Included in the complaint are the following similarities between each work:

• A champion saves Athens from destruction by an invading Spartan army sent by Ares.

• The earthly conflict is mirrored on Mount Olympus as conflict between the gods.

• The champion is chosen by Zeus and Athena to embark on a quest distinguished by relentless hand-to-hand combat.

• The champion's family is murdered in their peaceful village. In both stories, the protagonist feels guilt for this, despite not being responsible, and seeks absolution through his quest. In the plaintiff's tale, he hides while his parents are hacked to death, while in God of War, the protagonist is tricked by Ares into killing his wife and child.

• Kratos, the protagonist of God of War possesses "brutish and animalistic" qualities modeled on the plantiff's bad guy, Gaylon: they are both Spartan commanders who worship Ares fanatically at the stories' outset. Much is made of their rage and lack of self-control, claimed to be an original element contrary to the general presentation of Spartans as disciplined and even-keeled soldiers.

• Kratos gets two glowing sword-like blades on chains fused to his wrists. Bissoon-Dath believes this is taken from a scene in his work where Zeus's hands "morph into two massive swords that glow like light sabers."

• The destruction of the hero's village and family, which serves to initiate a "turning point" in the hero's life. (Readers, put your Joseph Campbell away and stop laughing.)

• In both stories, the gods appear as expressionless statues around a pool of water, in which they see a vision of the Spartan commanders. The statues "morph" into life.

• The plaintiff's work depicts a region called the Bottomless Valley. God of War has a Bottomless Chasm. Both appear at the same point in the story, and are traversed by rickety suspension bridges.

• The gods, in both stories, try to resolve their disputes without resorting to destructive war. In particular, both stories contain a scene wherein Zeus admonishes Ares and Athena for their bickering. (Perhaps the complaint's author hasn't read The Iliad)

• Both stories depict Satyrs unusually. In Greek myth, the complaint says, satyrs are portrayed as "playful" lovers of wine, women and boys. In both the Olympus stories and God of War, however, they are "sinister minions" and soldiers of Hades.

• Both stories "redefine" gods as being mortal, in defiance of traditional myth.

Labels: scandals, video games

Posted by anonymark @ 4:12 PM
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Posted by  Jepoy on October 18, 2008 at 3:06 AM:  
THIS IS A TEST COMMENT