History Main / SemiDivine

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', all elves are this being offspring of Immortals and humans.

** [[HumansAreCthulhu The Human Race]] is stated in Genesis to be "made in the Image of {{God}}".

* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': By using the Songs of Fruition, it's possible for celestial beings -- i.e., angels and demons -- and for ethereal spirits -- typically the more powerful ones, such as fey, embodied archetypes, or the pagan gods -- to have children with mortals. The fruit of these unions have greater inherent spiritual power and affinity for the supernatural than regular humans do. However, they also have a chance of being born as monsters, warped in body and mind, and shunned and feared by celestials, ethereals and humans alike. These unfortunates are known as [[OurNephilimAreDifferent Nephallim]] when sired by celestials and [[{{Medusa}} gorgons]] when born of ethereals.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}s'' are the children of gods, and can ascend to godhood themselves.

* The [[PhysicalGod Primarchs]] and, to a lesser extent, the SpaceMarines of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. The Primarchs are the 20 [[TrulySingleParent "sons"]] of the GodEmperor, and while they aren't as powerful as him, they're nigh-godly unto themselves. The Space Marines are [[SuperSoldier warriors]] that are BioAugmented with the geneseed of the Primarchs, and they're basically an [[BadassArmy army]] of individuals who can each [[OneManArmy slaughter a thousand men by themselves]].
* Anyone with [[EldritchAbomination Outsider Taint]] in ''TabletopGame/CthulhuTech''.

* The children of gods in ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'' and other games set in Glorantha are not automatically gods (although they can become so after their deaths if people care to worship them). They do have great powers and often long lives. For example, Ezkankekko the Only Old One, son to the troll trade god Argan Argar and the human earth goddess Esrola, could appear as troll or human at need, had vast magical powers, and lived for millennia before ultimately being killed by Belintar.
* ''TabletopGame/LeviathanTheTempest:'' The titular Leviathans are part GodOfEvil, part {{Kaiju}}, and part human, the descendants of EldritchAbominations that (according to the Tribe's own mythologies) once ruled the world in savagery and terror before the true Gods cast them down and raised humanity to civilization.

* The [[OurVampiresAreDifferent White Court]] in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Their souls are half [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]] due to a demonic [[TheSymbiote symbiote]] that gives them superhuman abilities and [[TheBeautifulElite incredibly good looks]], but at the cost of a [[HorrorHunger Hunger]] for [[EmotionEater human emotions]]. The [[EvilIsSexy Raith]] family is particularly noted to go after [[HornyDevils lust]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'':
** The eponymous Exalted are mortals that are blessed as the divine champions of the most powerful gods and [[TheOldGods god-like]] beings in the setting by means of having an Exaltation, a shard of divine power, merge with their souls. As a consequence, they tend to have abilities that [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu far exceed]] those of the "normal" gods and spirits, which is most obviously seen in the [[ShowyInvincibleHero Solars and their derivatives]] (although, it should be noted, the average god in ''Exalted'' is not generally anywhere near as powerful as the title might imply).
** God-Bloods are the children of mortals and supernatural beings. Most are the offspring of gods and elementals, hence the name, but they can also be the progeny of demons, TheFairFolk, ghosts and the Exalted themselves. They are nowhere near as powerful as the Exalted (although ones sired by very powerful entities can get close) but they still get perks such as a few extra decades of lifespan, better health and resistance to sickness and poison, and the universal ability to channel Essence. Beyond that, their specific powers and even their appearance can vary wildly based on their parents'. This process, notably, is not strictly limited to humans, and God-Blooded animals can and do exist -- there's nothing really stopping an animal god from mating with its chosen species, or an elemental spirit or inhuman demon from fertilizing whichever meatbag strikes its fancy.
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}s'' are the children of gods, and can ascend to godhood themselves.

** In D&D3, every sorcerer gets their powers from some kind of encounter with a magical force somewhere back in the family tree (either directly or indirectly). Some of them are divine, infernal, or even [[OurDragonsAreDifferent draconic]].
** D&D also has Divine Rank 0 entities (normal beings have no rank at all). Such an entity isn't a god for most purposes (they don't grant spells, with one very specific exception that requires special training and effort on the devotee's part[[note]]dragons, being dragons, have a high-requirement PrestigeClass, Dragon Ascendant, that gradually turns the dragon into a quasi-deity (a term for Divine Rank 0 entities). The feat Servant of the Dragon Ascendant allows a divine spellcaster to receive spells from worshipping a dragon that has become a quasi-deity via the prestige class[[/note]]), but they have many of the mechanical benefits of being considered divine (immortality, max HP, a host of immunities, some DR against non Epic weapons, resistances).

* In ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', the Edenians are stated to be descendants of the gods. This is the reason for their mystical abilities and [[Really700YearsOld incredibly long life cycles]]. Rain himself is revealed to be the son of the Edenian god, Jerrod, himself in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Mortal Kombat: Armageddon]]''.

** One of the Heroes, Tamarne, was miraculously conceived by Cror, god of thunder (apparently it somehow involved coming to his mother in the form of a white tiger, which seems similar to stories about Buddha). He could call down lightning like his father, fight like Cror and was immortal. However, he sacrificed his divinity later to save the other Heroes during the War from the Dark King.[[/folder]]

* Creator/RickRiordan's [[TheVerse Verse]] has this as its central premise: the gods of [[AllMythsAreTrue many mythologies]] are still around, usually act more modern and won't stop having demigod kids with mortals. ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' is about a special camp for the children of Greek gods (Camp Half Blood), ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' is the same thing for the children of Roman gods, and ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'' is roughly the children of Norse gods.

TheAntiChrist is almost always an example. [[ChangelingTale Changelings]] are also frequently found to be some mix of human and [[TheFairFolk faerie]]. DivineParentage, being TouchedByVorlons and a DealWithTheDevil are common origins for this type of character. Having a [[PiecesOfGod piece]] of a magical being in you may also count.

As can be derived from the title, part-divine characters are one of the (if not, ''the'') most common examples, which is unsurprising, considering the fact that many gods in mythology have had rather promiscuous lifestyles, and this would naturally extend to modern-day fiction. It should be noted, however, that this trope applies to any mix or midway between "normal" and purely supernatural beings, so this isn't limited to the literal Semi-Divine.

** Harry Potter is [[AdaptationalBadass depicted as a demigod]]. At first, this does exactly nothing, since it takes a while to really kick in (and then tends to be more of a hindrance than a help, given that the sudden jumps in SuperStrength leave him mortally afraid of accidentally breaking someone). [[PersonOfMassDestruction Later,]] on the other hand...

[[caption-width-right:350:Someone should invite the Olympians on ''Series/TheMauryPovichShow'']]

* Creator/RickRiordan's [[TheVerse Verse]] has this as its central premise: the gods of [[AllMythsAreTrue many mythologies]] are still around, usually act more modern and won't stop having kids with mortals. ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' is about a special camp for the children of Greek gods, ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' is the same thing for the children of Roman gods, and ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'' is about the children of Norse gods.

* The [[PhysicalGod Primarchs]] and, to a lesser extent, the SpaceMarines of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. The Primarchs are the 20 sons of [[TrulySingleParent the]] GodEmperor, and while they aren't as powerful as him, they're nigh-godly unto themselves. The Space Marines are [[SuperSoldier warriors]] that are BioAugmented with the geneseed of the Primarchs, and they're basically an [[BadassArmy army]] of individuals who can each [[OneManArmy slaughter a thousand men by themselves]].

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', anyone who uses of [[GodIsDead Lorkhan's]] [[CosmicKeystone Heart]] can become this, which is how Vivec, Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]] acquired their immense powers. Those afflicted with the Corprus Disease (created by Dagoth Ur) also have a touch of the divine, given as... not exactly a ''[[BodyHorror boon]]'', but seen as such by the gifter and his cultists. [[spoiler: The Nerevarine gets infected in the course of the main quest but later gets cured of the downsides, making them functionally immortal.]]

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', anyone who uses of [[GodIsDead Lorkhan's Heart]] can become this, which is how Vivec, Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]] acquired their immense powers. Those afflicted with the Corprus Disease (created by Dagoth Ur) also have a touch of the divine, given as... not exactly a ''[[BodyHorror boon]]'', but seen as such by the gifter and his cultists. [[spoiler: The Nerevarine gets infected in the course of the main quest, but then gets cured of the downsides.]]

* In ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments,'' Shadowhunters' powers are believed to be tied to them having the blood of angels. The Downworlder races are similar: [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] and [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] are infections originally created by demons, warlocks are the offspring of demons with humans, and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] are descended from AngelDevilShipping.

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** One of the Heroes, Tamarne, was miraculously conceived by Cror, god of thunder (apparently it somehow involved coming to his mother in the form of a white tiger, which seems similar to stories about Buddha). He could down lightning like his father, fight like Cror and was immortal. However, he sacrificed his divinity later to save the other Heroes during the War from the Dark King.[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/demigod.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:This is how [[PhysicalGod strong the heroes are with only some divine power.]] You won't believe what the [[SentientCosmicForce full gods]] are actually like.[[note]]Clockwise from top left: Franchise/WonderWoman, [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]], [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gandalf]], and [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos.]][[/note]]]]

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