Current Events > It's 2025. Did Kratos redeem himself?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Naw

Like I remember the detailed plot points of Tales of Symphonia.

No? Why/how would he, his story is not a redemption story.

I don't think you can really redeem yourself with all the things he did, but it's a good thing he's working towards helping others now.

No and I'm disappointed GoW4 didn't feature him as a villain.

HighSeraph posted...

No and I'm disappointed GoW4 didn't feature him as a villain.

Kratos was never a villain. He wasnt a good guy, he mostly a pawn to the gods until they betrayed him.

He's like John Wick.

He sort of redeemed himself, but he was way too indecisive. His friendship with the main villain wasn't worth prioritizing over everything else. Even if he couldn't bring himself to betray his friend for the greater good, he had another relationship he could've prioritized but he couldn't even fully commit to that.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

Kratos was never a villain. He wasnt a good guy, he mostly a pawn to the gods until they betrayed him.

Kratos willingly killed innocents; often when it wasn't even necessary.

he was only mad at Ares because he was tricked to kill the wrong innocents - his wife and daughter. if that hadn't happened, there's nothing to indicate he wouldn't have continued killing for Ares.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

Kratos was never a villain. He wasnt a good guy, he mostly a pawn to the gods until they betrayed him.

No, he was a piece of shit and he'd be the first to tell you he was a piece of shit.

In that same vein, he'd also tell you that what he's done can never be redeemed, but he can do better

He doesn't need to redeem himself tbh

No he can't

But he made peace with that.

That's legit about as good an ending as you can get

I dont know if redeemed is the right word. I love what they did with his story though.

The things Kratos did are irredeemable, but that doesn't mean he can't strive to become a better man or find a way to come to terms with his past.

The Valhalla DLC addressed this. Kratos himself doesn't believe he can ever be forgiven, but he will resolve to be better regardless.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

Kratos was never a villain. He wasnt a good guy, he mostly a pawn to the gods until they betrayed him.

Not saying Zeus was good by any metric, but Kratos was basically a villain protagonist in GOW 3. His revenge destroyed all of the Greek world and the only reason Zeus tried to take him out in GOW 2 was because Kratos refused to stop destroying cities...just like Ares.

Redemption, no. Atonement? Hes in the process of doing that, and will be for the rest of his life.

boxoto posted...

Kratos willingly killed innocents; often when it wasn't even necessary.

he was only mad at Ares because he was tricked to kill the wrong innocents - his wife and daughter. if that hadn't happened, there's nothing to indicate he wouldn't have continued killing for Ares.

pegusus123456 posted...

No, he was a piece of shit and he'd be the first to tell you he was a piece of shit.

In that same vein, he'd also tell you that what he's done can never be redeemed, but he can do better

Did you both just gloss over the part where I said that Kratos wasnt a good guy?

YOU CHOSE!

I.... chose...

I didn't gloss over it, I was saying he was a straight up villain protagonist, who was often more evil and destructive than those he came across.

and I disagree about him being a puppet - he chose to willingly follow Ares until Ares tricked him into killing his own family; outside of that, we never see him being stripped of any agency.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

Did you both just gloss over the part where I said that Kratos wasnt a good guy?

No. Like boxoto, I just think you're wrong. He's arguably a villain in the second game and unquestionably one in the third.

Charged151 posted...

destroyed all of the Greek world

Not completely. One of the Norse gods commented that the Greeks still exist.

UnfairRepresent posted...

No he can't

But he made peace with that.

That's legit about as good an ending as you can get

Yep. He even saw a future where he can be better and nearly cried.

pegusus123456 posted...

No. Like boxoto, I just think you're wrong. He's arguably a villain in the second game and unquestionably one in the third.

Ill give you the third game even though its mostly unintentional, but how is he a villain in the second?

ViewtifulGrave posted...

Ill give you the third game even though its mostly unintentional, but how is he a villain in the second?

The whole plot started because Kratos wouldn't quit destroying cities inhabited by innocent people with his Godly might. AKA what Ares did that got the Gods to turn on him. Guess what happened when Kratos did the same thing?

No.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

Ill give you the third game even though its mostly unintentional, but how is he a villain in the second?

Spinoff games later gave it more context and helped make the Olympians more villainous, but going solely by GoW2, the gods don't actually do anything wrong. Kratos and the Spartan army are rampaging across Greece, just like Ares was. Athena warns him to stop or Olympus will turn against him and he refuses.

The only thing you can really mark against Zeus is the destruction of Sparta and given that this was the second time they'd followed a bloodthirsty God in destroying Greece, even that's debatable. And the Titanomachy, but Gaia isn't exactly a reliable narrator so we don't even know if she's to be believed.

And I would also argue against Kratos unintentionally doing anything in the third game. Mayyyyybe you can argue it for Poseidon, but it should be very clear after his death that killing the gods has repercussions. The destruction of the world is not even something he considers. It's almost worse than if he was doing it on purpose, all of that suffering and chaos is just irrelevant to him. He doesn't care.

DodogamaRayBrst posted...

YOU CHOSE!

I.... chose...

so good