War God: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''Pomena loves the orchard. And Liber loves the vine. And Pales loves the straw built shed warm with the breath of kine; And Venus loves the whispers of plighted youth and maid, in April's ivory moonlight. Beneath the chessnut shade.''
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'''If you were looking for the book series or the video game, see ''[[The War Gods]]'' and ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' respectively.'''
This character is regarded as a deity or manifestation of war (or battle, murder, conflict, etc.). They're most likely a member of the setting's ruling pantheon, but could be any character (including a mortal) who is regarded by other characters as a god(dess) of war. The
They're often the only god that [[Blood Knight
There's also a tendency in various works of fiction to pair a
{{examples}}
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** Kali, who is in charge of death, naturally has an interest in war. The Gurkhas' [[Battle Cry]] means "Blood for Kali, the Gurkhas are coming." However the notch where the blade meets the hilt of a Kukri is a dedication to Shiva.
* Then there's [[Meaningful Name|War]] of the [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] fame in [[The Bible|biblical]] mythology, and in his many adaptions.
* Here's a ''list'' of war god/dessess for ya: https://web.archive.org/web/20140329071940/http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/godsmyth/a/102110-War-Gods-And-Goddesses.htm.
* In [[The Bible]] one of the titles of [[God]] is [[Four-Star Badass|Lord of Hosts]].
** God is believed by some scholars to be a [[Composite Character]] of the [[Top God]] El of Canaanite religion, and the actual Semitic
** While he is decisively not a god, [[Archangel Michael]] is officially the [[The General|Archistrategos of the Heavenly Host]], patron saint of soldiers and all military people, and an all-round badass.
* In [[Egyptian Mythology]] there was Neith, Sekhmet, Set, Horus, and a slew of lesser-known gods associated with war, due to different gods being worshiped from town to town.
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* In [[Celtic Mythology]] there was Lugh, the Morrighan, and quite a slew of others.
* The Babylonian Ishtar was a goddess of love ''and'' war. Cynics might argue that those aren't all that inappropriate together, though; and as would Shakespeare and a number of others say, "All's fair in love and war."
* [[Japanese Mythology]], has Hachiman and Bishamon. The first is somewhat like the Roman Mars being a patron of warriors, protector of Japan and a god of agriculture and fishermen. The second was a Buddhist deity culturally changed to being more of a war god.
* [[Chinese Mythology]] has Guan Yu, hero of [[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]] and deified mortal. Aside from being a god of war and protector of China he is also the [[Odd Job God|patron of bean curd]].
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* Tomanak from [[The War Gods]]. Considered not only a god of war but also justice. Krashnark serves the martial ambitions for the Dark Gods and is also noted as the only one of the Dark Gods that Tomanak respects because while still brutal, Krashnark does follow a code of martial honour and is the only Dark God that can actually be trusted to keep his word.
* Mars appears in [[Tom Holt]]'s ''Ye Gods!'' Notable in that, since he is still expected to ride in the front of battle in bronze armour, regardless of technological advances, and since "the best definition of an immortal is someone who hasn't died ''yet''", the device on his shield is now a CND logo.
* Mars also features as a major character in Fred Saberhagen's ''[[Books of Swords]]''. He's a [[Jerkass]], but also kind of a [[Jerkass Woobie]] at the very end. He's also one of only two of the gods we ever see even attempt to answer the petition of his followers. Yes, that petition was evil, but still.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons
** Gruumsh, the [[Top God|patron deity]] of the [[Our Orcs Are Different|Orcs]] in the default pantheon, also doubles as their god of war, [[
*** Other pantheons in the default setting have their own war gods. Drow have Selvetarm, god of war and bloodshed. Elves have Corellon Larethian, who has warfare among his many fields of influence as the leader of elvish gods. Dwarves have Clangeddin Silverbeard, The Father of Battles. Gnomes have Gaerdal Ironhand, the god of defenders and warriors. Even the normally peaceful Halflings have Arvoreen, god of protection, vigilance and war.
** The ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' setting has Tempus, the God of War and Lord of Battles. Most of his worshipers are exactly as [[Ax Crazy]] as you would expect.
*** Tempus himself, however, while listed as [[Chaotic Neutral]], generally respects the rules of war and firmly believes that war for its own sake is pointless; the only thing that gives it meaning is the peace that follows.
*** Tempus also has three subordinate deities that specialize in specific aspects of war. [[Lady of War|The Red Knight]] is the demigoddess of strategy and tactics, [[The Captain|Valkur]] specializes in naval warfare, and [[Axe Crazy|Garagos]] is the demigod of bloodlust and destruction (only avoiding a [[Chaotic Evil]] alignment in 3E because he's a virtually nonsentient personification of rage).
*** Meanwhile, the Mulhorandi pantheon has Anhur, an interesting example in that he is [[Chaotic Good]] and fights only against evil. He's also a deity of storms.
** The main war gods of the 3.5 default setting are [[Cain and Abel|half-brothers]] Heironeous ([[Lawful Good]]) and Hextor ([[Lawful Evil]]), as well as Kord ([[Chaotic Good]]) and Erythnul ([[Chaotic Evil]]).
** D&D actually provides the page image for this one; that's Bane, the god of war in the [[Points of Light]] campaign. He's [[Lawful Evil]], with several good and neutral followers due to the order his church imposes. His greatest enemy is the aformentioned Gruumsh, who's waged war against him for thousands of years all for the title of God of War.
* In ''[[Traveller]]'' ''Sword Worlds'', the Aeserist (neo-Norse paganism) religion interprets Tyr as the god of [[Let's Fight Like Gentlemen|chivalry]] in an interesting variation.
* Both ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''[[Warhammer
** ''Warhammer Fantasy'' also has Ulric and Myrmidia, first being the [[Grim Up North|Generic]] [[Barbarian Hero|Barbarian]] war god, and the other an [[Expy]] of Athena.
** Both settings have Khaine, the war god of the Elves and the Eldar.
** To say nothing of Gork and Mork, Orcish/Orky gods of brutal cunning and cunning brutality (one hits you when you're not looking, the other hits you ''really hard'' when you are.. Arguing over which is which is yet another excuse to fight each other.
* ''[[Pathfinder]]'' has several deities associated with war. The first is Gorum, the actual god of war and battle. He's [[Chaotic Neutral]] and cares nothing for the causes that people fight for; as long as there is war, Gorum will be there to aid the good and the evil alike. He is chiefly concerned with the physical aspects of battle, and is worshipped by frontline soldiers in particular. Torag is the Dwarven god of [[The Strategist|strategy]]; where Gorum is the footsoldiers' god, Torag is the generals' god. [[Lawful Good|Iomedae]], [[Church Militant|militaristic]] [[Lady of War|goddess]] of [[The Paladin|honour and justice]] is often worshipped as the patron of just wars, though she herself would prefer to lose that title. [[The Brute|Moloch]], [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|archdevil]] of war, fires, and [[Lawful Evil|obedience]] is the [[Four-Star Badass|general]] in charge of [[The Legions of Hell]], and is concerned with the regimented nature of the army itself, while [[Chaotic Evil|Demon Lord]] Nurgal governs senseless wars that should not have been fought in the first place. Finally, there is [[Fallen Angel|Szuriel]], [[Neutral Evil|archdaemon]], and [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Horseman of War]]. Essentially what happens when a divinity adopts the mentality of a [[Psycho for Hire]], Szuriel represents war's [[War Is Hell|most negative aspects]]
* In the ''[[Mutant Chronicles]]'' universe, Algeroth is the Dark Apostle of War and Technology.
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* There's Uesugi Kenshin from the Warring States Period of feudal Japan. Both historically and in the ''[[Samurai Warriors]]'' series, he's often referred to as 'Bishamonten', an earthly incarnation of the God of War.
* Uesugi Kenshin also appears in the ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' video games and their anime adaptation. He's not directly referred to as Bishamonten in these, but he is known as "the War God of Echigo."
* ''[[
* There's a whole ''pantheon'' of them in the form of The Second Circle from ''[[Lusternia]]''. They range from noble [[Combat Aestheticist|combat aesthetes]] like Terentia the Even-Bladed, who glory in the poetry of warfare, to [[Blood Knight|bloodthirsty]] hunters like Shikari the Predator, who is described as fond of "playing with his prey".
* ''[[Age of Wonders]]'' lets you build a shrine of war and worship the Spirit of War, portrayed as an empty red helmet with red skeleton arms. He sends you on missions about killing and destroying.
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[[Category:Combat Tropes]]
[[Category:Tropes of the Divine]]
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