Zeus the God of the Sky

Zeus, a.k.a. "the Nick Cannon of Greek Mythology," was the father of Kratos and also his number one enemy. Zeus, the King of the Gods, was slain by his son Kratos, who continued the cycle of parricide just as Zeus did with his own father.

Daddy Issues

Kratos and Deimos as children

The bad blood between Kratos and his father Zeus runs deep, starting from the childhood of the God of War. Kratos was born out of an affair between Zeus and his human mother, Callisto, in the city of Sparta. Zeus’ wife, Hera, the Queen of the Gods, was displeased with yet another illegitimate child from Zeus, and she predicted that the child would bring doom to Mount Olympus. Zeus, taking pity on the child, refused and went on to have another fair with Callisto, resulting in the birth of Kratos’ younger brother, Deimos.

While Kratos and Deimos were still children, Zeus received an oracle that he would be deposed by a renowned warrior from among his offspring. Deimos, who was born with unique markings and is Zeus’ most recent child, was captured by Athena and Ares upon the orders of Zeus while the boy and his elder brother were training. Kratos attempted to save his little brother but was swiped away as he could not match the power of the gods.

Servitude to Mount Olympus

Kratos and Mount Olympus

Later on in the story, Kratos vows service to the Gods of Olympus in hopes of freeing himself of his cursed past. During his service, Ares, the original God of War, attacks Athens, the city belonging to a fellow goddess, Athena. Zeus, fearing that Ares was the marked warrior, allowed Athena to use Kratos for her bidding and to defeat Ares. As Kratos ventured to Pandora's box to receive the power boost needed to defeat Ares, Ares found out and impaled and killed him with a pillar, sending him to the underworld. Zeus disguises himself as a grave digger and helps Kratos escape the realm of the dead with a portal.

As Ares threatens the gods and Olympus, Kratos returns and uses a bolt from Zeus’s fury, which was granted to him by Zeus, to reclaim Pandora’s box. Zeus and the rest of the gods guided Kratos to kill Ares, believing he was the real threat to Olympus. After his victory, the Olympians forgave Kratos and made him the new God of War.

Growing Fear

The Colossus of Rhodes

After Deimos’ death and witnessing Kratos’ destructive and aggressive behavior, Zeus feared that Kratos might be the child of the oracle who would one day destroy Olympus. This led to Zeus plotting to find a way to get rid of his son. While Kratos was attacking another city, Rhodes, Zeus swooped in as an eagle and zapped out a portion of Kratos's new God of War power and put it into the giant statue, the Colossus of Rhodes. This caused the giant statue to come alive and attack the now-shrinking Kratos. Zeus then tricks Kratos further, telling him to imbue the rest of his godly power into the Blade of Olymus to take down the colossus. Kratos did so and defeated the giant statue with ease, but was nearly crushed to death as the statue came crumbling down on him.

To survive, Kratos headed to the sword of Olympus that was knocked out of his hand but was intercepted by Zeus just as he was about to reach the sword. Zeus then ordered Kratos to swear allegiance to him, but the enraged Spartan declined. Zeus then stabbed him. As Kratos slowly lost his grip on life, Zeus expressed his disappointment in his son, but Kratos continued to insult the god. Zeus stabbed Kratos again, killing him, but Kratos promised to get his revenge before taking his final breath.

Battle Between the King of Gods and the God of War

Kratos and Zeus

As Kratos embarked on his journey of vengeance, he looked for the power to bring his father down, which he found in the power to control time itself. Kratos comes to the moment right before he was stabbed and knocks an unsuspecting Zeus to the ground, claiming the Blade of Olympus once again. The two gods charged at each other, taking their battle to the skies, where they landed on the Summit of Sacrifice, beginning their grand battle. Kratos slammed Zeus with blow after blow, declaring that Zeus would pay for his actions. The enraged Zeus let out his full power, unleashing an electrical storm on Kratos.

Kratos, up against the walls, relied on his old military tactics, bamboozling Zeus into believing he was surrendering. Kratos asks Zeus to end his life, but he deflects some of Zeus’s lightning and overpowers his father, taking the sword from him. Kratos pins him on a rock and stabs him to return the favor. He is interrupted by Athena, who jumps in the way of Kratos’ blade to save her father, who uses this as his chance to escape. As Athena dies, she informs Kratos that Zeus is his father, and if he kills him, he’ll be continuing the cycle of sons killing fathers, which dates back to the beginning of time. 

Battle between Father and Son

Fierce battle between father and son

The second face-off between the father and son was an all-out war among the beings of Olympus. Zeus informed his brothers of the circumstances and told them to prepare for battle. Weakened by the previous battle, Zeus remained on the sidelines until his brother Poseidon was killed.

Zeus begins the battle by striking Gaia, while Kratos attempts to drop them into the River Styx. He was successful with Kratos and dropped him, but Kratos climbs his way back to the top of Mount Olympus and destroys more gods, including his brother, Hercules. 

Kratos and Zeus face off again when they find themselves in Olympus’ inner chambers. Their battle was interrupted when Pandora attempted to jump into a flame, but Kratos caught her just in time. She pleaded with Kratos to let her go, but he would not agree. Zeus tells Kratos to not let her go and that for once in his "pathetic life," he’s doing something right. In a blind rage, Kratos drops Pandora and attacks Zeus. Zeus then further angered his hot-headed son and led him to the same platform they confronted each other earlier.

Zeus observes the damage that Kratos has done to Olympus and tells him he’ll have a lot of cleaning up to do once their battle is decided. They fight again until they are interrupted by the Titan Gaia. She is here to get vengeance on her grandson and great grandson for causing such damage to her world. Gaia attempted to kill the two gods, crushing the platform they were standing on. They both escaped and entered a giant wound in the chest of the titan. 

The Cycle Continues

Kratos finishing off Zeus

The father and son continued on in their vicious battle, using Gaia’s heart to heal themselves. Kratos eventually turned Gaia and Zeus into holy kebabs, impaling Gaia's heart and killing them both. Kratos takes the Blade of Olympus from Zeus' "dead" body, but as he leaves, he is attacked by Zeus' spirit, causing him to lose most of his power and become infected by Zeus' Fear. Kratos, who was thought to be defeated, used the help of Pandora’s spirit to forgive his sins and release Hope from within himself. He then beats Zeus’ spirit, forcing it to return to his body, giving him life again.

Kratos, on his way to kill Zeus, realizes his father is weak enough to defeat him with his bare hands, drops the Blades of Chaos, and charges at the god. Zeus flees in terror, only to be thrown into a rock by the enraged Spartan. Kratos beats his father uncontrollably, kicking his face in and slamming him against rocks. He ends the long war between the two, grabbing his father's beard and beating his face into a pulp. After his death, Zeus’ body disintegrates and explodes in a huge blast of light, unleashing chaos on the world and ending his reign over Olympus.

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