Secular Hero: Difference between revisions

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* [[Ciaphas Cain]] kinda lives in a setting where God-Emperor of Mankind is very observable, but he thinks he's too busy fighting the countless forces of Warp to care about him personally (though never misses jokes at Cain's expense)

* With the notable exception of Brutha from ''[[Discworld ~~(Literature)~~/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'', none of the [[Point of View]] characters in the ''[[~~Discworld (Literature)|~~Discworld]]'' pay much attention to any of the Disc's many gods.

* With the notable exception of Brutha from ''[[Discworld/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'', none of the [[Point of View]] characters in the ''[[Discworld]]'' pay much attention to any of the Disc's many gods.

* Much of the SSS in ''[[~~Angel Beats (Anime)|~~Angel Beats]]'', but especially Yuri Nakamura.

* Much of the SSS in ''[[Angel Beats]]'', but especially Yuri Nakamura.

* Bill Adama from ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'' did not believe in the Gods. This led him into conflict with President Roslin on several occasions. Adama's theological view evolved in the course of the series from atheist to non-religious believer.

* Despite the medieval setting and the presence of many clerical characters, some characters in the [[Deryni]] works are less than devout.

** Nigel Haldane: The opening quotation describes him preparing to have his nephew King Kelson trigger some of the family's arcane powers in him. Given that he's facing an unfamiliar arcane ritual that also makes him confront the unwelcome possibility that he may become king himself, he feels the need to pray: "A little awkwardly, then, he bowed his head and framed his thoughts in a far more formal petition than was usually his wont..."

** Alaric Morgan fits as well, partly in contrast to his more devout cousin Duncan McLain. Morgan once used his magic to contact his aide-de-camp during a religious service, and used fasting as a cover/excuse when he fainted from the effort. The morning after the knightly accolades of Kelson, Conall, and Dhugal, Morgan arrives late to an Ash Wednesday Mass, having stayed up to celebrate with Nigel and an excellent port the night before. He is elsewhere described as being uncomfortable with the idea of receiving the attention of Heaven. He does ask his cousin to give him a blessing (after said cousin became a bishop), and Duncan expresses some surprise at this request; it happens on the day Duncan (who is like a brother to Morgan) was leaving on a military campaign, with the unspoken possibility they night not see each other again.

* [[Defective Detective|Detective]] [[Knight in Sour Armor|Meyer Landsman]] of ''[[The Yiddish ~~Policemens~~ Union ~~(Literature)~~|The Yiddish Policemens Union]]'' is obviously culturally and ethnically Jewish, religiously agnostic. Landsman's personal issues, including his (lack of) religious identity, are a major subplot.

* [[Defective Detective|Detective]] [[Knight in Sour Armor|Meyer Landsman]] of ''[[The Yiddish Policemen's Union|The Yiddish Policemens Union]]'' is obviously culturally and ethnically Jewish, religiously agnostic. Landsman's personal issues, including his (lack of) religious identity, are a major subplot.

* Jeff, the main character of [[Community]] is agnostic and opts for not talking about religion to keep the peace in the study group, whereas all other characters have relatively strong religious or atheistic beliefs: "To me, religion is like Paul Rudd. I see the appeal and I would never take it away from anyone, but I would also never stand in line for it."

* ''[[Firefly]]''. Shepherd Book is a Christian preacher, and Inara is apparently Buddhist. The other characters don't have a problem with an open display of religion, but [[Big Damn Hero|Mal]] most definitely does. "You're welcome on my ship...God ain't." He's not an atheist<ref>at least according to Nathan Fillion</ref> or at least he didn't used to be (in a blink and you'll miss it moment during the Battle of Serenity Valley in the pilot, he's shown kissing a cross he's wearing around his neck); since the War of Independence he's just become either agnostic or angry at God (or both).

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* Edward Elric from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' claims not to be interested in religion, even though he's met God.

* Father Kienzle, of Robert Koessler's murder mystery series, lives a life largely of quiet faith, laughing at the more ridiculous rituals of the church and bending the rules where he feels it leads to a more harmonious conclusion.

* Similarly Brutha of ''[[Discworld ~~(Literature)~~/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'' is more spiritual than religious despite caring for an avatar of his God.

* Similarly Brutha of ''[[Discworld/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'' is more spiritual than religious despite caring for an avatar of his God.

* Sonozaki Shion of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]'' is a great example of this trope. She's sent to a Catholic school (against her will) and escapes, later on saying "If I stayed in a place like that, I'd either end up brainwashed or insane!" She also denies the existence of the village god, Oyashiro-sama on a lighter note.

* Sonozaki Shion of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' is a great example of this trope. She's sent to a Catholic school (against her will) and escapes, later on saying "If I stayed in a place like that, I'd either end up brainwashed or insane!" She also denies the existence of the village god, Oyashiro-sama on a lighter note.

* [[Dresden Files|Harry Dresden]] is not religious, despite working for archangels, being friends with holy knights on payroll from God Himself, and seeing how incredibly powerful faith can be. He is a direct inversion of the most common application of this trope - instead of being too heroic for silly little churches to bear his awesomeness and insight, he adores religion, but [[Self-Deprecation|thinks he's not a good enough person]] to be associated with it.