Zeus (God of War)

Father

Lord Zeus

Greek God of Law and Order

King of the Gods

Greek God of Heaven

Father of the Olympian Gods

Electrokinesis

Great strength

Vast arsenal of lightning bolts

Shapeshifting

Teleportation

Weather Control

Punishing, torturing, or killing those who he believes betrayed him.

Having affairs with mortals.

Kill the remaining Titans.

Prevent the Oracle's prediction from coming true.Prevent the fall of Mount Olympus (all failed).

### Crimes

Mass murderTorture

Abuse

Kidnapping

Genocide

Adultery

Rape

“ My Brothers. We were forged in a victory. A victory that ended the Great War and brought forth the reign of Mt. Olympus. Born from the Depths of the Underworld. Rooted in the River of Souls, our Mountain emerged out of the Chaos. As it grew, so too did the might of the Olympians. We created a world of peace, a world of prosperity, a world that lives in the shadow and safety of My Mountain. A Mountain that has come to be the absolute measure of Strength and Power. Now, on this Day, that power is to be tested. The Mortal, Kratos, seeks to destroy all that I have wrought. Brothers, put aside the petty grievances that have splintered us for so long. We will unite. We will stand together. And I will wipe this plague! Olympus will prevail! „ ~ Zeus in the ending of God of War II and the opening of God of War III.

“ Such chaos. I will have much to do after I kill you. (Kratos: Face me, father. It's time to end this.) Yes, my son. It is time. „ ~ Zeus and Kratos in final fight.

**Zeus** is the main antagonist of the Greek Era of the *God of War* franchise . Serving as the God of Lightning, the Sky, and Law and Order, and the King of both Olympus and the Gods of Olympus, he started out as one of Kratos' allies so he could kill Ares, but after Kratos opened Pandora's Box, Zeus got scared of Kratos and decided to kill him, before Kratos could kill him.

He became the main antagonist following the events of the original *God of War* storyline (Which were *God of War II*, and *God of War III*). Specifically, he makes a brief appearance in *God of War*, then appeared in *God of War: Ghost of Sparta* as the **Grave Digger**, then was the main antagonist of *God of War II* and *God of War III*, and briefly reappears in *God of War* (2018). He is the king of the Olympians and was originally a fair god by Olympian standards but grew to become one of Kratos' most powerful and merciless opponents as the series progressed. As revealed during the ending of God of War II, it was revealed that he is also Kratos' father. Zeus is also Kratos' nemesis (since his betrayal). Because of his recurring appearances and being Kratos' nemesis, Zeus is the Big Bad of the entire Greek mythology era of the *God of War* series.

## Appearance

Zeus is a God of Olympus that resembles a tall (towering a 6–7 feet tall Kratos), muscular elderly man. He has long white hair, a beard, and white eyes. He wears a white toga and wields a golden armband and golden leg bands. In God of War III, Zeus has had some small changes. He now has a much darker tone on his skin, golden rings on his hair and carries a golden fleece on his left arm.

## Personality

In *God of War II*, Zeus seemed to be a sophisticated and calm individual, but when Gaia told Zeus' story that when she was taking care of Zeus, anger and rage consumed him toward the Titans. And as the 3rd game progressed, Zeus started to become an arrogant, merciless and careless monster determined to kill Kratos before he becomes too powerful, and Olympus falls. Fear drove him to become more and more ruthless, because of this, he destroyed Sparta, severely injured and imprisoned Hephaestus, abused Pandora simply because she was not an actual living being, imprisoned and killed the Titans, tortured Prometheus toward the end of time and a bunch of other cruel and unforgivable deeds. After Kratos was killed by Zeus, Zeus decided to destroy Sparta and cause more misery towards Kratos, even in "death". Zeus also seemed to be a bit frightened and reluctant to fight Kratos after the former nearly killed him. In God of War III, instead of fighting Kratos himself, he sent his own brother Poseidon, and other Gods of Olympus such as Hermes, Helios, and Hercules to do his dirty work and watched them die.

## Powers and Abilities

Like all Gods of Olympus, Zeus is immortal, so he cannot die of old age, diseases, or by any mortal weapon. Being the King of the Gods, Zeus is virtually omnipotent. And being the God of Lightning, Zeus can generate lightning in multiple ways, such as creating a giant spear made out of lightning, generating lightning out of his palms, and various other ways. Zeus is also shown to have the ability control the weather by generating storm clouds when he generates lightning bolts, which is probably a way to increase the power of his lightning bolts or creating a tornado to forge the Blade of Olympus. He also processes superhuman strength that rivals even Hercules' strength, as well as high stamina, accuracy, endurance, durability, agility, and speed when in battle. Zeus can increase his size to be roughly 500 feet, allowing him to crush entire cites merely by walking on it. Zeus can create clones of himself that are much weaker than him, heal and regenerate most of his injuries, fly, teleport, and shape-shift in various forms such as a giant White Eagle, and the Grave Digger. In *God of War II*, Zeus is also shown to have the ability to summon up to three Sirens at a time. Zeus is also skilled at wielding the Blade of Olympus, the Gauntlet of Zeus, either separately or at the same time. Zeus is also capable of fighting unarmed with little to no effort. He can also strip and/or someone's Godly Power as well as grant Godly Powers to anyone, or any object, as shown when he stripped Kratos' Godly Powers and used them to bring the Colossus of Rhodes to life in *God of War II*.

During the end of *God of War III*, upon Zeus' "death", Zeus spirit, came out of his body, which greatly resembles a dark version of himself. It is likely the reason is that Zeus entered a higher form. Zeus' Astral Projection is powerful enough to generate a powerful bolt of lightning that can destroy almost all of Kratos' weapons. Zeus' Astral Projection also appears to have the ability to induce fear and can drain the health out of Kratos.

## Background

### Zeus' Past

According to Gaia, Zeus was the youngest son of Cronos, but before he was born, Cronos was forewarned by an Oracle that his own children were going to turn against both him and the other Titans. So Cronos tried to prevent this by imprisoning all of his children in his stomach. When it was time for Zeus to be imprisoned, Zeus' mother; Rhea could not bear to lose another child. So to protect her child, she decided to trick her husband. Rhea summoning an eagleand tasked to it carry baby Zeus to a place that Cronos could not see. She then used a stone and wrapped it in a cloth to replace baby Zeus. Cronos did not suspect a thing and ate the stone.

The Eagle sent baby Zeus to an island where he would be raised. The island was revealed to be Zeus' grandmother; the She-Titan; Gaia. Gaia raised Zeus to the beast of her abilities, but as the years went by, Zeus found out that his father imprisoned his older brothers and sisters in his stomach, (it is unclear how he found out, but it is likely that Gaia told Zeus that his brothers and sisters were inside Cronos stomach).

Because of learning the truth, Zeus became enraged and filled with hatred of the Titans. It was also revealed that Zeus had been planning to release his brothers and sisters when he was a child, as there are carvings of him rescuing his siblings from Cronos near Gaia's heart. So when he was all grown up, Zeus left Gaia, seeking to rescue his five Brothers and Sisters. Zeus eventually found Cronos and rescued his older siblings from their imprisonment in Cronos' stomach. After which the six, along with a few other Gods, join forces and fought all the Titans, which started the Great War.

### The Great War

According to Atlas, bloodlust consumed Zeus, which made him determined to rule all and end the Titan's reign. He, along with his brothers, Hades and Poseidon, and the other Gods of Olympus, was fighting all the Titans with little to no effort.

Determined to end the Great War once and for all, Zeus created a weapon made from the Heavens and the Earth; *the Blade of Olympus*. He then processed to use the Blade to wipe out a huge portion of the Titans. The ones that survived, were all banished and chained into the deepest, and darkest pits of Tartarus and were left to rot. However, Zeus decided to give Cronos a much worst fate than the other Titans; he decided to torture his father for devouring his brothers and sisters. Zeus punished Cronos by forcing him to wander the Desert of Lost Souls forever. The harsh sands would forever rip the flesh from his bones until the day he dies.

After which, the Gods came to power, and Mt. Olympus emerged from the chaos, Zeus became known as both the God of Lightning and King of the Gods. It was also suggested that Mt. Olympus grew to power, Zeus assigned Poseidon to be the God of the Seas, and Hades to be the God of the Underworld. Zeus also married his sister Hera, and the two had two sons; Ares, who became the God of War, and Hephaestus who became the Blacksmith God. Zeus also had other children, who ended up becoming either God of Olympus or Demigods. These included; Athena, Apollo, Artemis (, who took part in the First Great War), Pollux, Persephone, Hermes, Hercules, Aphrodite, Perseus, King Minos, King Rhadamanthus, King Aecus, Peirithous, and two other Demigods.

### Creating Pandora's Box

Shortly after the Great War ended, and the Gods of Olympus came to power, Zeus became concerned. After the Great War ended, Evil started to spread. Zeus did not want any of the evils throughout the world to spread any further, so he commissioned his son Hephaestus to create a container to imprison all the evils. After Hephaestus managed to finished the Box, which Hephaestus called it Pandora's Box (, which was named after Hephaestus' adopted daughter; Pandora), Zeus placed all the evils inside the box, but what he did not know that Athena placed a weapon inside the Box should anyone open it and release the evils; Hope.

Hephaestus then recommended to Zeus that he should create a fortress to place Pandora's Box in. So Zeus and the Gods assigned the great architect, and loyal servant towards the Gods; *Pathos Verdes III* and his family to create a temple so they could keep Pandora's Box safe. Pathos placed various deadly traps and obstacles to make it near impossible for anyone to acquire the Box. After the Temple was completed, which also resulted in the death of Pathos and his entire family, Zeus chained the temple on top of Cronos' back and then placed the Box inside the Temple, where it could be safe, thinking that no one could ever reach Pandora's Box.

However, as the years went by, rumors started to spread about a container that if found and opened, could grant mortals untold power, so many mortals went to Pandora's Temple to find Pandora's Box and acquire this untold power. Many have tried, and all (, but one,) have failed. When the first mortal failed to retrieve the Box, Zeus and the Gods decided to punish him, by making him an undead immortal. The nameless mortal, now known as the *Body Burner* was forced to burn the corpses of those who failed to retrieve Pandora's Box, as well as be the one to open the main doorway into Pandora's Temple.

### Tormenting Prometheus

Cronos was not the only Titan that Zeus decided to torture. He also tortured another Titan named *Prometheus*. He considered Prometheus a traitor after he attempted to take the Flame of Olympus to the mortals. Instead of killing Prometheus, Zeus thought that torture would be more efficient. Zeus started by stripping most of Prometheus' power, making him mortal. He then chained up Prometheus on the arm of another Titan; Typhon. Not only would Prometheus be outside in the freezing cold, but every morning a white eagle would swoop in, and then processed to devour Prometheus' liver. And when the sun goes down, all of Prometheus' injuries, including his liver, would be instantly healed, preventing him from dying, and to be forever tortured.

### Making a Deal with the Furies

After Zeus' came to power, he eventually came across the Furies; Megaera, Tisiphone, and Alecto. Both he and the Furies made a deal with each other that if anyone betrayed the Gods of Olympus, they would be captured and tortured throughout eternity. The Furies accepted Zeus offer. He also made a blood oath with another Titan; Aegaeon but was eventually tricked and betrayed by the mighty Titan. Enraged, Zeus sent the Furies to capture and torture the mighty Titan. The Furies managed to capture Aegaeon and tortured him until his body became a prison for the damned. It is likely that Zeus sent some of his enemies to this prison to be tortured throughout eternity. It is also likely that Zeus did not know that the Furies were working for Ares and that they were planning to overthrow Olympus.

### Searching for the Marked Warrior

While all of this was going on, Zeus had multiples affairs with many mortals, much of Hera's dismay. One of them was a female mortal named; Callisto. Together they end up having two sons; Kratos and his younger brother; Deimos. But after their children were born, Zeus told Callisto not to tell them who their real father was, left them, and returned to rule Mount Olympus. While ruling Olympus, Hera, for unknown reasons, wanted Zeus to kill Kratos, or what she called another bastard child, but Zeus refused to kill his son.

A few years later, Zeus was eventually warned by an Oracle. The Oracle warned him that someone was going to bring the destruction of Olympus. The only thing that the Oracle said was, that the destruction of Olympus was not going to be done by the hands of the Titans, but by the hands of revenge, by someone known as *The Marked Warrior*. To prevent that from ever happening, Zeus went on a search for the Marked Warrior. When he saw one of own his sons, named Deimos had a large birthmark covering a majority of his body, he immediately thought that Deimos was the Marked Warrior that he was warned about, and decided to take action. He did this by sending both the God and Goddess of War; Ares and Athena to capture Deimos. After Deimos was kidnapped and taken to the Domain of Death, it is likely that Zeus told Callisto not to tell their son Kratos where Deimos was and tell him that Deimos was dead. It is also likely that Zeus placed a curse on Callisto that if she did tell Kratos that Deimos is alive, she would turn into a mindless monster.

## *God of War: Ascension*

While The Furies were trying to kill Kratos, Megaera infected one of Aegaeon's hand. As it attacked Kratos, a Prisoner begged the Gods to spare him. Just as the infected hand was about to kill the Prisoner, a bright light illuminated the Prisoner and teleported him to the Rotunda of Olympus. When the Prisoner entered the Rotunda of Olympus he spotted four statues of four God of Olympus; Poseidon, Hades, Ares, and Zeus. The Gods decided to make him a warrior. The Prisoner, know dubbed *The Redeemed Warrior* had to chose which God he wanted to submit their soul to. If the Redeemed Warrior wanted to submit their soul to the God of Lightning Zeus, The warrior is granted with a giant sword.

### Aiding Kratos

After Kratos committed so many sins against the Gods, one of them being killing his own wife and daughter, he asked forgiveness to the Gods of Olympus. Zeus and the Gods made a deal with Kratos that if he did whatever the Gods task him to do, they would forgive him of his sins. Kratos accepted Zeus' deal, however, Kratos also asked Zeus that if he did whatever the Gods told him to do, they would wipe out his memory and nightmares, though the Gods never said anything about agreeing to that. For 10 years of Kratos' life, Kratos did whatever Zeus and the Gods of Olympus assigned him to do.

## *God of War: Chains of Olympus*

### Put into a Deep Sleep

When Helios was kidnapped and the sun disappeared, the God of Dreams; Morpheus decided to take the advantage. He did this by creating a Black Fog that can put both mortals, and the Gods of Olympus to sleep. Zeus was one of the Gods that was put into a deep sleep. When Kratos found out it was Persephone that was responsible for the kidnapping of Helios, Kratos fought and killed her. After Helios was rescued, Morpheus retreated, and the Gods awoke from their slumber. It is possible that when Zeus woke up and found out about Morpheus treason, he either punished or killed Morpheus for his crimes against the Gods of Olympus.

### Zeus' Denial

Despite saving both the world and Mt. Olympus from Persephone and punishing Atlas even further, the Gods denied Kratos from reuniting with his daughter, which further Kratos' hatred for the Gods.

## *God of War*

On the 10th year of serving the Gods, Kratos was finally going to get what he asked, and all he had to do was kill the God of War; Ares. While Kratos was on a mission to kill Ares, he eventually came across Zeus in a translucent form. Zeus offered Kratos a magic ability called; *Zeus' Fury*, which granted Kratos the ability to throw lightning bolts at his enemies.

### The Grave Digger

While Kratos was roaming around Athens, he comes across a mysterious figure known as the **Grave Digger** (later revealed to be Zeus watching over Kratos). The Grave Digger seems to know about Kratos' goals and kept referring to Kratos as his son. Kratos asked what he was doing, to which that Grave Digger after Kratos asked who was it for the man replied that he was digging Kratos' Grave to the Spartan's shock.

After Kratos acquired Pandora's Box he was unfortunately killed by Ares. When he died, Kratos was sent to the Underworld but refusing to accept his fate, Kratos tried to find a way to escape. As he continues his search to escape the Underworld, an anchor with a chain attached to it dropped right in front of him. He climbed up the chain, and ended up back in Athens, where he emerged from his grave, and encountered the Grave Digger again. It turns out he was right about the grave being meant for Kratos, as it was actually a portal from the Underworld to Athens.

The grave digger commented on him arriving late for the battle when its almost over. When Kratos was asked him who he was, the Grave Digger was about to answer before an explosion was heard and told the Spartan to go. Kratos then asked how he knew of his goal as the man gave a vague answer and told him "Athena isn't the only god keeping watch on you Spartan" before he disappeared, without a trace.

### Opening Pandora's Box

When Kratos obtained the power of Pandora's Box, he opened the box in order to gain the power necessary to slay Ares and avenge his family. But when Kratos opened Pandora's box, Kratos thought all the powers in Pandora's Box would surge into him to slay a God, instead, he accidentally unleashes all the evils the Box had hidden within it, these evils swept across the land and infected the gods of Olympus, including Zeus - turning many of them insane, and corrupted by a current evil.

Zeus, as the king of the gods, was arguably corrupted the most by this event and became infected with the evil of *Fear* as he saw how Kratos had slain Ares (and presumably witnessing the Furies, Persephone, Ceryx and Thanatos being slain by Kratos) and feared that the Ghost of Sparta could do the same to him. Zeus became convinced that Kratos would slay him just as Zeus had once tried to slay his own father (Cronos): Zeus' paranoia grew into hatred for his mortal son and he devised a plan to kill him and thus ensure that his reign as king of Olympus could never be challenged.

### Brutally Beating Up Hephaestus

Sometime after Kratos found and opened Pandora's Box, Zeus also found out that his son Hephaestus lied to him, and that placing Pandora's Box on the back of Cronos would be the safest place. So Zeus brutally beat his son up until he gave the key to Pandora's Box. What little did Zeus know is that the key acquired life as a young girl name Pandora. For punishment, Zeus took Pandora away from Hephaestus and banished him into the realm of Hades to be forever tormented. Zeus also tortured Pandora simply because she was not an actual living being. It is likely that Zeus retrieved the Box and placed it in the Flame of Olympus to keep it safe from anyone, even himself.

### Imprisoning Pandora

Sometime after Zeus took Pandora, he demanded the mortal Daedalus to construct a prison to keep Pandora away from the Flame of Olympus. He also promised Daedalus that if he completes the labyrinth, he would see his son again. After the Labyrinth was nearly complete, Zeus imprisoned Pandora in the Heart of the Labyrinth. It is also likely that he learned of the key that unlocks the labyrinth; the Boreas Ice Storm, Zeus placed implanted the key inside the guardian of the labyrinth to protect it.

## *God of War: Ghost of Sparta*

### Warning Kratos

After Kratos destroyed Atlantis, and caused it to start sinking to the bottom of the ocean, he comes across the Grave Digger, again and looks a little beaten up (, probably due to the effects of Pandora's Box starting to take effect). He told Kratos that the Gods of Olympus are not going to be happy once they find out that he sank Atlantis. He also warned Kratos to stop searching for the other one because it would end with nothing but despair. But Kratos refused to listen and pressed onward to find and rescue his brother.

### Burying Deimos and Callisto

After his brother, Deimos was killed by Thanatos, and Kratos managed to kill Thanatos, the Grave Digger reappeared again, and actually dug up two grave sights. One of them was used as Deimos' grave. While he was burying Deimos, Kratos asked what he has become, to which the Grave Digger replied, "Death..... The Destroyer of Worlds". After that, the Grave Digger had disappeared. Shortly after, the Grave Digger had Kratos' mother Callisto, in his hands. He then placed her in the second hole which turns out to be her grave. As the Grave Digger was burying Callisto, he proclaimed to himself, "Only one remains," which probably meant that he realized that Kratos was the Marked Warrior that the Oracle had forewarned about and not Deimos.

### Bonus

In the Temple of Zeus, after Kratos unlocks all the objects, a secret room opens. When Kratos enters the secret room, he comes across the Grave Digger's shovel. When he picks it up, the Grave Digger becomes unlockable and can be used in the Combat Arena, but when the Player plays as the Grave Digger, lightning strikes the Grave Digger to reveal his true form; Zeus. Zeus fights with lightning attacks, the Blade of Olympus, and the Gauntlet of Zeus.

## *God of War II*

### Tricking Kratos

Knowing that Kratos would be too powerful to deal with thanks to his newly acquired Godly powers, Zeus devised a plan to kill Kratos. Zeus gave life to the Colossus of Rhodes and sent it to battle Kratos. He did this by draining a huge portion of Kratos' godly powers and then giving Kratos' godly powers into the giant statue of Helios. Zeus then processed by tricking Kratos. He stated to Kratos that if he drained the rest of his godly powers into the Blade of Olympus, Kratos would become unstoppable. After Kratos drained his Godly Powers into the blade, Kratos became mortal, which meant that Zeus was successful. After Kratos managed to kill the Colossus of Rhodes, he was ultimately crushed by the hand of The Colossus, nearly killing him.

### Killing Kratos

Weakened and nearly dead, Kratos attempted to reach the Blade of Olympus so he could regain his Godly Powers. When Kratos was close enough to reach the Blade, Zeus intercepted and took the blade for himself. Zeus told Kratos that he did this because Kratos' hand had enough blood from multiple gods on his hands, and that Zeus did not want to suffer the same fate as they did. Zeus also decided that he would be generous enough to spare Kratos' life, but he must bow down before the King of Olympus and swear his allegiances. But Kratos refuses, by proclaiming that the Gods of Olympus are weak, pathetic and foolish. After proclaiming to what he thought of the Gods, Kratos attempted to fight Zeus for the Blade of Olympus, even though he was severally injured.

Despite his best efforts, Kratos was easily defeated and was brutally impaled by Zeus with the Blade of Olympus. After impaling his son, Zeus shows his corruption as he accuses Kratos of plotting against him and mercilessly murders hundreds of Spartans out of apparent malice. After Zeus managed to "kill" Kratos, he then casts Kratos into the pits of Hades before leaving the area.

However, Kratos was not to die so easily, for the Titans decided to intervene and use him in their own quest for vengeance against Zeus and the gods - sending him on a quest to undo the actions of Zeus. When Kratos was revived by the Titans, they sent him to the Sisters of Fate, so he could turn back time to the point when Zeus betrayed and killed him since he would be at his most vulnerable.

### Destroying Sparta

While Kratos was trying to reach the temple of the Fates, Kratos encountered the Last Spartan who he unknowingly fought. It turns out that Zeus was not finished with making Kratos suffer. After Kratos accidentally (but fatally) injured the Last Spartan, who told Kratos that Sparta was destroyed by Zeus. He told Kratos that Zeus appeared under the cloak of darkness and wiped out nearly everyone in Sparta in a matter of seconds. Everyone who lived in Sparta begged for their God of War to save them, but Kratos never showed. All except for the Last Spartan were killed by the God of Lightning.

### Fighting Kratos

After Kratos killed the Sisters of Fate, Kratos turned back time and returned to the moment Zeus betrayed him and prevented Zeus from killing him. Kratos pushed Zeus away from his past self as Zeus was shocked to see a second Kratos. He expressed surprised at the thought that the Sister of Fate would aid him, to which Kratos who took the Blade of Olympus out of his other self coldly replied that they're dead. Zeus admitted he underestimated Kratos and intended to not repeat his mistake before charging at the Spartan and the two took their fight through the skies.

Zeus stated he would show Kratos the true power of a god before he grew over 50 feet and summoned some Sirens to aid him in battle. After killing some of the Sirens, their screeches harmed Zeus. When Kratos stunned Zeus, he stabbed Zeus with the Blade of Olympus, causing Zeus to shrink down to his normal size. Zeus constantly tried to take the Blade of Olympus away from Kratos and use it against him. However, Kratos took the Blade back from him, stated he had come to kill Zeus and he would not let him destroy Sparta as he managed to stab Zeus with its full power, twice.

Irritated by Kratos, Zeus grew to 50 feet again and attempted to electrocute Kratos to death. Kratos shouted out that he surrendered and that he wanted to be released from this torment, Zeus proclaimed that even though he would kill Kratos, but stated his torment would not end. However, it turns out that Kratos tricked Zeus, so he could lower his guard and try to kill Zeus with the final blow intending to kill him the same way he was killed in Rhodes.

### Zeus Retreated

While Kratos was stabbing Zeus, Athena appeared and attacked Kratos. With that distraction, Zeus retreated and warned Kratos that he just started a war, a war that he could not win. To try to kill off Zeus before he could retreat, Kratos tried to stab Zeus with the Blade of Olympus, hoping it would kill him. Just when he was about to kill Zeus, Athena intercepted and was stabbed with the Blade, killing her instead. Zeus managed to a fly away after Kratos accidentally stabbed Athena. Before Athena died, she told Kratos that the reason why Zeus tried to kill Kratos was because of fear, a fear that drove Zeus to kill his own son, just like Cronos tried to kill Zeus.

### Meeting of the Gods

Later on, all of Zeus' injuries were healed. Desperate to kill Kratos, and wanting to prevent the Oracle prediction from coming true, Zeus called for a meeting with all the Gods of Olympus. He asked Hades, Poseidon, Helios, and Hermes to help him kill the mortal Kratos, to which, they all accepted. While this was going on, both Kratos and his new Titan allies had already begun an assault on Olympus to take down the mad gods.

## *God of War III*

By the time Zeus managed to convince the other Olympians to help him kill Kratos, and the Titans were beginning to ascend Mt. Olympus, Zeus' madness intensified. He sent his full wrath of Olympus down on Kratos by sending all the Gods, and some of the Demigods, of Olympus to do battle. He does this by sending many of the gods to their deaths, including Poseidon, Hades, Helios, Hermes, Hercules, and possibly Hera.

### Attack on Olympus

At the very beginning Zeus convinced the Gods of Olympus to help him kill the fallen mortal Kratos. While that was going one, Kratos and his Titans allies were ascending Mt. Olympus. Zeus ordered his son Hercules to send the undead army of Olympus to attack the Titans. Zeus also watched the other Gods of Olympus fighting the Titans. While Kratos was fighting Poseidon, Zeus somehow managed to acquire a left Golden Fleece and decided to use the Fleece, so he could kill Kratos. After the death of his brother Poseidon, Kratos and Gaia managed to reach the top of Mount Olympus.

Just when Kratos was about to confront Zeus, Zeus proclaimed that he could not tolerate Kratos' insolence any longer. Zeus then processed by striking down both Gaia and Kratos with a huge bolt of lightning, both decimating Gaia's left arm and nearly killing her, as well as causing Kratos to fall into the Underworld, where Hades was waiting.

While Kratos was searching Zeus throughout Mt. Olympus, Zeus eventually found out that Kratos was after Pandora's Box again. Zeus tried to stop Kratos from hindering his progress. Zeus sent waves of creatures loyal to Olympus to kill Kratos, and even threatening that he would kill the Key of Pandora's Box; Pandora if he does not cease his quest.

### Battling Kratos

#### Battle for Pandora's Box

Ultimately Zeus would wage battle with Kratos four times. The first time is when Kratos and Zeus were right near Pandora's box. After Kratos and Pandora managed to reacquire Pandora's Box, Zeus appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Pandora by the neck, and threatening his son that he would kill Pandora if he did not stop his action. Zeus even said that the world's in chaos because of Kratos' action. But Kratos only responded that he only saw what he came to destroy. Kratos demanded Zeus to put Pandora down, to which Zeus did what he wished. Zeus then processed by confronting his son in hopes he can kill him. Despite this, Kratos managed to temporary knock out Zeus by causing debris to fall on Zeus. During this, Zeus' Golden Fleece gets destroyed.

After Kratos emerged victoriously, Kratos witnessed Pandora attempting to sacrifice herself, so Kratos can use Pandora's Box. Zeus tried to convince Kratos not to let her into the Flame of Olympus, but during that, he called Kratos' life useless and pathetic. With that, Kratos decided to sacrifice Pandora's life so he can kill Zeus. Just when Kratos was about to kill Zeus, a powerful flash of flame knocked both Zeus and Kratos out. When they both regained their consciousness, both of them noticed that both the Flame of Olympus that was protecting Pandora's Box had burned out, and Pandora was nowhere to be found. Zeus then witnessed Kratos about to open Pandora's Box. After Kratos opened Pandora's Box, it was revealed that the box was empty.

Zeus then processed by laugh maniacally after find out it was empty, to which he proclaimed to Kratos that he had failed yet again. Enraged, Kratos was about to confront Zeus, but Zeus retreated by teleporting toward the Battle Arena. When Kratos caught up with Zeus, Zeus was watching the whole world in utter chaos, and proclaiming that he has much to do after he kills his own son.

#### In the Battle Arena

The two continued their fight at the peak of Mount Olympus. While they were continuing their confrontation, Gaia, who was believed to be dead, was climbing to the top of Olympus. The fight was interrupted when Gaia attempted to kill both Kratos and Zeus. But before she attempted to do so, Zeus told Gaia that her pawn has failed her and that she should've chosen the other one. As Gaia was about to crush the battle arena, both Zeus and Kratos jumped into the hole in Gaia's chest.

#### Near Gaia's Heart

After Kratos fell into Gaia, he went to search for Zeus, until he made his way to Gaia's heart. Kratos attempted to kill Gaia for betraying him. However, in the middle of his attempt, Zeus flew down and continued his confrontation with his son. While Kratos and Zeus were attempting to kill each other, Zeus managed to absorb some energy out of Gaia's Heart, which not only healed most of his injuries, but it also granted him the ability to multiply up to 10 weaker clones of himself. Desperate to kill his son, Zeus attempted to steal the Blade of Olympus away from Kratos and attempted to use the Blade to kill Kratos.

But Kratos managed to out-strength Zeus, and, with full power, Kratos stabbed both him and Gaia's Heart, killing Gaia in the process, and presumably killing Zeus.

#### Final Battle

It seemed that Kratos finally killed Zeus and exacted his revenge after he killed Gaia. After Kratos saw the "dead" body of Zeus, he pulled out the Blade of Olympus out of Zeus and walked away from the "corpse".

But just as Kratos thought it was over, a dark astral projection of Zeus emerged out of Zeus' body. With one powerful jolt of lightning, Zeus managed to destroy nearly every weapon that Kratos acquired, with the exception of the Blades of Exile. Zeus then processed by strangling Kratos and using fear to try to kill him. After Kratos completed his inner-psyche and unlocking to the power of Hope, he managed to break free from Zeus' grasp and used to Blades of Exile to cut Zeus' astral projection to pieces.

After Kratos defeats Zeus' Astral Projection, Zeus was temporarily revived, but unfortunately Kratos ran right towards Zeus and processed by beating him to death with his own bare hands. Just before Kratos processed to beat Zeus to death, however, a dark vapor spewed out of his mouth, which is most likely the evil that infected him which curiously he never tried the stop Kratos from attacking him which due to the pain he caused him he accepted death. Kratos continued to beat the God of Lightning to death even when the blood blocked his vision.

After he was finished, Kratos found a dead Zeus right beneath him. After Zeus was finally killed, a giant white light shot up into the heavens, plunging the world into utter chaos. However, with his passing, Kratos was able to finally make the sacrifice required to give humanity the one weapon even the gods could not rival: that of Hope.

## *God of War (2018)*

Many years later after the destruction of Olympus, when Kratos ended up in the Norse world, He saw an illusion of his father in Helheim first as a huge head, telling Mimir of their relation and later as a ghostly enactment of his last battle against his father in Helheim along with his son Atreus.

## Other Media

### *Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale*

Zeus makes an appears a DLC playable character in the crossover video game *Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale*.

#### Opening

Zeus sensed trouble on both Mount Olympus and the mortal world. He also senses powerful warriors gathering throughout the universe together in a fight, Kratos included. He knew that they were all gathered by a self-proclaimed god that claimed to the very creation of all. Zeus forbade the gods from interfering, and that Zeus left to deal with this threat on his own. As he left he proclaimed that he would put a stop to the madness, and defeat anyone who stands in his way.

#### Confronting Isaac Clarke

As Zeus defeated those he encountered one by one, he was mildly disappointed by the pretender's handiwork, even calling it nothing more than a mortal child's plaything. Shortly after arriving at the Rival Arena, Zeus encountered Isaac Clarke. Zeus immediately thought that he was the one responsible for the creation of this strange world. But Isaac told him that he just got in this world too. Angered that Isaac pointed his gun at Zeus, Zeus told Isaac to explain himself before he makes him kneel. Isaac could not explain and claimed that he saw strange things. However, Zeus told Isaac that having him kneel was not a request, and proceeded to strike Isaac with a lightning bolt. But Isaac managed to freeze Zeus' lightning bolt with kinesis. Watching what Isaac could do, Zeus told Isaac that he would pay with his life for his insolence. Zeus and Isaac fought each other, but in the end, Zeus managed to defeat Isaac Clarke.

#### Confronting Polygon Man

Shortly after defeating Isaac Clarke, Zeus encountered the Self-Proclaimed God; Polygon Man. Zeus fought Polygon Man resulting in Zeus defeated him. With the defeat of Polygon Man, Zeus acquired his power. Shortly after, Zeus returned to Mt. Olympus, Zeus claimed that he restored order on Earth when there was only chaos. But in order to do so, he had to put the unruly mortals back into there place, and their "god" was stripped of his pretense. However, Zeus knew that the threat of Kratos was real, and it must be dealt with. Proclaiming that the Gods' processed great power and that if Kratos could destroy Olympus with ease, he'd be making a big mistake.

#### Super Moves

Like all the characters in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Zeus has three super moves that can be used during a fight.

* Level 1: **Lightning Clap**- Zeus attacks with a gigantic clap that creates a large lightning explosion directly in front of him, with enough of a radius to strike multiple opponents up close.
* Level 2: **Ultimate Storm**- Zeus starts flying in the air. A button press initiates a very large explosion centered on Zeus that ends the super. Alternatively, if no button is pushed, time runs out and the explosion happens at that point.
* Level 3: **Wrath of Zeus**- Zeus transports everyone to the summit of sacrifice, while he grows to giant size and attacks the victims with giant boss-style attacks. Square button causes Zeus to attack the left side, Circle button causes Zeus to attack the right side, Triangle button causes Zeus to attack the air, and pushing down while pressing the square, triangle, circle, or R2 button will cause Zeus to attack the ground.

## Trivia

* Zeus was voiced by Paul Eiding in *God of War*, Fred Tatasciore in *God of War: Ghost of Sparta*, and Corey Burton in *God of War II* and *God of War III*.
* Zeus is technically the youngest of the 6 original Gods of Olympus, but his physical appearance makes him look like he is the oldest. It is likely that because Zeus has the ability to transform, and the Gods of Olympus believe that respect comes from age, Zeus chooses to portray himself at an older age.
* It has been confirmed that the Grave Digger that Kratos encounters in the original *God of War*, and *God of War: Ghost of Sparta* is really Zeus in disguise.
* The Evil that infected Zeus after Pandora's Box was opened is Fear.
* Zeus made an appearance in every God of War game, except for *God of War: Chains of Olympus*. There were only statues of himself that appeared, and he was only mentioned several times.
* Zeus was placed 49th on IGN's Top 100 Video Game Villains.
* While Kratos fights Zeus in God of War III, the main theme music is *Brothers of Blood*.
* It is unknown why Zeus did not suspect any of his other sons as a threat as there were many besides Kratos that held contempt against him. Maybe because of all his children only Kratos killed a god successfully, meaning Ares.
* It's interesting to note that when Kratos uses the Gauntlet of Zeus he wields it on his right arm, but when Zeus wields the Gauntlet in Ghost of Sparta, he wields it on his left. It is likely that the Gauntlet can change much like on how it can change size depending on the wielder.
* Zeus appeared as a DLC in the video game; PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale on March 19, and his rival is going to be Isaac Clarke.

* Corey Burton reprises his role as Zeus
* This makes Zeus the fourth DLC character in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

* This also makes him the very 1st villain as a playable DLC character.

* Zeus is considered to be the most powerful character in the game, surpassing Big Daddy, and Evil Cole, but he is also the slowest of all other characters as well.
* Zeus, along with Sir Daniel, is the oldest (Age Wise) characters in this game, as he is centuries old.
* In Zeus' rival cutscene, he refers to the Rival Arena as looking like a "mortal child's play-thing". It is possible that he talking about the Playstation System.
* Zeus, along with Kratos, and Jak & Daxter are the only characters that actually break the fourth wall in their intros and outros, However both Zeus and Kratos attack the camera when they lose. But Zeus is currently the only character that attacks the camera when he either wins or loses.
* Zeus' Level 3 Super move is a reference to the final boss in *God of War II*.
* Zeus DLC costume; Young Zeus, is based on Zeus when he was younger in *God of War II.*
* Joining the character roster in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale makes this the second time Zeus appears as a playable character, the first being *God of War: Ghost of Sparta*.
	+ However, this is the first time Zeus is playable without using the Gauntlet of Zeus and the Blade of Olympus in combat.
* Zeus is the only character in which his entire move set can be charged up.
* Much like Kratos' story mode in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Zeus' story mode takes place before the beginning of God of War III.
* Zeus was originally going to be one of the main antagonists in the original script for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, along with Dr. Nefarious, and the Helghan Army. But the idea was scrapped in favor of having Polygon Man being the main antagonist.
* Zeus is one of five playable characters in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale that died in the game series that they came from.
* Zeus is one of three characters whose Level 3 Supers Attacks can affect stages, the other two being Big Daddy from *BioShock* and the other being Isaac Clarke from the *Dead Space* videogame franchise. But Zeus is the only first-party to do so.

* Since Zeus was the one to dig the grave for Callisto, Kratos' mother, it can be presumed that he did genuinely love her since he took the time to do it himself instead of having someone else bury her.