WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for God of War: Fallen God #3 by Chris Roberson, Tony Parker, Dan Jackson and Jimmy Betancourt, on sale now.
In his capacity as the God of War, Kratos has fought a great many enemies, many of whom dwarf him in terms of size. He's gone up against hydras, sea monsters, titans and even dragons in the latest entry of the iconic game series. But in the prequel comic prior to his arrival in Midgard, Kratos fought what may have been his largest adversary yet: a demonic hippo.
This creature, a chaos beast, is larger than any enemy Kratos has ever gone up against and even more disturbingly, it seems to be a lot stronger than them too. But Kratos is no stranger to fighting massive beasts, having gone up against some of the most famous giant monsters in mythology.
Obviously, going up against a foe whose teeth are bigger than him means Kratos must fight smarter instead of harder. Such was the case in the 2018 entry of God of War when Kratos went up against the dragon Hraezlyr. While he fought the beast one-on-one, Kratos also used the terrain to his advantage, finding crystals that could be detonated by the dragon's electrical powers and then killing it by plunging a large crystal shard into its neck, detonating the shard from inside the dragon's body and ending the fight.
Years before that, Kratos has dueled legendary creatures of the deep, such as the time he managed to defeat the Hydra all by himself. In a similar manner to defeating Hraezlyr, Kratos used his environment to deadly effect, impaling the last hydra head on a mast to prevent it from regenerating its other heads. He even managed to best one of the most famous sea creatures, the Kraken, in its own terrain, outmaneuvering it in the water to create enough wounds to kill the massive beast.
And his victories over bigger enemies are not limited to monsters. Kratos' only goal for most of his life was the destruction of the Greek pantheon. So it was only a matter of time before he faced a god who increased his size to handle Kratos. Such was the case of Poseidon, who manifested as a massive giant made of water to deal with an invading Kratos. But once again, Kratos used every advantage he could to win, mainly using Gaea as a distraction. But in time, Poseidon fell just like all the others.
Another good example of Kratos dealing with a larger foe is when he had to acquire the Omphalos Stone from his grandfather, Cronos. The God of War series isn't entirely accurate to Greek mythology, which honestly lends to the epicness of its battles, so in this instance, being a Titan was taken very literally. Cronos was gigantic, the palm of his hand easily fulfilling the role of a small platform for Kratos to fight on with enough room to maneuver. It took some doing because Cronos was significantly larger than Hraezlyr, but even the former King of the Titans fell before Kratos' might.
But the fight with the chaos beast is significantly different than any Kratos has had in the past or future. For one thing, this might actually be the first time Kratos is engaged in a serious fight with a figure from another mythology. Kratos has found himself in the land of Egypt and is now dealing with its unique dangers. As such, the chaos hippo, like any hippo, is probably one of the most dangerous creatures one could encounter while traversing the land of the pharaohs. But there is one more significant reason why this fight is so much harder for Kratos.
Unlike every other time previously mentioned, Kratos is unarmed. Hraezlyr, Cronos, Poseidon, the Kraken and Hydra, in all of those instances he has been armed with a magical weapon. But at this point in his life, Kratos is desperate to be rid of the blades of chaos, seeing them as a reminder of the pain of his past. But this means that Kratos will have to take down the largest opponent he's ever fought with his bare hands. Based on the initial outcome of the fight, that is a task easier said than done. So like every battle from his past, he must use what advantages he has to succeed.