History Main / HaveYouSeenMyGod

* ''WesternAnimation/Hazbin Hotel'': Despite the prominence of Heaven and the creation myth, the man upstairs has yet to be acknowledged.

* ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'': The Creator never speaks to his creations anymore. Him/her having left this universe completely is something believed by several characters, amongst them [[spoiler:Abbadon.]]

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'': The reason there are so many ghosts and spirits hanging around and harassing humans is because the goddess in charge of reincarnation has vanished. Once again, not exactly her fault.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}},'' sun goddess Amaterasu was killed in battle while under the guise of a wolf 100 years before the start of the game, unbeknownst to the public. [[BackFromTheDead She gets better]], granted, but it turns out that a century-long absence of Nippon's chief deity isn't exactly a good thing when her power relies on [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve the belief of her followers.]]
* The first half of ''VideoGame/Lunar2EternalBlue'' is devoted to Lucia's search for the local goddess to discuss the urgent matter of an awakening monster. Then [[spoiler: the woman claiming to be the goddess is unmasked as a fraud. The true goddess decided that mankind no longer needed her and chose to reincarnate as a mortal, and has been dead for centuries.]]
* The ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' series includes a CrapsackWorld in which the legions of hell take over Earth while the inhabitatants of heaven [[TheGodsMustBeLazy don't want to interfere]]. This also allows an angel, Tyrael, to play an important part in the games' affairs.
** It turns out, as of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', that [[spoiler:[[GodIsDead the supreme deity behind the universe is dead]]. Anu, the god in question, was a God of Order, while Tathamet was the Prime Evil and God of Chaos. Their fight to the death created the universe and their corpses became Heaven and Hell]].
* [[TheHero Zehir's]] goal in one of the last missions in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic V: Tribes of the East'' is to unite the Dwarves who are currently in the throes of a civil war. To do so, he needs to find their Dragon god Arkath. The irony of an atheistic wizard searching for a god [[LampshadeHanging is not lost]] on [[DeadpanSnarker Zehir]].
* The Zuul from ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' have lost their "gods" (the race of AbusivePrecursors who created them) and are on a galaxy-spanning crusade to find out what happened to them. This is very much Not A Good Thing for any other species they happen to encounter on the way; the Zuul were made for the express purpose of exterminating their creators' enemies, and to the Zuul the act of genocide has become a holy purpose.
** In the sequel, the "Great Masters" (AKA the [[AbusivePrecursors Suul'ka]]) return, but a faction of the Zuul has broken off and allied with the enemies of the Suul'ka.
* The {{MMORPG}} ''VideoGame/TreeOfSavior'' makes this one of the primary themes of its storyline. The Revelators (which include all player characters) are on a quest to find out what has happened to the Goddesses and if it's possible to bring them back.
* The CrystalDragonJesus element in a (somewhat)non-religious toned example: after the events of the first four games of ''[[VideoGame/DotHackR1Games .hack]]'', Aura, the de facto goddess of the internet (in reality a very powerful AI capable of basically manipulating the entire networks) disappeared. The execs of CC Corp, the makers of The World (an in-universe fictional best-selling MMO) wanted to have her back since her presence alone made The World into such an advanced piece of software. [[spoiler: To that end, they tried to summon her back using by the Restore Aura plan. Needless to say, it didn't quite work, and the catastrophic result actually forced them to completely close service to The World]]. Cut to GU era, and she's ''still'' missing. [[spoiler: You do find her eventually, but by then, she wished for all humans to make do without an intervening hand of a deity, considering she's a danger magnet of sorts.]]

** In the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' {{DLC}} "Legacy", [[spoiler:Corypheus]] is visibly upset when he realizes he can't hear the voice of [[spoiler:Dumat, the first Old God to be corrupted into an Archdemon and slain by the first Wardens,]] anymore.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', [[spoiler:Corypheus is so broken by the absence of Dumat and the Maker that he makes his own bid for godhood, driving the plot. On some level, he genuinely thinks this will be an improvement over no god whatsoever.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'' the supreme diety Watos apparently vanished after creating the universe, leaving the angels in charge. It's not clear if he's dead or alive or what.
** He's still missing in the sequel ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2''. The question of exactly where he is is a major theme of the story.
* The plot of ''VideoGame/LostMagic'' is basically that the Creator died and left a group of seven sages in charge, but then one of those sages decided to try to take over and become as powerful as the Creator had been.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'', when [[spoiler:you return to the Realm of the Almighty]], this comes into question. Since your main character is a Celestrian (i.e. angel), it is a bit unsettling. The truth turns out to be...unpleasant. [[spoiler: God turned on humanity in disgust and was about to unmake them all, until his daughter stopped him and pleaded that he spare the humans. He agreed, but then left, leaving his daughter, known as Yggdrasil, to watch over them instead with her "children", the Celestrians. God is missing because he left, and the god the Celestrians have been worshipping is in fact God's daughter.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' [[spoiler: the Fal'Cie's desire to bring back their creator The Maker, their own [[DeathSeeker death wish]], and the mass human sacrifice required to make it all possible]] are the driving forces behind the story.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' played with the idea - the Four Archangels, sent to Earth to oversee the conversion of souls for the case of YHVH, steadily got more and more confused about exactly what they were supposed to be doing (and quite crazy, too). The problem is that the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' multiverse runs on GodsNeedPrayerBadly, and it really doesn't matter ''whose'' belief it is. So a Fake YHVH was born from the belief of three of four of the Archangels, a monstrously powerful puppet they made, and who they served without knowing what it was. The single exception was the ArchangelGabriel, who managed to hear the real YHVH's voice.

* In the ''Fall From Heaven'' mod for ''Civilization'', the Creator got decided to retire and leave the world to his angels. They promptly almost destroyed it in an argument.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'', there was a great battle between God and the Demon Lord, and it's ambiguous who won. In the game proper, you find out that the demon lord survived[[note]]disguised as God for a while to fake you out[[/note]] and, although it's clear that you are God's contingency plan, you never actually see any evidence of Him surviving. [[spoiler: Until the bonus dungeon, where it turns out He just up and retired, feeling that humanity and the Four Elemental Spirits could handle things without Him.]]
* The Creator of the ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}''-universe never speaks to his creations anymore. Him/her having left this universe completely is something believed by several characters, amongst them [[spoiler:Abbadon.]]
* The Ascension Wars of the ''VideoGame/{{Dominions}}'' series are caused when the old Pantokrator, the supreme god of the setting, has vacated his post for reasons unknown, opening the way for other divine powers to fight over the top spot themselves. Constant references to "''a'' previous Pantokrator" (rather than "''the'' previous Pantokrator") imply that it's happened at least once before, as well.
* There are a number of gods running about the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' universe but there are two of extreme noteworthy:
** In the series, [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] are equated to [[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Dragon_%28God%29 some of the highest order of the divinities]]. The last dragon seen in Gensokyo [[spoiler:until Wild and Horned Hermit]] covered the sky just prior to the creation of the Great Hakurei Border.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'': Jubileus (Dea), the creator of the the world, was forced into sleep in order to form the Trinity of Realities, but her mere presence is required to keep the world in balance. [[spoiler:Her destruction at the end of the first game has serious repercussions in [[VideoGame/Bayonetta2 the sequel]].]]
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** This is frequently the case for the Aedra, "original spirit" beings who sacrificed much of their divine power to [[CreationMyth create Mundus]], the mortal plane, and are worshiped throughout Tamriel as the Eight (later Nine) Divines. This act left them in a greatly weakened state, unable to interfere with mortal affairs as freely as the Daedra (who maintain their full power). As such, they prefer [[InMysteriousWays a lighter touch]] when influencing mortal affairs, at most typically [[MissionFromGod acting through mortal agents]]. Any acts of [[DivineIntervention direct intervention]] are rare and [[GodzillaThreshold typically reserved]] for averting TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. For this reason, the primary view of the Divines is as impersonal, generally benevolent spirits, worthy of worship and reverence but without any strong direct relationship. During the [[TimeOfMyths Dawn]] and Merethic Eras, the Aedra who would become the [[SaintlyChurch Eight Divines]] still had somewhat enough power to take limited manifestations on Nirn, so there are tons of legends of them directly interacting with mortals. However, by the time of the 1st Era, all of them had vanished except within shrines and temples, where they could perform limited actions. One source attributes this to [[TopGod Akatosh's]] pact with [[FounderOfTheKingdom St. Alessia]] and the [[BarrierMaiden Dragonfires]]; this pact, designed to keep Daedra from being able to walk into Mundus with all or most of their power (as [[OmnicidalManiac Mehrunes Dagon]] did at the end of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]''), also greatly restricts the Divines.
** The Nedes, human [[{{Precursors}} ancestors]] to most of the modern races of Men, had the study and worship of the [[StarPower stars]] as a major part of their culture. They also worshiped beings known as "celestials", though exactly who or what they were has been lost to time. As the Nedes began to evolve into the modern races of Men, the [[RacialRemnant last remaining group]] who identified themselves as Nedes survived deep in the deserts of Hammerfell. This group turned away from worship of the stars and celestials as they did nothing to help stop the decline of their race. (Eventually, the Redguards would arrive in Hammerfell and wipe out this remnant of the Nedes.)
* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''VideoGame/TheJediMasters'': The god in this equation, [[EldritchAbomination the D’arth S’yyth]], is desperately seeking a mortal champion, as it needs one to serve as a host. It wants [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Revan]] to be that host, but [[spoiler:eventually settles for Kannos, one of your party members]].
* In ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'', the ancient Engwithans were wiped out by the gods when they overreached themselves. [[spoiler:Except that's the narrative they left behind. In reality, they used their animancy to try and find their world's gods, and were distraught when they could not find any. They were so broken by the idea of living in a world with no gods or greater purpose that they used their animancy to '''create''' an artificial pantheon of gods and committed mass suicide to empower them and to take the secret to their graves. The BigBad of the first game is the last surviving Engwithan whose mission is to protect this secret.]]
* ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite 2'' justifies the [[AGodIsYou player character deity]] having to bring its religion BackFromTheBrink by saying that it fell into a long slumber after the events of the first game. InUniverse texts mention that most of its missionaries [[CrisisOfFaith turned to drink]].
* In ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'', the Harvest Sprites try in vain to bring back the Harvest Goddess. It's implied she's now living in the nearby [[VideoGame/HarvestMoonBackToNature Mineral Town]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' has the sci-fi version of this, with the Remnant's creators, who while not gods are sufficiently advanced enough to be godlike in the setting, [[spoiler:what with creating an entire species and all]]. At least one species in Andromeda worshiped them, and the angara ''might'' have as well (it's very unclear, thanks to the angara's historical records going missing), [[spoiler:but four hundred years ago they ran off when their enemies dropped a FantasticNuke on them, and exactly where they've gotten to since and why they haven't come back is unknown.]]
* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Barbatos, the PatronGod of Mondstadt, the City of Freedom has been missing for hundreds of years. As the God of Freedom, he decrees his people to be free, but what is freedom if demanded by a god? Thus, he left and let the people take care of themselves. The people still revere Barbatos in return, and a select few knows he actually hangs around and keeps watch under the guise of [[spoiler:a wandering bard in green.]]
* All three ''VideoGame/{{Patapon}}'' games begin by showing this trope already happening to the titular tribe, just barely surviving extinction as a result. Justified in that AGodIsYou, so the patapon are only able to feel your influence again once you start the game and begin the story. Thus, this trope is in place ''only'' at the start.
* ''VideoGame/DemonHunterTheReturnOfTheWings'': According to Greed, [[spoiler:Gun is the AmnesiacGod of Akoron, or specifically of the nation where demons came from, but was rather [[TheGodsMustBeLazy neglectful of the world's problems]] and then for unknown reasons fled to Earth and erased his memories. Greed assumed that taking Gun back would shake up his memories, but seeing no progress he declares that Gun has abandoned his people and that Elen should take his place]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Goats}}'', Jon and Philip meet God, who inexplicably acts like a [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean swishy pirate guy]]. Philip then suggests that he change himself into a pork chop. God does so, and Philip and Jon eat him. This ends up being a contributing factor to the state of the universe - It is destined to self-destruct pretty soon unless someone renews the warranty.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'', God is entirely absent. According to [[UnreliableNarrator Rumisiel]] he set up the [[CelestialBureaucracy Celestial Depository]] in response to Lucifer's attempted coup d'etat to avoid that ever happening again and then disappeared. He supposedly knows about Rumisiel's actions but hasn't felt moved to intervene. At least, not yet.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Kubera}}'', three of the four [[TheOldGods Primeval Gods]] disappeared during the [[CataclysmBackstory Cataclysm]], leaving many things unfinished.
* God does exist and personally talks to the angels in the backstory of ''Webcomic/HolyBibble'', but in the present, he appears to be almost entirely absent.
* The main character of ''Webcomic/{{Suihira}}'' is devoted to the goddess Akia, who the rest of the world thinks has abandoned humanity.
* ''Webcomic/DriveDaveKellett'': The Vinn, a warlike faction of alien species infested with a mind-wiping parasite, are devoted to a religion revolving around finding their "Lost Gods", which they believe were "lost to the blackness of space". In truth, their gods are an extinct race that accidentally created the Vinn parasite in an attempt to cure a disease that was killing them. It's a doomed quest -- the Vinn parasite killed its makers more effectively than the disease ever did, and the few survivors nuked themselves into oblivion in a failed attempt to destroy the Vinn.
* ''Webcomic/PerfectionEngine'': The Maker, the creator of the universe and all life in it, disappears for an unknown reason, leaving her creations, the Eidolons, to believe that she left out of disgust for them. This kickstarts their efforts to build a society based on perfect society as a means of penance. They believe she may return if they repent this way and perfect themselves. [[spoiler:Their efforts successfully bring The Maker back to their world... to purge them for the ''soul-purifying'' atrocities they committed.]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Nekyia}}'': Unlike his [[PhysicalReligion more interventionist]] siblings, [[GodOfThedead Hades]] left one set of instructions with his priests, left for the Underworld, and ignored the mortal world completely. He's outright confused when a priestess travels there in person to demand guidance; Hermes has to remind him that humans can't be expected to carry on unchanged for six hundred years without any active supervision.

* An odd variation in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': [[spoiler:The Gods of Light and Darkness bailed on Remnant after the woman who'd become [[BigBad Salem]] rallied humanity against them to try and resurrect her former lover Ozma. However, before they left, they left four special items and gave Ozma ResurrectiveImmortality, charging him to prove humanity can be better and use the items to summon him with proof. However, with Salem with her own immortality and believing her to be unable to be truly defeated, Ozma decides on a war of attrition instead, trying to hide the items and make humanity better his own way before Salem can get the items and go for round two.]]

* We can probably imagine that this is how most of the world regarded the Avatar's disappearance in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''; he is the physical incarnation of the World Spirit, the lone master of all four elements and link to the spirit world. And then he disappears, an entire nation gets wiped out in genocide and war rules the world for one-hundred years.
* On a smaller level in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', when Aang was alive, Republic City was mostly harmonious. Yes, there were gangs around causing problems but life between benders and non-benders wasn't that bad. In the 17 years after his death, the bending-gangs are exerting more power over non-benders, even amounting to killing the wife of a prominent citizen and the gang is still running around, the ruling council no longer has any non-benders on it, they do nothing to try and quell the rising distress of the poor non-bending population, they allow bending corruption to fill Pro-Bending, the police don't seem to have any non-benders working the streets leaving no one for the poor non-benders to talk to and hope for help from, thus making the city ripe for the extremist group the Equalists to come in and slowly take over the city.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'' the high priestess of Dreamland's state church goes on a rambling monologue about whether or not their God even exists - ''during a royal wedding''! Odval remarks to the person next to him that this religion is "in its early stages". King Zog later calls off a quest to find the One True God because he considers finding the [[ImmortalityInducer Eternity Pendant]] to be a higher priority. It should be noted that Heaven, Hell, God and Satan (though not called that by name) are confirmed to exist in this universe.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{KULT}}'', the Demiurge disappeared, and [[{{Satan}} Astaroth]] is looking for him, since only his counterpart can give a meaning to his existence.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Relics}}'': A central mystery. God has disappeared, closing the Gates of Heaven behind her, and the angels left on Earth now have no guidance from upstairs.
* In ''TabletopGame/TrudvangChronicles'' the elven gods were collectively kicked out of the world by the Iron Dragons, and while the Illmalaina, or light elves, still worship them, their prayers are left unanswered, meanwhile their Korpikalla brothers have turned their backs on the gods and worship nature spirits.