Kratos, karakter protagonis dari seri video game God of War, adalah sebuah contoh anti-hero archetype populer yang memberikan bukti bahwa archetype tersebut lebih menarik daripada traditional hero archetype dalam berberapa tahun ini. Fokus dari penelitian ini adalah menganalisis bagaimana perkembangan karakter Kratos sepanjang seri God of War memengaruhi agensi dan identitasnya dan bagaimana daya Tarik Kratos terhadap komunitas game action adventure berubah sepanjang serinya. 3-act structure dari Vogler, negative and positive character arcs dari Weiland, dan affective disposition theory dari Zilmann & Cantor digunakan sebagai kerangka penelitian ini. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa karakterisasi Kratos berubah di antara anti-hero dan villain archetype dan Kratos diterima dengan baik oleh mayoritas komunitas game action adventure karena sang protagonis memiliki latar belakang yang menarik dan motivasi yang kuat. Penelitian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan perspektif baru tentang analisis anti-hero archetype karena banyak penelitian dengan topik ini berfokus kepada media lain seperti film, acara TV, dan literatur.

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Kratos, the protagonist of the God of War video game series, is an example of a popular anti-hero archetype which has been more appealing than traditional heroes in recent years. The foci of this study are analysing how Kratos’ character development throughout the series affect his agency and identity and how his appeal towards the action adventure gaming community changes throughout the series. 3- act structure by Vogler, negative and positive character arcs by Weiland, and affective disposition theory by Zilmann & Cantor are used as the framework for the research. The results show that Kratos’ characterization evolves between anti-hero and villain archetype and the character is well-received by the majority of the community because of his compelling backstory and strong motivation. The study is expected to provide a new perspective on anti-hero archetype analysis since many researches about the topic mainly focus on other medium such as movies, TV shows, and literatures.