God of War: Ragnarok Writer Addresses Angrboda Controversy

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Santa Monica Studio's God of War: Ragnarok has generated a lot of buzz since its trailer at the PlayStation Showcase 2021. Not all the conversations surrounding Ragnarok have been considerate though, especially those about the character Angrboda, leading one writer to make a stand.

The PlayStation Showcase trailer for God of War: Ragnarok gave fans a thorough glimpse at the upcoming PlayStation title. While teasing the game's conflict and showing some locations that Kratos and Atreus will travel to, the main draw of the trailer are all the new characters in God of War: Ragnarok, like Tyr, the Norse god of war. Another character who was introduced is Angrboda, a giant who is also the wife of Loki, according to Norse mythology. They are depicted as a young Black woman in Ragnarok's trailer. Angrboda's design quickly angered a vocal minority, complaining the developers brought "politics" into the game and that it was inaccurately portraying Norse mythology.

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Matt Sophos, a writer at Santa Monica Studio, addressed the Angrboda controversey on Twitter. In a long thread, Sophos systematically responds to the variety of comments about Angrboda they have heard since revealing the character. At the statement, 'You caved to outside pressure,' Sophos bluntly retorts, "I can count on 2 fingers the # of notes we've gotten for story changes to 2018 + GoW Ragnarok combined. This was not one of them." And in response to, "You made it political," Sophos asserts that "writing is *always political—it's just usually only called that if the politics aren't agreed with."

Perhaps the most powerful of Sophos' statements is in response to, 'It's not accurate to Norse mytholog/doesn't respect the culture.' Sophos proceeds to list many of God of War's characters, mentioning their mythological status, and then how the team at Santa Monica Studios decided to portray them. The first example is Brok, "a legendary Dwarven blacksmith" that Santa Monica "made blue and talks like a foul-mouthed Texas prospector." There are many other changes that God of War made from Norse mythology, so to pin Angrboda's design on that compromises much of the first game's characters and ideas.

It is reassuring and empowering to see Sophos stick up for themselves, their team at Santa Monica Studios, and their game in God of War: Ragnarok. From what has been shown and said, it looks like Santa Monica plans to take the series to places it has never gone before, the 'end of the Norse Saga' signaling something new to come. Fans have a right to complain about what it is they do not like, but at the same time, they should also trust that the developers know what they are doing.

God of War: Ragnarok is set to release in 2022 for PS4 and PS5.

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