Poll: Male Gamers: Do you consider Kratos aspirational?

[LightningFast]

Frankly, I don't find those who kill people for kicks to be all that desirable. Plus, I set reasonable goals for myself. Kratos is an immortal demigod with proportions beyond what is usually possible without the use of steroids. Luigi has a cool mustache, a reasonable level of athleticism, and works hard to help people out. I could probably grow a decent mustache in time, I could certainly benefit from improving my work ethic, and I like to help people. I can't become an immortal, god-slaying demigod with a harem full of divine prostitutes, nor is there any point in trying to do so. I admire a hero like Lee Everett, a kind, protective, wise, and yes, reasonably physically strong man more than I do Kratos, a hulking brute of bulging muscle mass. Different people have different traits they see as desirable; we're just getting a roster of male (and, to a lesser extent, female) characters that reflect values publishers think we aspire to whilst shirking the ones they think we care about less like charisma and intelligence.

He's well-muscled, sure, but he's also pretty frightening, and, from what I hear, quite brooding. Frankly, I don't know many people, male or female, who wouldn't enjoy having a bit of extra muscle on them. I would too, except that involves effort. I'm not very good at that when it comes to athletics.

Frankly, a power fantasy has a lot less to do with what your character looks like and a lot more with what you're doing. Phoenix Wright is built like a goddamned professional athlete, but he's defending--... Actually, for more cerebral types, I suppose Phoenix Wright IS a power fantasy. There's certainly a rush from solving a case... WHATEVER! MY POINT STILL STANDS!

 

[michael87cn]

No, he looks like a freak. And he behaves like a freak.

He's a very selfish and cowardly character. He cares only about his own survival. He kills his own family with his own two hands, he's so blinded.

He kills random innocents that he stumbles across as if they were inanimate objects. (for example, to lower a staircase or open a door, he would think nothing of having someone crushed in between two boulders).

Kratos is everything a man is not, and especially physically.

He also has a very small head that looks strange to me.

Despite this, you'll never see me cry that he defaces the male gender and is shameful or some such ridiculousness.

 

[The_Scrivener]

Would it not be better to ask how many women find his depiction sexualized or objectified? This seems like red herring research.

 

[SKBPinkie]

Hell no.

Dude is an all-around-asshole. He has neither a good moral system nor brains. There's almost nothing about him that I'd like to be. Well, except for his body. Dude's built like nothing else.

 

[Psychobabble]

A big hell no. Fictional characters are always FICTIONAL. They are a jumble of unrealistic stereotypes thrown together to sate the wants for the unachievable for those of us in the really real world. If at any time you feel you should somehow measure up to a fictional character who has zero attachment to reality, it's seriously time for you to reevaluate your priorities.

As soon as we can break away from this pretentious horseshit that our fantasies are somehow our realities, the sooner we can start having mature and rational conversations. Until then the talking points will stay firmly in the hands of self aggrandizing mountebanks such as Anita Sarkessian.

 

[briankoontz]

Some point and click adventure game protagonists are the most aspirational for me, since they are clever and resourceful. For whatever reason though, the female game protagonists in this genre are quite a bit better on average than the male ones, with the recent Deponia series with it's highly irritating male protagonist a typical case.

The primary purpose of substantial muscles is the application of physical force. This generally is not useful in modern life (with some exceptions), so for the most part muscles are not a fantasy of men, but rather a vanity.

Gamers, gaming analysts, and certainly the game industry often tell us that modern men are vain and love the idea of being heavily muscled, but there's little reason to believe that's true. The rare AAA game with a "normal" game protagonist such as the Half-Life series sell just fine. Unfortunately, so few AAA games feature normal male protagonists that it's difficult to determine the overall effect of the physique of the protagonist on sales. Minecraft is another game with a normal (for the graphics involved) protagonist which doesn't bother gamers.

In contrast, very few indie games feature an overly muscled male protagonist. Countless successful indie games, with Fez, Super Meat Boy, Braid, and Limbo just a few, have a normal or even under-muscled male protagonist.

Consider that 80% of AAA games feature killing as a primary mode of gameplay, with the killing often done by guns or melee weapons, and the conclusion is that the aggressive militant nature of the AAA game industry means that game protagonists range from brutal sociopaths to trained soldiers, all of whom logically have very good physiques in order to accommodate the physical murder the game requires of them.

 

[Vausch]

Physical aspects and fighting prowess aside, no.

Though I would, funnily enough, kill for that physique.

 

[Heronblade]

If someone told me that I was the anti-Kratos, an opposite to him in every meaningful way, I'd take it as high praise.

The physique would be nice I suppose, but everything else about him, his actions, attitude, mental approach, etc. are incredibly disgusting to me.

 

[Hero of Lime]

He's fun to play as for sure, but when it comes to being like him, nope nope NOPE! At least from the personality perspective, saying Kratos has issues is a criminal understatement. Even having all those muscles would not make me perfectly happy with my appearance. I worked hard enough to become thin and fit, I don't feel like adding lots of unnecessary, bulky muscles, even if his body type isn't too ridiculous.

Again, I like his games, but there are so many better male video game characters to emulate to make yourself an ideal man. Whatever that means in the first place.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

A big hell no. Fictional characters are always FICTIONAL. They are a jumble of unrealistic stereotypes thrown together to sate the wants for the unachievable for those of us in the really real world. If at any time you feel you should somehow measure up to a fictional character who has zero attachment to reality, it's seriously time for you to reevaluate your priorities.

Every time I played Uncharted 2 I had the uncanny urge to go work out immediately afterward because watching Nathan Drake scaling cliff faces and buildings always made me think "man, I don't have the strength or stamina to do that, better go do some more pull-ups."

I played sports in high school, and during that time I worked out really regularly, but in college I got lazy and didn't work out for years. Then I started playing Uncharted 2 and seeing what Nathan Drake could do inspired to me start working out on a regular basis again. Despite the fact that he is a fictional character, and doesn't really have much attachment to reality the idea of achieving the ideal that he represents got me motivated to better myself.

Just because a character is unrealistic doesn't mean that you shouldn't compare yourself to them. The point of fiction is to entertain and inspire us, and to make us think about what our reality could be rather than what it is.

 

[Roxor]

How could anyone aspire to look like that ugly bastard?

I find these overly-muscled guys that show up in so much of the crap I don't buy rather unpleasant to look at. I find they look better as enemies, not the protagonist.

Some point and click adventure game protagonists are the most aspirational for me, since they are clever and resourceful.

Hear, hear! Smart protagonists are much more inspirational for me, too.

 

[JagermanXcell]

He kind of screwed over innocent civilians by killing the Gods thus causing natural disasters which sort of killed them. Did he show remorse, no. He throws away all forms of logic and ethics for unstoppable anger that ends up favoring his own personal vendetta instead of using it to help others. He's also kind of a huge sex freak. He'd rather get boned 24/7 then save the innocent he's putting in harms way... what a hero...
He shows little to no mercy or compassion, something a real man would have the strength to do. This guy is far from an aspiration, guy needs a damn intervention, no one should gawk over him as the ultimate power fantasy.

Cause we already have someone better, nicer, and sexier for that anyways... *sweats vigorously*

As for Kratos, I like his core. You can grind meat on those things.

 

[Caiphus]

Snip

I must admit, it had roughly the same effect on me. And the same goes for the Assassin's Creed games. After an hour or so of acrobatics, I'd look at myself in the mirror and go "You pudgy bastard", and then go have a cardiac arrest on the treadmill.

OT: No, I don't find a brutish killing machine a good role model. That said, he does have impressive pectorals.

 

[DrummerM]

His physique is certainly something that's worth aspiring for.

Otherwise, I would say Kratos is best observed as a character, not to serve as an inspiration for young boys and men anywhere.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Seriously? Not even a little bit. But it is fun to vicariously express his bafflingly stupid rage. You want an actual male hero we could aspire towards? Go for Link. Or Cole McGrath.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Not in the slightest. If I had to think of a character to aspire to in games, it would probably be Revan in KoTOR.

If we widened the scope to include movies or books though, I would say Aragorn, him being my avatar and all.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Kratos really isn't a power fantasy at all. He's a REVENGE fantasy. He's angry at the world and life. A power fantasy is more like The Boss of Saints Row.

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.

I think he's understandable the whole way through.

1st game, he was a monster of a human being who's violent actions cost him his family. Driven by revenge against the God that killed them, he has one goal. Kill Aries.

The thing is, Aries death and his ascension to God hood gives him no peace. No catharsis. Kratos' wife and kid might of been the only thing about him that gave him any humanity. So what's he to do? Of course he's going to try and take over the world, he's angry and has nothing to do with all his rage.

Then enter Zeus, and suddenly Kratos has a new revenge quest for his rage.

It's basically an inverse of Batman.

 

[00slash00]

Well I'm a trans woman so I know my vote doesn't count but Kratos is a psychopath. He destroys the world because some dude pissed him off. I consider him to be the villain of the series and would be legitimately frightened of anyone who had aspirations to be more like him. I could see some men wanting to have his physique, though personally I find him to be rather grotesque looking, even if he wasn't covered with scars

 

[Ferisar]

In a strange, twisted sense, sure. He's a testosterone-filled fantasy that I don't mind slipping into once in a while. When speaking purely of reality: no. There's unfortunately very little useful in Kratos when applied to any current aspirations by me personally. The only thing that would even be worth mentioning is physique, and that's still a huge maybe. For the purposes of his particular gaming franchise? Sure, I can see some aspiration in him in that sometimes you just want to mow down no-one-cares-which-enemy-type-this-is and be represented by a rage-yelling psychopath, but that's more often than not not true.

EDIT:
Also, unrelated, but to people who keep bringing the villain bit up about Kratos:
You have to consider where humanity is in this game in terms of these Gods. This is the literal transformation of the world as being dominated by petty pagan figures of worship to something a bit more faith-based. The ending of 3 pretty much brought about the Biblical plagues, and 2 heavily hinted at, you know, that stuff.

Something to ponder over anyhow.