God Of War's Kratos was 'almost a little elf'

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Colossal God Of War protagonist Kratos could have been 'a little elf', if the original designs for the series' hero ever came to fruition.

That's according to the lead environmental artist on the first GoW game, Ken Feldman.

In a splendid look back at the series in the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine UK, Feldman revealed that his studio's initial plans for GoW's hero were some way off the Kratos we know and love today.

"I think it took us a year-and-a-half to come up with Kratos," said Feldman - now art director on the series.

"That was the most difficult thing. Everything had to be based around this character - the story, the weapons. The first guy we came up with was a little elf character, he was hysterical. His animations looked like Disney."

OPM's 10-page look-back at the series reveals that Kratos was also almost 'an escaped slave' and even 'a blind monk carrying a baby'.

Lead designer David Jaffe had a much clearer idea of what he wanted the protagonist to look like.

"I wanted to make a game that really spoke to my passion for action-adventure movies," he added.

"My love of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Greek Myths - specifically the Harryhausen stuff like Jason And The Argonauts, Clash Of The Titans - and my love of games like Adventure on the Atari 2600, and Devil May Cry and ICO, and kind of mashing that into one thing."

The mag's God Of War 3 review in the same issue gives the game 9/10.

We've stuck a bundle of screenshots from the original GoW below, so you can relive the magic.

If Kratos wasn't the man beast we know today, what would you like him to look like, readers?

Tim Ingham