They use Norse, Greek, and Egyption gods otherwise - gods that are barely worshipped today (I'm being inclusive of some neo-pagans). The more likely reason is that those aren't widespread, largely considered dead, and had a lot of representation in pop culture so far.algalon said:I'm pretty sure Hi-Rez knew exactly what kind of publicity they would get for using current religious figures. Their reasons for not using Christian figures are simple - most were human and peaceful in nature. Is Jesus ever depicted anywhere wielding a sword in one hand and a person's head in another? (I mean legitimately, not on some NRA redneck website) The answer - no. This would make his combat abilities limited to healing the sick and turning the other cheek, maybe raining fish upon his enemies. Kali is an ideal character to build a violent videogame around. Weapons? check. Fiery wrath? check. Holding the head of one foe while trampling the other under foot? Check and check. Body of female olympic boxing contender? check. if nothing else, maybe Hi-Rez should give her a more manly figure since most of her paintings depict her as being more massive than shapely.
It sends a message that Hinduism is a dead faith, which is obviously untrue.
One only needs to look at the Crusades and watch Gangs of New York to see Christ seen as a sort of warrior God over the modern Christian "turn the other cheek" model.
Oh, and I'll just leave this here. [http://www.cracked.com/article_19947_the-11-most-unintentionally-hilarious-religious-paintings.html]