History Main / AGodIAmNot

** When Elven Prince Finrod met the Race of Men they mistook him for one of the [[CouncilOfAngels Valar]] (they had met elves earlier, but they were not like the Light Elves). Finrod disillusioned them as soon as he was capable of speaking to them, explaining that he was not a Vala but an elf, the Valar lived beyond the Western Ocean, and [[GodOfEvil the only (ex)-Vala]] in the vicinity was ''trouble''. Doesn't stop him from trying to do for Men what the Valar did for elves: namely provide a safe place for them to develop a society as insulated from evil influences as possible. It kind of works too.
** Of course, technically the Valar aren't THE gods either: which the non-evil ones would be ''very'' quick to tell you. The only ''true'' god in the setting is Eru Ilúvatar: creator of both the Valar and all mortal souls. The good Valar don't want to be worshipped: which they make extremely clear to the Númenoreans after the War of Wrath. Manwë even sends eagles to make sure the humans know who is the real god, or any of the other Valar. Melkor, the BigBad, however ''does'' want to be worshipped. Which is how you know he's bad.

* [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Lady of Pain]] from ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' has limitless powers within the city of Sigil [[TheWorldTree (at the top of an infinite spire in the center of an infinite plane that is the core of the multiverse)]] and can even keep all the gods from entering it. She never actually interferes with the politics and the administration of the city and only seems to have two (unwritten) rules she enforces: 1. You do not threaten the existence of the city. 2. You do ''not''. '''Worship'''. '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis The Lady. Of Pain.]]''''' People who violate these two rules either just disappear from the face of the world forever or their remains require magic to be identified.

* ''TableTopGame/TheBookOfExaltedDeeds'' for ''TableTopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' mentions that the CelestialParagonsAndArchangels (unlike the DemonLordsAndArchdevils of the setting) refuse to be worshipped as gods because it would be hubris.

* ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'': Solomon wielded such awe-inspiring power that the non-human species he liberated from his father King David started to worship him as their god. [[StopWorshippingMe Solomon did not approve (to the point of smashing the statues they build in his name)]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Dr. Manhattan is the only superhero in the setting who explicitly has superpowers, the result of a lab experiment gone wrong. He's pretty much a PhysicalGod who becomes increasingly detached from humanity, but he refuses to label himself as a god when people make the comparison.
* The ''ComicBook/Marvel1602'' counterpart of Thor is quite adamant about not being a god, because [[spoiler:his human form, Donal, is the Grand Master of the Knights Templar]].
* Franchise/{{Superman}} has been the recipient of worship, and even the odd church or two set up in his name. He's been described as an angel on several occasions. This makes him very uncomfortable, though his discouragement has often only increased the faith of his followers. Batman's file on Superman in ''ComicBook/{{Justice}}'' in the supplementary materials states that Superman is a god, but thankfully doesn't think of himself as one. This is a common thread whenever Batman internally monologues about Superman, such as in ''ComicBook/PublicEnemies'' and ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', and the two are on good terms, Bruce describing Clark in terms that would match up alongside almost any god of myth and then contrasting it with Clark's humility. Meanwhile, ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' makes the comparison between Superman and a wrathful god, with the book's POV character being a small-town preacher.
* Similarly, Superman's cousin ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} has also been treated as a divine being by the regular people. In the story "Hero Worship", she has to talk the faithful of a "Church of Supergirl" out of believing her to be a divine being.
* In ''ComicBook/Trinity2008'', [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Alfred Pennyworth]] and his allies are initially mistaken for gods by the inhabitants of a parallel reality because they look right like their gods, speak their language and two of them -- ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/WonderGirl -- display amazing abilities. Alfred dissuades them as soon as possible.
* Franchise/GreenLantern Kyle Rayner dealt with this when he absorbed the power of the Green Lantern Corps and [[spoiler:his dead girlfriend Jade.]] He decided to return the power to a new power battery and restart the Corps rather than be all-powerful.

* During ComicBook/TheCloneSaga, in one encounter with Judas Traveler, ComicBook/SpiderMan goes [[BerserkButton postal]] on him and shouts that he's "not God"; Traveler quickly responds by saying that he is not. [[spoiler: As Spider-Man eventually learns, Traveler doesn't have godlike powers, or even come close; he simply has the power to alter people's perceptions so that they ''believe'' he does.]] Of course, Spider-Man has met the One-Above-All - the ''actual God'' of the Marvel Universe. So he would know.
* ComicBook/{{Galactus}} doesn't seem to consider himself a god, despite his ego. He even told Sphinx in no uncertain terms that he isn't a god ''and'' criticized the mortal belief that power makes you one. Though virtually no one knows it, Galactus WasOnceAMan, the only mortal survivor from the previous universe who was eventually reborn in the current universe as Galactus.

* In one'' ComicBook/XMen'' annual, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} acquires godlike power by touching the Macguffin of the story. Though he spends a moment DrunkWithPower, he quickly realizes that he has no right to use that power on anyone, even with the "noblest" of motives/justifications, and gives it up by destroying the item. (See the quotes page.)

* A variant in ''[[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh Tron: Ghost in the Machine]].'' Jet realizes what being a User means in the context of that universe, and ''does not'' handle the revelation well. One of the opening scenes shows him hunkered down in his [[HonoraryUncle Honorary Uncle's]] shuttered arcade, afraid to even ''touch'' a computer. Finding out humanity coded up an entire ServantRace of AIs by pure accident is bad enough, but it's even more justified because his trip to {{cyberspace}} was all about stopping greedy and vicious humans from exploiting and enslaving the Programs.
* Gorr the God-butcher from ''Comicbook/TheMightyThor'' is a very dark example. He started as a poor mortal who hated gods because his world's gods were JerkassGods (though it's implied it's a case of HaveYouSeenMyGod). After acquiring All Black the Necrosword, an incredibly powerful divine blade of darkness, he became a PhysicalGod capable of wiping out entire pantheons by himself. Even though his possession of the sword essentially turned him into a god, he despises gods so much that being called one is his BerserkButton. Ironically, it's heavily implied that the reason his world's Gods stopped answering prayers and let the world fall into ruin was that they were massacred by the last holder of the Necrosword, whose corpse Gorr takes the Necrosword from and kills the badly wounded survivor, never realizing that he's simply restarting the cycle again.
* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': When Wismerhill asks Methraton if he is a god, Methraton vehemently denies it as he hates the actual gods. He's more of an archmage with his religion devoted to him.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': "Hala was not a god. Hala was a Kree that thought that innocent life was worth saving."

* The Balance in ''TabletopGame/{{Anathema}}'' has God-like power and acts in the interest of keeping the human population sustainable, but is not and doesn't claim to be a god.

* In ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', Superman tells his evil Regime counterpart, "We're not gods! We can't decide who lives and dies!"

* ''Fanfic/NobledarkImperium'': Oscar the Emperor is very emphatic on the point that he is ''not'' a god, and does not want to be worshipped as one; one of the few hard rulers imposed on members of the Imperium is that they are forbidden from worshipping him. This is in large part due to the stories he was raised on of the old Men of Gold and their bloody rampages through the old human empire after they were driven mad by Slaanesh's birth, and his fears of becoming something like that. Notably, however, the Eldar of the old Empire viewed the Men of Gold as the closest thing that humanity had to gods, and the modern ones viewed his marriage to Isha as politically valid solely on that basis. Isha herself is of the opinion that the Men of Gold and the the Iron Minds were humanity's counterpart to the Eldar pantheon and that Oscar is a god in denial, a topic that they have had heated arguments on on a number of occasions.

* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', [[spoiler:Kyril is secretly an EldritchAbomination, and he]] once notes that many refugees sought blessings from [[spoiler:him]]. Despite this, [[spoiler:he]] is discomforted by the notion of being godlike, being more concerned about how these people have their once peaceful lives destroyed due to the uprising in the capital.

* ''Fanfic/TheImmortalGame'': Pops up near the end when Twilight [[spoiler:taps into the full power of the Elements of Harmony during the [[StormingTheCastle Battle of Canterlot]], and acknowledges to herself that she's become a PhysicalGod... and she's ''horrified'' by the concept, stating that ''no pony'' should have that much power.]]

* During the endgame of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', [[TheHero Liu Kang]] ascended to literal deity status to defeat Kronika, allowing him to [[RestartTheWorld reconstruct the timeline]] for a New Era guided towards fostering peace and harmony. Despite this immense power, he remains the HumbleHero as he always was, choosing to be "merely" the demigod guardian of Earthrealm rather than the TopGod of the entire universe. When asked by Sindel whether or not she should kneel before her creator, Liu Kang rejects such formalities as he considers his role as being thrust upon him by circumstance, and that he is in no way divine.

* During the endgame of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', [[TheHero Liu Kang]] ascended to literal deity status to defeat Kronika, allowing him to [[RestartTheWorld reconstruct the timeline]] for a New Era guided towards fostering peace and harmony. Despite this immense power, he remains the HumbleHero as he always was, choosing to be "merely" the demigod guardian of Earthrealm rather than the TopGod of the entire universe. When asked by Sindel whether she or not she should kneel before her creator, Liu Kang rejects such formalities as he considers his role as being thrust upon him by circumstance, and that he is in no way divine.

* During the endgame of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', [[TheHero Liu Kang]] ascended to literal deity status to defeat Kronika, allowing him to [[ResetTheWorld reconstruct the timeline]] for a New Era guided towards fostering peace and harmony. Despite this immense power, he remains the HumbleHero as he always was, choosing to be "merely" the demigod guardian of Earthrealm rather than the TopGod of the entire universe. When asked by Sindel whether she or not she should kneel before her creator, Liu Kang rejects such formalities as he considers his role as being thrust upon him by circumstance, and that he is in no way divine.