Over the course of four console games, Kratos has put the hurt of the entire Greek pantheon of gods as well as a few Norse gods. Some view Kratos as a cruel, bitter old man who is cursed to be a monster for the rest of his days. However, given the fact that the games draw from the less romanticized versions of the gods, some of them deserved their fate.
Many of the Greek gods were selfish, cruel, and despised humanity for its many failings. Kratos was able to use the power he achieved from becoming the God of War to end the tyrannical reign of the gods over the people of ancient Greece. While violence may not always be the answer, Kratos was justified in killing many of the gods.
11 Hermes: Pompous & Insulting
Hermes was a pompous jerk that constantly teased Kratos about his past and then ran away so Kratos couldn't hurt him, like a true coward. While Hermes was able to get some deep cuts in psychologically, it didn't take long for Kratos to predict his movements and create an opportunity to permanently keep Hermes quiet.
Kratos smashed a statue that Hermes was about to land on which completely threw him off balance, allowing Kratos to catch up. In true Kratos fashion, he cuts off Hermes' legs and then proceeds to steal his boots to give himself a speed boost in certain gameplay situations.
10 Helios: Asinine Liar with Pride Issues
Having one of the more important roles in the Greek world certainly didn't humble Helios by any means. In fact, even after being partially crushed by a Titan, he found the courage to verbally harass Kratos about his past despite being unable to stand.
Helios attempted to sway Kratos to his side once he knew he was done for. He went so far as to lie and throw other gods under the bus to avoid his fate at the hands of the Spartan. After one final trick, Kratos finally had enough of his shenanigans and proceeded to relieve Helios of his head.
9 Hercules: Dangerously Powerful Oaf with an Agenda
While Hercules isn't a full-fledged god, he's still a powerful member of the Olympic family. Hercules wanted to defeat Kratos and claim what he thought was his rightful place as the God of War. However, his arrogance got the better of him and Kratos made an opportunistic move during one of Hercules' monologues to end the fight.
While Hercules' screen time was limited, he was painted as a cruel individual. He even killed his own legion of troops —undead or otherwise— when Kratos made him angry. One could argue that it was Hera in his ear leading him to make bad decisions, but a powerful puppet would wreak havoc with no master.
8 Hera: Drunken, Vengeful, & Just Plain Mean
In fairness, most of Hera's woes were a result of Zeus sleeping around with mortal women and siring powerful hybrid children. Without using drunkenness as an excuse, Hera was another one of the gods that attempted to hurt Kratos with their words by taunting him about his past and dead loved ones.
She was also the one who sent Hercules after Kratos which was quite a bloody battle on both ends. She also trapped Kratos in a magic garden and taunted him, saying he was not smart enough to make his way out of the garden. Hera was like a curse to Kratos and he delivered justice as he saw fit.
7 Baldur: Couldn't Just Mind His Business
The reason for Baldur's demise was the fact that he couldn't just leave things be as though they were. He was adamant about confronting Kratos about his past and wanted to pre-emptively keep the Spartan from doing the same to his family.
Having suffered plenty, Kratos didn't let some Norse punk ruin the life he had built for himself far away from his past. Despite his rapid healing, Kratos was able to make relatively quick work of Baldur. Though in defeating him, the other Norse gods caught wind of a new threat leading to more trouble for Kratos.
6 Modi: Rowdy Punk That Harasses Mortals
It's unclear what Modi was the god of, but he was the son of Thor so one might assume his abilities were tied to that of Thor's. Regardless of his affinities, he is shown to be a rowdy jerk that had no respect for anyone other than those in his family, and even then that's questionable.
Modi was reckless, even before meeting his doom at the hands of Kratos. He had a reputation in ancient Norway for being a real scalawag and taking advantage of his powers.
5 Magni: Like His Brother, But Worse
While Magni isn't quite as rowdy and immature as his brother, he's still an arrogant fool deserving of the fate he received at the hands of Kratos. It was Magni's idea to go after Kratos, he thought defeating the God of War would please their father.
Much like his brother, Magni had a bad reputation among the ancient Norse population. Magni was older and more powerful than his brother, easily making him the worse of the two. Had Kratos not put Thor's sons out of commission, they would still be tormenting the people in their realm.
4 Hades: Torments the Dead of the Underworld
Hades blamed Kratos for many of the things that happened to him, much like many other gods of Olympus. At any opportunity, Hades would make Kratos' day a world of hell. He even stalked the Spartan and teased him of his fate on his long and arduous journey.
Hades is also bad in general, he forced his wife to marry him despite her utter disdain for him. He was always terrible at managing the River Styx and often tortured the souls of the underworld. It was only a matter of time before Hades was relieved of his duties.
3 Poseidon: Killed Many of Kratos' Shipmates
Poseidon was one of the gods that consistently went after Kratos. He constantly threw obstacles in his way when Kratos was out on the open seas. Every time Kratos prevailed, but at the cost of his crew, his ship, or his sanity. Poseidon's intentions were to kill Kratos with these many tribulations, but Kratos always prevailed.
Like most gods of the Greek pantheon, Poseidon received his just desserts at the hand of the Ghost of Sparta. In addition to killing so many of Kratos' shipmates and comrades, Poseidon was a coward. Being one of the big three, he should have feared no one, let alone a mortal.
2 Ares: Tricked Kratos into Murdering His Family
Despite the fact that Ares granted Kratos his incredible strength, he was no saint. Because of Ares' gift of strength, Kratos ended up killing his believed wife and daughter in a blind Spartan fury. The worst part was that it was Ares' intention the entire time, to teach Kratos a lesson and keep him under his thumb.
However, much to Ares' chagrin, Kratos overcame this traumatic setback and rose to the occasion to avenge his loved ones. At the end of the first game, Ares is the final boss and his defeat is one of the more satisfying of the franchise. Despite the size advantage and magical bag of godly tricks, Kratos prevails and sends Ares to the underworld.
1 Zeus: The Catalyst of Kratos' Misery
While Zeus was primarily acting out of fear of being usurped by his son, he certainly deserved to die. A faithful man with one wife wouldn't need to be worried about this prophecy since all of his children would be coming from the same woman. Zeus sired so many bastard halflings on Earth, he had no idea which child was destined to overthrow him.
Zeus was no benevolent ruler. He constantly made examples of mortals and gods alike to keep any from dissenting or rising up against him. If Zeus had been a more agreeable overseer, Ares would have never recruited Kratos in an effort to usurp Zeus and take control of Olympus for himself. Zeus was the harbinger of his own death.