Poll: Male Gamers: Do you consider Kratos aspirational?

[Moloch Sacrifice]

As anyone who has been here for any length of time will have noticed, debates on gender equality and depiction in media flare up quite frequently on this forum. One of the key points raised is that whilst female characters (such as Mileena in Mortal Kombat, or Lara Croft in Tomb Raider) are manipulated in order to be sexually appealing to young men, male characters (such as Kratos in God of War, or Marcus Fenix in Gears of War) are manipulated so that they reflect ideals of what said young men want to be. Therefore, I felt it might be worthwhile actually gathering some actual data on the subject.

So, male gamers, let's test you with an example: do you find the character, actions, or appearance of Kratos personally aspirational, or are expressions of characteristics you wish you possessed? If so, please outline what it is about him that you find appealing. If not, outline why you find him so reprehensible.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

In terms of his character, actions, and behavior, no, I don't find him appealing. He's essentially a completely self-serving psychopath. He isn't an anti-hero, he's the villain of his story and his revenge almost destroys the world.

In terms of his appearance, yeah, he kind of appeals to me.

He basically looks like a person at the peak of fitness. He's very muscular, but to a somewhat realistic amount, not to the point of absurdity like the Gears of War characters are. Not so much the rest of his appearance (bald head, scars, ridiculous tattoo and white painted skin), but in terms of his body structure, it's something that I do strive towards as a man.

 

[DoPo]

Myself? No - I guess I may have outgrown him, but Kratos....just doesn't do much. He kills a bunch of people (and other things) for the reason of...he kills a bunch of people (and other things). OK, also some other stuff but most of it is violence for the sake of violence. Nothing to aspire to, for me.

Still, I don't think I represent the target audience very well - I think I would have found him cooler if I was younger.

 

[Vegosiux]

I'm too old to find shit like this a "fantasy" of mine.

Wait, I never found shit like this a "fantasy" of mine.

In short, no, he doesn't appeal to me; I don't actually care much about his appearance, he's...pretty unremarkable in the medium, and his personality is just deplorable. He's not even an anti-hero, he's just a maniac.

PS: Not sure any "data" you get from Escapist forums is going to be statistically relevant, though.

 

[Doclector]

In a fantastical way, yes. Kratos has become that powerful that literally nothing can stand in his way. Not even gods. As someone who often feels trapped, that kind of power, even fuelled by psychotic, selfish rage, is undeniably tempting to me.

However, there is no shortage of other unstoppable characters who don't have such drawbacks that I look up to. John Mclane from Die hard for example. Just no stopping him, and he's still, albeit grumpy, a good guy at heart.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Aspirational? No. To me, if you're going to be looking at any sort of role for him, it's more as an example of what not to do and what not to be. He can be a fun sort of bad ass to play as at times but that's about it.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Lolno.

Kratos is like the worst male power fantasy.


You know who's the best male power fantasy?

Issun!

"Ah, the wonders of nature! A deep valley between two lofty peaks!"

Hell yes Issun.

Hell yes.

 

[Foolery]

Hell no. Iron Man is my favourite male fantasy. Heck, he doesn't even have to be male. I just like the idea of using wealth and my mind to invent personal suits of armour to take on global threats.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Of course, he's a friggin' awesome character. Maybe some of his decisions aren't much to aspire to, but his actions and conflicts are...oh, wait, that Kratos?

No, I wouldn't aspire to be him. I can't imagine that Kratos shouting "Feel the pain of those 'inferior beings'...as you burn in hell!"

 

[Saltyk]

Kratos is a terrible person. He's damn near genocidal. He's cruel, borderline evil, and an asshole.

I do love playing as him, though. Oh, sure, I'd hate to meet him in a dark alley, since he'd probably gut me and not even bother taking my wallet. Kratos is just so brutal and fun to fight as.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

No. The guy's a psychopath. And even if we're just looking at his physical characteristics, well sure I wouldn't mind having all those muscles, but I sure as hell wouldn't want that face.

 

[Tono Makt]

So, male gamers, let's test you with an example: do you find the character, actions, or appearance of Kratos personally aspirational, or are expressions of characteristics you wish you possessed? If so, please outline what it is about him that you find appealing. If not, outline why you find him so reprehensible.

Can I go for the middle ground and say "I like having a head of hair.", to which I will also add "I like having a human skin tone." and "I like having a fairly quiet life which does not attract the attention of any divine being, particularly divine beings of such defined capriciousness and pettiness as the Greek Pantheon, who I believe were once kicked out of a bar in Mos Eisley for being "An Unsavory Lot"." as well as "I enjoy having the ability to wear long sleeved clothing in the winter." while making it perfectly clear that I don't find Kratos reprehensible, nor do I find him appealing?

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

A demi-god that kills for the sake of killing some more things.

Uh, no. His actions are not quite my type.
(And since I don't think that he enjoys doing that, even more so.)

But I do wish that I had his physique.

 

[loc978]

First game- yeah, kinda. After that, hell no. They went off the deep end.

 

[Mutie]

As a man, the one thing in this world I think I can identify as being the most unreasonable, infuriating and dangerous is masculinity. This is due to the fact that the majority of males desire to be (and are encouraged to desire to be) Neanderthals. So no, I don't aspire to be like Kratos or any other such "manly" character. I'm short, skinny, shy and have longer hair than your mother. What makes me a "man" (because, you know, they're so much better than women... Those being the ones that live longer. Are more intelligent. Can bear children... -.- ) is the fact that I just get on with the tough stuff regardless, as opposed to competing in the Mister Universe contest.

The way I see it, we need some proper characters in games. Like, believable people. Ugly people. People whose drive is concern for others and self-preservation, avoiding conflict. Playing such a character in a standard, dramatic game setting (with altered mechanics to reflect their situational ineptitude) would be excellent! May give young people a role model that can be aspired to as opposed to lamented in the shadow of.

 

[Weaver]

I hate Kratos. He's a psychopath who just runs around killing everyone for no actual reason besides that he's really mad.
He's a shallow character at best and what development their is makes him out to be a deplorable monster over someone I'd aspire to.

 

[Vale]

He was almost... understandable in the first game. As in, had motivations other than "EXTERMINATE" and justifications for them. Yes, brutal conquest of states other than Sparta through violence was part of that justification. As was his own unbelievable ego. And a deathwish. He is, after all, a Greek hero. Their definition of the term was... not as we know it. Compared to some of the shit Achilles pulls (and lets not even talk about the actual Greek gods and demigods themselves), Kratos is downright reasonable. And he is one sexy hunk of a man... if you discount his horridly pale and brutally scarred complexion.
Everything after that is complete and utter rubbish bullshit, especially in light of the fact that the first game was a completely 100% self-contained story that literally had a permanent ending for Kratos that set him up as the de facto new god of war throughout all of human history. A fact they conveniently sidestepped with subsequent games because they had to make money somehow and GoW seemed to sell.
Regardless, he's horribly violent self-centered psycho shithead, so not really much of an aspiration as such. But he does have quite a physique.

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

No, I personally don't find Kratos to be something to aspire toward. His utterly sociopathic behavior toward literally every NPC in the game is reprehensible, his alleged motive (atoning for the death of his family, etc.) doesn't even begin to match up with his actions, and physically... I mean, come one. He looks like a fuckin' cartoon character. I'd like to have better muscle tone. I don't want to look like the Michelin Man had a narrow escape from a trash compactor.

Sweet goatee, though. Gotta give him points for that.