She’s the most important character you barely ever see. In the 2018 soft reboot of God of War, God of War Faye is a corpse wrapped in a shroud within the first five minutes. By the time the credits roll on God of War Ragnarök, she’s a memory, a series of murals, and a handful of heartbreaking flashbacks. Yet, without her, Kratos would probably still be sitting in a hut in the woods, staring at the wall and waiting for the end of the world.
Honestly, it’s kinda wild.
We spend dozens of hours walking in her footsteps, using her axe, and raising her son, but Faye remains an enigma for a huge chunk of the journey. She wasn't just Kratos’s wife or Atreus’s mother. She was a warrior, a strategist, and the secret architect of the downfall of the Aesir. If you think she was just a "fridged" plot device to get the boys moving, you've missed the entire point of the Norse saga.
The Giant Hidden in Plain Sight
Faye, or Laufey the Just, was a Jötunn. That's a Giant, for those not brushed up on their Eddas. But she wasn't some mountain-sized monster. In Santa Monica Studio’s universe, the Giants are a race of people, and Faye was their greatest hero. While Kratos was busy trying to outrun his past in Greece, Faye was already waging a guerrilla war against Odin and Thor.
She was the one who saw it all coming.
The murals in Jötunheim aren't just art. They’re a blueprint. Faye possessed the gift of foresight, a common trait among the Jötunnim, which allowed her to map out the entire journey of Kratos and Atreus before she even died. Think about that for a second. Every tree she marked with a yellow handprint—the trees Kratos chopped down to start their journey—was a deliberate choice. She knew those trees would break the protection stave. She knew the strangers would come knocking. She knew Kratos would have to find his inner god again to protect their son.
It’s almost manipulative, isn't it?
Some fans argue that Faye was puppeteering Kratos from beyond the grave. It’s a valid critique. If she knew every step they’d take, did they have any free will? But Ragnarök softens this. We see in the flashbacks that she loved Kratos for who he was becoming, not just for what he could do for her people. She didn't choose him because he was a "Ghost of Sparta" tool; she chose him because he was a man who could change.
The Leviathan Axe and the Weight of Legacy
You can't talk about God of War Faye without talking about the Leviathan Axe. Before it was Kratos’s primary weapon, it belonged to her. Brok and Sindri, the Huldra Brothers, forged it specifically to rival Mjölnir.
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Think about the power scaling there.
Thor is the heavy hitter of the Norse pantheon. He’s the guy who wiped out most of the Giants. Faye was the one standing in his way, wielding a frost-infused axe that could freeze the lightning of the God of Thunder. When you’re playing as Kratos and you feel that satisfying thwack of the axe returning to your hand, you’re experiencing Faye’s combat style. She was a warrior of such skill that she fought Thor to a standstill in Vanaheim, a battle so intense it left a "frozen lightning bolt" frozen in time.
Kratos is a brawler. He’s all strength and rage. Faye was something else. She was precise.
Why She Kept Her Identity Secret
One of the biggest points of tension between Kratos and Atreus is the lie. Why didn't she tell them? Kratos didn't know she was a Giant. Atreus didn't know he was half-Giant (or Loki).
She kept it quiet to protect them.
Odin’s obsession with the Giants is legendary. If the All-Father had known a Jötunn hero was living in Midgard with the retired Greek God of War, he would have descended on that little hut with the full might of Asgard. Faye played the long game. She lived a quiet, mortal-passing life so her son could grow up with a semblance of peace before the prophecy kicked in.
But it wasn't just about protection. It was about timing.
Faye knew that if Kratos knew the truth too early, he would have retreated. He would have hidden Atreus even deeper. By revealing her identity through the journey to the highest peak in all the realms, she forced them to see the world. She forced them to see the suffering Odin caused. She didn't just want them to survive; she wanted them to care.
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The Flashbacks in Ragnarök: A Different Side of Faye
In the 2018 game, she’s a goddess-like figure of perfection. In God of War Ragnarök, we actually get to see her interact with Kratos, and it’s surprisingly grounded. Deborah Ann Woll (who played Karen Page in Daredevil) brings a warmth and a "done with your nonsense" energy to the role that makes the relationship feel real.
There's a specific scene where they're hunting. Kratos is being his usual stoic, grumpy self. Faye just laughs at him. She challenges him. She doesn't fear him, and she doesn't worship him.
This is the "human" quality of God of War Faye that often gets lost in the lore discussions. She was the only person in two mythological cycles who looked at Kratos—the man who murdered his own family and an entire pantheon—and saw someone worth loving. She saw the "Good Man" inside the "God of War" long before he saw it himself.
She was also a bit of a rebel.
The Giants were generally peaceful, or at least focused on preservation. Faye was the "Just." She was the one going out and helping the oppressed, sabotaging Odin’s plans, and being a general nuisance to the Aesir. She was the heart of the resistance. When she died, that heart stopped beating, which is why the Giants’ cause seemed so hopeless until Kratos and Atreus showed up.
Debunking the "Evil Faye" Theory
For a while, there was a popular fan theory that Faye was actually the villain. The idea was that she used Kratos as a weapon of genocide to get revenge on the Aesir. People pointed to the murals as proof of her cold-hearted calculation.
It’s a cynical take, but it doesn't hold up under scrutiny.
If Faye wanted revenge, she could have steered Kratos toward Asgard immediately. Instead, she steered him toward Jötunheim—to a graveyard. She wanted him to see the cost of war. The final mural in Ragnarök, the one Kratos finds behind the secret door, wasn't painted by the other Giants. It was painted by Faye. It showed a future where Kratos is worshipped and loved, not feared.
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She didn't want a soldier. She wanted a protector.
The Real World Mythology vs. The Game
In Norse mythology, Laufey is a pretty obscure figure. She’s mostly mentioned as the mother of Loki, and sometimes she’s referred to as Nál (Needle) because she was thin or lithe. The game takes this tiny shred of mythology and builds a titan of a character out of it.
In the myths, Farbauti (the father of Loki) is usually the Giant, and Laufey is sometimes considered a goddess (Asynja). The game flips this. Making Faye the Giant and Kratos the "Farbauti" figure (which translates to "Cruel Striker," a very fitting name for Kratos) is a brilliant piece of writing. It grounds the cosmic destiny of Loki in a very messy, very blended family dynamic.
Actionable Insights for Players
If you’re revisiting the games or diving in for the first time, keep your eyes peeled for Faye’s influence. It’s everywhere.
- Follow the Yellow: The yellow markings on ledges and walls aren't just gameplay UI. They are literally the paths Faye walked. Every time you climb a wall, you're putting your hands where she put hers.
- The Woods in the Opening: Look at the trees around the house in the 2018 game. The ones with the handprints were part of a protection spell. When Kratos cuts them down, he’s literally breaking the shield she built. It’s a metaphor for how growth requires the end of safety.
- Listen to Mimir: The Smartest Man Alive has a lot to say about "Laufey the Just" once he realizes who she was. His stories in the boat provide the best context for her military achievements.
- The Crater in Vanaheim: This is a hidden area in Ragnarök. Go there. It’s basically a massive crime scene from Faye’s past. It’s the best way to understand the scale of her power.
Faye's story is about the impact we leave behind. She didn't need to be on screen to be the protagonist of the saga. She defined the world, the stakes, and the hero. She took a broken god and gave him a reason to be better.
Basically, Faye is the GOAT.
If you want to truly appreciate the ending of Ragnarök, you have to understand that every "choice" Kratos makes to be merciful is a tribute to her. He’s finally becoming the man she saw in her visions.
To get the full picture of her tactical genius, make sure you complete the "Scent of Survival" quest in Ragnarök to unlock the Crater. It's the only way to see the physical evidence of her war with Thor. Also, pay close attention to the dialogue in the "Wishing Well" area; it adds a lot of flavor to her reputation among the Vanaheim resistance. Finish those side quests—they aren't just filler; they are the biography of the woman who saved the realms before you even pressed Start.