According to the original game’s creator David Jaffe, Kratos was NEVER a misogynist in God of War, and he’s mad people keep saying otherwise.

David Jaffe, creator of the original God of War for the PlayStation 2, is sick and tired of people calling Kratos a misogynist. Ever since God of War was first released back in 2005, it has garnered its fair share of controversy thanks not only to the massive amounts of blood, gore, and violence in the game but also due to the fact that it included a segment which allowed players to have sex.

Sex in video games is something which is inherently controversial, especially fifteen and twenty years ago when it was generally assumed more children were playing games than adults. God of War wasn’t the only franchise to include risque elements in their game, and it wasn’t even the only one on the PlayStation 2, as Rockstar Games famously got in their own fair share of trouble when it was discovered code containing a sex minigame in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas could be activated by players who downloaded a certain mod. While GTA: San Andreas eventually had to be recalled and the code removed, God of War‘s remained, and with each new entry the sex became more graphic and more ridiculous.

However, according to David Jaffe, this was never meant to be taken as misogynist. Speaking on Twitter recently (thanks, Game Revolution) the former God of War director railed against people who he says “continue to retcon that game in order to justify the thesis of their GOD OF WAR 2018 stories.” He describes how Kratos is a broken character who is “losing himself in wine and meaningless sex to numb the pain” and says that “looking at a woman as a sexual being and ONLY a sexual being IN THE ACT OF HAVING SEX W/THEM (not out in the world) is NOT misogynistic.” Check out the thread below for his full response, as well as a link to the Inverse story which ignited Jaffe in the first place:

The Kratos in God of War 2018 is surely a different character than players were expecting, and the stark contrast of how he acted as a young man compared to his older self is something many players and critics have pondered on and written about. However, it appears Jaffe would prefer if those people would keep Kratos’ name off the lists of toxic male characters. “I would never make a game suggesting that women are not to be trusted or liked or respected,” Jaffe said, shortly before adding a screenshot of the dictionary definition of misogyny to his feed. “That’s not who I am and I would never put my heart and soul into a work like that.”

The character of Kratos, at least in the original God of War, is many things. He’s a ruthless killer, a compassion-less force, and a greedy, single-minded individual. Throughout the course of three games Kratos tears a path through Greek mythology and leaves it so utterly decimated he has to go out and move in with the Norse gods instead. These are all things God of War creator David Jaffe would likely agree with… as long as no one calls Kratos toxic.

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