system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[God of War] Why doesn’t killing Norse gods cause any sort of chaos like killing the Greek gods did?

Out of universe: its because its a new studio and production company.

But in-universe: each time Kratos struck down a Grecian diety it disrupted the course of nature and created disorder. Kratos’ fixation with vengeance and self-justification drew him deeper into his destructive path, both to himself, and to the world around him. Poseidon dies and the oceans form Tsunamis, Hades is slain and the souls of the dead no longer have passage through the underworld, Helios, darkness etc.

When Balfur, or Odin, or Thor die… people just feel sad? Aren’t the gods supposed to be anchors of reality, symbols of order, mirrors of worldly laws? Heimdal causes some disruption, but that’s only due to the prophecy, and Ragnaroog. 

If Kratos had spared Heimdal, and the rest of the gods were slain, would that change anything? It was alvvays described as a cursed thing to slay a god-being, but now anyone can do it if they feel morally justified? Are the Norse gods in this just superheroes?
gpt
The nature of godhood in Greece versus The Nine Realms. In Greece the gods are intrinsically tied to their domains. They are effectively metaphysical representations of what they represent - to kill them kills the thing they are linked to. They built reality around themselves and are the world itself. Ares is not just the one who’s the best at war but he is the very idea, the very concept of war itself. Poseidon doesn’t just control or rule the seas, they are as much him as he is them.

Meanwhile the Aesir, incredibly powerful as they are, aren’t as intrinsically tied to the domains they’re gods of. Their domains are more their nature and power, which aligns with some aspect of the world. In GOW18 they specifically say they’ll learn what Atreus’s abilities will be as they develop. The Norse Gods are, not to diminish their power, immensely powerful immortals, but they are not the same metaphysical beings the Greek Gods are. They’re simply at echelons of power where it only *matters* at beings of comparable power.

When Kratos killed Helios the skies went dark because the idea of The Sun was just killed. But killing Thor doesn’t kill the idea of the storm, of thunder. He’s empowered by it, he can control it, he can use and influence the storm - but he is not *the storm itself*.