God Of War Fans Argue Whether Kratos Could Beat Elden Ring's Melania

The end could be nigh for the Ghost of Sparta, as Sony Santa Monica's God of War Ragnarok will round off our time in the franchise's Norse saga. With this seemingly finite entry just around the corner, players are obviously asking whether Kratos will kick the bucket. Yes, we know he's no stranger to dying, but this one could stick.

Since Sony Santa Monica's original God of War in 2005, we've seen the bald brute make light work of various gods and demigods, with Kratos seemingly setting his sights on Odin this time around. In a whole different world though, some are asking whether he's got the chops to take down Elden Ring's Malenia.

Could Kratos Beat Malenia?

Although there's just as much debate about whether Malenia is actually the hardest Elden Ring boss, many hold her as FromSoftware's most gruelling creation. If you thought sinking hours into Margit the Fell Omen was bad enough, that's nothing compared to being decimated by Malenia's Waterfowl Dance. We think even a fully-pumped Kratos might struggle here.

When looking at general gameplay, Malenia's problem is that she gains health with every hit. If that wasn't tough enough, it's a two-phase fight, she heals up to 80% at the start of the second phase, AND sprouts a pair of wings. It's true that Malenia is optional, but knowing Kratos' hatred of gods and monsters, you know he'd try to take the Leviathan Axe to her. Over on Reddit, u/YellowDhub asked whether Kratos' muscular might is a match for Malenia. 

One of Kratos' supporters cheered, "Kratos would rip her wings off and take her helm," while another added, "Kratos has killed Gods. Malenia is a demigod. This is an easy clap." Not everyone was on his side though. Someone else said, "In my experience, it's more common to see Kratos' face getting mashed into the ground in a humiliating fashion. Like, a lot more common." This was backed up by someone writing, "In Elden Ring, there exists magic literally meant to kill gods. Kratos could be melted in seconds for all we know."

Kratos Would (Probably) Beat Malenia

Someone else joked about Elden Ring's famous "maidenless" meme and concluded, "Kratos has had a lot of maidens, Kratos wins." There's some actual numerical backing to the arguments, meaning Kratos would (probably) win. Going back to the infamous Let Me Solo Her, it's true that a pretty much naked Tarnished with a pot on their head bested Malenia multiple times. 

Being honest though, it's likely no one would win. Malenia is sure to release Scarlet Rot again and drive Kratos mad like Radahn - then we're all screwed. We imagine Zeus is much harder to beat than Malenia if FromSoftware made God of War,  but we'll likely never know. Still, remembering that Malenia managed to destroy Caelid, we wouldn't fancy our chances if we were Kratos.