Kratos, the iconic Spartan warrior from the God of War series, nearly bore a different name, according to David Jaffe, the director of the original trilogy. The name Dominus was initially favored for its connotations of dominance and strength, but its unfortunate similarity to a popular pizza chain led to relentless jokes among the development team at Santa Monica Studio.
Jaffe recounted that whenever the name Dominus was uttered, team members would inevitably chime in with Domino's Pizza slogans like "30 minutes or free" or "Get the door, it's Dominus." After what Jaffe described as "about the 50th time," the name was deemed unusable.
With Dominus out of contention, the team explored other options. The marketing lead, Susan Panico, eventually proposed Kratos, a name that resonated with the developers and ultimately stuck. Jaffe later discovered a list of ancient Greek baby names he had highlighted during the development process. Unbeknownst to the team at the time, Kratos was present on that list, unhighlighted.
This discovery led Jaffe to reflect on the role of luck and timing in the success of major game franchises. He has previously discussed the Dominus name and its rejection, but the specific details involving the Domino's Pizza jokes are a new revelation. The God of War franchise, which began with the 2005 PlayStation 2 title, has since become one of PlayStation's most successful series. Future installments are planned, with a new Kratos-led game confirmed to be in development.