Kratos recovers Pandora's Box from Ares, opens it, and uses its power to become godlike. Despite Ares' best efforts to destroy Kratos physically and mentally, including stripping him of the Blades of Chaos and all magic, he survives and kills Ares with the Blade of the Gods. Athens is saved, and although Athena tells Kratos his sins are forgiven, the gods cannot rid him of his nightmares. Forsaken by the gods, he tries to commit suicide by casting himself into the Aegean Sea, but Athena intervenes and transports him to Mount Olympus. As a reward for his services to the gods, she provides Kratos with a new set of blades and the seat as the new God of War.
Kratos enters the Desert of Lost Souls, and Athena tells him Pandora's Box is hidden in a temple chained to the back of the Titan Cronos—a punishment by Zeus for Cronos' role in the Great War. Kratos summons Cronos, climbs for three days before reaching the Temple entrance, overcomes an array of deadly traps and an army of monsters, and eventually finds the Box. But Ares, aware of his former servant's success, kills Kratos as the latter is leaving the Temple. While harpies take the Box to Ares, Kratos falls into the Underworld. He battles his way through the fiery realm, and with help from the mysterious gravedigger, who tells him Athena is not the only god watching over him, he escapes and returns to Athens.
When the game starts, Kratos has been serving the gods for ten years. He kills the Hydra on behalf of Poseidon, but grows tired of his service and suffering. He summons Athena, who states that if Kratos performs one final act—the murder of Ares—he will be forgiven for killing his family. Ares is waging war on the city of Athens out of hatred and jealousy of his sister Athena, who assigns Kratos to destroy Ares because Zeus has forbidden divine intervention. Athena guides Kratos to the war-torn Athens. After a strange encounter with a gravedigger who encourages him to continue his task, Kratos battles his way to Athens's oracle, finds her, and learns that the only way to defeat Ares is with Pandora´s Box, a mythical artifact that grants the power to kill a god.
Kratos waged war at the behest of Ares, eventually leading an attack on a village occupied by worshipers of Athena. Ares had secretly transported Kratos' wife and child to the village; during his frenzied attack on its temple, Kratos accidentally killed them. Although Ares believed this act would free Kratos to become the perfect warrior, the Spartan instead renounced his pledge of servitude to the god. The oracle of the destroyed village cursed Kratos by bonding the ashes of his dead family to his skin, turning it ash-white and earning him the nickname, "Ghost of Sparta". Plagued by nightmares of his horrible deed, Kratos vowed to serve the other gods in hope of ridding himself of the visions.
Kratos is a warrior who serves the Greek gods of Olympus. Flashbacks reveal that he was once a successful captain in the Spartan army and led his men to several victories before being defeated by a barbarian king. Facing death, Kratos called on the God of War, Ares, whom he promised to serve if the god would spare his men and provide the power to destroy their enemies. Ares agreed and bonded the Blades of Chaos, a pair of chained blades forged in the depths of Tartarus, to his new servant. Kratos, equipped with the blades, then decapitated the barbarian king.
The protagonist of the game is Kratos ( voiced by Terrence C. Carson), a Spartan warrior who serves the Olympian Gods. Other characters include a host of Greek gods, such as Athena ( Carole Ruggier), the Goddess of Wisdom and Krato`s ally and mentor; Ares ( Steven Blum) the God of War and main antagonist; Poseidon ( Fred Tatasciore), the God of the Sea; Aphrodite ( Carole Ruggier), the Goddess of Love and Sexuality; Zeus ( Paul Eiding), the King of the Gods; Artemis ( Claudia Black), the Goddess of the Hunt; and Hades ( Nolan North), the God of the Underworld. Several of the gods aid Kratos with magic or weapons . Minor characters include the Oracle of Athens (Susan Blackeslee), the gravedigger ( Paul Eiding), the body burner ( Christopher Corey Smith), and the boat captain (Keith Ferguson). Other characters appear in flashbacks, including Krato`s wife Lysandra ( Gwendoline Yeo), his child Calliope, the Barbarian King, and a Village Oracle ( Susan Blakeslee. The game is narrated by Linda Hunt.
