Thanatos (God of War)

Thanatos, the God of Death is the main antagonist of God of War: Ghost of Sparta.

Past
A god who existed even before the Olympians, Thanatos became the jailer and torturer of Deimos, Kratos’ brother, who was believed to be a warrior prophesized to destroy the Olympians. For many years, Thanatos tormented Deimos until he became psychotic and hateful of his brother.

Ghost of Sparta
As Kratos began searching for Deimos, he eventually found out he was imprisoned in the Domain of Death, Thanatos’ realm. Thanatos’ daughter, Erinys, killed a number of Spartans as a warning to Kratos to stop his journey. However when she confronted him personally, she was killed. At one point, Thanatos took over a dead body and warned Kratos not to continue on his quest, taunting him and increasing his anger. Kratos finally entered the Domain of Death where Thanatos tried to make him turn back numerous times. After the Ghost of Sparta found Deimos, only to be attacked by him, Thanatos showed up as Kratos was beaten down by his brother. The death god grabbed Deimos, reminding Kratos that he’d suffer for killed his daughter. Thantos flew off with Deimos, bringing him to the Suicide Bluffs with the Ghost of Sparta in hot pursuit. Deimos managed to free himself from the death god’s grasp and fought him, only to be knocked off the edge of the cliff. Kratos managed to save his brother and the two reconciled before going to take on Thanatos. They reached the place where he was waiting and he said that Ares had taken the wrong one on the day he’d taken Deimos, it should’ve been Kratos. However the two ignored his taunts and engaged Thanatos, eventually grabbing Kratos. Deimos saved his brother only to be knocked into some rocks and killed. Enraged, Kratos unleashed the full power of Thera’s Bane, managing to destroy the armor of Thanatos’ monstrous form and badly wounding him. The death god transformed back into his humanoid form and Kratos easily stabbed him, tossing him into some rocks. However Thanatos continued to taunt the Ghost of Sparta, who drove his hands into the death god’s damaged chest, opening it up even more and driving his fire charged blades into his chest. Thanatos finally died, exploding in a blast of ash and light.

Powers
Thanatos is an extremely powerful god, as one of the oldest, and is immortal with superhuman strength and speed and the power to shape-shift. In battle, he wields a large sword that he is highly skilled with and has a large pair of wings that allow him to fly. Thanatos can also transform into a huge monster-like form with extremely strong armor-like skin and can unleash a powerful energy blast from his mouth. He can also possess corpses and speak through them.

Trivia

 * In Greek mythology, Thanatos is the child of Erebus and Nyx, same as Charon. Also, Thanatos had no children and the Erinys was another name for the Furies.


 * In the Rage of Sparta soundtrack, Thanatos’ name is chanted again and again by the choir.


 * His head when he transforms into his monster form resembles the Skull of Keres, the key to the Domain of Death.


 * Thanatos is the only final boss in the God of War games that is not directly related to Kratos.


 * His eyes are pale in the games’ cutscenes, but in gameplay, they aren’t.


 * In God of War III, when Kratos confronts Zeus, he declared that “The hands of death could not defeat me.”, a possible reference to Thanatos.
 * Thanatos is voiced by Arthur Burghardt.