This article contains lore based on real-life sources of the Greek mythology as introduced from the God of War Greek era.
| “ | Who breaks my chains of torment?! You are strong, but you are far too small, even for an Olympian, to be a god. | ” |
―Atlas. | ||
Atlas (Ἄτλας) is one of the mighty Titans that once had dominion over the world. After their fall from grace, Atlas would cooperate with the goddess Persephone in order to destroy the world, but was defeated by Kratos. Defeated and contained, Atlas was forced to carry the world on his shoulders, as he would forever remain at the top of the Pillar of the World. He serves as the secondary antagonist in God of War: Chains of Olympus and as an ally in God of War II.
Quick Answers
What role does Atlas play in the God of War Greek era?
What was Atlas' punishment after his defeat by Kratos?
What powers does Atlas possess in Greek mythology?
Who did Atlas cooperate with in his attempt to destroy the world?
Why is Atlas often depicted holding up the world?
Greek Mythology
In Greek mythology, Atlas was a second generation Titan. He was born from the union of the first generation Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene. The former was a child of Ouranos and Gaia, while the latter was a child of Oceanus and Tethys. When Zeus overthrew Cronos, Atlas joined the Titans in the Great War. After the Titans were defeated, Atlas was the Titan who was forced to forever separate Gaia, the Earth, and her husband, Ouranos, the sky, from each other, preventing any further union from them.
In one version of the myth, he was turned to stone by Perseus using Medusa's head, turning him into the Atlas mountains in North Africa. He is famously shown in sculpture and other forms of art carrying a sphere upon his shoulders. This has eventually led to the misconception that he is carrying the world, whereas in classical Greek mythology, he holds up the sky.
At one point, he is given a reprieve to retrieve the Golden Apples for Hercules as part of a deal they made: Atlas will get the apples while Hercules holds up the sky. Atlas obtains the apples as promised but does not wish to take back the job of holding the sky from the Earth. Hercules tricks the Titan by stating he will do the job but wants to shift his shoulders to make it easier. Atlas takes hold of the sky again, but to his dismay, Hercules takes the Golden Apples and leaves.
He was known to the Canaanites as Dagon.
In the God of War Series
The mighty Atlas is depicted with four arms to show he holds up the world. A prime example of misconception exists throughout the series as, whether deliberate or a mistake, Atlas is seen holding up the world atop of the Underworld. One reason for this could be to avoid confusion; in western society, the word 'atlas' is most commonly associated with cartography, so it would make sense for the Titan to hold the Earth rather than the Heavens.
Great War
During the Great War, Atlas along with Cronos, the King of the Titans, led the Titans in the battle against the Olympians. He was the strongest Titan, capable of hurling mountains at the younger gods like mere pebbles. The great General used to carry a mighty war hammer, capable of smiting his foes with the weight of the world.
The mighty Atlas was the son of Iapetus and brother to Epimetheus and Prometheus, the former having defected to the Olympian upstarts, as he foresaw their victory as already decreed and fated. During the last battle of the long and terrible war, Atlas and the Titans launched a last desperate assault against the forces of Zeus. While Hades tried to absorb the soul of his father, Atlas the mighty Titan General unleashed his fury by pounding the ground, causing a massive earthquake.
Although he saved his King from being captured and denied the dark and dreadful Hades his prize, he was then targeted by the God of the Dead and his terrifying Claws. With the aid of Poseidon, Atlas’ soul was successfully obtained and absorbed by Hades. Despite his capture, however, the Titans continued their battle against Zeus' forces. The weakened Atlas awoke within the deepest pits of the Underworld, where his fellow Titans would meet him by the end of the Great War.
God of War: Chains of Olympus
The Pillar of the World
Thousands of years after the Great War, Atlas was freed from his torture within Tartarus by Persephone, who wished for him to destroy the Pillar of the World, ending the life for all beings in Greece, mortal and god alike. Atlas tore Helios from the sky, causing the light to disappear from the world and the Earth to plunge into darkness. The Gods fell into a deep slumber through the sleeps of the Dream God Morpheus. Using the power of the sun, Atlas began to destroy the Pillar of the World.
It was not before long that Kratos, the Champion of the Gods, confronted Persephone and Atlas. The Ghost Of Sparta quickly disposed of the treacherous goddess, and soon took on the enormous Titan, who had already partially destroyed the Pillar of the World. Kratos had previously managed to chain Atlas into upholding the empty space between the Pillar of the World and the world itself, causing him to bear the weight on his shoulders.
Staring at Kratos, Atlas asked Kratos if the Gods would indeed help him. He warned the Spartan that they would meet again, as the Sisters of Fate had deemed it. Atlas’ curse was given to him by a mere mortal, which would be something he would never forget for as long as he lived.
God of War II
Aiding Kratos
While Kratos traversed the Island of Creation, he was confronted by the crazed Icarus. Icarus attacked Kratos, pushing Kratos along with himself, off the cliffs leading to the Temple of the Sisters of Fate, where a battle would ensue. Kratos managed to subdue Icarus, and by using his wings landed on the Titan he enchained many years ago – Atlas.
Kratos destroyed one of the chains holding Atlas, giving him a brief moment of relief. This caught the Titan's attention, and enraged at the sight of Kratos, Atlas attempted to squish him with his hand. Kratos managed to fend off his attacks, pushing them aside while yelling to the Titan that Zeus had betrayed him (having taken most of his powers away from him). Atlas was intrigued by Kratos' change of allegiance and told him about the Great War and how the Titans attempted to defend humanity from the power-crazed Gods. Wondering if he could be a worthy ally, Atlas tested Kratos by summoning a large group of enemies; after the Spartan killed all of them, Atlas was impressed and gave Kratos the last of his magic abilities into an attack called the "Atlas Quake". He then lifted Kratos back to the surface and through the Great Chasm, knowing that he was a true ally of the Titans.
The Second Titanomachy
During the Second Titanomachy, Atlas is presumed to still carry Greece on his shoulders, including during the events of the second Titanomachy. He is, however, mentioned when Helios reminds Kratos of the debt that he owes him.
God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla
Although the Titan himself is unseen, after any battle in the labyrinth of Greece, Helios may comment "Now that's the Kratos that brought down Atlas...!" though it's likely the four-armed Titan still carrying the world.
Personality
Just like the other Titans, Atlas is extremely prideful and feels a deep hatred toward the Olympians, he hates the gods so much that he was willing to destroy the whole world, even if this action would kill him as well, only to achieve his revenge against the Olympians. However, Atlas can be more reasonable than some of the other Titans, as when he helped Kratos to escape the Underworld, even though the Spartan was responsible for imprisoning him.
Powers and Abilities
Atlas was one of the strongest and largest Titans, wielding and shouldering the infinite creation not even being the full extent of his power, as he did it without much effort and despite being rendered powerless and soulless.
- Acausality: The laws of time and space works differently for the Greek deities.
- Immortality: Atlas, as with most Titans, is an immortal being that doesn't age biologically, is immune to disease and can't be killed with mortal weapons. Even soul-removal did not end the life of the Titan of Endurance. He could however be killed by Gods, Titans and Primordials, as well as with divine weapons, like the Blade of Olympus.
- Superhuman Stamina: Atlas held up the Pillar of the World for many years, without showing any sign of tiring. The lack of his soul and former divine powers, both removed by the Gods, doesn't seem to hinder him from shouldering the weight of the infinite creation for eternity.
- Superhuman Durability: Atlas is incredible durable, having lava flowing over his back, eroding his skin, yet not showing any discomfort for it. During the Titanomachy, it took the combined power of two of the strongest Olympians, Poseidon and Hades, to take him down.
- Vast Superhuman Strength: Atlas is the strongest of the Titans, able to hold up the Pillar of the World on his shoulders. He is also the only known Titan with four arms, increasing his physical strength even further. In the novel, it was stated that he is capable of holding up the world with one hand if he wanted to, and its also described how he could have crushed Kratos at any point, as he was already close to losing consciousness by just a test from the Titan General. He was able to totally subdue and defeat the God of the Sun, Helios while himself being fresh out of Tartarus and lacking the strength and power he once commanded in his prime.
- External Enhancement: With the Sun God subdued and defeated, Atlas was able wield the Power of the Sun in his mighty hands and use it to empower his strikes at the Pillar of the World.
- Terrakinesis: Atlas is able to cause earth quakes that even can shake Gods from their feet, and summon large boulders of stone and magma by slamming his fists in the ground.
- Power Bestowal: After Kratos revealed his plans to kill Zeus at Atlas, the latter bestowed him with the magical ability, known as Atlas' Quake, to help him on his quest.
Trivia
- His survival of soul-absorption and soul-destroying lightning stands in contrast to the King of the Aesir, Odin whose soul got removed by the teenage Atreus with a magic spell, upon which he died and his captured soul got destroyed with Brok's blacksmithing hammer.
- In Greek Mythology, Atlas was the Titans' leader in the Titanomachy. He was reserved a special punishment to hold the skies on his back. His daughters, the Hesperides, planted their garden at his feet.
- Menoetius, brother of Atlas, known to be as powerful as him, fought the Great War and faced a fierce duel with Zeus, but his hubristic attitude got the better of him and allowed Zeus to hit the ground with his lightning, destroying it, and Menoetius fell to a deadly encounter with the soil of Tartarus, killing him. This might implies that the hole in the ceiling of Tartarus was created when Zeus fought him.
- In the first God of War game, in Pandora's Temple, there's a statue of Atlas, but it looks almost nothing like how Atlas is depicted in the other two games. The possible explanation is that Pathos Verdes III, the architect, had never seen or heard of his appearance, thus creating a statue entirely based on his own thoughts. However, in the original God of War, the rest of the franchise wasn't even an idea yet, as Cory Barlog expected the game to be failure, and as such, the depictions and voice actors of several characters that re-appear in other games are inconsistent with how they are depicted in the first game, most notably, Zeus, Hades, Atlas, Aphrodite and Cronos all looking (and sounding) very different to how they would come back in later games.
- The Challenge of Atlas, or the whole entire Pandora's Temple, must have been created after God of War: Chains of Olympus, because this is when Atlas held up the world.
- It's probable that the Challenge of Atlas was built long before his imprisonment at the Pillar of the World, and that Pathos Verdes III simply built it as a challenge to the visitors, later renaming it the Challenge of Atlas, after learning what happened to the real Atlas. That would explain why the Atlas statue looks nothing like the real one, but its most likely that ordinary mortals like Pathos knew nothing of Atlas appearance and personality, he probably just knew him from the myths and designed the challenge as a reference.
- The best theory is that the construction of Pandora's Temple was in progress during the events of Chains of Olympus and the part of the Challenge of Atlas and the rest of the Temple was built after Pathos learned the myth.
- This theory, however, is completely impossible since it is mentioned multiple times that the temple was built thousands of years before the events of the game itself, while Chains of Olympus takes place a mere five years before the first game. The most likely theory is that the statue was merely a general statue to symbolize strength, and it got renamed to be identified with Atlas after the mortals learned what had happened to the real Atlas at Kratos' hands.
- Strangely, the design of the statue would be reused to depict Poseidon later in the game in one of the sections of "The Challenge of Poseidon".
- In God of War: Chains of Olympus, Atlas is voiced by Fred Tatasciore. In God of War II, Atlas is voiced by the late Michael Clarke Duncan who is best known for playing John Coffey in The Green Mile. To note, Atlas and Kratos appear to have met before (later revealed to be in Chains of Olympus), however, Chains of Olympus was released in 2008, whereas God of War II was released in 2007, but the explanation for this foreshadowing of the two knowing each other previously could be explained that Chains of Olympus was being developed shortly after, or even during the development of God of War II, and as such, the dialogue Kratos and Atlas share with each other in II could be explained from the close development times.
- He is the brother of Prometheus whom Kratos met and freed from his torment in God of War II.
- He is the father of the Pleiades, the 7 nymphs that accompany Artemis.
- He is also the grandfather of Hermes, since one of his daughters, Pleiades Maia bore him through Zeus.
- He is the only Titan in the series who has four arms.
- It took two of the most prominent Gods of Olympus, Hades and Poseidon, to bring down Atlas in the Titanomachy, however, Kratos alone defeated Atlas in Chains of Olympus (but he needed the Gauntlet of Zeus.)
- Given Atlas' accusations that Kratos would regret "what he had done" (i.e., save all existence from destruction, including Elysium), it's very possible Atlas had been deceived by Persephone into thinking destroying the Pillar would only kill Zeus and the Olympians. The fact that the Pillar is actually under the Island of Creation and not Mount Olympus supports this. And it seems more realistic as it is very unlikely that a Titan would help a Goddess.
- By the time of God of War II, years of being seared by molten magma from the Earth above him has damaged Atlas, causing portions of his skin to become rough, rocky, and to corrode away all together.
- Atlas is about the same size of Cronos, 1600 feet tall. This makes them amongst the tallest of the Titan race. That makes them even bigger than Gaia.
- They are likely dwarfed by the Primordials however, whose broken body parts formed the earth.
- The Atlas character models in God of War II and Chains of Olympus are significantly smaller than the Cronos character model in God of War III.
- Atlas is now the last living Titan since he never appeared in God of War III, meaning he continued to hold Greece on his back; otherwise, if he had been killed or died, the whole Grecian land would have fallen apart.
- Rhea could possibly be alive due to the fact that she hid her son Zeus from Cronos, but her status and whereabouts are currently unknown. This would make the two of them are the last remaining Titans.
- It is also possible Typhon is still alive, as he never left his mountain prison. However, the destruction of Greece likely affected him in some way or he ceased to exist with Gaia being sent to the future.
- His hand also appeared in the European front cover of God of war 2
- According to the concept arts, Atlas was originally going to have a volcano on his head and Kratos doesn’t land on his lower eye lid and he was going to have lava cracks all over him and the ceiling of the underworld is literally cracked lava. And the underworld’s clouds below atlas were originally grey instead of red and the sky was originally meant to be grey too instead of yellow. Also the fact that the pillar is nowhere to be seen and atlas was originally going to wear a tunic.
- There were even screenshots of the early version of the atlas level that was meant to be based off one of the concept arts.
Gallery
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