Appearance: Game

Ah, Kratos at his finest. Much to my displeasure, Tales of Symphonia had graphics somewhere between chibi and full sized people, therefore the details of Kratos' appearance as well as even some proportions are a little sketchy. Regardless, this is his original appearance, and therefore what he is supposed to look like. He sports long, reddish-brown hair that generally covers his left eye (though you can at least see the eye through the hair), which also defies gravity (big surprise there). His default outfit, which can be seen on the left, appears to be made of a tight, purple spandex that does not leave too much to the imagination! While his second outfit (see the right), my personal favorite, is almost entirely composed of belts. I assume that it is his "knight" uniform, as he is shown wearing it when he meets Mithos for the first time in Tales of Fandom Volume 2. Rather than simply purple, the second outfit is blue, purple, white and brown. Putting the matter of his clothing aside, Kratos is almost always shown with his left hand around the sheath of his sword and his right hand at his side (which, I must add, does a random clenching motion while he is standing still...). His face is basically always the same flat expression except on the occasion of Raine screaming out of fear of the washtubs and when he's looking a bit cocky like in the image to the right. Either way, his game appearance is virtually always the same because of the limitations of Gamecube games, so you can't get very much expression or emotion from it.

Appearance: OVA

Well, I must say that I was certainly quite happy when I found out Tales of Symphonia was going to have an OVA. What could be better than seeing Kratos in animation? He has the same two outfits as he does from the game, so there is no point in getting into that again (though his default outfit is definitely more blue than purple in the OVA), but the two things about his appearance that stand out in the OVA over the game are his hair, and expressions. You cannot see Kratos' left eye through his hair in the OVA, which only makes him look even more "emo" than he did originally. Not to mention, the OVA certainly likes to have shots with his entire face covered by his hair. (How exactly does he see?) Joking aside, his hair simply adds to the effect when they are trying to convey the amount of pain and torment that he is enduring. Now that we are able to see his facial expressions, even the slightest change in his face can be noticed. Overall, I think his appearance in the OVA is able to display Kratos' emotions the best, simply because it is animated and detailed. Seeing him in proportion also adds to his appearance in terms of power, age and stature.

Appearance: Manga & Novel

I haven't read very much of the manga, but from what I have seen, the artist definitely makes Kratos look like his age (well...age 28 anyway) because of the way his face and nose is drawn long. I thought they did a good job keeping him looking in character, from his actual appearance down to his facial expressions. I absolutely adored the scene where Kratos protects Lloyd after it is let out that he is Lloyd's father, as the manga artist did an excellent job portraying all of his fears, pain and appreciation for Lloyd in a couple of panels. Not to mention the manga also drew a couple scenes from when Lloyd was little and sitting on Kratos' shoulders, so it made him seem more human than a cold and logical jerk. As for the novel (the image to the right), I haven't read any of it. However, there are only a few illustrations so I guess that fact is pointless on an appearance page. From the images that I have seen, the art seems to make Kratos' hair a little different . It's shorter in the back (though not by much) and it seems to be lifted up more than in the manga or game. Technicalities though, right? I personally am not very fond of the novel art in general though, but at least he still looks like Kratos.

b a c k   .   c l e a r   .   f o r w a r d    Count the Stars and its contents are © Samantha, however Kratos and Tales of Symphonia are © NAMCO. Count the Stars is a part of AFTER-DEATH.ORG.