| Juggernaut | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Others | Elephantaur | ||
| Morphology | |||
| Body type | Humanoid | ||
| Intelligence | |||
| Sentience | Sentient | ||
| Sapience | Sapient | ||
| Aggressivity | Very High | ||
| Ecology | |||
| Place of origin | Earth | ||
| Locomotion | Bipedal | ||
| Behind the Scenes | |||
| Universe | God of War | ||
| Performed by | Elephant sounds | ||
The Juggernaut (formerly known as the Elephantaur) is one of the enemies that appears in God of War: Ascension. It is not an actual beast from Greek mythology.
Overview[]
Shaped like a fearsome and mighty elephant, its presence is similar to that made by the Minotaurs in previous installments of the God of War series. It moves on its hind legs and has its frontal paws shaped like human hands with claws to attack its preys. It also wears Persian armor that protects its arms, waist, tusks and even snout. It is unknown where the Elephantaurs come from.
They were first featured as one of the new enemies in the game's demo (being also the enemy who introduced the promptless quick time event mechanic). In the actual game they're found for the first time in the Village of Kirra, and later in Delos Landing and the Shoulder of Apollo.
Juggernauts can attack by charging at Kratos to push him away with their tusks, by stomping on the ground with one of their feet to drive him back or by slashing at him with their claws, which is the only attack that can be blocked. Some of them also carry large maces made with spiked elephant tusks and can swing or slam them against the ground and Kratos. In the campaign, only the Juggernaut of Delos Landing is found carrying one of these maces, and also the one seen in the demo. After taking enough damage, the Juggernaut will destroy its weapon by slamming it against the ground, which can damage Kratos if he's near. After losing its weapon, the beast will attack him normally, with its bare hands. Usually, it tries to charge at him right after destroying the mace.
Death scene: If Kratos runs out of health when a Juggernaut is squeezing him in its hand, it will strongly press him one last time, throw him to the floor and step on him with one of its huge feet, killing him. However, the screen fades to black before it can actually be seen stomping on Kratos.
Notes[]
- The creature appears to have been inspired by the Hindu God Ganesh .
- The Juggernaut was planned to appear in God of War III and was named the Berserker. Several crew members were disappointed that it didn't make it into the game.
- Other ideas for this enemy were a redesigned version of the Minotaur, as they looked into many dangerous and aggressive animals like bears, crocodiles, hyenas and rhinoceros; The rhinotaur was quickly abandoned as it looked 'too Disney'.
- Since this creature shows some Persian elements in it, this may possibly be a revised version of the War Elephant that was cut in God of War: Chains of Olympus. Yet this remains unconfirmed.
- The name "Elephantaur" means it should be a cross between an elephant and a bull (tauros), rather than a man.
- The blades placed at the tips of the Juggernaut's tusks greatly resemble the Blades of Chaos if looked up closely.