History Main / GodIsDead

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': The first two characters introduced in the TV series are the heroine Utena and the prince who saved her when she was young. He is called Dios; a MeaningfulName indeed. In the present day of the story Dios is implied to be sealed away, but Utena seems to be able to call him as a GuardianSpirit. [[spoiler:In the end, all of this is cast into doubt. Dios is revealed to have stopped being the prince a long time ago, becoming the villainous Akio. Akio says that Dios figuratively died when he lost his claim on being the prince, although he also says that there never really was a prince at all. Symbolically, this revelation leads Utena to [[BrokenPedestal reject her "prince"]].]]

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': MAJOR SPOILERS: [[spoiler: Prince [[MeaningfulName Dios]]'s fate is revealed to be a [[RuleOfSymbolism figurative]] and [[LiteralMetaphor literal]] example. From the beginning, Dios plays the role of GreaterScopeParagon and PhysicalGod, occasionally manifesting as a Utena's [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghostly]] GuardianEntity during her duels. At the conclusion, he is confirmed to indeed be dead. ...by [[BigBad Akio]], who is himself a now-[[FallenHero fallen]], [[DePower depowered]] Dios. [[ItMakesSenseInContext Yes, it does make sense]] ([[MindScrew kinda]]), as Akio is lamenting the loss of his [[AGodAmI godhood]] and [[HeelRealization purity]]. More symbolically, this revelation leads Utena to [[BrokenPedestal reject her "Prince"]] as her idol, mirroring Neitzche's rejection of moral absolutism]].

* ''[[Characters/DCComicsLobo Lobo]]: A Contract on Gawd'' has him graphically murdering "Gawd" and his brother Dave (the Devil {{Expy}}).
* ''ComicBook/{{Ruins}}'', a Creator/MarvelComics graphic novel, shows a newspaper headline with a photo of [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]]' corpse and the headline reading: [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/ca/19/b5ca19b2b3f99d39546e955d3db32723.jpg "God Found Dead In Space"]].
* The Millennium story for ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' was about a creature who created the Earth and is explicitly described as the closest thing there is to God. This creature was the being that had physically collected the matter that the Earth is formed of and placed it into orbit around the sun, but its plan was to return someday and use the Earth as a home; the evolution of life was a completely unplanned event that stemmed from a freak asteroid collision billions of years ago. The creature, as large as the moon and of comparable power, planned to de-terraform the planet back to its original state before taking up residence, unconcerned with the extinction of humanity since we are less than microorganisms compared to it. It was killed by Jenny Sparks in a HeroicSacrifice (as the Spirit Of The 20th Century, her time was up anyway -- until she was resurrected as Jenny Quantum). The creature qualifies for this trope. Jenny does not.
* At the end of ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'', [[spoiler:God meets his end at the hands of the Saint of Killers]].
* A reveal in the Creator/OniPress comic ''Black Metal''. Bonus points as a major factor in the story is the protagonists (twin tween boys) killing and replacing Satan.
* In ''[[{{ComicBook/Hellboy}} Hellboy In Hell]]'', Hellboy's arrival in Hell sparks an upheaval in the demonic hierarchy, with many former slaves turning on and killing their masters. Eventually it is revealed that Satan himself is dead, [[spoiler: murdered by Hellboy during a gap in his memory, [[YouCantFightFate in apparent fulfillment of his destiny]]]].
* Both exaggerated and downplayed in ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' with The Gods Butcher issues. Gods aren't really the true creators of the universe, but they are cosmically powerful entities, devoted to good, evil, or their own interest. Gorr the Gods Butcher dedicates himself to tracking and torturing every one of them to death. [[spoiler: At the end of the first book, he has nearly achieved his goal: only an old, tired Thor is left alive. Because Gorr wants to keep him alive for the end.]]
* In the aptly named ''ComicBook/GodIsDead'', [[spoiler:the Abrahamic God is found dead with a hole in His head on His throne in Heaven]].
* Spoofed in ''ComicBook/SkyDoll'', where a character is ''named'' God [[OverlyPrePreparedGag just to be able to start the series by declaring that "God is a jerk" and then to say that "God is dead" once he gets murdered]].

* ''VideoGame/BuckshotRoulette'': During the second time you take out your items in the second round, [[spoiler:you accidentally pull out a [[BloodStainedLetter bloody release of liability]] signed with the name "GOD", suggesting that God Himself decided to play the game with the demon and lost]].[[note]][[DevelopersForesight The game also prevents you from inputting that name at the start]].[[/note]]

* Similar to ''The Way of Kings'', in ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'', the benevolent god [[spoiler: Preservation]] is actually, by it's own account, [[spoiler: already effectively dead at the start of the series. This happened as a result of his own decision to give up his mind to betray and trap the dark god Ruin after they created the world. He fully dies halfway through the third book in the series]]. The main goal of that series is to [[spoiler: [[KillTheGod finish off Ruin in turn]]]]. On the other hand, as of ''Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw'', [[spoiler: Harmony, once known as Sazed]], is alive and active.

* The ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series is essentially the [[ThanatosGambit posthumous]] BatmanGambit of the god Bhaal, who foresaw his own death and arranged to be resurrected. Things usually don't work out quite perfectly for him. There's a side quest in the 2nd game in the temple of a different dead god who has since stopped being dead.

* The entire premise of the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series is about the protagonist going on a quest to essentially [[RageAgainstTheHeavens kill all of the Greek gods]], and he's already taken down Ares and Athena. At the end of ''3'', every God Kratos encountered is dead, with the exceptions of Artemis and Aphrodite.

* In ''WebVideo/MandelaCatalogue'', TheAntichrist already won and Satan overthrew God. The setting takes place in an AlternateHistory where Satan masqueraded as ArchangelGabriel when he was sent to herald Jesus' birth, and replaced Him. He then managed to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly trick all of mankind into worshipping him instead]], [[AndIMustScream imprisoned Jesus]], and [[TheBadGuyWins took over the world]] while filling it with demonic {{Humanoid Abomination}}s to torment mankind further.

* In ''WebVideo/MandelaCatalogue'', TheAntichrist already won and Satan overthrew God. The setting takes place in an AlternateHistory where Satan masqueraded as the archangel Gabriel when he was sent to herald Jesus' birth, and replaced Him. He then managed to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly trick all of mankind into worshipping him instead]], [[AndIMustScream imprisoned Jesus]], and [[TheBadGuyWins took over the world]] while filling it with demonic {{Humanoid Abomination}}s to torment mankind further.

Some people may be interested in trying to find the corpse or PiecesOfGod. Compare {{Gotterdammerung}} and DeathOfTheOldGods, which is the general end of the age of Gods, and KillTheGod, wherein a (usually mortal) character destroys a God. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Expect a certain amount of surprise should they succeed]]. Also compare EvilStoleMyFaith, which is about a character's belief that there was no God to begin with; they don't necessarily have to be correct. This is one of the criteria for a work to fall in Class 1 on TheSlidingScaleOfDivineIntervention.

Some people may be interested in trying to find the corpse or PiecesOfGod. Compare {{Gotterdammerung}} and DeathOfTheOldGods, which is the general end of the age of Gods, and KillTheGod, wherein a (usually mortal) character destroys a God. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Expect a certain amount of surprise should they succeed]]. Also compare EvilStoleMyFaith, which is about a character's belief that there was no God to begin with; they don't necessarily have to be correct.

* In ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'', [[spoiler:Kokabiel reveals to the protagonists during their fight that God died long ago along with the Four Great Satans, and Archangel Michael is the one running heaven in his place. But don't feel too disappointed; he [[DyingMomentOfAwesome went out like a total badass]] using the last of his strength to seal away a being of such power that it could destroy the entire universe if left unchecked]].

* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': [[DragonsAreDivine True Dragon]] [[TheMaker Veldanava]] died over 2,000 years before the start of the story. Normally, this wouldn't be cause for alarm since True Dragons have ResurrectiveImmortality, but Veldanava for some reason has ''never'' revived since then. The consequences of this have been far-reaching, from [[spoiler:his [[CrystalDragonJesus daughter]] Milim Nava growing up without her parents and becoming a Demon Lord, his younger sibling True Dragons being alone and having to find their own ways, the [[FallenAngel fall]] of some of his finest angels, the rest of the angels taking their grudge out on the mortal races of the world for his death, and one of his [[PowersAsPrograms bequeathed Ultimate Skills]] [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming gaining sentience]] and deciding it's going to [[WellIntentionedExtremist bring him back to life no matter the cost]]...[[OmnicidalManiac even if that means killing everyone in the world]]. And it would actually ''prefer'' that to come to pass, since with Veldanava back they could just RestartTheWorld]].

In the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth. Whether it took six days or six billion years for Him to complete the Creation, there's nobody to give the award plaque to. Why not, you ask? Because, somewhere along the way, God kicked the bucket. [[HurricaneOfEuphemisms Answered the last prayer]]. [[Film/{{Dogma}} Played the last game of skee-ball]]. [[OverlyLongGag Named the last prophet]]. [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus He is an]] ''[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Ex-Deity]]!!''

[[caption-width-right:283:Let's hope we never find out [[AlwaysABiggerFish who or what did him in.]]]]

* The later chapters of ''VideoGame/{{Ultrakill}}'' reveal that Heaven is run by a CouncilOfAngels [[spoiler:because God died ages ago, and Heaven has done everything in its power to keep this a secret]]. With the extinction of humanity, and the subsequent robot invasion of Hell, the secret is getting harder and harder to keep...

** At the end of ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'', [[RankScalesWithAsskicking Dalinar]] receives a "prerecorded" vision from the Almighty, the setting's god, in which He reveals [[spoiler: that He is actually dead, having been killed by a GodOfEvil named Odium at some point prior to the beginning of the book]]. This also has some crossover with GodIsEvil, since [[spoiler: Odium is now the world's ''de facto'' God]].

** In the backstory, the creator god Lorkhan ([[IHaveManyNames aka Shor, Shezzar, Sep, Lorkhaj...]]). Though there are many different creation stories, his inclusion is one of the few consistent elements. He is generally better regarded by the races of men than by the Mer races, who view him as a [[TricksterGod trickster]]. (The Altmer have a particular dislike for him.) After he convinced the et'Ada who would become the Aedra to create Mundus (the mortal realm), sacrificing much of their divine power (including their CompleteImmortality) in the process, he was "killed" and his "divine center" (heart) removed. It was tied to an arrow and launched across Tamriel by Auri-El, one of those et'Ada, where it landed in modern day Morrowind and formed Red Mountain. The moons are said to be his rotting corpse and his spirit was forced to wander Mundus, occasionally taking form as a "Shezzarine," great champions of mankind.

Note that this trope does not directly refer to [[TropeCodifier Nietzsche's]] pronouncement, which, in [[SeriousBusiness one of the most serious debates in the academic world]], implies that God and all God represents didn't exist to begin with. [[note]]The "death of God" according to Nietzsche is [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions a crisis of faith caused by scientific progress]]: modern people began to increasingly rely on the scientific method and along the way realized that empirical science cannot prove the existence of what was assumed to be immutable truth: universal morals, a definite meaning in life and any sort of afterlife. In short, a more accurate summary of Nietzsche's argument would be "Philosophy is dead, morality never existed and science has denounced those as bullshit", but that wouldn't quite manage to convey the poetic severity of the message and [[RomanticismVersusEnlightenment his tragic view on the Enlightenment's]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation pursuit of scientific revelations]]. He put it more expansively this way: "Belief in the Christian god has become unbelievable."[[/note]]

** At the end of ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'', [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Dalinar]] receives a "prerecorded" vision from the Almighty, the setting's god, in which He reveals [[spoiler: that He is actually dead, having been killed by a GodOfEvil named Odium at some point prior to the beginning of the book]]. This also has some crossover with GodIsEvil, since [[spoiler: Odium is now the world's ''de facto'' God]].

* ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'': it's heavily implied that [[spoiler: the Nameless God killed every other god in the world by imprisoning them, then exploiting GodsNeedPrayerBadly by answering every prayer for them until they starved. When you find [[BonusBoss The Three]], they are but clumsy undead, shadows of their former selves. No wonder the area they're found in is named The Crypt of Dead Gods]].

* A ''Series/TheKidsInTheHall'' sketch centers around this. "God is dead…and here is the body to prove it." ...and what was most surprising was how short He was...

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': MAJOR SPOILERS: [[spoiler: Prince [[MeaningfulName Dios]]'s fate is revealed to be a [[RuleOfSymbolism figurative]] and [[LiteralMetaphor literal]] example. From the beginning, Dios plays the role of GreaterScopeParagon and PhysicalGod, occasionally manifesting as a Utena's [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghostly]] GuardianEntity during her duels. At the conclusion, he is confirmed to indeed be dead. ...by [[BigBad Akio]], who is himself a now-[[FallenHero fallen]], [[DePower depowered]] Dios. [[ItMakesSenseInContext Yes, it does make sense]] ([[MindScrew kinda]]), as Akio is lamenting the loss of his [[AGodAmI godhood]] and [[HeelRealization purity]]. More symbolically, this revelation leads Utena to [[BrokenPedestal reject her "Prince"]] as her idol, mirroring Neitzche's rejection of moral absolutism.]]
* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': [[DragonsAreDivine True Dragon]] [[TheMaker Veldanava]] died over 2,000 years before the start of the story. Normally, this wouldn't be cause for alarm since True Dragons have ResurrectiveImmortality, but Veldanava for some reason has ''never'' revived since then. The consequences of this have been far-reaching, from [[spoiler:his [[CrystalDragonJesus daughter]] Milim Nava growing up without her parents and becoming a Demon Lord, his younger sibling True Dragons being alone and having to find their own ways, the [[FallenAngel fall]] of some of his finest angels, the rest of the angels taking their grudge out on the mortal races of the world for his death, and one of his [[PowersAsPrograms bequeathed Ultimate Skills]] [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming gaining sentience]] and deciding it's going to [[WellIntentionedExtremist bring him back to life no matter the cost]]...[[OmnicidalManiac even if that means killing everyone in the world]]. And it would actually ''prefer'' that to come to pass, since with Veldanava back they could just RestartTheWorld.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Lobo}}: A Contract on Gawd'' has him graphically murdering "Gawd" and his brother Dave (the Devil {{Expy}}).
* ''ComicBook/{{Ruins}}'', a Creator/MarvelComics graphic novel, shows a newspaper headline with a photo of ComicBook/{{Galactus}}' corpse and the headline reading: [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/ca/19/b5ca19b2b3f99d39546e955d3db32723.jpg "God Found Dead In Space"]].

* Both exaggerated and downplayed in ComicBook/TheMightyThor with The Gods Butcher issues. Gods aren't really the true creators of the universe, but they are cosmically powerful entities, devoted to good, evil, or their own interest. Gorr the Gods Butcher dedicates himself to tracking and torturing every one of them to death. [[spoiler: At the end of the first book, he has nearly achieved his goal: only an old, tired Thor is left alive. Because Gorr wants to keep him alive for the end.]]

* {{Discussed}} in volume 5 of ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades''. Ancient mages in alliance with demihumans killed the planet's god fifty thousand years ago to free intelligent life from its interference. However, this had the unintended consequence of making the world look like easy pickings for every ''other'' planet's god, forcing the creation of the Gnostic Hunters, an order of elite battlemages, to battle the resulting {{Alien Invasion}}s.

* In [[http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1997-06-05/news/myths-over-miami/ Miami homeless children's street culture]], it is sometimes believed that God is dead, the implications are usually worse though. ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' based an in-universe myth on this.

** Deconstructed by [[http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_why_jesus_called_a_man_a_fool Martin Luther King Jr.]]: "Some are even saying that God is dead. The thing that bothers me about it is that they didn’t give me full information, because at least I would have wanted to attend God’s funeral. And today I want to ask, who was the coroner that pronounced him dead? I want to raise a question, how long had he been sick? I want to know whether he had a heart attack or died of chronic cancer."

** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'': [[spoiler: In one of the game's endings, you get to finally kill YHVH, starting off by not only completely denouncing him, but then removing him from his position of godhood, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard much as YHVH did to many of the other gods in the backstory]].]]

** If you believe WordOfGod, this is the ultimate goal of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyim]]''. By outlawing the worship of [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Talos]], the ascended form of the human Tiber Septim, they hope to deprive him of worship, [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly unmaking him completely]]. This would have very bad consequences for reality, as he is one of the very few things that remain to maintain Mundus.

* ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'': it's heavily implied that [[spoiler: the Nameless God killed every other god in the world by imprisoning them, then exploiting GodsNeedPrayerBadly by answering every prayer for them until they starved. When you find [[BonusBoss The Three]], they are but clumsy undead, shadows of their former selves. No wonder the area they're found in is named The Crypt of Dead Gods.]]

* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'': Several years before the story begins, the god of light and redemption, Eothas, suddenly took a mortal avatar and tried to invade the Dyrwood, starting a war that ended with him getting ''blown up'' by a FantasticNuke. Since then, Eothas answers no prayers and a terrible curse called the Hollowborn Plague that causes random children to be born [[EmptyShell soulless]] has afflicted the Dyrwood, leading most people to presume that he's dead for good and [[TakingYouWithMe cursed his enemies as he died]]. [[spoiler:They are [[SubvertedTrope wrong on both counts]]; Eothas [[NotQuiteDead did not die]], he just got temporarily disabled by the destruction of his avatar, and he was actually trying to ''prevent'' the Hollowborn Plague.]] However, it is [[spoiler:double-subverted in [[VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire the sequel]], as Eothas's last act winds up being a HeroicSacrifice where he expends all his power to destroy the Ukaizo Wheel and [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch free mortalkind from the control of the other gods]]. ''That'' does indeed kill him.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' uses TWO versions of this: firstly, “The good man” a [[CrystalDragonJesus Jesus analogue]], is widely believed to have been attacked by jealous mortals and wounded, so his mother helps him to travel over the sea, swearing [[HaveYouSeenMyGod to one day come back]]. However, many refugee children living in the city at the centre of this cult believe that the world is so cruel that he MUST have died, murdered by his mother who went mad with envy when he said he was leaving, and she now roams the under-city as a vengeful goddess. Due to the universe’s ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, both of these stories are true. As mentioned above, this is based on a RealLife version of Catholicism that [[http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1997-06-05/news/myths-over-miami/ sprung up amongst Miami’s street children.]] The Digger universe also has [[spoiler: a dead god kept on life-support against his will, so that whilst he lives, so does the daemon possessing him]].
* ''Webcomic/BlueEyes'' This story hits you right off with a double whammy. In the prologue the goddess Renosana [[https://www.smackjeeves.com/discover/detail?titleNo=160546&articleNo=4 dies to rebuild her dying world]] , shortly after several of her [[https://www.smackjeeves.com/discover/detail?titleNo=160546&articleNo=10 demigod children kill their older sister to inherit her right to rule]].

* The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/TrippingTheRift'' shows that after Chode takes a joyride on a spacejet, hitting something and resulting in the Big Bang. Afterwards, he and Gus end up in a world with same-sex relations and a severe lack of inhibtions. Chode replays the tape detailing the trip, then rewinds and slows it down, showing that during the joyride, Chode hit and killed God. Of course, he asks for some confirmation: