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Laufey and Faye are the same person: a Jötunn (Giant) warrior from Jötunheim, Kratos’s second wife and Atreus’s mother. Atreus is Loki, the name Laufey wanted for him at birth. She is already dead when God of War (2018) begins, but her final instructions drive the entire game: burn her body and scatter her ashes from the highest peak in all the Nine Realms. That peak is in Jötunheim, her homeland. The journey reveals that the woman Kratos called Faye was Laufey the Just, a legendary Giant who hid her heritage, fought the Aesir, wielded the Leviathan Axe before Kratos, and planned a path that would expose her family’s identity. God of War Ragnarök adds her dreams, her clash with Thor and the reason she destroyed a prophecy mural. The announced God of War Laufey begins at her funeral pyre and follows her soul into the Everywhen.
Who is Laufey in God of War?
Laufey is Faye’s true name and Giant identity. She is a Jötunn warrior from Jötunheim, known among her people as Laufey the Just. In Midgard she lived under the shorter name Faye, married Kratos and raised their son Atreus. Her role is much larger than a deceased parent: she is the hidden architect of the Norse-era story.
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- Faye and Laufey: two names for the same woman.
- Family: Kratos’s second wife and Atreus’s mother.
- Heritage: a Frost Giant (Jötunn) from Jötunheim.
- Atreus’s other name: Loki, the name Laufey preferred over Kratos’s choice.
- Reputation: Mimir identifies her as Laufey the Just, a Giant heroine who helped the weak and opposed Odin’s order.
Kratos tells Atreus that his mother was mortal for most of the 2018 adventure. That description reflects what Kratos believed or chose to reveal, not her actual ancestry. The mural in Jötunheim and later conversations with Mimir, Brok and Sindri establish that Faye concealed her Giant nature to protect her family from gods hunting the Jötnar.
How does Faye’s funeral start the story of God of War (2018)?
Faye’s death is the opening event, but her instructions turn grief into a mission. She asks Kratos to cremate her and scatter the ashes from the highest peak in all the Nine Realms. Reaching that summit in Jötunheim becomes the game’s central objective and eventually reveals her people, her foresight and Atreus’s identity.
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Why does Kratos cut the marked trees?
Faye marks particular trees around the family’s Wildwoods home with a golden handprint. Kratos must cut those trees for the funeral pyre. The markings are not just practical directions: removing them disables the protective stave surrounding the woods and alerts the gods to the family’s location. Baldur’s hunt therefore begins as a search for Faye, even though she has already died.
What do the golden handprints mean?
The gold marks that guide Kratos and Atreus through the realms are, in the story’s logic, Faye’s work. Her Giant foresight let her anticipate the route they would take. She prepared a path that would lead them toward Jötunheim, expose the truth about Atreus and force Kratos to confront a life he had kept hidden.
What happens at the highest peak?
At the end of the journey, Kratos and Atreus discover a vast Jötnar mural depicting events that have already happened, including Faye’s argument with her people and the family’s journey. They learn that the woman they knew as Faye was a Frost Giant and that Atreus is called Loki by the Giants. After they scatter her ashes, Brok and Sindri confirm that they knew Atreus had Giant heritage through Faye, while Mimir gives her the title Laufey the Just.
Why did Laufey want Atreus to be called Loki?
Laufey wanted her son’s Giant name, Loki, while Kratos named him Atreus after a Spartan soldier. The disagreement matters because “Atreus” is the human identity Kratos chose, whereas “Loki” connects the boy to his mother’s people and to the mythology the Giants recorded. The mural preserves the name Kratos rejected, making the revelation both a family secret and a statement about who Atreus can become.
Faye did most of Atreus’s day-to-day teaching. She taught him hunting, archery, Nordic runes and languages from other realms, and she made his Talon Bow. Kratos’s absence during much of Atreus’s childhood means that the boy’s practical skills and knowledge are largely part of Faye’s legacy. She also kept Kratos’s divine identity from him, just as Kratos concealed her Giant identity from their son.
What was Faye’s life with Kratos like?
Faye and Kratos met when both were exhausted by war. They fought, stopped fighting and eventually built a household in the Wildwoods. Kratos later says she fought beautifully, a compliment that carries unusual weight from a warrior who normally values sheer force. She called him “Grumbles,” a domestic nickname that contrasts with his fearsome reputation.
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Faye cooperated with Týr to hide the Realm Tower leading to Jötunheim. Cutting herself off from her homeland helped protect the remaining Jötnar from Thor’s campaign and Odin’s pursuit. Her decision explains why Kratos and Atreus can reach Jötunheim only after following a deliberately difficult chain of clues rather than simply taking a known route.
Her most important act was choosing what would happen after her death. The marked trees, the protective stave, the ash pouch and the destination were all parts of a plan designed for a future in which she would not be present. She was not merely leaving a message; she was arranging the circumstances under which her husband and son would learn the truth.
How did Faye die in God of War?
The games never state a medical or combat cause of Faye’s death. No in-game diagnosis confirms an illness, and no scene identifies a killer. What is clear is that she expected death, prepared the funeral, marked the trees and gave Kratos precise instructions before she died.
That preparation makes her death an intentional story mechanism rather than an explained mystery. The evidence supports saying that Faye knew she would die and used the event to send Kratos and Atreus to Jötunheim. It does not support naming a disease or claiming that she died in battle.
Did Faye really fight Thor?
Yes. God of War Ragnarök establishes that Faye and Thor fought in Vanaheim before the events of the 2018 game. The clash ended in a stalemate between Mjölnir and the Leviathan Axe, but the destruction around them killed villagers and left spirits trapped in the valley. A memorial in the Crater of northern Vanaheim preserves the consequences.
The scene changes how her reputation should be read. Faye was not simply a planner who avoided direct conflict; she could meet one of the Aesir’s most destructive warriors on equal terms. The earlier account that Thor merely wanted a duel and that Faye died before it occurred is superseded by the Ragnarök-era revelation that the fight happened.
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Ragnarök also shows Faye in Kratos’s dreams three years into Fimbulwinter. In one dream she argues that people should act to limit harm even when a problem has not reached their own doorstep. In another, during Atreus’s birth, she tells Kratos that their son should hear his voice, that he is not defined by his past failures and that “we must be better.” Her most direct lesson is: “To grieve deeply is to have loved fully. Open your heart to the world as you opened it to me, and you will find every reason to keep living in it.”
What powers and weapons did Laufey have?
Faye combines physical skill, Giant nature-magic and long-range foresight. The game never provides a numerical power ranking, but its story consistently presents her as a warrior capable of matching major gods.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →| Ability or weapon | What the games establish |
|---|---|
| Giant foresight | She anticipated the family’s route, prepared the funeral plan and understood that prophecy could endanger her son. |
| Nature-magic and wards | Her Giant magic includes the protective stave around the Wildwoods and later descriptions of soul-related abilities. |
| Leviathan Axe | Brok and Sindri forged the axe for Faye. Kratos inherits it, which explains Sindri’s initial suspicion that Kratos may have taken it. |
| Talon Bow | Faye made Atreus’s bow and taught him to use it. |
| Close combat | She is agile and fluid rather than built like Kratos’s “brick wall” style, according to game director Ariel Lawrence. |
Cory Barlog describes the contrast this way: “For Kratos, magic is a tool he wears on his belt. With Faye, magic is a part of her.” He connects her abilities to Freya and to the natural world, while the new game’s Everywhen contains a much denser concentration of magic.
How is mythological Laufey different from God of War’s Faye?
The game keeps one crucial mythological connection—Laufey is Loki’s mother—but builds an entire biography around a figure who has very little independent action in surviving Norse texts. Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, commonly dated around 1220, names Loki as the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, sometimes called Nál. Loki is repeatedly identified by the matronymic Laufeyjarson, “Laufey’s son.”
| Detail | Norse sources | God of War canon |
|---|---|---|
| Other names | Laufey; sometimes Nál | Faye; Laufey the Just. Nál is a separate character, the wife of Bergelmir. |
| Best known as | Loki’s mother and Fárbauti’s partner | Kratos’s wife and Atreus/Loki’s mother |
| Narrative role | Mainly a genealogical figure with almost no independent story | Legendary Jötunn warrior, protector and architect of the Norse saga |
| Partner | Fárbauti | Kratos |
| Identity category | Later readers disagree about whether she should be treated as Aesir or giantess; the texts are sparse | Explicitly a Jötunn from Jötunheim |
Some modern interpretations connect the names Laufey, Fárbauti and Loki to a tree struck by lightning: “leaf” or “tree island,” “dangerous striker” and lightning imagery. That is scholarly interpretation, not a rule the game follows. Santa Monica Studio instead makes Faye a fully realized person with political choices, domestic relationships, magical abilities and a tragic plan.
What is Laufey’s relationship to Kratos as a warrior?
Faye is not a female version of Kratos. Their strengths are deliberately different. Kratos relies on immense physical resilience and treats magic as equipment; Faye fights with speed, precision and innate Giant magic. Her ability to combine movement, nature power and soul work makes her a match for him without copying his combat identity.
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The Leviathan Axe also reverses the usual inheritance story. It was Faye’s weapon first, forged specifically for her by the Huldra brothers. When Kratos carries it, he is using the signature weapon of the wife whose history he did not fully understand. That detail ties his combat style directly to her hidden past.
What does God of War Laufey reveal about her afterlife?
God of War Laufey was revealed at PlayStation State of Play on 2 June 2026. It is not a conventional prequel about Faye’s younger years before meeting Kratos. The story begins at the funeral pyre shown at the start of God of War (2018), when her soul reaches the Everywhen, an afterlife populated by gods from multiple mythologies.
Faye expected an afterlife more like Alfheim’s Light but instead finds that plans she made for Kratos and Atreus are threatened. The reveal footage and interviews describe conflicts involving gods from outside the Norse setting, including Sekhmet from Egyptian mythology and Begtse from Mongolian tradition. A cosmic cube named Phranque and an enchanted ribbon guardian named Rue accompany her, and she acquires an unusual sword from the cube.
Deborah Ann Woll returns as Faye. The game is announced for PS5, but no official release date has been confirmed. Its story runs in parallel with the timelines of the 2018 game and Ragnarök while remaining part of the same universe, so it expands Faye’s role rather than rewriting her death.
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After Ragnarök, Angrboda explains that Faye destroyed the third mural in a hidden Jötnar shrine. She did this because the mural locked Atreus and Kratos into a depicted future. Faye’s rebellion against her own people’s prophetic script explains the earlier mural showing her arguing with Giants: she trusted her family’s ability to choose over a prediction, even while using her own foresight to guide them.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why does Laufey matter to the whole Norse saga?
Faye connects the personal and mythological halves of the story. Her death gives Kratos and Atreus a reason to travel; her identity makes Atreus part Giant, part god and eventually Loki; her axe links Kratos to the people he once feared; and her destroyed mural establishes the series’ central argument about fate. The characters are surrounded by prophecy, but Faye repeatedly chooses to bend or break it.
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That is why the ash journey remains important even after its immediate goal is complete. Scattering her ashes does not end Faye’s influence. It reveals that the journey was her final act of parenting, turns Atreus’s hidden name into a source of agency and leaves Kratos with the obligation to live according to the better future she imagined.
How was Laufey developed for the games?
Keeping “Faye” in the foreground was a deliberate concealment choice. As reported by GameRant in 2022, revealing “Laufey” too early would have allowed players familiar with Norse mythology to infer that Atreus was Loki. The writers therefore let the audience encounter her first as a grieving family member before revealing her Giant name and legendary status.
The official novelization of the 2018 story, published by Penguin Random House on 28 August 2018 and running 416 pages, adds material beyond the game. One example is Jophie, a pet gyrfalcon fiercely loyal to Laufey. Such details belong to the novelization’s expanded version of the story, not to confirmed gameplay events.
What should you remember about Faye?
- Faye is Laufey, and Laufey is Atreus’s mother.
- She is a Jötunn from Jötunheim, not a mortal Midgardian.
- Her funeral-ash request sends Kratos and Atreus to the highest peak in Jötunheim.
- She wanted Atreus named Loki and taught him the skills that carry him through the games.
- Brok and Sindri forged the Leviathan Axe for her before Kratos inherited it.
- Ragnarök confirms that she fought Thor to a stalemate and destroyed a prophecy mural to protect her family’s freedom.
- The cause of her death remains unknown.
- The 2026 game begins at her funeral and follows her soul into the Everywhen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “Laufeyjarson” mean in Norse mythology?
Laufeyjarson means “Laufey’s son.” It is the matronymic used for Loki in the Eddic tradition, unusual in a culture where names more commonly identified a person through their father. The game echoes that detail by making Atreus’s hidden Giant name Loki.
Who is Faye’s voice actress in the God of War games?
Deborah Ann Woll portrays Faye in God of War Ragnarök dream sequences and returns for God of War Laufey. Some early recap copy misspelled her surname, but Woll is the credited performer identified in the interview coverage.
What companions appear with Faye in God of War Laufey?
The reveal footage introduces Phranque, a cosmic cube voiced by Jack Quaid, and Rue, an enchanted ribbon guardian voiced by Perlina Lau. Faye also obtains an unusual sword from Phranque, giving the new game a weapon distinct from the Leviathan Axe.
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Jophie is a pet gyrfalcon described in J.M. Barlog’s lore material and the official novelization context. She is not established as a gameplay companion or on-screen animal in the 2018 game itself.
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