God of War series’ hero, Kratos is often criticised for embodying toxic masculinity, but he completely changed this voice actor’s life.

The hero of the God of War franchise, Kratos, is probably one of the most iconic characters in video game history. The character is often criticized as embodying toxic masculinity, but the actor who played the character thinks otherwise. For 2018’s God of War, a new actor, Christopher Judge, was picked for the role of Kratos. Judge recently explained that when he was offered the role back then, he was in a difficult state, but the role of Kratos changed everything.

The experience of working on the game with everyone else at Santa Monica Studio completely changed the actor’s whole perspective on the world. Without a doubt, it’s hard to imagine some other actor voicing Kratos now, as Judge has set a very high standard with his work.

Being the voice actor for Kratos completely changed Christopher Judge’s life

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During a recent cast panel for the God of War series’ 20th anniversary celebration, Christopher Judge, the voice actor of Kratos, was asked to share his experience of working with Santa Monica Studio to voice Kratos. Judge quickly highlighted that the working environment was very welcoming, something which he had not experienced in the past.

Further, during the cast panel, Judge revealed that he was going through a tough phase when he was offered to voice Kratos, a role that he initially thought of declining. He explained that the entire process completely changed his life (via GamesRadar+),

Every morning, it looked like everyone wanted to be there, which was something really weird for me. There was no-one complaining. People were happy to be there. It was such a collective. It really was the first place that I had ever been that was that supportive, and nurturing, and caring, and loving. And it really changed my whole perspective on the world, and what it really means to be a man.

Before getting the role of Kratos, Judge received two DUIs and went into counselling. He added that he learned a lot about “empowering people, listening to people, and making them feel heard,” but he saw it in practice when he reached the God of War set.

Even the previous Kratos voice actor saw the role as “therapy“

Terrence “T.C.” Carson felt that voicing Kratos was like going to therapy (Image via Santa Monica Studio)

Without a doubt, Kratos is a video game icon and even has had several cameos in games outside the God of War series. Judge certainly did a great job of voicing the character, but before Judge, there was another actor who played a key role in popularising the character.

In the same cast panel, Judge was joined by Terrence “T.C.” Carson, the original voice actor for Kratos, playing the role from 2005 to 2013. Just like Judge, voicing Kratos was a great experience for Carson; in fact, the role allowed him to vent out all his rage. He explained,

At the time, I was very angry; there were a lot of things going on that had me in a real nasty place… Kratos allowed me to do that. He allowed me to be able to vent all of that anger, he allowed me to be able to vent all of that rage, and I think that’s the thing that people resonate with, because it was real.

Carson even added that voicing Kratos “was like going to therapy.” Kratos’ actions often reflected harmful masculine stereotypes, but as the franchise progressed, the later games portrayed his growth, emotional depth, and fatherhood.