Here’s Why Kratos Wielded The Leviathan Axe In God Of War

Ever since the first God of War graced the PlayStation 2 (Happy 20th birthday by the way), Kratos was known for his legendary Blades of Chaos, which throughout the years that followed had various adaptations of the deadly, swinging blades. 

Credit: Santa Monica Studio

However, 2018’s God of War, now featuring an older, wiser and slightly slower Kratos, instead carries the Leviathan Axe. It perhaps seemed like a natural fit for our anti-hero to have some new toys to slay the Gods with.  So to fit the tone of this older Kratos, lead developer at Santa Monica, Cory Barlog had a new weapon in mind: an axe.

However, what Cory Barlog didn’t know, is that George Mawle and Vince Napoli, developers at the studio had been secretly working on a magical axe for months, taking inspiration from Thor’s Mjölnerhammer.

Credit: Santa Monica Studio

So what started out as an idea to be a pretty standard axe weapon for close combat, turned into a lethal weapon that could slay enemies not only at close range, but at long distance too, as well as taking out multiple foes at the same time, and best of all, it would snap back into the hands of Kratos.

Credit: Santa Monica Studio

This story was revealed during an interview with VentureBeat, where initially, Mawle and Napoli weren’t sure as to whether Barlog would be happy at their creation and were concerned that he might even “yell at them,” but as it happened, this Leviathan Axe was just the inspiration that Barlog was looking for and thankfully, he loved it!

God Of War Movie
Credit: Santa Monica Studio

Now it seems that the Leviathan Axe is almost as iconic as Kratos’ Blades of Chaos and perhaps without the magical axe, God of War (2018) may not have had made quite the same impact as it did.  However, as those that finished the game will know, the Leviathan Axe wasn’t the only devastating weapon at Kratos’ disposal…

That all said, which weapon do you prefer?  The Blades of Chaos or the Leviathan Axe? 

Featured Image Credit: Santa Monica Studio