Creator of God of War 1 Reveals How Kratos Originally Had a Different Name

In a video shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account, David Jaffe—creator of God of War 1 and 2—revealed an interesting detail about the iconic character Kratos: the development team originally considered a very different name for him.

Jaffe explained that Kratos was once going to be called “Dominus”—a name that sounded powerful and commanding. For this reason, he favored it during the early stages of God of War’s development.

Unfortunately, that name was ultimately not used by the God of War development team, for a rather peculiar reason.

Reasons Why That Name Idea Was Not Used

The reason the God of War team decided against using “Dominus” for the character Kratos was simply that it sounded like a name one might associate with a pizza restaurant.

The creator of the original God of War revealed that once “Dominus” was chosen as the working name for the game’s protagonist, the development team began making constant jokes referencing the restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza. Whenever someone mentioned “Dominus,” a team member would inevitably shout things like, “30 minutes or it’s free!” or “Open the door—it’s Dominus!”

After the name “Dominus” had been the subject of such jokes—at least 50 times—it was eventually posted on a wall. The God of War development team collectively decided that the “Dominus” gag had run its course and that they needed a new name for their protagonist.

A member of the God of War development team posted a list of baby names inspired by Greek mythology. David Jaffe also weighed in, using a yellow highlighter to mark the names he liked—such as Julius, Parthenius, and Maksym.

Despite the many options, the development team and David Jaffe felt that the names they had selected were still not quite right. Everything changed when Susan Panico, the *God of War* marketing lead at the time, suggested the name we know today: Kratos.

Upon hearing it, the entire development team and David Jaffe immediately loved the name, feeling it was a perfect fit for their protagonist. Interestingly, the name “Kratos” had actually been on the original list of Greek-inspired names all along—it had simply gone unnoticed, hidden among the other entries.

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