Semi-Divine: Difference between revisions

A character that's not a fully supernatural being (such as a [[Our Gods Are Greater|god]], [[Our Angels Are Different|angel]], [[Our Demons Are Different|demon]], [[Our Spirits Are Different|spirit in general]], [[Eldritch Abomination|abomination]], etc.), but has a touch of it or more in them. The character may be the [[Half Human Hybrids|offspring]]/[[Heinz Hybrid|descendant]] of supernatural creatures and mortals, or is part of a race that's inherently part-supernatural or in between. For that matter, [[Transhuman|the character might have even become part-supernatural]] as a boon from the [[Powers That Be]] or their own personal attempt to [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence]]. The reverse can also happen, as a fully supernatural being [[De -Power|Descends from a Higher Plane of Existence]] and winds up with a "mere" fraction of their former supernatural touch.

These characters tend to exhibit several [[Stock Super Powers]], and if they aren't outright [[Immortal]], they're almost guaranteed to be [[Long Lived]]. They may or may not qualify as [[Humanoid Abomination|Humanoid Abominations]]s (who themselves have a high chance of being this character type), and that's if they look humanoid in the first place.

[[The Antichrist]] is almost always an example. [[Changeling Tale|Changelings]] are also frequently found to be some mix of human and [[The Fair Folk|faerie]]. [[Divine Parentage]], being [[Touched Byby Vorlons]] and a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] are common origins for this type of character. Having a [[Pieces of God|piece]] of a magical being in you may also count.

As can be derived from the title, part-divine characters are one of the (if not, ''the'') most common examples, which is unsurprising, considering the fact that many gods in mythology have had rather promiscuous lifestyles, and this would naturally extend to modern-day fiction. It should be noted, however, that this trope applies to any mix or midway between "normal" and purely supernatural beings, so this isn't limited to the literal [['''Semi-Divine]]'''.

* All of the ''[[Claymore|Claymores]]s'' are half-human and [[Our Demons Are Different|half-youma]] {{spoiler|except for [[The Hero|Clare]], who is only one-quarter youma}}. They're born human and become half-youma by taking youma flesh into their bodies. A fallen Claymore warrior is called an "Awakened One" and is ''far'' more powerful than a pure-blooded youma.

* Jesse Custer in [[Garth Ennis]]' ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' series, who is [[Blessed Withwith Suck]] by literally having the "Word of God." (No relation to the [[Word of God|trope of the same name]].)

* The ''[[Kushiels Legacy|Kushiel's Legacy]]'' series establishes that the D'Angeline people are like this; descended from God's son and his angelic companions.

** And the sequel to the series, ''[[The Heroes of Olympus]]'', does the same. Most of the main characters are the children on the Roman gods now, however.

* [[Evil Overlord|The Lord Ruler]] of ''[[Mistborn]]'' presents himself as a [[Physical God]] {{spoiler|but is actually a human who briefly held a portion of the power of the god Preservation a millenium ago. Though he no longer possesses that power directly, while holding it he gained enough divine insight to make him scarily good at all three of the trilogy's forms of [[Functional Magic]], rendering him immortal and virtually invincible}}. [[Word of God]] calls people like this from across the overall cosmology of Sanderson's works "Slivers".

** Hell, most of the "demons" are an example. They're the product of countless generations of interbreeding between humans and true demons, who were more like [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]]s than their typical depictions.

* {{spoiler|[[Our Angels Are Different|Castiel]]}} during the fifth season of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. {{spoiler|After [[Rage Against the Heavens|rebelling against heaven]] to help the Winchesters save the world from the upcoming apocalypse, he steadily loses his divine power until he's basically human by the end of the season}}.

* In the ''[[Stargate Verse]]'', any character on the path to [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|ascension]] displays a plethora of [[Psychic Powers]], which signifies how close they are to becoming the [[Powers That Be|god-like]] ascended.

** Odysseus spent a few years on an island shacked up with a minor goddess. ''[[The Odyssey (Literature)|The Odyssey]]'' doesn't mention any children, but there's no such thing as a divinity that isn't Super Fertile. Later myths explore the lives of their many, many, many children.

* [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]], although in some denominations, he is [[Mind Screw|both]] 100% divine ''and'' 100% human.

* The ''[[Scion|Scions]]s'' are the children of gods, and can ascend to godhood themselves.

** Tieflings and Aasimar are descendants of [[Our Demons Are Different|fiends]] and [[Our Angels Are Different|celestials]], respectively. And the [http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Planetouched The] [[Half-Human Hybrid|plane]][[Heinz Hybrid|touched]"Planetouched"] in general, as they're all descended from [[Made of Magic|outsiderssomething not of mortal worlds]]. This may dilute down to "some sort of magical bloodline".

* In the ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate]]'' series, the Bhaalspawn are the children of [[Captain Obvious|Bhaal]], [[War God|the Lord of Murder]]. [[Evil Plan|He sired them so they would kill each other until none remained, at which point his essence that was scattered among them would have accumulated, and his chosen follower, Amelyssan, would have performed rituals that would have]] [[Back Fromfrom the Dead|brought him back.]] Neither [[Dragon Ascendant|Amelyssan]] nor [[Spanner in Thethe Works|the last Bhaalspawn]] (the protagonist) complied to these plans, however.

** In fact, Amelyssan was something like 99% god by the end of the Throne of Bhaal expansion. After defeating her, the [[PC]] (him/her)self [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|ascends to full godhood]].

* In ''[[First Encounter Assault Recon|F.E.A.R]]'', the unnamed child that was produced by {{spoiler|[[Our Ghosts Are Different|Alma]] [[Person of Mass Destruction|Wade]] [[Rape Asas Drama|raping]] [[Player Character|Michael Becket]] (the protagonist of ''Project Origin'')}} certainly counts. It's even described as a ghost in the flesh.

* The [[The Chosen One|Dragon]][[Player Character|born]] of ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|Skyrim]]'', who was been born with the soul and blood of a [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragon]] (who are otherwise known as [[Our Angels Are Different|aedric]] [[Our Spirits Are Different|spirits]]), but has the body of a mortal.

* Divinity in ''[[Fate/stay Stay Night (Visual Novel)night|Fate Stay Night]]'' is somewhat arbitrary and is ranked; the closer you are to the gods, the higher the rank. This results in heroes such as Gilgamesh, who is two-thirds divine (Rank A), but has his divinity reduced to Rank B since he himself dislikes the gods, and Medusa, who has had her divinity reduced severely after being transformed into a demonic creature.

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has {{spoiler|Antimony Carver}}, who's part [[Elemental Embodiment|fire-elemental]]. Also, Brinnie comes close from the other end — a [[Valkyries|Valkyrie]] who was a schoolgirl at the Court for a while, though still capable of opening portals in the air.

* Genie in the ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' sequels and series. After being freed, he has gone from having "phenomenal cosmic powers" to "semi-phenomenal nearly-cosmic powers".

* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', along with [[Big Bad|Vlad Masters]] and [[Opposite SexGender Clone|Danielle Phantom]], are half ghost, though there was no breeding between ghosts and humans involved: the former two were both results of [[Freak Lab Accident|lab accidents]], and the latter was cloned.

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