Your favorite fictional religions in literature/games/media
- Thread starter TheIronRuler
- Start date
Discworld has some great religions and gods. My personal favourite is Anoia, Godess of Things That Get Stuck in Drawers (How can it close on the damned thing but not open with it? Who bought this? Do we ever use it?). I also like the religion of Simoun and the Cult of Forgotten Shadow from Warcraft is pretty cool.
I like the Athar from the "Planescape" RPG setting.
Basically, they're Atheists with a twist - while nobody in their world can deny the existence of gods, the Athar believe that there is nothing about them that makes them inherently worthy of worship. A god is just a very powerful magical being that lends some of its power to its priests to perform divine magic; still, their actions are guided by basic emotions (and many gods seem particularly petty or simple-minded), and they can be easily killed by other super-powered beings, or rendered powerless once people stop worshipping them.
Their at first unlikely allies are the so-called "Godsmen" - a group whose followers attempt to live their lives so as to attain godhood for themselves. The idea that mortals can and do sometimes rise to become gods means that there is no special quality these beings that differentiates them from mortals to a degree that makes you automatically want to fall to your knees and worship them.
Basically, they're Atheists with a twist - while nobody in their world can deny the existence of gods, the Athar believe that there is nothing about them that makes them inherently worthy of worship. A god is just a very powerful magical being that lends some of its power to its priests to perform divine magic; still, their actions are guided by basic emotions (and many gods seem particularly petty or simple-minded), and they can be easily killed by other super-powered beings, or rendered powerless once people stop worshipping them.
Their at first unlikely allies are the so-called "Godsmen" - a group whose followers attempt to live their lives so as to attain godhood for themselves. The idea that mortals can and do sometimes rise to become gods means that there is no special quality these beings that differentiates them from mortals to a degree that makes you automatically want to fall to your knees and worship them.
theheroofaction said:
It's called the Imperial Creed.Starke said:
Pah, call yourselves devotees, can't even name the glorious religion on the God-Emperor.
Not to be confused with the Imperial Truth, which is what was being spread during the Great Crusade, and which helped cause the rise of the Imperial Creed.
After all, who else could kill gods, but a god itself?
Yeeeessss...chozo_hybrid said:
Kane's opening speech in the C&C 3 expansion is one of my favourite monologues ever.
OP: Finally someone else who likes Franklyn! That film does not get the attention it deserves.
Hmm, fictional religions. I generally enjoy whenever the Religion of Crime show up in DC stuff. They are a silly bunch.
The Ori in Stargate were pretty cool too.
This is really bugging me there, I know there are others. Just can't think of them.
Hmm, fictional religions. I generally enjoy whenever the Religion of Crime show up in DC stuff. They are a silly bunch.
The Ori in Stargate were pretty cool too.
This is really bugging me there, I know there are others. Just can't think of them.
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!
Death to the False Emperor! Loyalist scum, the only true gods in the universe are the gods of CHAOS.
Death to the False Emperor! Loyalist scum, the only true gods in the universe are the gods of CHAOS.
Xpwn3ntial said:
In fealty to the God-Emperor (our undying Lord) and by the Grace of the Golden Throne, I declare Exterminatus upon the Imperial Website of 'the Escapist Forums'.
I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire subdomain and consign a dozen souls to error 404.
May Imperial Justice account in all balance.
The Emperor Protects.
The Faith of the Seven from the Song of Ice and Fire series is probably the one I like the most, mainly because it resembles my own religious beliefs. Be a nice person whenever you can, defend the innocent, seeking forgiveness for sins, and all that fun stuff. Plus they're probably the only religion in that universe that doesn't have an implicit evil element to it, what with the worshipers of the Lord of Light using black magic and the Drowned Men... drowning people.
Agreed, and by extension, the Mechanists. Thief does a great job of establishing religions - they feel very authentic and organic the story. I think a lot of that is through the way prayers and scripture are woven into the story; as little quotations before missions, or casual utterances by the towns people.Signa said:
i'm partial to Bokononism from Cat's Cradle, and the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent from Sirens of Titan. Rest in peace, Kurt Vonnegut, you glorious sonuva-.
I second this. My first thought when I saw "fictional religion" was the Tetragrammaton in Equilibrium. Surprised this got first page, I always thought it was quite an obscure movie. xDNap_Time said:
The snot-worshiping Jatravartids from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I love that they feared The Coming of the Great White Handkerchief.
I've always quite liked the pantheon on Dunmanifestin from the Discworld books. And my favourite of those has to be Anoia, the Goddess of Things Getting Stuck in Drawers. The name and the area covered are just, well...well look at that.