Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

God of War Ragnarök Director Eric Williams explains why Kratos doesn't need Mjolnir, Thor's hammer. Originally during development, the team at Sony Santa Monica considered giving the God of Thunder's weapon to Kratos. However, the team ultimately made a creative decision not to have Kratos wield the hammer.

One reason was that, given Kratos' history of taking and using weapons from defeated opponents, the gaming audience would be expecting him to defeat Thor and claim Mjolnir. The developers would not be able to use the opportunity to surprise the players. Therefore, the team decided to implement an unexpected weapon instead, similar to how players were surprised by the return of the Blades of Chaos half way through God of War 2018.

Another reason was that, given Thor's use of Mjolnir to destroy the giants of Jotunheim, the weapon had an "evil" essence. In contrast, Kratos' primary weapon in the game, the Leviathan Axe, had an essence of "justice" because Faye, Kratos' late wife, bestowed the weapon on him so he would protect others with it.

However, Kratos is a not a just character. He still wields the Blades of Chaos, a set of weapons with which he did many terrible things. He sold his allegiance to Ares, the Greek God of War, and in return he was bestowed the blades, forged from a river of fire and bound to his arms with burning chains. But Kratos is trying to change and grow and "be better" for the sake of his son Atreus, who was in danger of following a dark path just like Kratos did.

Eric Williams explained that the developers wanted to give Kratos a weapon that would blend well with one of the major plot points, namely that of the old Spartan returning to his role as a general presiding over an army. The spear fit well with this part of the story because a spear was the first weapon that a solider of Sparta learned during training. The decision to merge the spear mechanic with the Draupnir ring was a happy coincidence of game development meeting a convenient item from Norse mythology.

Full interview with IGN here: youtube.com/watch?v=fOeWO26Dj5o

Full interview with Kinda Funny Games here: youtube.com/watch?v=KLmZvFuPHYo

#godofwar #ragnarok #gameplay