Zeus (God of War)

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“	We have faced far worse than this one fallen mortal. But we are the gods! We who the mortals worship. We who rule over this land. We who will not be swept aside by this petulant fool! Brothers, put aside the petty grievances that have splintered us for so long. We will unite. We will stand together. And I will wipe out this plague! Olympus...will prevail!	„
	~ Zeus to his fellow gods, Poseidon, Hades, Helios and Hermes.

“

I grow weary of you, my son. I created you and I will be your end! Let the fear inside, Kratos!

„

Background

Zeus is the main antagonist of the Greek era of the God of War series. He was the youngest child of the Titan King, Cronos, who ascended to become the King of Olympus and the God of the Sky, Thunder, Lightning, and the Heavens.

He acted as an minor ally in God of War before serving as the main antagonist of both God of War II and God of War III, and was the biological father of most of the gods of Olympus and many famous demigods such as Hercules, Perseus, Peirithous and even the Spartan warrior Kratos as well as his brother Deimos.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Zeus’ story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

Birth During the reign of the Titans, Cronos was informed of a prophecy foretelling his eventual downfall at the hands of one of his own sons. To prevent this fate, Cronos swallowed all of his children, one by one. When Zeus was born, his mother Rhea was distraught at the loss of her first five children and devised a trick to save him by letting an eagle carry the baby Zeus to safety, while he was replaced by a stone wrapped in cloth which Cronos devoured, having mistaken it for Zeus. The eagle then carried the infant Zeus to Gaia so that he would be raised and blessed with the strength to stand up to Cronos. During this time, Zeus developed a deep hatred for his father, and looked forward to the day he would finally release his siblings; one of Zeus' drawings inside Gaia portray him opening Cronos's belly and setting them free. The Great War As he came of age, Zeus decided to put his plans into action. Zeus freed his siblings and declared war on all of the Titans, thus betraying Gaia. The new rulers of Greece, the Gods, calling themselves Olympians, fought against their predecessors with great ferocity and power. The battle between the Gods and the Titans formed the landscape of Greece, shaking the earth with massive earthquakes and crumbling mountains. To end the war, Zeus created the all-powerful Blade of Olympus, which was used to banish the Titans to the foulest pits of Tartarus. However, the Evils borne from the war posed another threat to Olympus, so Zeus commissioned Hephaestus, the Smith God, to build Pandora's Box in order to house the Evils. Unbeknownst to him, Athena called forth a power that transcended any God, Hope, and placed it inside the box to counteract the Evils should the box ever be opened. When Zeus asked Hephaestus where to hide the box, the Smith God suggested that it should be placed on the back of Cronos. Using the architect Pathos Verdes III, he constructed an enormous temple to house the box and then chained it to the Titan's back, sentencing him to wander the Desert of Lost Souls for all eternity. Little did the great Zeus know that the events that had just transpired would eventually doom him. After the Great War At some point, Zeus had an affair with a mortal woman named Callisto. The circumstances are unknown, but the affair resulted in two sons. The oldest one was Kratos, a mighty warrior with unstoppable rage and ambition. Hera, displeased with Zeus for fathering yet another illegitimate child and (correctly) predicting that his existence would eventually doom Olympus, demanded that he kill the boy immediately after his birth. Zeus, at this point still a somewhat benevolent and caring figure, took pity on the child and refused. Around the same time, however, the Oracle foretold that one of Zeus' sons, a "marked warrior", would rise up against the King of the Gods and kill him. Noticing the strange birthmarks on the youngest son of Zeus and Callisto, Deimos, he sent Ares and Athena to Sparta in order to capture the boy and bring him to Thanatos. Later on in Kratos' life, having brutally slain his own family in blind anger due to a scheme by Ares, the newly christened "Ghost of Sparta" pledged to serve the Gods of Olympus, including his father Zeus, in the hopes that they would relieve him of his nightmares. This can be compared to the fate of his half-brother Hercules, who had also killed his family in a madness caused by Hera. About halfway through Kratos' penance, Zeus was one of the many Gods that fell victim to an enchanted slumber, orchestrated by Morpheus when the Sun God, Helios, was kidnapped by the Titan Atlas. Kratos eventually discovered that this was the work of Persephone, who intended to use the Sun God to empower Atlas in order to destroy the Pillar of the World and bring an end to all life, as well as her own suffering. Fortunately for Zeus and the other gods, Kratos was able to defeat the Queen of the Underworld and save Helios, returning him to the sky and forcing Morpheus to retreat. What they did not know was that Kratos had been forced to relinquish any hopes of reuniting with his beloved daughter in the process of saving the world, pushing his disillusionment with the Gods ever closer to open hatred and rebellion. Near the end of Kratos' service, Ares besieged the city of Athens in the hopes of gaining Zeus' favor over his sister, Athena. Zeus, having forbidden the Gods from waging war on each other and fearing the possibility that Ares might be the "Marked Warrior" who would overthrow Zeus, allowed Athena to receive help from Kratos. Athena told him that killing Ares would complete his penance and rid him of his past sins. During his quest, Kratos met Zeus himself within the damaged city of Athens, where he was given Zeus' Fury, the ability to wield and throw powerful lighting bolts. In addition, Zeus took on the mortal guise of a Grave Digger and created a portal to the Underworld via a grave he claimed to be digging for Kratos, allowing the Spartan to escape the realm of the dead (after Ares impaled the Spartan with a pillar) late in his adventure. Retrieving Pandora's Box from Kratos' dead corpse, Ares yelled to the skies, cursing his father for constantly favoring Athena and asking Zeus if he could finally see what his son was capable of. Ares declared that he would not hesitate to use the Box against Olympus itself, only for Kratos to return from the Underworld and use a bolt of Zeus' Fury to reclaim it. Kratos opened the ancient artifact and harnessed its power to kill Ares, his former master. Zeus and the Gods guided Kratos to kill Ares, as they had incorrectly believed that he was the only real threat to Olympus. The Olympians rewarded Kratos by forgiving him for the crime of killing his own family (although, to Kratos' dismay, they were unable to remove the horrible memories from his mind), and made him the new God of War. Zeus' Betrayal It was believed that Deimos is the Marked Warrior so it is very possible that Deimos' death and Kratos' destructive and aggressive behaviour led Zeus into believing that Kratos is the Marked Warrior who would seek revenge against the Gods of Olympus and one day destroy them. Another moment which led Zeus betray Kratos is when Kratos told Athena that the Gods would pay for that... Even though Kratos did not know that the grave digger was actually Zeus, he was there when Kratos exclaimed these words. Later on in Rhodes, Zeus tricked Kratos, told him to cast his powers into the Blade of Olympus and with that act, Zeus found a way to take it and kill Kratos as long as his powers would not be inside Kratos himself. It is later revealed that Zeus and the other Gods had fallen prey to the Evils locked away in Pandora's Box after Kratos opened it to kill Ares. Apparently, Zeus didn't realize that if Kratos used the Box, the Evils would be released onto them; he had instead hoped that the Evils would fuel Kratos. As a result, Zeus was overwhelmed by his personal plague: Fear. Overcome with extreme paranoia and frightened by Kratos' increasingly destructive behavior, Zeus soon realized that Kratos would be the one to perpetuate the cycle of son killing father. Just as Cronos killed Ouranus, and as Zeus himself defeated Cronos, the King of the Gods expected that Kratos, infuriated by the revelation that not even the Gods could end his nightmares, would kill Zeus. Some point after Ares' death, Zeus confronted his son Hephaestus and brutally interrogated him, after suspecting that the Smith God lied to him by stating that storing Pandora's Box at Pandora's Temple on the back of Cronos was the best option, when really, the Flame of Olympus was the most crucial place to store the box with Hephaestus' forged daughter, Pandora, being the key to the flames. As punishment for his deceit, Hephaestus was banished to Tartarus by Zeus as well has having his daughter, Pandora, taken away by the latter. With Pandora's Box retrieved by Kratos from it's temple, Zeus would also have his father Cronos spend the remainder of his eternity tortured in the foulest regions of Tartarus. Zeus' fears were further exacerbated by Kratos' open defiance of the other Gods, ignoring their demands that he cease his relentless conquest and destruction of Greece. During Kratos' attack on Rhodes, Zeus devised a scheme that would put an end to Kratos' reign. He disguised himself as an eagle and drained a portion of the new God of War's power, transferring it to the Colossus of Rhodes. This caused the statue to come alive and attack the now mortal-sized Kratos, who initially believed that Athena was the one who betrayed him. Zeus further took advantage of the situation by tricking Kratos into infusing the rest of his god powers into the Blade of Olympus, the weapon that brought an end to the Great War of the Gods and Titans. Upon doing so, Kratos destroyed the Colossus with ease, but was crushed under the crumbling statue's hand soon afterwards, weakening the Spartan to the brink of death. Thus, in order to survive, he needed to retrieve the Blade, which had been knocked out of his grasp by the falling Colossus. As Kratos was about to reach the Blade, Zeus finally revealed himself, admitting responsibility to Kratos for everything that had just transpired. Zeus claimed that his motivation was to "undo Athena's mistake" (presumably the act of making Kratos a God) and prevent Ares' fate from becoming his own. The King of the Gods then ordered the Spartan to submit, but an outraged Kratos refused, causing Zeus to stab him with the Blade of Olympus. As Kratos slowly died, Zeus expressed his disappointment in Kratos, insisting that the Spartan warrior had made the wrong choice. However, Kratos continued to insult the King of Olympus, and Zeus responded by stabbing him with the Blade again, telling his son that the cycle has come to an end, and everything that he ever knew would now suffer because of his sacrilege. Zeus then destroyed all of the soldiers present, while a dying Kratos promised that he would have his revenge as Zeus leaves and casts Kratos into the Underworld. Upon leaving Rhodes, Zeus proceeded to destroy Sparta not only because the Spartan people worshipped Kratos, but to further punish Kratos himself. After destroying Sparta, Zeus believed he finally dealt with Kratos and returned to his throne on Mount Olympus. Kratos' Revenge Unfortunately for Zeus, Kratos was far from finished. Aided by Gaia and the Titans, he returned to life, journeyed to the Island of Creation, and killed the Sisters of Fate. With the Power of Time itself at his command, Kratos returned to the moment when Zeus tried to stab him with the Blade of Olympus, emerging from a portal and knocking the off-guard God King to the ground. Surprised at this development, Zeus presumed that the Sisters of Fate had unexpectedly aided him. Kratos, pulling the Blade of Olympus from his past self, told Zeus that the Sisters were dead. The King of Olympus declared that he had underestimated Kratos but will not make the same mistake again and the two combatants charged towards one another, taking to the skies as they fought. They ended up on the Summit of Sacrifice, where an epic battle began. Kratos fought Zeus furiously and managed to deliver several powerful blows, as he stated he would kill Zeus for his actions. Enraged at his defiance, Zeus unleashed his full might on the vengeful warrior in the form of a deadly electrical storm. Unable to overpower the furious god, Kratos resorted to military tactics, a feigned surrender that Kratos knew would immediately stop the onslaught. Kneeling in front of the Blade of Olympus he asked Zeus to end his life and release him from his torment. Granting what he thought was Kratos' final request, Zeus agreed to release him from his life, but insisted that his torment was just beginning. The Great God was tricked, however, and the Spartan, using the Golden Fleece to deflect a small remainder of Zeus' lighting, overpowered and took the Blade from Zeus, pinning both of his arms to a rock and began to impale Zeus with the Blade of Olympus, intending to kill him the same way he did to him until Athena intervened. Zeus took this opportunity to free himself, warning the Spartan that he had started a war he had no hope of winning. Zeus then attempted to flee, but Kratos immediately pushed Athena aside taking the Blade to make one more attempt on the severely weakened Zeus. However, Athena jumped in the way at the last second, sacrificing herself to save her father who took the moment to flee. Kratos was far more affected by Athena's death than Zeus, who coldly ignored her and narrowly escaped back to Mount Olympus though he did express concern for her later. Just before she died, Athena told Kratos that he was compelled to kill Zeus just as Zeus did to Cronos, for Kratos was Zeus' son. This was the cycle Zeus had mentioned when he killed Kratos before. Declaring that no son should ever destroy his own father (ignoring the fact that Zeus had already done the same to his own father), Athena told Kratos that Zeus must live so that Olympus would prevail. God after God would deny Kratos his vengeance, for they would protect Zeus for the sake of Olympus. Watching the fallen Athena disintegrate, Kratos felt betrayed yet again and, using the Loom Chamber, he returned to the first Great War urging the Titans to accompany him back to his own time, where a wounded Zeus had fled back to Mount Olympus. After the events of God of War II, Zeus returned to Olympus and told Poseidon, Hades, Hermes, and Helios about Kratos' intentions, telling them that they have to unite once more to preserve Olympus. When they saw the Titans ascending the mountain, the Gods immediately took action, while Zeus remained out of the front lines, likely still weak after his encounter with Kratos. After witnessing the death of his brother, Poseidon, the King of the Gods decided to join the battle, with his Aegis being armed. As Kratos and Gaia reached the platform where Zeus was waiting for them, the Spartan approached the King of the Gods, telling his father that he could no longer hide behind Athena for safety. Zeus then chided his son by insisting that it was his blind rage that caused Athena's death, asking the Spartan how far he was willing to go to have his revenge. The Ghost of Sparta replied by listing his previous battles before stating that nothing would stand in his way and that he would stop have his revenge. Infuriated with Kratos' defiance, The King of the Gods then decided to strike both Kratos and Gaia with his thunderbolts, thinking that they would both fall into the River Styx. Although Kratos did fall into the River Styx, he nevertheless survived and fought his way back to the top of Mount Olympus, destroying even more Gods and his son Hercules along the way. Zeus later indirectly encountered his son through one of Pandora's Statues, warning him to stay away from Pandora. He would not encounter Kratos in person again until he raised the Labyrinth, thereby destroying much of the inner sanctum of Mount Olympus. He attempted to stop Pandora from entering The Flame of Olympus while disparaging Kratos both for his obsession with Pandora and all of the destruction he has caused. They soon engaged in another fight, destroying more of Olympus' inner chambers. Their battle was interrupted when Pandora made another attempt to jump into the Flame. Kratos managed to grab her, but Pandora insisted to Kratos that he needed to let her go. Zeus, however, warned that he must not let her into the Flame, telling the Spartan that for once in his "pathetic life" he cannot fail like he failed in protecting his family. This inadvertently caused Kratos to let go of Pandora and attack Zeus in blind fury. With the Flame gone, Kratos saw and opened Pandora's Box, only to discover that it was empty. Zeus mocked his own son, stating that in spite of all his efforts, they ended in yet another "stunning failure", laughing his words further drove Kratos to the brink of madness. Zeus then retreated outside to the same dias that Kratos and Gaia confronted him on earlier, with Kratos following closely behind. The King of the Gods observes all of the destruction his son has caused to Greece, telling him that he would have much to do once their battle is over. They fight each other again until they are interrupted by Gaia, who was thought to have been killed by Kratos. She returned to kill both her grandson for vengeance and her great-grandson for destroying her world, ignoring the fact that it was the death of the Olympians that caused it and that it would have happened anyway if the Titans had won. Zeus told Gaia that her pawn has failed her, and commented that she should have chosen the other one (probably referring to Deimos). Gaia then decided to crush the platform, declaring that father and son would die together. Both of them managed to enter the large chest wound she incurred earlier from her fight with Poseidon, making their way to her heart. There the fight raged on with both using Gaia's Heart to heal themselves in the battle. Eventually, Gaia was killed when Kratos impaled Zeus against her heart with the Blade of Olympus, which apparently also killed Zeus. Gaia's body slowly broke apart and destroyed most of Mount Olympus. Regaining consciousness, Kratos retrieved the Blade of Olympus from Zeus' "corpse", but when he tries to leave, he is attacked by Zeus' still active spirit, which taking away all of his magic and equipment except for the Blade of Olympus, the Blades of Exile, and the Boots of Hermes, infecting him with Fear. Kratos was thought to be finished, but with the help of Pandora's spirit, Kratos managed to forgive his sins and unleash Hope from within himself. He then briefly battled Zeus' astral form, eventually forcing it to retreat back to his body, reviving Zeus. Kratos considered of attacking him with his blades but paused and realized that Zeus was so weak he could kill him with his bare hands. He then threw his blades aside and charged at Zeus. Death Terrified, Zeus backed away, and tried to stop Kratos with his arms, but was unable to resist the Spartan's fury and was thrown against a rock. A black smoke (presumably Fear) escaped from Zeus' mouth, possibly meaning that the Fear had finally left Zeus. Kratos then begins to beat Zeus uncontrollably, kicking him in the face and throwing him against rocks, ultimately grabbing Zeus' beard and beating him to a bloody pulp. Interestingly enough, Zeus does not put up any resistance when the black smoke left his body. It is possible that he realized that by causing Kratos so much pain, he was responsible for his own demise. Zeus' body disintegrated and exploded in a huge blast of light, unleashing absolute chaos upon Greece, and with this, the King of Olympus was no more, thus ending the reign of the Olympian gods. God of War (2018) Even many years following his death, Zeus still haunts Kratos. After Kratos defeats the Bridge Keeper of Helheim, he soon sees the image of Zeus in the sky calling to him. Kratos, surprised by the sudden arrival of his father, reveals to Mimir that he was Zeus' son. Kratos asks Mimir what that place was and how it's possible for the former King of Olympus to be there. Mimir tells Kratos to never venture there and that Helheim is known for torturing it's inhabitants with illusions of memories of their past. Later on in Hel, Kratos hears the past echos of Zeus speaking to him, which he ignores but would later see, along with Atreus, a ghostly reenactment of Zeus' final moments before his death, being beaten to death by Kratos. Moments before killing Baldur, Kratos quotes his father of the cycle before breaking his neck, preventing Baldur from killing Freya in revenge. Afterwards, Kratos tells his son of how he killed his own father as Atreus realizes the specter was his grandfather. This makes Atreus wonder if the cycle of children killing their parents is the fate of gods, although Kratos assures his son that his past doesn't define their future, and that they will be the gods they choose to be.

Statistics

Key: Regular | Fear Zeus

Tier: 2-C | At least 2-C

Name: Zeus, Grave Digger, Skyfather

Origin: God of War

Sex: Male

Age: Over thousands of years old (The Great War between the Olympians and the Titans happened thousands of years ago)

Classification: God, Olympian God, King of the Gods, Ruler of Olympus, God of the Sky, God of Thunder, God of Lightning, God of Storms, God of Hospitality, God of the Heavens, Father of the Gods, Supreme Ruler of the Gods

Status: Deceased (Is fought and killed by Kratos at the end of God of War 3)

Alignment: Initially Lawful Neutral (Initially Zeus was one that didn't fully interfere with the affairs of the mortal world, such as the case where even when Ares was continously attacking the mortal cities he didn't immedieatly enact), Chaotic Evil after being consumed by Fear (Was consumed by the evils placed inside of Pandora's Box, infecting him and turning him to the dark evils, becoming so enraged and obssessed with Kratos' death)

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: Universe level (Fought in the great war against the titans, and defeated his father Cronus who fought and defeated Uranus, who is among the group of Primordials that created the universe in their great battle along with Cronus' birth itself letting time come into existence. Wielded a gauntlet used to to chain the titan Atlas who holds the world pillar, with the destruction of the world pillar ending all of existence and returning the world back to a primordial chaos, Atlas is also slightly stronger then Cronus. Is noted to be the supreme ruler of the gods, being beyond all the other Olympians, this would scale him above the likes of Hades, who absorbed the soul of Atlas. He would also be superior to Helios, who holds the primordial fire, which is the flame that spawnned all others, with Helios' power being used to destroy the world pillar in Chain of Olympus, with the destruction of the world pillar ending all of existence and returning the world back to a primordial chaos. Helios also holds the power of the sun, a power so great it can destroy the world. The Greek Gods are superior to the Norse Pantheon Gods, making them superior to Odin, who killed Ymir who created the entire universe, taking Ymir's flesh to create Midgard and form the other realms) | At least Universe level (Reached a new form of power from allowing fear to consume and possess his body, one-shotted an end game God of War 3 Kratos, to the point that all of his equipment was destroyed draining all of his magic and health bar. This Kratos previously fought a long battle against both the likes of Zeus and Gaia, killing both of them)

Durability: Universe level (Took multiple attacks and punches from Kratos) | At least Universe level

Striking Strength: Universe Class | At least Universe Class

Lifting Strength: Universal (Wielded a gauntlet used to to chain the titan Atlas who holds the world pillar, with the destruction of the world pillar ending all of existence and returning the world back to a primordial chaos) | At least Universal

Travel Speed: FTL (A mere fraction of his powers allows his warriors to run a the speed of light. Could fly up to the clouds in a second or less, which means he was moving this fast) | FTL

Combat Speed: Extra-Temporal (Can tag Kratos and Atlas, Kratos can tag Atlas is also slightly stronger then and thus comparable to Cronus, who fought and defeated Uranus, who is among the group of Primordials that created the universe in their great battle before time existed along with Cronus' birth itself letting time come into existence) | Extra-Temporal

Reaction Speed: Extra-Temporal | Extra-Temporal

Stamina: Superhuman+ (Fought in the Great War against the titans for hundreds of years without tiring)

Range: Standard Melee Range, Extended Melee Range with Blade of Olympus, Hundreds of Meters with Size Manipulation (Can grow to this size), Kilometers with the Blade of Olympus (A single swipe from it killed over thousands of soldiers across a city), Thosuands of Kilometers with Electricity Manipulation & Weather Manipulation (Could absorb the entire sky into himself)

Intelligence: Extraordinary Genius (Zeus is a god that has lived for over thousands of years, tricked all of the titans by pretending to be on their side to build up his strength so that he could free his brothers and sisters and overthrow the titans, proceeding to foght in the great war agianst the Titans and win, reigining supreme as the supreme ruler of the gods)

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Powers and Abilities

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Genius Intelligence, Weapon Mastery (Can wield and use the Blade of Olympus to win the great war, grants people under allegiance to him weapons of his), Magic (Noted by Mimir the powers of the gods in the Greek Pantheon use powerful magic), Flight (Could fly up to the clouds in a second or less), Accelerated Development (Passive; Physical Stats and Abilities. As Olympians grow older they grow far more powerful), Abstract Existence (Type 2; All gods embody different concepts of reality, with their deaths causing the concepts they embody to be affected), Astral Projection (Can create an astral form to speak to Kratos), Immortality (Types 1; Gods are eternal beings that are ageless and can never die from age. 3; Through gods regeneration. 5; As stated by Gaia Kratos losing his godly powers was described as him "rendered mortal, "vulnerable to the arms of death", meaning gods are not bound by death. 6; Gods can surivive lethal wounds and continue fighting. Noted during God of War 1 that the only way to kill Ares was to get Pandora's Box), Regeneration (At least Low-Mid; Regenerated from being stabbed through the stomach by the Blade of Olympus), Teleportation (Has shown to teleport away to fight Kratos on the mountain top), Transformation (Type 4; Can transform into pure lightning, transformed into an eagle. Transformed into the Gravedigger), Precognition (Type 3; Dug a grave for Kratos, as he knew he would die), Weapon Creation (Noted that Zeus created the Blade of Olympus), Weather Manipulation & Absorption (Could absorb the entire sky into himself), Electricity Manipulation (Throws out lightning during his boss fight against Kratos. Even in his eagle form he can fire out powerful lightning that steals one's godly power. Bestowed people his powers such as Zeus' Fury, which allows one to summon lightning bolts and throw it at distant enemies. Bestowed people with lightning storm, a powerful bolt of lightning that creates an explosion beneath one, along with pull enemies towards the centre of the lightning strike before it hits. Bestowed people with Reckoning of Zeus, a powerful bolt of electricity that shocks and stuns all enemies and explode afterwards. Bestowed people with Olympic Judgement, projects a powerful lightning cone directly in front of one, electrifying and causing massive damage to anyone it hits. Bestowed people with Annihilation, which channels bursts of lightning to electrocute enemies), Creation & Madness Manipulation (Type 2; Created sirens from his lightning, sirens lure people that hear their songs and drive men insane), Paralysis Inducement & Status Effect Inducement (His lightning paralyzes foes), Forcefield Creation (His lightning has shown magic such as with the Lance of Zeus where it can shield teammates with a powerful lightning wave), Aura (His lightning magic has shown magic such as with the Lance of Zeus to grant magical aura to oneself and team-mates), Vacuum Manipulation (His weapon he bestows called the "Maul of Zeus" grants the ability electric commandment which allows one to gain armour and a shield that damages and stuns enemies along iwth pulls enemis towards the opponent), Energy Projection (His weapon he bestows called the "Blade of Zeus" grants the ability Bane of Zeus which fires an un-blockable wave of energy), Elemental Manipulation & Empowerment (Can infuse swords with magical energy making every attack an un-blockable elemental wave. Can infuse his lightning into the Blade of Olympus), Healing & Restoration (Bestowed people with Chalice of Ambrosia, which heals oneself in body and regains lost magic), Portal Creation (Bestowed people with Essence of Hyperion, advances at ones enemy with the speed of light by opening up a hyperion portal), Attack Reflection (Bestowed people with Aegis of Zeus, harnesses the power of Zeus' shield to reflect enemy attacks), Statistics Amplification (Bestowed people with Thunderous Triumph, unleashes a shockwave of thunder and lightning that increases ones magic attacks), Power Nullification & Power Absorption (His electric magic stuns opponents and disables enemy magic. An eagle stole Kratos' godly power and put it into a colossus statue which it was revealed Zeus was the eagle), Power Bestowal (Gave a fraction of his powers to the warriors under his alignment. Bestowed Kratos with Zeus' Fury), Time Manipulation (Gifts Kratos a glowing ray of light that allows him to save his progress), Curse Manipulation & Immortality Negation (Cursed Prometheus to become mortal nad forever be eaten by a bird and healed afterwards so he has to repeatedly feel the suffering), Conceptual Manipulation (Physically interacted with the concepts of Fear, the concepts that Zeus ordered Hephaestus to hide away in a vessel strong enough, holding concepts such as fear, greed, and hatred, with fear being the concepts that even controlled the Primordials, who are abstract concepts who predate time itself. Can harm various gods and titans all who embody different concepts of reality, with their deaths causing the concepts they embody to be affected), Life Absorption (Drained the lifeforce from Gaia's heart to heal himself and make himself far stronger), Life Manipulation (Brought a statue to life through infusing it with godly energy) Resistance to Madness Manipulation (Type 2; Unaffected by the song of the sirens who lure people that hear their songs and drive men insane), Petrification (Unaffected by a gorgon's stare, which can petrify even souls), Soul Manipulation (Can not have his soul ripped out by the claws of Hades), Disease Manipulation (Hermes death released disease across the world that gods were unaffected by), Power Nullification, Power Absorption, Immortality Negation, & Regeneration Negation (Types 1, 3, 5, and 6; Can take being stabbed with the Blade of Olympus, which the Blade of the Olympus can drain one's godly powers), Electricity Manipulation & Paralysis Inducement (His champions wear his armors that have resistances to electricity)

Energy Projection (Can shoot out energy projectiles everytime he swings his sword), Life Manipulation (With Divine Sacrifice, drains orbs from all enemies who come into contact with the sphere of sacred power), Enhanced Non-Physical Interaction (Heavily implied that the Blade of Olympus would be able to affect and harm God of War 3 Athena, where her sacrifice to save Zeus brought her to a higher plane of existence), Power Absorption, Immortality Negation & Regeneration Negation (Types 1, 3, 5, & 6 & At least Low Mid; The Blade of the Olympus can drain one's godly powers, which gods are eternal beings that are ageless and can never die from age can, regenerate from lethal wounds, are immortal and are thus not "vulnerable to the arms of death", meaning gods are not bound by death and gods can surivive lethal wounds and continue fighting. Absorbed all the godly power that was put into the colossal statue) , Deconstruction (Vaporized thousands of soldiers with a single slash from it), Air Manipulation (Created a massive hurricane from being slammed into the ground), BFR (Type 2; Sent all Titans to the darkest pits of Hades)

All previous powers and abilities to a far greater extent, Abstract Existence (Type 1; Had his body fully consumed by Fear itself, fear being the concepts that Zeus ordered Hephaestus to hide away in a vessel strong enough, holding concepts such as fear, greed, and hatred, with fear being the concepts that even controlled the Primordials, who are abstract concepts who predate time itself), Immortality (Type 8; Had his body fully consumed by Fear itself, living as long as the concept of Fear continues to exist), Conceptual Manipulation (Uses the conceptual embodiment of fear on his targets), Fear Manipulation & Corruption (Fear infected all of the gods, enraged and changed them, corrupting them into being obssessed with various things such as Kratos' death), Possession (Possessed Zeus' body turning him into a far more potent abstract being then he was prior)

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Standard Equipment

• Blade of Olympus: A divine sword so powerful it was the blade that allowed Zeus to defeat the Titans it can also harm and kill other Gods. The weapon can be powered up with experience orbs to increase its power and add new attacks.
• Armor of Hercules: The Armor of Hercules is a set of armor only available to warriors pledged to Zeus on Multiplayer. It adds +4 Health; +7% Elemental Power; +8% Elemental Resist. Godly Armor of Hercules adds +5 Health; +7% Elemental Power; +13% Elemental Resist.
• Battle Armor of Zeus: The Battle Armor of Zeus is an alternative costume featured in the single-player campaign in God of War: Ascension. It adds +12% Elemental Damage. The Godly Armor of Zeus adds +13% Elemental Damage; +3% Elemental Defence.
• Blade of Zeus: The Blade of Zeus is a weapon only available to players with alignment to Zeus. It adds +10% Physical Damage; +5% Elemental Damage. The Godly Blade of Zeus adds +7 Health; +11% Physical Damage; +5% Elemental Damage.
• Cestus of Zeus: The Cestus of Zeus are a pair of gauntlets unique for those aligned with Zeus. The weapons will electrocute enemies with the thunder of Zeus but come with the price of large cooldown time. It adds +7 Health; +11% Physical Power; +3% Elemental Power.
• Gauntlets of Zeus: The Gauntlets of Zeus are weapons only available to players aligned with Zeus. It adds +3% Health; +10% Physical Power; +5% Elemental Power.
• Lance of Zeus: The Lance of Zeus is a weapon only available to players aligned with Zeus. It adds +7% Physical, +10% Elemental. The Godly Lance of Zeus adds +7% Physical, +12% Elemental.
• Maul of Zeus: The Maul of Zeus is a two-handed hammer only available to players aligned with Zeus. It has a silver handle with a T-shaped head, which in both sides has a Zeus face in a battle armor, also silver with gold details. It adds +5% Physical Power, +5% Elemental Power, +9% Physical Resist. The Godly Maul of Zeus adds +5% Physical Power, +10% Elemental Power, +11% Physical Resist.
• Olympus Armor of Zeus: The Olympus Armor of Zeus is a powerful DLC armor of Multiplayer. Thus powerful armor exclusive for warriors aligned to Zeus, this armor's design was inspired by Zeus' Eagle and protects its champion from both Physical and Elemental Damage. Additionally, it also grants the warrior increased physical power. It adds +15% Physical Power; +10% Physical Resist; +10% Elemental Resist.
• Spear of Zeus: The Spear of Zeus is a weapon only available to players with alignment to Zeus. It adds +3% Physical, +12% Elemental. The Godly Spear of Zeus adds +4 Health; +3% Physical Damage; +13% Elemental Damage.
• Sword of Zeus: The Sword of Zeus is a weapon only available to players aligned with Zeus. It adds +7% Physical, +7% Elemental. The Godly Sword of Zeus adds +7% Health, +7% Physical, +9% Elemental.
• War Armor of Zeus: The War Armor of Zeus is a set of armor only available to warriors pledged to Zeus in Multiplayer. It adds +7% Elemental Damage; +5% Cooldown. The Godly War Armor of Zeus adds +9% Elemental Damage; +8% Cooldown.
• War Hammer of Zeus: The War Hammer of Zeus is a two-handed hammer from Multiplayer only available to players with alignment to Zeus. The hammer has a copper handle with gold engravings and a large, white marble head with more details in gold and the head of Zeus carved at its the center. This hammer carries great amounts of energy and can release it through devastating electric attacks, being good to keep enemies at distance. It might be desirable to warriors who prefer slow, but powerful attacks, being capable of delivering a beam of electric bolts that does repeated damage before knocking enemies back or a massive strike that launches every nearby foe in the air and greatly damages them. However, both attacks take some time to be charged before being performed, and the user is partially vulnerable to attacks during this time. This marble hammer overpowers enemies like a massive thunderstorm that strikes the greatest mountains. It adds +3% Physical Power, +7% Elemental Power, +7% Physical Resist. The Godly Hammer of Zeus adds +3% Physical Power, +13% Elemental Power, +7% Physical Resist.

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Notable Techniques

• Flight: Zeus can hover and fly at amazing speeds.
• Atmokinesis: As God of the Sky, Zeus had control over parts of the weather that involved storms, allowing him to generate thunderclouds or create a tornado. He can combine clouds with his electricity to make his lightings much more powerful, to the point that a single spear of lightning was able to blast down Kratos and Gaia and destroy the latter's arm.
• Electrokinesis: As the God of Thunder, Zeus could control lighting to an unrivaled degree. He is able to generate extremely powerful and fast Thunderbolts that can shatter huge mountains and kill Titans. His Thunderbolts were strong enough to nearly kill Kratos, forcing him to trick Zeus to stop him. In his Astral Form, his Thunderbolts were strong enough to destroy almost all of Kratos's equipment. In addition, Zeus can manipulate lightning to empower his attacks, move faster, generate a lightning shield and cause an explosion of electrical energy.
• Immortality: As a god, he is immortal and can live forever. Like his brothers and other Olympian deities, Zeus does not age and is unaffected by time or succumbing to mortal frailty as sickness or impotence of any kind, he could not be killed by earthly weapons; only divine forces and weapons like the power of Hope, the Blade of Olympus or other gods and Titans can kill him.
• Teleportation: Zeus has shown the ability to disappear in thin air, leaving a rain of electric charges behind, only to appear seconds later somewhere else.
• Portal Creation: Zeus while under his Grave Digger guise, created a portal for Kratos to travel out of the Underworld.
• Regeneration: Zeus could regenerate from almost any wound. He can heal even from wounds done by other godly power and Kratos’s blades back with relative ease. Ironically the Blade of Olympus, a weapon of his own creation can kill him but he can heal from non fatal wounds inflicted by it.
• Shapeshifting: Like all Olympians, Zeus was able to shapeshift. He made himself look as the oldest of the Olympians, despite actually being the youngest of his siblings. He could also transform himself into a giant eagle as well take the form of a human, or grow hundreds of feet tall, in God of War and God of War: Ghost of Sparta, he appeared to Kratos as the Grave Digger.
• Summoning: Zeus was able to summon a legion of creatures to fight at his side, examples are the Siren Widows he used to fight Kratos at the end of God of War II.
• Mind Imprisonment: In his astral form, Zeus was able to imprison Kratos in his own mind.
• Sealing: Zeus was able to collect all the evils of the world and seal them inside of Pandora's Box.
• Animation: Zeus was able to harness Kratos' godly powers, and use them to bring the Colossus of Rhodes to life.
• Power Bestowal: Zeus is capable of granting powers to others, as shown when he bestowed the Redeemed Warrior should he chose to follow him with immense magical attack power and mana reserves and regeneration, supernatural enhancements to their equipment, and great electrical powers that allow them to control space as they drape the playing field with electricity, forcing their opponents to scatter in all directions as well as disable their abilities for a time. He also gave Kratos the power to shoot powerful thunderbolts.
• Astral Projection: Zeus was able to project an image of himself to communicate to Kratos, and grant him the power to use his thunderbolts.
• Power Absorption: Zeus was able to drain power from other beings in order to strengthen himself, shown when he drained Gaia's heart of her power.
  • Duplicate Creation: After absorbing Gaia's heart, Zeus was able to create duplicates of himself that are much weaker but could use many of his attacks.
• Astral Form: After he was almost killed by Kratos, Zeus displayed the power to manage his soul "to a higher existence" in means of overpowering his son and channeling the evils fueling his body, although Athena reached that potential before the evils managed to consume her. In this form, Zeus was able to easily overpower Kratos and even destroy almost all of Kratos's equipment and was only defeated by Kratos tapping into the Power of Hope.
  • Mind Imprisonment: In his astral form, Zeus was able to fill Kratos with so much fear that he imprisoned himself in his own mind.
• Power Removal: Zeus was able to strip Prometheus of his Immortality. Also, as the King of the Gods, Zeus can remove the powers of other gods at will, as shown when he stripped Kratos of his godly powers.
• Weapons Forgery: Zeus had the ability to create powerful divine weapons. The most powerful weapon he has ever created was the Blade of Olympus, which is what he used in during the first Titanomachy.
• Blade of Zeus:
  • Olympic Cyclone: A quick spinning attack. Final wave of energy silences enemies.
  • Bane of Zeus: A charged attack that fires an unblockable wave of energy.
• Cestus of Zeus
  • Rapid Justice: Execute a powerful long range sweeping dash attack in zig zag pattern, can increase the range the longer its charged.
  • Thunderous Impulse: Unleash a lightning fast dash that combos into a flurry of attacks ending in a powerful flyback.
• Gauntlets of Zeus
  • Olympic Zeal: Release a powerful shockwave blast in a short cone in front of them that silences and stuns enemies. Charges up a larger blast the longer its charged.
  • Force of Judgement: Summon a massive force of lightning energy that stuns and sends all enemies in a large radius around them flying back.
• Lance of Zeus
  • Zealot's Defence: A powerful lightning wave that sends enemies flying and shields teammates. 
  • Claws of Acrimony: Charge the spear to grant a magical aura to and your teammates to activate a powerful lightning attack.
• Maul of Zeus
  • Zeus' Aggression: Powerful dash attack that bounces enemies with an elemental slam.
  • Electric Commandment: Grow to demigod size, gaining armor and a shield that damages and stuns enemies. Can pull enemies towards oneself.
• Spear of Zeus
  • Arc of Discernment: A ranged elemental bolt attack that leaves hazards to stun opponents with increased bolt stun duration.
  • Thunderous Torrent: Leap in the air. Throw down a powerful spear that stuns enemies, and then rip it out to launch them, second attack will silence enemies.
• Sword of Zeus
  • Valor of Zeus: A ranged attack that silences enemies with bolt of electricity.
  • Might of Olympus: Infuses the sword with magical energy. Every attack creates a powerful, unblockable elemental wave.
• The Blade of Olympus
  • Sparta's Lament: Shockwave attack that send out a radial blast.
  • Divine Reckoning: Drive the sword into the ground summoning a tornado that sucks in opponents.
• War Hammer of Zeus
  • Ascending Thunder: A lightning blast that stuns and knocks enemies away. Able to walk while charging attack.
  • Olympic Retribution: Unblockable. A powerful lightning explosion that pull enemies in and silences on contact.

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Other

Standard Tactics: Zeus in various conversations and at the beginning of God of War 2 seems to have his opening be nullfying one's powers, if this doesn't work he will proceed to use various lightning attacks on the enemy and creating enemies for them to fight.

Weaknesses: Corrupted by the concepts of fear making a lot of his decisions irrational to the point where in one of his brothers notes, Poseidon says Zeus seems to be losing himself and is not the man he once used to be. | The Power of Hope is the anthithesis to and superior to Fear.

Note: In an official interview, God of War 3's director Corey Barlog, has explained that there are times in games where one has to accept that a character is not going to be at the level the narrative is pushing them for why Kratos struggles to lift chests and gates despite being able to lift up the world with Atlas. Noting there'd never be any dynamics to the game if it was always adhering to that one reality, this thus means any anti feats within gameplay are completely ignored as they're a means to have dynamic scenes and fit a "Rule of Cool".

Note 2: The novels and comics are officially considered secondary canons.

Note 3: In God of War the removal of concepts do not intrinsically mean that the concept it resides no longer exist, for example, Fear Zeus is the embodiment of fear and secretly had fear in him all of this time, yet people still feared. Along with Kratos secretly holding the concept of hope within him yet people still felt hope.

Trivia

• Zeus is the second character to successfully kill Kratos after Ares and followed by Thor.
• In the first game and whenever he appeared as the ederly Gravedigger, he was voiced by Paul Eiding. In God of War: Ghost of Sparta, he was voiced by Fred Tatasciore who voiced Megatron in High Moon Studios Transformers titles. In God of War II and God of War III, he was voiced by Corey Burton. Corey Burton also provided the voice of Zeus in Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series. Coincidentally, Rip Torn, the voice of Hephaestus, provided the voice for Zeus in the 1997 Disney film Hercules.
  • Corey Burton returns to voice Zeus in God of War (2018).
• In one of the bonus cut-scenes from God of War, Kratos reunites with his mother, discovering that Zeus is his father, who he would later take vengeance upon for abandoning him so many years before. Although this scene is not canon, the idea of Kratos being the son of Zeus was adapted for the sequels to come. This scene was seen in Ghost of Sparta, but in the Temple of Poseidon instead of Sparta.
• In his mortal appearance, Zeus is still exceptionally tall, muscular and somewhat youthful looking for his age, due to being a god. He had white hair even whilst a newborn child, continuing into early adulthood. His eyes have no pupils, being the same when he was in his early adulthood. But when he was a baby and in God of War II gameplay, his eyes had dark blue irises and black pupils. His eyes make him appear blind, although he is clearly not, as this trait was likely added to make Zeus sinister.
• It should be noted that, even though Zeus is the younger brother of Poseidon and Hades, he seems much older than the two. Given his ability to shape-shift, however, this could just be a matter of personal taste. In some sources, the regurgitating of Zeus' siblings is regarded as a rebirth of sorts, making Zeus both the youngest and oldest of his siblings. This, and the desire to command respect through age, could explain why he chooses to portray himself as older than his siblings.
• In God of War, the Grave Digger that Kratos meets in his quest to destroy Ares has been confirmed to be Zeus in disguise, aiding Kratos in escaping the Underworld. The Grave Digger also claimed that Athena wasn't the only god watching over him, the revelation that The Grave Digger was in fact Zeus confirms this. This bears similarities to real Greek mythology, where the gods would often disguise themselves as humans in order to help them.
• When Pandora's Box was first opened, Zeus was infected with the evil Fear. This caused him to grow more and more paranoid of Kratos overthrowing him.
• According to God of War III, Zeus has had thoughts of revenge against his father Cronos since a very early age. On the ledge where Zeus' Eagle was found, a drawing of Cronos eating Zeus's siblings can be found. After taking a closer look to the right, another drawing can be seen, showing a stick figure, assumed to be Zeus, holding a sword and ripping open his father's insides to free its prisoners.
• At the end of God of War III when Kratos charged a weakened Zeus, just before pummeling him to death, a sort of black mist evaporated from Zeus' mouth. This could have been the Evil from Pandora's Box that had infected him.
• It is possible that Deimos' death in Ghost of Sparta made Zeus realize that the prophecy was not referring to Deimos as the marked warrior, but Kratos instead.
• Each time Kratos had died before he managed to kill Zeus, the son-killing-father cycle ended, yet Zeus always re-initiated the cycle one way or another.
• At the start of God of War III when Poseidon says "the death of Olympus means the death of us all", he could have meant that if Zeus dies, then all living beings on the world would perish since different gods govern different aspects of the world and as the King of the Gods, Zeus's demise would mean the end of the world and revert everything back into Chaos, as the godly king governed order itself.
  • However, it is more likely that he was referring to every God on Olympus as a whole, as a warning to Kratos's willingness to kill any God who tried to stop him killing Zeus, which was most of the Olympians, regardless of the devastating consequences it would have for the Greek world.
• It is unknown why Zeus didn't suspect any of his other sons to be a threat, as there were many besides Kratos and Ares (who strangely had no marks) that held contempt against him. This could possibly be due to the lack of any strange marks on the majority of them since the Oracle foretold that his usurper would be a "marked warrior".
• In God of War III, when Kratos fights Zeus, the main theme music is Brothers of Blood.
• Zeus is one of the mentors for God of War: Ascension's multiplayer. If the warrior chooses to submit their soul to the statue of Zeus on Olympus, they will gain skills that improve defense, speed, and magic. The initial weapon received for choosing Zeus is a gold and white hammer, but it can be replaced by a large sword with similar colors. Both weapons emit a gold light.
• Zeus is ranked on 49th place of the Top 100 Video-game Villains on IGN.
• While fighting Zeus in the heart of Gaia, Zeus summons clones, although differences can be noticed between them and the original Zeus: the clones are much paler and much weaker.
• Zeus appears as the first boss in the God of War demake Bit of War.
• It should be noted that Zeus saved Kratos's life two times, once as the Grave Digger and once when the Spartan was a child: Hera states that she wanted Kratos dead as he was a bastard child and so ordered Zeus to kill him when he was born; however, Zeus took pity and spared his son from death.
• Zeus is a downloadable playable character in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. That makes two playable characters and four overall (counting Kratos, Hades, and the Hydra).
• Zeus is featured in the PS Vita game Destiny of Spirits.
• Zeus' death at the end of God of War III is shown in the exact opposite to his brother Poseidon's death, with the former being seen through Kratos's perspective and the latter through Poseidon's eyes.
• Zeus' line towards Gaia saying she should have chosen "the other one" was hypocritical as he was the one who made Gaia choose Kratos when he chose to capture Deimos. Had he captured Kratos instead, Gaia would have had to pick Deimos.
• Zeus and Charon are the only characters who have bested Kratos in a fight. Although Kratos was severely weakened due to him being crushed by the Colossus of Rhodes.
• When Zeus first appears in Helheim, he appears to Kratos as a face in the clouds, mirroring his first ever appearance in the original God of War, as just a head.
• Zeus' death is reenacted by ghostly illusions from Kratos's memories.
• Zeus is currently the only character to have been the main antagonist of two games, moreover he is also the only boss fought more than two times combining both games. Even though Ares is the perpetrator behind Ascension, he is not the main antagonist of that game.
• Although Zeus used the Blade of Olympus to banish the Titans to the pits of Tartarus, with the exception of his father Cronos, Zeus would eventually condemn Cronos to the same fate after Pandora's box was opened by Kratos. However, it was not revealed how Zeus accomplished this; whether by using the same weapon while still in his possession, or by other means.
• Unlike many other bosses from God of War 3 (and other games in the series), there is nothing that forces the player to kill Zeus. If one desires, the player can battle Zeus until he goes down with the circle prompt during the final phase of the fight in Gaia's heart, and then let him recover health to continue the fight. If one wishes, this can go on forever, essentially letting you use Zeus as an intense test arena to hone your skills against a much more skilled enemy compared to what you can fight in the battle arena. However, care must be taken on higher difficulties as this might eventually lead to Kratos' death, but using costumes with godly possessions can make this a very fun combat arena. Simply save before the battle, and then one can load it up and fight Zeus for as long as one wishes, either for fun or test out new combos, strategies and to hone your skills against a very challenging opponent.
• While Kratos learned from Athena that he was the son of Zeus at the Summit of Sacrifice, actually this has been alredy said by Zeus himself twice. The first time was when Zeus was going to kill him and saying I will release of your life, my son, but your tormement is only just begininning.

The second was when he said Know this, my son, you started a war you cannot possibly win. The fates have deemed me victorious right after Athena saved him of being killed. Kratos actually only realized when a dying Athena told him the truth.

Battle Records

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