| “ | Mimir... I know this sounds weird, but... can you tell me again what happens when someone dies? Every living thing has a soul, and every soul has four parts: Form, mind, direction, and luck. Direction steers the souls of Giants, Dwarves, Elves, and animals toward the Lake of Souls in Alfheim, where all the parts may be absorbed back into Alfheim's great light. |
” |
–Mimir explains to Atreus how the Afterlife work., God of War: Ragnarök | ||
Souls are the immaterial parts of people and creatures, which in many belief systems are held to live on after death.
Greek Mythology[]
Norse Mythology[]
Overview[]
The soul is the sense of self of the individual, residing inside the materialistic body. It serves as the memory, awareness, and individuality mindset.
Even when a person's body dies, their soul would continue to exist, able to either move on beyond to one of the many Afterlives or return as a ghost. However, the soul has to be complete to achieve either. A damaged or partial soul is unable to properly enter the afterlife and would result in the person being trapped between the world of the living and the world of the dead forever. For example, a soul missing its direction (also referred to as its fylgja) is literally unable to find its way towards the Lake of Souls.
Types of Souls[]
Trivia[]
- The question of whether or not deities possess souls has long been a topic of debate in the franchise.
- Despite being the Queen of the Underworld and even having been killed there by Kratos, Persephone is never seen again after her death. Likewise, none of Kratos' other godly victims are ever seen in the Underworld after their death during Kratos' various journeys through the afterlife. This implies that Gods may not have souls in the traditional sense or if they do then they may end up in an entirely different place after their destruction.
- Hades at the very least is confirmed to have had a soul.
- As the God of War, Kratos has been killed several times throughout the franchise and has always ended up in the Underworld.
- Complicating matters even further is the fact that Athena after her death was able to find a way to ascend to a higher plain of existence.
- According to Mimir, the Aesir and Vanir gods have souls as they are capable of traveling to Valhalla after their deaths. Though this is never seen in the games.
- Despite being the Queen of the Underworld and even having been killed there by Kratos, Persephone is never seen again after her death. Likewise, none of Kratos' other godly victims are ever seen in the Underworld after their death during Kratos' various journeys through the afterlife. This implies that Gods may not have souls in the traditional sense or if they do then they may end up in an entirely different place after their destruction.
- It is implied that in addition to beings without a complete soul being unable to enter an afterlife and incapable of being resurrected again, such beings are also unable to be healed from wounds that could normally be saved by regenerative powers, as Freya, an exceptionally powerful goddess with incredible mastery over magic, including healing spells, proved powerless to save Brok's life when he was stabbed by Odin with a normal dagger.
- For the four main part of souls, Fenrir's soul only one out of four that has been transferred to Atreus' Knife, one of his soul is "Mind" as seen Atreus stabbed to Garm's head possessed Fenrir while visibly growl and recognized his owner. While Brok's soul has three, leaving only missing one soul is mostly "Direction" (referred as fylgia) because his soul denied from Afterlife but worst his soul ceased to exist, as can be seen difficult to heal nor revive.