History Usefulnotes / Gnosticism

* ''Anime/ShamanicPrincess'' boils down to an OntologicalMystery which is solved through the revelation that [[AboveGoodAndEvil the concepts of good and evil are irrelevant]]. This knowledge does not really let the heroine ''overcome'' the self-centered creator deity that's toying with her. It lets her restore balance and make it easier for everyone to co-exist.

* ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' delves into duality between the Banner and Hulk personas and how neither can exist without the other.

* ''Film/TheMatrix'' is a modernization of the idea of the physical world being an illusion, which became a popular TropeCodifier in America, making it indirectly responsible for a lot of gnostic themes' proliferation today.

* Creator/GrantMorrison loves this.
** One arc of ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' features what are basically gnostics from another dimension, the Cult of the Unwritten Book, who have their very own ''de''creator. Later on, the Shadowy Mr. Evans outright calls God Yaldabaoth.
* ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' delves into duality between the Banner and Hulk personas and how neither can exist without the other.

* According to Creator/GeorgeRRMartin, the faith of R'hllor in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is partly based on Catharism. Indeed, a select few traits line with Cathar beliefs, like theological dualism and the belief that the physical world is essentially hell. However, their overall belief system is fundamentally opposite to Cathar teachings: whereas the Cathars believed in fundamental human free will, asceticism and the rejection of meaningless ritual, the faith of the Red God is all about preaching how people are its slaves, uses sexual rituals randomly and is so utterly dogmatic that it makes the medieval Catholic Church that the Cathars opposed look tame in comparison. Combining this with the fact that R'hllor's title is "Lord of Flame And Shadow" (how the Demiurge is described in the ''Pistis Sophia''), if anything this religion is to Cathar beliefs what Satanism is to mainstream Christianity.
* Literature/TheSilmarillion should be counted in because of the "spiritual" hierarchy, beginning with Eru, supreme being, creating the Ainur, split in the Valar and the Maiar, then the Elves, and finally Humans. The tale is also gnostic because it states that while the world was created by Eru, the greater Ainur gave it form, and one of them (Melkor), broke out and claimed it for his own, being "the lord of the world". Maybe the linguistic way from Eon to "Ainu" is not that long after all.
** Read Tolkien's essay ''On Fairy-Stories'', particularly the chapter ''Recovery, Escape, Consolation''. When talking about escaping the harsh reality with the help of imagination (among other things), he uses such language:
--> ''Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? ... The world outside has not become less real because the prisoner cannot see it.''
** On purpose or not, the metaphor Tolkien chooses is blatantly Gnostic. Also, notice that he used to consider the possibility of Elves reincarnating.
** The hints of Gnosticism in Tolkien's works are fairly limited because the author himself was a devout Catholic. However, Natalia Vasilyeva, author of the unauthorized derivative work ''Black Book of Arda'', goes full rock and roll with all the Gnosticism. Here, Eru is obviously Ialdabaoth, the Valar are obviously Archons, and Melkor rebelled because he went outside Eru's little creation and saw the Pleroma there.
* Literature/{{Discworld}}: Creator/TerryPratchett explicitly, in a LemonyNarrator moment in ''Literature/SmallGods'', compares the actual state of things in Discworld (where gods are mostly created and sustained by human belief, although the stupider ones don't realise this) to "the good old Gnostic heresy, which tends to turn up all over the multiverse whenever men get up off their knees and start thinking for two minutes together, although the shock of the sudden altitude tends to mean the thinking is a little whacked."
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'': [[spoiler:The universe is, in a sense, self-aware; the Authority and, later, the Regent are demiurges]].
%%* ''Literature/NakedLunch''
* Anything written by Creator/PhilipKDick, who had a keen sense of the existential paranoia implicit in the Gnostic scriptures and a working knowledge of the recently-translated Nag Hammadi codices (and don't forget the ''I Ching''). Particularly of note are ''Literature/{{VALIS}}'', ''The Divine Invasion'', ''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'', and ''Radio Free Albemuth''. However, prospective readers should be warned about the high MindScrew content and the possibility of their brain turning to liquid, pouring out of their ears, and reassembling itself in a smiley face twenty-five kilometres over the peak of Kilimanjaro--and no, that's not a highly confusing metaphor for insanity.
%% * Anything written by Creator/JorgeLuisBorges, UsefulNotes/CarlJung, Creator/WilliamBlake, Creator/UmbertoEco
* Creator/HermannHesse, whose novel ''Demian'' is what the egg speech in ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' was [[ShoutOut borrowed from]]. The whole novel is more or less a dissertation on questioning popular religion's philosophy.
* God have mercy on our souls, but Creator/DanBrown has done as much to raise Gnosticism into the public consciousness as the Wachowskis.
** It might be useful to point out that while the Wachowskis have ushered Gnosticism into the public consciousness through the underlying philosophical discussions in their films [[note]]with said discussion reaching into the fundamental ideology of Gnosticism and debating the arguments for and against the probable nature of reality, the delineation of the borders of reality, and playing with the idea of the demiurge and assessing sentient beings as contributors to the formation of an imperfect consensus reality[[/note]], Dan Brown has raised awareness of Gnosticism by flinging the term around so liberally in such a vague and arbitrary manner in his books that it drove most of his readers to look it up on Website/TheOtherWiki... where most of them found two things: 1) Gnosticism is incredibly detailed, ancient, and so deep and involving that you can spend days on a WikiWalk just scratching the surface, and 2) Creator/DanBrown has a very bad habit of completely missing the point when it comes to secular and philosophical ideology.
** Unfortunately, the "gnosticism" presented by Dan Brown in his books tends towards the polar opposite of actual Gnostic beliefs as expressed in their scriptures. He says they believed Jesus was completely human; Gnostics actually tended to think Jesus was completely god without a trace of the human. Dan also thinks the Gnostics respected women, which, while true of many Gnostic sects, was far from universal; a good number of Gnostics actually tended more towards the Greek idea that women were an inferior form of life incapable of spiritual understanding.
* Urizen from the mythos of Creator/WilliamBlake is practically the [[DemiurgeArchetype demiurge in all but name]], being a cruel GodOfOrder who represents conventional society, traditon, reason, and legalism. He created the world and imposes chains of law upon the mind, while being chained himself.

%%* Pretty much anything by Creator/CormacMcCarthy, especially Literature/BloodMeridian.
%%* You have to look pretty hard, but it has increasingly been suggested that ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' draws on Gnostic theology.

* Daniel Gonzalez's science fiction short-story ''Sofia'' is about a parallel universe where Gnosticism and not Christianity became the world's main religion. He gives a lot of information about Gnostic history, terminology and doctrine.
* Literature/CreationManAndTheMessiah by poet Creator/{{Henrik Wergeland}} is by far the most gnostic piece of literature written during the 19th century, telling how higher spirits intervened to ensoul humanity. The spirits are called Eons (or aions) here as well.
* Communities of Gnostics living in the Iberian Mountains play a major role in Harry Harrison's ''[[Literature/TheHammerAndTheCross King and Emperor]]''. They consider themselves the keeper of the Holy Grail.

* Roz Kaveney's ''Rhapsody of Blood'' UrbanFantasy series is strongly influenced by Gnosticism, although in a variant form where Yahweh and Satan are old friends and both [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]], who started as humans and, on becoming gods, tried to become top gods to genuinely help and protect humanity, but got lost in their roles.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', deliberately or not, mixes Gnosticism with both the Kabbalah (a Jewish Gnostic variant that proposes we are all [[PiecesOfGod pieces of Adam Kadmon]]) and a mystic reinterpretation of the Jewish story of Genesis where Adam's original first wife wasn't Eve, but Lilith, who fell into error (Sophia-equivalent) thus paving the plot for Eve's creation, humanity's acquisition of the Fruit of Knowledge and the resulting Fall of Man from Eden into biological bodies. Some versions say Lilith or Sophia was the Tree of Knowledge or at least gave the Fruit of Knowledge to Eve in the first place (the RetCon of the Serpent as BigBad Lucifer was due to WordOfDante and Christian "ignorance is bliss" ideology), if you would consider the theory that Sophia gave a part of herself to humans as souls resulting in the evolution of human intelligence.
** [[spoiler:Rei Ayanami]], the soul of Lilith, the original mother of all humanity, is Sophia, and as ThePhilosopher lives up to that symbolism. Her flawed fragmented daemonic children, the Lilin [[spoiler:(humans)]] are the Demiurge, technological creators capable of [[HumansAreBastards cruelty against each other]], after all [[Theatre/NoExit Hell is Other People]]. The referral to [[spoiler:humans]] with such a daemonic name is likely from a Gnostic influence. The fall of Sophia [[spoiler:(Lilith/Rei, who literally fell to Earth)]] is responsible for the birth of the Demiurge (the evolution of biological life, and the suffering that it has brought), but Sophia's fragments still exist in this world in the form of our souls (humanity as the bearer of the Fruit of Knowledge), and thus it is possible to redeem ourselves from our daemonic existence (human individual bodies and prone to disease, despair and death) and reconcile with her. The central dogma of an AncientConspiracy called [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness SEELE]] is the reunification of Lilith with her lost male counterpart, Adam (analogous to reuniting Sophia with her lost male counterpart), that shall lead to their [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Messianic Ascension and Universal Salvation]] from their Original Sin of existence under the Demiurge[=/=]Lilin[=/=]Human Bodies. In ''the End of Evangelion'', it does happen: [[spoiler:Rei absorbs Adam, takes control of Lilith, reawakens, turns into a Giant Naked Rei[=/=]Adam Kadmon[=/=]Sophia, destroys all human bodies, and [[AssimilationPlot merges all souls into a gestalt God-superconsciousness]].]]

* A popular {{Epileptic Tree|s}} about ''[[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' is that [[spoiler:[[JerkassGods Haruhi]], as the [[ComedicSociopathy unconsciously cruel and capricious creator of the material universe]], is the Demiurge, and in fact, the real unconscious God is the narrator, Kyon. Haruhi aka the Demiurge is either an aspect of his personality, or a convenient person to work his power through. Note his dialogue at the beginning of the series; he once wanted to believe in time travel, aliens, and espers, but has learned to suppress it. Having someone else have god-like powers to create these things allows him denial. Plus, what better way to throw someone off of their own powers to destroy everything than by telling them to keep someone else in check. In ''Haruhi'' theology and fandom, "[[WMG/HaruhiSuzumiyaKyonIsGod Kyon is God]]" theories are the equivalent of Gnosticism.]]

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' heavily references Demian with the themes about breaking out of the world's shell, Demian itself being a work based on Gnosticism. [[spoiler:Dios and Akio]]'s story is one of a fallen and split god.
* ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain''. Many characters express a desire to give up their bodily existence and live on in the Wired. [[spoiler: Lain herself]] is it at one point referred to as a "scattered god", possibly refencing Sophia, while [[spoiler:Masami Eiri]] represents the Demiurge - Lain even calls him an "acting god".

%%* ''Anime/TheBigO''
* ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}'': The further into this series you get, the more Gnostic symbolism and saturation shows up, with some of the darker and more paranoid ideas becoming increasingly warped and played with in a highly [[MindScrew Mind Screwy]] manner. For example, [[spoiler: the disturbing way in which Doc increasingly mirrors Sophia, or Kano mirrors the demiurge]]. And then of course, there's [[MessianicArchetype Ran]].
** Who Kano keeps calling "Theoria" for no obvious reason. Naturally, this is yet another Gnostic concept meaningless to a casual viewer.
* In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', some of the magical characters are surprised when they learn of Academy City's ambition to create a Level 6 Esper; it may be a scientific project, but the concept is similar to teachings in Gnosticism.
%%* ''Manga/VenusVersusVirus''
%%* ''Dead End'' by Shohei Manabe
%%* There are some highly suspicious parallels in ''Manga/{{Blame}}'' to Gnostic ideology, particularly in the later parts of the series.
%%* Very surprisingly for a {{shonen}} manga, but a case could definitely be made for ''Manga/SoulEater''s inclusion in this list, particularly as of the Book chapters.
%%* Manga/EdenItsAnEndlessWorld draws on Gnosticism to an extent, primarily in character names.
%%* Literature/MardockScramble

%%* Anime/TimeOfEve
%%* Franchise/GhostInTheShell

%%* Anime/SolBianca
* Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion has [[spoiler: Homura]] turn into a sort of a mixture of the Demiurge, [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Mara]], and a Literature/ParadiseLost-like Lucifer: she becomes corrupted by love and [[spoiler: rips Madoka, the proper God of the setting, from her position and takes her power herself, trapping all of the characters in a magical world where their desires have been granted but their true powers and nature suppressed]]. Notably, this Demiurge is not a piece of the Source, but a servant of it who takes its place in order to protect it.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventureTri'' opens with a speech about Demiurge trying to create his own world, but not truly understanding what he's doing, and therefore creating a shadow world instead (this shadow world is implied to be the Digital World).

%%* ''Series/{{The Prisoner|1967}}''
%%* ''Film/TheThirteenthFloor''
%%* ''Film/TheTrumanShow''

%%* ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau''

* ''Series/Babylon5'' has Delenn of the Minbari stating that "we are the universe made conscious, splitting itself apart to understand itself." By this and what little else we learn, Minbari religion appears to be similar.

* ''Series/Dark2017'' invokes Gnostic ideas, especially in the thinking of Adam, the leader of TheConspiracy. He sees the material world, and specifically the StableTimeLoop in which he and others are trapped, as a prison to be escaped. Characters in the series often adopt a very dualistic, Dark vs. Light mentality (note the title!), and the names adopted by [[AdamAndOrEve Adam and his antagonist, Eve]] are clearly significant.

%%* Music/ToriAmos references Gnosticism in her album ''The Beekeeper''.
%%* Music/VirginSteele: Touched on most albums, but most notably on Invictus (1998) and Visions of Eden (2006).
%%* Arguably some of Music/{{Tool}}'s songs touch on Gnostic themes, "Parabola" being an example, though Maynard's lyrics are open to a great deal of interpretation.
* Coph Nia actually has a song called "Gnostic Mass", whose lyrics draw heavily on Gnostic beliefs (no surprises there.)

* ''TabletopGame/InDarkAlleys'' has several philosophies in the history of unpopular ideas section. Animism, Buddhism, Platonism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, Descartian Skepticism, Sadism, Marxism, Nihilism, Freudian Psychoanalysis, Surrealism, Existentialism, Jungian Psychology, Punk, Paglian Feminism, and Postmodernism. In fact, the whole setting is very gnostic, with the material world being a prison used to keep humans from realizing their god-like potential.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' is pretty much a straight retelling of it. [[spoiler:A good God (the Zohar) is pulled down from a higher dimension, and creates a woman from one of the sparks of light surrounding it (Elly). The Zohar is then used to create an evil god (Deus), which is followed by a false religion (-Ethos-), and while Deus created the world and rules it, using humans for its own purposes and letting its evil followers do whatever they like, the Zohar is the true, benevolent god.]]

* Despite the fundamentally anti-Abrahamic nature of Gnosticism, [[JesusWasWayCool Jesus has a free pass in their teachings]], as he's described as come to Earth to spread the Gospel of the True God, which explains the discrepancy between the "cruel and violent" Old Testament God and the "kind and loving" New Testament God. Their beliefs about his nature varied radically: some believed he was fully divine and his physical form just an illusion, while some believed he was a divine being who temporarily inhabited a human shell and was "freed" at death. Anyways, to show how important he was in their beliefs, he was often considered to be an aeon by itself, sometimes the intended counterpart of Sophia who came too late. With the true knowledge of the universe he imparted, others could hope to achieve freedom from the Demiurge's clutches.

* ''[[http://www.vajraenterprises.com/new/?p=44 In Dark Alleys]]'' from [[http://www.vajraenterprises.com/ Vajra Enterprises]] has several philosophies in the history of unpopular ideas section. Animism, Buddhism, Platonism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, Descartian Skepticism, Sadism, Marxism, Nihilism, Freudian Psychoanalysis, Surrealism, Existentialism, Jungian Psychology, Punk, Paglian Feminism, and Postmodernism. In fact, the whole setting is very gnostic, with the material world being a prison used to keep humans from realizing their god-like potential.

* EvilIsSexy:
** {{Averted}}, the Demiurge (BigBad) is a lion-headed serpent who is also really ugly. Unlike modern Christian interpretations of evil, evil in Gnosticism is usually boneheaded and bureaucratic in nature, more like a supernal [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Oceania]] than a whorehouse. Its paragons have unattractive names like "Quarrelsomeness" and "Bitter Weeping."
** Also {{inverted}}, with [[BeautyEqualsGoodness Sophia]], who is always depicted as beautiful and generally depicted as naked.
* EvilIsSterile: Some Gnostics believed that the material universe had gone through countless cycles of destruction and re-creation, as the demiurge is repeatedly failing to achieve his vision of a perfect universe. Because an imperfect god cannot create perfection.

* Music/JohnZorn: He has released several albums with a band called the Gnostic Trio: "The Gnostic Preludes" (2012), "The Mysteries" (2013) and "In Lambeth" (2013).

* ''WebOriginal/AtlasAltera'', being an AlternateHistoryWank for cultural, religious, and religious diversity, has several countries with Gnostic religions as a state or at least majority religion: Druze in Golan, Bogomilism in Bosnia, Mandaeism in Chaldia (around where Kuwait is OTL), and Manichaeism in a lot of Central Asian nations.

%%* ''Film/TheIsland''

The first Gnostic revival movement in the Middle Ages was Bogomilism was created in 10th century Bulgaria (probably influenced by Paulicianism and Marcionism) as a current of both political and religious anarchism, which was finally eradicated in the 13th century by both the Pope and the Ottoman Empire. It was followed by Catharism (from Greek "pure", although it seems they called themselves "Good Men" or "Good Christians" rather than any other title), the second great Gnostic revival school, came to Southern Europe in the 12th century from Bogomilian roots. The Church initially attempted to curb the heresy with the usual missionaries and calls to repentance, but the murder of a Papal legate provoked the wrath of Rome, which gave authority to arrange a Crusade against the region, thus essentially eradicating the heresy for good. Still, the legacy of Catharism lived on, turning through centuries into a fountain of legends and (pseudo)historical theories.

Due to the influence that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism Gnosticism]] has had on popular media and Christianity itself in recent decades, an examination of the basic beliefs of the Gnostic worldview would be helpful.

* A popular {{Epileptic Tree|s}} about ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' is that [[spoiler:[[JerkassGods Haruhi]], as the [[ComedicSociopathy unconsciously cruel and capricious creator of the material universe]], is the Demiurge, and in fact, the real unconscious God is the narrator, Kyon. Haruhi aka the Demiurge is either an aspect of his personality, or a convenient person to work his power through. Note his dialogue at the beginning of the series; he once wanted to believe in time travel, aliens, and espers, but has learned to suppress it. Having someone else have god-like powers to create these things allows him denial. Plus, what better way to throw someone off of their own powers to destroy everything than by telling them to keep someone else in check. In ''Haruhi'' theology and fandom, "[[WMG/HaruhiSuzumiyaKyonIsGod Kyon is God]]" theories are the equivalent of Gnosticism.]]

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', some of the magical characters are surprised when they learn of Academy City's ambition to create a Level 6 Esper; it may be a scientific project, but the concept is similar to teachings in Gnosticism.

* ''{{Series/Babylon 5}}'' has Delenn of the Minbari stating that "we are the universe made conscious, splitting itself apart to understand itself." By this and what little else we learn, Minbari religion appears to be similar.

* ''Series/{{Dark}}'' invokes Gnostic ideas, especially in the thinking of Adam, the leader of TheConspiracy. He sees the material world, and specifically the StableTimeLoop in which he and others are trapped, as a prison to be escaped. Characters in the series often adopt a very dualistic, Dark vs. Light mentality (note the title!), and the names adopted by [[AdamAndOrEve Adam and his antagonist, Eve]] are clearly significant.

* AncientRome: And AncientEgypt, UsefulNotes/AncientGreece, AncientAfrica, et cetera.

** In one version of Sophia's fall, it's because [[ADateWithRosiePalms she wanted to emanate without her male partner]], who is either Theletos/Theletus or Jesus, depending on who's telling it.

* Despite the fundamentally anti-Abrahamic nature of Gnosticism, [[JesusWasWayCool Jesus has a free pass in their teachings]], as he's described as come to Earth to spread the Gospel of the True God, which explains the discrepancy between the Old and New Testaments. Their beliefs about his nature varied radically: some believed he was fully divine and his physical form just an illusion, while some believed he was a divine being who temporarily inhabited a human shell and was "freed" at death. Anyways, to show how important he was in their beliefs, he was often considered to be an aeon by itself, sometimes the intended counterpart of Sophia who came too late. With the true knowledge of the universe he imparted, others could hope to achieve freedom from the Demiurge's clutches.

* The reason why [[CrapsackWorld suffering and evil exist in this world]] is because it is actually governed by this flawed Demiurge who mistakenly believes himself to be the absolute God and demands arrogantly to be worshipped as such. This is often considered to be the deity worshiped by many Abrahamic religions (UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}, UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} and others) who are seen as materialistic, vicious and not in possession of true spiritual wisdom. He is, thus, analogous to Mahabrahma in UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}} and some forms of UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, who also mistakenly believes himself to be the ultimate authority while the rest of the gods snigger behind his back. In any case, the Demiurge and his archons manipulate humanity into violence and misery to feed themselves and further their egotistical projects.

* On the other hand, there ''is'' evil in the Gnostic universe. From the matter that solidified out of Sophia's divine power, a false god (the "bad" one) was born, known as the Demiurge or Yaldabaoth. The Demiurge then creates the physical universe, which is isolated from the higher dimensions above and elects himself as its ruler. He's accompanied by a myriad of created servants called the Archons, which are identified as the angels and demons of the Old Testament. Some sects specify the archons are actually only six and are rulers of six celestial bodies, with the Demiurge being the seventh and ruling the Earth.
* The reason why [[CrapsackWorld suffering and evil exist in this world]] is because it is actually governed by this flawed Demiurge who mistakenly believes himself to be the absolute God and demands arrogantly to be worshipped as such. This is the deity worshiped by many Abrahamic religions (UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}, UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} and others) who are materialistic, vicious and not in possession of true spiritual wisdom. He is, thus, analogous to Mahabrahma in UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}} and some forms of UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, who also mistakenly believes himself to be the ultimate authority while the rest of the gods snigger behind his back. In any case, the Demiurge and his archons manipulate humanity into violence and misery to feed themselves and further their egotistical projects.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' had the Lifestream, which is the Pleroma in all but name, the Cetra, who represent Gnostics as opposed to the materialistic Judeo-Christian-ish humans, Sephiroth (whose name is from a Jewish Gnostic variant called the Kabbalah) as the demiurge, and Jenova as Sophia in her AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of corrupter and destroyer of the world.

* ''Wizardry'' makes reference to Gnostic ideas in Wizardry IV, specifically, the Kabbalah, found only in the super-secret golden ending of the game. The other endings involve the evil wizard Werdna obtaining the ultra-powerful amulet he had in Wizardry I and using that power to a certain earthly purpose, whether good or evil. In the golden ending, Werdna walks the path of enlightenment by finding the Tree of Life, or Tree of Sefirot. Doing so grants him a blade called Clear Light, also called the Kris of Truth. Using it against the gigantic idol in the Temple of Cant will reveal it to be an enormous fraud and Werdna, having acheived enlightenment, will no longer seek the power of his amulet, which he had intended to use to gain the usual earthly goals of evildoers: power, wealth, and control. An important note is that the golden ending isn't the good one, which is still imperfect. The Golden ending is one of enlightenment versus ignorance, not good versus evil, and it is the only ending where the game doesn't mock the player by suggesting that he's forgotten anything at the end.

* ''VideoGame/Wizardry'' makes reference to Gnostic ideas in Wizardry IV, specifically, the Kabbalah, found only in the super-secret golden ending of the game. The other endings involve the evil wizard Werdna obtaining the ultra-powerful amulet he had in Wizardry I and using that power to a certain earthly purpose, whether good or evil. In the golden ending, Werdna walks the path of enlightenment by finding the Tree of Life, or Tree of Sefirot. Doing so grants him a blade called Clear Light, also called the Kris of Truth. Using it against the gigantic idol in the Temple of Cant will reveal it to be an enormous fraud and Werdna, having acheived enlightenment, will no longer seek the power of his amulet, which he had intended to use to gain the usual earthly goals of evildoers: power, wealth, and control. An important note is that the golden ending isn't the good one, which is still imperfect. The Golden ending is one of enlightenment versus ignorance, not good versus evil, and it is the only ending where the game doesn't mock the player by suggesting that he's forgotten anything at the end.

* The ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': The storylines about the Church of the Broken God and the Sarkic Cults are ''heavily'' based around this; the former being a sort of technological Gnosticism with a dispersed god, with the latter being flesh-obsessed cultists whose god is, yes, outright called Yaldabaoth.

It is difficult even to tell where Gnosticism came from, as there is so little information on it, although most researchers agree that the movement originated among early Jewish-Roman Christians and syncretized elements of other religious traditions, primarily Neoplatonism. Much of what we know about the Gnostics is fairly fragmentary-few of their original works survive to this day. Furthermore, much of what we have learned about the Gnostics comes from early Christian writings which were critical and/or derisive of these perceived "heretics." Gnosticism was also highly secretive, often being practiced by groups highly isolated from the outside world whose teachings of the mysteries were mostly confined to OralTradition and scarcely documented in writing, which is another likely reason it largely died off among more popular religions.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Gnostic cosmology is a hybrid of personal experience and self-conscious mythology-it's a worldview that seems capable of assimilating any supernatural creature or miracle it runs into. The original Gnostic scriptures seem to contain a patois of Greek philosophy, Egyptian paganism, and Judeo-Christian tradition.

It is difficult even to tell where Gnosticism came from, as there is so little information on it, though most researchers agree the movement is fundamentally Christian in nature. Much of what we know about the Gnostics is fairly fragmentary-few of their original works survive to this day. Furthermore, much of what we have learned about the Gnostics comes from early Christian writings which were critical and/or derisive of these perceived "heretics." Gnosticism was also highly secretive, often being practiced by groups highly isolated from the outside world whose teachings of the mysteries were mostly confined to OralTradition and scarcely documented in writing, which is another likely reason it largely died off among more popular religions.

Because the Gnostics had largely died off as a movement by the Middle Ages, there was no one to preserve their texts through reproduction, and many of their texts were lost through time. Until the 1950s, most of what was known about the Gnostic religion as it flourished in ancient times came from the writings of its detractors-such as St. Irenaeus of Lyons, who wrote a five-volume work ''Against Heresies'' in AD 180, explaining what the Gnostics believed and why it conflicted with Christianity. That is, until a remarkable event took place in the Egyptian desert. Two brothers digging for fertilizer in a cave on their way to avenge their father's murder discovered an earthenware jar that contained an ancient book. Before realizing its value, some of the text was used for kindling by the family, but they eventually realized its age and sold it to a collector in Cairo. The manuscripts were split up and traded all over the world. Amazingly, the recovered manuscript contained dozens of books written in Coptic that were still in legible condition. Take a look over here [[http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhlcodex.html if you'd like to read English translations of the Coptic texts yourself.]] Standouts include:

** ''ComicBook/{{Nameless}}'' is also a deeply gnostic text about [[spoiler:an antagonistic "god" who rules the material universe, opposed by the protagonist and a woman named Sofia.]]