Family

While under the influence of Mithos, Kratos met Anna at a human ranch. The two fell in love, and Kratos realized what Mithos was trying to accomplish was wrong. They ran away together, but unfortunately were pursued by Kvar. Kratos and Anna had a baby boy, Lloyd. However, Anna's key crest was taken away from her Exsphere and the mana in her body went out of control, turning her into a monster. Kratos tried desperately to protect his son without hurting his wife, and could not bring himself to kill her when she begged him to do so after coming to her senses for a short period of time. It did not last, for Anna went after Lloyd once again, leaving Kratos no choice but to kill her in order to save his son.

Although the game did not go extremely in-depth with the relationship of Kratos and Anna, you can tell that Kratos was and still is completely devoted to her. Anna made him realize the wrong doings of Mithos, and she was his will to keep living. He obviously hesitated greatly to choose between Anna and Lloyd because he did not want to kill the woman he so greatly loved. Kratos does feel a great deal of sorrow and guilt because he was forced to kill her, and completely blames himself for what happened. He refuses to let anyone speak ill of the dead, which shows his respect and love for Anna. Towards the end, Kratos makes it clear that all he wishes is to finally be able to die, most likely so he can be with Anna once again. Though Anna's character is not explained very much, one can assume that she was caring and loving because she told Kratos to kill her in order to save their son. The two were very much in love, and her death did not break their bond.

After Kratos thought Lloyd had died along with Anna, he gave up on life and returned to Mithos. Once he was reunited with his son again, Kratos remained close to him. Though Lloyd did not know his real father was one of his companions, Kratos still felt the heavy weight of guilt on his shoulders. He sometimes asks Lloyd for his opinions on his true father, and one of the only times Kratos is seen being sad is when he asked what Lloyd thought of his father killing his mother. Lloyd responds that he figures his father was forced to do it, and Kratos tells him he is right, and apologizes for asking the question in the first place. It is obvious that Kratos wants Lloyd to accept him to a certain extent, and was worried what he would think if Lloyd found out that Kratos was his father and killed his mother. Lloyd gets irritated with Kratos' remarks on his swordsmanship and just the fact that he is so much better than him in general, but really does trust him. Lloyd even tells him after Kratos betrays the party that he kept hoping he was not the bad guy. Kratos looks out for his son the whole time, even if his intentions remain unclear.

Once Lloyd realizes that Kratos is his father, he has a really hard time accepting it. Partly because Kratos never told him even though he knew the whole time they had been traveling together, and because at that point, Lloyd did not know that the whole time Kratos had been watching out for him and making preparations for Lloyd to defeat Mithos. Lloyd really does care about his father regardless, because he does not want to sacrifice Kratos' life to release Origin and make another pact. Lloyd is a kind person, but I still think that he felt compassion for Kratos at that point in time, despite the fact that he was really confused and unsure what to do about it. He wants to work together with his father to defeat Mithos, not have to fight him. In the end, Lloyd makes it clear that Kratos should not want to die because he still has reasons for living. Kratos can never let what he had to do to Anna go, but at that moment, I think Lloyd was able to remove some of the weight of guilt he had been carrying with him all those years. After the defeat of Mithos, Lloyd is able to call Kratos "dad". As he leaves, all of Kratos' fears, love and any other feelings for his son are shown to Lloyd with his last words, "do not die before I do Lloyd, my son."

Kratos' family is very important to him. They were the only reason worth living to him, as is displayed by how he gave up on life and returned to Mithos after Anna was killed and he thought Lloyd had died. Kratos did not agree with Mithos' ideals any longer, but with the loss of what was important to him, he had no will to live. In a way, Kratos did not care about what happened any more. Upon meeting Lloyd again, Kratos began to drift away from Mithos once more and did what he could to protect and guide his son. He may not have been able to experience the typical, happy family life, but Kratos loves them both very deeply. He will always be devoted to and in love with Anna, as well as willing to do anything to protect Lloyd.

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