Sid & Jim

Strength

Sonic the Hedgehog looks out at the screen and taps his foot impatiently when you stop moving. This is an idle animation; it’s a moment when characters get to be themselves. 

Our piece is an alternative idle-animation for Kratos from God of War. Synonymous with violence, Kratos is a cruel, monstrous hero. He single-handedly slaughtered the entire Greek pantheon, destroying everyone who got in his way. Or did he? Did Kratos perform these horrific acts or did we, the players? 

Players don’t always serve the best interest of characters; Sonic taps his foot because he wants to go fast and if we don’t play, we aren’t fulfilling his desire. Perhaps Kratos wished that people would stop forcing him to behave like this. And as a picture of masculinity, he would never show his feelings on the matter. Tough and stoic, a lack of emotional expression has long been a hallmark of traditional masculinity and we have released Kratos from these macho chains. 

Kratos has been reanimated to allow him to express his grief. This is an unconventional, vulnerable side to this protagonist, a trait rarely seen; a mythological hero idol sobbing into his hands. Everyone is human, everyone feels.