Cargo Cult: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Many Cargo Cults are distinguished by a mixture of native spiritual systems with elaborate economic rituals, as capitalism has come to replace military power as the force of the developed world that is most heavily felt and appreciated in daily life. Such rituals similarly have the aim of appropriating what the natives perceive as the westerner's "power" from his symbols, such as money or materials in addition to technology.

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' had an underground village that worshipped a "face-God", a Ganmen that had fallen into the village long ago. At the end of the episode, {{spoiler|it was revealed that the high priest knew what it really was, and only used the religion to help enact the harsh rules that were vital for the village to survive}}.

* In ''[[Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind]]'', the atomic-powered, biomechanical [[Humongous Mecha]] are refered to as "God Warriors", and the [[Master Computer]] that's been running things behind the scenes has a cult that worships it.

* [[Kino's Journey|One of Kino's journeys]] takes her to a country [[Cozy Catastrophe|calmly awaiting the imminent apocalypse]], as foretold in their holy book of prophecies, which is revealed later in the same episode to actually be the stream-of-consciousness work of a great but grief-stricken poet whose mind snapped when his wife died in childbirth.

* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'', Setsuna takes his devotion to Gundams to almost [[Ave Machina]] levels, shown by his complete and utter awe when he first saw the 0 Gundam in action right after he declared there is no God, as well as his repeated declarations of "I am Gundam", meaning the complete submission to Celestial Being's ideals by becoming the very symbol of the eradication of conflict (that is, a Gundam). Based on his reaction to the works of [[Blood Knight|Ali]] and the [[Knight Templar|Trinity team]], using a mobile suit even remotely similar in appearance to a Gundam to shed blood [[For the Lulz|just for the hell of it]] [[Berserk Button|borders on blasphemy to him]] - seeing that Setsuna is Kurdish and spent an unknown amount of time as a [[The Fundamentalist|fanatical]] [[Child Soldier]] who killed his own parents in the name of God, he's capable of one hell of a devotion.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* ''The Tower King'', a strip that ran in the British comic book ''Eagle'', was set on an Earth that had collapsed into anarchy when a malfunctioning solar-powered satellite somehow bathed the Earth in radiation that made the production of electricity in any form impossible. A cult worshiping electricity set itself inside a power station, carefully maintaining the generators and pretending that electricity still existed.

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Averted and played with in ''[[The Gods Must Be Crazy]]'', a careless pilot throws an empty Coke bottle from his aircraft. It lands in the middle of a Bushmen community, who decide it must be a gift from the Gods. However, it only causes jealousy and inequality and it is decided that, yes, the gods must be crazy, and a member of the tribe is sent to throw the object off the edge of the world. Much of the humour of the film comes from the lone Bushman interpreting the things he encounters from his stone-age perspective.

** With more than a touch of [[Clarke's Third Law]] thrown in as the bushmen never actually worship the bottle, but only consider it a gift, as noted above.

* In ''[[Rango]]'', the animals treat human artifacts like pipes this way for their 'divine' ability to provide water in a desert. Verges on [[Humans Are Cthulhu]] at points.

* In the sequel to ''[[Planet of the Apes]]'', Taylor uncovers a group of humans survived the apocalypse but had been turned into disfigured mutants. They worship an intact, unexploded bomb which they keep enshrined in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

* Depending on your interpretation of "object," the Ewoks bowing down to worship C-3PO in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' counts as this.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* Subverted in the science-fiction short shory 'Hinterlands' by [[William Gibson]]; this time, it's humanity who are on the receiving end, and by the end of the book {{spoiler|we're still no wiser as to how the whole thing works or why. The rule is that you must travel to a set point in space and release a radio-flare; if you do, you 'disappear' and come back after a lengthy period of time, either dead or insane, but carrying a random alien object that might be valuable}}. More than a little unsettling.

 

* The ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' episode "Waiting For God" reveals that the race of humanoids that evolved from Lister's pet cat discovered his plan to move to Fiji (which they called Fuschal) and open a hot dog and donut stand, and built an entire religion around it. They decimated themselves in a holy war over what color the [[Burger Fool|silly hats for the wait staff]] would be, and then the survivors left to search for Fuschal using star charts left behind by "Cloister"—the old laundry list used by Lister to line the original cat's bed. (The colors fought over were red and blue. Lister, however, intended them to be ''green''.)

** In the novelization, the cats are waiting for "Cloister", who has been frozen in time, but will one day reemerge to lead them to "Bearth". The other cats believe exactly the same thing, except he was called "Clister". Naturally, they nearly wipe out their own species in religious war, then leave to find the promised land.

 

* During his Dandelion Mind tour, comedian [[Bill Bailey]] gets the crowd worshiping an [[wikipedia:Oud|oud]].

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* The ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'' [[Sourcebook]] "Summoners" has strange, otherworldly beings which resemble an [[Uncanny Valley]] version of planes and can be summoned to drop powerful items down on the summoners.

* ''Sufficiently Advanced'' includes Cargo Cults as one of the types of civilizations PCs can come from. Due to the hectic far flung nature of the diaspora, and the insanely advanced science of most of the cultures cargo cults are incredibly common, and the PCs can end up dealing with them fairly often.

** Interestingly, the original premise for the game was entirely based around cargo cults, until the creator had a better idea.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In ''[[Avernum]] 3'' you encounter a Cargo Cult that seems to worship random junk they've collected or stolen from various places. They do worship some valuable artifacts as well, but that doesn't make them any less deranged.

* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'', there is a minor race of gorillas called the Imga who worship High Elves and seek to emulate them, to the point of shaving off their fur and powdering their skin.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

*** Technically, Banjo probably ''is'' a God. Possibly [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0080.html the weakest god imaginable], but, somehow, [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0137.html divine nonetheless]. This is due to ''OotS'' using the [[Gods Need Prayer Badly]] rules.

 

* A few [[SCP Foundation]] objects are considered parts of a god worshiped by the Church of the Broken God. One in particular, [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-882 SCP-882] has had at least one known cult worship it due to its effects.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In ''[[Thundercats 2011]]'' the Book of Omens is a [[Ancient Artifact]], the singular source of history, mythology and theology for the [[Catfolk|Cats]] of the kingdom of Thundera. Lost for generations, [[Shrouded in Myth]], [[Famed in Story]] and dogged by [[Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions|skepticism]], its reputed as a [[Great Big Book of Everything]], the source by which its kings orate their history, a [[Tome of Fate]] to the [[The Order|order]] of [[Church Militant|Clerics]] who maintain its [[Ancient Tradition]]s, and a source of fascination to those who believe its tales of [[Lost Technology]]. Two of Thundera's best generals were sent questing for it for years, but when Thundera is invaded by ancient [[Outside Context Villain]] Mumm-Ra, head Cleric Jaga reveals that its definitely real, and sends young Prince Lion-O racing to find it before Mumm-Ra can. Once discovered it {{spoiler|appears to be a [[Blank Book]], but is actually a [[Magitek]] computer that}} will reveal the key to defeating Mumm-Ra.

* In ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'' Heffer joins a cult that worships sausage.

 

== Real Life ==