History Main / HaveYouSeenMyGod

* [[TheInquisitorCycle The Inquisitor Madderdin series]] by Jacek Piekara is set in an alternative medieval Christianity where Christ didn't die for our sins, but instead stepped of the Cross to punish the evil with a massacre of Jerusalem ("And give us the strength not to forgive our sinners" is part of the Our Father prayer). Even though Angels clearly exist and prayer works, at least in some ways, [[spoiler:God himself is reportedly missing and Angels have no idea how to even look for him. Well, some of them have a very strange idea which makes the main protagonist very uncomfortable...]]

* In Piers Anthony's ''Series/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, both Heaven and Hell are very clearly and explicitly real, Satan is present and very active, and angels occasionally appear ... but God is mysteriously absent. It's finally revealed in the sixth book that [[spoiler: He is still around, but "indisposed" (read: entirely absorbed in contemplating His own perfection and effectively comatose), and the angels have basically been covering for Him when necessary]]. Satan wants to change this, but the Archangel Michael isn't convinced that would be a good idea and prefers to keep the status quo. God's predecessor JHVH is also still around (though all but powerless, and, by the time Satan meets Him, weak and sickly), and He and Satan are actually on pretty good terms. It helps that JHVH knows Satan is [[spoiler: a pretty nice guy rather than the asshole he seems to be to most of the other incarnations; said assholery is necessary due to a bet Satan made with Michael, but since JHVH already knows all about the situation re: God, Satan is allowed to help Him as long as nobody else finds out about it]]. In the end, [[spoiler:the other Incarnations impeach God, removing Him from office, and make a rather creative choice of a new God.]]

* In the ''TabletopGame/GURPSSteampunkSettingTheBrokenClockworld'', it’s not clear what has happened to the many gods of what is now the Broken World; they used to be somewhat active, but since the event known as the Breaking, their priests can’t contact them any more (though some priestly powers still work). There seems to be a consensus that they are either dead or as good as dead, but it’s possible that they are just missing, and some people would doubtless clutch at that straw.

* It's explained in passing in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' that God "vanished in a puff of logic" after man disproved his existence with a LogicBomb involving the [[TranslatorMicrobes Babel fish]] and GodNeedsPrayerBadly. ''Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish'' has Arthur and Fenchurch traveling to a far-off planet to witness God's final message to his creation: "WE APOLOGISE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE", written in giant flaming letters. The characters do not question its divine origin, although [[FridgeLogic it's written]] [[AliensSpeakingEnglish in English]] [[note]]and with "apologize" spelled in the [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage etymologically incorrect British fashion]].[[/note]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Drive}}'': 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.

* In the backstory of ''FanFic/ToTheStars'', Homura went on a journey through the universe to find [[spoiler:Mado]]kami, after realizing that her death would not reunite them. She hasn't returned yet.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Godbound}}'', the theurgical empires of men decided to storm heaven to get the answers of the universe from God himself. After forcing their way through the pearly gates and slaughtering thousands of His angels, they found His throne... and it was empty. [[AGodAmI And then they decided that someone had to sit the throne...]]

{{God}} [[GodIsGood may be good]]. [[GodIsEvil God may be evil]]. We'd give you a more concrete answer, but... well, we can't find him. God (or [[CrystalDragonJesus some other deity]]) appears to have abandoned his station, and all the angels and the [[CelestialBureaucracy rest of the heavenly engine]] are in a tizzy. Did [[SealedGoodInACan something happen to him?]] Is he [[TheGodsMustBeLazy too bored to do anything?]] Or did he just decide that it all wasn't worth it anymore?

{{God}} [[GodIsGood may be good]]. [[GodIsEvil God may be evil]]. We'd give you a more concrete answer, but... well, we can't find him. God (or [[CrystalDragonJesus some other deity]]) appears to have abandoned his station, and [[LowestCosmicDenominator all the angels]] and the [[CelestialBureaucracy rest of the heavenly engine]] are in a tizzy. Did [[SealedGoodInACan something happen to him?]] Is he [[TheGodsMustBeLazy too bored to do anything?]] Or did he just decide that it all wasn't worth it anymore?

* One arc of ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' has God ''returning'' after an absence of billions of years. He's not too impressed to see his retirement home's been overrun by termites. Keep in mind, "God" in this setting is a gigantic, pyramid-shaped EldritchAbomination who physically created the Earth and moved it into it's orbit around the sun, intending to use it as a home upon it's return. However, it is NOT the creator of humanity, or life in general, as that is just the accidental result of an asteroid crash billions of years ago. [[spoiler: The Authority ends up having to lobotomize the being to keep it from destroying humanity]].

* 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 it's 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.

* The Human Gods of ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' have withdrawn more and more from the world since the Exodus. As of ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'', they are all but absent, though most humans remain devoutly religious. Most believe that the Gods merely wish humanity to stand on its own.

* The Inquisitor Madderdin series by Jacek Piekara is set in an alternative medieval Christianity where Christ didn't die for our sins, but instead stepped of the Cross to punish the evil with a massacre of Jerusalem ("And give us the strength not to forgive our sinners" is part of the Our Father prayer). Even though Angels clearly exist and prayer works, at least in some ways, [[spoiler:God himself is reportedly missing and Angels have no idea how to even look for him. Well, some of them have a very strange idea which makes the main protagonist very uncomfortable...]]

* In TabletopGame/{{Godbound}}, the theurgical empires of men decided to storm heaven to get the answers of the universe from God himself. After forcing their way through the pearly gates and slaughtering thousands of His angels, they found His throne... and it was empty. [[AGodAmI And then they decided that someone had to sit the throne...]]

* In TabletopGame/{{Godbound}}, the theurgical empires of men decided to storm heaven to get the answers of the universe from God himself. After forcing their way through the pearly gates and slaughtering thousands of His angels, they found His throne... and it was empty.

--> '''Chris Nielsen''': "Where is God in all of this?"
--> '''Albert''': "Oh, He's up there. Somewhere... shouting down that He loves us. Wondering why we can't hear Him. You think?"

* The TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms ''Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen'' novel series had Lolth apparently vanish. A crack team of freaks is sent to find out "What the ''hell'', woman? ...ma'am. Your Awesomeness."
** One of them wins divine ascension. One earns freedom. One gets a FateWorseThanDeath. The other one just gets death.

--> ''Who are the ones that we kept in charge?''
--> ''[[AmoralAttorney Killers, thieves, and lawyers!]]''

* If God[[note]] of the Abrahamic - Jewish, Christian, and various others - faith[[/note]] exists, He probably counts as this, since there's been no (undisputed) scientific proof of His existence yet. [[FlameBait And that's all we're saying]] [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement on that matter]].
** Same goes for every major religion.

* A scary, scary version of this occurs in the [[http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1997-06-05/news/myths-over-miami/ La Llorona mythos]].

* Played with in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' with Ananasa, a lieutenant of the Weaver and the creator and patron goddess of the Ananasi werespiders. Ananasa is AWOL because the Wyrm has imprisoned her in Malfeas.
* In the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness game ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen'', the player characters are fallen angels who've clawed their way out of Hell only to find that God and all his angels are nowhere to be found. The obvious question of "well, where did they ''go''?" is studiously left unanswered; it's up to every individual GameMaster to answer it or not as he or she likes. The final [=OWoD=] sourcebook, detailing Armageddon itself, suggests some possible answers, but they're just suggestions.

* In ''{{TabletopGame/KULT}}'', the Demiurge disappeared, and [[{{Satan}} Astaroth]] is looking for him, since only his counterpart can give a meaning to his existence.
* In the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' campaign setting of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the Time of Troubles was when all the gods were kicked out of their home planes and made to walk the world as (exceedingly powerful) mortals. Not just divine magic, but ''all magic'' went wonky (as the goddess of arcane magic was AFK with the rest). A few gods died. It was a whole thing.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

** It's also a commonly held Eldar ([[{{Fanon}} and fan]]) theory that should the Emperor die, it will be a cataclysmic event that will result in all manner of things including: the Astronomican collapsing, preventing all Warp travel and isolating most of the Imperium, especially the far-flung worlds of Segmentum Ultimus to the galactic "east" of Terra; a warp rift ''even more vast than the Eye of Terror'' opening and engulfing Segmentum Solar, the heart of the Imperium; the Emperor being reborn in either corporeal form, leading to a revival of the Imperium, or in non-corporeal form in the warp, leading to him {{curb stomp|battle}}ing the Chaos Gods; or all of the previously listed.

* To an extent, this trope is applicable to the TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons setting ''TabletopGame/{{Infernum}}'' - while the existence of angels is confirmed, and the most famous First Fallen do have names of fallen angels (Lucifer and Azazel being the primary), there's no detail on who God is or what he wants. Of course, the game revolves around fighting for survival in Hell, so traveling to Earth itself isn't (usually) covered, let alone Heaven, and the Fallen Angels that are player characters don't remember a thing before actually falling. What about the First Fallen, who didn't plunge through the memory-sapping Lethe Clouds? Oh, the demons ate them centuries ago - it's how the Infernum was founded.
** The "Book of the Conqueror" sourcebook actually goes into a bit more detail than that: Not only are a bunch of the First Fallen still around, hiding out in the leftover bits of the previous Creation, the First Fallen Azazel and the founder of House Astyanath actually cooperated, back in the day, to build the Machine City of Cacaphractus -- which nobody now remembers was actually meant as a device to ''torture God!'' So God's existence is fairly well confirmed, it's just that the sourcebooks explicitly and intentionally leave his motivations and proper role in the cosmos vague, to provide for a RageAgainstTheHeavens plot if so desired.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'':
** While darklords are closer to damned souls than gods, their continued presence and attention is what sustains the cohesiveness of the domains to which they are bound. Domains have faded into the Mists because their darklords have died, and when Lord Soth ceased to notice his own surroundings, in favor of some obsessive navel-gazing via {{Magic Mirror}}s, his domain of Sithicus nearly broke into fragments.
** The Straighter example are the actual Gods. Flavor Outlanders (people not born in Ravenloft) feeling a sudden disconnection from their gods, though they can cast spells they can no longer talk to their deities and this causes severe crises of faith. Several [[WildMassGuessing Fan Theories]] suggest that all Clerics, Paladins, and other Divine Spellcasters are actually no longer getting their spells from their gods, but instead from the mysterious [[PowersThatBe Dark Powers]] that rules the land, so where are the Gods when their followers are stuck in a WorldHalfEmpty?
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the reason Ignis Divine (aka the Unconquered Sun) hasn't paid any real attention to his chosen Solars is that he's too busy playing the Games of Divinity. The canonical reason for this is that he got disgusted with their behavior when the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Great Curse]] got out of control and crossed the DespairEventHorizon.
** The Alchemical Exalted's patron Primordial Autochthon is also unavailable; in his case, it's because he's in hibernation thanks to his chronic illness.
** Played with a bit. The original gods of Creation were the Primordials, also known as Titans. They were cast into a hell made of their king's body and became known as Yozi. The odd thing is that in the current setting, beings at large do ''not'' want the Primordials/Yozis to return to their posts as the world's rulers.
* There's some evidence to be had that the very original religion used in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' was a form of Christianity with [[LawyerFriendlyCameo the serial numbers filed off]], but that Gary Gygax (himself a Christian), concerned that publishing it in that manner might open the game to charges of accidental blasphemy, declined to offer much of anything in the way of a cosmology at first -- actual details of a cleric's god(s) were left up to to individual {{Game Master}}s. This changed later, once the Greyhawk setting was published (and by this time a pantheon had organically grown in Gygax's home campaign anyway).
* This appears to be the case in the newest TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering setting, [[GothicHorror Innistrad]]. The closest thing the people of Innistrad have to a goddess, the archangel Avacyn, seems to be missing and since she was the only thing keeping the local [[FurAgainstFang Vampires and Werewolves]] and other supernatural nasties in check, the entire Plane is going downhill pretty rapidly. Her [[BadAssPreacher Priests]] are trying to keep up the slack but its a losing battle.
** Literally done by the [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=230620 Angel of Flight Alabaster]]:
--> ''She endures without Avacyn but secretly asks each soul she guides if it has seen her.''
** It turns out there's a good reason they can't find her: [[spoiler:She was drawn into the Helvault, a [[SealedEvilInACan can that she created for sealing demons she couldn't slay]], [[SealedGoodInACan by accident]].]]
* In the ''Valdorian Age'' setting for ''[[TabletopGame/{{Champions}} Fantasy Hero]]'', the earth's level of ambient magic has fallen past the point required for gods to even exist. The problem is, people generally remember a time when the gods not only existed, but their priests had fantastic powers. Now that the priests have lost those powers, most people believe the gods have "turned their backs" on humanity in response to some horrific sin on mankind's part.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' setting for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the Sovereign Host and Dark Six compose one of the largest and oldest extant faiths in Khorvaire, and maybe the world. ''Nobody'' knows if any of the gods is actually real, not even the angels or demons of other planes (they ''claim'' that the gods exist, but when pressed sufficiently most will admit that they haven't ''personally'' seen or talked to any of them and that they're effectively "winging it"). The more philosophical believers treat it as a form of pantheism and dismiss the necessity of physical incarnation for a god to be meaningfully "real."
** In Eberron, divine magic works on a "clap your hands if you believe" basis. There's at least one cult that is attempting to get around the problem of whether or not their god exists by ''building'' him. So how do their divine spells work if they know for a stone fact that their god doesn't exist yet? They believe that ''when'' he exists, he will retroactively grant his clerics divine spells, and in Eberron, that belief is sufficient ... and just more "proof" to them that they're right, because see, spells! He ''must'' exist (in the future)!
* And yet another D&D setting: in TabletopGame/DarkSun, the gods are gone (killed off or left when the world went to hell) and clerics essentially don't exist. A couple of the Sorcerer-Kings ''claim'' to be gods, and have the power to enforce their worship in their own city-states.
* 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.

* A central mystery of ''TabletopGame/{{Relics}}''. God has disappeared, closing the Gates of Heaven behind her, and the angels left on Earth now have no guidance from upstairs.
* {{TabletopGame/Pathfinder}} has Count Ranalc, a member of the [[Main/TheFairFolk Eldest]], who disappeared one day 8,000 years ago and has not been seen since. The only reason to think he's still alive is that his followers continue to be empowered.

** Post-Flashpoint has had this happen several times as the Olympian pantheon has abandoned Earth more than once for various reasons (Zeus deciding to stay out of human affairs, fleeing ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, etc.) though this doesn't really affect anyone other than Wonder Woman herself and the Amazons, since they're the only remaining Hellenistic worshippers on Earth. On at least one occasion they took the Amazons (other than Wonder Woman herself) with them.

* [[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]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Drive}}'': 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.

'''NoRealLifeExamples.'''

* For the Hittites, the "Missing God" theme was very popular. Gods would usually disappear in a fit of anger and leave humanity vulnerable. So, humanity would always have to appease them with special rituals to calm their anger and ask them to return, wherever they may be.

* If God exists, He probably counts as this, since there's been no (undisputed) scientific proof of His existence yet. [[FlameBait And that's all we're saying]] [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement on that little matter]].
* The 16th-century Catholic mystic St. John of the Cross argued in his book ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Night_of_the_Soul Dark Night of the Soul]]'' that a sense of God's absence is a significant stage in the development of healthy spirituality, as it requires the believer to trust in God by faith rather than relying on subjective religious experiences. A number of other saints and mystics have written about similar periods of "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_dryness spiritual dryness]]".

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''Discworld/SmallGods'' by Creator/TerryPratchett: the Great God Om has been reduced to an angry, powerless tortoise because, of all his millions of "worshipers," [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly only one person actually believes in him any more]]. Until Om finds Brutha, it's less "Have You Seen My God?" than "Have You Seen My Follower?" ''Small Gods'' also features the idea that, if the Discworld universe has a Supreme Being, it's probably best ''not'' to attract his attention.
** Brutha does it, too, in a very specific way. In fact, it usually takes the form of [[RunningGag this exchange]]:
--->'''Brutha''': Have you seen my tortoise?
--->'''Any random character Brutha is addressing''': No. But there's good eating on a tortoise ...
** Something very similar to this trope happens in ''Discworld/ReaperMan'' and ''Discworld/SoulMusic'', in which Death goes missing, presumed...er...
*** Another variation in ''Hogfather'', when the [[SantaClaus titular character]] goes missing [[spoiler: thanks to the Auditors]] and it's up to Susan to bring him back (with a little help from grandfather Death, of course).
** Pratchett revisits this trope in ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' with Nuggan, who's basically the God of {{Strongly Worded Letter}}s and deity of the state religion of [[{{Ruritania}} Borogravia]]. [[spoiler: He turns out to be outright ''dead'', having suffered the fate that nearly befell Om in ''Small Gods''. [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing Not many Borogravians were particularly sorry about this when they found out]].]]

* In ''LightNovel/KumoDesuGaNaniKa'' Evil God D got bored with her job administering the cycle of reincarnation and ran away to play video games on Earth. Given the Maid and her subordinates were looking for her, D tried to distract them with a [[spoiler:reincarnated spider, onto which she grafted a portion of her soul and mind, creating Kumoko]]. The distraction ultimately failed and the Maid eventually dragged D back to work when she got careless.

-->-- [[Literature/TheBible Mark 15:34]]

** In Season 11, [[spoiler: It is confirmed that Chuck is, indeed, God. He left because [[HumansAreBastards He lost faith in humanity]]]]