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{{trope}}
{{quote|''Gods, too, decompose. [[Trope Namer|God is dead]]. [[Killed Off for Real|God remains dead]]. [[My God, What Have I Done?|And we have killed him]].''
|'''[[Friedrich Nietzsche]]'''|''The [[Have a Gay Old Time|Gay]] Science'', Aphorism 125 ("The Madman")}}
In the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth. Whether it took six days or six billion years for Him (or It, or Her, or Them, you know) to complete the Creation, there's nobody to give the award plaque to. Why not, you ask? Because, somewhere along the way, God croaked. Went belly up. Bought the farm. Kicked the bucket. [[Hurricane of Euphemisms|Answered the last prayer]]. [[Dogma|Played the last game of skee-ball]]. [[Overly Long Gag|Named the last prophet]].
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This is going a step beyond [[Have You Seen My God?]]; they've called off the search and alerted the [[Jesus|next of kin]]. The [[Council of Angels]] is now running around trying to figure out who's in charge.
Of course, the subject of [[Trope Namer|Nietzsche]]'s pronouncement is [[Serious Business|one of the most serious debates in the academic world]].
This trope can occur in either a monotheistic or a polytheistic setting; of course, the ramifications of a God dying vary in severity, depending on if there are many Gods or just one.
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Compare [[Gotterdammerung]] and [[Death of the Old Gods]], which is the general end of the age of Gods, and [[Kill the God]], wherein a (usually mortal) character destroys a God. Not to be confused with [[Shinigami]] or [[The Grim Reaper]], which are divine manifestations of the death principle (God Is Death).
{{examples
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* In ''[[Dragonball Z]]'', a creature named Buu killed off much of the order of the Kais, the closest thing to a god in their universe, since they rule over everything.
* ''[[Angel Sanctuary]]'': The very first sentence:
* Volume 48 of ''[[Bleach]]'' is entitled
* Yukko in ''[[Nichijou]]'' uses this exact phrase, in English, after Mai hits her on the head with a book. This is followed by a dramatic camera angle change to focus on the (possibly reincarnated) wooden Buddha statue on the desk in front of her, and the narrator exclaims "''[[You Are the Translated Foreign Word|Kami ga shinda]]''" accompanied by a lightning strike in the background.
* This happens with ''[[High School
==
* ''Ruins'', a [[Marvel Comics]] graphic novel, shows a newspaper headline with a photo of Galactus' corpse and the headline reading: [http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/marvelcomics/200901/RUINS_cov.jpg "God Found Dead In Space"].
* The Millennium story for ''[[The Authority]]'' was about a creature who created the Earth and is explicitly described as the closest thing there is to God. This creature was the being that had physically collected the matter that the Earth is formed of and placed it into orbit around the sun, but its plan was to return someday and use the Earth as a home; the evolution of life was a completely unplanned event that stemmed from a freak asteroid collision billions of years ago. The creature, as large as the moon and of comparable power, planned to de-terraform the planet back to its original state before taking up residence, unconcerned with the extinction of humanity since we are less than microorganisms compared to it. It was killed by Jenny Sparks in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] (as the Spirit Of The 20th Century, her time was up
* At the end of [[Preacher (Comic Book)]], the Saint of Killers kills god.
* Only temporary, but ''[[Dogma]]'' makes killing God
▲== Films ==
▲* Only temporary, but ''[[Dogma]]'' makes killing God {{spoiler|(or at least, Her current mortal guise, an old man on life support)}} crucial to the plot.
* When Bower confronts {{spoiler|Payton/Gallo}} in ''[[Pandorum]]'', he asserts that God died along with the rest of humanity, and that there is nobody left to judge their actions as the concepts of right and wrong and good and evil have ceased to exist.
▲== Literature ==
* In ''Towing Jehovah'' by James Morrow, God's corpse is found in the Atlantic Ocean. The Vatican decides to bury it in Antarctica, while [[Hollywood Atheist|pissed-off atheists]] want to destroy it, as even a dead God is proof that they were wrong all along. In the next book of the trilogy, God gets posthumously put on trial for crimes against humanity.
** Well, {{spoiler|[[Not Quite Dead|Not Quite Posthumous]], as it turns out. At the end of the second, though, He gets [[Killed Off for Real]]}}. The third novel is about how a visible reminder of God's
* God (aka "The Authority") died in ''The Amber Spyglass''. In the [[His Dark Materials]] [[The Verse|verse]], God was simply the first and most powerful angel. By the time Lyra and Will show up, he is senile and tortured by [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|his eternal life]]. They simply let him out of his protective enclosure and he is freed, {{spoiler|but he's too fragile to live in the world from sheer age, so he disintegrates from a slight breeze.}} Oh, the vicious irony.
* ''[[Discworld]]'': In ''[[
** In ''[[
* ''Our Friends From Frolix 8'', by Phillip K. Dick:
{{quote|
"They found the remains of an organism advanced several thousand times over what we are," Charley said. "And it evidently could create habitable worlds and populate them with living organisms, derived from itself. [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|But that doesn't prove it was God]]." }}
* In ''[[
* Robert Rankin's ''Waiting for Godalming'': God is shot dead in an alleyway. {{spoiler|Later subverted, when it is revealed that God's death was faked as part of a massive insurance scam.}}
* In the book ''[[IT]]'', by [[Stephen King]], the Turtle created the universe (because of a stomach ache). Later, {{spoiler|it's revealed that the Turtle died in the thirty-year time gap of the novel.}}
* In a [[Woody Allen]] short story, existential detective Kaiser Lupowitz is hired to find God; and becomes chief suspect when His body is found.
* In ''Clay'' by David Almond, upon going insane, {{spoiler|Stephen Rose}} claims that God is dead, and died sometime in the 60's.
* In ''[[The Egyptian]]'', the Cretan God (really a kind of sea monster) is dead. The priest keeps killing the human sacrifices to keep people from noticing this.
* [[Karl Edward Wagner]]'s [[Kane (
* In Arthur Miller's [[The Crucible]], Proctor invokes this trope when accused of witchcraft. "I say... I say... God is dead! A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud - God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!"
* At the end of ''[[The Stormlight Archive
** Except {{spoiler|Cultivation, the third of Roshar's shard gods, is still around (although we haven't met her yet)}}, and since the setting is actually part of {{spoiler|the Cosmere, all the other shard gods are still running around on other worlds (apart from the ones Odium has Splintered, like Aona and Skai)}}. Plus, {{spoiler|it would be more accurate to say Tanavast, the man who became Honor, is dead, as Honor's power is still out there and it is possible another person may take up his shard.}} Got all that?
** As far as Vorinism, Roshar's dominant religion, is concerned, the trope is in full force, since Honor/The Almight is/was their only recognized god.
* In [[Clive Barker]]'s ''[[Imajica]]'', God {{spoiler|is [[Hoist
* A ''[[Kids in The Hall]]'' sketch centers around this. "God is dead...and here is the body to prove it."
▲== Live-Action TV ==
▲* A ''[[Kids in The Hall]]'' sketch centers around this. "God is dead...and here is the body to prove it."
** ...and what was most surprising was how short He was...
* In season 5 of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', the [[Archangel Raphael]] informed Castiel that the reason Cas cannot find God is because He is dead. However, {{spoiler|it's implied in the season 5 finale that Chuck is God, and therefore God is not, in fact, dead.}} [[Death]] does reveal that God will eventually die at the end of time by his hand.
* ''Possibly'' the case in ''[[The Lost Room]]''. Some say that the Event that created the Objects was the death of God.
* Stated by Anthony Jr. in season 2 of ''[[The Sopranos]]'', as part of his briefly becoming a [[Nietzsche Wannabe]].
▲== Music ==
▲* [[Heavy Metal (Music)|Heavy Metal]] - Too many songs to count.
* [[Nine Inch Nails]] - as listed in the page quote.
* Elton John, "Levon":
{{quote|
And the war's begun }}
* One of the most famous songs by Italian band ''I Nomadi'' ("The Nomads") is [[Exactly What It Says
* In [[Norse Mythology]], most of the important and well-known gods, such as Thor, Loki, Frey, and Odin end up dying permanently in the final battle of Ragnarok. Interestingly, when the Scandinavians began to accept Christianity, they actually merged Norse mythology with Christian ideas, by stating that Ragnarok had actually taken place already, and that it was a "prequel" to Christianity--that Adam and Eve were the only survivors of Ragnarok.▼
* In [http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1997-06-05/news/myths-over-miami/ Miami homeless children's street culture], it is sometimes believed that God is dead.▼
** ''[[Digger (Webcomic)|Digger]]'' based an in-universe myth on this.▼
== Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends ==
▲* In [[Norse Mythology]], most of the important and well-known gods, such as Thor, Loki, Frey, and Odin end up dying permanently in the final battle of Ragnarok. Interestingly, when the Scandinavians began to accept Christianity, they actually merged Norse mythology with Christian ideas, by stating that Ragnarok had actually taken place already, and that it was a "prequel" to
▲* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20131103080650/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1997-06-05/news/myths-over-miami/ Miami homeless children's street culture], it is sometimes believed that God is dead.
== Puppet Shows ==
* God from ''[[Wonder Showzen]]'' {{spoiler|kills himself after losing a competition over the fate of the Earth and then they eat him}}.
* In ''[[
▲== Tabletop Games ==
▲* In ''[[Demon: The Fallen (Tabletop Game)|Demon: The Fallen]]'', [[Satan|Lucifer]] murders a monk for even ''suggesting'' that God, who has, to this point, been [[Have You Seen My God?|missing in action]], may have really died to save the earth: [[World Sundering|The Sundering]] was not God's punishment for [[Our Angels Are Different|rebel angels]] breaking Her commandment of not revealing themselves to humanity, it was God sacrificing Herself by ''catching the world'' as it fell due to the violation of some cosmic law. The suggestion would haunt Lucifer until the [[The End of the World As We Know It|End of Days]].
* In ''[[Planescape]]'', dead gods are a part of the setting, their corpses floating in the Astral Plane. There's even a high-level adventure entitled "Dead Gods". Also, [[Dungeon Master|the Lady of Pain]] killed the god Aoskar for daring to set up shop in Sigil; this is one of the greatest demonstrations of why you really don't mess with her.
** She didn't attack him when he merely came there and has a portfolio that covered her portals. She killed him when his followers started to talk about her as his aspect aloud and some of her servants became his worshippers. Not only does she flay people with her gaze even for attempting to worship her as a deity in her own right, but in ''[[Planescape]]'', the "aspect" part alone sometimes causes problems to the target (e.g. Bast didn't make it through).
** The ''[[Dungeons
** And then there are resurrection attempts. In ''Finder's Bane'', for one.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Warhammer
* In ''[[Exalted]]'', this can (depending on your ST's preference for where to take the story) happen in the Endgame chapter of ''Return of the Scarlet Emperor'' with {{spoiler|Infernal Exalted, possibly backed up by demons or even Abyssals, breaking into the Jade Pleasure Dome through a long-forgotten 'back door' and assassinating the Unconquered Sun, who lacked his usual invulnerability because he was addicted to the Games of Divinity. The Ebon Dragon never expected the [[Oh Crap|massive power boost every Solar Exalt in Creation got]] when their patron Incarnae was killed.}}
== Video Games ==
* The ''[[
* ''[[Grandia II]]'' has the revelation that Granas, the God of Light, died fighting Valmar the Devil of Darkness long ago. Turns out they were both just [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien
▲* The ''[[Baldurs Gate]]'' series is essentially the [[Thanatos Gambit|posthumous]] [[Batman Gambit]] of the god Bhaal, who foresaw his own death and arranged to be resurrected. Things usually don't work out quite perfectly for him. There's a side quest in the 2nd game in the temple of a different dead god who has since stopped being dead.
▲* ''[[Grandia II]]'' has the revelation that Granas, the God of Light, died fighting Valmar the Devil of Darkness long ago. Turns out they were both just [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] though.
▲* ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]: Mask of the Betrayer'' features a dead god in an important role.
▲* The creation myth told by the cultists in ''[[Silent Hill]]'' ends with God dying.
* One of the possible final bosses in ''[[Guardian Heroes]]'' is "The Creator". {{spoiler|When you beat him, he admits that he was just toying with humanity all along, and now that he's dying, humans are free to choose their own destiny.}}
* The entire premise of the ''[[God of War (
* Implied in ''[[Tears to Tiara]]''. The [[Council of Angels]] are the ones running the show and, without supervision, have gone a little [[Knight Templar|overboard]] on the whole Heaven on Earth thing. Watos (the supreme creator deity) [[Have You Seen My God?|hasn't been seen since existence started]]. Probably seen as less offensive than an actual evil God when we already have a [[Satan Is Good|good Satan.]]
* In the Zul'drak region of ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', the Drakkari trolls native to the region have been killing their gods and stealing their powers in a desperate bid to protect themselves from the Scourge. Your character can go through a quest chain in which you try to save the gods or, failing that, [[Mercy Kill]] them or help them avenge themselves on their killers.
* The whole ''[[
* In the ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' campaign 'Dead Air', some of the graffiti on the walls says 'GOD IS DEAD'. Occasionally, Zoey can be heard saying, "Oh no, the zombies killed God!" when passing by this message.
* The majority of the Aedra of the ''[[Elder Scrolls]]'' universe invested so much of their essence into the Mundus that they became mortal and died. Earthbones, the laws of reality which bind mortals, are magical restraints created from their deaths. In all, only eight remain alive and they're halfway to dead themselves.
* The Creator Deity-slash-[[Eldritch Abomination]] Ormagoden from the [[Creation Myth]] in ''[[Brutal Legend]]'' chose [[Better to Die Than Be Killed|to self-terminate rather than have his fire extinguished by the First Ones' dirt]], destroying the ancient world and creating the Age of Metal [[Pieces of God|from his own body]] in process.
* In ''[[
* In [[Mass Effect]] Cerebus agents find the corpse of a Reaper who they estimate had been rendered non-operational 37 million years ago. As they investigate it they begin to become indoctrinated by the Reaper, despite it being dead, and their minds start melding together as shown by them sharing memories that only logically they should know which is a side effect of the Reaper's hive mind. After a while everyone goes crazy and the only survivor makes an [[Apocalyptic Log]] talking about the Reapers as if they were Gods and that even a dead god (in this case the dead Reaper they found) can dream. In his own words he talks about how a true god, not the white-bearded old man with magic powers told about in mythology, is a verb, a force of nature that warps reality just by existing it doesn't have to desire affecting things around it for it to do so. In this case he wishes that they had never found god.
▲== Web Originals ==
* In [[The Salvation War]] Satan's already dead {{spoiler|via anti-ship missile to the face, Jesus appears to have been nuked,}} and Yahweh's {{spoiler|been killed by [[The Starscream|Michael-Lan]].}}
* Played for laughs in the [[Team Starkid]] production [[Starship]], set in the distant future. Tootsie Noodles mentions early on that there is empirical proof that science killed God.<ref>He'd like to think that when [[Too Dumb to Live|He died, He went to heaven]].</ref>
{{quote|
== Real Life ==
* The April 8, 1966 cover of ''Time'' read, "Is God Dead?" The accompanying article described a movement known as "theothanatology" (in other words, the study of God's death).
* "[http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Protestant/2001/10/The-Theistic-God-Is-Dead-A-Casualty-Of-Terrorism.aspx The Theistic God is Dead - A Casualty of Terrorism.]" An article by John Shelby Spong, a liberal theologian and a former Episcopalian bishop.
* Certain theological theories deriving from [[
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[[Category:Religion Tropes]]
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