Messianic Archetype: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

While the word "messiah" has different meanings in different cultures and there have been [[wikipedia:List of messiah claimants|dozens of claimants to the title]] according to [[Wikipedia]], for most Western intents and purposes, the term has been [[Hijacked by Jesus]], with Jesus becoming the [[Trope Maker]].

It's also not necessary for the archetypal character to be even remotely Christian. The [[Ur Example]]s include Osiris (Egyptian) and Inanna (ancient Mesopotamia and the actual city of Ur) making this trope [[Older Than They Think]].

 

 

When the persistence of this trope causes you to see Messianic Archetypes everywhere, it's [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory]].

 

Remember that while many Messiahs die, this is still '''not a [[Death Trope]]''', so spoilers should still be marked.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Death Note]]'': {{spoiler|L gets this when Light is about to kill him}}.

* {{spoiler|Elenore}} in ''[[Madlax]]'' tragically becomes one.

* D-boy or Takaya Aiba from ''[[Tekkaman Blade]]'' is a [[Jerkass With a Heart of Gold]] version this combined with [[Fantastic Racism]] and being treated as nothing but mere weapons and experimental subject by the military. Although, when you actualy see his backstory, his [[Jerkass]] tendency is VERY justified

 

== Comic Books ==

* [[Fantastic Four|Adam Warlock]] for a stint had the [[Fan Nickname]] of "Space Jesus".

* X-Men has three, all related in some way or another:

** Second came [[Nineties Anti-Hero|Cable,]] as mentioned above.

** And now we've got Hope Summers, the first mutant born after the [[Brought Down to Normal|Decimation]], prophesied to be the last hope of mutantkind. What this means at this point is still anyone's guess, but she's become kind of a walking [[MacGuffin]] for everyone with ideas regarding the future of mutants.

 

== Film ==

*** Ironically, other Jedi expected both of them to bring balance to the Force. Perhaps they did, but it took a [[Prophecy Twist]] (Anakin having kids and turning evil) or two to get them there.

* Luke from ''[[Cool Hand Luke]]''

 

== Literature ==

* John Galt in ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', complete with {{spoiler|a [[Crucified Hero Shot]] as he's enduring [[Electric Torture]] at the hands of the villains}}. Subverted, since he's not acting out of altruism.

** Arguably Galt is an ''inversion'' of at least some components of the trope. His plan of {{spoiler|going on strike in order to bring economic activity to a halt, and thus causing civilization to collapse and rebuild itself}} involves ''witholding'' a "salvation" and forcing society to confront the actual consequences of its morality of Comtean altruism (the morality which is basically at the core of the Messianic Archetype). Applying [[Fridge Logic]] to his plan's obvious consequences (i.e. lots of people die as a result of {{spoiler|civilization's collapse}}) had led to some readers seeing Galt as a [[Dark Messiah]] instead of a Messianic Archetype.

* Father Zosima in ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' is a mix of the Messianic Archetype and [[The Obi-Wan]].

* Rand al'Thor from Robert Jordan's ''[[Wheel of Time]]'', a [[Chosen One]] hated and beloved. Prophecy states that his blood will spill to free mankind from the Dark One, most people think to mean that Rand must die, including himself (the insanity doesn't help him not to think such a thing). ([[Like You Would Really Do It|Yeah, right, sure he will.]])

* Female example: Doyler's mother in ''At Swim, Two Boys''. Among other things, when she's doing laundry, much is made about the transfer of the stains from the dirty clothes to her own apron.

* Simon in ''[[Lord of the Flies]]''.

** Played straight in Gandalf as the prophet, who is a divine being ([[Our Angels Are Different|Maia]]) in human form. He sees the virtues in little "children" (hobbits), leads the fellowship, drives the hypocrite from the "temple" (Wormtongue from King Théoden's court), and comes back from the dead. Played straight

** Played with in Aragorn as the king; except for his ancestry, he is a normal human. He is the hidden descendant of a royal line, harrows hell (the Paths of the Dead), and restores the kingdom.

* The main plot of ''Keeping Faith'' by [[Jodi Picoult]] is about a little girl named Faith who starts showing signs of being the Messiah after her parents divorce. It starts when she begins reciting Bible passages, even though the only religion she was exposed to was Judaism (and not very much at that). She then starts seeing her "Guard" (a female God), brings her dead grandmother back to life, heals an AIDS sufferer, and develops stigmata (holes in the hands where the nails went into Jesus' hands on the cross). However, after custody is given to her mother [[Meaningful Name|Mariah]], all of her messianic acts stop, making it seem like they were just ploys for attention. {{spoiler|But it is left ambiguous as to whether she still gets visits from her "Guard"}}.

 

* Jordan Collier in ''[[The 4400]]'' believes he is sent to guide his people, dies and is resurrected. His initials are, unsurprisingly, J.C. His temporary replacement, Shawn, also demonstrates Christ-like qualities, as he heals the sick and befriends drug-addicts. In a slight subversion, Collier is presented as more sinister than most Messianic archetypes, and is not above using terrorist tactics in his quest to improve the world. Is it any wonder he's a [[Dark Messiah]]? It is also worth noting he really was chosen to guide humanity by what are implied to be the closest thing to good guys from the future to save the world, and for all his sinisterness, the alternative is apparently worse in the long run.

* Subverted to hell and back (literally) with Brother Justin in ''Carnivale''; he's an outwardly saintly Methodist preacher with a "special destiny"... who turns out to be the Antichrist. It takes him, and us, a while to realize that.

** Also in ''Battlestar'', the Number Threes see themselves as Messiahs who will find the Final Five Cylons. After proving that they consider themselves "above" the group consensus of the other Cylons, the line is deactivated.

** This is all before the final season where Gaius Baltar, whose always had religious overtones to him, gains a cult and starts saying there is only one true God. It's a Jesus symbolism overload, seriously. Not to mention D'Anna would have destroyed the fleet had she not proven susceptible to his religious urges in the past and subsequently backed down.

* Another Sci Fi example, this time from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''. Jean Luc Picard was necessary for Earth's survival. Without him [[Fate Worse Than Death|becoming Locutus]], Earth would have been [[Fate Worse Than Death|assimilated by the Borg]].

** Season Six Jack seems to have taken over Locke's role in this archetype.

* An episode of ''[[Kingdom Hospital]]'' involved the Reverend Jimmy being found crucified, followed by a series of miracles re-enacting those of the New Testament. Unusual in that his Messianic Archetype status only becomes evident ''after'' he's died.

** The Tenth Doctor may have been accepted as a messianic figure by many humans in the New Series, but the writers of the Eleventh Doctor really take advantage of this trope. River Song is convinced that Eleven is the closest thing to a god that the Whoniverse has. Eleven himself seems to believe in some sort of God instinctively, and seems convinced that a higher power is messing with his head. Eleven hates himself (at least according to one of the writers), but is unable to fully save the universe until he accepts (at least temporarily) at least one of those "flaws". For the Christmas Special, people have commented that Eleven will "save the soul of a rich man". They haven't played with the idea as much as as the Tenth did yet, but give them time...

** The RTD era is a subversion as Waters of Mars thoroughly demonstrates that {{spoiler|once the Doctor starts thinking of himself as a saviour or god, he becomes more of a [[Dark Messiah]]}} and that, ultimately, all the messiah metaphors scattered throughout seasons 1-4 aren't meant to indicate anything good. So far Moffat seems to be playing the Messianic Archetype straight.

* Captain Sheridan of ''[[Babylon 5]]''. In the episode "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars," some monks living 500 years after the events of the series are shown transcribing what looks like an illuminated Bible, in which Sheridan is said to have "risen from the dead" and then "ascended into Heaven." That's an exaggeration, but not all that much of one.

* The title character of ''[[John From Cincinnati]]'' (note the "J.C.") might be Jesus, or perhaps an angel or some other supernatural being, but the show never got around to giving a straight answer to that question, if indeed the creators ever intended to.

 

== Music ==

* [[Tommy]].

 

** It is believed that the introduction of Christianity to Germany/Scandinavia led to a re-write of many of the myths of [[Norse Mythology]] (Thor's wedding, for one, is believed to have been written after said introduction as a way of mocking the old gods). It is possible the myths about Baldur were written or re-written to better fit the Christian faith, as was the part where Odin hung himself and was impaled by a spear much like Jesus.

* Quetzacoatl - martyred, will rise again. Unfortunately for the Mesoamericans, they thought he had. What they got instead were just [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens|Sufficiently Advanced Spaniards]].

* A similar myth exists about Frederick Barbarossa, who was a real historical figure, and a number of others, some real, some altogether legendary. A more extensive, but no doubt still partial list, can be found under [[wikipedia:King in the mountain|the King in the Mountain entry at the other wiki]].

* Mithra, ancient Zoroastrian god of covenant and oath.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

 

* Claude from ''[[Hair (theatre)]]'', more of a follower than a leader, but serves as kind of an emblematic persecution sink for the hippie movement, and, in most productions, is implied to have {{spoiler|[[Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence]] after being killed in Vietnam}}.

 

== Video Games ==

* Colette is set up for this role due to her duties of [[The Chosen One]] during the first third of ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]''. {{spoiler|It gets kind of subverted after that, when Lloyd takes the centre stage in the story.}}

* Gordon Freeman, of ''[[Half-Life]]'' fame: "And yet [[La Résistance|unsophisticated minds]] continue to imbue him with romantic power, giving him such dangerous poetic labels as the One Free Man, the Opener of the Way." There's even an Easter egg scene showing him in a stained glass window, complete with crowbar.

** More than that, it turns out that he has survived in [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|a different form.]]

* Yuna from ''[[Final Fantasy X]]''. Worshiped and loved by everyone around her? Check. {{spoiler|Heroic Sacrifice}}? Check. ''Walking on water''? Check.

* The [[Our Orcs Are Different|orcs]] of ''[[Dungeon Crawl]]'' are still looking for their messiah. If playing as an orcish priest of Beogh, you can ([[Dark Messiah|usually violently]]) convert the [[Goddamn Bats|numerous orcs]] into loyal followers by convincing them ''you'' are that messiah. And Beogh will eventually grant powers up to and including, yes, ''walking on water''. You don't HAVE to [[Heroic Sacrifice|die]], as per the original Messianic Archetype, although [[Everything Trying to Kill You|the rest of the dungeon]] makes this [[Nintendo Hard|the most likely outcome]].

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'': {{spoiler|[[The Hero|Sora]], who has always been [[The Messiah]], but is heading this way as of the [[Wham! Episode|secret ending]] to ''Birth by Sleep''.}}

** And, as the trailer for ''Mass Effect 3'' indicates, everyone is now waiting for Shepard to return to Earth and save them all...

* Sol Badguy from [[Guilty Gear]].

* [[Mysterious Waif|Sera]] from ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]''.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' ''Cataclysm'' has Thrall become this in the wake of the aformentioned cataclysm.

 

== Web Animation ==

* In Time Squad, the online [[Web Animation]] movie of the Blockhead series, the titular character varies between this and being a [[Seemingly-Profound Fool]]. He is shown to provide simple wisdom and inspiration to the other characters during their [[Darkest Hour]]s and is shown as the only character that the [[Mad Scientist]] villain seems to consider his [[Worthy Opponent]] and the [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|Red Oni to his Blue Oni]] since they somehow share a history together (Blockhead somehow existing in 15th century Romania and a collaborator in his mad schemes).

 

* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', Karkat's ancestor The Sufferer was a troll who spread a message of an Alternia free from the [[Alien Blood]]-based [[Fantastic Caste System]] that rules their culture, leading a massive revolution that was ultimately crushed by the Highbloods and ended with him being tortured and killed. However in his last moments he underwent a [[Face Heel Turn]], going from [[The Messiah]] to a [[Fallen Hero]] as he burned with rage and let out a Vast Expletive that served as his final sermon.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Argai the Prophecy]]''

* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Margaritaville", Kyle is portrayed as a Christ-like savior who makes a tremendous sacrifice to save the economy and pay off everyone's debt. A dinner he has with his friends is portrayed as the Last Supper, with Cartman taking on the role of Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, while some of the South Park residents form a council againt the [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|"young Jew spreading lies about the Economy"]]. [[Played for Laughs|Played]], to no one's suprise, [[Played for Laughs|for laughs]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Archetypal Character]]

[[Category:Biblical Motifs]]

[[Category:Tropes of the Divine]]