You probably remember the moment. You're standing in a snowy clearing, the air thick with static, and these two massive dudes—Magni and Modi—swagger out like they own the place. They’re the sons of Thor. They have the blood of the Thunder God in their veins. They should be terrifying, right? But while Magni is this stoic, golden-boy powerhouse, Modi is… well, he's something else.
He's the guy who talks too much. He's the one who hides behind a shield. He's the god who tries to get under your skin because he knows he can't actually beat you in a straight fight.
Honestly, the God of War Modi we meet in the 2018 game is one of the most pathetic, yet fascinating, characters in the entire Norse saga. He isn't just a generic boss. He is a walking, breathing example of what happens when generational trauma and a really shitty dad collide with a prophecy that was never supposed to break.
Why Modi Was So Terrified of You
If you know your Norse mythology, you know that Magni and Modi are the survivors. In the "real" myths (the ones written in the Prose Edda), these two are destined to survive Ragnarok. They are the ones who pick up Mjolnir after Thor dies. They are the future of the Aesir.
But Kratos doesn't care about your destiny.
When Kratos embeds the Leviathan Axe into Magni's skull, the look on Modi’s face isn't just grief. It is pure, unadulterated terror. He isn't just losing a brother; he’s watching the script of the universe get ripped up in front of him. If Magni can die, he can die. And if he can die, he has no shield against his father's wrath.
🔗 Read more: First Name in Country Crossword: Why These Clues Trip You Up
The Brutal Reality of Being Thor’s Son
One of the darkest details in the game is what happens off-screen between the boss fight and the next time you see Modi. After Magni dies, Modi runs. He survives, but in the eyes of the Aesir, survival is a sin if you didn't die with your brother.
Thor—who we later see in God of War Ragnarok is a massive, grieving mess of a man—didn't take the news well. He didn't hug his remaining son. He beat him within an inch of his life.
When you find Modi for the third time in the mountain, he's a wreck. He’s coughing up blood. He’s shaking. He looks like a guy who’s been through a meat grinder. It’s pretty clear that Thor used him as a punching bag to vent his rage over Magni’s death. You’ve gotta feel a little bad for him, even if he did spend the last two encounters calling Atreus a "stillborn lamb" and making gross comments about Faye.
The Voice Behind the God
Kinda wild fact: Modi is voiced by Nolan North. Yeah, the guy who played Nathan Drake and Desmond Miles. He plays Modi with this high-pitched, desperate energy that makes the character feel like a cornered animal. Contrast that with Troy Baker (Joel from The Last of Us) playing Magni, and you realize the developers literally cast the two most famous "brothers" in gaming to play Thor's kids.
Did Atreus Actually Kill Him?
This is a huge point of debate for fans. In the mountain, Atreus—who is currently going through a massive "I'm a god so I can do whatever I want" phase—stabs a weakened Modi in the neck and kicks him off a ledge.
💡 You might also like: The Dawn of the Brave Story Most Players Miss
Kratos is pissed. Not because he cares about Modi, but because killing a defenseless enemy "as an indulgence" is exactly what leads to the kind of monsters Kratos is trying to escape.
However, in God of War Ragnarok, during the first big fight with Thor, Kratos tells him that Modi "died of the wounds you gave him." Was Kratos lying to protect Atreus? Or was Modi already a walking corpse because of the beating Thor gave him?
Honestly, it's probably both. Thor broke his spirit and his body; Atreus just finished the job.
The Impact on the World
Modi's death is a massive turning point for a few reasons:
- It triggers Atreus’s illness: The stress of the encounter and Atreus's internal conflict about his nature causes him to collapse.
- It ruins Thor: We see in Ragnarok that Thor’s alcoholism and depression are tied directly to the loss of his "perfect" son Magni and the "disappointment" of Modi.
- It proves fate is fake: Mimir points out that Magni’s death is "significant" because it shouldn't have been possible.
What You Should Take Away
If you're replaying the game or just catching up on the lore, don't just look at God of War Modi as a annoying secondary villain. He’s the bridge between the "old" Kratos and the "new" Kratos. He represents the cycle of abuse that Kratos is trying to break with Atreus.
📖 Related: Why the Clash of Clans Archer Queen is Still the Most Important Hero in the Game
How to handle the Magni and Modi boss fight
If you’re stuck on this fight, keep these specifics in mind. You can't just kill one and ignore the other.
- Balance the damage: You need to bring both of their health bars down at roughly the same rate. If you "kill" one too early, the other will just revive him.
- Watch the shield: Modi is a turtle. Use Kratos’s shield bash (double tap L1) to break his guard.
- The Fog Phase: When they surround you with lightning and fog, listen for the sound cues. They always yell before they charge. Block in the direction of the sound.
Modi might have been a coward, and he definitely was a jerk, but his death changed the course of the Norse world. It was the first real crack in Odin's plan.
If you want to understand the full weight of the story, pay attention to the dialogue in Ragnarok between Sif and Thor. They talk about "their boys" in a way that makes you realize that even for gods, losing a child—even one you were terrible to—is the ultimate curse.
Go back and look at the murals in the game. You'll see that everything with the Aesir starts falling apart the second that "weak" son didn't come home from the mountain.