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7[[AnimeAndManga Japanese culture]] contains [[OddJobGods lots of gods]], so it's not uncommon for especially proud characters to [[AGodAmI declare themselves to be such]].
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10* In ''Manga/AirGear'', the BigBad declares himself the King of the Sky after obtaining the [[{{Macguffin}} Sky Regalia]]. Given the series' constant focus on having the freedom to fly however one wants, he's essentially declaring himself the lord of everything.
11* ''Manga/{{AKIRA}}'': this trope is a major theme, most prominently pronounced in the character of Tetsuo Shima, whose growing psychic power as a result of the experimentation done to him by the government combines with a previous inferiority complex to develop into a severe case of megalomania.
12* ''Anime/AngelBeats'':
13** After the SSS manages to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero oust Angel from her Student Council Presidency]], gets Naoi Ayato to succeed her; in all respects, he is this trope. Though [[spoiler: it becomes much more humorous after his HeelFaceTurn]].
14** [[spoiler:Yuri subverts this near the end of the series. She discovers the source of the Shadow [=NPCs=] and is presented with the opportunity to effectively become God by taking control, but chooses to destroy the source instead.]]
15* In ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVOTOMS'', It turns out Chirico is an [[spoiler:Overman]] and that he was destined to [[spoiler:become the new God of the Astragius Galaxy. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH7-_gwwDew He acted like this when he got the offer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSONA-fwT4c but it was]] [[FakeDefector all an act]] [[AGodIAmNot to kill Wiseman.]]]]
16* Claire Stanfield from ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' doesn't need superpowers to convince him that he's God -- he's just a BadassNormal [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsist solipsist]].
17** It turns out that Claire Stanfield's god complex is hereditary, as his great-granddaughter Claudia has much the same worldview.
18* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
19** Emperor Ganishka takes a stab at this, but [[spoiler:Griffith]] really gets it done.
20** In the bloopers the voice over guy has a mental breakdown and becomes convinced that he is God when he finds out they've finished the last episode.
21* In ''Anime/TheBigO'', in the final episode [[BigBad Alex Rosewater]] completely loses it, thinking that Big Fau gives him ultimate power, and declares "This world has a new order now! It has a new ''God''!"
22* Creed from ''Manga/BlackCat'' does this after he [[spoiler:uses nanomachines to become immortal]]. He tells Sephiria that her death will be the result of her opposing God (in other words, him). In a rather comedic moment, Creed explains to Train that he can recover from any life-threatening wound in a few seconds except for damage to the brain. Train promptly supplies that makes him more like a zombie, to which Creed angrily replies that it makes him a god.
23* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
24** [[ScarySkeleton Second Espada Barragan]] proclaims himself the "God of Hueco Mundo", having been its original unopposed ruler as a Vasto Lorde before Aizen came knocking thanks to his [[WalkingWasteland power]] making him effectively unstoppable. Heck, even Aizen only defeated him thanks to his illusions before he could unleash that power. [[spoiler:Eventually, he gets disintegrated [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by his own power being turned against him]]. His opponent notes that perhaps this ''is'' the only way to kill a god.]]
25** Rudbornn Chelute claimed to have godlike power since he can spawn an endless army of mooks, essentially creating life.
26** Yukio declared himself to be a god of his game dimension. [[spoiler: Since Yukio's idea of fighting was based on video games and Hitsugaya was a seasoned warrior, Hitsugaya didn't have much trouble defeating him.]]
27** [[GodEmperor Yhwach]]. [[spoiler:It's right there in his name: When he was just born, the people considered him a holy child due to the miracles he could perform. The first thing he ever heard was of them chanting "YHWH" (Yahweh), one of the ancient Hebrew names for God. He took that name for himself, and tweaked it just a tad to promote his own identity, thus resulting in Yhwach. He even calls his power "The Almighty".]]
28** Mask de Masculine boasted that Renji would stand no chance against his "Godly" power. [[spoiler:Renji shrugs off his attacks, impales him on his sword, and reduces him to a pile of ash with ''Souou Zabimaru Zaga Teppou'' in one of the story arc's most awesome moments.]]
29* Largo, of ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis,'' not only considered himself a god, but developed a messiah complex for his Boomer "brethren" to boot.
30%%* ''Manga/CeresCelestialLegend'': [[spoiler:Shiso.]] Sort of.
31* In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
32** [[SuperpowerLottery Accelerator]] certainly seems like this at first, as he claims he is trying to raise his power so that "even thinking of challenging me would be a sin," but it is later revealed that he had been convinced that becoming godlike would be the only way to prevent people from challenging him and getting horribly injured by his abilities.
33** God's Right Seat takes it further: they are aiming to become "[[AbstractApotheosis The One Above God]]". [[spoiler:Fiamma of the Right actually achieves this briefly, but is quickly taken down by a number of factors.]] [[ArtisticLicenseReligion A rather paradoxical goal, given they are supposed to be Christians.]]
34** Othinus has the power of the Norse God Odin, but she also incessantly tells everyone to bow down and worship her, and keeps her arrogance even when she loses her powers.
35* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge]], otherwise quite similar to Light, explicitly ''doesn't'' associate himself with God. Instead, in the final episodes of the first season, he describes himself as [[NecessarilyEvil someone rather more akin to the Devil]].
36** One of the trailers for the series release (in English, at least) even makes reference to this, using the line: "If you could change the world, would you be a god or a demon?"
37*** The series itself seems to subvert this trope when it comes to Lelouch. As the series goes on, he fully embraces the image that he is The Devil incarnate, while the rest of world believes that he thinks of himself as a god. The title of the first episode, when translated without Bowdlerization involved, is "The Day the Devil Was Born". Better examples of this in the series include [[spoiler: Schneizel (mentioned below) and to some extent, Charles and Marianne.]]
38** [[spoiler:Lelouch's brother Schneizel develops a sudden god complex himself in Episode 23 of R2, and ends up nearly killing Cornelia because of it. He intends to use Damocles' arsenal of FLEIJA nukes to rule the world by forced peace. It's implied that he mostly cares about the latter part and is just willing to roll with acting as a god if that's what it takes. Lelouch foils his plan and Geasses him to [[ExactWords serve Zero]].]]
39* Shapiro Keats from ''Anime/{{Dancougar}}'' is always under the ambition that he will be a god. Which leads him to dump his lover Sara, and join the Muge Empire, rising up the ranks as a top-class strategist. Then his plans eventually come crashing down and he still held his delusions that he will be a god. [[spoiler:This doesn't stop him from saving the Cyber Beast Force in "Blazing Epilogue" with his anger against the aliens who betrayed him. Dancougar is a machine fed by fury, and he had lots of it.]] All that frustration had to go somewhere.
40* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] believes himself a god who brings his own form of justice to the world by killing criminals with a supernatural notebook (all thoughts that concern this usually being accompanied by GlowingEyesOfDoom in the anime). He proclaims his desire to become "the God of this new world" ''in the first episode'' and is generally consistent in this. It's like an ActionPrologue. Eventually, some people also start worshipping him as one, especially [[spoiler:Teru Mikami, who always calls him "God." Near]] eventually [[ShutUpHannibal calls him out]] on this:
41-->''"You yielded to the power of the shinigami and the notebook and confused yourself with a god."''
42** Ultimately, his [[spoiler: VillainousBreakdown occurs when Near tells Light that he's nothing more than a childish, unhinged mass-murderer. Light finally gives up all hope of anyone understanding him, and desperately tries to kill Near; it's only when Light's shot repeatedly does he realize that he's painfully mortal.]]
43* ''Manga/DenjinN'': Tadahiro views himself as an all-powerful being and shows no regard for human life aside Misaki's. The Sudou admit it's hard to argue with it, because if their plan fails there really isn't any way to stop him. [[spoiler:Near the end, Tadahiro holds the entire world hostage and even the world's leaders have to attend Misaki's concert.]]
44* Yasako begins seeing herself as the goddess of the civilization growing on her face in one episode of ''Anime/DenNohCoil''. It was...an odd episode.
45* In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', Ichijouji Ken (aka the Digimon Kaiser) has quite the streak of MoreThanMindControl-induced sociopathy. Considering himself superior to everyone else because of his genius, he goes so far as to declare himself the only individual worthy of entering the Digital World. Oh, and controlling it along with the actual Digimon, using Dark Rings. He pays for this. [[BreakTheHaughty Big time]].
46* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
47** The exact opposite also occurs: ''Manga/DragonBall'' features our green Namekian friend Kami. As you all know by now, that's Japanese for "god". Though he may be called a god, he has higher-ups in heaven and is infinitely weaker than all bad guys in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
48** Frieza shows vibes of this during his eventual VillainousBreakdown in ''Z'', completely unwilling to accept that he lost to a "[[FantasticRacism monkey]]" such as Son Goku.
49** Zamasu from ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is an interesting variation, in that he technically ''is'' a god, but only one of a great many in the setting, dozens of them being higher-ranking than him. However, his differing ideals of the purpose of the gods leads him to [[spoiler:not only attempt genocide of all mortal beings, but to commit mass deicide in order to make himself the ''only'' god]].
50* Director Kakuzawa in ''Manga/ElfenLied'' wants to be the father of the future generations of the Diclonius race so that when it replaces humanity he'll be worshiped as their god. [[spoiler:This doesn't work out well for him in the end, as it involved the cooperation of Lucy, who decided to kill him instead]]. Moreover, his own status as a Diclonius [[spoiler:turns out to be based on the racial myths of his once-persecuted, very Human family -- his clan merely possessed a freaky skull defect that superficially resembled Diclonius horns, but turned out to be wholly unconnected); Lucy's evolutionary offshoot has no connection to his clan whatsoever, as Lucy tells his corpse.]]
51* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
52** The Exceed, a ''race'' who view themselves as this over the humans [[spoiler: except it's really a [[TheMasquerade very carefully constructed lie]].]] [[spoiler: Happy turns out to be part of this race.]]
53** We also have Godslayers, whose Magic is an alternative form of Slayer magic. Of the three introduced, [[AxeCrazy Zan]][[PlayingWithFire crow]] considers himself a god in much the very same way [[TheHero Natsu]] sees himself as a Dragon. [[ShockAndAwe Orga]] is just extremely arrogant, and [[BlowYouAway Sherria]] is the utter opposite.
54** Then there's God Serena, the [[TheArchmage #1 Wizard Saint]] of Ishgal and the first amongst the "Four Gods of Ishgal", collectively considered gods amongst men for their power, who wields the power of [[spoiler:'''eight''' Dragon Slayer magics granted by his Lacrima]], and has let said power go to his head. [[spoiler:He ends up picking a fight with [[WorldsStrongestMan Acnologia]], [[CurbStompBattle who kills him without batting an eye]]]].
55** Dimaria Yesta of Alvarez is a bit more low-key and justified, as she [[spoiler:actually ''wields'' the power of [[TimeMaster the God of Time, Chronos]]]]. The only things that can stop her when she gets serious [[spoiler:are Sherria using her full and unrestrained power and the most powerful demon in the world]].
56** Ajeel Ramal of Alvarez (who power-wise is on par with God Serena and Dimaria) declares himself as such when he activates his [[DishingOutDirt Sand World]] ability and attempts to [[KneelBeforeZod make Erza revere him as such]] before he kills her. [[spoiler:Erza [[ShutUpHannibal responds]] by setting up Bisca's shot with [[WaveMotionGun the Jupiter cannon]] before taking him down.]]
57** Bloodman of Alvarez ([[SmugSuper noticing a pattern yet?]]) repeatedly declares himself "The God of Death" due to the ease with which he can slaughter people [[WalkingWasteland simply with his mere presence]] [[spoiler:thanks to his [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon physiology]] making him the ultimate MageKiller.]] When he finally goes all-out, [[spoiler:it takes Gajeel assimilating Bloodman's own AntiMagic particles and unlocking [[SuperMode Dragon Force]] to bring him down.]] Particularly blasphemous since there ''is'' an actual God of Death in the ''Fairy Tail'' universe.
58** [[BigBad Acnologia]] himself gets in on the act during the FinalBattle, declaring that he possesses "the destructive fury of a god". If anything though, ''that's an understatement of his strength'' given he's the WorldsStrongestMan with power surpassing what deities have been shown on-screen.
59* ''Literature/FateZero''. Gilgamesh considers the whole world his garden and considers the other Heroic Spirits, including Myth/KingArthur and UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, as peons and false kings compared to him. He is partially justified in-universe by his status as the first Heroic Spirit and the King of Heroes, by the fact that his power does, in fact, dwarf that of all the other Heroic Spirits, and, just like the Gilgamesh of myth, is also two-thirds god.
60* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where guns have ceased to exist. Martial arts masters who do not walk the path of righteousness will fall victim to this mental illness and proceed to build an empire of blood, tears, and tyranny before being taken down by Kenshiro.
61* Father, the main villain of the manga and 2009 anime versions of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', believes that humans are mere insects that are to be used as [[MagnificentBastard pawns in his plan]]. [[spoiler:He's not human himself, being the original homunculus that all other homunculi comes from; he does have human ''origins'', however, being partially created from Van Hohenheim's blood (making Father essentially a "son" of sorts to Hohenheim).]] His contempt shows when Ed goes to Xerxes, and discovers a transmutation circle that shows the name of {{God}} upside down. [[spoiler:In Chapter 104, he uses the five sacrifices to force open the world's Gate, dragging God itself down to Earth and fusing with it.]] Fortunately, that didn't last long, as [[spoiler: [[BatmanGambit Hohenheim had taken measures to ensure Father got to enjoy his godliness for a couple minutes at most.]] ]]
62* ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'': Happens twice in the novels, after [[spoiler:Kaname Chidori]] becomes possessed by [[spoiler: Sophia]], the original Whispered. The first time, in ''Semaru Nick of Time'', just before [[spoiler:Sophia]] takes over, she resonates with [[spoiler:Kaname]] and she claims that: "If a God exists, then we are that existence. You are the entirety of the three Moirae. Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos." The second time it happens in the second part of ''Zutto Stand By Me'', when [[spoiler:Sophia/Kaname]] thinks that there is no God, no help coming from anywhere, only herself and [[spoiler:the machine she had created to change the world.]]
63--->"However, if the three Fates would be born from human technology, she would become all of them -- Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos at the same time."
64** It's worth mentioning that most people loyal to Leonard Testarossa seem to think the same way about her, considering her and Leonard as Gods that would [[spoiler:make their sad pasts go away, and give them a new, better life in return]].
65%%* ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'': [[spoiler:Nakago.]]
66* ''Manga/FutureDiary'' has twelve already mentally unstable individuals empowered with precognitive diaries and [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne made to battle each other]]; the winner will become God once the other 11 are dead. As a result, it's probably easier to state which one of the diary holders ''do not'' suffer from this to one degree or another. Ironically, [[spoiler: TheHero who ends up WINNING.]]
67* ''Anime/GaoGaiGarFINAL'' introduced Palparepa, a villain who believed that the "law of the material world" was that the victor was God and the loser was the Devil. He always saw himself as the god and [=GaoGaiGar=] as the demon, and the color schemes ([=GaoGaiGar=] was always black, Palparepa is a medical white) didn't help, giving him a distinct A God Am I variety of confidence in battle as well. After he's finally defeated, he goes out muttering "so this ''is'' the law of the material world...", seemingly acknowledging Guy as a god, albeit one of destruction (and subsequently, as the OVA strives to remind us, rebirth).
68* In ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet,'' [[spoiler:Kugel's [[HumongousMecha Machine Caliber]], Striker]] turns out to be running her own fleet, refashioned into a cult that functions similarly to the Galactic Alliance of Humanity. Interestingly, her motives are more UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans than ego, even suggesting that by ruling humanity, [[spoiler:she's still fulfilling her function, becoming their collective will and thus making all of them her "users"]].
69* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': This trope is the main reason why Kyon, Yuki, Mikuru and Itsuki spend so much time, effort and stress to keep Haruhi from finding out she is a [[spoiler:RealityWarper]].
70* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'': Katsura-sensei [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_hayate_the_combat_butler_23_Katsura_a_god_am_i.jpg makes a shout out]] to Light's trademark glowing eyes and "I will be god of a new world" line during her scheme to shame a rival teacher into leaving.
71* [[spoiler:Miyo Takano]], the BigBad of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''. Their goal is stated at the end of ''Minagoroshi-hen'' to be "to become a god"; exactly what they mean is explored through their backstory in the beginning of ''Matsuribayashi-hen''.
72--> '''[[spoiler:Miyo Takano]]''': "Without a curse, there is no God. Because of the curse, there is fear. Because of fear, there is ''worship''. Now is the time when God advents! I have become Oyashiro-sama!"
73** [[spoiler:Keiichi too. In the arc where he tries to save Satoko from Teppei, he survives and thinks he has godly powers, because every person he wished to die died. The village doctor, a reporter, and Takano. However, it was a coincidence, and Takano actually went FakingTheDead. Not helped by the fact that the trauma of everything that's happened has caused him to snap.]]
74** Less seriously, in the first VisualNovel, everyone was playing a card game at the game club. Keiichi was winning almost every card game, and started calling himself a god. Even when it was four to one, Keichii was winning, and was mentally boasting the entire time. [[{{Hubris}} Hubris Ensured]].
75** [[spoiler:Takano's adoptive grandfather Hifumi Takano]] is a ''non''-megalomaniacal version. He says that if he creates a lasting legacy through his research, then he will have become a god.
76* ''Manga/InuYasha'': When Rin was killed by wolves, Sesshoumaru decided to test Tenseiga's power by restoring her to life. When it worked, he concluded Inuyasha was a fool for having let him live, believing he now had no need to fear death. This is eventually lampshaded by his own mother who accuses him of thinking he had become a god and that he was very mistaken to believe he was immune to death. [[spoiler:She proves this point by putting Sesshoumaru through TrainingFromHell against a foe that is immune to Tenseiga. Rin dies in the process for a second time, whereupon Sesshoumaru learns that Tenseiga can only ever revive a life once. Only when the truth about his god complex and the value of compassion sink in does his mother restore Rin back to life.]]
77* Kars, the villain of the second part of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', becomes "[[UltimateLifeForm the perfect lifeform]]" just before the final battle. When you have absolutely no weaknesses and can feed on any living thing by touch, claiming godhood is not that much of a stretch.
78** There's also Dio Brando, who often acts as if he has [[{{Pun}} the world]] in his hands. He's the series's SatanicArchetype, with a legion of devoted, {{brainwashed| and crazy}}, and/or bribed followers whose ultimate plan [[spoiler:to reset the universe]] is carried out by a priest, and his name ''quite literally'' [[BilingualBonus means]] "God".
79* In ''Manga/KamichamaKarin'', the titular character's magical girl form is that of an actual goddess. Her transformation catchphrase is "I am God".
80* ''Anime/{{Kamichu}}'' contains a noticeable aversion: The main character of the anime actually ''does'' become a god, for no particular reason, just before the series begins. She continues, however, to act like a confused, shy, somewhat overwhelmed middle-school girl, and her deific status is treated more or less like a part-time job. This is not so much a usual instance of A God Am I but more of an expression of the UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} belief that all things and beings are tied to their gods.
81* [[spoiler:Theodore Dudek]] in ''Manga/KingOfRPGs'' wants everyone to play RolePlayingGames constantly. Yes, you guessed it... he wants to [[spoiler:be the Game Master!]] Shesh's reaction and the last line illustrate this is a parody, but it's still a good example.
82-->[[spoiler:Theodore]]: Well, yeah... but it's sorta more then that. I want everyone on earth to play role-playing games constantly! To play them like breathing! Imagine a world where everyone is completely absorbed in their own fantasies! Better yet, ''my'' fantasies! I want to create an imaginary world that everyone dreams of being a part of! A grand illusion with me as the Game Master, adored by all! Games are about ''control''! And when I have that control...[[Manga/DeathNote I will reign over a new world!]]
83* [[spoiler:Zeus]] in ''Manga/KingOfThorn'', who manipulated the Medusa in [[spoiler:Shizuku]], and gave himself some nifty abilities in the process. [[spoiler: He also orchestrated a lot of things in the plot]], and is [[GigglingVillain a giggling asshat]].
84* The Mage from ''Manga/TheLuciferAndBiscuitHammer'', once he became [[TheUnfettered an unfettered psychic]] and [[spoiler: hammered the Earth, then did it again in a different time/dimension a dozen more times]].
85* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', the ultimate goal of the BigBad is [[spoiler:to unite the galaxy in a galaxy-spanning [[HiveMind collective consciousness]] (whether it wants to or not) with the BigBad personally at the very top]].
86* Subverted in ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'': The Pillar of Cephiro ''has'' limitless power, as it is her will which [[FisherKing gives shape to the world]]. When [[spoiler:Hikaru achieves this state, in both anime and manga, she relinquishes it ''immediately'' and gives it willingly to the inhabitants of Cephiro, so ''they'', rather than a single person, are responsible for their own world.]]
87* The dorm leader of ''Manga/MariaHolic'', who rules with an iron fist and is TheDreaded among her students, is named ''God'' and for all she cares, you ''will'' think of her as such.
88* In the ''Anime/MazingerZ'' series, Kouji Kabuto's grandfather tells him that Mazinger Z can use its power to become a god or a devil. This is most likely in the figurative sense as Mazinger Z could trounce humanity if Kouji ever went bad. In ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'', Professor Kabuto boasts that Mazinkaiser can ''surpass'' god and devil and in ''Manga/ShinMazingerZERO'', Mazinger Z actually ''becomes a god''!
89* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'', Rau Le Creuset, [[spoiler:rants about him being the one to judge humanity which has done horrible deeds (especially in the last days and also to him. The whole concept is emphasized by his Providence Gundam as in divine providence. Though, it's not based on any god-like powers of his or the like.]]
90** His friend Durandal in the sequel ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' [[spoiler:thinks of himself more as a High Priest (stated in series by Mu [maybe?]) of his new world order than a god.]]
91* [[spoiler:Ribbons Almark]] of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' believes himself to be far superior to any living being in existence, and feels that justifies his desire to conquer all of humanity. [[spoiler:He actually is superior to most humans by way of being an ArtificialHuman with superior capabilities, but once Setsuna becomes a True Innovator, he's lost that position of superiority.]]
92-->'''Setsuna''': Why are you doing this? Do you want to play God?
93-->'''[[spoiler:Ribbons]]''': No. I really am God.
94* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
95** Pain, the leader of Akatsuki, thinks that his suffering has made him enlightened and his power made him God. [[PersonOfMassDestruction It's not entirely unjustified]]. Though, [[ValuesDissonance it's worth noting]] he means more in a Shinto/Buddhist sense of a god rather than the omnipotent Christian one (in short, he doesn't have any illusions about being invincible). This arguably turns out to be more of a GodGuise, as, while he presents himself as a god to the people in Amegakure, Nagato himself is extremely well aware of his own mortality.
96** [[spoiler:Madara Uchiha. His true goal of Infinite Tsukuyomi -- With the most powerful chakra after taking away everyone else, he'll rule over everyone and 'force peace' onto them.]]
97** [[spoiler:Black Zetsu verges on this, declaring boldly "I am the Land!"]]
98%%* Adam Arclight from ''Manga/{{Needless}}''.
99* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
100** Played straight and slightly subverted by the villain of the Skypiea arc, Enel, who declares himself God. This is subverted in that, according to Gan Fall, the prior God of Skypiea, "God" is merely the title for the Skypiran leader. However, Eneru believes himself a true god by virtue of his lightning-based Devil Fruit abilities and power to read others' conscious thoughts. And the fact that the word for ''god'' (kami) is similar to the word for ''thunder'' (kaminari) in Japanese. A fact he puns on by introducing himself with "Ore wa Kaminari" which can mean both 'I am Lightning' or 'I have become God'.
101** The World Nobles. Simply by virtue of the fact that their ancestors founded the [[TheGovernment World Government]] (an organization of over 170 countries), they consider themselves divine by nature. The descendants of those who "created this world", they use their heritage as the sole justification for their reprehensible actions, including but not limited to slavery (which was abolished ''two hundred years ago''), and blatantly disregard the law regularly. Worse yet, the World Government condones these actions, to the point that the Marines ignore the existence of numerous human shops that cater to them and other, lesser nobles, and are frequently sent out to retrieve escaped slaves. However, the most distressing thing of all is that defying the World Nobles is considered a crime of the worst sort -- they even have the authority to send an ''[[PersonOfMassDestruction admiral]]'' to deal with even the smallest offense, and one chapter showed that even suggesting they're human like everyone else is considered blasphemy. [[spoiler:And this is all before being introduced to the ''true'' ruler of the World Government, Imu, who sits on the supposedly untangible Empty Throne and to whom even the Five Elders (who are World Nobles themselves, and thus share the God complex of all the other Nobles to a certain degree) bow to and interpret his orders (such as obliterating entire islands and {{Unperson}}ing them) as decrees from God.]]
102* Creator/OsamuTezuka's ''Manga/{{Phoenix}}'': volume Future, has main character Masato Yamanobe fill the role of God. Masato must begin the evolution of Earth anew when the current world is devastated by nuclear war (and it is hinted that this isn't the first time life on Earth has been obliterated). Masato doesn't want to be god and in fact tries to discourage the people he helps create from thinking of him in that way. The real god of the story is the eternal Phoenix, who gave Masato his power and immortality in the first place.
103* In ''Manga/{{Psyren}}'', the BigBad Amagi Miroku claims to be "the god of a new world." Also, Usui who used his knowledge of the future to become GodEmperor of Neo Amakusa.
104* Happens (arguably) to two characters in ''Anime/RahXephon''. The first (and arguable) one is after [[spoiler:Ayato]] fully awakens. The second is when Bahbem watches the [[spoiler:[[EndOfTheWorldSpecial tuning of the world]].]] In [[spoiler:Ayato's case, as he just merged with the Anime/RahXephon and REMADE THE WORLD, this isn't an unjustifiable assumption.]]
105* Played with, but ultimately averted in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. The final BigBad, King Saffron, is a WingedHumanoid with traits of ThePhoenix -- namely, he can fly, generate incredible heat (one of his attacks is [[CallingYourAttacks named]] "Instant Empire Annihilation Blast"), regenerate, and resurrect himself after dying by turning into an egg and hatching as a baby version of himself. Although he has sufficient power he could conceivably be considered a deity (at least a kami), he is never referred to even by his human opponents as a god. {{Fanon}}, on the other hand, calls him a god all the time, presumably due to early fan translations. And then there's Rouge, who was CursedWithAwesome at Jusenkyo to transform into an Ashura version of herself. This gives her [[KillItWithFire fire breath]], [[ShockAndAwe lightning bolts]], flight, and superhuman strength and endurance... additionally, an Ashura is also a literal god/demon of mythology.
106* Hardner from ''Manga/RaveMaster''. Interesting in that the ultimate BigBad, Lucia, doesn't seem too concerned with anything godlike ([[MotiveDecay sometimes]]). It's more like Lucia's [[ArtifactOfDoom Sinclaire]] wants him to have this sort of mentality.
107* ''Manga/Reborn2004'': Byakuran can also be placed here, going as far as to [[spoiler: kidnap Uni for her soul so he can activate the tre-ni-sette to create a new world under his rule.]]
108* In ''Anime/ReCreators'' Blitz Talker's Creator Shunma Suruga is the only one who embraces the Created labeling them gods. If Blitz had expected any remorse or sympathy from her for killing his daughter, he was mistaken. In fact, she goes to great length to drive home the point: She is the god, she'll cause as much suffering as she likes.
109* In ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', the final arc explains that given sufficient time and resources, populated worlds will eventually develop technology or magic sufficiently advanced to make every citizen immortal and free from want. However, eventually somebody on one of those worlds will develop a god complex and head into the multiverse to cause trouble [[NormalFishInATinyPond on less developed worlds]]. [[spoiler:Medea, the BigBad of the entire story, is one such self-proclaimed goddess who has been causing the Waves both to gather power and amuse herself by watching the mortals suffer]].
110* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'': Kamiya Kanade calls himself God. As a [[spoiler:[[BrownNote siren]]]], he really did win the SuperpowerLottery, but his delusions of godhood come to a crashing halt at the hands ([[spoiler:or rather, voice]]) of [[spoiler:Sun Otonashi, an even more powerful siren whose song causes his body to crumble to dust.]]
111%%* ''Literature/ScrappedPrincess'' also twists this trope in at the end.
112* Masami Eiri from ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'': [[spoiler:he commits suicide so he can enter the Wired and become its god, but he states that he's only able to be a god because he has followers, the hacker group known as the Knights of the Eastern Calculus.]] Eiri's ultimate goal is to [[spoiler:connect all of humankind subconsciously through the Wired. That's what he created Lain to accomplish.]]
113** [[spoiler:He's proven wrong quite dramatically at the end, where he actually does declare himself an "omnipotent god" before being interrupted by Lain. In a single BreakingSpeech she hints at the existence of a real {{God}}, mocks Eiri for thinking himself anything more than a puny human and destroys him effortlessly when he tries to attack her in a rage. A God I'm Not...]]
114*** [[spoiler:He's declaring this to a girl who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. And probably immortal. Oh the irony...]]
115* ''Literature/{{Slayers}} Revolution'': Zanaffar in Episode 13:
116-->"Everything, from gods to demons, I was created to surpass them all! ... And if my numbers keep growing, ... I will be able to consume even the gods!"
117* In ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', the BigBad Akihiko Kayaba's lifelong dream is to create a world that he himself has designed, with complete control over it. Fortunately, unlike many examples he simply creates a MMORPG to play around with. Unfortunately, he decides to trap 10,000 people inside that game, killing anyone who disconnects or dies in it, because otherwise it wouldn't be "real" enough for him. Somehow, he's less ''still'' not as crazy and evil as several other villains of the series.
118* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'': [[BigBad Kagato]] desires to acquire the power of the Juraian Royal Family and reign over the universe as its god. His name actually ''means'' "I am god who is man."
119* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' this can be used to describe the power of those who have access to the higher levels of Spiral power. Lordgenome acts a lot in the fashion of a god-like king and the [[spoiler: Anti-Spiral have taken such a position concerning the whole universe dedicating themselves to protecting it.]]
120** Even the good guys get in on the act to a degree: Chouginga/Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann is described as [[BlasphemousBoast being able to take on the gods themselves]].
121** You can even argue that this trope regarding the heroes is [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] ''and'' [[DefiedTrope defied]] at the end of the series. Simon could have ascended to god-status easily and permanently; at a certain point one might assume this will be the case, considering the amazing power he and Team Dai-Gurren have amassed. But instead, Simon refuses to take that role; Yoko and he even give the ''opposite'' of the "A God Am I" speech: [[DefiedTrope "Simon isn't God, Gimmy." / "I'm just Simon the Digger."]] (He had his reasons, though it's a very controversial end.)]]
122* In ''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters'', Galvatron hatches a scheme to use the Earth as raw material to become a being akin to his creator, Unicron. When Punch, the Autobot spy learned of this plot, he uttered the words, "He's gone mad!" As if all of Galvatron's actions since the third season of the Generation 1 cartoon didn't clue us in already.
123%%* Knives from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', eesh.
124* [[BigBad The Crow]] from ''Anime/VividredOperation'', after acquiring newfound powers through consuming Rei's arrows.
125* Played with in ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', where the protagonist is a god...of {{Dating Sim}}s. [[ItMakesSenseInContext Which is actually a good thing for the plot.]]
126* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' gives use several. Kagemaru wishes to harness the power of the Mythic Demons/Sacred Beasts to "become the God of the world" and restore his youth. Saiou, possessed by an EldritchAbomination, wished to cleanse the world and remake it in "the image of light." Yubel wanted to fuse all twelve dimensions into one, and rule over them with Judai. Amon Garam wants to become the god of the alternate dimensions. [[MonsterOfTheWeek Duelist of the week]] Frantz, who dueled using a copy of the Winged Dragon of Ra, merged with Ra using its special ability:
127-->'''Frantz:''' Now you will respect me, you insignificant little insect! I don't ''have'' an Egyptian god, [[LargeHam I AM ONE!]]
128* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'':
129** Rex Godwin. He tries to TakeAThirdOption in the Signer vs Dark Signer war that has been going on for millennia by losing to a Dark Signer on purpose to become a Dark Signer himself, then grafts his brother's amputated arm with the fifth Signer mark onto his own stump of an arm. The end result is that he becomes a Signer and a Dark Signer at once, planning to use the Dark Signer's power to destroy the world, then use the Signer's power to remake the world in his own image.
130** Z-ONE in the most recent season is apparently also a "God of Destiny" ([[spoiler: being able to change the past and all that]]).
131---> '''Z-ONE:''' Yusei Fudo, though you may have come this far with [[ScrewDestiny the intention to cut open the future with your own power]]...[[AllAccordingToPlan everything has merely traveled along the rails that I have laid out.]] To you, I am the equivalent of a God. [...] In order to change [[BadFuture the future]], Zero Reverse was caused and your lives were changed dramatically. You were orphaned, living in Satellite, and then rose up to the challenges in the WRGP. However, that victory was only a means [[spoiler: [[ColonyDrop to call out the Ark Cradle]]]]. [...] Do you understand? The meaning of me being your God? And if a God decides to take a path of destruction, then no one shall defy it.
132* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'':
133** Yusuke Urameshi had a moment like this when it turned out that [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror he's really an]] uber-powerful {{Youkai}}]], shouting "Kneel down and worship me, you insects!". Subverted in that he immediately reveals it to be [[ItAmusedMe an immature prank]] and says that they should have seen their faces. Which was itself a strong indication that he hadn't changed.
134** Played straight in the movie when the BigBad declares himself a god.
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