After dying, certain gods can return in an astral form. The form is accessible to some, if not all, Gods.

God of War IIIEdit

In the Underworld, after Kratos fell into the River Styx, he reunited with Athena, who, after death at the Spartan's hands, had transcended into an astral form. Upon being killed by Kratos, Zeus took an astral form as well, placing Kratos in a chokehold, severely weakening him, and forcing him into his own psyche. Kratos escaped his psyche however, successfully battling the astral form with the power of Hope. As Zeus' astral form retreated into his own body, Kratos beat Zeus to a bloody pulp, effectively having cancelled out Zeus' astral form, as well as having killed his father himself. Athena's astral form then insisted on Kratos to give the power of Hope to her, in order for her to establish herself as leader of men in a world engulfed by chaos. Kratos, in refusal, impaled himself with the Blade of Olympus, releasing the power of Hope to the world, much to the disappointment of Athena. After extracting the Blade from the Spartan's body, Athena left a mortally wounded Kratos in a puddle of blood.