the Greek god of warfare, mercenary work secured food, weapons and shelter.

During a routine hunt, Kratos encountered a rare, peaceful giant by chance – Fárbauti, who preferred the name Faye. Intrigued by this taciturn wanderer weathered by forces beyond mortal reckoning, she helped Kratos secure more permanent lodging and consistent work with the local village.

In time, emotional barriers worn by centuries of rage and regret eroded before Faye‘s patient and kind demeanor. A simple yet profound affection took root, resulting in marriage between them. Not long after, Faye gave birth to their son – Atreus. For the first time since losing his original family, Kratos regained fragments of the humanity stripped by vendetta against those who wronged him.

Their modest life together proved fulfilling, yet ephemeral. Atreus was still just a boy when Faye fell incurably ill. But with her final breaths, she exacted a promise from Kratos to fulfill her last wish – to have her ashes scattered at the highest peak in all the realms.

Thus the Norse saga of the Ghost of Sparta began, bound up in secrets kept even from young Atreus. Would fate grant Kratos the unlikely second chance at redemption long since forfeit? Or merely set events in motion by which the Spartan might again lose all? The answer waits along the road ahead…

Atreus‘ Birth and Early Life in Midgard