There's no doubt God of War is an iconic Playstation franchise. Recently in various social media forums, LGBTQ+ fans have been tossing around the idea that the main character of the series, Kratos, is gay. It's a fun hypothetical since there are still so few queer characters in the gaming world, and revealing a massively popular character like Kratos to be gay would be a, no pun intended, game-changer.
Unfortunately, though, these discussions brought out the homophobes, with some saying that making his character gay would ruin the franchise. Kratos has a young son named Atreus, whom the next game will presumably follow as an adult, which could be another opportunity to explore sexuality in the universe, but even that possibility/thought angered some gamers.
According to GameRant, Cory Barlog, a writer and designer for the God of War games, joked about the possibility of Kratos being bisexual. After all, sexuality was very fluid in the Greek mythologies the game is based in.
The original director of the franchise, David Jaffe, also addressed the drama and homophobes head-on in a YouTube video. "There’s nothing in the canon that says that he can’t be gay," said Jaffe in the nearly six-minute clip. "A lot of the times people say, 'We don’t have a problem with the gay folks, we just have a problem if you retcon a character, that feels forced and wrong.' OK, I kinda see that point of view, but in this case what’s the problem? If Atreus is gay, why would it ruin the franchise? The goddamn truth is that under the surface they are homophobic."
Jaffe even responded to someone who said no one wanted to watch gay storylines or sex scenes play out in the game. "I have a gay brother, I’m sure he’d be happy when Atreus is a grown-up and he’s a good-looking dude and all that, to see Atreus in a sex scene with some dudes, right? Second off why would it ruin the game?"
"If you don’t wanna look, don’t look," Jeffe concluded. "If you don’t wanna actually do the mini-game don’t do it. My question to you is if Atreus ended up being a gay fella when he grows up, would it ruin the franchise? Because I don’t really understand what would create a destructive force in a franchise because one character who’s a dude happens to like other dudes...it doesn’t make no sense to me."
Preach, Jaffe!
While he might support the inclusion of more LGBTQ+ characters in video games, it can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. When the Mass Effect franchise considered introducing gay characters, EA received an avalanche of angry letters and reportedly ended up removing the storyline completely. And when games like The Last of Us Part II and CyberPunk 2077 included LGBTQ+ storylines, it almost instantly incited controversy in the gaming community.
Maybe one day queer people will be able to see themselves reflected in their favorite games WITHOUT having so much drama and hate thrown their way...
