Imposter Tyr (2024)

The ”Týr“ that Kratos and Atreus had freed in Svartalfheim was actually Odin in disguise, who posed as his own son as a means to infiltrate Kratos' circle of allies and know their plans. This also unexpectedly led him to discover the secret prophecies that the Jötnar had hidden in their shrines. Odin eventually drops his disguise altogether in a moment of anger when he kills Brok.

In God of War Ragnarök[]

As Fimbulwinter came to an end, Faye's husband and the Greek God of War Kratos and their son Atreus began a quest to find Týr in order to prevent the prophecy of Ragnarök from coming to pass. Mimir after learning this told them that though he had heard Týr was dead, Odin particularly seemed to be concerned with making sure that he was never found. Upon discovering a secret in the Sköll and Hati shrine, Kratos and Atreus theorized that Týr was in fact still alive. With the help of clues that Atreus had found, they figured out his exact location; the realm of the Dwarves, Svartalfheim.

Once in the dwarven realm, they discovered Týr's prison in the mines and freed him. However, the duo had no idea that the "Tyr" they had found was actually Odin. Odin apparently already been posing as Týr long time before Kratos and Atreus found its location, since it was suggested that most of the Aesir and Dwarves of Svartalfheim in general believed that Týr was locked up in that Asgardian prison located in that kingdom and that only a privileged few knew the whereabouts of the true Týr in Helheim, where there were other imprisoned people from whom Odin obtained his aspect. To bolster his ruse, the All-Father pretended to be delirious and hallucinating, rambling that Kratos and Atreus are not real. When Atreus claimed that he and his father are not on the side of Odin, Kratos uses one of the Blades of Chaos to sever the noose that was around Odin's neck. Upon noticing the blade, the disguised Odin states to the Spartan that he knows his true identity and asks him if he is going to kill him. Though Kratos tried to tell him that he and his son came to free him, the fake Tyr fearfully backs away. When Mimir tried to get some sense into him, Odin pretended to be horrified again upon seeing the former ambassador's head, falsely accusing Kratos of killing him. When Atreus tried to explain that they revived him, the disguised Odin fled while at the same time pretending to be terrified and Atreus began going after him.

The fake Tyr proceeded to flee into a tunnel, which he unknowingly caved in, with Atreus right behind him, separating themselves from Kratos and Mimir. After the Spartan catches up with the two, he was able to bring some sense into the fake Tyr, unaware that he is actually talking to Odin. The All-Father in his Tyr disguise then proceeded to make up a lie to Atreus by explaining the reason as to why he ran away; he doesn't always know if anything is real or not. After escaping the Einherjar and throughout the journey, the fake Tyr accompanied Kratos and Atreus and bringing him to the Sindri's House in Realm Between Realms. Sindri offered Tyr to the cleaniest room where he settle but Tyr only wanted to the broom closet instead (unbeknownst to them, Odin implanted several ravens one by one without noticed), and later agreeing to travel with them to Alfheim to uncover the true nature of Groa's prophecy. In Alfheim, when the trio discovered more details of the real prophecy of Ragnarök, Odin, in his disguise, proceeded to pretend that he cannot the lead the armies of the other realms against Asgard. However, deep inside, he had realized that he has been wrong about the prophecy, and that the pieces of the event that he put together were merely false.

Eventually, much later, after Atreus returned to Sindri's house with the mask, the fake Tyr, who now had a sudden change of heart, took the mask and proceeded to reveal that there is another way into Asgard, but they can't reach it from Sindri's house. Suspicious, Brok demands that he reveal it, but the imposter tells him that he has to gather up his things before he can reveal it. Knowing that he is lying, Brok continues prodding Tyr over this, having sensed that something is amiss as the Norse God of War had no material possessions in the house and he had called Atreus by his original name Loki. This caused the fake Tyr to snap and he stabs Brok in the chest, critically wounding him, while at the same time the fake Tyr drop the disguised and revealing himself as Odin.

After Odin escapes, Kratos, Freya, Freyr, and Atreus all realized that the Tyr that has been with them was actually the All-Father in disguise, and that they had been fooled. Mimir, in particular, could not believe how easily they had been deceived, realizing that the imposter had been continuously traveling to and from Asgard using a ravens that he apparently hid inside his room, and looking inside his closet was all it would have taken to expose him.

Fortunately, after Odin's death and the destruction of Asgard, a fragment of the realm which is a prison landed on the realm Niflheim. Should Kratos and his allies visit this prison, they will find and freed the real Týr, who turns out had been imprisoned the whole time. Although Kratos was unsure whether it's true, Mimir assures that since Odin is dead, the Týr they found in this prison is indeed a real one.

Personality[]

Due to him actually being Odin in disguise, the fake Tyr's personality was essentially what the All-Father thought he was: a pacifist and a borderline coward. To gain the trust of others, he would present himself as a shadow of the man he was imitating, having seemingly lost his warrior spirit from years of imprisonment. In reality, however, he likely did so because his fighting style would immediately give him away. To protect his agenda, he repeatedly tried to persuade Kratos against going to war with Asgard, feigning concern for innocents getting caught in the crossfire as a justification. In Alfheim, he used the example of the never-ending war between the Elves and its devastating effect on the realm as justification for this, as an attempt to convince Kratos and Atreus that war with Asgard would lead to nothing but death and destruction, regardless of they won or lost. His act was so effective, with others not asking questions and giving him space out of pity and respect for the real Týr‘s reputation, that he was able to successfully spy on them all whilst moving to and from Asgard undetected.

However, there were times when glimpses of the imposter's true identity emerged from behind his act. He referred to Freya and Atreus as "Frigg" and "Loki" respectively, with the latter finally causing Brok to grow suspicious. He also had high standards of cuisine, being disgusted by Brok's low-quality meals. The most prominent trait differentiating the fake Tyr from the real one however was that he had Odin's short temper and superiority complex, generally talking down to others and ultimately blowing his cover by losing his temper and fatally wounding Brok when the dwarf came close to exposing him.

Overall, Mimir would proclaim that Odin's impersonation of Týr to be a cruel mockery of what his son aspired for and believed in.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

• In the game, the fake Týr is referred to as Tyr in the subtitles whenever he speaks, notably missing the acute accent over the Y. When the real Týr is met, his name in the subtitles is Týr.
• The earliest, and possibly the latest to be unfolded in-story hint of his imposter status occurred in the Svartalfheim. When Atreus offered fake Tyr a spear as a weapon, stating that it's his weapon of prophecy, fake Tyr declined it and referred the weapon as a walking stick. Odin is the only character in the story who used his spear as a walking stick, tough it was only late into the game that he revealed his walking stick to be the All-Father's spear, Gungnir.
  • Another earliest hint of the fake Tyr's true identity is when Kratos found him, the former's neck is wrapped with a noose - a small reference of Odin hanged himself once that earned him "Lord of the hanged" title.
  • There is still also an earliest and almost-unnoticeable hint of his true self. After Kratos freed the fake Tyr, there are some raven feathers scattered in the cell. This is obviously belongs to Odin's ravens that he often used as a mean of teleportation.
• Throughout the game, there are multiple hints towards the Imposter Tyr's true identity, or at the very least, his suspicious and contradictory nature, including:
  • When Atreus asks Tyr whether he's familiar with the name Loki in the realm between realms, Tyr claims that he doesn't know, stating that the giants were a very private people, a somewhat strange answer since Tyr was arguably the most trusted ally of the Giants, and would likely be able to give more information.
  • In the Realm between Realms with Tyr, the player can approach the edge of the pathway where they previously jumped off the top with the Unity Stone's protection in order to find the Jotunheim tower, which Tyr went to great lengths hiding. If the player moves near it, Atreus will remind Tyr of this, to which Tyr gives a vague, narrow answer.
  • When resting at Sindri's house, Sindri asks Tyr if he wants some food, and Tyr humbly asks for hardtack. Hardtack is a type of dense biscuit that was valued on long voyages for being cheap and long-lasting, but was bland, tough to chew and extremely unappetizing to eat on its own. It is therefore a strange culinary request, especially for someone who has been imprisoned for countless winters.
    • Tyr later criticizes the quality of Brok's sausages, bitterly remarking that he remembered food tasting better, despite claiming earlier that he would be satisfied with nothing more than bland hardtack biscuits.
  • In Alfheim, when discussing the history of the Light and Dark Elves, Tyr deliberately portrays Freyr in a negative light, blaming him for leaving Alfheim and allowing it to be decimated by war after Freya's Marriage to Odin. This is a strange view to have, as the war started long before Freyr's involvement, and he had a responsibility to protect Vanaheim from Odin's forces. This is something Mimir points out.
  • When Atreus regretfully asks Tyr if they made the wrong decision by helping the Light Elves during their first visit to Alfheim, Tyr implies that there isn't a right side in the war, and they therefore shouldn't pick one. Tyr likely took this stance to plant seeds of doubt in Atreus' mind due to his enthusiasm to wage war against Asgard and bring down Odin. By convincing him that the Alfheim war (which Atreus previously thought involved a clear good side and bad side) involved two factions that were no better than each other, it would likely make Atreus more hesitant to view Asgard as the clear evil side, as they may not be as bad as he thought. Ironically, this later turns out to be true, except Odin is revealed to all as the one unredeemable foe that had to be stopped.
  • Becoming distraught by learning the truth of Gróa's prophecy, showing that only Odin and Asgard would be destroyed and the other realms will survive, then hiding his reaction by pretending to be upset over seemingly killing a Light Elf out of frustration.
  • Calling Atreus “Champion”, causing him and Kratos to argue and driving a wedge between the father and son, so that Atreus would be more inclined to seek Odin out in Asgard.
  • Referring to Freya as “Frigg” and bringing up Baldur's death, a subtle attempt to cause tension between her and Kratos.
  • Expressing irritation at the reveal that Brok and Sindri had stolen Draupnir instead of Mimir, even though the real Týr would likely have not cared at all about this.
  • When explaining the origins of the mask, Tyr shows excitement and awe at the prospect of gaining infinite knowledge.
  • When the group discuss Atreus returning to Asgard, Imposter Tyr hints at his true nature: mentioning Atreus will "give us a pair of eyes in the enemy's inner sanctum".
  • When Atreus voices his intention of seeing Odin in Asgard, while everyone else, especially Mimir, desperately tries to warn Atreus against it, Imposter Tyr is the only one who remains calm. He only gives a vague remark that Odin will only clouds Atreus' mind while the others try to make Atreus to see the folly of seeing Odin. Given that he is the one who suffers the most thanks to the All-Father, and the severe depression that he displayed upon his own freedom, it is extremely suspicious that he managed to calmly warned Atreus of the All-Father's trickery.
• Throughout the game, the fake Tyr always cooks braised food for Kratos and his allies in Sindri's House. In Asgard, Odin apparently interested and even praised a stew during Atreus' journey on the realm. This is also hinting his true identity.
• In an interview with IGN, game director Eric Williams reveals that Odin did not only impersonate Tyr during the game. When the main trio first arrives in Svartalfheim, a Dwarf walking over a bridge spits at them. This is revealed to be Odin and corresponds to one of the imprisoned corpses within the prison containing Tyr as well. Apparently others were also impersonated at other points in the game.
  • Though the apparently corresponding Dwarf is dead by the time Kratos and his allies reach the prison in Niflheim, it is heavily implied that a requirement for Odin's impersonation abilities is for the original to still be alive, as is the case with Týr. It may just be the case that the Dwarf had died during his imprisonment and Odin could not use the disguise anymore.

• Odin disguised as Tyr and infiltrating Kratos and his team is similar to Zeus talking to Kratos while disguised as the Grave Digger.
• Odin's deception of Tyr is very similar to Barty Crouch Jnr's deception of Alastor Moody in the Harry Potter series. Like Odin, Barty Crouch captured the real Moody and took on his guise via Polyjuice Potion, which was so convincing that no one suspected him for the entire school year. Any strange behavioral patterns that Fake Moody showed were simply passed off as things that the real Moody would do anyway, similar to fake Tyr's cowardice and reluctance to fight being excused as trauma due to his years of captivity and torture. Both Crouch and Odin also disguised themselves as characters that would otherwise be having their first on-screen appearances.
  • Furthermore, Fake Moody only blew his cover when his excitement at Voldemort's return caused him to act rashly, doing things that were completely out of Moody's character, such as forcefully dragging Harry to his office and eventually attacking him. Similarly, Odin only blew his cover when his excitement over Atreus completing the mask and his desperation to get it back to Asgard caused him to act out of character, claiming to know a way to Asgard and showing willingness to lead the charge against Asgard despite being completely against it in every scene prior. As a result, Brok refused to go along with his plan and called out his falsehoods, which eventually led to Odin furiously killing Brok and dropping his disguise altogether.