Atreus only knows the world that he lives in with his dad. They've lived in this forest, a very small area. They're going out on the road together. Dad is just Dad. You don't really know any different. That's just a parameters for his life. As he starts to learn who he is, how he fits into all of this and who his dad is, it's an interesting sort of way that—he sees life differently than we see Kratos. He allows us to see Kratos with a slightly different lens because he's experiencing it all differently.”

Elements of her appearance were designed to look unkempt as we imagined she has spent sleepless days and nights in her endless pursuit of Kratos. Covered in a layer of dirt to show her rough living, we also smudged the kohl around her eyes intentionally made to resemble tears to show that behind all that anger there’s a layer of sadness she can’t escape from. The Giants were master artisans and craft folks. Even though Angrboda has been surviving on her own for so long, we wanted an elegance and beauty reflected in her design that we don’t find in the inhabitants of other Realms. When Thor’s design was shown after the first God of War Ragnarök trailer, the internet exploded (just a bit) with discussions. Were you expecting our take on Thor to be such a hot topic among gamers? We wanted to design a character that embodied a thunderstorm, the concept of pure power coupled with a degree of chaotic unpredictability. As the strongest god in the Norse pantheon, we took inspiration from real world strongmen and powerlifters which gave him a solid build while also reflecting the general time period we reference for the game.We wanted his look to reflect those aspects and multiple artists did work with that in mind. As the designs began to evolve and various elements began to resonate with the team our art director Rafael Grassetti did a pass and that is the final design of Thor seen in game. To provide insights into the three characters we’ve partnered with community cosplayers to make, we’ve sat down with Dela Longfish, a lead character artist on God of War Ragnarök, to discuss how these designs came to be. Freya We always imagined Gods have a stronger resilience to the cold than the humans in Midgard. With her single motivation to kill Kratos she has neglected any other mortal needs. The flame of anger she feels towards Kratos is all she needs to keep her warm while on the hunt.

In addition to the new guides, we’ve once again partnered with members of our extremely talented cosplay community to provide resources and tips on creating three of the characters from the updated guides – Freya, Angrboda, and Thor. Freya – Ibelinn Cosplay

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Enough of the dad, let’s get to the son! Atreus has hit a growth-spurt or five since God of War (2018), he’s obviously had a few birthdays and got some new digs since we last saw him. Can you take us through how that initial design brainstorm for older Atreus went? At Santa Monica Studio, one our guiding phrases is “we’re fans of our fans.” Whether it’s a reaction to a trailer, a deep-dive lore video, or cosplay – knowing that there is an audience that appreciates all the details in our work motivates us to create something worthy of God of War fans. To embody the Giantess of Ironwood, we’ve partnered with the wonderful Kizuki Cosplay, who brings a wealth of experience crafting intricate and detailed designs. Kratos has been through a lot and his design always reflects that. He cares about function more than visuals, so a lot of the decisions made on his design serve a practical purpose. Several pieces are there based on their utility in battle, for example, the pauldron with metal pieces protects his dominant arm and the bracers can be used to shield him if necessary. Atreus in the last game had some pops of color. In God of War Ragnarök he looks to have leaned in a lot more to bright colors. What made the team want to go this direction with his design?

Grace Orlady: At the end of the last game, Freya undergoes a traumatic event with the death of her son – changing her from friend to hunter, vowing vengeance on Kratos. How did the team want to go about changing Freya’s visual look to represent her emotional state at the start of God of War Ragnarök? When it comes to visual storytelling, what aspects of Angroboda’s character are the most important to convey through her design? You mentioned Thor’s goats are referenced as motifs in his design, are there any nods to the Norse myths within Angrboda’s clothing? For example, Atreus’ new look features a huge splash of yellow to honor his Giant heritage and connection to his mother. Angrboda, while being a Giant and living in Jötunheim, has clothing that features mostly shades of browns, teals, and grays. While her primary clothing pieces don’t have the same statement yellow piece that Atreus’ does, we still wanted to include smaller touches of the color to show her ties to the Giants and to Atreus.With the release of God of War (2018), we were absolutely amazed by how many people wanted to cosplay characters from the game – even those we didn’t have the chance to make guides for. We’re worked with our fantastic character artists and writers at SMS, as well as B is for Boy artist Romina Tempest, to create guides that not only give the in-depth references necessary for cosplayers, but also let us play more in the world of God of War by looking at these designs through the lens of our characters. As one of the last living Giants, she represents that part of Atreus’s heritage which is something no one else can share with him. Not only does she carry with her the knowledge of her people, but she also physically carried individually carved marbles that contained the souls of the Giants.