The God of War series is full of morally gray characters. Classic heroes either become villains or become fodder for other figures. Even Kratos, the series’ protagonist, started off more like a bad guy before parenthood and melancholy reflection made him reflect on his past misdeeds.
Some could argue that Kratos had a legitimate grievance with Ares and Zeus that got out of hand. However, if that was the case, it would also apply to some of his victims too. Some of them even started off as good guys or were at least neutral. For one reason or another though, circumstances drove these God of War characters to go bad.
7 Helios
While the Greek games have had multiple mentions of Apollo, Sony Santa Monica went with Helios as their sun god. By God of War 3, he has a terse confrontation with the Ghost of Sparta that causes him to lose his head. Literally. However, he mentions owing Kratos a favor when the Spartan saved him from Atlas. This happened in Chains of Olympus, where he was held captive in the Underworld, so the surface world could succumb to Morpheus, the god of dreams.
Kratos freed him and the two brought daylight back to the world. So, when he asks Kratos to save him again in GoW3 after he's left injured, he was being genuine. Unfortunately, his devotion to Olympus came first, leading him to lie and get turned into Kratos' novelty lantern. It causes the sun to be blotted out by clouds for the rest of the game, which Morpheus doesn't take advantage of for some reason.
6 Persephone
The wife of Hades wasn't exactly sweetness and light in Chains of Olympus, but her story played out just as the Greek tales told. Tricked by Hades, she was bound to his realm by eating some of the Underworld's pomegranates. With no help from Olympus, she was left to fend for herself. While Hades seemed to love her until the very end, she didn't feel the same way. Denied her freedom, she'd look for payback.
This would come in the form of allying with Atlas, capturing Helios, and letting the surface world fall into an endless night as they destroyed the pillar holding it up from Tartarus. If only she hadn’t tricked Kratos in the process. She thought if he drained his powers himself to reunite with his daughter, she’d get away with it scot-free. Instead, it just made him replace the pillar with a trapped Atlas, kill Persephone in a tricky boss fight, and place his trust in Olympus. A bad move on both their parts in the end.
5 Gaia
The Titan of Earth had a neat debut, as the narrator from the previous game revealed herself as Kratos’ next deuteragonist in God of War 2. Her story is one of misplaced faith, as she helped protect Zeus as a child from his father Cronos’ fear. When he grew up though, he not only freed the rest of his siblings, but he also waged a war against the rest of Titankind. He would banish her and the rest of her people to the deepest depths of Tartarus.
Later, when Kratos is left for dead by the King of Olympus, she appeals to him and aids him in his quest for vengeance. As they earn each other's trust, he frees her and the other Titans with the power of the Sisters of Fate. If she had kept a cooler head and hadn't abandoned Kratos in the climb towards Olympus in GoW3, she may not have become collateral damage in his and Zeus’ feud. Betraying his trust cost her dearly.
4 Poseidon
While the ruler of the seas and oceans helped Kratos in GoW1, he had a bone to pick with him since he laid waste to Atlantis in Ghost of Sparta. Loyal to his brother Zeus, he defeats many of the Titans who scale Mount Olympus in GoW3 and almost defeats Gaia alone. Kratos finishes him off in bloody fashion, however, leading to most of Greece getting swallowed up by the ocean
Later in the game, Kratos enters Poseidon’s Chamber and finds some notes left behind by the sea god. It turned out he had many doubts about Zeus’ state of mind as he slowly succumbed to his fear of Kratos. The same fear that drove Cronos to devour his children to avoid being overthrown by them. Maybe if his reason overcame his devotion, his life might have been spared.
3 Athena
Athena spent most of the series as Kratos’ aide, advising him on the path to progress. Through her decrees, Kratos sought to atone for killing his wife and daughter. Though she couldn’t free him of his nightmares, she could make him the new god of war in the deceased Ares’ place. She cared for the man, and he cared for her. Then things changed. In life, she and Ares kidnaped Kratos' brother Deimos and held him in Thanatos, the realm of the dead.
This would spark Kratos' dissatisfaction with Olympus, leading to her accidental death when she tried to save Zeus at the end of GoW2. As a ghost in GoW3, she had a change of heart. She impelled Kratos to destroy Olympus and kill Zeus so she could be Greece's sole source of salvation. Once he defied this last request, Athena went from being the noblest of Olympus' gods to a bitter, wandering ghost. It's a sad end for the Goddess of Wisdom.
2 The Valkyries
The 2018 game changed a lot of things. Unlike the old games, Kratos and his son Atreus could go through Midgard and the other realms finding Norse mythology’s most famous female fighting force: the Valkyries. As per the sagas, meant to sort out the dead from those who deserved to serve in Valhalla from those who didn’t. After their original leader fell on Odin’s bad side, their new leader Sigrun just couldn’t live up to his standards.
Thus, Odin cursed them to physical forms that drove them mad. The only way they could regain their sane, spiritual forms was to be killed in battle by a capable warrior. So, Kratos has to find them first, then fight them, which is easier said than done. They're the hardest fights in the game. At least once they're killed they become much more pleasant to deal with. Their successors in God of War: Ragnarok are another story entirely.
1 Freya
The former head of the Valkyries became the head goddess in Asgard after marrying Odin. Once the Allfather learned all he needed to know about her magic, however, Freya was bound to Midgard, cursed to never see her home realm of Vanaheim ever again. She became one of Kratos’ strongest allies in the first Norse game, saving his and Atreus’ lives on numerous occasions. What caused their split was Freya's estranged son Baldur.
He grew to hate his mother after her spell to make him invincible caused him to lose all feeling. She would’ve died to give Baldur some peace. Kratos thought otherwise and managed to kill him instead. He saved Freya's life but made her worst nightmare come true as a result. Full of pain and rage, she vowed revenge on her former allies and, initially, becomes the main villain of Ragnarok alongside her stepson Thor and her ex-husband Odin.
God of War: Ragnarok is available now for PS4 and PS5.