It’s no secret for fictional characters to feature great suffering. For dramatic and mature stories, suffering is usually essential for characters to further their motivations, or have audiences sympathize with their journeys. InGod of War: Ragnarok, every character seems to be suffering in their way. Some, are more private affairs than others.
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Whether it is through grief, stress, or general misfortune, many characters inGod of War: Ragnaroksuffer greatly throughout the game. There are plenty of emotional scenes inGod of War: Ragnarok, and sadness follows in the war between the Aesir and Kratos’ journey, a combination of violence and sadness.
Spoilers ahead forGod of War: Ragnarok
8Kratos
Perhaps no character in theGod of Warfranchise has suffered as much as Kratos. Kratos has lost his armies, his home of Sparta, his mother, brother, wife, daughter, life, and everything in between. Kratos tried to move on with the Norse nine realms, and after his wife Faye died, he had to begin his journey to accept his past, and begin the long road to redemption.
When audiences are reintroduced to Kratos inGod of War: Ragnarok, his suffering still follows. His journey is met with a lack of trust for his son, Atreus, a desire to alter his fated death in Ragnarok, and to be better than what isexpected of the Ghost of Sparta.
7Angrboda
One of the newest characters in theGod of Warseries is Angrboda. She is one of the last survivingJotunn giants, and a great friend to Loki, who finds her in Ironwood, the secret location and sanctuary of the giants. Angrboda had lost her mother and her father and is currently protecting the innocent animals in Ironwood from her grandmother and her soul-stealing vase.
Angrboda’s suffering comes from the fact that she does not know where her story goes after helping Loki, for she has no shrine of her own. However, Angrboda decides to forge her fate and brings hope to Jotunheim after the genocide of the giants by the Aesir.
6Sinmara
Poor Sinmara is fated to join with her husband, Surtr to form the universal entity known as Ragnarok. This entity is a combination of ice and fire and will destroy Asgard, and thus itself. However,Kratos and Atreushelp Surtr spare his wife, Sinmara, by using the Blades of Chaos to fuse Surtr and his wife’s hearts. In doing so, Surtr dies to create Ragnarok but saves Sinmara from dying.
As Kratos returns to Niflheim, the cries of Sinmara echo hauntingly throughout the realm. Sinmara features great suffering, as she has Surtr’s heart, and he has hers. However, they will never see each other again, and Sinmara must live knowing her lover’s sacrifice was for her, without a final goodbye.
5Thor
After the loss of his sons, Magni and Modi, Thor and his wife Sif has sworn off alcohol.Thor is known for his abuse of alcoholand tries his best for his last surviving kin, Thrud. As a grieving father, Thor is constantly belittled and abused by his father, Odin, who says he is no fun and treats him like a lapdog.
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Thor may have killed many people, and been responsible for the genocide of the Jotun people. However, after audiences see how badly he was treated by Odin, it’s hard to tell if it was his own doing. Thor presents himself as a destroyer and tries to take out those negative emotions through rage toward Kratos, who sees thatThor can be better.
4Tyr
As the Aesir god of war, Tyr took things beyond what was expected of his duty and dedicated his immortality to traveling the realms and other worlds to meet other gods.Tyr was a wandererthrough his spiritual awakening, and through a journey of introspection, he became the god of war out of peace and tried to mend the ties of other cultures and peoples for one great army.
Tyr was greatly feared by Odin, and as such, was imprisoned for who knows how long. Considering Mimir was also imprisoned, and tortured daily by Odin, it is unknown just how cruel Odin was to Tyr. Tyr was even subjected to impersonation, as Odin disguised himself as Tyr to further ridicule the imprisoned god of war.
3Freya
Freya has lost a great deal in theGod of Warseries. Her freedom was taken from her, as Odin bound her to spend her immortality at Midgard. She is the last of the Vanir gods and married Odin to try and end the destructive conflict between the Aesir and the Vanir. However, her marriage was abusive, withOdin demanding Freyatell all the secrets she has of magic and its properties.
Even now that she is freed from Odin’s magic, she still grieves heavily for her son, Baldur, whom Odin turned into a rabid tracker. However, she feels guilty herself, for turning her son into an unstoppable killing machine at the cost of his sanity and feelings. Freya wants nothing more than to avenge her son, and kill Odin.
2Atreus
After the death of his mother, Faye, Atreus greatly feared being left alone with his father, Kratos. As the journey to spread his mother’s ashes at the highest peak ofall nine realmsended, Atreus was closer to his father than ever and accepted his fate as a god. However, greater mysteries unravel inGod of War: Ragnarok, as Atreus seeks to discover who he is as Loki.
ThroughoutGod of War: Ragnarok, Atreus is burdened with the responsibility and desire to control his new powers of shape-shifting, whilst also trying to find a way to break fate, and save his father from his fated death in Ragnarok. It’s hard for Atreus, considering he has to work with the Aesir, and his father sees him as untrustworthy.
1Sindri
Sindri had given Kratos and Atreus everything they asked for and beyond. He was a master blacksmith and even gave the pair his home for their safety. However, it seemed not enough, as they allowed Tyr to live in their home, who later revealed himself as Odin, and killed Sindri’s brother, Brok.
In Brok’s death, Sindri became bitter and rageful, mourning the loss of his brother for the second and final time, knowing Brok will not have an afterlife due to missing a piece of his soul. Sindri suffers greatly in the loss of his brother, feels so alone, and blames Atreus and Kratos for his grief, considering he gave them everything, including the life of his brother.
God of War: Ragnarokis available now on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5
