In many myths, Kratos is referred to as the son of the Titans Pallas and Styx. This would make Kratos a relative of the Olympian gods, but not one of their direct number. He is often referred to as the brother of several other figures that represent strength and battle – Nike, the goddess of victory, Bia, the goddess of force and violence, and Zelus, the god of zeal. Kendall, Omar (April 26, 2012). "See PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in Action". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment America. Archived from the original on October 28, 2012 . Retrieved May 6, 2012.

Alexander, Jem (July 13, 2009). "Del Ray announces first God of War novel for March 2010". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012 . Retrieved January 4, 2010. Valledor, Mark (January 22, 2009). "Little Delay To LittleBigPlanet Content". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment America. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015 . Retrieved March 17, 2015. Curtin, Paul (March 24, 2011). "Mortal Kombat (2011): No Extras During or After the Credits". MediaStinger. Nitruc. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014 . Retrieved August 9, 2013. Jacobus, Eric (March 28, 2018). God of War Slayer of the Gods – How to Fight Like Kratos, PS4 (YouTube). PlayStation, Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018 . Retrieved May 11, 2018.Magazines, including Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition [93] have called him one of the greatest and most iconic video game character. [94] [95] [96] [97] GamesRadar+ included him as one of the 25 best new characters of the decade, stating that while he appears at first to be a generic character, players eventually learn that he is both an "unstoppable force of nature" and a "broken, tragic man". [98] Knowing of the talks regarding a God of War film, both IGN and UGO Networks described Kratos as a character who deserved his own movie. [99] [100] In 2008, IGN described him as one of the characters wanted for an "ultimate fighting" game, featuring characters from all consoles and all eras of gaming. [101] The "Dairy Bastard" alternate costume from the original God of War was included in UGO 's "most stylin' alternate costumes". [102] GameFront included Kratos in 2011 as one of the top five video game characters with the "biggest daddy issues". [103] Complex said that Kratos was having the best fighting game cameos for his guest appearances in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny and Mortal Kombat in 2012 [104] and one of the "most badass" video game character of all time in 2013. [105] Kratos' Blades of Chaos were also cited by GameSpot 's as one of "the most badass swords in video game history". [106] The character was given his name at a late stage in the development of the original game after the character had already been fleshed out. [22] Unaware of the actual mythological god named Kratos appearing in Prometheus Bound, the creators coincidentally chose Kratos, the same Greek word meaning "strength", of which the mythological figure is the personification. [23] [22] Stig Asmussen, who worked on the first two games and was game director of God of War III, called the naming coincidence a "happy mistake", [22] noting that the Kratos in the game and the one in Prometheus Bound are both "pawns". [22] Zoran Iovanovici of California State University, Long Beach observed with irony that, while the mythological Kratos is best known for chaining Prometheus, in God of War II, the video game character releases him. [22] Classical scholar Sylwia Chmielewski states that the video game character Kratos draws extensively on other figures from Greek mythology, including the heroes Perseus, Theseus, and Achilles, [24] [25] but his strongest influence is the hero Heracles (Roman Hercules), who appears in God of War III with the Romanized name and is the character's half-brother. [24] Jensen, K. Thor (February 27, 2011). "The Most Stylin' Alternate Costumes". UGO Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 16, 2011 . Retrieved July 16, 2012.

Charlie Wen, director of visual development on God of War (2005) and God of War II, was responsible for designing Kratos. Wen said that his direction for designing Kratos was as much influenced by similarly themed films as it was by pop culture, which led him to conceive Kratos on a series of napkins at a restaurant, having forgotten his sketchbook, introducing the idea of the double-chained blades and eventually Kratos' iconic design. [11] [12] Double-chained blades were chosen as Kratos' signature weapon because they emphasized the character's animal nature while also allowing combat to remain fluid. [13] Wen visualized the double-chained blades activating simultaneously as Kratos threw them with a balance of ferocity and accuracy. Jaffe said of the final version of the character, "[Kratos] may not totally feel at home in Ancient Greece from a costume standpoint, I think he achieves the greater purpose which is to give players a character who they can play who really does just let them go nuts and unleash the nasty fantasies that they have in their head." [14]

Main articles: God of War: Ascension, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and God of War (2005 video game) a b Hinojosa-Miranda, Chris (August 20, 2008). "Kratos to Swing the Clubs of Chaos in Hot Shots Golf". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment America. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012 . Retrieved August 21, 2008. Haas, Rachel (March 21, 2015). "God of War's Kratos Takes the Throne in New Collectible Statue". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015 . Retrieved March 23, 2015. Nix (July 11, 2007). "E3 2007: Eyes-On The Simpsons Game". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 11, 2013 . Retrieved March 10, 2008.

Lee, Oscar (February 2, 2015). "God of War: Lunging Kratos Statue from Gaming Heads gets release date". Game Idealist. Archived from the original on March 21, 2015 . Retrieved February 26, 2015. Killian, Seth (February 27, 2013). "New PS All-Stars: Zeus & Isaac, MediEvil + The Unfinished Swan Level". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment America. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013 . Retrieved February 27, 2013. In this form, Kratos is seen as a companion of Zeus and the guardian of his throne. He is usually one of Zeus’ primary enforcers and is an extension of his will. The Son of Zeus In a few other myths, Kratos is seen as one of Zeus‘ many children. Rather than being one of Zeus’ peers, he is a demigod, the son of Zeus and an unnamed mortal woman. This form of his history is relatively uncommon, but it does crop up enough to be important. Kratos and Prometheus Moriarty, Colin (December 6, 2014). "PSX 2014: Shovel Knight Coming to PS4, PS3, Vita". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015 . Retrieved December 6, 2014.Sliva, Marty (June 14, 2016). "E3 2016: God of War Made Me Care About The Series for the First Time". IGN. Ziff Davis . Retrieved June 14, 2016. Main article: God of War II Kratos' initial appearance in God of War III, and as he appeared throughout most of God of War II, wielding the Blades of Athena, with the Golden Fleece on his right arm. With the exception of a few details, such as the Golden Fleece and abdominal scar, this is largely Kratos' appearance throughout the Greek era of the series.