"He never came back" vs "He's never come back" - until now - he has not yet returned

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

It's from God of War: Ragnarök. Atreus (son of Kratos) is going to bury his wolf. Kratos goes to bed, has a bad dream, then wakes up to Mimir's screams. Kratos notices that Atreus isn't at home and asks Mimir if he knows where Atreus is. Mimir responds with "He never came back from burying the wolf". (the moment - loud - be careful)

I'd like to ask why "He never came back"? Why not "He's never come back"? Mimir is talking about the time period until now: Atreus isn't here: he hasn't (as of now) returned home from berying the wolf. I thought that would be the reason to use the present perfect.

 

[jutfrank]

Mimir could say:

He hasn't come back from burying the wolf.

The present tense shows that Mimir may still hold some hope that Atreus will return. The past tense, along with never, shows that Mimir sees Atreus' disappearance as a thing of the past.

 

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

The present tense shows that Mimir may still hold some hope that Atreus will return.

Does it mean that by using the past tense, Mimir shows that he has no hope Atreus will return?

 

[emsr2d2]

Does it mean that by using the past tense, Mimir shows that he has no hope Atreus will return?

No. We simply sometimes use "never came back" instead of "he didn't come back". It simply shows, as jutfrank said, that he considers the disappearance "as a thing of the past".

 

[jutfrank]

Does it mean that by using the past tense, Mimir shows that he has no hope Atreus will return?

I would say that it could show that, yes. I think the word never would help to do that too.

 

[teechar]

In addition to the above replies which I agree with, note also that "has never come back" is possible in, for example: "He's never come back from the pub sober". Here, the present perfect is used for a recurrent action in the past and right up to the present.