Roberts, Joshua (2024) Resisting Toxic Masculinity in God of War. Masters thesis, York St John University.

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Abstract

This paper examines the representation of non-hegemonic masculinities presented by the characters within the video game series God of War’s Norse saga (2018 and 2022). Specific reference has been made regarding how characters have been adapted to represent wider groups of masculinity than has previously been present within the franchise, exemplified through the primary protagonists of the games, Kratos and Atreus. The paper argues for the presence of hybrid masculinities and queer and queer coded representation within the games through narrative,
characters and themes to demonstrate a progressive view of non-hegemonic masculinity. Utilising textual analysis of the God of War series this paper references several case studies, exploring specific instance from the series, arguing for the presence of this representation, promoting ideals of acceptance of traditionally othered groups of non-hegemonic masculinities and queer communities. God of War will be argued to represent non-hegemonic masculine communities through explicit and subtextual representations with a desire to address Santa Monica Studios’ prior
depictions of masculinity and embed messages of empathy and compassion in the wider gaming community.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Status:	Published
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
School/Department:	School of the Arts
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/11430

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