God Of War: 10 Times Kratos Was A GENIUS

For all Kratos' godly powers, it's human ingenuity that wins the day.

kratos big brain
Sony Santa Monica

Kratos of Sparta, full-time dad and part-time God of War, is very strong. Strong enough to punch out minotaurs, in fact. In a game series about grappling Titans and clobbering pantheons, Kratos wouldn't have gotten far without some impressive abilities - but don't let Kratos' raw power overshadow the fact that he's also kind of a genius.

Across Kratos' long gaming history, created and still developed by Sony Santa Monica Studio, he's regularly found himself pitted against larger, stronger and fiercer foes than himself. Rebelling against the gods is no easy task, after all, and at some points in the series, all seemed lost - until he managed to find a brilliant solution.

Through his skill, his wits, and the occasional flash of inspiration, Kratos has managed to work his way from the lowest depths of Tartarus to the fabled halls of Valhalla - and here's a list of ten moments where Kratos was truly genius.

10. (Accidentally) Discovering Baldur's Weakness - God Of War (2018)

kratos big brain
Sony Santa Monica

This move from Kratos has to go at the bottom of the list, because he basically discovers it through blind luck. However, we're going to call it a moment of accidental genius, which he and his son Atreus capitalise on to defeat a god who is "blessed with invulnerability to all threats, physical or magical."

Through the first of the Norse God of War games, Baldur is an inescapable menace - he is the first and the last boss you face in the game.

Granted invulnerability by his mother Freya, he can seemingly be neither hurt nor killed, but the blessing works too well. Baldur is so well protected against the outside world that he cannot touch, taste, or even smell. When Baldur tries to take revenge against Freya for his joyless existence, Kratos and Atreus already know he's invulnerable, but they still decide to try and stop him.

However, victory comes from a lucky break; when Kratos had used an arrow to fix his son's quiver earlier, he had inadvertently used an arrowhead made of mistletoe - Baldur's one weakness. As Baldur strikes Atreus and cuts his hand on the arrow, the protective charms fade away.

Contributor

Movie nut, comic fan, and seeker of forbidden lore. (By which I mean whatever Marvel was doing in the 90s.)