The God of War shifting locations and pantheons from Greek mythology to Norse mythology proved to be a good decision, as did the introduction of Atreus, Kratos’s son. The change of location brought with it an older, calmer Kratos, and Atreus brought with him some much-needed levity and innocence.
Despite their more obvious differences, the father and son duo have much in common as well, such as their divinity, a tendency to lose themselves in anger, and a whole lot of power. Back in 2018, when Atreus made his debut in God of War, fans immediately noticed some similarities to Kratos beyond the aforementioned things; they noticed some facial features that the two seemed to share.
What did fans have to say about Atreus’s facial markings?
If you look closely at Atreus’s left eye, he has faint markings that are in the shape of his father Kratos’s tattoo. Though both the games (God of War and God of War Ragnarok) don’t mention what they actually mean, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating about them. One user on Reddit asked:
“What does it mean? Another marked one to ruin the god’s lives? Is he truly Loki? Are Marked Ones a race now?”
In response to these questions, another user said:
“The mark is Deimos’ birth mark, Kratos wasn’t born with it, he got it tattooed as a memoir for his brother. It means the birth mark is probably somewhere in Kratos’ DNA and Atreus got it from him. Nothing more to it.”
Another user disagreed though, saying:
“I’m saying the mark similar to Deimos’ birthmark and Kratos’ tattoo is a scar. Not with 100%, I just heard somebody say that, and read that somewhere.”
However, some users disagreed with it being a scar and one of them said:
“There’s just no way he happens to get a scar in that exact shape and location. The entire shape of it makes it pretty much impossible to come from a scar.”
One user then followed it up with a weak argument in favor of a scar, saying:
“Well, young children are easily influenced. Maybe he wanted to look like his father, thinking it looked cool?”
The last comment is highly unlikely to be true, as Atreus does have actual tattoos, so there would be no need for him to inflict wounds on himself, no matter how cool he thought it looked. Regardless, we still don’t know what the facial markings actually are.
What is the Marked Warrior prophecy?
The Marked Warrior prophecy is a key prophecy that shapes the events of much of the original God of War trilogy featuring Kratos in Greece. It tells of the destruction of Mount Olympus, the home of the Greek Gods, at the hands of a marked warrior.
Also read: Is God of War Ragnarök Coming to PC Like The Last of Us? Here’s What We Know
Kratos’s beloved brother, Deimos, was born with markings that made Zeus, the king and leader of the gods, suspicious and made him think that Deimos was the Marked Warrior. He sent his godly children Ares and Athena to Sparta to capture Deimos, and when Deimos was captured, Kratos was devastated. He then made a tattoo identical to his brother’s in honor of him.
Eventually, it was revealed that Kratos, and not Deimos, was the Marked Warrior, and as the prophecy foretold, he brought about the destruction of Olympus and its gods. Some fans have speculated if Atreus’s markings mean something similar, but again, we just don’t know, even with the release of God of War: Ragnarok.
Source: Reddit
