Apotheosis: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Apotheosis.png|frame]]

 

 

The subject of an apotheosis doesn't always gain phenomenal cosmic power -- they may find that they are a [[Odd Job Gods|very ''minor'' god]] -- but they are now undeniably divine, probably immortal and possibly able to gain power and/or sustenance [[Gods Need Prayer Badly|from the worship of mortals]].

Depending on the setting, this trope may be inextricably intertwined with either or both [[Gods Need Prayer Badly]] and [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]], to the point that simply sufficient belief and/or worship may be enough to elevate a mortal to genuine godhood. (And lack of same may be enough to bring him right back down again.)

 

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* Fourteen-year-old schoolgirl Yurie Hitotsubashi's unexpected elevation to godhood kicks off the story in ''[[Kamichu!]]''

== [[Art]] ==

* Invoked figuratively in ''[[w:The Apotheosis of Washington|The Apotheosis of Washington]]'', a massive fresco on the ceiling of the Rotunda of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. It depicts [[George Washington]], draped in purple with a rainbow arch at his feet, surrounded by figures from from [[Classical Mythology]], ascending to [[Heaven]] to become a god. To his left is the goddess Victoria, draped in green and bearing a horn; to his right is the goddess of Liberty in blue, wearing a red liberty cap.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

** Played straight with other mortal beings who have been endowed with Thor's power, including Beta Ray Bill, Eric Masterson (aka Thunderstrike), and Jane Foster.

* Happens in the campaign in ''[[Knights of the Dinner Table]]'': After Bob's character Knuckles III dies, his next character (Knuckles IV) manages to get Knuckles III promoted to [[Phantasy Spelling|gawdhood]]. The promotion appears genuine, and temples to Knu-Kyle-Ra are now a recurring feature in the comic.

 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

* In a borderline case on ''[[Angel]]'', Cordelia eventually ascends on (or just before) her death to become some manner of celestial being.

 

== [[Oral Tradition|Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends]] ==

** The patriarch [[w:Enoch|Enoch]], father of Methuselah, is an odd case. According to [[The Bible/Source/Genesis#5|Genesis 5:24]], "...Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." This is interpreted in many Christian and Jewish traditions to mean that he physically ascended into Heaven without dying, but in no formal scripture is anything more said about him or his post-ascension status. The [[w:Apocrypha|Apocrypha]] called the [[w:Book of Enoch|Book of Enoch]], 2 Enoch and 3 Enoch allege that Enoch was transformed into an angel and appointed guardian of all the celestial treasures, made chief of the archangels, and became the immediate attendant on the Throne of God; [[w:3 Enoch|3 Enoch]] explicitly says he became the Metatron, the voice of God. It should be noted that none of the books of Enoch are considered canonical scripture by the vast majority of Jewish or Christian bodies, although the Ethiopian Jewish community Beta Israel and the Christian Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church both consider them part of their biblical canon.

* [[Mormonism]] includes among its tenets a belief called "exaltation", in which the faithful will ascend to heaven and eventually become lesser gods subordinate to God while dwelling with Him through eternity. They believe that one purpose for Christ's mission and atonement was to allow the deification of mortal men, which will (eventually) happen in the afterlife to those who properly embraced Mormon beliefs before the final judgment.

* Unlike the subjects of most of the "hero cults" of [[Ancient Greece]] (which resembled ancestor worship more than anything else), [[Classical Mythology/Characters#Mortals and Demigods|Heracles]] and [[w:Asclepius|Asclepius]] were (at least sometimes) venerated as mortals who had ascended to become true gods.

** Dionysus was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. Depending on the version, he became a god by being born as one or rebirth. One version was him being the unborn son of Semele, who was killed by Hero while being pregnant with him. Zeus saved him by sewing him into his thigh until he was fully grown and born as the god of wine (which also follows with his name meaning "twice born"). Another version had him being the son of the mortal Persephone. Hera tried her hands at sabotage until she enlisted the help of Titans to rip the newborn apart. Zeus fought the Titans, but the child was already eaten except for his heart, which was saved by a goddess, and Dionysus was reborn.

* While different branches of [[Taoism]] often venerate entirely different pantheons of gods, most include historical figures who are believed to have become [[w:Xian (Taoism)|immortals]] and thus are worthy of worship and reverence.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* Built into the premise of ''[[The Whispering Vault]]'': all player characters are former mortals who have become Stalkers, quasi-divine beings charged with pursuing rogue demiurges (referred to as the Unbidden) damaging reality with their presence, capturing them, and imprisoning them in the titular vault.

* ''[[The Primal Order]]'' -- a system-agnostic set of rules for running gods as something more than merely monsters with very high hit points in virtually any roleplaying game, published by a pre-''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' [[Wizards of the Coast]] -- addresses the subject of mortals becoming gods in some detail, providing suggestions to the game master and laying out complications and implications which may impact his campaign .

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Mortal Kombat]]''

** Several characters are granted godhood in their endings to ''[[Mortal Kombat: Armageddon]]'', including Sheeva and Bo'Rai Cho.

* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'', the transformation of an unnamed Breton student at the College of Winterhold into the glowing ball of sapient magical energy known as the Augur of Dunlain has been described as an apotheosis, although the Augur has little in common with the divine and infernal beings of the ''Elder Scrolls'' universe. If it is indeed a god, one must wonder why it lets itself be shut away in the College's Midden.

* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'':

** ''[[Devil Survivor 2]] Record Breaker''{{'}}s {{spoiler|Human Administrator ending has the protagonist become the Administrator with control over the universe and access to the [[Akashic Records]].}}

* In ''[[The Guided Fate Paradox]]'', Renya Kagurazaka was your [[Unlucky Everydude]] who won the position of God through a street raffle. With his new position, he has the duty of answering prayers from all beings in the universe, including animals, humans, and aliens. He does this through the Fate Revolution Circuit. This divine machine manifests prayers that need to be fulfilled, and Renya must defeat the obstacles to make them be answered. If he fails or refuses, then he will be "consumed".

** ''[[The Awakened Fate Ultimatum]]'': Shin Kamikaze gets attacked by devils and left near death. He wakes up in a lab and is greeted by Jupiel Soraumi and the devil, Ariael Agarie, to find out he has been brought back to life by being implanted with the Fate Awakening Crystal, which means he has become God and has to aid the angels in defeating the devils before they are eliminated.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* The Chinese web novel ''[[Apotheosis - Elevation to the status of a God]]'' (''百炼成神''), written by "Free of Favours" (恩赐解脱), tells the story of Luo Zheng, the only son of the late former leader of the Luo clan, now treated as a slave by other branches of the family who have taken over in the wake of his father's death. In a moment of despair he attempted to destroy a book from his father, only for a sheet of golden paper to emerge from the ashes and empower him with the indecipherable words upon it. Thus he begins a inexorable upward climb in power and skill until he reaches a point where he is literally a god, able to manipulate time, space and chaos.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': Princess Yue sacrifices her life to revive the Moon Spirit since it gave her a portion of its life. When the Moon Spirit was vivified, she became the new Moon Spirit.

 

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