Zeus | God of War Wiki | Fandom

---
Power

Electrokinesis Atmokinesis Animation Clone creations Superhuman Strength Superhuman Resistance Superhuman Speed Superhuman Durability Power Bestowal Flight Transformation Teleportation Fulgurkinesis


---
Birth

An infant Zeus is taken away by an eagle at his mother's command.

During the reign of the Titans, Cronos was informed of a prophecy foretelling his eventual downfall at the hands of one of his own sons. To prevent this fate, Cronos swallowed all of his children, one by one.
When Zeus was born, his mother Rhea was distraught at the loss of her first five children and devised a trick to save him by letting an eagle carry the baby Zeus to safety, while he was replaced by a stone wrapped in cloth which Cronos devoured, having mistaken it for Zeus. The eagle then carried the infant Zeus to Gaia so that he would be raised and blessed with the strength to stand up to Cronos. During this time, Zeus developed a deep hatred for his father, and looked forward to the day he would finally release his siblings; one of Zeus' drawings inside Gaia portray him opening Cronos's belly and setting them free.


---
Personality

Zeus' benevolent side was more prevalent in the original God of War , in which he was depicted as a caring god who sought to punish evildoers and oath-breakers, even empathizing with his son Kratos' (who at that time was unaware Zeus was his father) grievances against Ares despite all of the terrible things Kratos had done. Even though he had a benevolent side, he had some negativity within him as he placed a curse on his lover (and Kratos' mother) Callisto to transform into a grotesque monster should she ever reveal his relation to Kratos or Deimos , he also feared Deimos to the point of imprisoning and torturing him for eternity due to The Marked Warrior prophecy. He had even condemned his former ally, Prometheus , to eternal torment when the latter used the Fires of Olympus to help mortals, thus drew the ire of Zeus. After Kratos opened Pandora's box, he was possessed by one of the evils in the box: fear. This transformed Zeus into a cruel, wrathful, paranoid, and power-hungry deity, as evidenced by how he started treating the innocent Pandora with cruelty.
The evils of the box also caused Zeus to develop an intense fear of Kratos, whom he now realized was the "Marked Warrior" foretold in the Oracle's prophecy that would perpetuate the cycle of patricide which led to Zeus overthrowing his own father Cronos. Witnessing his ruthless murder of the Furies along with Ares, Thanatos, and Persephone, Zeus' fears were further exacerbated by Kratos' intense hatred for the other gods of Olympus (with Hephaestus, Athena, and Aphrodite being the only obvious exceptions) and his destructive rampages across Greece during his reign as God of War. In response, Zeus took the form of an eagle and siphoned off a large portion of Kratos' godhood powers, infusing them into the Colossus of Rhodes. He then tricked Kratos into transferring the rest of his powers into the Blade of Olympus, weakening him to the point of near-death before finishing him off for good. To prevent his followers from helping their fallen god and to punish Kratos even more, Zeus destroyed Sparta, killing hundreds of innocent people in the process. Not even his own family were safe, as he used them as mere pawns in his war against Kratos and the Titans, mourning little (if at all) about the losses of Athena (who tried to protect him, giving him a chance to escape Kratos' wrath the first time), Poseidon, Hades, Helios, Hermes, Hercules, possibly Hephaestus (even though he brutally beat him to a pulp upon learning of his deception after being infected), and Hera, his wife. But when the evils that possessed him left his body, he somehow let himself get beaten by his son, implying that he finally realized that his persecution and fear of Kratos created a self-fulling prophecy.
He was also unfaithful to Hera, having cheated on his wife countless times and fathering many bastard children (including Kratos, Hercules and Deimos). He seemed to care very little about the well-being of his own children, going as far as to dispose of his own sons Hephaestus and Kratos, caring very little to not at all for Ares' (whose destructive behaviour feared him) death and imprisoning Deimos out of fear of being dethroned. Even though his lack of care for his children was obvious, some like Ares and Hercules believed that he played favourites, as they thought Athena and Kratos respectively were given great privileges and importance that they felt were denied to them.
Despite the fact that his father Cronos committed horrible deeds, Zeus was willing to betray and turn against all Titans, including Gaia, who once saved him from his father, seemingly for the sins of the latter. He even recruited the Titans Helios, Prometheus and Hekate to join him, causing them to betray their own kind. He even condemned his own mother, Rhea into Tartarus for siding with the Titans despite she was saving him from Cronos. In addition to this, however, according to Atlas, Zeus' war against the Titans also stems from his hunger for power as he had a desire to rule over mortals.
Zeus' treatment of his fellow gods, mortals, and Titans matches nearly perfectly with how Zeus treated others in actual Greek mythos. Just as Zeus in the games was cruel, controlling and arguably quite evil, this matched how Zeus was responsible for many terrible things that were written about in real-life Greek mythos. He had zero regard for nearly anyone, and would use everyone he could as a pawn to further his personal goals, including his own siblings and first-born children, even going as far as not showing any care when his entire family was being killed by Kratos, seemingly only focused on killing Kratos himself, without any remorse or sadness for the deaths of his closest family members. In fact, one of the wandering souls that Kratos encounters in the Underworld wonders the reasons Zeus has forsaken him, before the Ghost of Sparta puts him out of his misery. While this unnatural coldness from Zeus could be blamed on the evils that infected him from Pandora's Box, Zeus was already a horrible person like this well before that, so it is safe to say that Zeus has always been a cold, heartless being with little regard for anyone but himself.


---
Powers and Abilities

As the King of Olympus, Zeus is the most powerful of all the Olympians, more so than even his brothers Poseidon and Hades, who he can disintegrate at will. His roars of rage causes the world to tremble to its foundations. His power is great enough to challenge Kratos to a greater degree than any other God. In his Astral Form, his power is greatly increased to the point he destroyed Kratos's equipment and easily overpowered Kratos; only yielding to the power of Hope that his son held within.


---
Powers

Superhuman Strength : Zeus possessed incredible levels of godly strength. His strength exceeded that of his fellow Olympians and was strong enough to pose a fierce challenge to Kratos in both of their fights, most notably shown in how much pressure he put on Kratos’ attempts to use the Blade of Olympus against him. In his first fight against Kratos, Zeus was able to disarm Kratos of the blade several times by grabbing him by the throat, lifting off his feet, ripping the blade out of his hands and throwing him aside, with Kratos showing considerable effort in order to wrestle the blade back off of him after recovering. Even after being caught off-guard by Kratos’ fake surrender and being heavily wounded, Zeus was still able to fight back, ripping one of his hands out of the pillar after Kratos impaled both his hands there with the Blades of Athena , and was able to temporarily stop Kratos from driving the Blade of Olympus through him with just one hand. In his second fight, Zeus and Kratos both sent each other flying backwards after landing simultaneous punches on each other. Despite taking a significant beating from Kratos in the final phase and being attacked with the Blade of Olympus again, Zeus was still strong enough to disarm Kratos of the blade and overpower him, charging forward and slamming him down, with Kratos having to spend nearly a full minute wrestling with Zeus for control of the blade, even getting disarmed and pushed back again at one point. Superhuman Speed : Zeus could run at extremely fast speeds. He could move as fast the lightning he commands. As demonstrated in the battles with Kratos, Zeus was able to evade attacks with the speed of lightning, appearing behind his opponent to strike. Superhuman Durability : Zeus was tremendously durable. He was able to withstand extreme punishment from Kratos in all their fights and could still stand up and flee in their first fight and survive long enough to access his Astral Form after a much harsher beating from his son in their final fight. It should be noted that during his battle with Kratos at the Summit of Sacrifice, Zeus was stabbed repeatedly by the Blade of Olympus by Kratos, yet Zeus was able to survive, unlike other deities who fell to the Blade's power in a single strike, such as Athena and Cronos. Superhuman Stamina : Zeus had tremendous amounts of superhuman stamina, able to fight Kratos for an extended period of time without ever slowing down. Flight : Zeus could hover and fly at amazing speeds. Atmokinesis : As the God of the Sky, Zeus had control over parts of the weather that involved storms, allowing him to generate thunderclouds or create a tornado. The global climate responds to Zeus’ anger and emotions, his breaths warrant storm patterns and his bad mood lowers global temperature. He can combine clouds with his electricity to make his lightning much more powerful, to the point that a single spear of lightning was able to blast down Kratos and Gaia and destroy the latter's arm. After his demise, the Heavens and the rest of Creation have fallen into Chaos . Banishment : Zeus was able to banish Hades from Olympus with a simple hand gesture. Electrokinesis : As the God of Thunder, Zeus could control lightning to an unrivaled degree. He is able to generate extremely powerful and fast Thunderbolts that can shatter huge mountains and kill Titans. His Thunderbolts were strong enough to nearly kill Kratos, forcing him to trick Zeus to stop him. Even his brothers greatly fear his lightning strikes. When attacked by Gaia and Kratos, Zeus charged up a thunderbolt powerful enough to blast both Gaia and Kratos off the top of Mount Olympus, nearly amputating Gaia's hand and gravely injuring her, leaving her struggling to retain her grip on the mountain, unable to help Kratos. In his Astral Form, his Thunderbolts were strong enough to destroy almost all of Kratos' equipment. In addition, Zeus can manipulate lightning to empower his attacks, move faster, generate a lightning shield, and cause an explosion of electrical energy. Immortality : As a God, he was immortal and could live forever. Beyond that, as long the Flame of Olympus existed, he was truly immortal. Like his brothers and other Olympian deities, Zeus did not age and is unaffected by time or succumbing to mortal frailty as sickness or impotence of any kind, he could not be killed by earthly weapons; only divine forces and weapons like the power of Hope, the Blade of Olympus or other gods and Titans can kill him. Acausality: The laws of time and space work differently for the Gods of Olympus. Conceptual Embodiment : As the God of the Heavens, he controlled his supreme domain as if breathing air. As the God of Order, he primarily among the Olympians held Chaos back from the cosmos, as Athena states without him it would be impossible. At the end of God of War III , he plans to restore the World to Order, even without most of his pantheon. Multiple forms : Zeus has several aspects of his Godhood, split into different forms or "roles", such as the two named ones Zeus Katachthonios, the Protector of the Undergrounds and Zeus Philoxenos, the Protector of Hospitality. Similar to Ratatoskr , but more advanced as these forms arent just Zeus emotions, but his divine responsibilities of maintaining mortal existence, split into seperate forms. Conceptual Sealing : Zeus was able to collect all the evils of the world and seal them inside of Pandora's Box. Conceptual Manipulation: In addition to summoning and sealing the Evil concepts away, he was able to wield Fear itself against Kratos, unlike his fellow Gods who died without wielding the Evils that inhabited them. Blade of Olympus Creation: Channelling all of Creation with his blood and lightning, forging the concepts of Afterlife, the Heavens etc. to create an power-absorbtion, reality-ruling instrument which ensures the Invincibility of Olympus against any challenge. Pre-Cognition : Zeus forsaw the end of Kratos quest to retrieve Pandoras Box , which led him to dig the grave in Athens. His divine foresight proved to see further than Athena , the Goddess of Foresight herself. Fate-Defiance : Unlike his father Cronos before him, or his Norse counterpart Odin after him, Zeus was able to defy a prophecy foretelling his demise when he outsmarted the Prophecy regarding his first wife Metis, the mother of Athena [ 2 ] . This shows that in his usual intellectual level, in addition to his supreme divine nature, Zeus can defy fate. When the time came for the Marked Warrior Prophecy to unfold, his Fear-ridden self was clearly not up to the task though. Incomprehensible : Zeus is trancendent to a level that even the Oracle of Delphi , who knows secrets hidden to the Gods themselves, cannot comprehend his power and nature, just as the Goddess of Foresight Athena cannot forsee his actions and plans. Atropos , the measurer of all Life-Threads had to take the time to study and analyse Zeus behaviour after the fact, in order to comprehend his plans and actions during the Downfall of Ares ] and Kratos resurrection from Hades. Olympian Power Distribution : Zeus, as the King of Olympus, decides and approves the roles that his fellow Gods play in his pantheon and cosmic order. As seen with Ares replacement by Kratos and later the debate on who should replace Kratos as the God of War. "Kratos didnt seize Ares throne, I allowed him to ascend." Power Removal: Zeus was able to strip Prometheus of his Immortality. Also, as the King of the Gods, Zeus can remove the powers of other gods at will, as shown when he stripped Kratos of his godly powers, or when he made Prometheus mortal. His champions who wield a fraction of his powers can nullify magical abilities with lightning strikes. Healing: Zeus had made it so Prometheus would be healed every night after being mauled by the giant eagle every day. Power Bestowal : Zeus is capable of granting powers to others, as shown when he bestowed the Redeemed Warrior should he chose to follow him with immense magical attack power and mana reserves and regeneration, supernatural enhancements to their equipment, and great electrical powers that allow them to control space as they drape the playing field with electricity, forcing their opponents to scatter in all directions as well as disable their abilities for a time. Zeus' Fury : He gave Kratos the power to shoot powerful thunderbolts . In addition to that, Zeus' Fury passively empowered Kratos other powers like Poseidon's Rage and Medusa's Gaze , as well as accelerated Kratos’ natural healing process and enhanced his all his other physical attributes. Soul Manipulation : While being on Olympus, he pulled off the soul of one of his dying worshippers on Earth and send it to the Underworld , ensuring a fair Judgement . He himself is immune to the power of the Claws of Hades , unlike Cronos , Atlas and Hades himself. Weapons Forgery : Zeus had the ability to create powerful divine weapons. The most powerful weapon he has ever created was the Blade of Olympus , forged from the Heavens and the Earth aswell as Zeus own blood and lightning. It was able to enforce Zeus commands, banishing the entire Titan race of elder dieties into Tartarus in one attack and able to strip away and bypass the Immortality and Divinity of Olympian Gods . Power Absorbtion : Zeus was able to drain power from other beings in order to strengthen himself, as shown when he drained Gaia's heart of her power. Duplicate Creation : After absorbing Gaia's heart, Zeus was able to create duplicates of himself that are much weaker but could use many of his attacks. Teleportation : Zeus has shown the ability to disappear in thin air, leaving a rain of electric charges behind, only to appear seconds later somewhere else. Regeneration : Zeus could regenerate from almost any wound. He can heal even from wounds inflicted by other godly power and Kratos’ blades back with relative ease. Ironically, the Blade of Olympus, a weapon of his own creation can kill him but he can heal from non-fatal wounds inflicted by it. Shapeshifting : Like all Olympians, Zeus was able to shapeshift. He made himself look as the oldest of the Olympians, despite actually being the youngest of his siblings. He could also transform himself into a giant eagle as well take the form of a human, or grow hundreds of feet tall, in God of War and God of War: Ghost of Sparta , he appeared to Kratos as the Grave Digger. Summoning : Zeus was able to summon a legion of creatures to fight at his side, examples are the Siren Widows he used to fight Kratos at the end of God of War II . Transformation : Judging from Callisto's fear of revealing Zeus' name to Kratos before her monstrous transformation, it's very likely Zeus cursed her to transform into a monster should she try to tell Kratos of his true father. Curses : Zeus punished the Cursed Legionares for their disloyalty and condemned them to wander the Earth forever as restless corpses. Animation : Zeus was able to harness Kratos' godly powers and use them to bring the Colossus of Rhodes to life. It was very intelligent and powerful, its might increasing every moment. Astral Projection : Zeus was able to project an image of himself to communicate to Kratos and grant him the power to use his thunderbolts. Astral Form : After he was almost killed by Kratos, Zeus displayed the power to manage his soul to Astral Form in means of overpowering his son and channeling the evils fueling his body, although Athena reached that potential before the evils managed to consume her. In this form, Zeus was able to easily overpower Kratos and even destroy almost all of Kratos's equipment and was only defeated by Kratos tapping into the Power of Hope. Mind Imprisonment : In his astral form, Zeus was able to fill Kratos with so much fear that he imprisoned himself in his own mind. Resurrection: Zeus along with the other gods were able to resurrect the Body Burner after he died, and condemn him to forever burn those who die in Pandora's Temple . Prayer Empowerment : Should be comparable to other gods such as Athena, who can gain power from mortals praying to them.

---
Greek Mythology

In Greek Mythology, Zeus was the King of the Gods, ruler of Olympus, and God of the Sky, Heavens, and Lightning. Zeus was youngest of his six siblings. His symbols were the Lightning bolt, the Eagle, the Oak Tree and the Bull. Zeus was the youngest son of Cronos and Rhea . He was very well known for his erotic escapades with beautiful mortal women, resulting in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena , the Graces , the Horae , the Litae , the Muses , the Moirai , Ares , Hephaestus , Enyo , Eris , Eileithyia , Hecate , Hebe , Angelia , Aphrodite , Persephone , Zagreus , Artemis , Apollo , Hermes , Dionysus , Perseus , Heracles , Arcas , Pollux , Helen , Minos , Rhadamanthus , Sarpedon , Aeacus , Damocrateia , Pandia and many others. When the loss of his older siblings by their father Cronos became too great for Rhea to bare any longer, she hid him from Cronos far away, giving him a stone to swallow instead. Once grown, the young God sought to free his siblings and overthrow his father. Disguised as a cup-bearer, Zeus mixed a brew into Cronos' wine, causing him to vomit up the stone that had taken his place, and then his siblings. Overthrowing the Titans, Zeus castrated Cronos and banished him to Tartarus. Later drawing lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades to determine who would rule the skies, oceans, and the Underworld, Zeus won the sky, and became the King of Olympus.
Some sources claim that Zeus is technically the eldest, due to being the only child to not be kept from the world and trapped in their father's stomach, though this is disputable, and some claim fabricated by Zeus himself to lend validity to his claim to the sky before he and his brothers decided to draw lots.
His counterpart in Roman Mythology is Jupiter and was known as Ba'al Hadad to the Canaanites/Israelites, in Norse Mythology, his counterpart is Odin or Thor .