We rarely get the chance to compare two actual gods one with another. It’s not impossible, but it is something that rarely occurs since deities rarely clash on such levels, unless it’s a deity-focused work. Cory Barlog’s God of War has become one of the most popular and acclaimed video games of the modern era, with Kratos becoming a gaming icon. On the other hand, Marvel’s Thor is one of the most popular comic book superheroes and is also an icon in his own right. Kratos is currently living in the world of Norse mythology, as of 2018, and is slated to clash with his world’s iteration of Thor in the sequel to 2018’s God of War. In preparation for that, we are going to explore how Kratos would fare in a battle against Marvel’s Thor. Enjoy!
Kratos has a history of eliminating whole pantheons, and while Marvel’s Thor isn’t an exact copy of the Norse god, taking into consideration the track record he has against gods, we think that Kratos would win in this fight. He has managed to defeat and kill Zeus, so by every standard, Thor should not be an invincible foe for him.
Our comparison is going to be divided into three sections. The first is going to bring an overview of the two characters, after which we are going to compare their powers, including their signature weapons. Finally, we’re going to bring you a detailed analysis of the two characters to determine which one would win in a direct clash.
Thor and his powers
Thor Odinson is a fictional comic book character created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby for the American comic book publishing house Marvel Comics. His first appearance occurs in Journey into Mystery #83 (1962). Inspired by Norse deity of the same name, Thor, known as the God of Thunder, is the heir to the throne of Asgard, son of Odin and Gaea.
Thanks to the powers derived from his dual heritage and the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, Thor is one of the strongest and most important protectors of both worlds, a founding superhero member of the Avengers and one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe.
Thor is the son of the father of the gods of Asgard, Odin, and the spirit of the Earth Jord (an avatar of Gaea). Odin’s goal was to have a son who had powers not derived solely from the homeland of the heavenly gods. So Odin created a cave in Norway, where Jord gave birth to Thor. Thor is raised among the Asgardians in the belief that Frigga, his father’s lawful wife, was also his biological mother.
He spent his childhood throwing himself into the most disparate adventures together with his envious adoptive brother Loki, his friends Balder, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg, and his first love, Lady Sif.
Soon, not denying the strength and nobility of his heritage, Thor becomes the best warrior of Asgard, skilled enough to be able to wield the enchanted hammer Mjolnir and to recover the ring of the Nibelung on behalf of his father under the guise of “Siegfried”, giving life to the legend of the same name.
However, all this leads the Asgardian prince to develop an arrogant, impulsive, and almost warmongering character, which is why Odin decides to teach him the value of humility by exiling him to Earth (without memory or powers) in the body of a young and frail medical student Donald Blake who, after ten years, opens a private clinic in New York becoming a brilliant doctor known for his virtues of perseverance and compassion.
Realizing that he has learned his lesson, Odin makes his son go on vacation to Norway, near a cave, to find Mjolnir. Later Thor and his alter ego Donald Blake begin a double life, taking care of the sick in their private clinic together with nurse Jane Foster and defending humanity from evil.
The main adversaries faced by the “God of Thunder” during his first adventures are the Absorbing Man, the Destroyer, the Demoman, Zarrko, the Radioactive Man, the Lava Man, Cobra, Mister Hyde, Amora the Enchantress, Skurge the Executioner, Gargoyle and finally, his archenemy and adoptive brother Loki. After ha fight against Loki, Thor co-founded the Avengers with some of Earth’s heroes.
Falling in love with Jane Foster and life on Earth, Thor refuses to return to Asgard even after Odin marks the end of his exile, which creates numerous friction between father and son. Meanwhile, due to Loki’s machinations, the hero is drawn into a series of epic adventures such as facing the demon Surtur and the giant Skagg, alongside Odin and Balder, or proving his innocence from a false accusation before the Court of Gods; all these events force him to take a long period of absence from the Avengers.
Kratos and his powers
Kratos is the protagonist/anti-hero of the God of War franchise and the only character that connects all the video games and comics into a single narrative. He was created by David Jaffe and was initially voiced by Terrence C. Carson, who was later replaced by Christopher Judge.
Kratos was born in Sparta. Around the time of his birth, an oracle told a prophecy about the demise of the Olympian gods not by the hand of the imprisoned Titans, but by a mortal described as “a marked warrior”.
Since Kratos’ younger brother, Deimos, had a strange birthmark, the gods kidnapped him and gave him to the God of Death, Thanatos, who tortured him for years.
Soon after, Kratos marked himself with a red tattoo to honor his sibling, whom he believed to be dead. Kratos would later find and rescue his brother, but he was killed by Thanatos, who was in turn killed by Kratos.
Kratos grew up to become a husband and the father of a daughter, but he was also known as a brutal and ruthless warrior. At one point, seeing that his army could lose, he offered himself to Ares, the God of War, in order to become even better.
Kratos slaughtered hundreds in Ares’ name, but then the evil God of War tricked Kratos into killing his own family, Kratos broke the tie he had with the god and swore to avenge his family. This is how God of War actually begins.
Facing unfathomable perils and creatures from Greek mythology, Kratos managed to kill Ares and become the new God of War. He was later tricked by Zeus but survived with the help of the Titans, who wanted to use him in their fight against Zeus.
Later, he would find himself betrayed by them, too. Fueled by rage and vengeance, Kratos embarks on a “journey” to kill the whole Olympian pantheon, including the Titans, which he eventually does in God of War III.
It was implied that he died at the end of that game, but a post-credits scene revealed that he had actually survived. Years later, Kratos resurfaced in the Nordic realm with his son, Atreus, where he was challenged by the Norse deities and now has to fight them in order to survive.
Comparing the powers of Thor and Kratos
Our second section, despite a different title from our usual one, will still contain a comparison of the two characters’ powers. It won’t be a direct comparison as much as a listing of their powers abilities, which is going to serve as a basis for our analysis in section three of our article. Now, let us begin.
Firstly, let us see what Thor can do. Thor is a god and as such, he has a lot of the same powers his father, Odin, has. But he is still weaker than Odin. He is superhuman in most aspects (strength, durability, intelligence, longevity, etc.) but unlike Thanos, he is not immortal. He is practically invulnerable, but he does age and, like all the other Asgardian gods, will eventually die; it’ll just take him longer than your average bear to do so.
The thin with Thor is that he has access to a variety of unimaginable powers that stem from Asgard, the best-known being the powers of Mjolnir, the Stormbreaker, and the Odin Force. Thor can also use other forms of energy and blend with them, as he did with Power Cosmic. There’s also the forbidden Warrior’s Madness, which can turn Thor into an unstoppable beast, but also destroy his psyche, which is why it was banned by Odin.
As the son of the king of the gods, Kratos possesses immense physical strength on the level of those of the gods and the Titans, a speed overwhelming that of light from afar, a great resistance allowing him to withstand devastating attacks, overdeveloped senses, exceptional stamina, foolproof agility and skill, and powerful regenerative abilities, allowing him to heal himself in seconds.
For a short period of time during battle, Kratos can use divine powers, including summoning lightning, changing his size at will, flight, improved strength, and resistance, etc. This is because Kratos has a habit of tapping into the strength of the enemies he kills, and since his enemies are mostly gods, he can access divine powers. For example, he takes the boots of Hermes after killing him, to increase his speed and he takes the head of the Medusa to petrify his problematic opponents.
Having killed the majority of the Olympian gods, he, therefore, has their powers and can also use them. When he goes all out and expels all his anger, he can unleash the Rage of Sparta, which increases his strength tenfold and makes him nearly invulnerable.
He perfectly masters unarmed combat as well as a multitude of weapons, especially his swords. Having gone to the Underworld and, having fought all kinds of creatures under all kinds of circumstances, Kratos can endure extreme conditions. The multitude of artifacts he possesses after all of his victories grants him diverse and incredible abilities ranging from skill amplification to the use of magic. He can also see and touch things that humans cannot see, or touch, like the ghosts and specters he fought in hell.
Can Kratos lift Thor’s hammer?
As far as the God of War franchise is concerned, we don’t know whether Kratos is going to be able to lift Mjolnir, but we assume that he will, once he clashes and defeats Thor in the game. This, of course, is not confirmed so we’ll have to wait and see, but we assume that Kratos won’t have any problems with that weapon in his own universe. Marvel’s Mjolnir is something different.
To wield and use Mjolnir in Marvel’s universe, a person must be worthy, as prescribed by Odin. The Worthiness Enchantment is a powerful enchantment put on Mjolnir by Odin, that prevents anyone who is deemed unworthy of even picking up the hammer, let alone use its powers. Regardless of their physical strength, an unworthy person will not be able to move the hammer from its place. The only exception to this rule is when the hammer floats in the vacuum of space – you can pick it up, but it remains unusable.
Even Thor, to whom the hammer was initially given, has to prove his worth, or he won’t be able to lift Mjolnir, which goes to show how much magic Odin put into the hammer. Odin is the only one who can change this rule and can give others the power to use it; Thor cannot change the magic, but if he is worthy, he can give that power to someone else.
Worthiness is not something that is explicitly defined, but it is assumed that one must have a good and noble heart, a strong will, and the determination to do what is necessary (even kill, perhaps) to save those he must protect. Sheer power is not an important factor, as well as each of the criteria individually – they must all be present for a person to be considered worthy. This is why some superheroes are not able to lift it, mostly because they lack the determination to do anything that is necessary to save the day.
Taking into consideration all of these facts, we can deduce the following: Kratos certainly has a strong will and he is determined to do what is necessary to achieve his goals. He is also powerful enough, but we know that power alone is not that important for Marvel’s Mjolnir. The only thing that poses a problem here, actually, is his heart. Namely, Kratos has certainly committed a lot of atrocities while he was in Greece, both before he killed Ares and after he became the god of war. In addition to that, he also killed the whole Greek pantheon before taking refuge in the Nordic lands.
One could argue that this eliminates him, but Kratos was driven by revenge, as he was tricked and manipulated by the gods, who saw in him a potential for their own games. He had a very close bond with his family, but his heart was corrupted by vindictive hatred.
In addition to this, Kratos has changed a lot in the Nordic realms. Sure, he is still ruthless, but he has lost his bloodlust and wanted to live normally. He was challenged by the gods of Valhalla, who sensed his presence and deemed him a potential danger, although he was not one. He also cared for Atreus throughout the last game, showing that he was capable of having a family, however strange that family might be. Sure, he was not the father of the year, but he did his best under the circumstances.
Ultimately, we think that Kratos would be able to lift Marvel’s Mjolnir. He has the necessary prerequisites and we have explained why we think that his actions are redeemable to the point that Mjolnir would consider him worthy. So, in our opinion, yes, Kratos could lift Thor’s hammer from the Marvel Universe.
Thor vs Kratos: Who would win?
And now for the most important and interesting section of our article – the analysis. Here, we are going to use what we have found out about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Let us continue.
Based on their powers alone, Thor seems to be the stronger character, at least nominally. He has a much wider array of powers at his disposal, while Kratos is just a good fighter. Of course, he would approach Thor with the collected powers of the Greek gods, but even that wouldn’t be enough against Marvel’s God of Thunder. Why? Thor is much more experienced with his powers than Kratos and he has dwelled into the depths of his powers much more than Kratos, who just utilized others’ powers for himself.
Thor has also fought an array of powerful characters and has been able to defeat them; these are, on a general level, characters much stronger than Kratos’ regular opponents. On the other hand, Kratos has his Rage of Sparta, and that would certainly count for something, as that is a power that Thor hasn’t faced before.
There is one thing, though, that Kratos can count on in this battle that Thor cannot – Kratos’ track record. Namely, Kratos has, as we all know, killed the complete Greek pantheon, the Titans included. I don’t think anyone would dare say that these powerful deities are much weaker than Thor, especially since Kratos had to fight an array of different powers to beat them all.
In this aspect, Kratos is comparable to Gorr the God Butcher, a character we have already talked about here. Neither of them is nominally stronger than Thor, but both actually are; Gorr has defeated him and we honestly think that Kratos would be able to do so, too. He has defeated Hades, Ares, Poseidon, Kronos, and Zeus, with the latter being a Greek version of Thor, only stronger. With such an amazing track record, Kratos would certainly be able to find an angle to defeat the Norse God of Thunder.
And that’s it for today. We hope you had fun reading this and that we have given you all the information you were looking for. See you next time and don’t forget to follow us!
