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A God Am I: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:ami.png|link=Death Note
{{quote|''Because you are haughty of heart, you say, '[[Trope Namer|A god am I]]! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!'''|''[[
When a character or villain gains superhuman abilities thanks to [[Green Rocks]], [[I Love Nuclear Power|nuclear power,]] [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|Transhumanism]], going [[One-Winged Angel]], being [[Touched
He will often give an [[Large Ham|over-the-top]] speech emphasizing just how far beyond ordinary humanity [[Goal-Oriented Evolution|he has evolved]], and how [[What Measure Is a Non Super|lowly they are compared to him.]] Cue the villain becoming a [[Narcissist]] who is [[Drunk
This guy is very likely to be brought down by his own [[Hubris]], though. [[Tempting Fate|Especially]] [[Blasphemous Boast|if he declares himself God right in front of a real God.]]
There is an alternate form of this trope, in which the [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|protogod character]] gives a speech that is insightful, [[Cryptic Conversation|cryptic]], or both, expressing his discovery of his benevolent and ''[[Put
The character may declare that he has transcended morality as well, and is [[Above Good and Evil]], but the [[Trope|tropes]] do not have to coincide.
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Aiming for godhood by ''rewriting the rules of the world'' is [[In Their Own Image]]. Another alternate version is the [[End of the World Special]]. See [[Physical God]] for those who don't have to try so hard. May, but [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|does not always]] result in a [[God Mode Sue]]. Having a sovereign ruler do this makes the character a [[God-Emperor]]. Also, see [[It's All About Me]] for a similar trope, minus the declaration of godhood.
See also [[One-Winged Angel]], [[Smug Super]] and [[Dark Messiah]]. Not to be confused with [[God Guise]]. Contrast with [[A God I Am Not]], where a genuinely godlike being refuses the label to avoid the implications; [[Stop Worshipping Me!]], where a deity doesn't want to be venerated as such; and [[Pro-Human Transhuman]], where a post human remains sympathetic to humanity. Also see [[Like a God
'''Note that this trope requires a ''self-proclamation of godhood''.''' Possessing or gaining [[Physical God|godlike powers]] by itself doesn’t count, nor is it a requirement to possess such powers to qualify for this trope.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[
{{quote| ''"You yielded to the power of the shinigami and the notebook and confused yourself with a god."''<ref>A similar line is found in the earlier anime, ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]''.</ref>}}
** Ultimately, Light's excessive hubris is explained by the revelation of the fact that {{spoiler|[[The Ubermensch|he doesn't believe in morality at all and felt free to invent his own rules because he valued no life except his own]].}}
* ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where guns have ceased to exist. Martial arts masters who do not walk the path of righteousness will fall victim to this mental-illness and proceed to build an empire of blood, tears and tyranny.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[Transformers Headmasters]]'', Galvatron hatches a scheme to use the Earth as raw material to become a being akin to his creator, Unicron. When Punch, the Autobot spy learned of this plot, he uttered the words, "He's gone mad!" As if all of Galvatron's actions since the third season of the Generation 1 cartoon didn't clue us in already.
* ''[[Kamichu!]]'' contains a noticeable aversion: The main character of the anime actually ''does'' become a god, for no particular reason, just before the series begins. She continues, however, to act like a confused, shy, somewhat overwhelmed middle-school girl, and her deific status is treated more or less like a part-time job. This is not so much a usual instance of A God Am I but more of an expression of the [[Useful Notes/Shinto|Shinto]] belief that all things and beings are tied to their gods.
* ''[[
* Largo, of ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]],'' not only considered himself a god, but developed a messiah complex for his Boomer "brethren" to boot.
* ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'': [[Big Bad|Kagato]] desires to acquire the power of the Juraian Royal Family and reign over the entire universe as its god. His name actually ''means'' "I am god who is man".
* In ''[[
** His friend Durandal in the sequel ''[[
* {{spoiler|Ribbons Almark}} of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00
* ''[[
** One of the trailers for the series release (in English, at least) even makes reference to this, using the line: "If you could change the world, would you be a god or a demon?"
*** The series itself seems to subvert this trope when it comes to Lelouch. As the series goes on, he fully embraces the image that he is The Devil incarnate, while the rest of world believes that he thinks of himself as a god. The title of the first episode, when translated without Bowdlerization involved, is "The Day the Devil Was Born". Better examples of this in the series include {{spoiler|Schneizel (mentioned below) and to some extent, Charles and Marianne.}}
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* In ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'', Ichijouji Ken (aka the Digimon Kaiser) has quite the streak of [[More Than Mind Control]]-induced sociopathy. Considering himself superior to everyone else because of his genius, he goes so far as to declare himself the only individual worthy of entering the Digital World. Oh, and controlling it along with the actual Digimon, using Dark Rings. He pays for this. [[Break the Haughty|Big time]].
* ''[[Bleach]]'': Aizen has an extreme god complex, claiming that he alone can "stand in Heaven" and become something even a god could only wish to be. He even built a sky with artificial spying abilities {{spoiler|and used the Hougyoku to try and break the boundary between the shinigami and the divine before Ichigo stopped him.}}
** {{spoiler|Second Espada Barragan}} proclaims himself the "God of Hueco Mundo"... {{spoiler|[[Hoist
** {{spoiler|Yukio in later chapters has now declared himself to be a god of his game dimension...only for him to be quickly beaten by Hitsugaya.}}
* Father, the main villain of the manga version of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
** {{spoiler|In chapter 104, he uses the five sacrifices to force open the world's Gate, dragging God itself down to Earth and fusing with it.}}
*** Fortunately, that didn't last long, as {{spoiler|[[Batman Gambit|Hohenheim had taken measures to ensure Father got to enjoy his godliness for a couple minutes at most.]] }}
* Cars, the villain of the second part of ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure
* ''[[
* Shapiro Keats from ''[[Dancougar]]'' is always under the ambition that he will be a god. Which leads him to dump his lover Sara, and join the Muge Empire, rising up the ranks as a top-class strategist. But then, his plans eventually come crashing down, but he still held his delusions that he will be a god.
** Which doesn't stop him from {{spoiler|saving the Cyber Beast Force in "Blazing Epilogue" with his anger against the aliens who betrayed him. Dancougar is a machine fed by fury, and he had lots of it.}} All that frustration had to go somewhere.
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** {{spoiler|He's proven wrong quite dramatically at the end, where he actually does declare himself an "omnipotent god" before being interrupted by Lain. In a single [[Hannibal Lecture]] she hints at the existence of a real God, mocks Eiri for thinking himself anything more than a puny human and destroys him effortlessly when he tries to attack her in a rage. A God I'm Not...}}
*** {{spoiler|He's declaring this to a girl who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. And probably immortal. Oh the irony...}}
* Played straight and slightly subverted in ''[[
** And the fact that the word for ''god'' (kami) is similar to the word for ''thunder'' (kaminari) in Japanese. A fact he puns on by introducing himself with "Ore wa Kaminari" which can mean both 'I am Lightning' or 'I have become God'
* Subverted in ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'': The Pillar of Cephiro ''has'' limitless power, as it is her will which [[Fisher King|gives shape to the entire world]]. When {{spoiler|Hikaru achieves this state, in both anime and manga, she relinquishes it ''immediately'' and gives it willingly to the inhabitants of Cephiro, so ''they'', rather than a single person, are responsible for their own world.}}
* In ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross|Macross]]'' {{spoiler|''[[Macross Frontier|Frontier]]'', the ultimate goal of the [[Big Bad]] is to unite the entire galaxy in a galaxy-spanning [[Hive Mind|collective consciousness]] (whether it wants to or not) with the [[Big Bad]] personally at the very top}}.
* {{spoiler|Miyo Takano}}, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
{{quote| '''[[Big Bad]]''': "Without a curse, there is no God. Because of the curse, there is fear. Because of fear, there is ''worship''. Now is the time when God advents! I have become Oyashiro-sama!"}}
** {{spoiler|Keiichi too. In the arc where he tries to save Satoko from Teppei, he survives and thinks he has godly powers, because every person he said who died, died. The village, a reporter, and Takano. However, it was a coincidence, and Takano actually went [[Faking the Dead]].}}
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** Tobi is a bad boy. {{spoiler|Madara's ultimate goal is to essentially brainwash everyone into not fighting and then set himself up as a leader.}}
** Black Zetsu verges on this, declaring boldly "I am the Land!"
* Happens (arguably) to two characters in ''[[
* Creed from ''[[Black Cat (
* [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s ''[[Phoenix]]'': volume Future, has main character Masato Yamanobe fill the role of God. Masato must begin the evolution of Earth anew when the current world is devastated by nuclear war (and it is hinted that this isn't the first time life on Earth has been obliterated). Masato doesn't want to be god and in fact tries to discourage the people he helps create from thinking of him in that way. The real god of the story is the eternal Phoenix, who gave Masato his power and immortality in the first place.
* Claire Stanfield from ''[[
** It turns out that Claire Stanfield's god complex is hereditary, as his great-grandaughter Claudia has much the same worldview.
* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' has twelve already mentally unstable individuals empowered with precognitive diaries and [[There Can Be Only One|made to battle each other]]; the winner will become God once the other 11 are dead. As a result, it's probably easier to state which one of the diary holders ''do not'' suffer from this to one degree or another.
** Ironically, {{spoiler|[[The Hero]] who ends up WINNING.}}
* The exact opposite also occurs: ''[[
** ''[[Dragonball Z]]'': In the first Broly movie of the series, Broly is able to single-handedly beat down everyone. This includes (All of which are SSJ) Goku, Gohan, Trunks, and Vegeta. After Vegeta gets beat a second time, Piccolo appears to (at least try to) save the day. He looks at the damage, and then at Broly.
{{quote| Piccolo: "What are you, some kind of monster?"<br />
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** Even the good guys get in on the act to a degree: Chouginga/Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann is described as [[Blasphemous Boast|being able to take on the gods themselves]].
** You can even argue that this trope regarding the heroes is {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|subverted]] ''and'' [[Defied Trope|defied]] at the end of the series. Simon could have ascended to god-status easily and permanently; at a certain point one might assume this will be the case, considering the amazing power he and Team Dai-Gurren have amassed. But instead, Simon refuses to take that role; Yoko and he even give the ''opposite'' of the "A God Am I" speech: [[Defied Trope|"Simon isn't God, Gimmy." / "I'm just Simon the Digger."]] (He had his reasons, though it's a very controversial end.)}}
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' gives use several. Kagemaru wishes to harness the power of the Mythic Demons/Sacred Beasts to "become the God of the world" and restore his youth. Saiou, possessed by an [[Eldritch Abomination]], wished to cleanse the world and remake it in "the image of light." Yubel wanted to fuse all twelve dimensions into one, and rule over them with Judai. Amon Garam wants to become the god of the alternate dimensions. [[Monster of the Week|Duelist of the week]] Frantz, who dueled using a copy of the Winged Dragon of Ra, merged with Ra using its special ability:
{{quote| '''Frantz:''' Now you will respect me, you insignificant little insect! I don't ''have'' an Egyptian god, [[Large Ham|I AM ONE!]]}}
* Rex Godwin in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
** ZONE in the most recent season is apparently also a "God of Destiny" ( {{spoiler|being able to change the past and all that}}).
{{quote| '''ZONE:''' Yusei Fudo, though you may have come this far with [[Screw Destiny|the intention to cut open the future with your own power]]...[[Exactly As Planned|everything has merely traveled along the rails that I have laid out.]] To you, I am the equivalent of a God. [...] In order to change [[Bad Future|the future]], Zero Reverse was caused and your lives were changed dramatically. You were orphaned, living in Satellite, and then rose up to the challenges in the WRGP. However, that victory was only a means {{spoiler|[[Colony Drop|to call out the Ark Cradle]]}}. [...] Do you understand? The meaning of me being your God? And if a God decides to take a path of destruction, then no one shall defy it.}}
* ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'': {{spoiler|Nakago.}}
* ''[[Ayashi no Ceres]]'': {{spoiler|Shiso.}} Sort of.
* Director Kakuzawa in ''[[
** Moreover, his own status as a Diclonius {{spoiler|turns out to be based on the racial myths of his once-persecuted, very Human family. Lucy's evolutionary offshoot has no connection to his clan whatsoever, as Lucy tells his corpse.}}
* Played with, but ultimately averted in ''[[Ranma ½
* Played with in ''[[The World Only God Knows]]'', where the protagonist is a god...of [[Dating Sim|Dating Sims]]. [[It Makes Sense in Context|Which is actually a good thing for the plot.]]
* Knives from ''[[
* In ''[[
** In the bloopers the voice over guy has a mental breakdown and becomes convinced that he is God when he finds out they've finished the last episode.
* {{spoiler|Theodore Dudek}} in ''[[King of
{{quote| {{spoiler|Theodore}}: Well, yeah... but it's sorta more then that. I want everyone on earth to play role-playing games constantly! To play them like breathing! Imagine a world where everyone is completely absorbed in their own fantasies! Better yet, ''my'' fantasies! I want to create an imaginary world that everyone dreams of being a part of! A grand illusion with me as the Game Master, adored by all! Games are about ''control''! And when I have that control...[[Death Note
* Hardner from ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* The Mage from ''[[The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer]]'', once he became [[The Unfettered|an unfettered psychic]] and {{spoiler|hammered the Earth, then did it again in a different time/dimension a dozen more times}}.
* In ''[[
** Accelerator is interesting because he doesn't particularly want to be a god. He doesn't want to take part in the program, doesn't want to be a Level 6, or even an esper. He hates fighting. But he's decided that the only way to stop the fighting is to reach the point where "even thinking of challenging me would be a sin."
* Still in ''[[
* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'': Byakuran can also be placed here, going as far as to {{spoiler|kidnap Uni for her soul so he can activate the tre-ni-sette to create a new world under his rule.}}
* ''[[Rosario Plus Vampire]]'': Kamiya Kanade calls himself God. As a {{spoiler|[[Brown Note|siren]]}}, he really did win the [[Superpower Lottery]], but his delusions of godhood come to a crashing halt at the hands ({{spoiler|or rather, voice}}) of {{spoiler|Sun Otonashi, an even more powerful siren whose song causes his body to crumble to dust}}.
* ''[[
* ''[[Full Metal Panic]]'': Happens twice in the novels, after {{spoiler|Kaname Chidori}} becomes possessed by {{spoiler|Sophia}}, the original Whispered. The first time, in ''Semaru Nick of Time'', just before {{spoiler|Sophia}} takes over, she resonates with {{spoiler|Kaname}} and she claims that: "If a God exists, then we are that existence. You are the entirety of the three Moirae. Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos." The second time it happens in the second part of ''Zutto Stand By Me'', when {{spoiler|Sophia/Kaname}} thinks that there is no God, no help coming from anywhere, only herself and {{spoiler|the machine she had created to change the world}}.
{{quote| "However, if the three Fates would be born from human technology, she would become all of them - Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos at the same time."}}
** It's worth mentioning that most people loyal to Leonard Testarossa seem to think the same way about her, considering her and Leonard as Gods that would {{spoiler|make their sad pasts go away, and give them a new, better life in return}}.
* Yasako begins seeing herself as the goddess of the civilization growing on her face in one episode of ''[[Dennou Coil]]''. It was...an odd episode.
* This trope is the main reason why [[Haruhi Suzumiya
* In ''[[Kamichama Karin]]'', the titular character's magical girl form is that of an actual goddess. Her transformation [[Catch Phrase]] is "I am God".
* {{spoiler|Zeus}} in ''[[
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** Doom is the unsurpassed master and monarch of this trope. "I want that power. By right, it is mine. For ultimate power is the ultimate destiny of Doom!" And, in fact, Victor von Doom has come within a fraction of a hair's width of securing Real Ultimate Power (TM) several times in the past - to the extent of successfully stealing not only the Power Cosmic of [[Galactus]] but also The Beyonder's apparently omnipotent abilities in the course of the ''[[Secret Wars]]'' story arc. Naturally, [[Status Quo Is God|he is beaten in the end once again]], but still...
*** After [[Mark Millar]]'s run he gained god-like powers at a level strong enough to kill a Watcher. Still, it's possible that all writers will quickly forget about it.
* Another [[Incredibly Lame Pun|X-ample]] with [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Apocalypse]], who claims to have masqueraded as various gods during his millennia-long life. In the [[X-Men (
** And later, the returning [[The Vamp|Selene]] has made it very clear that she was now aiming straight at godhood. Well, not before making her enemies suffer and pay for having impeded her.
* [[Wolverine]] narrowly avoided this during ''Lost in the Funhouse''. After being imbued with the power of the issue's [[MacGuffin]], he briefly revels in the thought of what he could do - before realising that if he starts using it, he'll never be able to stop and [[He Who Fights Monsters|end up like the villain of the issue]].
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** In a non-Echidna example: Feist is essentially God within the Special Zone, and anyone who goes there has no choice but to abide by his rules.
* ''[[Batman]]'' villain Max Zeus is one of the 'so mad he thinks he's God' versions; although he doesn't possess any superpowers himself, he's managed to delude himself into believing that he is Zeus, All-Powerful Lord of Olympus. His [[Prophetic Names|last name doesn't help matters]]. Nor does his lightning cannon.
** Zeus makes an appearance in [[Batman: The Animated Series
*** Also, Ivy used the name "Dr. Demeter" in an earlier episode.
* In ''[[Powers]]'', 'The Sellouts' storyline revolves around a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Superman]] who has lost his mind and believes himself to be a god. The results aren't pretty.
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* In ''[[The Books of Magic]]'', Timothy Hunter may become this in the future, and we catch glimpses of it. The first story arc of the series involves various magicians in [[The DCU]] trying to decide what to do about this.
* {{spoiler|Element Lad}} in the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Book)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' storyline "Legion Lost." {{spoiler|After getting lost through a [[Timey-Wimey Ball|time/space rift]] he transmutes himself into living mineral to survive, becoming immortal, and starts altering life on developing worlds to pass time, eventually creating whole civilizations of [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]]. By the time his time-displaced friends find him again billions of years later, his powers have grown a thousandfold; he's lost all sense of morality and murders one of his former comrades on a whim.}}
* In the ''[[Planet Hulk]]'' storyline, {{spoiler|the Red King claims to be God in the flesh while fighting the [[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|Incredible Hulk]] in a [[A Mech
* During the end of [[Peter David]]'s run on Marvel's [[Captain Mar-Vell|Captain Marvel]], Genis, the then-Captain, became Cosmically Aware ''and'' empowered. He was driven mad by being suddenly conscious of every event and being that existed throughout the universe at once, then subsequently went about erasing ''all of reality'' within a meager few pages. Reality gets better later, though. He later goes on to harass preachers and Asgard in an attempt to force his self-declared godhood on the rest of the world.
* Ironically subverted during "The Korvac Saga" in ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]]''. Korvac, a supervillain, accidentally gains cosmic powers and knowledge... and, realizing humanity is at the mercy of [[Cosmic Horror Story|uncaring cosmic beings]], decides to help free the universe from them. Unfortunately, he is tracked down by The Avengers (who had no idea what had happened to him) and is exposed, ruining his plans. In the end, he commits suicide out of despair. This story has been retconned later to make it seem that Korvac was still villainous and that the Avengers were right in opposing him, but anybody who reads the original version can clearly tell that wasn't the case.
* Even though ([[Depending
{{quote| "I am many things, Kal-El. But here, I am God."}}
** [[Final Crisis|"I. AM. THE. NEW. GOD."]]
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{{quote| '''Swordsman''': "You can't treat me like this! I'm a [[Royally Screwed-Up|baron]]!"<br />
'''Green Goblin''': "I am God!" }}
* The Skull of ''[[Earth X]]'' has the power to control the minds (or at least bodies) of every human being on Earth. Not surprisingly, he declares himself to be God. Ironically, he's more of [[Touched
{{quote| '''Skull''': "You wouldn't even eat if I didn't remind you to. Fall down. You wouldn't bathe if I didn't get sick of your stink and make you. I'm God."<br />
'''[[Captain America]]''': "Then I'm Nietzsche." }}
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* Hiro-Kala, teenage son of Hulk, gave us a really badass example, telling a whole army that:
{{quote| '''Hiro-Kala:''' ''I am the chosen, progeny of Hulk the Green Scar and Caiera, shadow mother of all Sakaar. I am he of shadow, the life-bringer and world-breaker. Upon my planet I was known as Hiro-Kala. You will come to know me as GOD.''}}
* Rughal in ''[[
* In ''[[Sonic the Comic]]'' this happens ''twice'' to Robotnik. The first time, in the "Robotnik Reigns Supreme" storyline, he manages to absorb the power of the [[Green Rocks|Chaos Emeralds]] and has reality completely at his whim until he gets outwitted by Sonic and drained of his powers. Much later he is hooked up to an alien machine supposed to drain the life force out of the planet and into his body, which gives him a brief moment of god-like powers until he is defeated again.
* Toyed with in ''[[Watchmen (
* Blume, the [[Cephalothorax|giant floating head]] from ''[[
* In one two-part story in [[Captain America]], the Red Skull obtains the [[MacGuffin|Cosmic Cube]] and becomes this. He demonstrates by making himself a suit of golden armor and generating a [[Mook]] for Cap to fight. Eventually, Captain America knocks the Cube from the Skull's hand, and the Skull [[Disney Death|presumably dies]] diving into the water after it.
* Borderline example: Evil Kryptonians like General Zod tend to see themselves as above everyone due to their incredible power. At least Zod is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to realize ''some'' people can threaten them, urging his [[Mooks]] to learn decent fighting skills and battle tactics.
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* A [[Chick Tract]] had one of these -- an approximately 8-year old boy deciding he was a god after his mother explained to him the point of atheism -- thus, he thought that if there is no god, he could become one. [[Straw Atheist]]? What else do you expect from [[Jack Chick]]?
* The [[Scarlet Witch]] attained godlike powers for a time, which naturally proved highly detrimental to her sanity. Birthing children with an android probably didn't help.
* ''[[Nth Man:
* In ''[[Action Comics]]'', [[Lex Luthor]] merges with a Phantom Zone entity and becomes a massive godlike [[Energy Being]]. He uses his new power to halt entropy in all of existence and grants everyone immortality and eternal bliss while reveling in his godhood and flaunting it in the face of [[Superman]]. {{spoiler|Then his Loisbot informs him that the zone entity made sure Luthor couldn't do anything negative with that power such as killing Superman. He can't refrain from trying, and so squanders his power in self-destructive pettiness.}}
* Doctor Destiny from [[The Sandman]] when he briefly acquires one of Morpheus' artifacts. He actually does manage to cause mass chaos in both the real world and the dream world, and almost destroys the dream world entirely... {{spoiler|until he accidentally gave the Lord Of Dreams a [[Power-Up]]}}.
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== Fan Fiction ==
* ''[[
* ''Until the End of Time'': [[Dragonball Z|Super Saiyan]] [[Those Wacky Nazis|Hitler]]. Complete with a [[Shout-Out]] to the ''[[Street Fighter (
* ''[[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality (Fanfic)|Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality]]'': Harry's ultimate goal is:
{{quote| To understand everything important there is to know about the universe, apply that knowledge to become omnipotent, and use that power to rewrite reality because I have some objections to the way it works now.}}
* There are fanfiction roleplayers who fall under this trope. They really love God Moding, even if it's a huge annoyance to others. Can you say "[[Mary Sue]]"?
* In ''[[The Shape of the Nightmare
* In ''[[
* In [http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Fanon:A:TLAR A:TLAR], the interpretation of the Avatar (of the series [[
* Although he doesn't actually gain any godly powers, Calvin seems to believe this in [[Makes Just
{{quote| [[No Indoor Voice|"I SWEAR ON ALL THAT IS HOLY THAT I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE! I WILL! I'M THE GOD! I'M THE GOD! AAAAAAHHH—"]]}}
* In the ''My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic''/[[
* ''[[Ponies Make War (Fanfic)|Ponies Make War]]'': Ignoring the fact that most of the main villains and one of the protagonists are ''actual'' gods, the story ultimately has a subversion of this trope in the case of {{spoiler|Twilight Sparkle. After tapping into the full power of the Elements of Harmony, she becomes a [[Physical God]] so powerful that only [[Big Bad|Titan]] himself is able to knock her down -- and she is ''horrified'' by it, deciding that ''nopony'' should have that much power.}}
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'''Train Man:''' ''*punches Neo into the back wall*''<br />
'''Train Man:''' "Down here[[Beat|.]][[Dramatic Ellipsis|..]] I'm God. }}
* ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)]]'' (1931): [[Ur Example|One of the earliest examples]]. After Henry's famous [[Large Ham|"It's alliiive!"]], when he goes on to say [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xos2MnVxe-c "Now I know what it feels like to be God!"] Originally, that part of the line was cut because the censors said it was blasphemous (which it is). It was cut off by a thunderbolt; the full line wasn't restored until ''1999'', 12 years after most of the other excised scenes were restored in full.
* ''[[
* ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'': Jafar does a textbook example of the rundown of this trope, wishing to become an all-powerful genie. In his following exultations, he mentions how the universe is now his to control, even going so far as to create a small solar system between his hands just for the hell of it. This is until Aladdin reminds him what the other half of "phenomenal cosmic power" is... "itty bitty living space".
* Skeletor has one of these speeches at the climax of the ''[[Masters of the Universe (
* ''[[The Lawnmower Man]]'' (has [[In Name Only|nothing but the title in common]] with the [[Stephen King]] short story), where Jobe declares his intention to be the "Cyberchrist." His defining line (referring to [[Cyberspace]]): "[[Punctuated for Emphasis|I am God here!]]"
* ''[[
* ''[[Street Fighter (
{{quote| "Something wrong, Colonel?? You came here expecting to fight a madman, and instead you find [[Large Ham|a god]]?}}
:: After kicking Guile's ass for the next couple of minutes, Bison delivers one of the [[Ham and Cheese|hammiest lines ever recorded]].
{{quote| "You still refuse to accept my godhood? Fine! Keep your own god! In fact, now might be a good time to pray to him! ''For I beheld Satan'' '''as he fell from heaven!''' '''''LIKE LIGHTNING!'''''" }}
:: Considering he's directly paraphrasing [[The Bible
* ''[[
** However, his true purpose was as a servant to all manners of [[Cosmic Horror Story|Cosmic Horrors]] and [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]], assuming everything in the movie wasn't a figment of the main character's imagination, or part of a meta-gambit by John Carpenter. (Yeah, it's [[Through the Eyes of Madness|that kind of movie]].)
* ''[[Bruce Almighty]]'' features a mortal (that's Bruce!) who is granted divine powers for as long he wants. Bruce, being a flawed and limited human, ensures that mistakes are made. The trope is deconstructed since Bruce does not use his powers for any greater jobs than teaching his dog to urinate into a human toilet and advance his reporter career by creating ''amazing'' events to report. But by doing even such pathetic things he still manages to make big problems for himself and everyone, and manages to lose his girlfriend because she prefers normal Bruce. So God must take his place back and fix everything in a snap using same powers.
* Xerxes in ''[[
* [[Sadist Teacher|Trunchbull]] in ''[[Matilda (
{{quote| In this school... [[Punctuated for Emphasis|I...AM...]]'''[[Punctuated for Emphasis|GOD!!!]]'''}}
* ''[[Spider-Man (
* From ''[[Caligula]]'': "I have existed from the morning of the world and I shall exist until the last star falls from the night. Although I have taken the form of Gaius Caligula, I am all men as I am no man and therefore I am a god."
* A ''particularly'' creepy example shows up in ''[[Gothika]]'' when Dr. Grey discovers {{spoiler|the torture dungeon that her late husband used to rape and kill his female victims in. As she watches one of the videotapes that he shot in which he just finished molesting another woman he walks up to the camera, adjusts his tie, and states "It's good to be God. I love you." Near the end, Sheriff Ryan (Doug's friend and accomplice in his rape/molestation/murder of young women) reveals that they shared the sentiment, saying "We were their God."}}
* This idea is poked fun at in ''[[Newsies]]'' - Joe Pulitzer is obviously full of himself, and pontificates "When I created The World..." (repeated when this speech is interrupted and he asks his assistant where he was. The response? "Creating the world, sir.") But... ''The World'' was the name of his newspaper, so he's not quite as full of it as he sounds.
* ''[[Malice (
* The villain Benedict declares this in ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' once he's beginning to fully grasp his newfound ability to cross between dimensions and defy the real-world laws of physics at will...
{{quote| '''Benedict''': "If God were a [[Card-Carrying Villain|villain]] ... he'd be me!"}}
* In ''[[Almost Famous]]'', rock star Russell Hammond takes too much acid and climbs on a roof at a house party to declare "I am a golden god!" Later, when he has sobered up, he doesn't believe he said it. This is actually in reference to Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin having said the same thing on a hotel balcony.
* Deacon Frost's goal in the first ''[[Blade (
* Inverted and/or parodied in the movie ''[[Ghostbusters]]''
{{quote| '''Gozer''': "Are you a god?"<br />
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'''Zeddmore''' (to Stantz): "Ray. If someone asks if you are a god, you say, 'yes!'" }}
* ''[[Dreamscape]]''. When Tommy Raye faces off against Alex Gardner in the President's dream, he tells Alex "In here, I'm God." And, because of his mastery and knowledge of dream warfare, he is.
* Freddy Krueger in ''[[A Nightmare
{{quote| '''Tina:''' Please God...<br />
'''Freddy:''' ''This'' (holds up claw glove)... is God! }}
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** {{spoiler|Then he stepped on a land mine and ended up being judged by God.}}
* In the climax of ''[[Dark Star]]'', {{spoiler|Doolittle succeeds at convincing Bomb #20 that its external sensory data is a lie and it itself is the only thing it can be sure exists, in a desperate gambit to make the bomb disregard an order to detonate while still attached to the ship.}} Unfortunately, the character in question uses this new 'insight' to become a solipsist and eventually decides that, in the absence of anything else having any proof of existence, this means it is, in fact, God. And God said "let there be light"... And there was light...
* {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime}}, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Transformers (
* Johann Schmidt (aka, Red Skull) in ''[[Captain America:
* While not specifically stating Godhood, Andrew in ''[[Chronicle]]'' implies himself to be an "Apex Predator", giving imagery of a lion not feeling remorse when it eats a gazelle. He then crushes a car, just the drive the point home.
* [[Judge Dredd]]'s arch-enemy Rico.
{{quote| ''"For the crime of being human, when we could have been gods! Guilty"''.}}
* Loki invokes this in ''[[The Avengers (
{{quote| '''Hulk:''' ''"Puny god."''}}
* Divine from ''[[Pink Flamingos]]''. When asked if she believes in God, she replies "I ''am'' God!"
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== Folklore ==
* In a Low German folktale collected by [[The Brothers Grimm (Creator)|The Brothers Grimm]], "The Fisherman and His Wife", the eponymous lady, having been made successively King, Emperor, and Pope by a magic flounder, demands to be made equal to God. The couple end up as they began, living "in piety" (a phrase used to mean "in poverty" at the time of the writing).
** The equivalent Russian tale, as recorded and remade as a poem by [[
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* {{spoiler|Virlomi}}, of [[Orson Scott Card]]'s ''[[Ender's Game]]'' saga, {{spoiler|believed that she could communicate with the gods, and that she was divinely ordained}} to save India. {{spoiler|All of India worshipped her as the Goddess of the Bridge.}}
* [[Orson Scott Card]]'s ''Homecoming'' series: The Keeper of Earth is never outright stated to be God (or even Gaia), but with the stunts She (as The Keeper is usually called) pulls off (sending an image of Nafai's face to a Digger girl 1,000 years before he was born, chasing the bulk of humanity off with a spontaneous Ice Age), She might as well be.
* [[Simon R. Green]]'s ''[[Deathstalker]]'' series, in many cases - though the most notable one involves a [[Stable Time Loop]] combined with a HUGE [[Ass Pull]] at the very end of the Owen-centric series.
** If you want a webcomic approximation of this, check out ''[[Bob and George]].''
* Frank Herbert's ''[[Dune]]'', the protagonist, Paul Atreides becomes the [[Messianic Archetype|Kwisatz Haderach]], the universe's [[Ubermensch|super being]]. His consciousness can be in many places at once and can see things before they happen. He is worshipped as a messiah and god.
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*** Leto II and Paul have the conversation with Paul in Children (I think (or maybe it was Leto II talking to someone else later)) where it's pointed out that Paul could have put humanity on the Golden Path but didn't have the chutzpah to give up his humanity in the process. Leto II just saw the inevitability and surrendered to destiny.
** Also, late books imply that {{spoiler|Paul wasn't the Kwisatz Haderach. Duncan Idaho is.}}
* [[The Lord of the Rings
** Played straight, however, with Sauron and his predecessor and former master, Morgoth. Both of them made themselves out as gods to their orcish and human followers such as the Haradrim. Tolkien himself referred to their reigns as "evil theocracies". Morgoth was somewhat justified, as he was one of the Valar, beings similar to the Greek gods except they did not want to be worshipped, as that was Eru's right to be worshipped alone. Sauron encouraged and enforced worship of Morgoth via human sacrifice on both Numenor, Mordor, and the southern lands.
** Morgoth also wanted to be God, to the point he weaved his own soul into Arda at the beginning of time. He claims to Hurin that he actually ''is'' God. [[Shut UP, Hannibal|Hurin calls him on his bullshit]].
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* Obould Many-Arrows from ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' acquires the moniker Obould-Who-Is-Gruumsh at the height of his power, Gruumsh being the chief god of the Orcs.
** Gruumsh sponsored Obould as his Chosen (divine minion given with a shred of godly power without extra strings attached) before this and vassal demigod after (upon death), so it's only a little exaggeration.
** Karsus from ancient pre-history was the only man who acquired divine status through spellcasting. Well, [[Too Much for Man
* In ''[[Second Apocalypse]]'' Conphas eventually convinces himself that he is a god.
** And in what has been revealed of the second trilogy, {{spoiler|Kellhus gets himself worshipped as one.}}
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* Inverted in [[Piers Anthony]]'s ''[[Incarnations of Immortality]]'' series. {{spoiler|Since the original God is too caught up in this trope's attitude to bother with Earthly affairs, another more humble individual must be manipulated into becoming God}}.
* "For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something."<br />- The Star Child in ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]''
* In [[
** Coin, from another of his novels, ''[[Discworld
** Also, in ''[[Discworld
* Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from ''[[Journey to
** Ironically, after he was freed and assisted Xuangzang in his journey, he DID become worshipped as a god, and in Buddhism is proclaimed the Buddha of Courage (not a godly position entirely, but as close as someone can get to godhood in a religion which itself has no real gods).
* [[Patricia
* This is more or less the plot of Dave Duncan's ''Great Game'' series, in which {{spoiler|all gods derive their power from people worshipping them. The plot revolves around the attempt by the existing gods to stop a new god from accruing sufficient power to topple them all, and the main character's attempts to stop him by becoming a new god as well}}
* In Fiona Patton's ''Tales of the Branion Realm'' series, the royal family of a fantasy England is physically possessed by a fire god, making the sovereign something of a Christ-figure. Not only does she have divine right, she can prove it. She can set things on fire with a thought, and her family has blazing eyes. Most of the books center on the oddities of religion under such a system: What do you do when God is your mother (and is being abusive)? What do you do when God is a five-year-old child? What do you do when God converts to the worship of a different God? (The answer to the latter is that you seduce God and raise his kid up in the correct religion.)
* Both Ma'elKoth and Pallas Ril in ''[[
* {{spoiler|Satan}} in ''[[The Salvation War]]: Armageddon'' thinks of himself as a god. Considering who he is, not too surprising... {{spoiler|Thing is, this also applies to Yahweh!}}
* ''Dead Beat'' of ''[[
* David Eddings' ''[[The Malloreon]]'' has the mad disciple Urvon declare himself a god, we then get a rather awesome scene of [[Big Bad|Child of the Dark]] Zandramas putting him down:
{{quote| "And if you are a god, then I now call the Godslayer!"}}
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** Also in the ''[[Ender's Game]]'' saga, the "God Spoken" on the planet of Path are believed to be spoken to by the gods. This is the reasoning behind their extreme intelligence and the reason they have to "purify" themselves through rituals such as tracing wood grains, counting steps, and being extremely sanitary. {{spoiler|In the end they discover that the "God Spoken" have merely been genetically engineered to be smarter, and were also engineered to have an extreme form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in order to prevent them from being a threat to the government.}}
* ''[[Pendragon]]'': [[Big Bad|Saint Dane]], {{spoiler|and he's probably right, to an extent}}.
* In ''[[A Nightmare
* [[Brandon Sanderson]] loves this trope - all of his major works feature mortals with godlike power who are worshipped as divine. {{spoiler|The real gods of his multiverse, though, are called Shards and are incarnate forces of nature (Preservation and Ruin being two named examples), far above anything else in the novels. Some Shards do have mortal intelligences attached to them, however.}} Book by book, we have:
** ''[[Elantris]]'': The Elantrians, a race of quasi-immortal magic users worshipped as divine, though it's unclear if they bought into it themselves.
** ''[[Mistborn]]'': The Lord Ruler, [[Evil Overlord|King and God]] of [[The Empire]], who is actually {{spoiler|just a human with a particularly powerful combination of natural abilities}}. This trope is also invoked by [[Rebel Leader|Kelsier]] who deliberately positions himself as a god to give the masses something else to believe in, so they'll rebel. {{spoiler|And in the end of the trilogy, Vin and then Sazed are mortals who become the real deal}}.
** ''[[Warbreaker]]'': The Returned are people who died in some notable fashion and then return to life; opinions as to what exactly they are varies across the world, but in Hallandred, where most of the action takes place, they are seen as gods and they (and their priests) run the secular government as well.
** ''[[
* ''[[The Sword of Truth]]'': This may be a little unfair, but Richard Rahl does maintain and encourage the tradition of everyone regularly bowing down and chanting, "Master Rahl guide us... In your light we thrive...Our lives are yours," for four hours a day. Eventually there was a point to keeping this up, but not initially.
* Subverted when ''[[Conan]]'s'' girlfriend Muriela, who specialises in impersonating gods, emerges from behind an idol of a goddess glowing purple and giving a different A God Am I speech than the one they had rehearsed. When the worshippers are all off doing her bidding Conan sneaks over and suggests that they leave, at which point she tells him not to be so presumptuous and to clear off before she remembers that he intended to con people in her name. It is strongly implied that the girl lives happily ever after in exchange for periodically renting her physical form to the goddess, who thought the girl was far more fetching than her idol.
* Jacen and Jaina Solo in the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'' take on personas of two Yuuzhan Vong gods. Jacen also has [[God Mode]] later, but [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]].
** The [[Big Bad]] of the [[New Jedi Order]] {{spoiler|Onimi}} believes that if he kills [[Omnicidal Maniac|everyone in the galaxy]] he'll get the power he needs to become a god. Somewhat unusually, he also believes that Jacen and Jaina (and several other Jedi) are incarnate gods, and in his mind the whole series is a conflict between the established pantheon and himself trying to usurp them, played out through the Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong. [[Ax Crazy|Yes, he's insane. However did you guess]]?
** It's hinted that the [[Big Bad]] of Star Wars: [[
* Occurs in [[David Weber]]'s ''[[
* Akasha of ''[[The Vampire Chronicles]]'' was worshiped as a goddess for centuries, and came to believe it.
* The Ellimist in ''[[
* This seems to happen quite a few times in [[Dean Koontz]]'s works, with villains in his ''Frankenstein'' series, as well as his novel ''Midnight'' being the most obvious examples. Even if a villain doesn't believe that he is becoming a god, they are often arrogant in the extreme.
** In [[Dean Koontz]]'s novel ''Dragon Tears'', {{spoiler|the villain, Bryan Drackman, is a powerful psychic born with the ability to stop time, create and animate golem bodies in which to stalk his victims, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis. His abilities have grown overtime, and Drackman believes that they will increase enough with practice so he might become the New God and [[Take Over the World]]. In order to practice and enhance his abilities, he stalks and toys with the protagonists in the meantime}}.
** At the end of [[Dean Koontz]]'s short story, "A Darkness in My Soul", {{spoiler|a psychic goes on a [[Journey to
* A classic short story, "Answer", written by [[Fredric Brown]] in 1954, has every single computer in the galaxy linked together to answer a single question: "Is there a God?" The computer responds: "There is now."
* Played with in ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (
* Aaron, in Patrick Ness's ''[[Chaos Walking|The Knife of Never Letting Go]]''. He actually believes that he is a saint, and says so in the waterfall-shrouded church right before {{spoiler|Viola stabs him through the neck}}.
* In the [[Star Shards Chronicles]], the protagonists struggle with their godlike Star Shard powers, especially Dillon, who is the most powerful. A large part of the second book of the trilogy deals with their "We are gods walking the earth and you should worship us" phase.
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* In one of [[David Drake]]'s ''Lord Of The Isles'' books, Sharina inadvertently travels through time and ends up on an island with a man who claims to be related to the god of storms. His parades are accompanied by thunder created by sheets of tin under the wheels of his chariots.
* Aurilelde, from the ''[[Young Wizards]]'' novel ''A Wizard of Mars'' has {{spoiler|the kernel of Mars implanted in her}} and effectively {{spoiler|becomes Mars itself, and as she tries to kill Nita she gets angrier and angrier, unintentionally almost ripping Mars apart in her rage.}}
* ''[[
** [[Jack the Ripper]]
{{quote| '''Jack:''' If a mere chit can be taken for a goddess, then I shall certainly rule as a god!}}
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== Live Action TV ==
* Gary Mitchell in ''[[Star Trek:
** In the episode "Return to Tomorrow", [[Energy Beings|Sargon]] explains that his civilization destroyed itself when it became so advanced and arrogant that "we dared think of ourselves as gods".
* The [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] Q plays with this in ''[[Star Trek:
* Jason Ironheart in the ''[[Babylon 5]]'' episode "Mind War". Unlike most of this trope, he conducts himself with responsibility, humility, and some amount of restraint (he kills someone while escaping, arguably to save more lives).
** Also from ''[[Babylon 5]]:'' Emperor Cartagia, who was convinced (if he needed any convincing) by the Shadows that he was a god and Centauri Prime should be sacrificed to him.
* An episode of ''[[Honey I Shrunk the Kids (TV series)|Honey I Shrunk the Kids]]'' (the TV series) sets up the alternate form, with the newly divine daughter setting out to ascend to a higher plane and become one with the universe. But in a last second subversion, because [[Status Quo Is God]], Wayne applies [[Reverse Polarity]] on the [[Green Rocks]] and pulls her back to Earth.
* {{spoiler|Cordelia's ascension}} in ''[[
** Illyria also did this...she *is* a powerful Old One, but not really a god like Glory. She states it almost word for word, though. "I am a god!"
*** At one point she claims she was once "[[God of Gods|god to a god]]" and thus might be ''more'' godlike and powerful than Glory. It's hard to tell though since both of them were stuck in human forms and their powers were extremely diminished (Illyria has far better feats and range of powers, enough that it was ''killing'' her, but that might just be the differences in how they ended up in their respective positions).
* ''[[
** Willow, Giles, and Xander combine their essences with Buffy through a magical ritual, giving her the power to defeat Adam in the penultimate episode of season 4.
** Willow becomes this trope several times through the series, in a good way in season 5, in a bad way in season 6, and good again in the final episode of season 7
** The First Evil, posing as Warren, convinces Andrew that they will all live as gods ([[Crowning Moment of Funny|complete with]] Andrew dreaming of them all dancing about in a field of flowers, wearing togas, and playing a lyre, while singing "We are as gods!") All Andrew has to do to bring this about is kill his only friend, Jonathan.
* The Goa'uld of ''[[
** The Ori take this far enough that it becomes ridiculous when people insist that they're ''not'' gods, since, well, everything a god can do the Ori can do. (Including Virgin Birth) If that's not a god, one has to wonder what people would accept as a god. Teal'c later suggests that acts, rather than power, make gods. Or at least, that being a god is not the same as being worthy of worship.
*** They couldn't {{spoiler|stop the team from killing them}}.
*** Also, Adria explicitly states in ''The Ark of Truth'' that the Ark can only make people believe what is true, which is why she can't use it. Since the Ark makes the Priors believe that the Ori are not gods, clearly the Ori are actually not gods. Although she fully believes she could use it if it weren't for the existance of ancients undermining her by being just as high up in the grand scheme.
* ''[[
* ''[[I, Claudius]]'' has a variant [[Truth in Television|mirroring real life]] when [[The Caligula|Caligula]] declares himself to be a god; however, in Caligula's case there were no [[Green Rocks]] or [[Touched
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': A number of characters, most emphatically {{spoiler|Adam Monroe}}. Meanwhile Peter Petrelli, who has a claim to godlike powers since he absorbs the powers of everyone he encounters, has yet to fall victim to this.
** If we can assume that {{spoiler|Maury Parkman's illusion of Linderman}} accurately portrays the actual character's personality, then we can infer that {{spoiler|Linderman}} thought of himself as either a god or very close to one. In one season 3 episode, he implied that he spoke the word of God.
*** However, he may have been simply trying to ''convince'' Nathan, who had recently gone through a bit of a religious awakening, that he was God in order to manipulate him into doing what {{spoiler|his father}} wanted him to do.
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{{quote| "Yes... yes. To hold in my hand a capsule that contained such power... to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes - I ''would'' do it. That power would set me up above the ''gods''! ''[[Large Ham|And through the Daleks, I shall have that power]]''!"}}
** The 1982 story 'Four to Doomsday' focuses an alien who not only believes himself to be a god but, in fact, destroyed his home planet in an attempt to travel back in time to the creation of the universe to see how he had created it.
** There's a curious heroic version of this trope in the final [[Doctor Who Magazine
** In 'The Waters of Mars', {{spoiler|the Doctor snaps after being pushed to the limit and declares himself to be, in essence, a god. And he is not under any sort of mind control--nor can he be said to be having delusions of grandeur, since his claim to godlike power is entirely accurate. Rather, he's giving us a glimpse of what the last of the Time Lords could become without the restraint that his Companions give him.}}
*** Of course, having said that, he is promptly snapped back after {{spoiler|Brooke commits suicide}} rather than muck around with her destiny, so it worked out in the end. Sort of.
* A few years earlier, in ''The Second Coming'', [[Russell T. Davies]] had Steven Baxter, an ordinary Manchester lad played by [[Christopher Eccleston]], suddenly realise that he was the son of God.
* In an episode of ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]] '', a religious cult leader is on the run with one of the children from his cult, a 12-year-old girl who is pregnant with his baby. Olivia has her gun on him, and the girl has a gun on Olivia, when the leader starts telling the girl that the police want to destroy him because "They know that I am ''greater'' than man, I am ''greater'' than God!" {{spoiler|The girl promptly shoots ''him'', and sobs to Olivia that she did it because "He said he was greater than God... but ''nobody'' is."}}
* Kilobyte the Freaky Tentacles Guy (yeah, [[Squick]] please) in ''[[Ace Lightning]]''... though since he's a videogame character, he was kinda trippin...
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* ''[[Caprica]]'': {{spoiler|Given her godlike powers in V-World, Zoe proclaims herself God when confronting Clarice Willow in the Apotheosis simulation in the series finale}}.
* In one episode of the ''[[Twilight Zone]]'', a pair of space-farers found themselves stranded on an apparently desolate planet. One of these men found a civilization of microscopic people, and quickly set himself up as their god. Though his fellow tried to talk him out of it, the newly deified pilot decided to stay as the god of these tiny people. This being the [[Twilight Zone]], [[It Got Worse|things went south quickly for him]].
** Craig's boast, "'''I'M THE GOD! I'M THE GOD!'''" became a catchphrase on [[
* There was an episode of ''[[Sir Arthur Conan
* ''[[Boss]]'': The villain in episode 2.
* In the ''[[Coupling]]'' episode "Faithless", Jane learns that James, who she's attracted to, hosts a religion program. In the course of [[Digging Herself Deeper]], she comes out with:
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'''James''' I... don't think God's the one with the X-ray vision. }}
* Parodied on ''[[Bottom]]''; Richard Richard is every so often given to convincing himself that he's the Second Coming (or on one notable occasion [[It Makes Sense in Context|the Mother of God]], which in his tiny mind amounted to the same thing), citing his own virginity as the reason that he's been kept 'pure', because he's 'better than everyone else in the world'. The more likely explanation behind said virginity is that he's merely a repugnant, violent, pathetic, sweaty pervert with ludicrously pretentious delusions of grandeur, among them his tendency to convince himself he's the Son of God.
* On ''[[
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''
** {{spoiler|Castiel}} as of the season 6 finale, wherein {{spoiler|he absorbs all the souls of Purgatory into himself. He proceeds to do to Raphael ''exactly'' [[Ludicrous Gibs|what Lucifer once did to him]], shrug off a [[Back Stab]] with an angel-killing dagger, and declare himself the new Lord}}.
{{quote| "I'm not {{spoiler|an angel}} anymore. I'm your new God. A better one. So you will bow down and profess your love unto me, your Lord...or I shall destroy you."}}
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'''Chuck''': How else do you explain it? I write things and then they come to life? Yeah, no, I'm deinitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god. The things I've put you through ... }}
*** YMMV on Chuck being God since it was never flatly stated and everything really just pointed to him being a prophet.
* Parodied in ''[[
* George Marks from ''[[
* The [[Villain of the Week]] for the ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]'' episode "Little Tin God" was Gavriel Larca, an Immortal who likes to [[God Guise|fool people into worshiping him as a deity]]. The episode makes it clear that he's crazy, egotistical, and believes his own hype, in utter disbelief when Duncan defeats him.
* Randy Slade, the school shooter from the ''[[
{{quote| '''Shooter''': I am God. Now who is brave enough to look God in the eye?}}
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I have no rival<br />
No man can be my equal!" }}
*** "Princes of the Universe" was written specifically for the ''[[
* Jay-Z's nickname Hova/Hov comes from Jehovah, a name for God in the Hebrew Scriptures.
** Rakim was calling himself (and being called by others) God long before him. Canibus also claimed that the fact that he wasn't worshiped seemed absurd to him.
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== Religion and Mythology ==
* Justified in the ''[[
** Speaking of the Bible, the [[Trope Namer]] comes from the Book of Ezekiel.
* Several mortal characters in [[Greek Mythology]] became gods or otherwise immortal, including Apollo's son Asclepius, who became the god of healing and medicine; Ino, who raised Dionysius for Zeus and became a minor goddess of the sea, who helped Odysseus return home; the Diomedes who appeared in ''[[
* Subverted in The Apocolocyntosis (Pumpkin-ification) of the Divine Claudius, written by Seneca. The gods decide not to deify Claudius, but instead is sent to Hades to work for Caligula.
* The Nation of Gods and Earths, also known as the Five Percenters believe that the Original Asiatic Blackman is God, and that each black woman is the Earth. They vehemently deny the existence of any supernatural "mystery God" and break the word Allah down as Arm Leg Leg Arm Head, meaning humanity. The possibility of women being God is controversial, and many Gods (and Earths) disagree as to who has the right to call themselves God. Some even see the potential for white Five Percenters to prove themselves to be God, despite Caucasians traditionally being seen as "devils by nature".
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== Tabletop Games ==
* The accurate assessment version of the trope appears in ''[[
* The [[God-Emperor]] of the Imperium of Man for ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' [[Subverted Trope|subverts this.]] He explicitly doesn't consider himself one, but considering [[Physical God|his immerse power]] and <s>[[Treachery Cover-Up|after he was maimed fighting his favoured son and put on life-support]]</s> [[Horus Heresy|he ascended the Golden Throne]], much of humanity believes ''he is''.
** Which effectively makes him one, due to how the Immaterium works. Not counting the one thousand Psykers sacrificed daily to keep the Astronomican lit/the Emperor alive, he is slowly gaining more and more power as people believe in him and die in his name - hence, his position as the up-and-coming Fifth God of Chaos, the "God of Mankind". Then again, seeing as how he stopped a great fleet during the Age of Apostasy by creating a Warp Storm which is still raging five millennia later...
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** Even back in the old days of the boxed sets, high-level characters had the option of going on a quest for and potentially achieving 'Immortality' -- godhood in all but name. Many (if perhaps not all) Immortals of the Known World (Mystara) were implied to have gained their status in precisely this fashion.
*** After describing the quest for immortality as a game-ender, TSR released a follow-up book giving rules for playing as an Immortal, complete with your own mini-universe and godly powers. And ''that'' book described rules for how you could transcend the entire Immortal hierarchy to become an "Old One" before giving up and declaring [[A Winner Is You]] if you get that far.
* ''[[
** The Great Curse is instant A God Am I inspiration for most Celestials. Sidereals are the most prone to the pride overload, as their Curse is Hubris (others get possessed by their Virtues occasionally). This does mostly fall under "accurate self-assessment": most Exalts could take down a minor god fairly easily, and a major one if they team up or get their [[Power Level|Essence]] up high enough.
** The Ebon Dragon's ultimate goal is to usurp the place of the shinma<ref>physical laws, only weirder</ref> that underpins existence, essentially making his own nature the foundation of all reality. Since the Ebon Dragon has [[Complete Monster|exactly no redeeming features]], this would be a ''very bad thing''.
* In ''[[Scion]]'' a player character ascends to godhood when they reach Legend 9
* A common ailment in ''[[Magic:
* ''[[
* Likewise, this is why the present of ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'' is so crap. Mages, considering themselves gods above men, build the Celestial Ladder to climb to the Supernal Realms. The first ones up, the Exarchs, then proceeded to kick the Ladder out from under them, making magic much harder for people on Earth and causing the Abyss to come into existence. They still consider themselves gods and stewards of reality, and believe that only their worshippers should get the sweet, sweet candy that is magic.
* Some humans in ''[[
== Video Games ==
* The ''[[
** In ''Baldur's Gate'', the [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|Sarevok}} orchestrates for himself becoming the leader of the Iron Throne trade company and one of the lords of the City of Baldur's Gate and at the same time creates a heated conflict between Baldur's Gate and the nation of Amn. The entire point of his plan is to create a war as brutal and violent as possible, as a sacrifice for a ritual that makes him the new God of Murder.
** In ''Baldur's Gate II'', Jon Irenicus tries to make use of {{spoiler|the main characters}} divine nature to help him become a god himself, so {{spoiler|he can get his revenge on the elves that exiled him}}.
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*** All of this is correct, except for the fact that the person said to be thwarting the plan actually follows through with it regardless. The [[Player Character]] can thwart the plan, although this will cause said person to abandon you entirely.
** In [[Dragon Age II|the sequel]], the Chantry's explanation for the Blight's existence {{spoiler|is confirmed. The [[Big Bad]] of the DLC ''Legacy'' is one of the original magisters who tried to claim the power of the Golden City and became one of the first Darkspawn instead. Though he claims the Golden City was ''already'' corrupted when he visited it.}}
* The God Machine in ''[[Indiana Jones and
* ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'':
** Hilariously played with when you encounter a delusional volus who believes he is ''a biotic god.'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgGV0pfbcxg He is a great wind, who shall sweep all before Him like a...a great wind! A great, biotic wind!]
** Less humorously, there's [[Our Vampires Are Different|Ardat]]-[[Death
* ''[[Grandia II]]'' : Pope Zera believes that he has become a god and taunts you as such. He's still an easy boss battle, though.
* From ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]''- ''"What a fool you are. I'm a god! How can you kill a god?! What a grand and intoxicating innocence!"''
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** In the total conversion mod [[Nehrim]] the [[Light Is Not Good|light-born]] have this going on.
** In ''[[The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim]]'', Alduin is already a god, being the firstborn son of Akatosh and an aspect of Akatosh at the same time. Being just a god isn't enough for Alduin though, he's trying to destroy the world so he can assume the mantle of his father Akatosh.
* ''[[
** The Emperor in ''[[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Final Fantasy II]]'' dies and has his soul split in two - the good side takes over Heaven, the evil side takes over Hell and goes for Earth next. He's even worse in ''[[
** Kefka from ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
{{quote| "You made your nethicite for this? You mimic the Occuria stones for what? To become a god yourself?"<br />
"On whose shoulders better to stand than those of the would-be gods?" }}
** The tendency for ''Final Fantasy'' villains to fit this trope is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in ''[[
* Emperor Sun, of the titular [[Jade Empire]], announces himself as "God-Emperor Sun!" before you fight him.
* Kane from the ''[[Command and Conquer]]'' series plays with this a fair bit. He concedes that he is not God Himself, but certainly a good runner-up. More often he calls himself "[[Dark Messiah|The Messiah]]" and the Brotherhood of NOD "[[Faux Symbolism|the chosen people]]". Kane has been alive and unaged for over a century now, and has successfully deflected shots from an orbital laser cannon with his face, so why not? Not even the [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] know what he is. In ''Renegade'', it's hinted that he may be, or at least may lead his followers in believing that he's ''[[The Bible
{{quote| '''McNeil:''' You're not God, Kane!<br />
'''Kane:''' No, I'm not God... but I'm a close second. }}
** And stated way earlier by his right-hand man, Seth:
{{quote| '''Seth:''' I'm Seth. Just Seth. From God, to Kane, to Seth. I am his right hand and I have a task for you.}}
* Master Albert of ''[[
** And he even tries to re-enforce the idea right before the final boss battle.
{{quote| '''Albert:''' I don't ''think'' I'm a god... I ''am'' a god!}}
** But to be fair, as insane the man was, he was a [[Magnificent Bastard]] with an obvious background in genetics, a mechanical genius, and when he gets Ouroboros up and running, very, very powerful. It's no surprise that he thinks of himself as a deity who will reset the world.
* Essentially Bowser's plan in ''[[
** Don't forget that he plans to make it into a base and proceed to conquer the entire universe.
** While we're on the Mario series, {{spoiler|this is also Dimentio's plan}} in ''[[
** And Sir Grodus in ''[[
* An example of the latter (benevolent) god transformation comes in the Nightfall campaign of the MMORPG ''[[Guild Wars]]'' when {{spoiler|the leader of the Sunspears, Kormir, ascends to godhood.}}
* In ''[[Starcraft]]'', the Zerg Overmind seeks to invade the Protoss homeworld and assimilate the Protoss into the Zerg Swarm: "Thenceforth shall we be the greatest of creation's children. We shall be... perfect."
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*** That's because the Overmind is NOT a [[Hive Mind]]. A [[Hive Mind]] is a decentralised intelligence, such as ants coordinating to find food. The Overmind, on the other hand, is a centralised intelligence (as the name obviously implies). Being a nigh-omnipotent intelligent entity that controls the Swarm, the Overmind IS virtually the God of the Zerg.
*** {{spoiler|Kerrigan, after she is infested by the Zerg Swarm. She is able to take total control over the entire swarm by the end of Brood War, and states her intention to have every living being in the universe bow down to her: "Once again I stand atop the broken bodies of my enemies... - Victorious but not unscarred. - The Earth-borne Directorate has been destroyed. - And the Overmind lies dead and trampled beneath the ashes of Char. - As for my unlikely allies, I think that I shall allow them a reprieve. - For in time I will seek to test their resolve, and their strengths. - They will all be mine in the end, for I am the Queen of Blades. - None shall ever dispute my rule again."}}
* Inuart proclaims this in ''[[
* Kratos from ''[[God of War (
** Kratos is an odd case. He never had any delusions of control or being far beyond mere mortals- if anything, in his stint as a god, he was A General Am I.
*** Or a [[Jerkass Gods]] am I, since he spent all his time leading the Spartan Army into ruining all of Greece and parts of Persia. Par for the course in Greek Mythology, but even the Jerkiest of Gods in Greece Myth wouldn't want to destroy all of their own known world. Not including [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]].
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** That one's a bit more justified, since he's 1) a pillar of creation and 2) it takes 10-25 epic characters ''and'' another [[Physical God]] to take him down.
** In Zul'Drak, some of the Drakkari trolls have killed and eaten their Loa, the animal spirits they worship as gods, to absorb their powers. Gal'darah, who killed Akali and gained the ability to [[One-Winged Angel|transform into a rhinoceros]] says the page quote when killing a player. One of the other troll bosses who consumed his god, Moorabi, admits while dying that "If our gods can die... den so can we...", indicating that he doesn't think that he's invincible, or at least has come to realize that he is not.
* Spoofed in ''[[
* In ''[[
** He has been it for a long time though, and he doesn't act overly egoistic about it (no more than normal, really.). And he's not deluded about godhood - he is a god (of Shibuya's dead at least), and to reiterate, has been one for who knows how long but still probably pretty long.
*** ''[[Department of Redundancy Department|Yes, he's been at it for a while and is not notably bigheaded about it.]]''
** Interestingly, [[The Dragon|Megumi Kitaniji]] refers to {{spoiler|Joshua}} with capitalized pronouns; "He" instead of "he", "Him" instead of "him", similar to how the Christian God is referred to. However, given that Kitaniji is the only one to refer to the Composer this way, it may be just a sign of his own insanity.
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', {{spoiler|Ganon is not a god. However, he convinces Zant that he is by providing Zant with the power to usurp the throne of the Twilight realm, then invade Hyrule.}}
** In the series as a whole, Ganondorf/Ganon isn't quite a god, but seeing as he wields part of the Triforce, he comes as close to it as possible in the setting (while Link and Zelda hold the other two parts, they don't seem to have the same power over them), being effectively immortal.
*** Given that the setting includes three legitimate goddesses who created the Triforce to begin with, I don't think possessing a single piece really qualifies as "as close to it as possible"....
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*** Link and Zelda don't get as much power out of their Triforce parts because of which parts they have. Link has the Triforce of Courage, Zelda has the Triforce of Wisdom, Ganon has the Triforce of Power. Which do you think is going to cause the most damage?
*** And yet, Link and Zelda win every time.
** The Triforce used to be in one piece. Back in ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
*** This is incorrect. Only a person who has a balanced heart can acquire the triforce initially. If a person touches the triforce with an unbalanced heart, the triforce will split apart and he/she will only acquire 1 of the three part of the triforce (Power. Courage, Wisdom). However, said person can afterwards acquire the triforce from whoever the other two pieces went to. This is seen in ''Ocarina of Time'' when Ganon first enters the sacred realm and touches the triforce, gaining the triforce of power and scattering the triforce of wisdom to Zelda and the triforce of courage to Link. Afterwards, Ganondorf tries to take the two triforce pieces from them. This is seen again in WW when Ganondorf has been released from his seal in the Sacred Realm. He is already in possession of the triforce of power from the events of OoT so he takes the triforce of courage and wisdom from Link and Zelda, finally uniting them {{spoiler|although he doesn't manage to get his wish}}
** When you defeat Vaati for the second time in ''The Minish Cap'' he claims that as a god, it shouldn't have been possible for him to be defeated.
*** There was once a King who wielded the entire Triforce in the back-story to Adventure of Link. It's claimed he gave up the Triforce before his death. Judging from Ganon's longevity with only a third of the Triforce, I'd say the good King gave up the power voluntarily.
* Occurs ''twice'' in the ''[[
** The second candidate, {{spoiler|Sanctus of the Order of the Sword}} didn't necessarily consider ''himself'' God per se, but sought to create an artificial God and unify with it to reign over a new utopia purged of chaos.
** This was the plan of Arius, the [[Big Bad]] of the second game. To quote him after his plan is thwarted by Dante: "'''I''' WAS GOING TO BE THE '''''[[Narm|KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENG]]''''' OF THIS '''WORRRRRLD'''..."
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* SHODAN of ''[[System Shock]]'' fame referred to herself that way (see Quotes page). And has sort of recognition for her efforts:
{{quote| '''Prefontaine:''' ...What's clear is that SHODAN shouldn't be allowed to play God. She's far too good at it.}}
* Durandal, the resident [[Magnificent Bastard]] AI from ''[[Marathon
** While we are at it, pick a media with a smart AI in it. Seems that [[AI Is a Crapshoot|AI is such a Crapshoot]] that making one automatically gives it a god complex.
* ''[[
* Both ''[[Summoner]]'' and its sequel apply. In the first, {{spoiler|Joseph, the Summoner, must become Urath Reborn,}} and the second takes it a step further when Maya, named in the blurb as the Goddess Laharah, is {{spoiler|revealed as Aosi, creation itself, far beyond any mere god.}}
* Albert Wesker of the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' series certainly falls into this trope in ''[[Resident Evil 5]]'', in the form of an [[Evilutionary Biologist]]. His vaguely Darwinist plot involves wiping out ''almost'' the entire human race by dumping his specially created virus out of a plane, and the survivors are the ones his virus has supposedly "chosen."
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*** And you're going to judge them? Do you get all your ideas from comic book villains?
**** Mocked and parodied in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vkma81nL3M&feature=related this video] when [[Doctor Strange|The Dread Dormammu]], an ''actual'' comic book villain, and an [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Dimension Lord]] who wields ''actual'' godlike, nigh-omnipotent power, makes fun of Wesker for thinking that injecting himself with viruses or any of his other plans makes him anything like an actual god.
* In ''[[Psi
** The formerly powerless [[Big Bad]] of the story achieves something close to godhood in the final level, though he's more of a [[Physical God]] than Wrightson- and just to prove his point, he spends the boss battle [[Playing
* About halfway through ''[[Phantom Dust]]'', {{spoiler|Edgar, the main character's best friend, finds out that he is actually the last person left on Earth and all other life he sees was actually created by him after he learned to control the mysterious dust that he linked with the disappearance of life. Edgar is unable to accept this truth and sets out to destroy his creations since he sees them as lies and visions.}} However, at the end of the game {{spoiler|He finds out that HE'S NOT EVEN THE ORIGINAL Edgar. Apparently, the original created this duplicate to continue the recreation of Earth just before his death. Sadly, the double's personality was twisted.}}
* In the climax of ''[[Viewtiful Joe]]'', {{spoiler|Captain Blue reveals himself to be "The Omnipotent" King Blue, creator of Movie Land. ('cause he's the director)}}
* ''[[
* During the spirit journey in the latter half of ''[[Terranigma]]'', Ark encounters a number of characters that look like other important characters he's met in the game, some with slightly altered names (Royd becomes Roy, Mei becomes Meila, etc. etc.). You are asked to go into a ruin filled with monsters to check on someone who was left there a year earlier for a ritual that could cause them to become a god. When you get there, it turns out {{spoiler|it worked, and the equivalent of Elle has, in fact, attained nigh-godly powers, immediately giving the other warriors who came to check a [[Hannibal Lecture]] about ''why'' this ritual even exists. After utterly destroying them, she beckons the player to choose one of the cups of god water near her. The player does, and then the spirit journey ends.}}
* Gill from ''[[
* ''[[
** Is it a coincidence that in the Japanese edition of ''[[Capcom vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000
* Hector from ''[[Dept
* {{spoiler|Lezard}} in ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'' series spends most of his time hatching up an elaborate [[Batman Gambit]] to set himself up for this in the first game and succeeds in the second, complete with his own world to govern over. He's pretty damned megalomanical and egoistic even before his grand scheme succeeds, and by the time he actually succeeds in the second game, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z50feD9SPi0 well]...
* In ''[[Ni GHTS]]: Journey of Dreams'', now that he actually has dialogue, Wizeman is revealed to have a case of the Evil/Hubris one. Given that he created a world and race of beings from nothing more than unpleasant thoughts and stolen dreams, [[Physical God|he may have a point, though.]]
** Justifying god complexes seems to be a developing trope of its own...
* ''[[
** Sanae Kochiya fits well; informing people that she is, in fact, a living god is her [[Catch Phrase]]. Granted, she's arguably ''right'', what with having the divine power to create miracles and being the direct descendent of the goddess {{spoiler|Suwako Moriya}}, and all.
* In ''[[
** In ''[[
* In ''[[Overlord II]]'', this is revealed to be the goal of Emperor Solarius, ruler of [[The Empire|The Glorious Empire]], AKA {{spoiler|Florian Greenheart, an Elf born without magic who caused the Cataclysm that wiped out the lands of the first game when he tried to steal [[Artifact of Doom|The Tower Heart]]. He uses all the magic he's gathered at the end of the game to become an [[Eldritch Abomination]] that only his [[The Dragon|Dragon]] fanatically praises as a god, from that point it's your responsibility to [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|take him down.]]}}
* Cyrus in ''[[
** Forget Cyrus. The player character can control Dialga (time control), Palkia (dimensional control), Kyogre (rule over the oceans), Groudon (control over the earth), Rayquaza (sky lord) and Arceus (GOD) ALL. AT. THE. SAME. TIME.
** Not just [[Fan Nickname|God Pony (Arceus)]], the game also allows you to control <s>[[H.P. Lovecraft
* In ''[[Marvel Ultimate Alliance]]'', Doom's plan is to {{spoiler|overrun Asgard with an army of super-soldiers, then defeat and steal the power from Odin himself. And it initially ''works''}}.
* Inverted with Dr. Weil from ''[[
* The [[Big Bad]] from ''[[
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'': All permutations of Xehanort have this as his defining goal. From the original being's obsession with [[These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|forbidden knowledge]], to [[The Heartless|"Ansem"'s]] obsession with darkness, to [[Empty Shell|Xemnas's]] obsession with Kingdom Hearts itself; every single problem in the series stems back to this guy's apparent disdain for being a mere mortal. Also, {{spoiler|did we say "original being?" As it turns out there was an incarnation ''before that'', and, unsurprisingly, he was obsessed with bringing about the apocalypse, so he could recreate the world and become more than human.}}
* The main antagonist of ''[[
* This was the Emperor's goal through all of ''[[Thousand Arms]]''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KduwLu5QQp4 He eventually gets it].
{{quote| '''The Emperor''': "Mmmhahahaha! I can see! I can feel! Ahahahaha! Everything is within my grasp! The power courses through my veins, Ahahahaha! I am a god! I have become a GOOOOOOD!"}}
* At the end of the first ''[[Soul Reaver]]'' game, Kain uses this as part of a [[Not So Different]] speech to Raziel.
{{quote| '''Kain''': ...Can you not see with all your soul, how we have become like gods? And as such, are we not indivisible?}}
* A midgame boss in ''[[Max Payne (
* ''[[
** In ''Tales Of Destiny 2'', Elraine casts Indignation Judgment with: "A mortal cannot defeat a god. I shall show you the difference between our power. ''Indignation Judgment!''"
*** Hilariously, though, Elraine {{spoiler|is most certainly ''not'' a god. As for Fortuna, well... [[Base Breaker|it's debatable]]. [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]] is really all that needs to be said.}}
* ''[[Advent Rising]]'': It is [[A God I Am Not|averted]] with the main character, Gideon, but {{spoiler|his brother or his girlfriend ([[Sophie's Choice
{{quote| ''"Take heart, mortals, your gods have returned"''.}}
* ''[[Phantom Brave]] [[Video Game Remake|We Meet Again]]'' has God Eryngi, a mustachioed Funguy. No one but Marona takes his claims seriously, which causes him to spout ineffectual threats. {{spoiler|He's really the Merchant of Death, and his claims are mostly an attempt to get people to collect [[Artifact of Doom|'weapons']] for him.}}
* Several storylines in ''[[Escape Velocity]] Nova'' lead to the player taking on the role of "Ory'Hara", a prophesied messiah that will reunite humanity and also referred to as "the spirit behind the creation of the universe", and ultimately [[Ascend to
* ''[[Rosenkreuzstilette]]'' features {{spoiler|Iris, who not only had RKS fight against the Holy Empire for her own amusement; she also did so because she decided to become a god herself after realizing that she was born with ''absolute power and unparalleled brains'', all thanks to being reincarnated from Rosenkreuz himself.}}
{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Iris''': I have transcended humanity. I, Iris Zeppelin, have become a God! A worthless insect like yourself can't hope to stop me.}}<br />
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* ''[[Return to Krondor]]'': {{spoiler|Bear is certainly aiming for this. He already wears an amulet that makes him invulnerable to magic, physical damage, and almost everything else. He is trying to get the Tear of the Gods, which will allow him to communicate with the gods. He did not even get the Tear of the Gods, but when a character asks what if the gods are displeased, Bear responds "Like who? Heh, heh. The lesser gods? With the Tear and this amulet, I'm invincible! Who will rival me? Sung the Pure? Kahooli? Hia Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaaaaaaa!"}}
* In ''Hell:A Cyberpunk Thriller'', {{spoiler|Solene Sollux is this in a few senses of the trope. It is the Imperator (Latin for emperor) of a theocracy that controls at least the United States of America. The name Solene Sollux references the sun. It is a gender-bending robot that wears purple, is spoken by a female voice actor, and no one can tell if it is female or male. It controls Hell (actually a huge, complex virtual reality program) and sends criminals there (by hooking them up to the machinery and storing their bodies in a hidden place). It actually declares "I am God!" at one point and "These are the hands of a god!" at another point (specifically a fistfight). Who would have thought a robot could have a limitless God complex?}}
* In ''[[
* Taking a few cues from [[Final Fantasy VII
* Albedo from ''[[
{{quote| I experienced but a fragment of my true power that day. The waves that inundated my body, are now a part of me. I've reached a higher stage of existence, compared to you incomplete mortals. I am the Alpha AND the Omega of perfect consciousness!}}
** Dmitri Yuriev, who {{spoiler|believes (incorrectly) that U-DO will be responsible for the annihilation of the multiverse, and so tries to kill it with SCIENCE! making himself the most powerful being in existence, since he is functionally immortal}}
* ''[[Inazuma Eleven]]'' has Zeus Academy. As the name suggests, the students there are made into thinking they're super-powered incarnations of gods and goddesses from [[Classical Mythology]] destined [[Serious Business|to dominate the soccer society.]] {{spoiler|All they do are taking drugs, though.}} Despite the strength and infinite TP they have, [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|it's ''possible'' to beat the before the team find out their secret and lower their power.]]
* ''[[
* This is what {{spoiler|Alex}} tries to achieve in the ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Solatorobo]]'', {{spoiler|Baion}} believes himself to be a god compared to everyone else, as they are all imperfect and he is was [[Creating Life|created with perfection in mind]].
* This is {{spoiler|Colonel Redips'}} plan in ''[[
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
{{quote| '''Reverend Theo''': Wow, you really ''do'' think you've become a god.<br />
'''{{spoiler|Petey}}''': I'm just trying to do what I think a god would do if he were in my position. }}
* Damien, [[Big Bad]] of ''[[
** When he realises {{spoiler|that he may in fact ''not'' be god [[Heel Realization|it occurs to him]] that all the evil things he has done were, well...evil. Instead of a [[Heel Face Turn]] he decides that life as a mortal is not worth living, and that he will [[Taking You
* ''[[Umlaut House]] 2'': [http://maskedretriever.com/uh2/d/20060808.html\]
{{quote| '''Saundra:''' Do you ever worry that we're playing God?<br />
'''Dr Pegasus:''' Not really. At some point, we definitely stopped playing. }}
* Heat Man from ''[[In
* Sarda of ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]''.
** "[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/01/27/episode-1087-exalted-feat/ Wizards do parlor tricks, I throttle the heavens.]"
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* [[Sonichu|The Asperchus [sic] begged Chris for forgiveness and want to know if he will forgive them.]] [http://cogsdev.org/w/images/4/4e/Issue_10_Pg_48.jpg At least he wasn't subtle about it.]
* In ''[[Errant Story]]'', a half-elven mage named Meji embarks on a quest to do this as a school project (due to a convoluted backstory that made it her only option for graduating magic university). She seeks to become the single most powerful mage in existence by absorbing the energies of Anilis, believed to be one of the two elven creator gods. {{spoiler|Another half-elf mage named Ian beats her to it becoming a very powerful and [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|very insane]] [[Physical God]] bent on genocide. She later absorbs Senilis, the other elven creator god}}
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Vaarsuvius, {{spoiler|after hir [[Deal
** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0301.html "We have become like unto tiny refreshing GODS!"]
* ''[[
** And plays it quite straight [http://xkcd.com/941/ here] and [http://xkcd.com/505/ here], [[For Science!]]!
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
** For double irony points, {{spoiler|John has, by this stage, gone "god-tier", essentially making him more godly than Karkat. [[Nice Guy|Not that he makes a huge deal of it]]}}.
** Then come [[Big Friendly Dog|Becquerel]]'s [[Reality Warper]] powers, that several people have acquired through various means. {{spoiler|Dream Jade}} notably is said to have "ascended to doghood". And now {{spoiler|to [[Little Bit Beastly|dog]]-tier}}.
* ''[[Fans]]'': Subverted in Book 2, with General Maximiliana.
{{quote| [http://www.faans.com/index.php?p{{=}}957 "See, even the concept that the General could lose was more than he could deal with. The General isn't these people's leader, she's their god. And I've read enough fantasy to know how gods die."]}}
* In ''[[Fafnir the Dragon]]'', [[Twilight (
* In [[Zodiac (
* In ''[[The Beast Legion]]'', Dragos proclaims himself as a God the will purge the light at the end of Issue 2.
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* ''[[Mitadake High]]''
** This will happen in if Kira can create a cult of Kira-worshippers. Which is creepy.
** Can also happen with the Shinigami Eyes character, since the game lampshades that there is no reason whatsoever for the character to have them, players often have it be a power they were born with that instilled this trope in them. Or they'll (far less commonly) be [[Tsukihime
* Happens in an odd manner in ''[[Dorf Quest]]'': {{spoiler|Beardbeard becomes the God of Strength, but is pretty mellow about it. The fans (who, incidentally, dictate and decide Beardbeard's actions via consensus,) are very power hungry and motion for various crazy stunts.}}
* ''[[Broken Saints]]'' features a send-up of this:
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'''Raimi''': "Great. [[A God Is You|You're God.]] I'm God. I can't wait to turn water into wine..." }}
* [[Omnicidal Maniac|The Blood Red King]] from the [[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]] thought himself above "mere mortals", and considered such vague figures as "The Devil" to be "amateur hour" when it came to evil.
* Parodied in [[
* The Mysterious Somebody from the ''[[Protectors of the Plot Continuum]]'' was a badfic clone of {{spoiler|[[The Thrawn Trilogy|Joruus C'baoth]]}}, and inherited the canon character's God complex. His [[Famous Last Words|last words]] were even [[Shock and Awe|"let there be light"]]. Being a [[Star Wars|Force-user]], he was [[Physical God|correct in that regard]].
* Implied in the way that the site [[
* Inverted (subverted? averted?) in [[Orions Arm]] with the [[Deus Est Machina|Archailects]] who tried explaining that they weren't gods to the modosophont masses but eventually gave up and let themselves be worshipped. You'd expect this to happen fairly often considering the frequency of [[Ascend to
* ''[[Paw Dugan]]'': Reviewing his favorite video game music, Paw shouts "I'm the god!" when reviewing ''[[Sim City]]''. And later, it's a power up against [[Enemy Within|Dark Paw]] in his [[Battle in
* ''[[Comic Fury Werewolf]]'': Attempted in Game 13 by the host of the game.
* ''[[Super Mario Bros Z]]'': Mecha Sonic tends toward this mindset, especially when he gets his hands on four of the Chaos Emeralds.
* Invoked in the "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGw5ip2EokY Puzzle of the Lambs]" episode of [[
* The [[Mary Sue|Mary Sues]] and [[Marty Stu|Gary Stus]] in the [[Anti Cliche and Mary Sue Elimination Society]] have fanatical belief in their own superiority when compared to the rest of the Multiverse's residents. Willowe and Runoa, however, want to take this a step further and make it ''fact''.
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** There was an episode of BTAS that had Scarecrow scream out "WORSHIP ME, YOU FOOLS! WORSHIP ME!"
* An episode of ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'' had his [[Cloudcuckoolander]] friend Sheen get zapped with an [[Devolution Device|Evolution Ray]] [[Goal-Oriented Evolution|evolved brain]], giving him [[Psychic Powers]] and [[Super-Powered Evil Side|power madness]]. Naturally, it [[Status Quo Is God|was only temporary]].
* Beast-Era Megatron, starting in the [[Grand Finale]] of ''[[
** In ''[[Transformers Cybertron]]'', Megatron sought the series' [[Plot Coupon|Plot Coupons]] in order to become a god. Starscream wanted this power for himself, which was what led him to betray Megatron. Successfully, too; an [[Enemy Civil War]] resulted. As a result of their progress towards godhood, the final battle between Starscream and [[Mid-Season Upgrade|Galvatron]] caused further damage to the fabric of reality.
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender
{{quote| '''Zhao''': I am... a ''legend'' now. The Fire Nation will for generations tell stories about the great Zhao, who darkened the moon! They will call me Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the ''Moon Slayer''! Zhao, the ''INVINCIBLE''!}}
** Let's not forget about [[Evil Overlord|Fire Lord Ozai's]] abdication of the Fire Nation throne to become the self-styled "Phoenix King":
{{quote| '''Ozai''': "Fire Lord Ozai is no more. Just as the world will be reborn in fire, I shall be reborn as the supreme ruler of the world. From this moment on, I will be known as the ''Phoenix King''!"}}
* Willow, a villain in one episode of ''[[
* In ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' at the end of Fatherklok, Skwisgaar declares himself a god, though it's unclear as to whether he's a god, the son of a god, or just being his usual egomaniac self.
** Though the description of guitar god is an undisputed one.
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* In the Cartoon Wars episodes of ''[[South Park]]'', Cartman thinks he's managed to pull ''[[Family Guy]]'' off the air:
{{quote| "I did it! [[Punctuated for Emphasis|I...am...GOD!]]"}}
** He also proclaims "I am God of the sea people" but is later told that ''[[The Simpsons (
* ''[[
** He also became Pharaoh of an ancient Egypt-style planet; since pharaohs are viewed as gods...
* ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
* ''[[
* In ''[[Generator Rex]]'', all of the problems in the series related to Nanites can be traced back to the Consortium's desire to play God with a bunch of special Nanites that grant control over the fundamental forces of the universe and the desperate measures the scientists in charge of the Nanite project took to keep that power away from them. {{spoiler|Namely, ''triggering the Nanite event''}}.
** {{spoiler|1=Rex becomes one in the final episode, but deactivates it after curing all EVOs.}}
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== Other ==
* According to the immense [[wikipedia:The Apotheosis of Washington|fresco]] on the ceiling of the [[The United States|United States]] Capitol Building, [[George Washington]] became a god. No doubt if he was alive, he would have had something very negative to say.
* In ''[[
** On a smaller scale, [[The Starscream|Hakann and Thok]] pull off the "get superpowers and subsequently have delusions of godhood" deal after they steal Brutaka's power via improvised [[Power Copying]]. Despite razing half of Voya Nui and [[Curb Stomp Battle|effortlessly flattening the rest of the]] [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Piraka]] [[Curb Stomp Battle|and the Toa Inika]] ''[[Curb Stomp Battle|twice]]'', it doesn't last.
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