Timeline:
1. God of War: Ascension (2013, PS3)
2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (2008, PSP)
3. God of War (2005, PS2)
4. God of War: Ghost of Sparta (2010, PSP)
5. God of War: Betrayal (2007, mobiles)
6. God of War II (2007, PS2)
7. God of War III (2010, PS3)
Here're the plots of each game which I derived from Wikipedia for reference.
God of War: Ascension
The events are set before those of Chains of Olympus (2008), about ten years before the original God of War (2005). Backstory reveals that before the time of the Titans and the rule of the Olympian Gods, there was an aeons-long war between the Primordials, the beings who forged the Earth. The war spawned the Furies, the guardians of honor who punish those they deem guilty. When Aegaeon, the Hecatonchires, broke a blood oath to Zeus, the King of the Gods, he became the first traitor and a target for the Furies. As punishment, Aegaeon was captured and subsequently tortured and turned to stone. The many armed brute was made the giant Prison of the Damned, becoming a symbol of the consequences of breaking a blood oath to a god.
Gameplay begins with an imprisoned Kratos, chained for breaking his blood oath to Ares. The Fury Megaera tortures Kratos, but accidentally facilitates his freedom. Pursued by Kratos, a desperate Megaera uses her parasitic insects to awaken Aegaeon—revealed to be the prison housing the Spartan and other oath breakers. Defeating two of the parasite-controlled arms of the Hecatonchires, Kratos finally catches up to Megaera, who then uses her parasites to control
Aegeaon's head to attack Kratos. Narrowly escaping, Kratos overcomes the brute and kills Megaera. Tisiphone then tricks Kratos with an illusion.
The narrative then shifts to about two weeks before Kratos' imprisonment. He is confronted by Orkos in the village of Kirra, who informs Kratos that his illusions are mind tricks created by the Furies, and instructs him to find the Oracle of Delphi. Traveling to Temple of the Oracle, he overcomes the corrupted Prophet Castor and his conjoined twin Pollux, who attempted to kill the Oracle so that Kratos could not see her. In her dying words, she instructs Kratos to travel to Delos to retrieve the Eyes of Truth. With the Amulet of Uroborus taken from Castor and Pollux, Kratos travels to the Harbor of Kirra where he encounters Orkos again. The oath keeper reveals that he is the son of Ares and Alecto. Ares wanted a perfect warrior who could help him overthrow Zeus. Disappointed in Orkos, Ares disowned his son, and Orkos became the oath keeper of the Furies to please his mother. He explained that Kratos was the warrior Ares sought and for that reason, Ares helped Kratos against the barbarians. Orkos did his bidding as the oath keeper and did not question the Furies until Ares tricked Kratos into killing his family. Armed with this knowledge, Kratos takes a ship to Delos.
Kratos arrives at the island of Delos and traverses the giant, ruined statue of Apollo. He is attacked by all three Furies and manages to cut off Megaera's arm, but Alecto uses her power to capture Kratos. Orkos appears and frees Kratos, taking him elsewhere upon the statue, with Alecto vowing that he will never succeed. After a perilous journey, Kratos uses the Amulet of Uroborus to fully restore the statue and retrieves the Eyes from the Lantern. Unfortunately, after completing the Trials of Archimedes, he is ambushed by the Furies, who take him captive and steal the Eyes and the Amulet.
Returning to the present time, Tisiphone again tries to deceive Kratos with another illusion, but Kratos overcomes it, retrieving the Amulet back in the process. He encounters the Scribe of Hecatonchires, who reveals that Ares and the Furies plan to overthrow Olympus. The Scribe also revealed that he was the first mortal to be imprisoned by the Furies and they were originally fair in their punishment, but became ruthless because of Ares. Kratos then seemingly returns home to his wife and daughter, only to find it to be another trick, this time by Alecto. She tries to convince him that he can live in this illusion if he rejoins Ares; however, he insists that he wants reality instead of illusions.
Enraged, Alecto and Tisiphone attack, with Alecto transforming into a kraken-like sea monster. After a brutal battle, Kratos gets the Eyes back and uses them to break through the Furies' illusions before killing them both, destroying the prison, with Alecto promising that her death will change nothing.
Kratos returns to his home in Sparta, where he is met by Orkos. Although praising Kratos' victory over the Furies, the oath keeper reveals that Kratos will not be free from Ares' bond unless he kills Orkos. He begs Kratos to give him an honorable death, as it will free them both from the god, to which Kratos refuses, proclaiming that no more innocent blood should be spilled. However, Orkos' continuing pleas ultimately forces Kratos' hand. After killing Orkos, Kratos experiences the first of many nightmares—previously masked by his bond—and discovers his path to redemption through continual service to Olympus. Kratos then burns down his house, with the corpse of Orkos inside it, before departing.
TL;DR
1) Ares caused Kratos to kill his family (via the "visions" of the Furies).
2) Kratos renounces his bonds with Ares
3) Furies sent to capture Kratos
4) Orkos informs him to seek the Oracle of Delphi.
5) Once successful, Oracle informs Kratos that he needs to get Eyes of Truth and then kill the Furies to remove the visions and bonds with Ares.
6) He succeeds in his quest, and no longer needs to serve Ares. However, the loss of vision by the Furies causes him endless nightmares.
7) To remove the nightmares, he pledge his services to other Gods.
8) Chains of Olympus event happens.
9) When over, the thinks of jumping - leading to GOW 1.
10) Rest is history.
ref: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/667703-god-of-war-ascension/65773250
God of War: Chain of Olympus
During Kratos' ten years of service to the Olympian Gods, he is sent to the city of Attica to help defend it from the invading Persian army. After successfully killing the Persian King, decimating his army and slaying their pet basilisk, Kratos observes the sun fall from the sky, plunging the world into darkness. As he fights his way through the city of Marathon, the Spartan witnesses the black fog of the Olympian Morpheus cover the land. He hears a haunting flute melody, which he recognizes as a melody once played by his deceased daughter Calliope. Finding the Temple of Helios, Kratos is tasked by Athena to find the missing sun god, as Morpheus has caused many of the gods to fall into a deep slumber in the absence of light. The Spartan eventually locates Helios' sister, Eos, who tells Kratos that the Titan Atlas has abducted her brother. Eos advises Kratos to seek the Primordial Fires, which he uses to awaken the fire steeds of Helios. The steeds take the Spartan to the Underworld, where he has two encounters with Charon at the River Styx. Although Charon initially defeats Kratos and banishes him to Tartarus, the Spartan returns and destroys the ferryman.
After locating the Temple of Persephone and confronting the Queen of the Underworld, Kratos is given a choice: renounce his power and be with his deceased daughter (at a cost to mankind) or proceed with his mission. Kratos sacrifices his weapons and power to be reunited with his daughter, but discovers that Persephone is embittered by Zeus' betrayal and her imprisonment in the Underworld with her husband Hades. While he was distracted by his reunion with Calliope, Persephone's ally Atlas was using the power of the kidnapped Helios to destroy the Pillar of the World, which would also end Olympus. Choosing to abandon Calliope forever, Kratos takes back his power and binds Atlas to the Pillar of the World he sought to destroy, forcing the Titan to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders. Kratos then battles Persephone to the death. Although victorious, he is warned by a dying Persephone that his suffering will never end. Atlas also warns Kratos that he will eventually regret helping the gods and that he and Atlas will meet again. Kratos then rides the Sun Chariot back to the mortal world and into the sky as Morpheus retreats.
In a post-credits scene, Kratos is still riding Helios' chariot back into the sky and after seeing the return of the sun, Kratos loses consciousness from the exertion and plummets to the ground. At the last moment, Kratos is saved by Athena and Helios, who return to Olympus.
God of War
Kratos is a warrior who serves the Greek gods of Olympus. Flashbacks reveal that he was once a successful captain in the Spartan army and led his men to several victories before being defeated by a barbarian king. Facing death, Kratos called on the God of War, Ares, whom he promised to serve if the god would spare his men and provide the power to destroy their enemies. Ares agreed and bonded the Blades of Chaos, a pair of chained blades forged in the depths of Tartarus, to his new servant. Kratos, equipped with the blades, then decapitated the barbarian king.
Kratos waged war at the behest of Ares, eventually leading an attack on a village occupied by worshipers of Athena. Ares had secretly transported Kratos' wife and child to the village; during his frenzied attack on its temple, Kratos accidentally killed them. Although Ares believed this act would free Kratos to become the perfect warrior, the Spartan instead renounced his pledge of servitude to the god. The oracle of the destroyed village cursed Kratos by bonding the ashes of his dead family to his skin, turning it ash-white and earning him the name, Ghost of Sparta. Plagued by nightmares of his horrible deed, Kratos vowed to serve the other gods in hope of ridding himself of the visions.
When the game starts, Kratos has been serving the gods for ten years. He kills the Hydra on behalf of Poseidon, but grows tired of his service and suffering. He summons Athena, who states that if Kratos performs one final act—the murder of Ares—he will be forgiven for killing his family. Ares is waging war on the city of Athens out of hatred and jealousy of his sister Athena, who assigns Kratos to destroy Ares because Zeus has forbidden divine intervention. Athena guides Kratos to the war-torn Athens. After a strange encounter with a gravedigger who encourages him to continue his task, Kratos battles his way to Athens's oracle, finds her, and learns that the only way to defeat Ares is with Pandora's Box, a mythical artifact that grants the power to kill a god.
Kratos enters the Desert of Lost Souls, and Athena tells him Pandora's Box is hidden in a temple chained to the back of the Titan Cronos—a punishment by Zeus for Cronos' role in the Great War. Kratos summons Cronos, climbs for three days before reaching the Temple entrance, overcomes an array of deadly traps and an army of monsters, and eventually finds the Box. But Ares, aware of his former servant's success, kills Kratos as the latter is leaving the Temple. While harpies take the Box to Ares, Kratos falls into the Underworld. He battles his way through the fiery realm, and with help from the mysterious gravedigger, who tells him Athena is not the only god watching over him, he escapes and returns to Athens.
Kratos recovers Pandora's Box from Ares, opens it, and uses its power to become godlike. Despite Ares' best efforts to destroy Kratos physically and mentally, including stripping him of the Blades of Chaos and all magic, he survives and kills Ares with the Blade of the Gods. Athens is saved, and although Athena tells Kratos his sins are forgiven, the gods cannot rid him of his nightmares. Forsaken by the gods, he tries to commit suicide by casting himself into the Aegean Sea, but Athena intervenes and transports him to Mount Olympus. As a reward for his services to the gods, she provides Kratos with a new set of blades and the seat as the new God of War.
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
A series of flashbacks reveals that an oracle had foretold that the demise of Olympus would come not by the revenge of the Titans, who had been imprisoned after the Great War, but by a marked warrior. The Olympians Zeus and Ares believed this warrior to be Deimos, the brother of Kratos, due to his strange birthmarks. Ares interrupted the childhood training of Kratos and Deimos, with Athena on hand, and kidnapped Deimos. Kratos attempted to stop Ares, but was swept aside and subsequently scarred across his right eye by the Olympian. Athena stopped Ares from killing Kratos, knowing his eventual destiny. Taken to Death's Domain, Deimos was imprisoned and tortured by Thanatos. In honor of his sibling, Kratos marked himself with a red tattoo, identical to his brother's birthmark.
Years later, when the game begins, Kratos has taken Ares' place as the new God of War on Mount Olympus. Still haunted by visions of his mortal past, Kratos decides against Athena's advice to explore his past and travels to the Temple of Poseidon, located within the city of Atlantis. The sea monster, Scylla, attacks and destroys Kratos' vessel off the coast of Atlantis, although the Spartan drives the beast off. After a series of skirmishes across the city, he eventually kills Scylla.
Reaching the temple, Kratos locates his mother, Callisto, who attempts to reveal the identity of his father. When Callisto is suddenly transformed into a hideous beast, Kratos is forced to battle her, and before dying, Callisto thanks him and beseeches him to seek out Deimos in Sparta. Before departing, Kratos encounters and frees the trapped Titan, Thera, which causes the eruption of the Methana Volcano, and subsequently destroys the city. During his escape, he has another encounter with the enigmatic gravedigger, who warns him of the consequences of alienating the gods.
After a battle with Erinys, the daughter of Thanatos, Kratos arrives in Sparta and witnesses a group of Spartans tearing down a statue of Ares, intent on replacing it with one of Kratos. Kratos then chases a dissenter loyal to Ares into the Spartan Jails, who attempts to kill Kratos by releasing the Piraeus Lion. Defeating both foes, Kratos journeys to the Temple of Ares, where he encounters the spirit of his child self and learns that he must return to the now sunken Atlantis and locate the Domain of Death. Before leaving, a loyal Spartan provides him with his former weapons—used during Kratos' days as a Captain of the Spartan army—the Arms of Sparta. After returning to the sunken Atlantis, Kratos receives great resentment from Poseidon for sinking his beloved city.
Entering the Domain of Death, the Spartan frees his imprisoned brother. Enraged that Kratos failed to rescue him sooner and stating he will never forgive him, Deimos attacks Kratos, but Thanatos intervenes. The god takes Deimos against his will to Suicide Bluffs (the site of Kratos' suicide attempt), where Kratos saves Deimos from falling to his death. A grateful Deimos then aids his brother in battling the god. Thanatos kills Deimos, but is destroyed, in turn, by Kratos. Remarking that his brother is finally free, Kratos places Deimos in his grave (leaving the Arms of Sparta as a grave marker), while the gravedigger states that Kratos has become "Death... the Destroyer of Worlds." Athena appears, begs for forgiveness, and offers full godhood for not revealing the truth, but Kratos ignores her and returns to Olympus, promising that "the gods will pay for this."
In a post-credits scene, the gravedigger places Callisto in a grave by Deimos (with an empty third grave nearby) and states "Now... only one remains." The final scene is a brooding Kratos sitting on his throne on Mount Olympus.
God of War: Betrayal
Kratos is leading the Spartan army in a rampage across Greece. During the campaign, he is attacked by a number of beasts led by Argos, who was sent by the gods to stop Kratos. After a series of skirmishes, Argos is killed by an unknown assassin, framing Kratos in an attempt to turn the gods against him. The Spartan pursues his foe across Greece to discover the identity of the assassin's master, but is slowed by constant attacks from the minions of Hades. Ceryx is eventually sent by Zeus to deliver a message to Kratos: stop the relentless pursuit and take heed of the destruction already caused. Kratos, however, battles and kills Ceryx, which inadvertently allows the assassin to escape. Kratos then realizes his actions have only further alienated the gods, and Zeus will soon act in response to his defiance.
God of War II
Kratos, the God of War, is still haunted by nightmares about his past and is shunned by the other gods for his destructive ways. Ignoring Athena's warnings, Kratos joins the Spartan army in an attack on Rhodes, during which a giant eagle suddenly drains him of his powers and animates the Colossus of Rhodes. While battling the statue, Zeus offers Kratos the Blade of Olympus in order to defeat it, requiring Kratos to infuse the blade with the remainder of his godly power.
Although now human, Kratos defeats the Colossus, but is mortally wounded. The eagle reveals itself to be Zeus, who states he was forced to intervene as Athena refused to do so. Zeus then grants Kratos a final opportunity to be loyal to the gods, but Kratos refuses. Zeus kills him with the blade and destroys the Spartan army.
Kratos is slowly dragged to the Underworld, but is saved by the Titan Gaia. Gaia tells Kratos that she once raised the young Zeus, who eventually betrayed the Titans as vengeance for the cruelty inflicted on his siblings by Zeus' father, Cronos. She instructs Kratos to find the Sisters of Fate, who can alter time, prevent his death, and allow him his revenge on Zeus. With the aid of Pegasus, Kratos finds the lair of Gaia's brother Typhon. Imprisoned under a mountain, Typhon is angered at the intrusion and traps Pegasus, forcing Kratos to explore on foot. Kratos encounters the Titan Prometheus, who is chained in mortal form and tortured at Zeus' directive for giving fire to mankind. Prometheus begs to be released from his torment, so Kratos confronts Typhon to steal his magical bow. He blinds Typhon with it to escape and then returns to free Prometheus. Prometheus falls into a fire and dies, finally free of eternal torture, while the immolation releases the power of the Titans which Kratos absorbs. Kratos frees Pegasus with the power and then flies to the Island of Creation.
Just before reaching the island, Kratos fights and kills Theseus to awaken the gigantic stone Steeds of Time, which will grant him access to the island. The steeds were a gift for the Sisters from Cronos in an attempt to change his own fate. Finally on the island, Kratos encounters and defeats several foes, some of whom are also seeking the Sisters of Fate, including an undead version of his old foe, the Barbarian King, the Gorgon Euryale, Perseus, and Icarus. He eventually encounters the imprisoned Titan Atlas, who initially resents Kratos for his current predicament. After Kratos explains his intent, Atlas reveals that Gaia and the other Titans seek revenge on Zeus for their defeat in the Great War. Atlas also reveals that the Blade of Olympus is the key to defeating Zeus and helps Kratos to reach the Palace of the Fates.
After evading traps and defeating more enemies, including the Kraken, Kratos encounters an unseen foe, revealed to be a loyal Spartan soldier, also in search of the Sisters. Before he dies, the soldier tells Kratos that Zeus has destroyed Sparta in Kratos' absence. Outraged, Kratos is further motivated and frees a phoenix, riding the creature to the Sisters' stronghold where he confronts two of them, Lakhesis and Atropos. After they refuse his request to alter time, Kratos battles them. During this, the Sisters try to change the outcome of Kratos' battle with Ares, but Kratos kills them both, then confronts Clotho, the remaining Sister. He kills her using her traps and acquires the Loom of Fate in order to return to the point at which Zeus betrayed him.
Kratos surprises Zeus, seizes the Blade of Olympus, and finally incapacitates him. Athena intervenes and begs Kratos to stop, as by killing Zeus, he will destroy Olympus. Kratos ignores Athena's pleas and attempts to kill Zeus, but Athena sacrifices herself by impaling herself upon the blade. Before she dies, Athena reveals that Kratos is Zeus' son. Zeus was afraid Kratos would usurp him, just as Zeus usurped his father, Cronos. Kratos declares that the rule of the gods is at an end, then travels back in time and rescues the Titans just before their defeat in the Great War. He returns with the Titans to the present, and the gods watch as their former foes climb Mount Olympus. Kratos, standing on the back of Gaia, declares to Zeus that he has brought the destruction of Olympus, setting up the events for God of War III.
God of War III
Continuing immediately from God of War II, Kratos, Gaia, and the other Titans ascend Mount Olympus to destroy the Olympian Gods. Launching a counter-assault against the Titans, Poseidon is killed by the combined efforts of Kratos and Gaia; his death causes the oceans to flood. Reaching Olympus' peak, Kratos and Gaia attempt to attack Zeus but are driven back and fall from the mountain. Gaia clings to the side of the mountain and refuses to save Kratos, saying he was nothing more than a pawn.
Falling into the Underworld and losing the Blade of Olympus, Kratos lands in the River Styx as the souls of the Underworld weaken him and ruin the Blades of Athena. After leaving the river, he is confronted by the revived spirit of Athena, who provides him with the Blades of Exile, and says that to destroy Zeus, he must quell the Flame of Olympus. Eventually finding the Three Judges of the Underworld and the Chain of Balance which maintains the equilibrium between the Underworld and Olympus, Kratos has a brief conversation with the spirit of Pandora. Soon after encountering the Olympian blacksmith Hephaestus and recovering the Blade of Olympus, he kills Hades, whose death releases the souls of the Underworld and exacerbates the chaos caused by Kratos' assault on Olympus. Leaving the Underworld, Kratos travels to Olympia, where he finds the wounded Gaia. Ignoring Gaia's call for help, he severs her arm, causing her to fall from Mount Olympus to her apparent death.
As Kratos continues his ascent, he overcomes various foes, including the Titan Perses and the god Helios; the latter's death blots out the sun, causing worldwide darkness and storms. Encountering Hermes, who mocks Kratos, the Spartan chases after the god, which leads him to the Chamber of the Flame. Learning that Pandora's Box is again key to the success of his quest, Athena informs Kratos that the Flame of Olympus surrounding the box can only be quelled by its namesake. Continuing his chase of Hermes, Kratos catches him and kills the overconfident god; his death releases a plague on the world. Reaching the Forum, Kratos has an audience with the drunken goddess Hera, who disregards Kratos' request for Pandora's location. She then calls upon the demigod Hercules, who discusses his jealousy of his half-brother. Hercules then attacks Kratos, but is killed. Using the Hyperion Gate in Aphrodite's chamber, Kratos travels to Tartarus, where he is forced to kill Cronos and Hephaestus. Reusing the Hyperion Gate, the Spartan travels through Hera's Gardens, where he kills the taunting goddess, whose death ends all plant life. He then returns to the Labyrinth to find Pandora.
Meeting the imprisoned Daedalus, the architect instructs Kratos to unite the Labyrinth. After doing so, he fights his way through the puzzle and rescues Pandora. She then instructs him to break the Chain of Balance, so the Labyrinth can be raised and she can reach Pandora's Box. Neutralizing the Three Judges and breaking the Chain, Kratos raises the Labyrinth and Pandora tries to enter the Flame of Olympus. Zeus intervenes, but after a brief battle, Pandora sacrifices herself, despite Kratos' protests, and quenches the Flame. The Spartan discovers Pandora's Box is empty, and battles Zeus again. Gaia returns and tries to kill the pair; both escape through a gaping wound in her neck, where the two continue their battle. Gaia is killed when Kratos impales Zeus against the Titan's heart with the Blade of Olympus, an act which apparently also kills Zeus. Kratos recovers the Blade and starts to leave, but is then attacked by Zeus' spirit. Losing consciousness, he is saved by Pandora during a journey into his own psyche. With the help of his wife Lysandra, Kratos forgives himself for his past sins, regains consciousness, and beats Zeus to death.
Athena reappears, demanding that Kratos return what he apparently took from Pandora's Box. Kratos says the box was empty, which Athena refuses to believe. She explains that when Zeus sealed the evils of the world—greed, fear, and hate—in the box, she foresaw that it would eventually be opened and placed her own power—hope—in the box. Athena then realizes that when Kratos opened the Box to defeat Ares, the evils escaped and infected the Olympian gods, while Kratos was imbued with hope. The goddess demands that Kratos return her power, saying that she knows how to use it to rebuild the world. Kratos refuses, saying that he is avenged and impales himself with the Blade of Olympus, releasing hope's power for all mankind. An angry Athena pulls the sword from Kratos, saying that he has disappointed her. Kratos, near death, collapses as Athena departs.
In a post-credits scene, a trail of blood is shown leading away from an abandoned Blade of Olympus, leaving Kratos' final fate unknown.
