History ComicBook / GodLovesManKills

Taking on issues such as prejudice, religion and the growing Christian fundamentalism of the time, the story proved to be a hit and was one of the primary influences for the second ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' movie, ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' (although it recast the elements of it that it used in a very different context).

* BullyingADragon: A trio of Purifiers captured by the X-Men manage to go the extra mile from just attacking the X-Men to openingly insult Magneto, a '''supervilllain''', terrorist, and known mutant supremicist when he talks about trying to get information out of them. Magneto's [[ColdBloodedTorture interrogation]] demonstrates why that was a mistake.

* ColdBloodedTorture: Magneto does... ''something'' to the Purifiers to make them tell the X-Men of Stryker's plans. (He appears to be using his powers to manipulate the Purifiers' armor to stretch them out, as if on a rack.) Only [[AllLovingHero Nightcrawler]] provides objection to it. Also a case of BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork. Nightcrawler averts this when he takes his own prisoner (Stryker's brainwashing expert), preferring instead to use threats and his own demonic looks to intimidate the man.

** The Purifiers' make it appear like Professor X, Storm and Cyclops had been killed in a car accident, leaving behind burned corpses. It fools the police, but doesn't hold up to Wolverine's enhanced senses. Besides, he describes it as something that he'd do.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Wolverine attempts his usual threat of unshealthing his claws by a man's face, with the third one under the chin. When it doesn't work, Magneto decides to make the Purifiers talk, and his methods are much less kind.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: The trio of Purifiers caught by the X-Men refuse to talk, so Magneto decides to handle the interrogation. What he does to them isn't pretty, but the Purifiers had previously killed children just for being born mutants, and were working in a plan of genocide.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Magneto is the X-Men's ArchEnemy and a mutant supremicist but he comes off much more sympathetically than Stryker in this comic. He is polite and cordial to the X-Men the entire time, and at one point even saves a police officer who was shot by the Purifiers. Stryker in contrast killed his wife and newborn son [[spoiler: and his kills his own follower when he realizes she was a mutant.]]

* MissionFromGod: Stryker is firmly convinced God tasked him to kill all mutants.

* SinisterMinister: Stryker is probably one of the best examples for this trope to come from Marvel: a fanatic who believes that God wants him to wipe out every Mutant in the world under the idea that Mutants are created by Satan.

* TooDumbToLive: The X-Men want information from you. Magneto approaches, looking a little reluctant as he alludes to the possibility of torturing you. You address him by a racial epithet ("mutie," to be precise). ''How could you possibly expect that to end well?''

* VillainousUnderdog: The Purifiers are well funded but are clearly out of their league against the X-Men, mostly posing a threat when attacking them individually or through ambush.

* AdultFear: The story opens with two young children being hunted down and murdered for an accident of birth. Their parents were unable to protect them, having been murdered themselves, possibly in an attempt at HeroicSacrifice.

-->-- '''Magneto'''

** Happens early on in the novel, with Kitty punching out a fellow student for coming down on the side of Stryker's crusade. When [[CoolBigSis Stevie Hunter]], her African-American dance instructor, tells her his rhetoric was "just words," Kitty responds with an enraged:

* FakingTheDead: The Purifiers' fraud fools the police, but doesn't hold up to Wolverine's enhanced senses. Besides, he describes it as something that he'd do.

* NeverMyFault: Stryker says in his backstory that his son's mutation was a curse from god, not because of his own sin, but because of his wife's.

* PoliceAreUseless: Rare aversion in a superhero comic [[spoiler: a nameless cop shoots Stryker to keep from shooting Kitty.]]

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Magneto is the X-Men's ArchEnemy and a mutant supremicist but he comes much more sympathetically than Stryker in this comic. He is polite and cordial to the X-Men the entire time, and at one point even saves a police officer who was shot by the Purifiers. Stryker in contrast killed his wife and newborn son [[spoiler: and his kills his own follower when he realizes she was a mutant.]]

* RealityEnsues: When Reverend Stryker is preparing to execute Kitty Pryde in public on national television to make his statement against mutantkind, [[spoiler: he gets shot and detained by a nearby cop. Mutant bigotry or not, famous televangelist or not, no non-corrupt police officer would let someone shoot an unarmed teenage girl in cold blood.]]

* ColdBloodedTorture: Magneto does... something to the Purifiers to make them tell the X-Men of Stryker's plans. (He appears to be using his powers to manipulate the Purifiers' armor to stretch them out, as if on a rack.) Only [[AllLovingHero Nightcrawler]] provides objection to it. Also a case of BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork. Nightcrawler averts this when he takes his own prisoner (Stryker's brainwashing expert), preferring instead to use threats and his own demonic looks to intimidate the man.

A GraphicNovel first published in 1982, ''God Loves, Man Kills'' is one of the most famous ''Comicbook/XMen'' stories from the Claremont period. Writing in the midst of the rise of televangelists of the 1980s, Creator/ChrisClaremont and artist Brent Anderson presented a story with a new foe for the X-Men who stood out from previous villains: the Reverend William Stryker, a SinisterMinister who believes mutants are demons from hell that must be completely eradicated.

* EvilerThanThou: Magneto versus Stryker. Both are fanatical ideologues who are at least potentially genocidal in the pursuit of their utopias, but their philosophies differ sharply. To the EvilutionaryBiologist Magneto, Stryker is a perfect example of atavistic bigotry and religious obscurantism, whereas the KnightTemplar Stryker sees Magneto as a Darwinian monster and literally Satanic villain. The narrative seems to be subtly implying that BothSidesHaveAPoint, though Stryker gets more "onscreen" villainy in this comic.

* VillainousBreakdown: Stryker becomes unhinged when [[spoiler:his loyal aide Anne is revealed as a mutant and turns against her, killing her]]. Previously, he was an intelligent, patient and charismatic villain, to the point of being AffablyEvil; after this, he completely loses it and becomes a crazy, ranting fanatic for the rest of the comic. This makes sense, as Stryker believes mutants are demons, and finding out [[spoiler:Anne]] is on is, to him, finding out that his [[spoiler:[[TheDragon trusted number two]]]] is TheMole - he probably thinks [[spoiler:Anne]] has been spying on him all along, which is enough to make anyone paranoid.

* VillainousBreakdown: Stryker becomes unhinged when [[spoiler:his loyal aide Anne is revealed as a mutant and turns against him]]. Previously, he was an intelligent, patient and charismatic villain, to the point of being AffablyEvil; after this, he completely loses it and becomes a crazy, ranting fanatic for the rest of the comic.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Anne, one of the Purifiers. Her death scene is a shocking moment since it shows Stryker as a BadBoss, but she did personally execute two children at the beginning of the story. Even in-universe, everyone seems more shocked at Stryker's ruthlessness than the fact that Anne died.]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Stryker is a televangelist popular enough to fill Madison Square Garden, and his "crusade" has many supporters. He's also responsible for a number of mutants' murders.

* BadassBystander: In the book's climax, Stryker aims a gun at Kitty when they confront him at Madison Square Garden. A shot is fired. [[spoiler: But it turns out to be a random police officer working security. He shoots and arrests Stryker, believing the Reverend has gone too far if he's willing to kill an unarmed teenage girl]].

Taking on issues such as prejudice, religion and the growing Christian fundamentalism of the time, the story proved to be a hit and was one of the primary influences for the second ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' movie, ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The police watching over Stryker's rally comment on their disbelief over his message and later step in to help the X-Men. Another reasonable authority figure is the unnamed senator in the audience. [[spoiler: Said senator also turns out to be a mutant, unbeknownst to himself or others.]]

* WouldHurtAChild: In the very first scene, Purifiers murder two young children. Stryker admits to an entire audience listening to his sermons that he murdered his infant son for being born visibly mutated and at the climax attempts to shoot the then 13-year-old Kitty Pryde himself.

* FakingTheDead: The Purifiers' fraud fools the police, but doesn't hold up to Wolverine's enhanced senses.