History Main / PathOfInspiration

* After being destroyed by [[HinduMythology Shiva]] for causing mayhem in various worlds, the monster Tripurasura seemingly retained his memory after going through however many reincarnations that took to become the masquerading demon Mahamada and tried to start a religion based around members of the Trimurti becoming his servants. When people caught on to the fact it was a lie, Mahamada departed to a foreign land and set out to start a demonic religion, based around corrupting the very idea of religion.

* The Clave from the ''Second ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' commits mass human sacrifices "for a good cause". Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work like that...

* The Bene Gesserit of the {{Dune}}-iverse. Specifically the Missionaria Protectiva, the subgroup which spreads the set of beliefs called the Panoplia Prophetica.

** The Charr had a different kind led by the entire caste of shaman. The Flame Legion used smoke and mirrors and copious amounts of magic to seem like they were Gods for the sake of controlling the rest of the legions, and were the ones who began the Searing and the war that followed. Players kill the Imperator and prove to Charr-kind that they're not divine, omnipotent beings, and as a result Charr finish the job and are {{Nay Thiest}}s by the time the sequel rolls around.

A religion that appears benign, but was carefully designed from the ground up long ago for a nefarious purpose, usually either to force the subjects of a state to behave as its founders would wish, frequently specifically to never attempt to rise in station or do anything but what they're told (popular with constructed state religions), or to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly empower]] an [[GodOfEvil evil god]] or [[UltimateEvil force]] without anyone realizing that said god or force is in fact evil. The end result is a VillainWithGoodPublicity. This is a type of MysteryCult, hidden not through total secrecy but through its misleading image for the laity, who might be clearly {{brainwashed}} from an outside perspective. This church is widespread in a large country or even the world, and accepted without question, and may conduct {{Witch Hunt}}s against unbelievers and heretics who have any doubts about its righteousness.

A religion that appears benign, but was carefully designed from the ground up long ago for a nefarious purpose, usually either to force the subjects of a state to behave as its founders would wish, frequently specifically to never attempt to rise in station or do anything but what they're told (popular with constructed state religions), or to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly empower]] an [[GodOfEvil evil god]] or [[UltimateEvil force]] without anyone realizing that said god or force is in fact evil. The end result is a VillainWithGoodPublicity. This is a type of MysteryCult, hidden not through total secrecy but through its misleading image for the laity. This church is widespread in a large country or even the world, and accepted without question -- after all, questioning the Path of Inspiration is a heresy punishable by death. Members are sometimes clearly {{brainwashed}} from an outside perspective.

* The Circle of Thorns in ''CityOfHeroes'' are part this, part AncientConspiracy, and... well, they kidnap random people and have them possessed by ancient ghosts, and that's just the ''start''...
* The Order of the One True Way from SuikodenTierkreis believe in predestination to ridiculous levels, to the point of not running in terror when a townsperson is struck and killed by lightning because ''their leader said it would happen.''

* ''ShinMegamiTensei'' offers us the Order of Messiah. The guy they worship... let's say he was the former poster boy for GodIsEvil. The Senate Elders? The Four Archangels. The DarkMessiah they're trying to create to summon the [[ThereWillBeCake Millennial Kingdom]]? TheHero.

* ''GrandiaII'': You know that war that happened 10,000 years ago between Granas, the benevolent creator, and Valmar, the destroyer? And how Granas won? [[spoiler: That was a bit of a lie. The truth is... when they both defeated each other, Granas was the one who died and Valmar was split into multiple pieces. And the highest members of church knew this and kept it from the general populace, to keep order.]] Furthermore, Granas and Valmar [[spoiler:were never truly divine in the first place. They were merely scientists who unlocked the power to [[RealityWarper warp reality]] and used it to set themselves up as gods.]]

* Morninglight from ''TheSecretWorld'' is part ChurchOfHappyology, part [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson Mansonesque]] hippie {{cult}}. And they [[spoiler: secretly worship an EldritchAbomination (although most members are blissfully unaware of that fact) ]].

* Originally, the ''Literature/EarthseaTrilogy'' portrayed the Kargish religion this way, its religious beliefs (particularly [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything their prejudice against magic-users]]) being imposed by evil gods. This was later retconned into being a good/neutral religion which got corrupted as the author felt herself guilty of UnfortunateImplications.

->''"'God?' Where does such a being exist? You should know by now how the 'Ethos' came about... It was an organization created by [[HiddenElfVillage Solaris]] aeons ago solely for the purpose of managing ignorant humans. Its doctrines are just deceptions designed to control the masses."''

* The Wall Cult of ''Anime/AttackOnTitan'' seems like a fairly innocuous--if fanatical--religion that believes God gave humanity the three walls that protect their civilization from the monstrous [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] that roam the outside world. They are vehemently against the idea of touching the walls and because of their clout with the royal government have made it quite difficult for the military to add defensive armaments and adjustments to to the walls. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that they are part of an AncientConspiracy and their admonitions to avoid disturbing the walls is to hide the mysterious imprisoned Titans that make up the structures.]]

* The Wall Cult of ''AttackOnTitan'' seems like a fairly innocuous--if fanatical--religion that believes God gave humanity the three walls that protect their civilization from the monstrous [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] that roam the outside world. They are vehemently against the idea of touching the walls and because of their clout with the royal government have made it quite difficult for the military to add defensive armaments and adjustments to to the walls. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that they are part of an AncientConspiracy and their admonitions to avoid disturbing the walls is to hide the mysterious imprisoned Titans that make up the structures.]]

* The Wall Cult of AttackOnTitan seems like a fairly innocuous--if fanatical--religion that believes God gave humanity the three walls that protect their civilization from the monstrous [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] that roam the outside world. They are vehemently against the idea of touching the walls and because of their clout with the royal government have made it quite difficult for the military to add defensive armaments and adjustments to to the walls. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that they are part of an AncientConspiracy and their admonitions to avoid disturbing the walls is to hide the mysterious imprisoned Titans that make up the structures.]]

** The Covenant also veers into straight CorruptChurch territory regarding its genocidal campaign against humanity; [[spoiler:its High Prophets discovered the humanity's connection to the Forerunners, and quickly sought to cover it up by all means possible]].

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series the Covenant is both a religion and an interstellar alliance incorporating multiple species. They worship the [[{{Precursors}} Forerunners]], who they think AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence by means of the Sacred Rings, and seek to recreate this "Great Journey." Unfortunately for them, what actually happened was that the Forerunners lost their war against TheVirus and decided to go out by ''[[TakingYouWithMe annihilating all sentient life in the galaxy.]]'' In the second game, the Prophet of Truth seems to be redirecting the Covenant into a CorruptChurch, eliminating his fellow prophets and concealing key facts from the wider Covenant.
** A relatively recent development in Covenant history, detailed in one of the {{Novelization}}s (Contact Harvest?), also puts them in CorruptChurch territory. Upon discovering humanity, Forerunner computers used by the Covenant identified them as "Reclaimers," one of the holiest terms in the Covenant religion. This invalidates much of the Covenant dogma, so the 3 prophets decide to cover it up by assuming power and KillAllHumans.

* Originally, the ''Literature/EarthseaTrilogy'' portrayed the Kargish religion this way, it's religious beliefs (particularly [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything their prejudice against magic-users]]) being imposed by evil gods. This was later retconned into being a good/neutral religion which got corrupted as the author felt herself guilty of UnfortunateImplications.

* In Charles Stross's ''The Apocalypse Codex'' Bob Schiller's Golden Promise Ministry appears to be another American fundamentalist Christian sect, with maybe a few odd doctrines. This being a book in the Laundry series, Schiller and his inner circle actually serve a powerful EldritchAbomination, not entirely willingly. Once Schiller completes a human sacrifice of nearly unprecedented scale the entity will escape its prison under alien stars, and humanity will end. It's a comedy.

* The Church of Yu-Yevon from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was [[spoiler:created to make people accept the periodic resurgence of Sin (unbeknown to most, a creation of the summoner Yevon), formalize the stopgap means used to keep him at bay, point the masses at a scapegoat, and as a result prevented anyone else from coming up with a permanent method of destroying Sin. Though they believed that there simply WASN'T a means to permanently defeat him.]]

* The Church of Yu-Yevon from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was [[spoiler:created to make people accept the periodic resurgence of Sin (unbeknown to most, a creation of the summoner Yevon), formalize the stopgap means used to keep him at bay, point the masses at a scapegoat, and prevent anyone else from coming up with a permanent method of destroying Sin.]]

* The Order of the Mechanists in the ''{{Thief}}'' series. The Mechanists want to spread advanced technology to improve life and inspire progress in The City. [[SinisterMinister Father Karras]] wants to [[OmnicidalManiac kill everyone]] because he believes that [[MachineWorship machines]] are the chosen of [[CrystalDragonJesus the Builder]].

* Every new cult or religious sect that gets a mention in ''CthulhuTech'' is actually just a front to indoctrinate the vulnerable into cults worshipping evil horrors from beyond. But the game has "Cthulhu" in the title, so what did you expect?

* MarvelComics - The Universal Church of Truth in the 20th century is a galaxy-spanning empire that preaches the message "Convert or Die". It was founded by a time-traveling super-villain for his own evil ends. But in the 30th century on many worlds it has become a somewhat more benevolent and spiritual organization.

* The Church of Transcendence in ''TheAuthority'': its leader, John Clay, infected all of his devotees with a psychic virus. This virus forced them to venerate him as well as give him some of their energy, turning him into a superhuman capable of taking on the entire Authority by himself.
* ''JustImagineStanLeeCreatingTheDCUniverse'' has the Church of Eternal Empowerment, run by [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Reverend Darrk]].