[Ed. note: The following contains spoilers for God of War Ragnarök.]
As the God of War Ragnarök credits rolled in, I had a big question: What is this mask all about?
A fair bit of the way to Ragnarök, Atreus disregards his father’s wishes and heads to Asgard to meet Odin. There, Atreus hopes to learn more about his identity, his divine powers, and the name his mother originally wanted to give him: Loki. Odin has something else in mind – he wants Atreus to help him study a mysterious mask. Unfortunately, the mask broke into several pieces, and Atreus must embark on a series of missions to find them all and restore the mask to its full power.
For some reason, Atreus feels a strange connection to the mask; He can read the ancient language written on it and sense where the rest are hidden, allowing him to collect the pieces and reassemble the mask. At the very end of the game, Odin urges Atreus to wear the mask and gain its power, which Odin believes is omniscient. Atreus instead decides to break the mask in half and throw it into a mysterious portal that closes behind it.
This portal, as well as the mask itself, remains a mystery at the end of the game. Where did the mask come from? Where did the portal lead? Why did Atreus, aka Loki, have such a strong connection to the mask? Will the mask return to him one day, maybe in a future game?
Jim Carrey’s original mask prop from The Mask (1994). Photo: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
Since this game’s characters are based on Norse mythology, I assumed it would be easy to find information about a mask belonging to either Odin or Loki. Instead, I found absolutely no evidence that this mask has any historical basis or mythological significance according to Old Norse sources. The best-known reference to a Loki mask comes from the film The Mask (1994) and its sequel Son of the Mask (2005).
Although the original Dark Horse Comics series The Mask does not refer to Norse mythological figures, the films and animated series credit Loki as the mask’s owner. In film and show, the mask renders the wearer invincible, unrecognizable, and completely unfazed by their own inhibitions.
It’s not too difficult to see the parallels between these masks. The mask in Ragnarok has a very similar look to the mask design in the comics, movies, and animated series. It’s made of wood and looks ancient and cracked; in-game, it glows with bright green energy when Atreus focuses on it, much like the movie version turns green when worn.
What I’m trying to say is I’m pretty sure Loki’s mask in Ragnarok is inspired by The Mask (1994). It’s definitely not inspired by a mask that actually exists in Norse mythology. Could it be that the Ragnarok team remembered a story where Loki had a mask with super powers, but couldn’t quite remember where they got that information from? Or maybe someone thought the mask from the movies had an actual basis in Norse myth, when that’s not the case…?
Atreus and Odin look at parts of the broken mask in Odin’s study together. Image: SHE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon
As Atreus gazes at the massive sleeping wolf Garm in Helheim, the mask hanging from his left hip glows green with power. Image: SHE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon
Of course, I asked the Ragnarök PR team to put me in touch with the game’s writers so I could inquire about this important piece of lore. First, Narrative Director Matt Sophos gave me this enigmatic answer: “We deliberately never say where the mask comes from. We’re emphatically saying the Giants didn’t pull it off, but it’s a mystery for Odin that’s at the heart of what he’s trying to figure out.” Sophos has yet to respond to a more direct follow-up question from me as to whether The Mask served as a specific inspiration .
Anthony Burch, who also helped write the game, gave me an answer confirming that he and Sophos were aware of the parallels to the film The Mask:
I remember very, very vaguely:
– I’ve knocked out a lot of the Loki/Odin story arc and focused them on some kind of Macguffin representing Odin and Loki’s relationship
– Either myself or Matt Sophos…I’m almost positive it was Matt Sophos…suggested that the Macguffin should be a mask because Loki is looking for identity etcI remember specifically:
– Googled the Mask mask, sent it to Matt and also the concept art and sometime later summarized the game’s plot as ‘sssss someone stopping Odin’.
In response, I asked Burch if he was joking, to which he replied, “I’m not joking!”
All that being said, if you’ve seen Ragnarok’s credits and had other questions about the in-game mask, you might as well check out The Mask (1994) and its sequel and TV series. That’s the only other mask that has a connection to Loki and Odin, after all – and this story might even explain where the mask ended up after Atreus threw it into that strange portal. Apparently it ended up on Earth, where it ended up in the unknowing hands of Stanley Ipkiss. It’s not a crossover I ever expected in this game, but at least I now have a bit more context on the game’s least explained plot point.