Throughout both God of War and its sequel, Kratos and Atreus’ father-and-son relationship is tested, and they face many challenges both individually and together. Faye, already deceased by the time the first game starts, still plays a major part in both characters’ motivations and thought processes. Her character may be dead, but her presence is heavily felt throughout the journey, something which left many gamers making various assumptions about her persona.
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Faye’s Character is Not So Mysterious After All
Sometimes, the simplest solution is the correct one. While it would undoubtedly be fun and exciting to have her be some kind of evil force out to trick Kratos and/or Atreus, it would ultimately be detrimental to the story Santa Monica Studios was trying to tell. It makes a lot more sense to have Faye as the unseen, guiding force for Kratos and his son, with her love for both her husband and Atreus leading them through some extremely testing and challenging times. And so, when Faye is finally revealed to the player through multiple flashbacks throughout Ragnarok, this proved to be the case.
Faye turned out to be just as kind, caring, and benevolent as Kratos had described to his son all along. Although she lived as a mortal, Faye had concealed her true identity, Laufey The Just, a Jotunn who constantly tried to help the weak and needy, protecting them from some of the cruel Aesir gods such as Odin and Thor. She was a fierce warrior in her own right, teaching Atreus how to use a bow masterfully, and Kratos discovers that she even held her own in an epic duel with Thor in the Vanaheim realm.
Flashbacks of Kratos’ time with Faye reveal her to be a calming influence on him, providing logical, balanced advice to her battle-hardened husband on numerous occasions. Her scenes with her husband each hold significant importance, from having just given birth to Atreus to marking trees with Kratos that would ultimately be used for her funeral pyre. It’s never made clear exactly how Faye meets her end, that much is left to interpretation, but her death is the event that kicks off Kratos’ journey. That definitely doesn’t feel like a coincidence. With Faye’s power of foresight, she may well have known this from the beginning.
With some new characters in God of War Ragnarok being villainous, such as the arrogant Heimdall and devious Odin, who was brought to life brilliantly by Richard Schiff, Faye proved herself to be one of the truly good-natured characters in the saga, alongside Freya, who many expected to be among the game’s main antagonists but actually ended up being a powerful ally. Even though she was only seen in small flashbacks and dream sequences, Faye made enough of an impression for gamers to rest easy knowing that Kratos’ beloved deceased wife was a character worth making this epic journey for.
God of War Ragnarok is available now for PS4 and PS5.
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