We Must Be Better - The Beautiful Masculinity of Kratos in God of War

This video was sponsored by my dog. If the video gets 5,000 likes I’ll interview him about his favorite toys for fetch.

Worst part of freya is that while she does realise her mistake, she does not fix it. It's a lie that she couldn't undo her curse. She knew about mistletoe when seeing Atreus's arrows. She could have saved Baldur but she wouldn't.

You should really cover god of war ragnarok specifically the Valhalla dlc if you think this was a good story

kratos became better men with good women like faye, not some self proclaim feminist with color hair

This is an excellent analysis. Thank you for showing how these games are all about positive masculinity and become better men. Thank you

i discovered you trough this video, but this got me tears in some times, don't know why but this kinda made me feel and have some propouse, and the phrase of who we have been doesn't define by who we are whas really good. hope you keep doing this kind of videos, helps us men whiout much propose in every day have a close story that engage what the propper masculinity is. htanks a lot, hope you keep this fantastic job.

Wait till you see the Dlc where Kratos goes to therapy.

So many people in the comments crapping on Kratos doing more than "Angry swords go BRRRR".

Awesome video, I do wish the advice Mimir gave to Kratos was also included. "...You hate the gods. All gods. It's no accident that includes yourself. And it includes your boy, don't you see that? He feels that! He can't help what he is. He can't begin to help it, because you haven't even told him. It's all connected man!" Mimir accurately diagnosed the situation and gave sound advice, advice that Kratos took. The line speaks to a part of Kratos' personality that has, possibly without him realizing it, damaged his relationship with Atreus. That said I LOVE this video. I'd like to see an analysis of Ragnorok as well as perhaps a video on the relationship Kratos has with Mimir.

Making a grown man cry without even finishing the video.

Kratos was a good man. He wanted to conquer and secure his borders. He loved his family and tried to get his daughter back. Until the gods themselves turned on him. New kratos is ehh. Last of us with kratos

In the same amount of time that Ragnarok has been out, I've played GoW 2018 twice. I gave a away Ragnarok after I was done seeing that I wouldn't play that game again. Had David Jaffe stayed on and directed the last two, we'd still have the Conan the barbarian type Kratos. People have said they want the original trilogy to be remade. 😆 🤣 😂 HELL NO. Barlog will butcher the shit out of the original in a remake.

I’m sorry but I’m not going to be Kratos. I’m a human not a literal previous god of war now god of hope. My masculinity is fine where it is, but never will I ever be a video game character.

I adore what they've done narratively with God of War (some nitpicks here and there.) But man did the gameplay take a shot to the knees for it.

I beat all of the first game, valkyries and all, but it just didn't scratch the action game itch very well. But I kept going for the story.

This game made me learn to deal with certain things and take to my son. Came at a time in need indeed. And that one line though said in an urgent event kills me “WOMAN DO YOU HEAR ME?!”😂 Kratos and Freya may never end up together but they sound married

I feel like men are told to “be better” all the time. So much so that it’s more or less ignored at this point.

Be better, be a man, take care of your family, be more emotional, risk your life or you’re a coward, be a protector but don’t be violent, etc, etc ad nausium.

Hi-key Christian undertones

I grew up in an extremely unhealthy home environment but playing God Of War made me kind of proud of the struggle involved with reprogramming yourself to avoid hurting the people you love. Kratos is an amazing character, and anyone who has struggled with rage can relate to the struggle of trying to change yourself.

This video is a masterpiece, I'll definitely follow you for more. Thank you for this hour of enjoyment, Kratos' path is one to be celebrated as a masterpiece in media!

Its great to see so many smaller channels getting recognition that they deserve!

I can relate to this I have a 7 year old boy and I can be pretty aggressive but I always do my best to love him and to show him love because I know how many men grew up without it and how much it can hurt a man growing up.

❤ this is 💯 well said and well explained!🎉. If you don’t have any children then you won’t understand completely. I mean no offence to anyone. 😢

I just watched the video about Theoden before this and I am glad to have found your channel, I am definitely gonna to show my father these two videos I've watched. Maybe your articulate insight will give him some food for thought and perspective regarding something's I've attempted to convey over the years... I would give anything for a normal healthy loving relationship with both of my parents...

and people love saying video games are for children. Honestly whenever i look at kratos, i can see the reflection of my past self. Th last few god of war games has taught me more than i could have taught myself. We all must be better

I learnt so much from this video. Thank you for the video

I really hope you cover GOW Ragnarok too. It has so much to say about masculinity, family, fatherhood, trauma... It's maybe one of my favorite games and I'm glad this video introduced me to your channel.

Peak fiction

Thank you so much for diving so deep into Kratos. He is a character I learned to love from GOW 2018 and went back to learn more about him from previous games and god I could cry thinking about my man kratos becoming better in a new way.

Masterful. Wonderful. I loved playing this for everything you're pointing out about the arc (and helping me notice a lot that I didn't pick up on, e.g. the one time Kratos reaches out to touch Atreus, Atreus doesn't notice and runs away...), and loved your treatment of it. I've prayed this would be an unlooked-for blessing to an entire generation of fathers and sons, helping them to "be better."

Fuck my father issues womt let me make it through this

"Be better" has to be some of the worst writing to come out of modern writers... kratos went woke

Well you owe us a dog interview. That being said this contains alot of what I feel is missing from many reviews of the recent god of war games. Even if you dislike the gameplay loop the narrative shows growth of the dev team and growth of the character, in a remarkably self aware and mature way coming from a series where you, at one point, button mashed to fuck women on a bed for free xp (at the start of the game)

My parents were not present when me and my brothers Grow up. When I became a father, I want to be better than my parents. I connected with Kratos due to his struggle.

sony santa monicas writers and what they view as "masculinity" is not traditional masculinity. They have in fact emasculated Kratos because now hes a whiny unsure mess of himself who lets his emotions consume him. This is not masculinity. This is a psy op by the left wing writers of California.

Fantastic video

I believe your definition of masculinity is based off destiny's portrayal, which is wrong.

Masculinity was always portrayed as stoic, which I'll define correctly as controlling one's emotions, not having no emotions. Prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice. All of this is greek based as well.

What I'd give to have my father back in my arms again. I love listening and watching to these kinds of videos about sons and their fathers and what roles they play in life.

Its a shame he passed when I was still 14. I didn't know much of the world then and he has not yet taught every lesson and wisdom he has to me. I can only live forward with the image I have of him.

Those of you who still have your fathers, please cherish and love them. You never know when they'll be gone

I'm a new father.
I played this game and Ragnarok before my son was born and I love this video essay on the philosophy of the story.
Please make another video on Ragnarok for me and my boy.

Please cover the DLC that just came out. There is so much to discuss on this topic that could pertain to your essay here.

Even with my dad around, I never really had a true father figure. He was never a teacher or a comforting presence and he never cared or tried to be. I had to learn to be a man by myself, even with friends of the family who were excellent fathers offering to help, they simply never had time. The only thing he taught me was how I shouldn’t be, he was the perfect example of a poor father. As corny as it is, these games were somewhat helpful in showing me a positive example of manliness.

I hope you do a video about ragnarok

We also have to remember that as a Spartan, Kratos never had a proper father figure. He was raised in the Agoge by a man who wasn’t his father, he was raised to be a cog in the Spartan war machine and nothing else. The way he treats Atreus early on lines up with this, Kratos doesn’t know HOW to be a father. Every now and then fatherly instincts poke through in moments of panic and pain but it is the people along the way who teach Kratos how to be a father.

This Video and break down is simply gorgeous.

This game put so much respect on masculine dads. It was so amazing to see a man truly go through it all, only to change his ways and write his wrongs for the sake of his one and only son.

Masterpiece

God of War Story is one of the best in Video Games

A very big part of Kratos' struggle to teach Atreus, is that he has learned incredibly valuable and painful lessons. But he can't tell Atreus those lessons because he is afraid of how Atreus will view him if he learns. He is ashamed of the way in which he had to learn the lessons he did, and what he did in those situations.

There is a conversation they have where Kratos says "It is no small thing to kill a God, Boy! There are consequences to such an act!" and Atreus responds "HOW DO YOU KNOW?!"
And Kratos responds with Anger and no real answer. Because he can't make himself Respond properly because it would mean revealing his past. He knows all to well how dangerous it is to lose yourself to anger, and it scares him to see Atreus do it. But he can't bring himself to explain why or how it is so bad, without revealing his past. So all he can do is say "Don't lose control!" Meanwhile he is continiously using his Rage and fury to accomplish INCREDIBLE feats. To a Child those are indistinguishable, and the words will ring hollow. It's just amazing

one could say turning i to an animal is the sole reason zeus amd loki got into as much trouble as they did.