Athena (God of War)

Athena is a major character of the God of War game series, serving as the deuteragonist of the Greek Era. She first appears as the deuteragonist of God of War and the tritagonist of God of War II. In the middle stages of God of War III, after Gaia betrays Kratos, Athena takes back her place as the deuteragonist, helping Kratos in the ways she can.
In God of War (2018), she is seen in a ghost form, mocking Kratos about his attempts to change and saying that he is and always will always be a monster, he agrees, but counters that he is no longer her monster, walking through her image and making her disappear.
In God of War, God of War II, and God of War (2018), she is voiced by Carole Ruggier, who also voiced Aphrodite in God of War. In Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta and God of War III, she is voiced by Erin Torpey, who also voiced the Invisible Woman in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. In the Japanese version of these games, she is voiced by Ryoko Gi.
==Biography==
===Background===
Athena is the daughter of the king of the gods Zeus and Oceanus' daughter Metis, and according to mythology, came from Zeus' head after he is suffering a severe headache. Following this, she became an Olympian and was given the title as the goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strategy and justice. When Zeus had Hephaestus craft Pandora's box to hold the evils that came from the war against the Titans, Athena placed the power of hope to counteract it if the box was ever open.
At some point, Zeus learned of a prophecy that foresaw a marked warrior that would end his rule, and sent Athena and Ares to find him. In Sparta, the two Olympians kidnapped Deimos, noticing his marks across his body, but Kratos attempted to stop him. After being pushed away by the god of war, Athena stopped her brother from killing the child, and told him that she was sorry. Unbeknownst to them, the prophecy was started at this point, as Kratos swore to find his brother and gave himself markings that were similar to Deimos'.
===God of War: Chains of Olympus===
After Kratos killed Persephone and stopped her plans, Athena and Helios removed his weapons and items from his unconscious body.
===God of War===
Wanting to overthrow his father, Ares enacted his war against the gods by attacking Athens, sending the Olympians to call upon Kratos to kill him. The goddess assisted the Ghost of Sparta in his journey, sending him to obtain Pandora's Box in exchange that he would be forgiven for his past deeds. After Kratos killed the god of war, he learned that the gods wouldn't relieved him of his nightmares despite being forgiven. However, they instead gave him a seat to become the new god of war, with Athena stopping him from committing suicide at the bluffs. Unbeknownst to Kratos or the Olympians, the evil from Pandora's Box escaped after the warrior opened it, thus causing the gods to become infected.
===God of War: Ghost of Sparta===
After having visions of his mother and brother, Kratos travels to find them despite Athena's warnings. Upon remembering that she was there alongside Ares to take Deimos, Kratos destroys her statue while she is in mid-speech. After Deimos' death, Kratos told Athena that the gods will pay for their actions, thus kickstarting his hatred for the Olympians.
===God of War II===
Despite killing Ares, Kratos become another ruthless war god and started to destroy cities, which gained the ire of the Olympians. Athena warned him that his actions garnered the Olympians' wrath and that she couldn't protect him, but Kratos ignored her warning and continued onward to conqueror Greece. As she was left with no choice, she sided with the Olympians as Zeus was killed by Kratos, having tricked the warrior into training his godly powers into the Blade of Olympus. During his journey, Athena warns him to not trust Gaia or the Titans, and explained to the Ghost of Sparta that Zeus did fear him.
Kratos ignored her constant warnings and continued on to the fates, thus sending him back to the point where Zeus betrayed him. When the Ghost of Sparta was close to killing Zeus with the Blade of Olympus, Athena intervened, resulting in her accidental death by the warrior's hands. The dying goddess explained that Zeus was Olympus, and by killing him would result in the destruction of the Greek pantheon. She then revealed that Zeus was Kratos' father, but the warrior remarked that he didn't have a father, and decided to continue his war against the Olympians.
===God of War III===
After her death, Athena entered a plane of existence, where she states that she saw truths never seen before her. However, due to the evils from Pandora's box escaping, she became infected with the evil of greed, and decided to ally with Kratos to help him overthrow Zeus so she could take his place. The goddess finds Kratos in the Underworld after being betrayed by Gaia, and enchanted his blades to become the Blades of Exile. She then sent him to open Pandora's box once again to obtain the Flame of Olympus, believing that it was put back in after he killed Ares. When Kratos questioned her on changing allegiances, she explained that humanity needed to be freed from Zeus' control.
She continues her support through Kratos' journey, and met with him and Pandora when they on top of Daedalus' prison. After Zeus' death, Athena appeared and demanded the flame in hope to have humanity hear her message, but Kratos informed her that the box was empty. In disbelief, Athena realized that Kratos was given the power of hope when he first opened the box when he killed Ares, as the gods were infected with the evils when they escaped. She then insisted that she give her power, but Kratos refused, instead impaling himself with the Blade of Olympus, thus giving hope to mankind. Angered, Athena removed the blade from Kratos' torso and left him to die.
===God of War (2018)===
When Kratos decides to retrieve the Blades of Chaos to save his son Atreus, Athena appears to him before the warrior demands her to get out of his head. Upon obtaining them from his home, Athena scolds him, declaring that he can't change his old ways and will always be a monster. However, Kratos agrees, but states that he is her monster no longer, walking through her and travels to Helheim.
==Personality==
Of all the Gods on Mount Olympus in the God of War series, Athena is arguably the least selfish and is in fact, very noble. As displayed not only by her deep love for her people and her horror of Ares' siege on Athens, but her deep concern and love for the rest of humanity - as in God of War III she states that she intends to "liberate" mankind with the power of hope.
She also is seen as loving her family - particularly her father Zeus deeply, even sacrificing her own life to save him, although it's possible that she only did so to save the world, as the death of Zeus would mean the death of Olympus, and thus the destruction of the entire world.
She even cares greatly for Kratos, elevating him as a god, shielding him from Olympus' wrath, and guiding him on his quest, remaining his closest ally in all of the games. This is possibly due to her knowledge that Kratos is her brother.
But in God of War III, her motives have somewhat changed. For some reason, she now desires the death of Zeus and motivates Kratos's quest for vengeance. It is possible she was affected by the evil Greed when Kratos opened Pandora's Box, changing her motives for personal gain. However, she did not show any of that evil in God Of War II while she was alive. She also claims to have a message for humanity.
It is unknown what she ultimately had in mind, but it seems that she wished the destruction of the Olympians so she can rebuild the world and rule mankind as the sole all-powerful god. Furthermore, according to Erin Torpey, Athena's voice actress for God of War III, she considers Athena as "trying to do some good to the world, but ultimately wants to take it over," further lending to the possibility that she is not as benevolent as she presents herself to be.
In God of War (2018), Athena while appearing in front of Kratos as an illusion retaining her greed and anger towards Kratos continuously goading him about his terrible past. Kratos at this point however now resented her and was unfazed at her illusion and coldly told her he may be a monster but was no longer her monster.
==Relationships==
Athena was very devoted to protecting Olympus and her father, Zeus. She was favored by Zeus among the rest of his children, igniting the jealousy of her brother, Ares. In both God of War and God of War II, it is noted that Athena cares very much for Kratos (possibly because she already knew Kratos is her brother).
Kratos was shown to care about her to a degree, since he was saddened by the fact that he killed her when he tried to kill Zeus. In contrast, Zeus showed no emotion over her death, despite favoring Athena. This may be because he had already been corrupted by the evils of Pandora's Box by this point, and his fear of Kratos may have overshadowed any grief for his daughter.
After her death, something changed Athena. She became devoted to the destruction of Zeus and overthrowing the Olympian order, becoming Kratos' main ally once more, eventually fulfilling the prophecy that he would overthrow Olympus. After Zeus' death, she revealed she intended to drive the world into chaos and rebuild it with the power of Hope.
==Gallery==
Athena GoW.png|Athena in God of War II
Athenadeath.jpg|Athena stabbed by Kratos with the Blade of Olympus.
Athena's ghost GoW.png|Athena's Ghost from God of War III.
Draft lens9401431module92195491photo 1269691608Pandora Box.jpg
athena-god-of-war-2018-9.25.jpg|Athena as a ghost in God of War (2018).
==Trivia==
*Athena was infected by evils with greed, as she presumably became ambitious to rule over the world, and possibly became jealous of Zeus' authority over the Greek pantheon. She also allowed her ambition to cloud her judgment, as she manipulated Kratos to kill the Olympians.
**This is fitting, as the color that represents her is Green, which is often symbolized with greed, ambition, and jealousy.
*Her death is similar to Kratos' wife and daughter, Lysandra and Calliope, as Kratos accidentally killed them.
*There was concept art of Athena for God of War: Ascension, but she does not appear in the game.
==External Links==
*Athena on the Villains Wiki
*Athena on the God of War Wiki
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