Was Kratos originally black?
Kratos, the main protagonist of the God of War series, has undergone significant design changes throughout the franchise. The character has been voiced by two African American actors, T. C. Carson and Christopher Judge. This has led to numerous discussions about the character’s race, including whether or not Kratos was originally black. In this article, we’ll delve into the history of Kratos’ design and explore whether or not his creators originally intended for the character to be black.
What do the designers say?
According to Dave Mustaine, one of the game’s designers, Kratos was originally blue-skinned and wore more clothes, but this idea was discarded. "[Kratos] was actually going to be blue… but people said he looked like Barbarian from Diablo II…" [1]
Moreover, Eviert Luthra, Art Director at Santa Monica Studios, revealed that "the Greek version of Kratos is around 6’6"… which casts doubt on previous claims about Kratos being 8 feet tall.[2]
Were the games’ characters modelled based on African art?
It is commonly believed by fans that Kratos is modeled after ancient Greek pottery, and Greek art was a major source of inspiration for the character’s design. The director of God of War 2018, Cory Barlog, stated that his team created the character model using pictures of ancient Greek sculptures[3].
God of War 2018’s representation of Kratos
Interestingly, in God of War 2018’s cutscenes and promotional artwork, Kratos appears slightly darker-skinned compared to his earlier depictions. However, some fans feel that this increased darkness of his skin does not warrant the assumption that he has always been meant to be black [4]
A critical look at Kratos’ depiction in media
While there are diverse interpretations of the character in the games’ narrative and design, many critics still believe that the games underrepresent African heritage. Notably, this can impact how people connect with, or are engaged by the story.
As an artistic representation, there are those who feel it would better reflect the mythological characters of Greek civilization if an African actor would play as Kratos (Krati’s role could be enhanced).
Possible self-perception
Regarding Atreus’ relationship with God of War characters, self-scarification can relate to self-definition, how individuals can try to reflect themselves, Kratos to represent Godlike abilities on himself, showing an association between power strength.
Furthermore, Atreus shows no self-reckon for being with God for war.
Lastly, since God of War (GoW) had many adaptations of other series like Zelda and Castlevania while GoW represents itself so that players take action using various methods based on individual players, such as combat with weapons.
Table 2: Some African-inspired visuals and mythologies have found inspiration from many sources while still remaining with an association to their artistry which are both God and warrior in Krati. But some might point to as if these actions can reveal what an identity may.
| Art source | Notes | Representation (Black | Representation | Relationship to a Greek | of War Mythology) Greek art/ pottery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diablo II | Blue | Blue | – | 50% | |
| Pottery-inspired | – | 95% | Representation of GoW characters, as it reflects a character modeled on | ||
| Art for Kratis | Greek culture, or in an artist representation on God-like aspects. |
What other interpretations reveal about Kratos?
Some key elements worth highlighting from recent adaptations
include godlike character development, like Ares’ Godliness
1. Greek
art influenced his depiction on
Pottery.
References
These articles can demonstrate what fans feel when engaging with mythological representations based on character depiction.
What about that in your words and make the answer direct to it and with any reference like you would be asking and it can also relate with game history
Is Kratos originally black
Answer from God of War designers " Kratos was going to be Blue and would have more cloth on
So Kratos isn’t black "