Gods far stronger than Kratos in God of War

Most players know who Kratos is. The iconic protagonist from God of war franchise has been around since 2005, first slaughtering the gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon, before developing a case of ennui and retreating to the Nordic lands, eventually killing off a bunch of the gods there as well. Kratos is a god-killing machine, and as such, very few can stand against him.

Few, but not none. There are a handful gods in God of war franchise stronger than Kratos. The majority have shown this by actually killing Kratos, but thanks to some divine magic, the god of war regularly pulls himself out of the underworld to fight again. A couple of other gods have meanwhile shown that they could defeat Kratos if given enough time, or if they weren't so cocky. Regardless, even if there aren't many of them, these gods can actually keep up with the god of war himself, and that's pretty impressive.

Zeus

Kratos' father remains the strongest god in the franchise

• Shown in: God of War, God of War 2, God of War 3, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, God of War: Ascension, God of War (2018)

We start with the gods who have canonically killed Kratos, and then work in a couple who seem like they could have if given the chance. First out is Zeus, Lord of Olympus, god of the sky and father of Kratos. Zeus betrays Kratos god of war 2, trick him into throwing his divine powers into the Blade of Olympus before using that very blade to kill Kratos. There's a pretty solid lore reason why Zeus did this: namely, he was driven by paranoia after falling for the evils unleashed when Kratos opened Pandora's Box to defeat Ares. Zeus fears that Kratos is determined to kill all the gods, so he kills Kratos first, which ironically causes the very thing he is so terrified of.

Finally (or rather, i God of War 3), Kratos manages to kill Zeus, but he has a lot of help. He uses the Blade of Olympus to impale Zeus on Gaia's heart, and then, with Pandora's help, Hope summons the powers to forgive his sins and do battle with Zeus's spirit. In the iconic scene when Kratos beats Zeus to a pulp, he has cast out the evils that drove Zeus to betray him, and his father stops trying to fight back. So yes, Kratos kills Zeus, but it's fair to say that in a one-on-one fight and without outside help, Zeus would pretty handily overpower his son.

Thor

If he had the brains to go with his guts, he might have finished off Kratos

• Shown in: God of War (2018) (cameo), God of War Ragnarok

It's almost a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, though Thor manages to kill Kratos during their showdown in God of War Ragnarok. The God of Thunder inadvertently catches Kratos and nails him with a blow from his hammer, but as their duel is penance for Kratos killing Thor's sons, Magni and Modi, Thor uses Mjolnir to revive him on the spot and continue their battle. It's pretty bad, but it also costs Thor the fight, which ultimately ends in a draw.

The sad part is that this fight takes place when Thor is at his lowest. His sons are dead, his family is crumbling around him, and all he does with his time is drink and kill people for his father. Odin, meanwhile, has “raised” Thor to be his muscle. While he is effective in that role, there is an element of tactical brilliance that Kratos possesses that the God of Thunder does not. In terms of raw strength, Thor in his prime was far more likely than Kratos has ever been. Kratos is just a bit lucky and uses his wits to gain an advantage and survive.

Charon

One of the few gods to throw Kratos into Tartarus

• Shown in: God of War: Chains of Olympus

The last god that managed to kill Kratos is a bit of a surprise: Charon. No one expected much from the ferryman of the River Styx, let alone that he would be powerful enough to throw the god of war into Tartarus, but that's exactly what he does. He does it surprisingly quickly too. Sure, Kratos didn't know the boss fight gimmick yet, but a (seemingly) frail old man in a mask dominating Kratos so completely is still a pretty shocking moment.

Sure enough, Kratos eventually makes it out of Tartarus. He then returns to the River Styx and gives Charon his own beating, but not before acquiring the Gauntlet of Zeus, without which he could not destroy the pillars that restore Charon's health. Again, even if Kratos manages to kill Charon in the end, he needs a specialized tool to do so, without which he is not strong enough to win. The same can be said of many managers in God of war franchise, but none of them manage to get rid of Kratos in return. In that regard, Charon stands head and shoulders above most of the other gods in the series.

Baldur

The perfect foil to Kratos' strength

• Shown in: God of War (2018), God of War Ragnarok

Now we will go into some of the more interesting options from God of war pantheon. First is Baldur, son of Freya and the primary antagonist in God of War (2018). Baldur shows up right at the start of the game and trades blows with Kratos like it's just his average Tuesday outing. Kratos eventually gains the upper hand and lands a killing blow, only for Baldur to get back up and shake it off, the wound healing in an instant and the fight starting over.

The thing about Baldur is that he is literally impossible. That's his thing: he can't feel pain, and he can't die. He visits Kratos specifically because he's looking for someone strong enough to break that curse, but even Kratos isn't capable of it. That makes Baldur the perfect foil for Kratos. One god kills every other god he gets his hands on, while the other god cannot be killed. They are two sides of the same coin. Much like the other examples here, Kratos eventually kills Baldur, but only after removing the latter's curse and rendering him mortal. If Baldur and Kratos were to continue their fight from the start of the game until one of them died, odds are it would be Kratos' end, not Baldur's.

Hercules

Pride before fall

Hercules have a bone to pick. In his mind, Zeus favors Kratos over him, sending Kratos to kill Ares while giving Hercules arbitrary strength to overcome. During Krato's hunt for Zeus, Hercules decides to teach his half-brother a lesson while a drunken Hera looks on disdainfully. Kratos manages to rip off some of Hercules' armor and even destroys his helmet, but a blow from the Nemean Cestus stuns Kratos to the point where he loses consciousness for a moment.

At that moment, Hercules could have easily finished him off. Kratos is dazed, blinded, and completely unable to defend himself, let alone fight back. Unfortunately, Hercules instead chooses to spend that time gloating to Hera about how Kratos is “trembling”, giving the God of War plenty of time to come up behind Hercules and stab him in the side, take the Nemean Cestus for himself and rejoin the fight. Impressively, even without his weapons or armor, Hercules holds his own, nimbly ducking around Kratos' swings and landing heavy blows with his bare fists. In the end, it is once again his pride that gets him set. Hercules tries to turn the whole arena upside down to make it fall down Mount Olympus. Instead, Kratos uses the arena floor and pins Hercules under it, then beats him to death with his own gloves.