A soul could be selected in the power up menu out of a selection of beasts that Kratos encountered on his quest. The Claws allowed Kratos to summon the souls of his enemies, with more that became available when the Claws were levelled up. The Claws could be also controlled with the user's mind, as seen in the attack Tormenting Lash (see below) where the claws spun around Kratos, without him moving his arms. They had an attack that was similar to the Barbarian Hammer which allowed Kratos to summon souls of the enemies he fought in order to occupy them. With them, Kratos could rip the souls out of his enemies and they then would attack the other enemies. The Claws allowed Kratos to summon the souls of the Undead. In God of War III, Kratos used those chains after he took them from Hades. The chains were a very powerful part of Hades' arsenal, and, with them, defeated many Titans in the Titanomachy. Hades had the ability to summon legions of the Undead as well as a wide array of undead beasts by using the Claws' power. By absorbing countless souls, the chains' attack power increased as well as speed. They glowed with a dark purplish aura that indicated the number of souls it absorbed. Those chains were extremely lethal weapons as they allowed Hades to attack at short and long distances.

That was seen in one of the cutscenes in God of War II, where Hades ripped out the soul of Atlas and absorbed it. Using the magic stored within the chains, Hades could pull out the soul of his enemies. Hades was 'draped' in them, and they were embodied with his magic Powers.

They were depicted as a set of spiked chains with two hooks at the end of each that glowed pale purple.

During both of the Great Wars, Hades could be seen fighting with those weapons.

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