{"id":10041,"date":"2026-06-03T01:15:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T22:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=10041"},"modified":"2026-06-03T13:44:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:14:41","slug":"inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/06\/03\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside God of War Laufey \u2013 Santa Monica Studio on Why Faye, a Ribbon, and a Cube Are Our New Heroes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">God of War Laufey is burning the series\u2019 rulebook and sending it to the afterlife\u2026 literally. Faye, wife of Kratos, mother to Atreus, is the protagonist in the latest game from Santa Monica Studio, and the 20 minutes of footage that just dropped as part of State of Play is one hell of an introduction to our new queen of carnage, facing off against two gods of war, forming an alliance with a cosmic cube, and finding herself stuck in a fever dream of a new world.  <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;We\u2019ll always tell stories about Kratos, but I think for us, it was just a chance to talk about somebody who was so pivotal to the beginning,\u201d says Ariel Lawrence, Game Director on God Of War Laufey. \u201cTo get to know them and push beyond into this new world and give us some place to be surprised and see how things connect. So for us, it&#8217;s not a departure; it&#8217;s more of an expansion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">God Of War Laufey Reveal <\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">If you need a quick refresher, Faye \u2013 played by True Blood and Daredevil star Deborah Ann Woll \u2013 is a frost giant of J\u00f6tunheim, has the power of foresight, and was known as Laufey the Just. The Leviathan Axe from God of War was crafted for her, she has access to magic, and fought Thor. She also gave Kratos the nickname \u201cGrumbles\u201d. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Faye left an incredible impression on Kratos and influences how he goes about his life now,&#8221; says Lawrence. <\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"title2\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-3735650234\"><strong>Where in the worlds<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Santa Monica Studio\u2019s new project isn\u2019t a prequel, as rumored, and actually starts the moment that Faye\u2019s body is burnt on the funeral pyre at the beginning of 2018\u2019s God of War. This transports her to a land called the Everywhen, the afterlife of the gods. It\u2019s definitely not the Elysium fields of Valhalla, but a nightmarish otherworld with killer flowers and masked skeletons, where creatures are being rounded up in cages. There are bonfires of corpses and an ominous gateway hanging in the sky. It&#8217;s far from a friendly place, as Santa Monica Studio\u2019s Head of Creative, Cory Barlog, is more than happy to divulge.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;They&#8217;re all assholes,\u201d he says. \u201cLiterally every god that exists in all of the mythologies has this really terrible relationship with power and how they abuse all of it. When you put all those people &#8211; like a bunch of billionaires on an island &#8211; they think they&#8217;re gonna have a happy life. No, they&#8217;re all going to fight each other , they&#8217;re all going to be in this strange sense of conflict because they&#8217;re locked in a prison.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image article-image article-image-full-size jsx-1809694635 jsx-2338608387\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">This idea is brought violently home by two notable enemies, Sekhmet and Begtse. The latter, a colossal red dude, is the Mongolian god of war. He\u2019s so metal that his name comes from a Mongolian word for armor, and his role seems to be as a sort of afterlife bouncer for Sekhmet. As for her, she\u2019s a big deal in Egyptian mythology rather than just another god of war, associated with plagues, vengeance, medicine and the sun. She was created by Ra, Egypt\u2019s ruler of the Earth, sky, and underworld, to punish humanity, but got <em>way<\/em> too into it and nearly wiped them all out. God of War Laufey seems to be really leaning into the whole psycho mean girl element, and I&#8217;m here for it. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Sekhmet still has that kind of gravitas, the scariness, the command,\u201d says Lawrence. \u201cWe wanted to be able to really show that kind of toe-to-toe, and for [Sekhmet and Begtse] to meet.&#8221; <\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"title2\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-3735650234\"><strong>Faye the fighter<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Luckily, Faye is no slouch in the smashing the crap out of stuff department. She&#8217;s easily as much of a badass as Kratos, despite not being built like a Panzer tank. She\u2019s more athletic, taking on enemies with agility and speed rather than muscle, and her Jotun origins mean she has magic at her disposal. She also quickly gets her hands on a very unusual sword.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cShe has a different physical profile than Kratos,&#8221; explains Lawrence. &#8220;Kratos is like a brick wall, and a little stoic, but his brutality is different. How do we show somebody who&#8217;s as equal [to him] as she is?&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image article-image article-image-full-size jsx-1809694635 jsx-2338608387\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">To find a way to reflect the difference between Kratos and Faye, the team looked back across the entire series of games to take a deep look at how they\u2019d portrayed Faye\u2019s story so far. Lawrence explains that developing Faye&#8217;s combat style proved a breath of fresh air for the studio, allowing it to pull from the series\u2019 history while still doing something new.  <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;The Greek era had an influence on Faye,\u201d she says. \u201cThe Norse era has an influence on Faye. So going [back] to our more agile, fluid combat roots but also retaining our companions, our gritty closer combat. How do those marry together and then make something that&#8217;s uniquely Faye-feeling while still being a Santa Monica game?&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"title2\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-3735650234\"><strong>Mighty and magical<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">While we only got a hint of Faye&#8217;s magic during the reveal, we know she&#8217;s packing plenty thanks to references to her life in the previous games. She has the power of foresight, was able to cast  protective wards around the forest where she and Kratos lived &#8211; remember those glowing handprints? &#8211; and has incredible strength.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-title jsx-684634384 jsx-2659527929 quote-container\" data-cy=\"quoteBox\">When we get to the Everywhen, the density of magic is amplified by like a thousand<span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-326843967\"><span>\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;For Kratos, magic is a tool he wears on his belt. With Faye, magic is a part of her,&#8221; says Barlog. He explains that her powers are more like Freya&#8217;s, and tied to the natural world. &#8220;There&#8217;s that moment in the reveal where she gets the sword and then she pops the soul out of that character, and you get that great slow-mo to see that there is a power even beyond what was  shown before that she has. And it is only going to grow and evolve inside of this world. It&#8217;s that idea that in the realms that we&#8217;ve explored, in Greece and in the Norse realms, magic is part of the air. It exists all around us. Its density is a certain amount in these realms. And when we get to the Everywhen, the density of magic is amplified by like a thousand.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"title2\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-3735650234\"><strong>Friends of Faye<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">So, about that sword. We first discover it stuck inside a cosmic cube who is &#8211; obviously &#8211; called Phranque, and voiced by The Boys star Jack Quaid. Faye quickly finds out that the sword comes with an enchanted ribbon guardian named Rue (voiced by Perlina Lau) and suddenly gaming&#8217;s weirdest threesome is born.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image article-image article-image-full-size jsx-1809694635 jsx-2338608387\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I hope by the end of this, everybody has feelings for some ribbons and a jellied cube,&#8221; says Lawrence.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;It has been part of the iterations of this since the very beginning. Phranque has been carried over through every single aspect of this,&#8221; added Barlog.  &#8220;To me it&#8217;s one of the most important parts of it. Strip away all of the fanciful and the design and the extra and what you have is this very simple cube, but you imbue inside of it an incredible struggle as well as an earnestness and a real personality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">We also see another, unnamed, almost pixie-esque character who seems important to Faye&#8217;s story, but Barlog and Lawrence stay coy on his role. Whatever his part to play, Faye isn&#8217;t facing the Everywhen alone. <\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"title2\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-3735650234\"><strong>One singular universe <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">As you might expect from the studio that turned Kratos from a caricature to an emotional exploration of fatherhood, God of War Laufey looks ready to give you big feelings, too. As Faye adjusts to her new surroundings, she hears Kratos&#8217;s voice and even sees a vision of him, a reminder that in this story\u2019s timeframe she has only just been separated from her husband and son. She also seemed to be able to communicate with Kratos during moments of God Of War Ragnar\u00f6k, so while Kratos may not be the star this time around, he and Atreus will still play an important role in Faye&#8217;s story. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Everything that we&#8217;re doing inside of this game, running in parallel to the timeline of 2018 and Ragnarok, also has direct connections to everything, so that everything is part of a singular universe inside of it,&#8221; says Barlog. \u201cNone of this is like we&#8217;re telling a side story. This is all a new chapter in the same book, a massive book, and we are starting to show that this has more than you could have imagined.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"playlist-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401 user-list-embed\" data-cy=\"user-list-embed\">\n<div class=\"card jsx-1339469126 jsx-1355461925 box jsx-2627838217\">\n<section class=\"stack jsx-806034919 carousel-section jsx-282394234\" data-cy=\"carousel\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-1304765713\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3 data-cy=\"title3\" class=\"title3 jsx-12333944 jsx-2321054750\">God of War: Complete Playlist<\/h3>\n<p>Here&#8217;s every single God of War release since the dawn of the gods. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-2980091846\">See All<button class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--secondary jsx-3381835873 action-button contained centered large\" data-cy=\"more-actions-btn\" type=\"button\" title=\"More Actions\"><span class=\"ign-icon icon-ellipsis jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"icon-ellipsis\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Rachel Weber is the Head of Editorial Development at IGN and an elder millennial. She&#8217;s been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, Red Dead Redemption 2, and her Love and Deepspace boyfriends. <\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/inside-god-of-war-laufey-santa-monica-studio-on-why-faye-a-ribbon-and-a-cube-are-our-new-heroes.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-10041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10043,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041\/revisions\/10043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}