Kratos was never one to be pegged as a good father through the first three God of War installments, so when God of War came out and Kratos proved to be on a father-son journey, eyebrows raised. The world was about to find out what Kratos looked like in dad mode.
Given that the Ghost of Sparta used to slaughter by the millions, there is a bit of ground to be made up between that and tender fatherhood. But through the journey to the tallest mountain, he had to learn on the go. Sometimes it was nice and affectionate, sometimes it was... like slaughtering by the millions.
In the end, Kratos came out as a good father, but it wasn't easy along the way. So let's look at five times Kratos was a good dad and five times he wasn't.
10 Bad Dad: No One Else
It's pretty clear in the early going of the journey that Atreus, who is somewhere around 10-12 years old, has only ever had one true parent—his mother. His father has been on the run, trying to overcome his own past, and has had no room in his tumultuous head and heart to be a good father.
As such, the parenting was pawned off on Faye. Sure, Kratos had a lot to get over, but it's no excuse not to have been there, at least in some capacity, in the early days. Even though we never see it, it's clear that he hasn't had to be a dad until Faye passed away.
9 Good Dad: Hop On
There's something to be said about carrying your son everywhere he can't go. It shows that, despite being a hardened Warrior God, you also have the decency to understand that not everyone is like you. Kratos could have given Atreus even more of a baptism by fire by letting him figure out the trail for himself, but not only would that have slowed Kratos down, it would have been downright heartless.
Early on, avoiding being downright heartless was a victory. No matter the situation, no matter how awful of a fight they were in, Kratos always carried Atreus where the boy could not go. That counts for something.
8 Bad Dad: Boy!
Seriously, how demeaning was Kratos to Atreus by rarely ever using his name, but instead resorting to calling shouting , "Boy!" at him any time he needed something, did something wrong, summoned him, praised him, whatever. Whenever Kratos called to Atreus, it was, "Boy!"
That's hardly a way to let a, "Boy!" know that he is loved. He is just any ordinary boy, not a son at all. And with all the internal battles Atreus was fighting, no doubt this little bout of numbing disrespect didn't help matters at all.
7 Good Dad: Learn Form This
He may not be one for affection, that Kratos. How many times did he have the chance to give Atreus as little as a pat on the back, a reassuring touch, and refrained? Too many to count. But he is not one that is lacking for finding the teachability in moments. Like when Atreus thought he could speak to his mother, so they helped out a ghost who then resurrected a foul foe that tried to kill Kratos and Atreus? Surely that's a teachable moment.
"Learn from this," Kratos always says. It's a hardened approach, but a good one.
6 Bad Dad: She Was Atreus's Mother
Especially early on, when the two are first having their funeral, Kratos seems to hold to this belief that it was his wife that died, but maybe not so much Atreus's mother. This hardened mindset does not change throughout the journey. Any time Atreus brings her up, or claims to hear her, Kratos deflects and refuses to talk about it. Of course it wasn't easy for Kratos to lose the woman he loved, but his lack of sympathy towards his son, who has lost his mother, is astounding, and it serves as the biggest bad dad move from their entire journey.
5 Good Dad: Gone To Hel...heim
When Atreus suffers such that he appears he will die, Kratos changes. His face sags into an emotionless mask and he makes it clear to Freya that he will do whatever it takes to bring him back. The only solution is to go to Helheim, the Norse version of Hell, and take the heart of the keeper of the bridge. Even for Kratos, something like that had to be daunting, but you wouldn't know it from his reaction. He stopped everything and went straight to Hel...heim.
There, he promptly ripped out the heart of the guardian, did not pass go, did not collect $200, and straight back to Midgard to save his son's life.
4 Bad Dad: Compassion Is Okay
There are two scenes early on in God of War when Atreus is distracted, staring off at something in the distance, and Kratos lifts his hand to put it on his son's shoulder. It's an act of compassion, to comfort Atreus and let him know that his father is there for him, and that he's trying to be a better father.
But Atreus will never know that those moments existed because Kratos chickened out and pulled his hand away. Sure, the thought was there. The thought was in the right place. It just doesn't do any good since he didn't follow through with it.
3 Good Dad: Better Than Me
Kratos has a purpose for all of his withholding of information. All throughout the journey, he constantly avoids telling Atreus who/what he really is. When he finally does, we see why—Atreus becomes a self-righteous brat.
But this kicks into play the biggest theme of the game. The reason why Kratos did all of this in the first place, even if he couldn't quite formulate the best way of doing it. And it comes right out of Kratos' mouth when he tells Atreus to be, "better than him." That is the ultimate sentiment from a good dad.
2 Bad Dad: Not Letting Him Carry The Ashes
Kratos is learning to be a father as the story goes along. It's important not to lose that fact. He's been an emotionless killing machine his entire life and now he has to be a tender loving father who raises his son to not be an emotionless killing machine. That's not an easy task.
That said, along the same lines of seemingly not appreciating that Atreus lost his mother too, Kratos consistently refuses to let Atreus so much as touch the ashes. And he doesn't even explain why. He just says, in his deep, booming baritone, "No."
Until...
1 Good Dad: Together
Kratos is learning the whole way. So is Atreus. But in the case of Kratos learning, Atreus is the teacher. All the times that Kratos felt the need to teach Atreus, he was losing the opportunity to learn about fatherhood from his own son.
That changed in the end. The constant and kind of annoying rebuffs to carry the ashes disappear as the game gets further along. It's at the very end that Kratos insists that Atreus carries the ashes. In the end, they do it together, as a family, but the impulse to let Atreus take on the entire responsibility himself shows that Kratos has become a good father in the end.