Apotheosis: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Apotheosis.png|frame]]

 

'''Apotheosis''' is the ascension of a mortal to genuine godhood -- usually ''without'' having to die first.

 

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== [[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]] ==

* Mayor Richard Wilkins from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' followed a century-long plan to ascend into a True Demon -- and succeeded. (For about ten minutes. Until the Scoobies blew him up.)

* 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]] ==

** 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]] ==

* 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.

 

** {{spoiler|"In Moist Vessels", O'Connor lies about reaching enlightenment but achieves it when they commit a selfless act that causes him to ascend while burning and scream in pain as he turns into energy while obtaining cosmic knowledge, such as knowing how the universe is balanced on the back of a cosmic Koala.}}

** {{spoiler|"In A Few Badgeys More", [[Artificial Intelligence|Badgey]] expands himself throughout the universe by using the Federation's subspace relay for revenge against Ruther. By doing this, he gained cosmic awareness, where he sees the pointlessness of revenge and decides to travel to other universes or even create his own.}}

 

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