God of War: Ascension

You think you want truth but truth you will only bring you pain.

—Alecto, the Queen of the Furies

God of War: Ascension is a 2013 videogame developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment.

Set years before the first God of War, this installment of the series follow Kratos shortly after the untimely death of his family at his hands, due to the machinations of Ares, the God of War. Kratos breaks alliance with Ares as a result - however, the alliance was forged from an oath of blood, and thus he is marked for death the Furies, deities that hunt and punish those who break their oaths.

Tropes used in God of War: Ascension include:

And I Must Scream: Aegaeon is still alive only because the Furies considered death too merciful; he can still move his eyes a little, but is otherwise immobile.
Animal Motifs: Snakes are all around the temple of Delphi. Of course, that's a reference to the Python, a snake monster slain by Apollo, the god of prophecy, in Delphi.
An Ice Person:
- The Ice of Poseidon gives Kratos' blades the power to freeze enemies.
- The Chimera Kratos encounters at Delphi can launch freezing ice waves from its mouth.
Bad Boss: Castor kills a subordinate for asking for food and rest, and later orders his subordinates to fight Kratos despite the obvious difference in size.
Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Archimedes dies in a very different way in this universe. The Furies drive him mad and he dies from either starvation or thirst, desperately trying to complete his statue of Apollo.
Body Horror: Megaera's flies modify their hosts' bodies in ways that aren't pleasant or good to look at.
Breath Weapon: The Ice Chimera launches waves of ice from its mouth.
Dark Is Evil: Alecto is heavily associated with the color black and is the leader of the antagonists.
Defector From Decadence: Orkos betrays the Furies after deciding that the pact between Kratos and Ares is unfair.
Fan Disservice: There are several female enemies with their human breasts exposed, but the rest of their bodies are so animal-like or simply uncanny that any fanservice factor is eliminated.
Fanservice:
- Tisiphone uses an illusion where several women with their breasts exposed fawn all over Kratos and try to seduce him, in order to drag him into a trap.
- Castor have a beautiful female slave on his lap when Kratos meets him.
Flunky Boss: The Manticore in Delphi pukes smaller versions of himself to fight you in the second phase of his boss battle.
Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: Tisiphone uses that as part of her strategy to distract Kratos and lure him into a trap.
God Save Us From the Queen: Alecto is the Queen of the Furies, and is just as evil as her sisters.
Guardian Entity: Tisiphone's Daimon, who she uses to fly and can also attack Kratos in battle.
Foregone Conclusion: Kratos will manage to escape from his oath of loyalty to Aries.
Hotter and Sexier: Inverted. The Gorgons Kratos meet in this game have a more snake-like head compared to the human-like Gorgons of the other games.
In Medias Res: The game begins with Kratos already imprisoned by the Furies; some time into Kratos's fight against them, the game flashes back to the point where Kratos meets Orkos for the first time.
Lone Wolf Boss: Subverted. At first it appears that Castor and Pollux were angry Kratos for refusing to offer anything to see the Oracle. Upon a mention of someone punishing them if they fail, however, it becomes clear they're working for the Furies.
King Mook: The Manticore in Delphi, that seems to reproduce asexually and left eggs all around the level.
One-Winged Angel: Alecto can transform into a giant sea monster. First she just throws things at Kratos from afar, but in the final battle she uses her whole body.
Playing with Fire: The Fire of Ares gives Kratos the ability to infuse the Blades of Chaos with flames.
Puppeteer Parasite: Megaera's flies are able to infect and control humans, changing them into monstrous fly-human hybrids that are used to fight Kratos.
Shaggy Dog Story: Kratos finds a man in Delphi that is desperate to find the Oracle. The boss of the level appears not too long after and attacks the man behind Kratos' back, quickly killing him to then attack the spartan.
Shattering the Illusion: Several times Kratos falls on illusions created by the Furies, but manages to shake them off by looking at his wife's necklace.
Shock and Awe: Lightning of Zeus gives Kratos' blades electrical powers.
Teleporters and Transporters: The Oath Stone of Orkos allows the wielder to teleport from the place where he stands to somewhere else, leaving a clone made of weird black material behind.
The Dreaded: Averted - since Kratos only just broke his oath with Ares, his "Ghost of Sparta" reputation has not yet developed. Castor doesn't know anything about him, and his subordinates run away because they're facing a large, armed and intimidating man, more than anything particular to Kratos.
Time Travel: The Amulet of Uroborus allows time to be manipulated in several ways by its wielders.