Outer Shell
At a glace, Kratos is the typical strong and silent character that is generally a “loner.” He is a mercenary after all! He’s not one to waste words, but when he does decide to speak, his words are filled with eloquence. Kratos tends not to display much emotion either, which combined with not speaking much makes him pretty reserved. Kratos is usually the one to bring the others crashing down to reality when they get excited as well. He is almost always focused on the task at hand, which angers Lloyd and the others when he seemingly brushes off deaths or other unfortunate events. Though the others have a hard time at first, they eventually come to terms with the fact that Kratos is only acting in the best interest of the group in the long run, even if that means coming off as cold and heartless. The others have a hard time knowing what Kratos is feeling or thinking because of his 98% of the time perfect poker face. This part of his personality makes him hard to trust, as is displayed by Raine’s questioning of his knowledge and skills (which he has quite a lot of!)Kratos is very knowledgeable, and with his strong logic, common sense and wide variety of abilities, he’s a valuable asset to the team when they are in a pinch. He knows a lot about the two worlds, technology, the battlefield, an angelic language…the list goes on. Even when he doesn’t say much, it’s pretty obvious he knows more than he lets on. But hey, after being around for a few thousand years, I guess anyone would have time to pick up various things, right?
Despite his understanding of most things, Kratos falls short when it comes to what others are feeling. He’s not an idiot with others’ emotions by any means, as he does know how to act around people who are feeling a certain way. He just has a harder time understanding some sentiments or certain personalities. Colette’s attachment to the necklace Lloyd gave her is a “foolish sentiment” to him. Another example would be when Lloyd suggests that they should cut watermelon on the beach. Lloyd just wants to have a good time with Kratos, but he interprets the suggestion as Lloyd wanting to practice with his sword even while they were supposed to be enjoying themselves. (I’m not going to lie; it made me laugh when he obviously didn’t get it!) Kratos has a hard time relating to simple and everyday sentiments and activities, most likely as a result of being alive for so long without being in a typical family or close friend setting. I am almost positive, however, that he probably wishes he could fit into those types of situations, especially enjoying idle periods with his son, but it’s too awkward for him now. It’s almost like he doesn’t know how to have fun. He was the only one who didn’t get changed at the beach, after all. For quite some time, his heart was shut off, so it’s almost safe to assume he didn’t really take the time to figure out how or why other people were feeling certain ways. Though the wall he keeps between himself and others is mainly because of the immense guilt he feels, part of his standoff personality may result from not knowing how to act in certain situations.
Overall, Kratos comes off as being rather intimidating and hard to relate to because he is “perfect” and never makes any mistakes (as Lloyd puts it). Kratos sure has the masquerade thing down well, that’s for sure. He is, however, far from perfection. Let’s take a closer look at the personality he tries so hard to hide, shall we?
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.