Flat Earth Atheist/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: In a world where it is proven on many levels that gods exist and personally created the cosmos, a couple people will flat-out disbelieve these facts.

  • Straight: Bob does not believe in God, even though God has been proven to exist and has caused several strange events to occur.
  • Exaggerated: Bob does not believe in God, even though God has routinely saved Bob from near-death situations.
  • Justified:
    • Bob is incapable of recognizing a divine presence
    • Bob's seen beings with enough power to qualify for divine status who did not claim to be anything special. He decided that the distinction between divine and non-divine is meaningless.
    • Bob's belief system allows for the possibility of phenomena which current scientific research cannot yet explain -- however, he believes that a sufficient amount of scientific research will eventually uncover the solution, and is unwilling to accept an 'unsatisfactory' answer like the character with power being a God.
    • Bob thinks this so-called God is just another regular person.
    • Magical powers are normal to the point where Bob didn't know there was a god.
  • Inverted:
    • God doesn't believe in Bob, even though Bob has been proven to exist.
    • Bob believes in God even when its been logically proven by all scientists that God can't exist.
  • Subverted: Bob's atheism begins to weaken after several incidences of direct divine intervention.
  • Double Subverted: However, Bob is still a pretty stubborn guy and refuses to give in.
  • Parodied: Bob just so happens to be Pals with Jesus, going out to the movies and playing mini-golf with Him, and yet still does not believe in Him as a divine power.
  • Deconstructed: Bob's staunch refusal to recognize God angers Him, causing God to rain down misfortune and torment on Bob, ending in Bob's slow and painful death.
  • Reconstructed: ...but God Is Evil anyway, so Bob is justified in rejecting Him.
  • Zig Zagged: Bob's faith in God changes wildly depending on the situations he's in.
  • Averted:
    • Bob is an active praying member of the community, conversing with God on a regular basis.
    • Or he's an atheist or agnostic where there is no definitive proof of God's existence.
  • Enforced: "This Hollywood Atheist is so dull. Let's make him funnier!"
  • Lampshaded:
    • "Thanks for the help, God, but I still don't believe in you."
    • "No problem, Bob!"
  • Invoked: Characters talk about Bob the minor character as that weirdo who doesn't believe in God, who makes regular appearances in the community.
  • Defied: Bob is smart enough to recognize the existence of a higher power when the evidence is overwhelming, even if it's begrudgingly so.
  • Discussed: "What, does the whole pantheon need to send him fruit baskets first?"
  • Conversed: "The Earth is flat. What more proof does this guy need?"
  • Invoked: "You wouldn't believe in God even if he appeared at your door dancing a tango!"

"There's a page called "Flat Earth Atheist"? What a bunch of crap!"

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Atheist/Playing_With?oldid=954351"