God Guise: Difference between revisions

== Film ==

* In ''[[Real Genius]]'', Chris Knight and his friends implant a radio transceiver in Kent's braces, whereupon Mitch pretends to be Jesus to learn what Hathaway plans to do with the laser.

'''Kent:''' "It ''is'' God!" }}

* In ''[[Back to The Future]]'', Marty uses his radiation suit and Walkman stereo to dress up as "Darth Vader from the Planet Vulcan". He frightens George McFly and threatens to melt his brain if he doesn't take Lorraine to the school dance.

** The proof of divinity comes in two forms. Connery's character {{spoiler|survives an arrow to the chest because it happens to [[Pocket Protector|hit his bandolier]] }}, and later, {{spoiler|when the natives go "pitchfork" and intend to execute him, they see the Masonic pendant he wears [[Ancient Conspiracy|exactly matches the carved Masonic symbol]] Alexander left behind.}}

* ''[[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier|Star Trek V the Final Frontier]]''. A powerful alien trapped on a planet pretends to be God to trick the protagonists into carrying it to freedom aboard the ''Enterprise''.

** In an [[Expanded Universe]] trilogy, it's revealed that The One (as he is called) really does believe He's God (and yes, He insists on capital "H"). This is despite the fact that the Q Continuum pretty much wiped the galaxy with Him and trapped His head at its center.

* In ''[[An American Tail]]: Fievel Goes West'', Tiger is worshiped as God by a tribe of Native American mice because he bears a striking resemblance to a rock formation.

* In Isaac Asimov's ''[[Foundation]]'', during an early phase of their history (as the infrastructure of the galactic empire was crumbling) the people of the Foundation provide prosperity to their neighbors while keeping them dependent on the Foundation. This is done by reducing the operation of technologically advanced equipment to rituals governed by a religion operated by the Foundation, with acolytes as technicians who can run and (sometimes) repair equipment, but who don't understand how it works.

** Leading to a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for Salvor Hardin when the Anacreonian leader tries to invade the Foundation {{spoiler|with a ship that the Foundation had rebuilt for them}}.

* The [[H. Beam Piper]] short story, ''The Return'', subverts this trope somewhat, with a group that worships {{spoiler|[[Sherlock Holmes]]}}. When a group of people who have preserved pre-war tech begin attempting to bring the country back together, the cultists are the most technologically advanced of the mini societies that formed when the war destroyed the government, having progressed all the way back to using flintlocks and crop rotation. This is partially owing to their deity: skepticism, logic, and deductive abilities are cardinal virtues in their society. While they have the standard response to the people with high tech (ie confuse them for their God {{spoiler|(and Watson)}}) reincarnated, it is tempered with enough skepticism and an assumption that if the two scientists are really their gods, the evidence will eventually present itself.

* James P. Hogan's ''Giants Trilogy'' of science fiction novels includes as one of its premises that all Earth's religions are differet God Guises deliberately started by a different, extraterrestrial branch of humanity in order to retard Earth's cultural and scientific development.

*** Although he comes back several times, he never learns from this and ends up killed or enslaved by them every time.

** Magnus Greel posing as Weng-Chiang; though he doesn't try to hide his identify from Chang, to whom it makes no difference anyway as Greel has risen him up from his humble life as a Chinese peasant to someone who performs before royalty.

'''Chang:''' "He came to me like a god, in his cabinet of fire!" }}

* In ''[[The West Wing]]'', a reporter reveals that he was once mistaken for a deity by a primitive tribe.

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has an interesting subversion: The Court robots think Kat is an angel, partly because she's a [[Wrench Wench]], partly because she has a lab in front of a tomb they're obsessed with (and lets them in whenever they want), and partly because she's one of only two people at the school that treats them with kindness. No, [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=663 really, one of] ''two''.

* Lampshaded in ''[[Looking for Group]]'', where Cale finds a tribe living inside a [[Sand Worm]]. [[Genre Savvy|He asks if]] this is where they think he's a god, [[Pirates of the Caribbean|but rather than simply worshiping him they choose to cannibalize him.]] He's right.

** It happens again with a tribe of goblins. This time Cale tries to [[Invoked Trope|invoke the trope]] by suggesting that he will coincidentally resemble one of their gods and that they will eventually worship him, therefore they should cut to the chase and start worshiping right now. They do, they worship [[The Big Guy|Tim]], and try to have [[Brick Joke|Cale for lunch]].

* In ''[[Wapsi Square]]'', many ancient deities seem to have been this. Most were created by a far older civilization.