A closer look
The Ghost of Sparta almost became the Ghost of the Mushroom Village. During the early design phase of God of War, Kratos was covered in bright blue war paint to contrast with his pale, ash-covered skin. However, mere days before the game was revealed to the press, someone on the development team pointed out that a muscular bald man with blue skin markings aggressively resembled a heavily-steroided Smurf, or worse, a member of the Barbarian class from Diablo II. They hurriedly changed it to red, saving his terrifying reputation.
