God of War/NECA

### Location

The prototype is still located in the NECA studio and was reworked into an "Ultimate" figure that saw release in 2016

## Product Information

### Year(s)

2010

In 2007, NECA released two action figures based on the "Ghost of Sparta" from a best-selling video game series and had plans to do another action figure using much more articulation. It got cancelled and while a figure like that one would eventually be released in 2016, it's missing at least one accessory that was proposed with the prototype.

## **Summary**

*God of War* is an action-adventure game fanchise created by David Jaffe at Sony's Santa Monica Studio and is loosely based on ancient Greek mythology with vengeance as the central motif. The first game was released for the PlayStation 2 on March 22nd 2005, though canonwise, it is the third game chronologically. The player controls its protagonist Kratos, a Spartan warrior who serves the Olympian Gods; one of which is Athena who tasks him with killing Ares, the God of War and Kratos' former mentor, who tricked him into killing his wife and daughter. While he beseiges Athens out of hatred for the Goddess of Wisdom, Kratos sets out on a quest to find the one object capable of stopping Ares once and for all: Pandora's Box.  *God of War* sold more than 4.6 million copies worldwide, making it the fourteenth best-selling PlayStation 2 game of all time. Regarded as one of the best action-adventure games for the platform, it won several "Game of the Year" awards. In 2009, entertainment website IGN named *God of War* the seventh-best PlayStation 2 game of all time. It has been highly praised for its graphics, sound, story, and gameplay and has been hailed as one of the best video games ever made. Success of the game led to the development of seven more games and expansion into other media. A film adaptation had been in development for many years but was ultimately canceled.

## **Action Figure**

In 2007, NECA obtained the license to do action figures based on the first *God of War* games with several variants of Kratos including one that has the Flaming Blades of Athena with long extended pieces of the weapon, and the other in his Golden Fleece Armor holding the severed head of Medusa. When the sequel, *God of War II*, was released in 2008, NECA did even more variants of Kratos including him in his upgraded Ares Armor with two alternate heads in a seperate version (Open Mouth and Closed Mouth), Dark Odyssey costume, which can only be unlocked in the game by beating God Mode; and a translucent blue version known as Poseidon's Rage, based one of his magic attacks. A 12" version of Kratos was also released as part of the *God of War II* line, though was moreso based on the first game with Medusa's head.  When *God of War III* began development in 2010, NECA would produce another action figure of Kratos as he appeared in that game; only this time around, he would feature double-jointed articulation in the arms & legs and would've came with two accessories: the Nemean Cestus, a pair of gauntlets that Kratos seizes from Hercules after beating him to death. However, NECA may have lost the *God of War* license at some point as the figure never came out, though the prototype was still kept in their warehouse studio as revealed in a factory tour that Figures.com did in 2013.  And in New York Toy Fair 2016, NECA revealed a reworked version of the *God of War III* Kratos that would be released in May 2016,  though a "God of War" costume Sackboy was released one year prior as part of NECA's *Little Big Planet* Series 1.  NECA would eventually do another figure of Kratos as seen in the 2018 *God of War* with his son Atreus in a two-pack, and a 18" version.   Several other toy companies have stepped into the ring with their own "Ghost of Sparta" action figures since then.

## **Final Verdict**

There really aren't that glaring differences between the 2010 prototype and the "Ultimate Kratos" figure that would be released in 2016, though the original sculpt did not come with an Open Mouth head or his flaming swords and had it been released in the 2010's, it would've been added into the "Player Select" line and came in clamshell packaging like the rest of their Player Select characters instead of the front-flap boxes their "Ultimate" figures have since come in; resembling the cover art for *God of War III*. Regardless, its safe tp say that "Ultimate Kratos" has been: **FOUND**.

## **External Links**

* *Figure Realm* (Retrieved 2021, November 25). God of War (NECA) Checklist. Online list.

* *OAFE*. (2014, September 28). Soon Forget: NECA's unreleased prototypes. Online post.

* Dr. Jengo's World. (2016, February 15). *Toy Fair 2016: NECA's PlayStation Heroes!*. Blogspot. Online post.

## **References**

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God\_of\_War\_(2005\_video\_game)
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God\_of\_War\_(franchise)
3. ↑ https://www.ebay.com/p/1101335878
4. ↑ https://www.figures.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13474
5. ↑ http://www.oafe.net/yo/necagowuk.php
6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wXKIcReUI8
7. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2018/07/god-of-war-2018-7-scale-action-figure-ultimate-kratos-atreus-2-pack/
8. ↑ https://www.amazon.ca/NECA-Scale-Action-Figure-Kratos/dp/B078WSK6K2
9. ↑ https://www.amazon.ca/FUNKO-POP-GAMES-God-Kratos/dp/B077XL39VZ
10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3xAvOzQHaM