God Of War is a PlayStation action-adventure series starring Kratos, a Spartan warrior fighting through Greek and later Norse mythology.

Where did God Of War come from?

David Jaffe and SIE Santa Monica Studio started developing the first game in 2002 and released it for PlayStation 2 on March 22nd, 2005.

What does God Of War mean?

The title refers to Ares, the Greek god of war whom Kratos kills in the first game before taking the mantle himself. Online, the phrase is also tied to Kratos's meme-quoted "BOY" line from the 2018 reboot.

How do you use God Of War?

Beyond playing the games, fans mostly recycle the Kratos "BOY" clip as a reaction to bratty behavior or awkward moments in edits.

Is God Of War still popular?

The 2018 reboot pulled a 95 on Metacritic and sits among the highest-rated PS4 exclusives, keeping the series a fixture in PlayStation fandom.

God Of War

2005video gameclassic

Published August 25, 2026

God Of War is Sony's long-running action-adventure video game series built around Kratos, a Spartan anti-hero who wages war on the gods themselves. The first game shipped in 2005 for PS2, and the franchise later rebooted in 2018 into a Norse mythology setting that spawned the widely quoted Kratos "BOY" line.

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Overview

God Of War is an action-adventure video game series centered on Kratos, a rage-fueled Spartan warrior who cuts through Greek mythology on a path of vengeance against the Olympians3. The games are recognizable for their brutal quick-time-event finishers, oversized boss fights, and Kratos's signature chained blades.

Sony Interactive Entertainment's Santa Monica Studio built the series into a flagship PlayStation property, with mainline entries on PS2, PS3 and PS4 plus two PSP spin-offs3. The 2018 franchise reboot shifted the setting from Greece to Norse mythology and introduced Kratos's son Atreus, whose father's stoic "BOY" callouts became a running gag across gaming forums2.

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Origin & Background

Platform

PlayStation 2

Creator

David Jaffe

Date

2005

David Jaffe and SIE Santa Monica Studio started work on the first God Of War in 2002, with Jaffe pointing to Capcom's Onimusha series as a direct inspiration3. The game was first shown publicly at SCEA Santa Monica Gamers' Day 2004 and shipped on March 22nd, 2005 for the PlayStation 23.

How It Spread

Strong sales and critical praise on the PS2 debut pushed Sony to greenlight God Of War II in 2007 and God Of War III in 2010, along with the prequel God Of War: Ascension in 2013. Two portable entries, Chains of Olympus in 2008 and Ghost of Sparta in 2010, filled out the catalog on PSP3.

The 2018 franchise reboot, simply titled God Of War, launched on April 20th, 2018 for PS4 and drew a 95/100 score on Metacritic6. Community activity extended well past the games themselves: the official Facebook page passed 2.6 million fans, the r/GodOfWar subreddit hosted a dedicated fan community, and DeviantArt cataloged over 96,000 tagged fan artworks3. Reddit threads about the 2018 game's uninterrupted single-shot camera and a viral post showing a Kratos cosplayer selling a copy of the game each pulled in tens of thousands of upvotes7 8.

Kratos's blunt "BOY" line, aimed at his son Atreus, spread outside player circles as a shorthand for gruff parenting, picking up Urban Dictionary entries and clip compilations on YouTube2 1.

How to Use This Meme

Fans typically remix the Kratos "BOY" line for reaction images and short video edits, often pairing the clip with scenes of exasperated parenting or deadpan disappointment2.