- "Everyone's got me all wrong. You think war drives me? Or power? Wealth? Naw. Never have. Know what drives me? What I really want? I want answers. Same as you. See, mortals have it easy. When they push up against life's big questions, they can look to us to give them meaning. Divine comfort. We both know that's a sham. But when we have questions? Why are we here? To give meaning to mortals while living without it ourselves? No. We're more than that."
- ― Odin to Atreus
Odin (Old Norse: Óðinn), also known as the All-Father, is the King of the Aesir. He is the eldest son of Borr and Bestla, the brother of Vili and Vé, the father of Thor, Týr, Heimdall and Baldur, grandfather of Magni, Modi, Forseti and Thrúd, and the ex-husband of Fjörgyn, Blóðughadda and Frigg.
He is the perpetrator behind the events of God of War (2018), eventually setting the events of the series into motion by sending Baldur find the Last Guardian at Kratos' Cabin. Following the death of his son at the hands of Kratos, Odin comes to the fore and becomes the main antagonist of God of War Ragnarök.
Norse Mythology[]
Odin, also known as Woden and Wotan, was the Chief God of Norse mythology.
Odin appeared in heroic literature as the protector of heroes; fallen warriors joined him in Valhalla. He had a mythical horse called Sleipnir, who had eight legs, teeth inscribed with runes, and the ability to gallop through the air and over the sea. Odin was one of the greatest wizards among the Gods and was associated with runes. He was also the God of Poets. His outward appearance he was an old man, with flowing beard and only one eye (the other he gave in exchange for wisdom).
He was usually depicted wearing a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat and carrying his spear Gungnir, a legendary artifact that once tossed never misses its target.
He is the husband of many wives, one of who is Frigg, daughter of Fjorgynn and an unnamed mother.
God of War Universe[]
Backstory[]
Odin was a grandson of Búri the first of the Aesir gods, who had sprung from Ymir, the first Giant and father of all life and one of the sons of Borr. However, unlike Ymir, Odin felt that the Aesir were fit to be the supreme rulers of the Nine Realms and so he, along with his brothers Vili and Vé killed Ymir and anyone else who stood in their path, with Odin himself taking the place of the "All-Father", after that, Ymir's blood drowned all Jötnar, except Bergelmir and his wife. Odin would then create the realm of Midgard from Ymir’s torn flesh. Eventually, Odin would create the first Humans; Ask and Embla.
The moment Ymir was slain by Odin, it caused the creation of a reality tear, which caught the eye of Odin. After suffering a bout of existentialism, he came to realize that there is much more to them than the Nine Realms. With this realization, he began a massive research project to discover the secrets of the reality tear. This was also the beginning of his obsessive nature regarding knowledge, as he began aggressively gathering more knowledge and developed a great capacity and determination for learning. Around this time he built the realm of Asgard and declare himself king of the Aesir. He even cemented this with a Grand Lodge that he built above the reality tear and a research complex underneath the grad lodge where he would began gathering more wisdom across the Nine Realms.
Seeing the need to expand Asgard's military, he seized control of Valhalla and the nine Valkyries who oversaw it despite the best efforts of their Queen to prevent this. He would go on to use Valhalla's endless supply of deceased individuals to create an endless supply of superhuman soldiers for the Asgardian military. This was part of his future plans to try and thwart Ragnarök, a prophesied catastrophic event that would lead to an apocalypse and the deaths of most of the Norse Gods. To prepare for this impending threat, Odin would permit only the greatest warriors who had died in battle to enter Valhalla to one day serve as his own personal army: the Valkyries serving as his recruiters and trainers in that respect. Everyone else he relegated to the icy wasteland known as Helheim.
At some point, Mimir came to Odin with Mimisbrunnr, a "Mystic Well of Knowledge" but it was really a well laced with enough magic mushrooms to give even a God as powerful as him visions. Odin was initially so impressed with this well that whatever he saw in his hallucinations made him start to tear out both of his eyes. Fortunately, he was stopped by Mimir from finishing the job and was convinced by Mimir that he had sacrificed his eye for knowledge. However, Odin instantly figured out that Mimir had fooled him but allowed him to become his adviser due to his immense intelligence. After he imprisoned his adviser, Odin removed one of Mimir's eyes and tortured him on a daily basis. Odin also searched for Brok and Sindri to construct a Statue of Thor within which to hide Mimir's severed eye. The Dwarves refused but were still forced to construct the statue.
Around this time, Odin also began marrying women and expanding his family, hoping to gain strong children. At some point during this quest, he sought out the Giant Skaði's hand in marriage, but when she rejected his affections, Odin tricked her into killing her own father out of pettiness, which inadvertently led to her own death. Odin also married the giantess Fjörgyn, with whom he had Thor and Týr. Sometime after Týr's birth, Fjörgyn died, leaving Odin heartbroken and alone for many years. Odin ended up marrying Blóðughadda who bore him Heimdall.
Odin at one point met the stone giant Hrungnir and was so amused by the latter's gullible nature that rather than killing him immediately Odin invited him to Asgard and made him drunk and goaded him into all manners of boasts and antics, even taking the threat of Hrungnir killing all the Aesir and taking all the women of Asgard back to Jötunheim as a joke. However, it came to an end after another fit of laughter upon Thor killing the stone giant and being crushed by his corpse and Odin ordered all his men to remove it from Thor but none of the Aesir was strong enough to do so and Thor himself was too drunk to remove the stone giant off him until Odin's grandchildren Magni and Modi came and freed Thor.
After cementing his rule as the "All-Father," Odin continued to wage wars against the other realms, defeating and subduing Alfheim, Svartalfheim and Niflheim; Muspelheim and Jotunheim remained beyond his reach. He did not encounter any real difficulties until he and the Aesir encountered the Vanir, an opposing tribe of Gods native to the realm of Vanaheim; the two forces fought endlessly until finally they reached a stalemate. At this point, both sides grew tired of fighting, and Odin eventually agreed to marry Freya to end the fighting, and so that Odin may secretly learn her magic. Together, they produced Odin's youngest son, Baldur. For a time, the two appeared to have greatly cared for one another, with Mimir noting that their relationship seemed to echo that of Odin and Fjörgyn's, with Odin treating her in a loving manner and conceding to most of her wishes, giving the Valkyries some freedom when she wished it. However, Freya eventually abandoned Odin, having become distraught over his treatment of the Giants, the abuse of her knowledge and betrayal of her trust. This angered the All-Father greatly and left him with a strong sense of betrayal, which caused him to curse her to remain imprisoned in Midgard and to never harm another living thing, even in self-defense, out of petty revenge.
Odin also sought the secrets of Jötunheim and the Giants. His son Týr attempted to open relations between them by inviting Odin to a summit with the Giants, but Odin only agreed to steal the secrets of Jotunheim. The giants saw Odin's sinister intentions and expelled Odin Jotunheim with a curse that prevented him from ever returning. In response, Odin began a genocidal campaign to slaughter any giant the Aesir could find. This proved too much for Týr, who turned against Odin to help the giants cut Jotunheim off from the other realms. For this betrayal, Odin had Týr imprisoned and spread rumor of his death, all in the hopes having a secret war god would prove to be of use someday.
God of War (2018)[]
While not actually making an appearance in the game, he is frequently mentioned by several characters. He is the one who imprisoned Mimir in the past and personally tortured him every day. He also sent Baldur to gain knowledge of Faye's whereabouts, as the Giantess has been a thorn in the Aesir's side for quite some time.
He employs a large number of icy ravens (known as Eyes of Odin) to observe the world and gather information for him. Kratos can destroy all of these ravens. Odin also has secret vaults scattered throughout the world that contain murals depicting legends, and an entrance to a Valkyrie's prison.
God of War Ragnarök[]
Three years after the beginning of Fimbulwinter, Odin brought Thor with him to negotiate a peace with Kratos and Atreus. Odin offered to forgive the blood debt the Aesir were owed for the death of Baldur and to keep Freya from hunting the two gods if they in turn promised not to attack the Aesir again or seek out Tyr. A simple "no" from Kratos was enough to provoke a brawl with Thor that sent the two brutes flying across Midgard. Odin took advantage of Kratos' absence to cordially invite Atreus to Asgard for an apprenticeship before leaving.
Having tipped Kratos off to Atreus' search for Tyr, Odin went to the realm last rumored to house Tyr, Svartafheim, and disguised himself as the war god so as to gain the other war god's confidence. Lo and behold, they "rescued" Odin and escorted him to Sindri's hideaway between the Realms without a hint of the All-Father's true identity. He spent his time with them advising against taking action against Asgard under a guise of pacifism, lead them into battle while refusing to assist them, and even refused to accompany them at all after seeing a hidden giant prophesy about how Asgard, alone of all the Nine Realms, would be destroyed in Ragnarök.
He watched with the rest of Sindri's guests as Atreus fled to go to Asgard. He found the privacy to grab the raven he had hidden in Sindri's closet and returned to Asgard as Odin just in time to stop Heimdall from killing Atreus. Odin showed Atreus his armies, the rooms of his palace, several generous gifts, and a broken mask. This mask had foreign languages only Atreus could read and a connection to a hole in reality Odin believed held the secrets to life's meaning and the afterlife of the gods. The next day, Odin sent Atreus, Thor, and Freyr's sentient sword to Muspelheim to locate a piece of the mask.
Later, when Thor refused to kill Kratos, Odin killed Thor and blamed Kratos for turning his son against him. He struck Thor's daughter with Mjolnir and did battle with Kratos and Atreus until he could hardly stand. In this moment of weakness, the Hanged God was hung once again as Freya arrived to cast a binding curse on his neck using his old noose. His ravens came to his aid and gave him just enough of a distraction to shatter the ground beneath them and send everyone tumbling into his private studies. There, Odin made one last plea for Atreus to put on the mask and see what lie beyond the crack in reality.
Appearance[]
Odin is portrayed as a slender elderly man of average height, he has pale skin, white-gray hair and beard, his left eye is azure blue, he has an eyepatch on his right due to his being sacrificed. He mainly wears an elegant outfit with a light blue shirt, brown pants and always carries a large brown jacket that he uses as a cape and usually wears a nordic cold hat.
Personality[]
- "Ruthless? Barbaric? Heartless? That's Odin."
- ― Mimir
According to Mimir, Odin was extremely paranoid about anything and everything that he believed would possess even the slightest chance of threatening his rule and that of the Aesir, much like how his Greek counterpart Zeus was before Kratos killed him. This included the Giants, the Vanir and even the beloved Týr, his own son. Also, Mimir said that Odin was extremely clever, almost as clever as Odin believes himself to be, as he was able to figure out that Kratos and Atreus had an important role in the coming of Ragnarök, possibly due to Gróa's prophecy. Moreover, he took advantage of Kratos and Atreus' noblest deeds by taking on the form of Týr so that he may know of their plans as well as discover the true prophecy of Ragnarök. It is implied that he has an intense fear of Kratos as well like how Zeus had, however unlike the Olympian, he knew nothing about him except that he is extremely powerful, having faced and killed Modi, Magni, and Baldur. This fear, may also extend to the point where Odin would later offer Kratos terms of peace.
In addition, Odin jealously guarded all the knowledge and secrets he collected. He betrayed and deceived many revered figures in Norse mythology who possessed knowledge that he did not and once he obtained them, he disposed of them cruelly. Mimir stated that Odin is obsessed with prophecies of the future, stylizing himself to be "all-knowing and all-seeing" but more importantly, motivated to control the future, his fate, and every realm. Mimir exploited this to become his adviser when he offered him a "well of knowledge" that allowed him to see visions, not knowing that it was really a well with water laced with hallucinogenic mushrooms. Due to this thirst for knowledge, this ended up costing him his right eye. Odin was also obsessed with an ancient mask that can grant him infinite knowledge, which Mimir acknowledged as the All-Father's "greatest passion".
It is also stated that Odin could be very cruel if pushed too far, as seen by his having tortured Mimir during his imprisonment every day. He also ordered his strongest son Thor to kill every Jötunn he could find and betrayed the Jötunn, Ymir, at the beginning of all things under the self-righteous belief that he and the Aesir were bringing order to the realms. In truth, he and his brothers believed that they were superior and deserved to be as such. Additionally, while he may've originally truly loved and cared for Freya, he overtimes feigned affection for Freya during their marriage just so he could learn how to use her Vanir magic for his own purposes. Once he got what he wanted and Freya started to rebel against him, even going as far as to break off the marriage; out of rage, Odin banished her to forever remain in Midgard, as well as robbing the goddess of her warrior spirit; therefore, rendering her unable to directly harm anything, even to defend herself. To add insult to injury, he wrongfully corrupted the Valkyries into monstrous beasts by condemning them to physical forms out of his spite for Freya's rebellion, an act which ended up dangerously overflowing Helheim with the souls of the departed in the process. Finally, he left the Nine Realms to suffer during the Desolation, closing Asgard's gates.
Odin was also shown to hold petty grudges to an almost hilarious degree, as he never forgot that Mimir had outwitted him when they first met. When Mimir finally fell out of favor, Odin removed one of his eyes and imprisoned and tortured him daily for over a century. In addition, when he lost the arrangement, he made with the disguised Hrimthur in finishing Asgard's walls, he feigned to keep his end of the bargain to allow the builder to speak with his queen, Freya, only for the All-Father to then double-cross the Giant and have Thor kill him. In addition, when Skaði spurned his affections, he deceived her into killing her own father during a hunt, causing Skaði to succumb to her own grief shortly after.
It's implied that Odin may possess both a superiority complex and an inferiority complex as he genuinely believes that his way is the only way, and that the Aesir are destined to be the Supreme Rulers of the universe yet seemingly loses any and all composure when someone or something comes along to challenge these beliefs.
Many individuals, such as Freya and Mimir, state that Odin was driven by fear of his own fate which is said to be at the hands of Giants, resulting in his paranoia and hatred of them. However, he is also envious and desirous of the Giants's abilities of precognition, wishing to use such abilities to alter his fate when Ragnarök occurs. Perhaps this is the one thing that the All-Father and Kratos, who doesn't believe in fate, have in common and would agree on.
Overall, Odin's depraved actions throughout the centuries have led him to be wholly despised by many figures, such as the Vanir, Freya, The World Serpent, Mimir, most of the Valkyries, and even the Huldra Brothers Brok & Sindri.
However, Odin was not complete without the ability to feel love and trust others. He was known for having genuinely fallen in love with Fjörgyn despite his subsequent hatred for the Giants, eventually marrying and conceiving the mightiest of his sons Thor with her. Her death caused such grief and sadness to Odin that even Mimir acknowledges that Odin was distraught and lonely after the death of his great love.
To alleviate his pain and put an end to the Aesir-Vanir War, Mimir suggested that he married Freya. During this time, Mimir noticed the same happiness Odin had with Fjörgyn resurfaced and while he married her partly to end the war (as well as to learn her seiðr magic), Odin treated Freya in a loving manner and conceded to most of her wishes, in fact fulfilling so many of Freya's desires that Mimir said that even he lost count of how many wishes that Freya made to Odin that he willingly granted. He was willing to give the Valkyries some measure of freedom because Freya wished it. Their relationship eventually became strained when Odin became increasingly obsessed with Ragnarök and the Jötnar, but the final blow came when he asked Freya to give him the same invulnerability she gave their son, Baldur, which caused Freya to break off the marriage, having seen how her spell drove Baldur insane. From Odin's reaction to Freya's betrayal, it is obvious that he did have romantic feelings for her and felt a strong sense of betrayal from their divorce.
It's implied that in the beginning Odin's intentions were noble, if misguided, and he genuinely wanted what was best for his people and everyone else in general as he seeks to prevent Ragnarök (an event that would go on to kill myriads of innocent people including the Aesir and the Vanir) from happening. Centuries of reigning undisputed with unlimited power as well as a lifetime of failed trials however, had gradually hardened him to the point where he was unable, or perhaps, unwilling to accept that his actions and the actions of his fellow Aesir was having a negative effect and was in fact leading them all ironically into causing the very disaster that he was trying so long to avoid.
He is also known to have a great deal of confidence and trust in his sons Thor, Heimdall and Baldur unlike with his other son Týr, likely as he knew that Týr's peaceful nature was unfit for an Aesir. Odin was confident Thor could single-highhandedly eradicate the Giants while Heimdall reads minds for him and tasked him to protect Asgard, and considered Baldur his finest tracker. Although he apparently could not lift the invulnerability spell that Freya placed on Baldur, Odin promised his son he would find a way to lift the spell if he found the Jötunn Guardian. It is unknown if Odin's promise was sincere or just a lie to motivate Baldur, but as Baldur went along with it anyway, it can be assumed that Odin is willing to go to great lengths to reward and keep promises he made to his children should they remain loyal and achieve a significant enough deed. However, Odin has been shown to punish his sons for their failures, the best examples being the imprisonment of Týr after he correctly deduced his alliance with the Giants and revoking his promise to Baldur to lift his curse after the Light God's numerous failures to bring him Kratos and Atreus.
Odin is also exceptionally manipulative and deceiving. He only "befriended" with Gróa but only to kill her to steal her library. According to Mimir, Odin deceived Baldur that following Kratos and Atreus to Jötunheim would bring the cure for his son's immortality. As aforementioned, Odin also tricked the latter two by taking on the form of Týr, which successfully deceives them into thinking that he is really the Norse God of War himself. This deception even extended towards his ex-wife Freya, her brother Freyr, and even Brok and Sindri.
He also seems to be willing to take mercy on his enemies should they provide amusement for the All-Father, as shown when rather than killing Hrungnir, one of the Giants, Odin instead was highly amused by his gullible nature and chose to have him amuse him and his court, as well as forget any personal offences as long as said offender would willingly prove to be a value to him, as shown when he allowed Mimir to become his advisor despite knowing all along that Mimir had fooled him into removing his eye and even Mimir acknowledged that Odin trusted him for a long time until Odin eventually took Mimir's advises of peace as disloyalty and bound him to his prison tree but not letting anyone to harm his former advisor.
Odin also has a reputation for being a drunkard. Mimir and Freya attest to this in their accounts of him. According to Freya, after Hrimthur completed the wall that encircled Asgard, Odin barged into his and Freya's bedchamber half-drunk and enraged before noon. Mimir also speculates that on how Odin came across a shard of the aforementioned mask was due to him getting drunk and convincing himself that he can change his own fate, then pranced around the Nine Realms until he found a suitably mysterious "bauble to fit the bill".
Ultimately, Odin's selfishness and his obsession with knowledge is his lasting legacy to his family and to his followers. His actions focused solely for his own gain led to parental neglect for his own children, whom he uses only to do his bidding. This leads to a rippling effect throughout his family, such as how Thor treats his own sons Magni and Modi. Adding to his neglect, Odin noticeably brushes off his own children when they desire for an audience with him, such as Heimdall's one-sided desire to please his father. This distance also proves advantageous to Odin as he is seen as an authoritative figure with a cult-like following, even to his own family, so his flaws and his true nature can remain hidden from them. It is one reason why when he spends a lot of time with Atreus to make the mask used to see through realms, others are noticeably jealous of Atreus on why he gets a lot of attention with the Allfather. Atreus' quick knowledge in translating and explaining the studies and texts Odin has been trying to study for years also sparks hidden jealousy within Odin, which he does not show explicitly to keep Atreus close.
This all comes to a head during the Invasion on Asgard in Ragnarök, where Odin was shown to have a strong disregard for the Midgardians that he had captured, as he was willing to let them die during Ragnarök. Because of his selfishness and indifference, he was also willing to sacrifice anything/anyone just for his own reasons and purposes. Odin was also a narcissist, as he strongly denied any of the crimes he had really committed and would often shift the blame for them on others, even on his own enemies, regardless if they had done something wrong or not.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
As the King of the Aesir Gods, Odin is by far the most powerful of his kind. He, along with his brothers Vé and Vili, were designated as the strongest Aesirs of their time. Contrary to his frail appearance, Odin is a frighteningly potent combatant, masterfully combining excellent fighting skills with his signature weapon and spellcasting to decimate and overwhelm foes, and proved to be a formidable opponent to Kratos, Freya and Atreus after they had been fighting in Ragnarök, holding all three off for a long enough time before being overwhelmed.
- Immortality: Odin, as a Norse God, is immortal, having lived for many millennia. Only a sufficiently powerful weapon or an extremely powerful being like Fenrir can kill him.
- Superhuman Strength: As the King of the Aesir, Odin has strength that exceeded other gods, such as Baldur and Tyr. Although apparently inferior in terms of raw strength to that of his son Thor, the God of Strength, Odin still displayed roughly comparable levels of physical strength to Kratos after he was weakened from his battles in Ragnarök and Thor, being able to physically push Kratos away when he impaled the Leviathan Axe on his shoulder with Gungnir, and free himself of Kratos's grip and at least briefly push him to his knees before Atreus and Freya attacked him simultaneously. While impersonating Tyr, he displayed the strength to lift and push heavy weights down, as displayed when with a single hand, he pulled down a wooden board and later easily pushed down a statue in Alfheim. He was also able to easily physically overpower and push aside Light Elves when they came close him, as well as nonchalantly drag one with a single hand.
- Superhuman Durability: Odin is extremely durable as he was able to survive a clash with Ymir, the first being in existence and most powerful of the Frost Giants, and had fought in many wars as the leader of the Aesir, including battles with the Vanir. During Ragnarök, Odin was able to withstand a prolonged battle with Kratos, Atreus, and Freya, shrugging off being struck by the Leviathan Axe and Kratos's punches and enduring a vicious beatdown from them with only considerable injuries, still surviving before Atreus finally withdrew his soul into a mural.
- Superhuman Speed: Odin has show to be able to move incredibly swift in combat being able to deliver fast and precise strikes with his spear and being able cover large distance almost instantly during his battle with Kratos, Freya and Atreus. Odin can also further increase his speed with magic.
- Magical Mastery: Odin is an extremely powerful and skilled sorcerer, being a master of many magical arts, including ancient magic. He also learned Seiðr from Freya. Odin is also the only one from the Aesir Gods who use magic which along with his physical abilities makes him even more formidable.
- Spellcasting: Through Freya's teachings, Odin learned a wide variety Seiðr spells and curses that he has used both for his own benefit and to severely harm his enemies these being all the spells and curses that he has used during history:
- Black Breath: Corruption of magic Odin created to act as a deterrent to those who wanted to reach the highest mountain in Midgard. Only the pure Light of Alfheim could dispel it.
- Curses: Odin can cast curses so powerful that not even Freya is able to lift them despite her own highly stated Vanir abilities. He can prevent people from leaving a Realm, as well as transforming the Valkyries into monstrous, physical versions of themselves, an act that made them unable to carry out their duties of transporting those killed in the battle to Valhalla.
- Concealing Spell: Odin can conceal events that happen to others, even if the person is a powerful seiðr who is able to see into the future.
- Knowledge Absorption: Odin can somehow absorb people's knowledge into himself using magic as he did with the seiðr Gróa.
- Protection Magic: He can cast powerful protection enchantments on objects making them unbreakable, such as making the tree Mimir was bound to invulnerable to Thor's hammer. Odin also cast a warding spell around Atreus, Heimdall, and Thrud to grant them immunity to Helheim's cold.
- Regeneration: Odin can use his powers to infuse strenght and regenerate health, as demonstrated when the Valkyries Hrist and Mist invoked the All-Father twice during their battle against Kratos and Atreus.
- Realm Travel Block: He prevented the travel runes on Týr's temple from granting access to Asgard, Svartalfheim, and Vanaheim.
- Mystical Ravens: As the Raven King, Odin is able to summon ravens made of green luminescent crystal that are able to observe and gather information from them across the realms.
- Shapeshifting: Odin could shapeshift into a small or big eagle.
- Energy Projection: Odin has the ability to project powerful beams of glowing purple magical energy from his hands or from his Gungnir spear.
- Teleportation: Odin can teleport in a flock of ravens.
- Elementokinesis: Odin is a master of elements and can wield powers from different attributes, being able to wield them in an array of different ways each, and shift between them freely. He can surround himself in elemental barriers, or even bombard foes with multitude elements at once which can affect the terrain the hit by them, such as setting them ablaze, freezing it or poisoning it.
- Pyrokinesis: Odin can wield fire and use it in the form of fireballs which can incinerate the ground, cause explosions, or even wield it as a flamethrower.
- Cryokinesis: Odin can wield ice and uses it, mostly in the form of icy projectile which can freeze the ground, or even as a potent cold beam to the same effect, albeit on a larger scale.
- Geokinesis: Odin can manipulate the earth, creating shockwaves, or by fracturing the ground, causing minor but visible changes in the landscape.
- Toxikinesis: Odin can utilize poison, used in the form of toxic green projectiles which can infect the ground.
- Umbrakinesis: Odin can wield darkness as a form of offense, employing it in the form of projectiles or ground shockwaves. He can also combine it with his Ravens in the form of energy spheres surrounded by black feathers which when they explode on contact, can cause temporal blinding by obscuring surroundings.
Abilities[]
- Master Combatant: As the King of the warlike Aesir, Odin is an extremely proficient fighter with centuries worth of battle training and experience. Even during his younger years, he was able to kill Ymir along with his brothers. Combined with his magical abilities, Odin was able to temporarily outfight both Kratos and Atreus and even hold both them and Freya back in a vicious battle before ultimately being defeated.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat Expertise: Odin was proficient enough in unarmed combat to effectively handle Light Elves with his bare hands while disguised as Tyr.
- Master Spearman: Odin was extremely skilled with his spear, Gungnir, performing swift slashes and stabs with it and able to push back against Kratos using the Leviathan Axe and even impale him at one point, killed an exhausted Thor with a single stab in the chest.
- Genius-level Intellect: Odin is extremely intelligent and clever, as even Mimir, the smartest being alive in all the Nine Realms, acknowledged his cleverness, saying that he is almost as clever as he believes himself to be.
- Master Strategist and Leader: Odin is an exceptionally cunning strategist and charismatic leader, able to effectively lead Asgard into numerous wars to victory, with only the Vanir under Freya's leadership being able to withstand him. He also strategically bound the curse that kept Freya on Midgar in Vanaheim and even had the insight to use Yggdrasil roots as the catalyst, ensuring Nidhogg would intervene if she somehow managed to enter Vanaheim.
- Master of Deception and Manipulation: As Mimir is stated, Odin is an exceedingly accomplished and cunning liar and manipulator. He was able to convince Freya that he truly had changed in their marriage for decades and make her teach him her magic, and trick Tyr into allowing him to meet with the Giants, with neither of them managing to catch on to his deception until it was too late. Odin even managed to successfully impersonate Tyr for a prolonged period of time, completely fooling even Mimir and Freya despite their own intelligence and experience with him. His manipulations were enough to even make Atreus open up to him by putting up a highly convincing facade about his so-called true intentions and offering him knowledge, with Atreus only fully defying him with help from Kratos and Mimir's inspiration.
- Deductive Analysis: From having heard the prophecy of Ragnarök , he was able to figure out that Kratos and Atreus will play a part in it. Odin was not fooled by Mimir's lie that he had sacrificed his eye for knowledge, correctly deducing that Mimir had fooled him and the well of knowledge was actually just filled with magic hallucinogenic mushrooms to give even a god visions. He also figured out the locations of the pieces of the Mask from Atreus translating the language on the pieces.
- Master Torturer: Odin was known to be a very creative and skilled torturer, as he personally tortured Mimir for many centuries to the point that Mimir said that he would rather die than continue to be tortured by Odin.
- Cooking: While impersonating Tyr, Odin displayed a remarkable amount of skill in cooking, far surpassing the results of Brok's cooking and even awakening Mimir's appetite.
Relationships[]
Thor[]
Odin is incredibly abusive and condescending towards his son, constantly belittling, manipulating and gaslighting his son into becoming a servile killer who does whatever he commands. Odin's abuse manifest in the form of insults and twisted words, constantly putting his son down by pointing out how he should learn his own limitation and even mocking Magni and Modi as 'useless'. This is best seen where Odin killed off Thor in a moment of anger and instantly blame it on Kratos for having turned him.
Odin has never loved his son and in truth, any form of affection was simply a lie told onto himself.
Týr[]
Heimdall[]
Odin shows some affection for Heimdall but when Heimdall tries to protect Odin from Atreus' evil intentions, Odin insults him.
Baldur[]
Odin held affection but only saw Baldur as an asset to his quest for power. To further highlight this, Odin stated the only reason why he holds Kratos responsible for Baldur's death was due to latter's ability as a tracker and closer.
Freya[]
Mimir[]
Magni & Modi[]
Odin saw his grandsons as "kinda useless".
Thrúd[]
Sif[]
Atreus[]
Kratos[]
Brok & Sindri[]
Weapons[]
- Gungnir: Odin wields a Dwarven-made spear, Gungnir, which always hits its target. Gungir often takes form of a staff, but when Odin in combat it can change it's shapes. It can be turned into a spear, or it can be partially morphed into a whip which is usually combined with his magic to vastly extend its length and empower it to cause shockwaves.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to a lore marker, Odin was responsible for creating Ask and Embla, much like his mythological counterpart.[1]
- His Greek equivalent (in terms of being the King of the Gods) is Zeus.
- His Greek equivalent, in more general terms, is probably Cronos. Both of them were the first beings to rise against their universe-creating father, in Cronos's case Ouranos, and in Odin's case, Ymir, forcefully establishing themselves as the rulers of everything, and both were paranoid towards anything that could threaten their respective reigns, going as far as killing or trying to kill their own sons for it.
- In terms of attributes, however, Odin encompasses multiple roles shared by different Greek Gods (e.g., Zeus, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Hermes and Thanatos).
- Odin is much like Zeus and Cronos, all three are paranoid toward anything that they considered a threat to their reign even their own sons. Odin imprisoned Týr after he suspected him plotting with the giants to overthrow him, while Zeus killed Kratos out of fear of The Marked Warrior prophecy, and Cronos tried to consume his own sons in fear of a prophecy of being overthrown. The difference however was Týr never thought of overthrowing Odin and only prevented him from accessing Jötunheim, whereas Kratos had intentions of vengeance against Zeus for killing him and previously torturing his mother and brother and for betraying him.
- They also treated their progenitors wrongly due to their desire to reign over others, Odin killed Ymir because he believed that he and his brethren the Aesir are bringers of order and deserved to be such, while Zeus imprisoned the titans because of his desire to rule over the mortal world.
- Both are destined to die at the hands of Kratos and his family in certain prophecies, Odin is destined to die at the jaw of Fenrir, which is technically Kratos' grandson, while Zeus was destined to die at the hands of the Marked Warrior which is Kratos himself.
- Both requested one of their children to kill powerful beings. Odin commanded Thor to kill the Jötnar, while Zeus ordered Kratos to kill Ares.
- Both are afraid of Kratos, While Zeus was afraid of him because he was the one destined to destroy the Gods, the Greek Pantheon and his killer, trying everything on his power to stop him and put an end to the circle of patricide only to be killed by him, Odin of the other hand, he is afraid of him because of his actions involving Ragnarök, accelerating it's coming because of Baldur's Death, killing also his two grandsons Magni and Modi, who were prophesied to survive even after Ragnarök and his important role for his own demise, although it's still unknown how he will be part of it.
- In nearly all the murals Odin appears in, he is riding his mythological mount, Sleipnir, the eight-legged steed. This is odd, seeing as Sleipnir in the Norse Mythos, is the offspring of Loki and Svadilfari, who was the stallion who helped the disguised Jötunn build the walls of Asgard.
- Despite being Loki in this universe, it's unlikely that Atreus is the mother of Sleipnir, seeing as the horse was alive thousands of years before even the World Serpent's first appearance, being with Odin when he and his brothers slew Ymir.
- Another piece to support this claim is that in the Prose Edda, Loki distracted Svadifari from his task of helping the builder complete the wall in time by taking the form of a mare and the intercourse that followed produced Sleipnir. In the God of War universe however, Hrimthur was able to complete the wall in time and gain an audience with Freya.
- Odin's desire to prevent Ragnarök caused two moments of irony.
- Odin's efforts to prevent Ragnarök and his death from occurring could be argued to be the very reason to it, as this led many inhabitants in the nine realms to be very hateful toward him and his brethren including the Vanirs, the Wolf Fenrir, and the giants.
- Odin's efforts to learn more about Ragnarök and control it only caused him to lose more control of it at the same time. Odin's interferences altered Magni and Modi's fate from surviving Ragnarök to dying before it begins, likewise, Odin's interference also caused Baldur to die earlier than expected and cause the beginning of Ragnarök 100 years earlier than predicted. The new tapestry indicates that Odin changed the series of events by nearly committing a Jotunn genocide, which caused the surviving Jotnar to receive a new prophecy about a Jotunn who'd avenge the Jotnar by starting Ragnarök. In brief, Ragnarök was always going to happen despite Odin's efforts.
- In mythology, his mother is the Jötunn Bestla, though it is unknown at this time if she will fulfill this role in the series.
- Tacitus, a Roman historian and senator, associated Odin with Hermes's Roman equivalent Mercury due to their status as a psychopomp.
- Throughout the game, Kratos and Atreus encounter Odin's ravens. A side mission includes killing 51 of these ravens.
- Despite his hatred of the Jötnar, and they him, one of Odin's great loves was the Giantess Fjörgyn, who bore him a son, Thor. In addition, before or after her, Odin sought the affections of Skaði, Queen of the Hunt.
- Odin's spectral ravens scattered through God of War (2018) are a reference to Hugin and Munin, Odin's pair of ravens that fly around the nine worlds to gather information for him.
- As of the events of God of War (2018), Odin is responsible for the desolation of five of the nine realms, those being Midgard (through his corruption of the Valkyries), Niflheim (by intervening in Ivaldi's creations), Asgard and Vanaheim (through the Aesir-Vanir War) and Jötunheim (through Thor's genocidal campaign).
- Odin is the only main antagonist in the franchise who is not killed by Kratos as he is killed by Atreus and Sindri in God of War Ragnarök.
- Odin out of all the main antagonists in the franchise has the least brutal death out of them. While the other antagonists died from being either stabbed, punched to death, or had their necks snapped, Odin had his soul sucked out of him by Atreus to be sealed in a small sphere only for Sindri to destroy that sphere with a hammer.
- Despite Odin's mother Bestla is a Giant in the mythology, Odin was never implied to be one, only his son Thor.
Reference[]
- ↑ Find here our sacrifice, mighty All-Father, and deliver Midgard from Hel's wild hunt. Odin, wisest of all, whose breath gave life to Ask and Embla, first among our people, we beg your protection. Send forth your noble Valkyries and cull the deathless. Send forth your noble sons, Thor and Baldur, to shield us. Send forth dragons to consume the frigid horde. Save our souls that we may serve you evermore.
| God of War | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main | Greek era | God of War (2005) • II (2007) • III (2010) • Ascension (2013) |
| Norse era | God of War (2018) • God of War Ragnarök (2022) | |
| Other games | Betrayal (2007) • Chains of Olympus (2008) • Ghost of Sparta (2010) • Secret Level (2024) | |
| Characters | Kratos • Atreus • Athena • Ares • Zeus | |
| Universe | Blade of Olympus • Blades of Chaos • Greek World • Nine Realms | |
| People | David Jaffe • Cory Barlog • Stig Asmussen • Andy Park • Marianne Krawczyk | |
| Developers | Santa Monica Studio • Ready at Dawn • Javaground • Bluepoint Games • Sanzaru Games | |
| Other media | Comics (2010 comic series • 2018 comic series) • Collections • Novelization • Rise of the Warrior | |
| Related articles | Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds • LittleBigPlanet • Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny • ModNation Racers • Mortal Kombat (2011) • PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale • Shovel Knight • LittleBigPlanet 3 • Tearaway Unfolded • Fortnite Battle Royale | |
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The original article can be found here and the original contributors here.
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