This week marks the long awaited release of God of War, the latest entry in the long running PlayStation series. The new game, which serves as a soft reboot of the franchise, sees protagonist Kratos attempt to connect with his young son Atreus on their quest to scatter the ashes of his recently dead wife on the highest peak in all the realms.

What makes things decidedly more complicated isn't just that Kratos has no idea to break it to his son that he was at one point a deity, it's that they're embarking on this quest in Scandinavia during the time of Norse gods. It's been established by the developers at Sony Santa Monica that Odin and his ilk are aware of Kratos' past in the game, though they've been cagey about which members of the pantheon will show up. Whoever does arrive, it seems a given that Thor will feature in some capacity, even if he's not physically seen. And while there's nothing saying the game's weapon will operate like Marvel's version, it's fun to consider what the Godkiller would be like if he were to say, be worthy of carrying the comic book God of Thunder's mighty hammer, Mjolnir.

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It would be easy to say that Kratos would be considered unworthy, given all the murders he's committed. All the same, it's not like he would be the first mass murderer to have held Mjolnir; last year saw Captain America become a Nazi, and he was able to lift it with no problem. Likewise in Thanos' solo comic set in a potential far future, the Silver Surfer, a man who has literally just shown up at planets to prepare for them to be eaten, was able to wield the mighty weapon after he'd gone on a long quest to redeem himself. Prior to becoming a hero, the original Red Hulk got to hold it himself, and Magneto in the Ultimate Marvel universe used his powers to pick up the thing shortly before he decided to try and wipe out the planet.

Over seven games and 13 years, Kratos has done a lot to make the prospect of him holding this hammer terrifying. In Jason Aaron's current run of Thor books, it's been shown that Mjolnir has a pull to it, an addiction that makes it hard to put down. Jane Foster knew this intimately, as each time she became Thor, the cancer in her body became stronger; Volstagg, who became the War Thor for a short time, grew more bloodthirsty from wielding the Mjolnir of the Ultimate Universe.

Knowing Kratos' luck, he would more than likely end up with a hammer like the one War Thor wielded, leading to yet another line of grisly kills. During his Greek run, Kratos's kills varied greatly, including, but not limited to murdering his family, beating Poseidon to death with his bare hands, ripping off Helios' head, slicing off Hermes' legs, punching Hercules' face to a meaty pulp with giant gauntlets, dropping a man into the mouth of a dead Hydra, and plunging all of Olympus into destruction and chaos. He would be the absolute worst person to hold a magical hammer that summons lightning.

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The science of who Mjolnir approves fluctuates with each comic and who happens to be writing it, but the weapon has proven to have something of a mind of its own at times. It seems able to sense the utter good in people or when it is needed by someone under great duress; it called to Jane Foster like a beacon while she was still afflicted with cancer, and a PTSD-struck Volstagg felt that same sensation as well when he picked up the Mjolnir of the Ultimate Universe. If it can decide that Jane is worthy to own it despite the doctor's refusal of religion and gods due to the hardships she went through in life, it could possibly decide that a God-killer is as well, if only because his inner turmoil isn't that dissimilar to previous wielders.

Each Thor in the past has been torn between two worlds: that of a larger than life god, and a smaller being in the cosmic scheme of the universe. Like Jane and Odinson, Kratos is torn, though his past as both mortal and god were equally miserable of their own accords, and largely by his own doing. As trailers for God of War has shown, he really is struggling to just not succumb to his inner rage like before, and he's got the literal scars to show where that's gotten him in life. Whether that's in battle or simple talks with Atreus, everything is proving to be a challenge for him since he can't just punch everything into a bloody mist as he did in the past. As with Jane, this really all comes down to faith; faith in the ability to be better, faith that he's doing the right thing in imparting advice to his son and trying to do right by Atreus.

Mjolnir may be possible of sensing a person's inner goodness to determine if they can wield it, but there's one big caveat that severely takes away from Kratos' worthiness, and that's the dude is a massive misogynist tool. He was a bad father and husband, even before he murdered them in his rage. He's used women as sexual objects or as props for him to progress such as using the corpse of Hera, who he killed shortly before, as a counterweight for a puzzle. Odinson was no stranger to sexist remarks himself, but he wasn't actively putting women into death traps or using them as flimsy justifications for his vengeance.

God of War will eventually bring Thor into the fold, and when it does, it'll be interesting to see what they do with him and Mjolnir. Maybe Kratos will kill him and take the hammer or just briefly use it, but when he does, it'll be something of a hard pill to swallow. Even if one wishes to distance the game's version of the character from its more popular counterpart there's no denying that the Ghost of Sparta is the last person in all the realms worthy of holding an iconic weapon.