God of War is arguably one of the greatest PlayStation exclusive series of all time. While a lot of this is down to its excellent hack and slash combat and its larger than life storylines, the franchise's long serving protagonist also deserves a lot of the credit.
Kratos is one of the most memorable video game characters to ever grace the medium, although it's perhaps some of his more sinister actions that make him so unforgettable. His hands are forever stained by the blood of both mortals and Gods alike while his soul is haunted by the memories of his villainous past.
10 He Laid Waste To Greece
After exacting revenge on his brother Ares, Kratos claims the title of God of War. With his quest for vengeance now complete though, Kratos finds himself with some free time on his hands and so decides to get straight back to killing. Not the Gods this time, however, but instead the innocent people of Greece.
While some of his earlier killings were at least understandable, slaughtering the Greek population seemed like little more than sport for the always angry Kratos. His attitude towards death may change a little in more recent titles, but earlier versions of Kratos definitely took far too much pleasure from the act of murder.
9 He Murdered Defenseless Titans
It might not be obvious when comparing them, but Kratos is actually related to the Titans on his father's side. This makes his decision to murder so many of them quite a bit more heinous. Worse still, some of the Titans that he kills are injured or incarcerated at the time; effectively making them defenseless against the God of War's wrath.
Although Prometheus is a close second, the most shocking instance of this comes during God of War II when Kratos kills his great-grandmother, Gaia. Granted, she had left him for dead a little earlier on in the game, but it's worth remembering that it wasn't her who cast Kratos from Mount Olympus. She too received severe injuries as a result of the fall and it's her inability to defend herself and Kratos' decision not to simply walk on by that makes the killing so despicable.
8 He Killed Athena
Throughout the series, the Gods often treat Kratos like some child's play thing; toying with his emotions to bend him to their will. Athena is certainly guilty of this too at various points in the story, but there's a strong argument to be made that she is actually one of the Ghost of Sparta's only true friends.
There are plenty of times throughout the first two games when she saves his skin and yet is struck down by the angry God in yet another moment of blind rage. Admittedly, stepping between Kratos and Zeus was not a great move on her part, but she only did so to prevent Kratos from further destroying the world. Ultimately, Kratos' actions show that he learnt nothing from the tragic events of his debut outing.
7 He Ripped Off Icarus' Wings
Most people know the tale of Icarus; the craftsman's son who invented a pair of wax wings only to end up plummeting to the ground after flying too close to the sun. In God of War II, however, his story is quite a bit different than the cautionary Greek myth.
Seeking an audience with the Sisters of Fate, Kratos decides that Icarus' wings are just what he needs to cross the Great Chasm. Understandably, perhaps, the mythical figure isn't too keen to hand them over which leads to Kratos taking them by force. Shorn of his wings, Icarus is plunged down into the underworld below; never to be heard from again.
6 He Cut Off Hermes' Legs
Kratos' sense of entitlement goes far beyond that of even the most self-important of Karen's. If he sees something that he wants, he takes it by force; usually killing the original owner during the process. On some occasions though, he goes one brutal step further.
After defeating Hermes to acquire his magical boots, rather than asking the fallen God to remove them or simply doing so himself, Kratos instead decides to cut off both of his legs. He does this despite Hermes still being alive and, just to add salt to the wound, hacks the legs off at the upper thigh rather than below the knee.
5 He Tore Off Helios' Head
Over the years, Kratos has decapitated more people than a French revolution guillotine and, much like the archaic devices themselves, typically does so while his victims are still alive. A lot of this seems to come as the result of his blind rage, but there are times when he seems to do it just because he can.
One such example of this can be found in God of War III when the titular character is scaling Mount Olympus. Helios, with whom Kratos had earlier teamed up with in the shockingly short God of War: Chains of Olympus, swoops down to protect the mountain but is ultimately defeated by Kratos. The Sun God tries desperately to convince the Spartan to spare his life, but his pleas fall on deaf ears and Kratos ends up tearing off Helios' head with his bare hands and then holding it up like a trophy.
4 He Opened Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box was created to contain all of the world's evils and remained closed for thousands of years. Enter Kratos stage right. Most people would probably think twice before opening such a sinister box; especially knowing what it contains. The angry Spartan is not "most people" though.
The box's powers may have given Kratos everything that he needed to defeat Ares in combat and claim his God of War title, but they also caused a lot of damage elsewhere. Other gods became infected by the Evils of the Titanomachy which led to them growing increasingly paranoid and power hungry. This is ultimately what causes Zeus to turn against Kratos and millions to lose their lives during the ensuing conflict between father and son.
3 He Unleashed Hell On Earth
By infecting the other Gods with the evils of Pandora's Box, Kratos created a situation where each of their deaths would lead to a terrifying plague. One of these comes after the Spartan dispatches Hades and leads to the dead escaping from the Underworld to wreak havoc on earth.
Most of the lost souls tend to wander around aimlessly, although this is still something that would likely scare the life out of most of Earth's population. What makes this worse is that Kratos knew what would happen if he killed Hades and still opted to rip out the God's soul anyway.
2 He Destroyed The Earth
For as terrifying as an army of lost souls may have been for the people of Earth, it likely paled into insignificance when compared to some of the other plagues that Kratos unleashed. Between them, they effectively destroyed the planet; likely killing billions of innocent people in the process.
Many of the earlier plagues weren't all that bad, but some of those that followed could be classed as extinction level events. Killing Hera, for example, caused all plant life to die out while tearing off Helios' head led to constant rain and a state of eternal darkness. Perhaps the worst of the plagues, however, was the huge tidal wave that engulfed all of Greece after Kratos killed Poseidon; likely wiping out all but a handful of the country's already depleted population.
1 He Butchered His Family
As well as the many Titans that Kratos takes down, the God of War also kills many of his siblings before finally pummeling his father into a bloody pulp. For as dastardly as murdering his relatives is though, a lot of them had wronged him in the past and arguably had it coming. There were two, however, that really didn't.
Compared to the billions of people who likely died as a direct result of Kratos' assault on Mount Olympus, two lives may not seem that important. Given that they were his wife and daughter though, there's perhaps an argument to be made that killing them was a lot more villainous than indirectly killing strangers. Of course, he was tricked into doing so and regretted it immensely afterward, yet had he not been out murdering innocent villagers at the time, his family's blood would never have stained his hands.