Kratos

Athena: "As we speak the war for Olympus rages on and mankind suffers"

Kratos: "Let them suffer, the death of Zeus is all that matters.."

Kratos is the main character of the God Of War series and although technically a protagonist is undoubtedly a man who shows no mercy to his enemies and has committed several acts that are at odds with traditional concepts of heroism: having absolutely no remorse when it comes to slaughtering the Olympians and anything else that stands in the way of his quest for vengeance and although he ultimately works on the side of humanity he cares little for their plight or that of the gods, all Kratos truly desires is to exact vengeance on those that have wronged him, in many ways this makes Kratos one of the most dangerous forces in creation: a man driven by pure rage and a thirst for revenge not even the gods could rival.

Becoming a Ghost
Kratos was born and raised as a Spartan warrior, becoming the youngest and boldest Captain in the Army. Leading his troops into battle against a barbarian horde, Kratos finds himself quickly outnumbered, and vows his life to Ares, the God of War, for his aid. Ares accepts Kratos' bargain, and slaughters the barbarians; as a sign of servitude, Ares embeds the chains of the Blades of Chaos onto Kratos' body. Kratos continues to lead the Spartans under Ares' orders. Ares tricks Kratos into killing his own wife Lysandra and daughter Calliope, believing that this act will make Kratos a perfect warrior and even death itself. Instead, on discovering the deception, Kratos disavows his pledge to Ares and promises to seek revenge on the god. The Village Oracle curses Kratos to wear the ashes of his family on his skin forever, giving him the nickname of "The Ghost of Sparta".

Gaining Redemption
To atone for his family's murder, Kratos allows himself to serve the other gods of Mt. Olympus. Even when given the opportunity to reunite with Calliope on the Elysium Fields in exchange for his godly powers, Kratos refuses in order to complete the gods' task for him and save both Mt. Olympus and the mortal world. Kratos would continue to serve the gods in this manner for a decade. Athena, the goddess that has taken the most pity on Kratos, identifies the location of Pandora's Box for Kratos, promising him it has the power to defeat Ares and satisfy his revenge. Kratos successful retrieves and uses the power stored within the Box to kill Ares. With his revenge complete, Kratos prepares to commit suicide after learning that his memories would not be removed, but Athena intervenes and offers Kratos the vacant title of God of War as well as new blades, the Blades of Athena, which he accepts.

Zeus' Betrayal
As time passes, Kratos finds himself bored with life in Mt. Olympus, being sneered upon by the other gods, and only finding solace in commanding his armies. He encounters the famous King Midas, the sea beast Scylla, and the messenger Ceryx killing them along the way. When Kratos' armies begin to attack the City of Rhodes, Zeus conspires a plan; he tricks Kratos into abandoning his godly abilities into the Blade of Olympus to defeat the Colossus of Rhodes, and then impales Kratos with the sword. As Kratos falls into Hades, he is rescued by the Titan Gaia. Gaia and the other Titans have been banished into Tartarus after the First Great War, and now share a common goal with Kratos—to seek retribution on the gods. Gaia directs Kratos to the Sisters of Fate, where Kratos is able to use their Loom to return to the point of Zeus' treachery and reverse his fate. Encountering Greek heroes and other mythological beings throughout the Island of Creation. Recovering his powers, Kratos is prepared to kill Zeus when Athena appears, begging him not to do so; Zeus is Kratos' father, and Athena seeks to end the cycle of son-killing-father as Zeus had done to Cronus, and he to Ouranous which was also Zeus's intent when he killed Kratos originally. As Kratos attempts to impale Zeus, Athena intervenes and takes the Blade herself, killing her while Zeus escapes. Furious, Kratos returns to the Loom and uses it to bring the Titans back to the present to lead their assault on Mt. Olympus and beginning the Second Great War.

Final Battle
As the Titans and gods battle, Kratos is abandoned by Gaia for her to save herself. Now betrayed by both the Olympians and Titans, Kratos seeks a way to end the conflict once and for all, and learns from the spirit of Athena, who gives him the Blades of Exile, that Pandora's Box may still have power to defeat Zeus, but it is now protected by the Flame of Olympus, which only Pandora herself can quench. Kratos makes his way to the Labyrinth where Pandora is being held, killing both Olympians and Titans in his path and unleashing countless catastrophes on the mortal world. After freeing Pandora and returning with her to Mt. Olympus, Kratos finds that she reminds him much of Calliope, and tries to find a means to defeat Zeus without sacrificing her. Upon reaching the Flame and the Box, Zeus appears and attacks Kratos; amid the battle, Pandora willingly sacrifices herself to allow Kratos access to the Box; however, Kratos finds the Box is empty. Kratos and Zeus battle on, eventually coming to the exposed heart of Gaia, where Kratos kills them both with the Blade of Olympus. After Kratos recovers the Blade and begins to walk away in triumph, Zeus' spirit attacks him, forcing him to seek refuge in his psyche. There, he is able to finally atone himself for the murder of his wife and daughter, and breaks out of psyche and finally defeats Zeus. Amid the ruined earth the spirit of Athena appears and seeks the power that Kratos took from the Box back, that of hope, as she had put it in there along with the other evil spirits Zeus had contained within it. When she hears the Box was empty, Athena realizes that Kratos had taken that power before, when he battled Ares, and at the same time had unleashed the evil spirits that poisoned the gods and turned them against Kratos. When Athena demands her power back, Kratos instead refuses, finally realizing what his lust for vengeance had cost him. He chose to impale himself with the Blade and letting the power free into the world. Athena angrily leaves him, believing him to not know what he was doing, ripping the Blade put of him Athena left Kratos to bleed to death as he weakly laughed, victorious at last. Some time later, the site where Kratos' body fell is empty, and his fate is left unknown.

Mortal Kombat 9
Kratos made an appearance in the PS3 version of Mortal Kombat 9. He may have been portrayed as a protagonist hero/villian in the God of War Series, but to both Raiden and Fujin, Kratos was just a hero. After Kratos killed Shao Kahn, the spell that brought him there was coming to an end. But before that happened, Raiden and Fujin walked toward him. Kratos was about to attack them since Kratos was never beloved by Gods. Kratos didn't expect this but both Raiden and Fujin bowed before Kratos for slaying Shao Kahn. Even though Kratos' intentions weren't pure, he saved Earthrealm from Shao Kahn. Doing so Kratos was owed a debt of gratitude. Because of this gratitude someday Kratos will redeem himself someday.

thumb|440px|right|Kratos' ending in MK9