'God of War' Reboot Originally Gave Kratos a Dad Bod

Battling gods all the time can take a lot out of someone -- particularly Kratos. The guy literally [...]

God of War

Battling gods all the time can take a lot out of someone -- particularly Kratos. The guy literally put himself through hell and back all in the name of vengeance, so once his journey came to a close, you would think he would relax and do something for himself.

Well, it turns out that was actually the original plan for the God of War reboot, to put Kratos in a position where he "lets himself go" a little bit, so to speak.

During the recent San Diego Comic-Con panel for the game, director Cory Barlog explained that, when the pitch was initially made for the game, the idea was to give Kratos a battle-worn look, one in which he wasn't all chiseled and built. In fact, he actually gave some thought to the idea of giving him a "dad bod."

He noted, "In the beginning we were talking about, you know, 'What is Kratos going to look like?' And I kind of wanted to go extreme, I was like, 'He should have really let himself go, right?'... Yeah, Dad bod, right? David Harbour as Kratos. And I thought it could be really cool.

"Then we started describing it as an athlete in the off-season. Then we just very slowly moved away from that - without my knowledge. So they just kept changing it a little, like, 'It looks different today,' and they're like, 'Don't worry about it, it's cool. Same as yesterday. Same thing as yesterday.' Then eventually he just got really ripped again. And then it was really the beard and Chris's [Judge] voice that aged him."

That said, the decision was made to keep him fit and ready for battle -- something that clearly worked out for the game considering everything that gets hurled the way of Kratos and Atreus. Plus, he shows his scars in a different way, trying to connect with his son. That certainly works better than a beer gut, to say the least. (Although some fans are pretty keen on the idea of seeing him with a belly. Too many fried Valkyrie wings, perhaps?)

You can check out the physically fit Kratos in action now, as God of War is available for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro. Check out our review to see why you should pick this up!

(Hat tip to ScreenRant for the scoop!)

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