History Main / GodIsDead

* Volume 48 of [[Bleach]] is titled GodIsDead.

* "A few theologians are trying to say that God is dead. And I’ve been asking them about it because it disturbs me to know that God died and I didn’t have a chance to attend the funeral. They haven’t been able to tell me yet the date of his death. They haven’t been able to tell me yet who the coroner was that pronounced him dead. They haven’t been able to tell me yet where he’s buried." --'''[[CivilRightsMovement Martin Luther King, Jr]]''', [[http://www.drmartinlutherkingjr.com/thethreedimensionsofacompletelife.htm "The Three Dimensions Of A Complete Life"]]

*** [[http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/God_v._Nietzsche Explaination]]

** ''{{Digger}}'' based an in-universe myth on this.

-->''"Nietzsche is Dead." -God''
--Countless Philosophy major.

* God (aka "The Authority") died in ''The Amber Spyglass''. In the HisDarkMaterials [[TheVerse verse]], God was simply the first and most powerful angel. By the time Lyra and Will show up, he is senile and tortured by [[WhoWantsToLiveForever his eternal life]]. They simply let him out of his protective enclosure and he is freed, [[spoiler: but he's too fragile to live in the world from sheer age, so he disintegrates from a slight breeze.]]

**** ..."Wait, nine tenths of the world's population thinks Nietzsche is still alive?"
**** Yes.

* In ''{{War Hammer 40000}}'',[[spoiler: the god emperor is effectively killed by his son Horus, only to be place on the golden throne so he can't fully die but isn't alive either.]]

* KarlEdwardWagner's {{Kane}} is based on {{CainAndAbel Cain}} from TheBible. Kane was one of the first humans, created by a mad god. In the story ''At First Just Ghostly'', Kane claims to have later killed this god.

** Occasionally, Zoey can be heard saying, "Oh no, the zombies killed God" when passing by this message.

** ''Digger'' based an in-universe myth on this.

* In ''Towing Jehovah'' by James Morrow, God's corpse is found in the Atlantic Ocean. The Vatican decides to bury it in Antarctica, while [[HollywoodAtheist pissed-off atheists]] want to destroy it, as even a dead God is proof that they were wrong all along. In the next book of the trilogy, God gets posthumously put on trial for crimes against humanity.

* The Millennium story for ''TheAuthority'' was about a creature who created the Earth and was returning to feed on the life it held, like a cosmic gardener coming to harvest in the fall. 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 doesn't.

Of course, the subject of [[TropeNamer Nietzsche]]'s pronouncement is [[SeriousBusiness one of the most serious debates in the academic world]]. Some say the real meaning of the phrase "God is dead" is that ''belief'' in God/morality is dead. Of course, since GodsNeedPrayerBadly, the [[PuffOfLogic failure of belief]] may be the only thing that ''can'' kill a god. Others—having ''read'' [[FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche]]—say that interpreting the simple phrase "God is dead" to mean that ''belief'' in God is dead is simplistic at best or CompletelyMissingThePoint at worst. Others still recognize the fact that Nietzsche, who was a noted atheist, did not believe in God at all, and thus, because you cannot kill what is not alive, take it to mean that Nietzsche believed that [[HumansAreBastards mankind, through their own actions against nature and each other, have killed all that is good in the world and left it a miserable hellhole.]] Thankfully, [[MST3KMantra we don't need to dwell on grim philosophical intangibles to enjoy a story about the mortality of the divine]].

This trope can occur in either a monotheistic or a polytheistic setting; of course, the ramifications of a god dying vary in severity, depending on if there are many gods or just one.

Compare to {{Gotterdammerung}}, which is the general end of the age of gods, and DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu, wherein a (usually mortal) character destroys a god. Not to be confused with {{Shinigami}} or TheGrimReaper, which are divine manifestations of the death principle (God Is Death).

In the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth. Whether it took six days or six billion years for Him (or, you know, Her) to complete the Creation, there's nobody to give the award plaque to. Why not, you ask? Because, somewhere along the way, God croaked. Went belly up. Bought the farm. Kicked the bucket. [[HurricaneOfEuphemisms Answered the last prayer]]. [[{{Dogma}} Played the last game of skee-ball]]. [[OverlyLongGag Named the last prophet]].

In the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth. Whether it took six days or six billion years for Him (or, you know, Her) to complete the Creation, there's nobody to give the award plaque to. Why not, you ask? Because, somewhere along the way, God croaked. Went belly up. Bought the farm. Kicked the bucket. [[HurricaneOfEuphemisms Answered the last prayer]]. [[{{Dogma}} Played the last game of skee-ball]]. [[OverlyLongGag Named their last prophet]].

* The whole ''ShinMegamiTensei'' series. You have gods. You get to fight gods. What more do I need to say?

Compare to {{Gotterdammerung}}, which is the general end of the age of gods, and DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu, wherein a (usually mortal) character destroys a god. Not to be confused with {{Shinigami}} or TheGrimReaper, which are divine manifestations of the death principle (God Is Death). May be related to DeathOfTheAuthor.

* God (aka "The Authority") died in ''The Amber Spyglass''. In the HisDarkMaterials [[TheVerse verse]], God was simply the first and most powerful angel. By the time Lyra and Will show up, he is senile and tortured by [[WhoWantsToLiveForever his eternal life]]. They simply let him out and he is freed, [[spoiler: but the's too fragile to live in the world, so he disintegrates.]]