The tattoo on Kratos’ face and head was a significant plot device in the original God of War trilogy, though in the first game it was likely just cosmetic. Starting in God of War: Ghost of Sparta a prophecy regarding the “marked warrior” destroying Olympus was retconned in. This led to Ares and Athena capturing Deimos, Kratos’ brother, for his facial birthmark. Kratos would then tattoo his face in a similar design to Deimos’ birthmark in his brother’s memory.

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What Reddit user Fancy_Fuel15 notices is that Atreus has a pattern of scars over his left eye that’s eerily reminiscent of Kratos’ face tattoo. That is, Atreus’ scars look like a line moving from above his eye to his temple, and then below his eye toward his jaw. The implication is that the scars were a result of Kratos’ tattoo due to one reason or another. There is, however, no canon explanation for Atreus scars, so only the developers at Santa Monica Studio know the truth.

To be clear, the scars over Atreus’ eye are not new in God of War Ragnarok. They were there in the 2018 God of War reboot, too. There are even similar threads on Reddit from God of War fans asking if the scars are related to Kratos’ tattoo. If Atreus appears in a future game, more questions could arise regarding his scars.

Theories regarding the scars are surprisingly similar, shared between players of both God of War and God of War Ragnarok. The leading theories include the possibility of Deimos’ birthmark being genetic and Atreus’ scars being related, as well as possible self-scarification as a young Atreus was trying to look more like his father. Alternatively, it’s just a coincidence, and Atreus got his scars in an accident or fight.

That there’s no answer to the question of Atreus’ scars is probably for the best. Not everything needs to have a backstory, nor does it need to serve a purpose in the plot. It simply gives Atreus more personality and hints that there’s been more to his life than what’s seen in the God of War games. It makes the games richer through an absence of an explanation. It would be pretty interesting if Atreus ended up being Deimos reborn or something, though. Maybe Santa Monica Studio has that planned for the future.

God of War Ragnarok is available now on PS4 and PS5.

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