Writing younger characters is often a struggle in fiction, especially for video-game NPCs. Children often risk becoming annoyances, getting in the way of combat as companions, and feeling frustrating in the story as their growing pains cause conflict for characters more relatable to the average adult consumer. There's been several moments like this, with two in recent memory being God of War and Borderlands 3.
Despite the challenges associated with video game kids, this does not mean it cannot be done successfully. To demonstrate this, gamers need only compare Atreus, Kratos’s son in God of War, with Ava, Maya’s mentee in Borderlands 3. Both have a surprising amount of similarities, and yet the differences in the way they were handled had huge implications for their receptions by their respective fan bases.
The Similarities Between Ava and Atreus
There’s an interesting parallel with Atreus in God of War and Ava in Borderlands 3. Both are young mentees who put the lives of their mentors in great danger. In Ava’s case, her reckless actions lead to the death of Maya when she disobeys the Siren and joins the Vault Hunters in The Forgotten Basilica. When she gets into serious trouble, it takes Maya – the Siren player character in Borderlands 2 – sacrificing her life to save her.
In Atreus’ case, the character is Kratos’ son, and similarly he poses an extreme risk to a fan-favorite character. The God of War games have always dealt with a cycle of patricide, and the Jotunheim Mural at the end of God of War heavily implies that Kratos risks falling victim to his own son in the same way.
Why is it then that the former was so poorly received that Ava has been notably absent from all Borderlands 3 DLC, while Atreus was not only well-received but left many fans looking forward to seeing how that prophecy plays out in the upcoming sequel to God of War where Ragnarok will take place? It should be noted that, while some people found Atreus annoying, he was definitely well-received in comparison to Ava. Given that they are both, by definition, scrappy characters, it's the fundamental differences that make these surface-level comparisons stick.
BL3 and God of War: The Fundamental Differences
On the one hand, it’s characterization. In Borderlands 3, Ava is an obnoxious teen, and while that can certainly work in a story without feeling frustrating, she constantly disobeys orders for little reason other than her contrarian nature, which feels contrived when she puts others in danger. Indeed, it’s not entirely clear that the character is necessary enough to the plot to justify such an intense characterization with such drastic consequences for fan-favorite characters.
Furthermore, Ava is actually rewarded for her actions, rather than evidently learning from them. Maya’s death not only allows the Siren’s powers to transfer to Ava, but Borderlands 1's Lilith then makes her the new leader of the Crimson Raiders, despite her failings, at the end of the game. For many fans, it felt like a slap in the face and not a plot development accompanied by parallel character development. There's likely some important Siren thing here that goes unsaid, but until that comes to fulfillment, it stings.
Not only is Atreus more likably characterized in general – when Kratos moves a ginormous bridge by himself, Atreus asks if he’s hurt his back – but there are other fundamental differences in the story that make Atreus work better as a character. Though Atreus is prone to anger and naivete, God of War's Atreus is present throughout the entire story unlike Ava. Rather than being attached to a secondary character like Maya, he is attached to the main character, allowing their relationship to develop throughout the game’s dialog.
While Ava poses constant contrarian challenges with no apparent overarching development, Atreus represents Kratos’ chance at redemption and a new life after the events of the original God of War trilogy. When Atreus is revealed to be Loki and later a potential threat to Kratos if the God of War cycle of patricide continues, the effect is tragic and realizes the main themes of the plot rather than feeling obstructive. God of War has a lot of work to do in the next game to be as well-received as the 2018 installment in the series. If the increasingly complicated relationship between Kratos and Atreus is as successfully executed as in the last game, however, fans are in for a treat.
A God of War sequel releases in 2021.