History Main / EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory

* Somebody came up with the idea that the ComicBook/FantasticFour represent the four elements (Thing is Earth, Invisible Woman is Air, Human Torch is Fire (duh), and Mr. Fantastic is Water). This sounds like something that was developed retroactively. Creator/StanLee had no problem being labeled a genius, so he never discouraged this. This is lampshaded in the "Ultimate" version. When Creator/JohnByrne took over the title in the 80s, one of his first issues features the Four fighting four elementals, who were ordered not to face their counterparts, thus making the mapping explicit. Creator/NeilGaiman later took advantage of the scheme for his ''ComicBook/{{Marvel 1602}}'' version of the Fantastic Four.

* A number of fans of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pibby}}'' have interpreted the whole thing as an anti-capitalist satire (more specifically, one of the business decisions made by Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery head David Zaslav), with the Darkness being an allegory for how media executives allegedly see cartoons as a roadblock preventing them from seeking endless profit.

** In the episodes "[[Recap/TheSopranosS6E2JoinTheClub Join the Club]]" and "[[Recap/TheSopranosS6E3Mayham Mayham]]", Tony Soprano, while in a coma, dreams of himself as a salesman who loses his wallet and takes the identity of Kevin Finnerty. Numerous fan theories have suggested the dream was Purgatory, which Tony was visiting. Note that while Creator/DavidChase has {{Jossed}} all theories of the significance of the "Kevin Finnerty" name, he has neither confirmed nor denied the Purgatory theory regarding the dream itself.

* In ''Series/TheSopranos'' episodes "[[Recap/TheSopranosS6E2JoinTheClub Join the Club]]" and "[[Recap/TheSopranosS6E3Mayham Mayham]]", Tony Soprano, while in a coma, dreams of himself as a salesman who loses his wallet and takes the identity of Kevin Finnerty. Numerous fan theories have suggested the dream was Purgatory, which Tony was visiting. Note that while Creator/DavidChase has {{Jossed}} all theories of the significance of the "Kevin Finnerty" name, he has neither confirmed nor denied the Purgatory theory regarding the dream itself.

* A number of fans of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pibby}}'' have interpreted the whole thing as an anti-capitalist satire, with the Darkness being an allegory for how media executives allegedly see cartoons as a roadblock preventing them from seeking endless profit.

See FreudWasRight (for sexual/phallic, subconscious symbolism when it's referenced in-story), AccidentalInnuendo (for crowdsourced sexual/phallic, subconscious symbolism), WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical (for political symbolism), RainbowLens (for LGBT+ symbolism), and WildMassGuessing if you really want to blow your mind. Compare MessianicArchetype for characters with more obvious parallels to a Christ figure. Not to be confused with EveryoneIsSatanInHell, where something good is portrayed as bad, (relevant that it is not confused due to the popularity of "everyone is ''Dante'' in hell" as an alternate form of this) and DracoInLeatherPants when something bad is portrayed as good.

%%* Creator/PeterDavid and Creator/DavidLopez's ''ComicBook/FallenAngel''.

Memories of that overzealous English teacher, who forced you to accept that every character, every scene and every action had a ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory deep inner meaning]]'' have led to widespread fear on the part of readers and viewers everywhere that every tale secretly contains some other story being told in {{subtext}}. The end result of this is a state of mind that interprets every plot as an allegory for the rebuilding of one's soul, every setting as a manifestation of {{purgatory|AndLimbo}}, and every protagonist as a stand-in for [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} the Christ]]: Everyone is Jesus in purgatory!

* [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/ed-edd-n-eddy One fan theory]] about ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' takes the "[[DeadAllAlong purgatory]]" part of this trope [[FanFic/CulDeSac literally]].

** In "Course Listing Unavailable", it's ''revealed'' Greendale was actually [[spoiler: an insane asylum that the group all were kept at for 3 years]]. After initially being fooled, they realise that's ridiculous, and this trope is tried out on them; apparently the entire study group is in purgatory, being watched by the devil;

* The ''WebVideo/LasagnaCat'' episode, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAh9oLs67Cw 07/27/1978]]", pokes fun at [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1978/ga780727.gif this Garfield strip]] by featuring a full hour of John Blyth Barrymore giving a philosophical, overly complex dissection of it.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', L [[WordOfGod is shown to be a Jesus figure]], especially with the foot washing scene in the anime. Light, the Judas in this case, also has ''lots'' of (more ironic) imagery.

* ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' has a lot of this going around, but one of the bigger reasons for this is the EldritchAbomination final boss Giygas.

** There are still people who purport a metaphorical "Giygas is a fetus" theory, despite the fact that ''Mother 1'' clearly shows his origins (which many are unfamiliar with due to the game's NoExportForYou status up until 2015).

%% * Most of ''WebVideo/GameTheory'''s episodes tend to be this at times. A Notable example would be the [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Sans]] is [[VideoGame/EarthBound Ness]] Theory, which was disproved by the creator of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode [[Recap/SouthParkS14E2TheTaleOfScrotieMcBoogerballs The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs]] parodies this to no end. When the boys end up disappointed with the supposedly controversial ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'' (which is often seen as fairly tame by today's standards), they set out to write the most pointlessly gross, upsetting, and vulgar for the sake of vulgar book they could muster. This ends up being the titular ''The Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]'', which becomes a huge hit. Everyone draws their own conclusions about what the total debauchery means, including the merciless mocking of Sarah Jessica Parker being interpreted as a metaphor for "the oppression felt by the lower class". However, it means nothing, it was just a bunch of preteen boys being gross and immature.

* The WesternAnimation/SouthPark episode Recap/SouthParkS14E2TheTaleOfScrotieMcBoogerballs parodies this to no end. When the boys end up disappointed with the supposedly controversial ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'' (which is often seen as fairly tame by today's standards), they set out to write the most pointlessly gross, upsetting, and vulgar for the sake of vulgar book they could muster. This ends up being the titular ''The Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]'', which becomes a huge hit. Everyone draws their own conclusions about what the total debauchery means, including the merciless mocking of Sarah Jessica Parker being interpreted as a metaphor for "the oppression felt by the lower class". However, it means nothing, it was just a bunch of preteen boys being gross and immature.

* Played for laughs by [=RTGame=]; when [[https://youtu.be/W0JIrDDsbPo playing through]] the final segment of ''VideoGame/{{Bugsnax}}'', he gets a comment suggesting that the game is actually a metaphor for the Bible. He proceeds to take it and run with it, suggesting that Elizabert and Eggabell are collectively the Jesus stand-in (as they [[spoiler:sacrifice themselves for the others only to turn up alive again some time later]]), the rest of the Snaktooth Island expedition group are the Twelve Apostles, the vaguely referred-to "Three Queens" are the Trinity, the four non-DLC bosses are the Four Apostles, the last party before the final battle is the Last Supper, Strabby is the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden, and [[TheScrappy Beffica]] is Judas.

* Parodied by ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' when he over-analyzes every single aspect of the NES version of ''VideoGame/DrJekyllAndMrHyde'' as symbolism of the duality of human nature and mockingly declares it the greatest video game ever made:

* An argument has been made that the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' series was Meyer subconsciously writing a Mormon treatise (short version: Edward is Joseph Smith, vampires are Mormons, werewolves are Lamanites, and all women are good for is having babies. Long version [[http://stoney321.livejournal.com/317176.html here]]). That would make this series the ThemeparkVersion of Mormonism.