I used to watch Superman and it would piss me off when somebody would punch him or shoot him or something.  "Why didn't he use his heat vision?"  I'd ask.  "Why didn't he use his super speed?", I'd wonder.  Well Kratos does that for me, too.  There was this one puzzle in GoW2 where I had to figure out how to put a dead body on a pressure pad.  Stopping Kratos was a wall about three feet high.  It wasn't even a wall.  It was a bunch of spikes that a body should have been able to fit between.  I carried the body to the barrier and Kratos wouldn't toss the guy over.   He wouldn't even try to shove the guy through the spikes with the huge gaps between them.  He couldn't even jump!!  Didn't Kratos just pick up a fucking building full of zoo animals a few minutes ago!?  Why isn't he using his super strength!?

Not a knock against his character.  That was just a game design issue that made me say "wtf"!

He's too powerful for my taste, I hate overpowered heroes.

but that is the thing about Kratos. he had nothing else that kept him going but hate and rage. if he had ever stopped, calmed down and thought about his life and actions, he probably had commited suicide.

Im pretty sure you didnt even played the game(s)

heavy suspension of disbelief required when you play GOW and video games in general and I usually don't have a problem with it but in movies it's a differe story. Like that movie I watched recently titled "Taken" that made me go ._.

OP: I find MOST of the video games characters annoying as hard poop that won't come out no matter how hard you push. Kratos is no excetpion. Choose to ignore the pain and you will enjoy both

He's not really meant to be likable... at all. He's an anti-hero.

Nothing he does is for any greater cause, or for someone else, but his twisted desire for vengeance due to the actions of a single god, which then sends him into realms of madness, which leads to further betrayal from other gods, which in turn leads to more violence.The fact that you hate him is actually a part of the desired end result. You're simply following the characters descent into the darkness of his thirst for blood.

If you want a proper, heroic and likable main character, then your looking in completely the wrong direction with God of War. Personally I like the whole anti-hero concept because it's a nice change from the "proper" heroes of most other games.

I gotta admit, I do laugh whenever that guy he killed in God of War 1 pops up.  That guy just can't catch a break! "What?  You again!? Anybody but you!!" Then Kratos does something to ruin his day.  Classic.

How far have you come in GoW3 already? I need to know it ;)

I have to agree. One other point is that characters do not need to be profound, complex characters in order to be good characters. Kratos's all-consuming desire for revenge does serve a purpose in the story. If the story was trying to pass Kratos off as a morally righteous character, I could see some legitimate criticism about the quality of his character. Given the events in the series, I think Kratos represents a flawed character who lets revenge drive his actions in spite of all consequences to others. I think the point of Kratos's story, and Kratos even recognizes this at the end, was that his revenge was empty. While I don't think this justifies his actions, it does supply a small level of redemption for him as a character.

You need to finish GoWIII first then you can comment on Kratos. Same with the OP.