Is Kratos an antihero or villain?

To answer plainly – Kratos is an antihero. He occupies a moral gray area between noble heroism and outright villainy. What defines him most is his ruthless pursuit of vengeance above all else.

Driven by Personal Vendettas

Throughout the series, Kratos‘ primary motivation has been to enact vengeance on those who have personally wronged him. After being tricked by Ares into killing his own family, he seeks payback against the God of War. Later, his vengeance turns towards Zeus and the rest of the Greek gods for their various betrayals.

According to the God of War wiki, this lust for vengeance has defined Kratos since his childhood:

Kratos chose to embrace his rage and exiled himself from Sparta…thereon expending his days perfecting his combat skills with an insatiable appetite for battle.

An Obsession with Bloody Retribution

Kratos does not embark on principled quests for justice – his methods for exacting vengeance are utterly brutal with little discretion between the guilty and innocent. His weapon of choice are the chained Blades of Chaos, and he leaves mountains of mangled bodies in his wake.

As one analysis put it:

Kratos kills people like he’s trying to set a record speed run.

His obsession with bloody retribution at any cost places him firmly in antihero territory.

Moments of Humanity

However, Kratos does still shows glimmers of regret and humanity amidst his rage:

• He is haunted by killing his own wife and daughter and releasing evils like the deadly plagues and the evil Fear from Pandora‘s Box into the world.
• In God of War (2018), an older Kratos tries restrain his rage for the sake of his young son Atreus.

So while defined by vengeance, he has his empathetic moments. The Kratos wiki explains:

Despite his entirely negative traits, he was not entirely heartless as he genuinely cared for his wife and daughter…

Battling Corrupt Gods

Additionally, many of Kratos‘ enemies are themselves villainous – the various gods and titans he slaughters are remorseless in their treatment of mortals. So while his motives are gray, he battles forces that are often cruel and corrupt:

Kratos usually had no desire for conquest or power, his usual goals being to undo whatever machinations were affecting him and his, be it the influence of Zeus, Athena or Ares.

So his violent actions do sometimes align with overthrowing sinister figures like these manipulating gods.

Verdict: Morally Ambiguous Antihero

Putting this all together – Kratos is a remarkably violent and single-minded figure largely concerned with avenging his own grievances through force and bloodshed. An obsession with bloody vengeance at any cost is hardly heroic.

Yet the gods he opposes are often corrupt tyrants, he shows sparks of regret and humanity, and his story is one of trauma driving him towards a path of rage – giving him a tragic undertone.

So Kratos occupies the middle ground: too savage to call a hero but humanized enough not to label an outright villain either. He is an antihero through and through – neither good nor evil but a fascinating gray duality somewhere in between.