God of War's pale hero Kratos is covered in ash because a lead dev saw unfinished concept art on white paper and thought it was "really cool"

One of the most striking things about Kratos' design in the God of War games - aside from his chiselled body and bald head - is his pale white skin, covered in ash, that always stands out extra hard against all the bloodshed. But the decision to have Kratos permanently dipped in ash only came about because the very first pieces of concept art created for the action game were drawn on white paper and already looked badass enough.

The first game's lead environment artist, Stig Asmussen, who eventually directed God of War 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, said as much in the latest issue of Retro Gamer.

"We had a lot of white marble and we were able to do reflections, so the bloody bodies fell onto things that were stark and that worked as a contrast," Asmussen recalled. "Kratos himself was white too, so we were able to define the massacre he was creating because he always stood out in it."

"Kratos being covered in white ash was decided early on," he added, explaining that the first game's director David Jaffe "had seen an illustration where lead concept artist Charlie Wen hadn't done the skin treatment yet, so Kratos was still white on the page, and Dave said that was really cool. I don't know if he thought of the ash at that point, but that might have been a catalyst."

There you have it: PlayStation's most recognizable mascot got one of his most iconic features by circumstance.

Elsewhere in the character action series, Sony Santa Monica is now remaking the first three God of War games. That's in addition to a rumored "new franchise within the God of War universe" that a former series dev accidentally let slip.

Former God of War dev thinks "the plan was to do Egyptian at some point," but Sony Santa Monica went with Norse mythology for the reboot as it was "familiar but not familiar"