How Old Is Atreus In God of War? The Age The Game Never States

Atreus is around eleven years old during God of War in 2018, and about fourteen by the time of Ragnarok. Neither number is spoken on screen, which is why the question keeps getting asked, so it is worth being precise about where each one comes from.

Eleven, And Who Says So

The figure comes from the game's official novelization by J.M. Barlog, which puts Atreus at roughly eleven during the journey to the highest peak in Jotunheim. The game itself never gives an age: it gives you a boy who can already hunt, read Norse runes and hold his own in a fight, and leaves the arithmetic to the reader. That is a deliberate piece of design rather than an oversight, because the story is about a father who does not know how to talk to his son rather than about a birthday.

Fourteen By Ragnarok

The sequel opens after Fimbulwinter has set in, the long winter that Norse myth says runs for three years before Ragnarok itself. Three years on from eleven puts Atreus at about fourteen, which matches the noticeably older, taller and more independent boy the sequel presents. The number is an inference from the in universe gap rather than a stated fact, but every account of the timeline we checked arrives at it.

What He Can Do At That Age

Our coverage from before the 2018 game shipped described a companion who does far more than follow: he drop kicks enemies, pins them in place while Kratos deals with something else, harasses them with arrows, and translates the Norse writing scattered through the world. He also picks himself up when he is hit, with no reviving for the player to do, which is why he avoided the reputation escort characters usually earn.

In combat terms he is more important than he looks. Our enemies and upgrades guide puts his arrows at the centre of the Stun Meter, the third bar over every enemy, which fills fastest when he is firing and ends a fight with an execution when it is full. They also strip a Revenant's shroud, interrupt a summoner mid cast and chew through a Hel-Reaver Lord's frost armor, so several enemy families are answered by the boy rather than by Kratos. Three of the ten skills that guide recommends buying first are his.

He has his own equipment ladder too: a Talon Bow with six upgrade rungs, a quiver with four, and a single piece of armor. Unlike Kratos's weapons, the bow and quiver are bought rather than earned, with Svartalfheim Steel and Hacksilver across a Huldra brother's counter, and which of his two legendary garbs to wear is a real choice, as our armor guide explains: one shortens his arrow recharge, the other rewards his Runic Summons.

Questions About Atreus

How old is Atreus in God of War 2018?

About eleven, according to the official novelization. The game gives no age of its own.

How much time passes between the two games?

Roughly three years, the length of Fimbulwinter in the myth the sequel is built on, which is what puts him at around fourteen.

Is Atreus playable?

Not in the 2018 game. He is a companion you direct with a button rather than a character you control, and our news archive from the reveal noted Kratos as the only playable character, one of the first things the studio confirmed about the game. What that companion does to a fight is set out across our God of War guides.