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A God Am I: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''Because you are haughty of heart, you say, '[[Trope Namer|A god am I]]! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!'''|''[[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]'', '''Ezekiel 28:2'''}}
When a character or villain gains superhuman abilities thanks to [[Green Rocks]], [[I Love Nuclear Power|nuclear power,]] [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|Transhumanism]], going [[One
He will often give an [[Large Ham|over-the-top]] speech emphasizing just how far beyond ordinary humanity [[Goal Oriented Evolution|he has evolved]], and how [[What Measure Is a Non Super|lowly they are compared to him.]] Cue the villain becoming a [[Narcissist]] who is [[Drunk On the Dark Side]] or declaring that they will [[Take Over the World]].
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The character may declare that he has transcended morality as well, and is [[Above Good and Evil]], but the [[Trope|tropes]] do not have to coincide.
Aiming for godhood by ''rewriting the rules of the world'' is [[In Their Own Image]]. Another alternate version is the [[End of the World Special]]. See [[Physical God]] for those who don't have to try so hard. May, but [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|does not always]] result in a [[God Mode Sue]]. Having a sovereign ruler do this makes the character a [[God
See also [[One
'''Note that this trope requires a ''self-proclamation of godhood''.''' Possessing or gaining [[Physical God|godlike powers]] by itself doesn’t count, nor is it a requirement to possess such powers to qualify for this trope.
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'', Light Yagami believes himself a god who brings his own form of justice to the world by killing criminals with a supernatural notebook (all thoughts that concern this usually being accompanied by [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]] in the anime). He proclaims his godhood ''in the first episode'' and is generally consistent in this. It's like an [[Action Prologue]]. Eventually, people also start worshipping him as one too, especially Teru Mikami, who always calls him "God". Near eventually [[Shut UP, Hannibal|calls him out]] on this:
{{quote| ''"You yielded to the power of the shinigami and the notebook and confused yourself with a god."''<ref>A similar line is found in the earlier anime, ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]''.</ref>}}
** Ultimately, Light's excessive hubris is explained by the revelation of the fact that {{spoiler|[[The Ubermensch|he doesn't believe in morality at all and felt free to invent his own rules because he valued no life except his own]].}}
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** {{spoiler|In chapter 104, he uses the five sacrifices to force open the world's Gate, dragging God itself down to Earth and fusing with it.}}
*** Fortunately, that didn't last long, as {{spoiler|[[Batman Gambit|Hohenheim had taken measures to ensure Father got to enjoy his godliness for a couple minutes at most.]] }}
* Cars, the villain of the second part of ''[[Jo
* ''[[Gao Gai Gar]]'', in its [[Post Script Season|OVA]], introduced Palparepa, a villain who believed that the "law of the material world" was that the victor was God and the loser was the devil. He always saw himself as the god and GaoGaiGar as the demon, and the color schemes (GaoGaiGar was always black, Palparepa is a medical white) didn't help, giving him a distinct A God Am I variety of confidence in battle as well. After he's finally defeated, he goes out muttering "so this ''is'' the law of the material world...", seemingly acknowledging Guy as a god, albeit one of destruction (and subsequently, as the OVA strives to remind us, rebirth).
* Shapiro Keats from ''[[Dancougar]]'' is always under the ambition that he will be a god. Which leads him to dump his lover Sara, and join the Muge Empire, rising up the ranks as a top-class strategist. But then, his plans eventually come crashing down, but he still held his delusions that he will be a god.
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* Director Kakuzawa in ''[[Elfen Lied (Manga)|Elfen Lied]]'' wants to be the father of the future generations of the Diclonius race so that when it replaces humanity he'll be worshiped as their god. {{spoiler|This doesn't work out well for him in the end, as it involved the cooperation of Lucy, who decided to kill him instead.}}
** Moreover, his own status as a Diclonius {{spoiler|turns out to be based on the racial myths of his once-persecuted, very Human family. Lucy's evolutionary offshoot has no connection to his clan whatsoever, as Lucy tells his corpse.}}
* Played with, but ultimately averted in ''[[Ranma
* Played with in ''[[The World Only God Knows]]'', where the protagonist is a god...of [[Dating Sim|Dating Sims]]. [[It Makes Sense in Context|Which is actually a good thing for the plot.]]
* Knives from ''[[Trigun (Manga)|Trigun]]'', eesh.
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{{quote| {{spoiler|Theodore}}: Well, yeah... but it's sorta more then that. I want everyone on earth to play role-playing games constantly! To play them like breathing! Imagine a world where everyone is completely absorbed in their own fantasies! Better yet, ''my'' fantasies! I want to create an imaginary world that everyone dreams of being a part of! A grand illusion with me as the Game Master, adored by all! Games are about ''control''! And when I have that control...[[Death Note (Manga)|I will reign over a new world!]]}}
* Hardner from ''[[Rave Master (Manga)|Rave Master]]''. Interesting in that the ultimate [[Big Bad]], Lucia, doesn't seem too concerned with anything godlike ([[Motive Decay|sometimes]]). It's more like Lucia's [[Artifact of Doom|Sinclaire]] wants him to have this sort of mentality.
* In ''[[Angel Beats (Anime)|Angel Beats]]'', after the SSS manages to [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|oust Angel from her Student Council Presidency]], gets Naoi Ayato to succeed her; in all respects, he is this trope. Though {{spoiler|it becomes much more humorous after his [[Heel Face Turn]]}}
* In ''[[Psyren (Manga)|Psyren]]'', the [[Big Bad]] Amagi Miroku claims to be "the god of a new world." Also, {{spoiler|Usui leads the people of Neo Amakusa}} who view him as one.
* ''[[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]]'' gives us the Exceed, an ''entire race'' who view themselves as this over the humans. {{spoiler|Happy turns out to be part of this race}}.
* The Mage from ''[[The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer]]'', once he became [[The Unfettered|an unfettered psychic]] and {{spoiler|hammered the Earth, then did it again in a different time/dimension a dozen more times}}.
* In ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index (Anime)|To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'' [[Big Bad|Accelerator]] is subject to a program to [[Level Grinding|raise him from Level 5 to Level 6.]] Needless to say It fueled his God Complex and his mania to be the most feared esper of all.... That is until [[Anti
** Accelerator is interesting because he doesn't particularly want to be a god. He doesn't want to take part in the program, doesn't want to be a Level 6, or even an esper. He hates fighting. But he's decided that the only way to stop the fighting is to reach the point where "even thinking of challenging me would be a sin."
* Still in ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index (Anime)|To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'' Kamijou Touma is considered so powerful by the magic side that Fiamma of the Right himself wants the right hand of Touma, assuming he is "La persona superiore a dio" or Person superior to god, Touma may be so powerful that even Aleister Crowley wants his hand.
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** In a non-Echidna example: Feist is essentially God within the Special Zone, and anyone who goes there has no choice but to abide by his rules.
* ''[[Batman]]'' villain Max Zeus is one of the 'so mad he thinks he's God' versions; although he doesn't possess any superpowers himself, he's managed to delude himself into believing that he is Zeus, All-Powerful Lord of Olympus. His [[Prophetic Names|last name doesn't help matters]]. Nor does his lightning cannon.
** Zeus makes an appearance in [[Batman:
*** Also, Ivy used the name "Dr. Demeter" in an earlier episode.
* In ''[[Powers]]'', 'The Sellouts' storyline revolves around a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Superman]] who has lost his mind and believes himself to be a god. The results aren't pretty.
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* Winnowill from ''[[Elf Quest]]'' has some very distinct ideas about The World How It Should Be - including her own unquestioned dominion over earth and space, and the non-existence of the main cast. Her [[Love Martyr]] Rayek suffers from the same malady, to a somewhat lesser extent (not that much lesser, though).
* In ''[[The Books of Magic]]'', Timothy Hunter may become this in the future, and we catch glimpses of it. The first story arc of the series involves various magicians in [[The DCU]] trying to decide what to do about this.
* {{spoiler|Element Lad}} in the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Book)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' storyline "Legion Lost." {{spoiler|After getting lost through a [[Timey
* In the ''[[Planet Hulk]]'' storyline, {{spoiler|the Red King claims to be God in the flesh while fighting the [[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|Incredible Hulk]] in a [[A Mech By Any Other Name|mecha suit, yes it was a mecha]]...then the Hulk got [[Unstoppable Rage|really mad and strongly begged to differ.]]}}
* During the end of [[Peter David]]'s run on Marvel's [[Captain Mar-Vell|Captain Marvel]], Genis, the then-Captain, became Cosmically Aware ''and'' empowered. He was driven mad by being suddenly conscious of every event and being that existed throughout the universe at once, then subsequently went about erasing ''all of reality'' within a meager few pages. Reality gets better later, though. He later goes on to harass preachers and Asgard in an attempt to force his self-declared godhood on the rest of the world.
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* In ''[[Sonic the Comic]]'' this happens ''twice'' to Robotnik. The first time, in the "Robotnik Reigns Supreme" storyline, he manages to absorb the power of the [[Green Rocks|Chaos Emeralds]] and has reality completely at his whim until he gets outwitted by Sonic and drained of his powers. Much later he is hooked up to an alien machine supposed to drain the life force out of the planet and into his body, which gives him a brief moment of god-like powers until he is defeated again.
* Toyed with in ''[[Watchmen (Comic Book)|Watchmen]]'', as, when Jon experiments with creating life, he becomes more god-like than most of the examples on this page, and yet he pointedly avoids thinking of himself in such terms.
* Blume, the [[Cephalothorax|giant floating head]] from ''[[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]]'', tries to pass himself off as a "God of Hunger" so he can con aliens out of their valuables. The trick doesn't work very well on [[One
* In one two-part story in [[Captain America]], the Red Skull obtains the [[MacGuffin|Cosmic Cube]] and becomes this. He demonstrates by making himself a suit of golden armor and generating a [[Mook]] for Cap to fight. Eventually, Captain America knocks the Cube from the Skull's hand, and the Skull [[Disney Death|presumably dies]] diving into the water after it.
* Borderline example: Evil Kryptonians like General Zod tend to see themselves as above everyone due to their incredible power. At least Zod is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to realize ''some'' people can threaten them, urging his [[Mooks]] to learn decent fighting skills and battle tactics.
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* ''[[Nth Man the Ultimate Ninja]]'': Alfie O'Meagan often proclaimed himself to be the most powerful and most generous being in the universe. Justified in that he's a [[Reality Warper]] [[Psychopathic Manchild]].
* In ''[[Action Comics]]'', [[Lex Luthor]] merges with a Phantom Zone entity and becomes a massive godlike [[Energy Being]]. He uses his new power to halt entropy in all of existence and grants everyone immortality and eternal bliss while reveling in his godhood and flaunting it in the face of [[Superman]]. {{spoiler|Then his Loisbot informs him that the zone entity made sure Luthor couldn't do anything negative with that power such as killing Superman. He can't refrain from trying, and so squanders his power in self-destructive pettiness.}}
* Doctor Destiny from [[The Sandman]] when he briefly acquires one of Morpheus' artifacts. He actually does manage to cause mass chaos in both the real world and the dream world, and almost destroys the dream world entirely... {{spoiler|until he accidentally gave the Lord Of Dreams a [[Power
* Two words. [[Reality Warper|Emperor]]. [[The Joker|Joker]].
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* ''[[The Lawnmower Man]]'' (has [[In Name Only|nothing but the title in common]] with the [[Stephen King]] short story), where Jobe declares his intention to be the "Cyberchrist." His defining line (referring to [[Cyberspace]]): "[[Punctuated for Emphasis|I am God here!]]"
* ''[[Groundhog Day (Film)|Groundhog Day]]''. After reliving the same day over and over again, and attempting suicide in a vast number of different ways, Phill eventually concludes that he's God, then tentatively adds, "Not ''the'' God. Just ''a'' god." Lampshaded by the character himself when he explains logically ''why'' he's come to this conclusion.
* ''[[Street Fighter (Film)|Street Fighter]]'': At the climax, [[Raul Julia|Bison]] (now mad with power) delivers the following line as he goes [[One
{{quote| "Something wrong, Colonel?? You came here expecting to fight a madman, and instead you find [[Large Ham|a god]]?}}
:: After kicking Guile's ass for the next couple of minutes, Bison delivers one of the [[Ham and Cheese|hammiest lines ever recorded]].
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** However, his true purpose was as a servant to all manners of [[Cosmic Horror Story|Cosmic Horrors]] and [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]], assuming everything in the movie wasn't a figment of the main character's imagination, or part of a meta-gambit by John Carpenter. (Yeah, it's [[Through the Eyes of Madness|that kind of movie]].)
* ''[[Bruce Almighty]]'' features a mortal (that's Bruce!) who is granted divine powers for as long he wants. Bruce, being a flawed and limited human, ensures that mistakes are made. The trope is deconstructed since Bruce does not use his powers for any greater jobs than teaching his dog to urinate into a human toilet and advance his reporter career by creating ''amazing'' events to report. But by doing even such pathetic things he still manages to make big problems for himself and everyone, and manages to lose his girlfriend because she prefers normal Bruce. So God must take his place back and fix everything in a snap using same powers.
* Xerxes in ''[[Three Hundred]]'' claims himself to be a "[[God
* [[Sadist Teacher|Trunchbull]] in ''[[Matilda (Film)|Matilda]]'' is pretty frank about this:
{{quote| In this school... [[Punctuated for Emphasis|I...AM...]]'''[[Punctuated for Emphasis|GOD!!!]]'''}}
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* A ''particularly'' creepy example shows up in ''[[Gothika]]'' when Dr. Grey discovers {{spoiler|the torture dungeon that her late husband used to rape and kill his female victims in. As she watches one of the videotapes that he shot in which he just finished molesting another woman he walks up to the camera, adjusts his tie, and states "It's good to be God. I love you." Near the end, Sheriff Ryan (Doug's friend and accomplice in his rape/molestation/murder of young women) reveals that they shared the sentiment, saying "We were their God."}}
* This idea is poked fun at in ''[[Newsies]]'' - Joe Pulitzer is obviously full of himself, and pontificates "When I created The World..." (repeated when this speech is interrupted and he asks his assistant where he was. The response? "Creating the world, sir.") But... ''The World'' was the name of his newspaper, so he's not quite as full of it as he sounds.
* ''[[Malice (Film)|Malice]]'' is about an egocentric surgeon who begins to believe he is God, even saying so in a deposition. The film's star Alec Baldwin [[Actor Allusion|referenced it in character as Jack Donaghy]] on an episode of ''[[
* The villain Benedict declares this in ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' once he's beginning to fully grasp his newfound ability to cross between dimensions and defy the real-world laws of physics at will...
{{quote| '''Benedict''': "If God were a [[Card
* In ''[[Almost Famous]]'', rock star Russell Hammond takes too much acid and climbs on a roof at a house party to declare "I am a golden god!" Later, when he has sobered up, he doesn't believe he said it. This is actually in reference to Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin having said the same thing on a hotel balcony.
* Deacon Frost's goal in the first ''[[Blade (Film)|Blade]]'' movie is to become La Magra, the vampires' Blood God. ([[Warhammer 40000|no, not that one]]) He actually does succeed at it, proving immune to silver and far faster and stronger than even Blade, but even a god has to kneel before {{spoiler|anti-coagulants}}.
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* Frank Herbert's ''[[Dune]]'', the protagonist, Paul Atreides becomes the [[Messianic Archetype|Kwisatz Haderach]], the universe's [[Ubermensch|super being]]. His consciousness can be in many places at once and can see things before they happen. He is worshipped as a messiah and god.
** An important point that [[The Film of the Book]] apparently missed: Paul is not a god (the limitations of his power are repeatedly shown), and doesn't consider himself so. He is a man playing on superstitions to appear as a god to his followers.
*** Now, {{spoiler|his ''son'',}} on the other hand... well, there's a reason the fourth book is called ''God-Emperor of Dune''. {{spoiler|Paul could have become an actual godlike being (by merging with sandtrout to become a [[Half
*** Unlikely that Paul could have achieved the transformation. Remember, {{spoiler|Leto was born with the spice in his blood, whereas Paul merely awakened after ingesting it.}}
*** Leto II and Paul have the conversation with Paul in Children (I think (or maybe it was Leto II talking to someone else later)) where it's pointed out that Paul could have put humanity on the Golden Path but didn't have the chutzpah to give up his humanity in the process. Leto II just saw the inevitability and surrendered to destiny.
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* [[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|"In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen... All shall love me and despair!"]] Averted, since she refuses the [[Artifact of Doom|Ring]].
** Played straight, however, with Sauron and his predecessor and former master, Morgoth. Both of them made themselves out as gods to their orcish and human followers such as the Haradrim. Tolkien himself referred to their reigns as "evil theocracies". Morgoth was somewhat justified, as he was one of the Valar, beings similar to the Greek gods except they did not want to be worshipped, as that was Eru's right to be worshipped alone. Sauron encouraged and enforced worship of Morgoth via human sacrifice on both Numenor, Mordor, and the southern lands.
** Morgoth also wanted to be God, to the point he weaved his own soul into Arda at the beginning of time. He claims to Hurin that he actually ''is'' God. [[Shut UP, Hannibal|Hurin calls him on his bullshit]].
* One character's pursuit of this trope is the plot driver for the second ''[[Dragonlance]]'' trilogy. {{spoiler|Raistlin succeeds, with rather horrific results for all involved. [[Pyrrhic Villainy|Including him]]. But through a continuation of the somewhat involved time-travel storyline, Caramon warns him of this early enough on for Raistlin to upgrade his condition to [[Redemption Equals Death|sort-of-heroically sacrificed and dead]]. (Or tortured for all eternity in Hell.) Though this does not prevent him from making postmortem cameos.}}
** Don't forget the Kingpriest of Istar who went as far as demanding the gods serve him. What brought about the cataclysm was his demand that the gods make him a god himself.
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* Obould Many-Arrows from ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' acquires the moniker Obould-Who-Is-Gruumsh at the height of his power, Gruumsh being the chief god of the Orcs.
** Gruumsh sponsored Obould as his Chosen (divine minion given with a shred of godly power without extra strings attached) before this and vassal demigod after (upon death), so it's only a little exaggeration.
** Karsus from ancient pre-history was the only man who acquired divine status through spellcasting. Well, [[Too Much for Man To Handle|for a minute or so]], anyway. Just long enough to see [[Gotterdammerung|how much]] it [[Gone Horribly Wrong]] -- he did it to save [[The Magocracy|Netheril]] and ended up almost completely [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|destroying it]].
* In ''[[Second Apocalypse]]'' Conphas eventually convinces himself that he is a god.
** And in what has been revealed of the second trilogy, {{spoiler|Kellhus gets himself worshipped as one.}}
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** At the end of [[Dean Koontz]]'s short story, "A Darkness in My Soul", {{spoiler|a psychic goes on a [[Journey to The Center of The Mind]] and finds God trapped in the psyche of an insane genius. He then absorbs God's powers and then takes over the universe after giving half of the power to his girlfriend. Bored with exploring the universe, they decide to start a world war back on Earth for amusement, using humans as playthings.}}
* A classic short story, "Answer", written by [[Fredric Brown]] in 1954, has every single computer in the galaxy linked together to answer a single question: "Is there a God?" The computer responds: "There is now."
* Played with in ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (Literature)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'': Edmond decides that since God hasn't seen fit to reward the good and punish the wicked (quite the opposite, in fact), it is up to man to become God-like. The book does quite a good question of asking what exactly separates Edmond from ''being'' a God: he's got enough money to do whatever he wants, intelligence that borders on the omniscience, the willingness and the capacity to destroy or reward those he deems wicked or worthy, a personal gravitas that causes everyone to instantly worship or fear him, he's separated from humanity by both the unfair condemnations of others and personal choice, and, with his mastery of medicine and the legal system, quite objectively holds the power of life and death. The only real difference is that, for him, [[
* Aaron, in Patrick Ness's ''[[Chaos Walking|The Knife of Never Letting Go]]''. He actually believes that he is a saint, and says so in the waterfall-shrouded church right before {{spoiler|Viola stabs him through the neck}}.
* In the [[Star Shards Chronicles]], the protagonists struggle with their godlike Star Shard powers, especially Dillon, who is the most powerful. A large part of the second book of the trilogy deals with their "We are gods walking the earth and you should worship us" phase.
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* [[Ric Flair]] on ''[[TNA]] Impact'', broadcast June 3rd, 2010: "I am in [the fans'] eyes, and in every other wrestler's eyes in the world, I am GOD."
* ''[[WCW]] Monday Nitro'', 11/10/1997. The night the [[New World Order]] were finally able to beat the crap out of [[Wrestler/Sting|Sting]]. Here's [[Hulk Hogan|Hollywood Hogan]] screaming maniacally into the camera right before turning around and hitting his third [[Finishing Move|Atomic Leg Drop]] on the Stinger:
{{quote| "[[Implied Death Threat|This right here, is gonna put him away! You'll never see Sting again!]] [[
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* The accurate assessment version of the trope appears in ''[[Nobilis (Tabletop Game)|Nobilis]]'', where everyone of significance is equivalent in power to what a human would call a god. A great deal of the game's drama comes from dealing with this fact.
* The [[God
** Which effectively makes him one, due to how the Immaterium works. Not counting the one thousand Psykers sacrificed daily to keep the Astronomican lit/the Emperor alive, he is slowly gaining more and more power as people believe in him and die in his name - hence, his position as the up-and-coming Fifth God of Chaos, the "God of Mankind". Then again, seeing as how he stopped a great fleet during the Age of Apostasy by creating a Warp Storm which is still raging five millennia later...
** The Chaos worshippers who win the Gods' favours and turn into Daemon Princes, which are, according to the fluff, pretty damn powerful in and of themselves.
* In certain ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' settings, such as ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'', particularly powerful PCs can become gods if they perform sufficiently heroic deeds.
** In the fourth edition of the game, this is one of the possible epic destinies awaiting characters that reach 30th level.
** Cyric, from ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'', goes this one step further. After becoming a deity, he creates a book, called the Cyrinishad, which will make anyone who reads it believe that Cyric is the most important being in the universe. He then [[What an Idiot!|reads it himself]]. He now believes that he is the most important being in the universe, and (for example) that if someone thwarts his plans, he is simply letting them do so.
*** It's worth noting to people that don't quite get the impact of this example that Cyric inherited the portfolios of THREE former greater deities in his ascension, and the Cyrinishad was STILL able to do this to him. It is also able to corrupt another deity, Mask, before the book and its author are sent into exile by the deity of knowledge. And that's without even bothering to mention the fact that Cyric is obviously evil and thus the book is made with pages of human skin.
** Even back in the old days of the boxed sets, high-level characters had the option of going on a quest for and potentially achieving 'Immortality' -- godhood in all but name. Many (if perhaps not all) Immortals of the Known World (Mystara) were implied to have gained their status in precisely this fashion.
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*** All of this is correct, except for the fact that the person said to be thwarting the plan actually follows through with it regardless. The [[Player Character]] can thwart the plan, although this will cause said person to abandon you entirely.
** In [[Dragon Age II|the sequel]], the Chantry's explanation for the Blight's existence {{spoiler|is confirmed. The [[Big Bad]] of the DLC ''Legacy'' is one of the original magisters who tried to claim the power of the Golden City and became one of the first Darkspawn instead. Though he claims the Golden City was ''already'' corrupted when he visited it.}}
* The God Machine in ''[[Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis]]'' does this to you. [[Body Horror|Unfortunately]] [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|it comes with]] [[One
* ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'':
** Hilariously played with when you encounter a delusional volus who believes he is ''a biotic god.'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgGV0pfbcxg He is a great wind, who shall sweep all before Him like a...a great wind! A great, biotic wind!]
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** In ''Wrath of The Lich King'', Malygos says " I AM THE SPELL WEAVER! MY power is INFINITE!" if he kicks your ass.
** That one's a bit more justified, since he's 1) a pillar of creation and 2) it takes 10-25 epic characters ''and'' another [[Physical God]] to take him down.
** In Zul'Drak, some of the Drakkari trolls have killed and eaten their Loa, the animal spirits they worship as gods, to absorb their powers. Gal'darah, who killed Akali and gained the ability to [[One
* Spoofed in ''[[Disgaea Hour of Darkness (Video Game)|Disgaea Hour of Darkness]]'', wherein {{spoiler|Vulcanus's}} plans to become God are met with bored remarks along the lines of, "That's it?" and [[Genre Savvy|"See? I told you it'd be selfish and unoriginal."]]
* In ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]'', {{spoiler|Joshua is Shibuya's Composer and not only runs The Game, but could erase the entire city if he so chose.}}
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* In ''[[Fable II (Video Game)|Fable II]]'', it's strongly implied that this is the--probably successful--plan of {{spoiler|Theresa. She just needed you to get access to the Spire.}}
** In ''[[Fable III (Video Game)|Fable III]]'' Traitor's Keep DLC {{spoiler|Milton says something of being a god after transforming to an Evil Twin of The Hero}}
* In ''[[Overlord II]]'', this is revealed to be the goal of Emperor Solarius, ruler of [[The Empire|The Glorious Empire]], AKA {{spoiler|Florian Greenheart, an Elf born without magic who caused the Cataclysm that wiped out the lands of the first game when he tried to steal [[Artifact of Doom|The Tower Heart]]. He uses all the magic he's gathered at the end of the game to become an [[Eldritch Abomination]] that only his [[The Dragon|Dragon]] fanatically praises as a god, from that point it's your responsibility to [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|take him down.]]}}
* Cyrus in ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Video Game)|Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'' and ''Platinum'' who wishes to use Dialga/Palkia destroy the universe and rebuild it, with him as its ruler.
** Forget Cyrus. The player character can control Dialga (time control), Palkia (dimensional control), Kyogre (rule over the oceans), Groudon (control over the earth), Rayquaza (sky lord) and Arceus (GOD) ALL. AT. THE. SAME. TIME.
** Not just [[Fan Nickname|God Pony (Arceus)]], the game also allows you to control <s>[[
* In ''[[Marvel Ultimate Alliance]]'', Doom's plan is to {{spoiler|overrun Asgard with an army of super-soldiers, then defeat and steal the power from Odin himself. And it initially ''works''}}.
* Inverted with Dr. Weil from ''[[Mega Man Zero (Video Game)|Mega Man Zero]]''. Instead of proclaiming himself a god, he proclaims himself the ''Devil'' (although [[Complete Monster|no words would be more accurate]]). [[The Dragon|Omega]] plays this straight, claiming himself to be a Messiah after passing the [[Bishonen Line]].
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** In ''Tales Of Destiny 2'', Elraine casts Indignation Judgment with: "A mortal cannot defeat a god. I shall show you the difference between our power. ''Indignation Judgment!''"
*** Hilariously, though, Elraine {{spoiler|is most certainly ''not'' a god. As for Fortuna, well... [[Base Breaker|it's debatable]]. [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]] is really all that needs to be said.}}
* ''[[Advent Rising]]'': It is [[A God I Am Not|averted]] with the main character, Gideon, but {{spoiler|his brother or his girlfriend ([[
{{quote| ''"Take heart, mortals, your gods have returned"''.}}
* ''[[Phantom Brave]] [[Video Game Remake|We Meet Again]]'' has God Eryngi, a mustachioed Funguy. No one but Marona takes his claims seriously, which causes him to spout ineffectual threats. {{spoiler|He's really the Merchant of Death, and his claims are mostly an attempt to get people to collect [[Artifact of Doom|'weapons']] for him.}}
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{{quote| I experienced but a fragment of my true power that day. The waves that inundated my body, are now a part of me. I've reached a higher stage of existence, compared to you incomplete mortals. I am the Alpha AND the Omega of perfect consciousness!}}
** Dmitri Yuriev, who {{spoiler|believes (incorrectly) that U-DO will be responsible for the annihilation of the multiverse, and so tries to kill it with SCIENCE! making himself the most powerful being in existence, since he is functionally immortal}}
* ''[[Inazuma Eleven]]'' has Zeus Academy. As the name suggests, the students there are made into thinking they're super-powered incarnations of gods and goddesses from [[Classical Mythology]] destined [[Serious Business|to dominate the soccer society.]] {{spoiler|All they do are taking drugs, though.}} Despite the strength and infinite TP they have, [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|it's ''possible'' to beat the before the team find out their secret and lower their power.]]
* ''[[Oracle of Tao (Video Game)|Oracle of Tao]]'' has an ''inversion'' of this. Rather than starting out as a human, and usurping the role of God somehow (usually this trope is also accompanied by megalomania or other character flaws, when that happens), {{spoiler|it turns out she was always God, and just tricked herself into believing she was human. She shortly thereafter rewrites the [[Crap Saccharine World]] in which other people don't really exist, by giving birth to the universe.}}
* This is what {{spoiler|Alex}} tries to achieve in the ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]'' series. By the end of The Lost Age, he ALMOST reaches godhood, but doesn't quite get the power he desired. This is due to {{spoiler|the actions of the Wise One from the first game where he had Isaac take the Mars Star and put it back. When Isaac did this, the Wise One imbued some of the power from the item to Isaac, effectively robbing Alex at his dreams of becoming a god when the Golden Sun shined on Mt. Aleph.}}
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{{quote| '''Saundra:''' Do you ever worry that we're playing God?<br />
'''Dr Pegasus:''' Not really. At some point, we definitely stopped playing. }}
* Heat Man from ''[[In Wilys Defense]]'', who gets so full of himself that Sphere, [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|the ''actual'' God]], has him dragged to Paradise to have the Angel of Destruction, Magdelena, [[Cold
* Sarda of ''[[
** "[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/01/27/episode-1087-exalted-feat/ Wizards do parlor tricks, I throttle the heavens.]"
** "I am Sarda. My will be done."
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** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0301.html "We have become like unto tiny refreshing GODS!"]
* ''[[Xkcd (Webcomic)|Xkcd]]'' parodies this [http://xkcd.com/676/ here].
** And plays it quite straight [http://xkcd.com/941/ here] and [http://xkcd.com/505/ here], [[For Science!]]!
* In ''[[Problem Sleuth (Webcomic)|Problem Sleuth]]'', one of Pickle Inspector's clones [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=4=000776 ascends to Godhood] using his pure power of imagination. In somewhat of a subversion though, Godhead Pickle Inspector would only then respond to a command to "fondly regard creation" or something suspiciously similar (such as "crustacean"). Unless the integrity of the universe itself is menaced. [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=001486 DEUS EX SEWING MACHINA]
* In ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'', Karkat addresses John as a wrathful God who despises him {{spoiler|after helping to create his universe}}. What he doesn't realize is that due to weird time shenanigans, {{spoiler|from John's perspective they've been talking for a long time and are already friends}}.
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*** {{spoiler|Afterwards, Luthor became obsessed with reattaining Godhood, with some horrible consequences...}}
** There was an episode of BTAS that had Scarecrow scream out "WORSHIP ME, YOU FOOLS! WORSHIP ME!"
* An episode of ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'' had his [[Cloudcuckoolander]] friend Sheen get zapped with an [[Devolution Device|Evolution Ray]] [[Goal Oriented Evolution|evolved brain]], giving him [[Psychic Powers]] and [[Super
* Beast-Era Megatron, starting in the [[Grand Finale]] of ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]''. After discovering his G1 namesake's old flagship, the Nemesis, he starts raining fire on the landscape while quoting the Covenant of Primus, which is the closest thing we've seen to a [[Robot Religion|Cybertronian Bible]]. He clearly considered himself to be god-''like'' throughout ''[[Beast Machines (Animation)|Beast Machines]]''. In the last couple of episodes, he started raving about actually becoming one - [[Near Villain Victory|and he nearly did, too]].
** In ''[[Transformers Cybertron]]'', Megatron sought the series' [[Plot Coupon|Plot Coupons]] in order to become a god. Starscream wanted this power for himself, which was what led him to betray Megatron. Successfully, too; an [[Enemy Civil War]] resulted. As a result of their progress towards godhood, the final battle between Starscream and [[Mid
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Admiral Zhao]] launches into a particularly [[Large Ham|hammy]] example of this in the first season finale:
{{quote| '''Zhao''': I am... a ''legend'' now. The Fire Nation will for generations tell stories about the great Zhao, who darkened the moon! They will call me Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the ''Moon Slayer''! Zhao, the ''INVINCIBLE''!}}
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* ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'': Bender becomes a god to the Shrimpkins he picks up while floating through space. It didn't last long or end well.
** He also became Pharaoh of an ancient Egypt-style planet; since pharaohs are viewed as gods...
* ''[[The Avengers:
* ''[[Moral Orel (Animation)|Moral Orel]]'' has a darker version of this in the form of Miss Censordoll, who had her sexual organs surgically removed as an infant. Due to her immaculacy she believes that she is a physical god.
* In ''[[Generator Rex]]'', all of the problems in the series related to Nanites can be traced back to the Consortium's desire to play God with a bunch of special Nanites that grant control over the fundamental forces of the universe and the desperate measures the scientists in charge of the Nanite project took to keep that power away from them. {{spoiler|Namely, ''triggering the Nanite event''}}.
** {{spoiler|1=Rex becomes one in the final episode, but deactivates it after curing all EVOs.}}
* ''[[Prince of Egypt]]'' never says this exactly, but [[Anti
* One episode in ''[[Family Guy]]'' has Peter proclaiming that he has divine healing powers that cured Chris of his cancer (the two of them are in cahoots). This causes the townspeople to believe Peter to be a god and Peter then starts acting like he is God until the real God starts to punish the family until Peter stops with his shenanigans.
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== Real Life ==
Examples of ''rulers'' who were considered deities either on their own initiative or by that of their subjects (which has been very common throughout history) should be placed over at [[God
* There was the Greek philosopher Empedocles, who, without a doubt, thought he was God. An active volcano disagreed. Strongly.
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{{quote| There is now... ME!!!}}
* The Whole Earth Catalog in [[The Sixties]] famously began its purpose statement with "We are as gods and [[Badass Creed|might as well get good at it]]."
* During their bout at Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971, Muhammad Ali repeatedly taunted Joe Frazier by asking "Don't you know I'm God?" Frazier replied, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|accurately, in the event]], [[Shut UP, Hannibal|"Well, God, you gonna get whupped tonight!"]]
* Some people with mental illness may develop and believe in allusions that they are a biblical figure or a god/deity reincarnated. A few examples include:
** Jim Jones, founder of The Peoples' Temple which essentially became a cult with him as the ringleader. He claimed to be the reincarnation of [[Jesus]], [[Buddha]], Akhenatan, Vladimir Lenin, and Father Divine. He organized a mass suicide at Jonestown in Guyana by forcing his followers to drink Flavor-Aid laced with cyanide; it claimed the lives of 918 people.
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