God of War: Ragnarök has finally arrived, bringing the end to Kratos and Atreus' journey in Norse mythology. The two of them have traveled through the nine realms and are looking to help rebuild them now that Odin and Asgard are gone.
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Like all God of War games, God of War: Ragnarök brings in influences from mythology and weaves a new story around those told hundreds of years ago. Some of the mythologies this game takes influences from are pretty different from what the game portrays.
10 Jörmungandr
One element of the 2018 God of War that surprised many fans was the inclusion of Jörmungandr. When the game ends, the player learns that Atreus is meant to be Loki, the famous trickster god in Norse Mythology. If Loki is just a kid, it doesn't make sense that one of his children would be alive during the game's events.
Jörmungandr's inclusion is actually due to time travel, but players get to see the birth of the giant snake during the game's events. Atreus and Angrboda find a soulless snake in the Iron Wood and put the soul of Joten in it through a spell. Although the player doesn't see what happens after, they learn that the snake has grown and eventually finds its way to Asgard to battle Thor.
9 Fenrir
In mythology, Loki has three children with the giant Angrboda, but only two make an appearance in the game. One of them, Fenrir, is introduced at the beginning of the game as a wolf that Kratos and Atreus rescued. The Wolf dies, and his soul is transferred to Atreus' knife, which is later transferred into Garm's body.
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It's a very interesting interpretation of Fenrir to make him a pet instead of a child. Once again, since Atreus couldn't have had his children in the game, this was a good workaround. Combining Garm and Fenrir into one character was also smart since they serve much of the same purpose in the old Norse stories.
8 Hræsvelgr
Loki's third child is the ruler of Helheim but could not exist in the game for obvious reasons. Instead of creating a workaround as they did for the other two children, the ruler of Helheim was chosen to be Hræsvelgr. In the Norse stories, she's a giant eagle who created wind and sits north of heaven. Since heaven doesn't play a large role in Norse myths, it's a perfectly valid interpretation to make her the ruler of Helheim. The game's lore suggests she wasn't the first ruler, but she's been the longest and is eager to be replaced. Perhaps that was meant to leave the door open for Hela to make an appearance someday in the franchise.
7 Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is the prophesied war that would lead to the end of the gods. In the old stories, Ragnarök is a battle that encompasses all nine realms, but the game makes a few changes. It's revealed in the game that Ragnarök is the name of a giant that forms when Surtr and Sinmara merge, and it will be the destruction of Asgard only.
This is the biggest change the game makes to the source material. Considering the game developers didn't want to destroy the entire franchise, it makes sense that this would be their direction. It allows players to kill Odin, a great interpretation of the god, while keeping the door open for more.
6 Asgardian Wall
The wall that protects Asgard is featured in the game as the player controls Atreus and climbs it. The original story tells of an unnamed giant that bet he could build a wall in a certain amount of time, and if he won, he would marry Frigg. The giant used the help of his horse until it looked like he was going to win. Loki turned himself into a horse to bait the other horse away, and the giant lost the bet and his life.
Since Loki is just a child in the game, this event could not happen. Rather than pretending it did, the game's developers changed the story. The giant still made the same bet, but he was able to complete the wall in time and told Freya a secret. Thor still killed the giant, but this change created a clever bit of world-building in the game.
5 Angrboda
Not much is known about Angrboda in mythological stories. Some scholars aren't sure how long she's been a part of Loki's story, but she only has one purpose: to give birth to the three giant monsters, Jormangandr, Fenrir, and Hela. After that, her story is done.
In the game, the developers build on that idea and create a character who doesn't know what her future holds after she speaks to Atreus. She's not going to be the mother of his children, but throughout the game, players learn that she's attempting to take her fate into her own hands. With a God of War tv series on the way, this is one of the stories it should adapt.
4 Loki's Shape-Shifting
Loki is known as a trickster god in Norse myths and has the ability to shape-shift as well. In God of War: Ragnarök, Loki develops the ability to shape-shift into a bear and a wolf. At first, these changes were when his emotions were heightened, but eventually, he could control them.
There isn't really a mythological story where Loki changes into a bear, but the game chose to utilize the ability in a new way. In order to give Atreus an ability similar to Kratos' Spartan Rage, the developers gave Atreus his mythological shape-shifting. When players play as Atreus, they eventually unlock the ability to give them a leg up in a battle.
3 Nidhogg
Nidhogg was a mythical dragon that dwelled at the bottom of the world tree. He gnawed at only one tree root and ate the corpses of those guilty of murder or adultery. After Ragnarök, it is said that he will break free and become the new scion of evil in the world after its rebirth.
Since the game is about how certain mythological creatures are misunderstood and the gods are evil, Nidhogg is reimagined as the keeper of the world tree. Instead of just gnawing at one root, he tends to the tree and prevents it from overgrowing. He also protects the roots, which leads to an epic boss battle in the game.
2 The Norns
In Norse Mythology, the Norns are powerful keepers of fate. They control the fates of both gods and men. They share many of the same abilities as the Greek fates and often fill very similar roles. The Norns have the power to erase people from existence and will come to a person at the time of their birth to determine their future.
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In the game, the Norns are severely depowered. To differentiate themselves from the Fates, the Norns are interpreted as beings who can predict the fate of someone. They are able to predict a person's path with such accuracy that it looks like they control it. However, this allows Kratos to break free from his fate and choose a new path.
1 Loki's Mask
One of the major storylines of God of War: Ragnarök is Odin's obsession with looking into the Rift of Creation. To do this, he tasks Atreus with finding the remaining pieces of a mask that he believes will allow him to look through the rift. While the mask becomes an important McGuffin in the game, it doesn't have any basis in mythology.
The concept of a mask might come from the film adaptation of The Mask starring Jim Carrey. In that film, Loki's mask plays an important role and could have been the inspiration for the mask in the game. However, the mask could imply something greater to come, especially since the languages on the mask are from different regions.
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