Line #136 Main/DeathOfTheOldGods


1	->''Tell the king; the fair wrought house has fallen\
2	No shelter has Apollo, nor sacred laurel leaves\
3	The fountains are now silent; the voice is stilled.\
4	It is finished.''
5	-->-- '''The last Oracle of Delphi''' to a representative of the Emperor UsefulNotes/TheodosiusI[[note]]Or Julian the Apostate, DependingOnTheWriter[[/note]]
6
7	A common fantasy trope where the gods that once ruled the world are dying or fading away. Most commonly, this may take the form of polytheistic pagan gods are slowly giving way to a single unified Christian god (or the [[CrystalDragonJesus nearest fictional approximation]]), a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanomachy titanomachy]] where an elder, primordial pantheon gives way to the new polytheistic deities, or perhaps of the old order giving way to no gods at all, which is not unheard of.
8
9	Normally their departure is a result of [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly people no longer believing in them]], although it's not unknown for them to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence simply lose interest in the affairs of mortals]], or to die out for other reasons. In other cases, the interloper takes their place after [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership beating]] or even [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt killing]] their predecessors in a fight.
10
11	The fading gods and their worshipers are normally portrayed sympathetically, but there are normally underlying messages that their time is up and they should accept their fates. ModernizedGod is one way they can escape this fate, though TheModernGods might have something to say about it.
12
13	Contrast {{Gotterdammerung}}, where the gods go out with a bang instead of a whimper. See also the trope just called TheOldGods, which is roughly for gods who went through either this or that trope in the backstory.
14
15	!!As this is a {{Death Trope\|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19	[[folder:Comic Books]]
20	* Creator/MarvelComics: The pantheons of Earth were forced to stop intervening in humanity's progress (overtly anyway) 1000 years ago by [[CosmicEntity The Celestials]], beings who guide evolution. Most people -- including most deities -- do not know this, only the leaders of each pantheon. Apparently, being a superhero doesn't count as "overtly intervening", given the examples of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] and [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]], and occasionally a few others.
21	* Creator/DCComics:
22	** The Old Gods literally died in a huge war only to be replaced by ComicBook/NewGods; none of these were Earth gods, however.
23	--->''"'''''''There came a time when the Old Gods died!''''' ''The brave died with the cunning! The noble perished, locked in battle with the unleashed evil! It was the '''last''' day for them! An ancient era was '''passing''' in '''fiery''' holocaust! The '''final''' moment came with the '''fatal''' release of the '''indescribable power''' -- which '''tore''' the home of the Old Gods asunder -- '''split''' it in great '''halves''' -- and filled the universe with the '''blinding''' death-flash of its '''destruction'''! In the '''end''' there were '''two''' giant '''molten''' bodies, spinning slow and '''barren''' -- clean of '''all''' that had gone '''before''' -- adrift in the '''fading''' sounds of '''cosmic''' thunder... '''Silence''' closed upon what had happened -- a '''long, deep''' silence -- wrapped in massive '''darkness'''... '''it was this way for an age...''''' '''THEN--THERE WAS NEW LIGHT!'''''"''
24	*** In the continuity of ''ComicBook/Earth2'', it's revealed that Mercury was the last of the Old Gods that had survived the war against Darkseid's forces in Apokolips, but was fatally injured in his escape. He met with and passed his SuperSpeed onto [[ComicBook/TheFlash Jay Garrick]].
25	** Since the death of the ComicBook/NewGods in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', and the foreshadowing that even newer gods will arise, the ComicBook/NewGods are now also old dead gods.
26	** ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': The Olympians' "game" has been restarted due to their fear of dying out due to lack of worshipers as their powers and reach fade away. In the end [[spoiler:Gaia does die by fading away after using the last of her powers to imbue Diana with superpowers of her own and is an even older god than the Olympians]].
27	* ''ComicBook/{{Hound\|2014}}'': The Followers of The Great Mother Danú retreated underground in the past when they suffered a devastating loss to the Sons of Mil. Morrigan is the [[LastOfHerKind last of them]] during the events of the story.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Fan Works]]
31	* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' plays with this - like Marvel, the older pantheons were forced by the Celestials to step aside and not overtly interfere with human development, though here there is the caveat that this is until humanity grows up (which it is now doing, with references made to Thor's line from ''Film/{{The Avengers\|2012}}'' about mankind being ready for a higher form of war). Like ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', gods need at least some belief/awareness that they exist to have a foothold on Earth and exert their power there (which is used to explain the power disparity between Thor and Loki in the early MCU and their more comics derived versions here). Most of them are suggested not to care all that much. However, with the events of Book 1, which unleashed Chthon, the Elder God of Chaos, on the world, the rise of [[spoiler: the Dark Phoenix]], and the threat of Thanos, the collected pantheons are starting to pay attention again. In other words, the Old Gods Stepped Aside, [[TheMagicComesBack but increasingly, the Old Gods Are Back.]] And they aren't alone...
32	* ''Fanfic/DemonInFodlan'': In the distant past, the Agarthans used to worship a pantheon of local gods before Sothis came to their world and soon takes the position of TopGod from them. It is during the war between the Agarthans and the Nabateans that original gods join in the fight by assisting the Agarthans, using this opportunity to overthrow Sothis. The war ends with Agarthans almost wiped out and driven underground, Fodlan in ruins and the old gods all killed by Sothis.
33	* ''Fanfic/EquestriaAcrossTheMultiverse'': This happens in the world visited during the Lighting the Darkness Arc. Queen Equinox, the local deity and Goddess of Light and Darkness, sacrificed herself to save the world from a meteor... and was gradually forgotten and faded into obscurity. This was a ''bad'' thing, as one of the villains she sealed away, a demon named Lord Yomi that her worshipers had previously kept performing rituals in her name to keep locked away, escaped, and no one remembers how to exploit HolyBurnsEvil against them anymore. The end result is Yomi and his army easily conquering the world until the Mane Six arrive and reintroduce magic, as well as free Antiquity from Yomi's curse, who the rediscovers Equinox and CAN exploit HolyBurnsEvil against them. [[spoiler:Sunny Days and Moonlight]] eventually ascend and become the new gods in Equinox's place, destroying Yomi with the Mane Six's help.
34	* While several of the old pantheons seem to be doing fine in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheWesternSea'' not all the gods have managed to survive the tests of time. [[Myth/CelticMythology Lir and Nuada]] have both Faded, and for the most part the Tuatha de Danann stay under the hills or in the Blessed Isles since the Olympians took over. The clurichaun states that it is even worse over in England where the Olympians were running around, with Robin Goodfellow not being heard from in centuries and possibly Fading entirely. The Berber gods of northern Africa are likewise mentioned to have mostly Faded, and the [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Mesopotamian gods]] [[NoodleIncident have somehow been contained by a human society]].
35	* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12489955/1/Hanks-Orthodoxy Hank's Orthodoxy]]'': The main reason why Hank is abandoning Methodist/Protestant faith for Eastern Orthodoxy is his worry that Christianity in the United States is slowly dying.
36	* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': Several deities from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' sacrificed themselves to create the New Chaos Gods so that the C'Tan can be defeated.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
40	* ''WesternAnimation/Beowulf2007'': Beowulf laments that his people have abandoned "the Gods of might and power for a crying martyr".
41	* ''WesternAnimation/ConstantineCityOfDemons'' mentions that this happened to the Aztek gods except for Mictlantecuhtli, who survived by feeding on the deaths of animals at a slaughterhouse.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
45	* ''Film/{{Dragonslayer}}'': This seems to be starting. Although a newly arrived Christian priest attempts to defeat the dragon using the power of God's word alone, King Casiodorus has still sent a team to fetch Ulrich, a well-known sorcerer, to defeat the dragon. With [[spoiler:the loss of Galen's amulet,]] it's implied that a lot of (but not all of!) the old-school magic that once permeated the land is gone, clearing the way for Christianity's rise.
46	* ''Literature/TheEgyptian'': The film draws parallels between Akhenaten's worship of the sun god Aten and later Judeo-Christian monotheism. The end of the film implies that even though the priests of Amon-Re were able to quash to new religion, it would come again in a different form. It's very interesting to watch this film back-to-back with ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956'' for this reason.
47	* In ''Film/{{Excalibur}}'', Merlin says to Morganna, who is trying to learn his secrets of sorcery, that many old ways are being lost because the One God (of Christianity) is driving out the many gods (of nature).
48	* ''Film/{{Wonder Woman\|2017}}'': All of the Greek Pantheon sans Ares [[spoiler:and Diana]] are dead. [[spoiler: By the end, only Diana is left]], which leaves room for the incoming New Gods in ''[[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague Justice League]]''.
49	** Speaking of ''Justice League'':
50	--->'''Steppenwolf:''' ''[to Diana]'' You have the blood of the Old Gods in you... The Old Gods died!
51	* ''Film/{{Mythica}}'': Szorlok succeeds in destroying the gods prior to his death at Marek's hand. Teela believes they may reemerge someday though.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Literature]]
55	* Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'' is about a war between the Old Gods, who embody traditional myths and are [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly running out of faith,]] and the New Gods, who embody things like television and the Internet and are rising in power but perhaps only as passing fads (like the railroad). The trope is played with in that the Current Gods are uninvolved and completely unchallenged by both groups, who are basically fighting over scraps.
56	* The original ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' trilogy actually subverts this. After the Cataclysm, a world-shattering disaster visited on the world by the gods as punishment for a variety of sins, humanity decides to find itself a new pantheon, and the dwarves and elves seem to be less interested in worship generally speaking. It's later revealed, however, that the old gods were around all along. It was people's loss of faith in them that made them believe the old gods had departed. And, interestingly, it winds up being the goddess of evil who becomes active again in the world first.
57	** Then they left ''again'', and some schmuck calling himself the One God showed up and started the War of Souls. [[spoiler: Turns out the old gods didn't really leave, the world was stolen from them by said goddess of evil, who had disguised herself as the One God.]]
58	* ''Dragon King Trilogy'': Quentin, as an initiate at a temple of the old gods, seems mainly to learn less about the gods themselves and more about how the priests manipulate the people into thinking these gods are real, and reaping the benefits of the people's worship of said gods. The implication seems to be that if these older gods actually do exist, they are remarkably silent on all human affairs. Later on in the first book, a ''very familiar'' Christian-type God reveals himself to Quentin.
59	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
60	** Although supernatural beings lurk under every bridge in the Dresdenverse, actual gods [[spoiler:except Odin]] are conspicuous by their absence. It's implied in one side story that they're not dead, but have stepped aside voluntarily due to some kind of arrangement made roughly 2,000 years ago. Given the timing and the Christian God's obsession with human free will in this setting, there's plenty of room for fan theories there.
61	** ''Literature/{{Changes}}'' reveals some of the Old Gods, specifically {{Mayincatec}} ones, to have actually been very powerful, very old [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires of the Red Court]], called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Lords of Outer Night]]. However, from the same book there is indication - or at least speculation on Dresden's part - that the gods really did exist, and the Red Court leadership stole their names. Considering that Mayan mythology includes a god of blood, death, and sacrifice called Camazotz who greatly resembles a Red Court vampire, and is mentioned as having many children, this theory may have legs.
62	** ''Literature/ColdDays'' reveals even more. [[spoiler: Some entities can hold different mantles or masks as times changes. Odin may not worshipped much anymore, but he still gains much power from his role as Santa.]]
63	** There are a whole bunch of ancient deities so dangerous to the world that an AncientTradition of Venatori has been struggling for centuries to erase every trace of their presence, thus preventing mortals from believing in them and allowing them to exist. This invoked example is appropriately known as the "[[SecretWar Oblivion War]]". It is mentioned that the Gods do not actually die, however, they require mortal faith to connect to the mortal world-lack of it does not kill them, merely render them unable to touch the mortal plane. Although it does raise the question, if they can't interact with the world and its people unless people believe in them, then how could they inspire belief if they can't interact with people.
64	* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the Faith of the Seven, [[CrystalDragonJesus which resembles the Catholic Church]], has largely replaced the Old Gods, who were worshiped by the original inhabitants of the continent. The only worshipers left are [[GrimUpNorth up north]], the Northerners and the tribes beyond the Wall, as well as a number of tribes in The Vale who never assimilated. Later in the series, the religion of R'hllor, a militant, monotheistic religion from the East, begins to take a foothold. The Iron Islands follows the Drowned God; they are the only ones to do so and this has resulted in their culture being very different from the rest of Westeros.
65	** It's important to note that the Old Gods' faith was never organized, and lacks priests, temples, scriptures, and so on. This probably contributed to the faith's decline.
66	** Ironically, the First Men originally had several named gods before the Pact with the Children. Part of the Pact was abandoning their "old gods" for the ones worshipped by the Children. The only regions where this didn't happen were the Iron Islands, the Frozen Shore, and the Sisters islands, all regions where weirwoods don't grow.
67	** People outside the North don't seem to reject the existence of The Old Gods, as evidenced by saying like "by the old gods and the new." The current generation of the Starks worship both sets of gods. Later books reveal that there are some fundamentalists of the Faith of the Seven who see alternate religions like the Old Gods and the Drowned God as a threat (though they're more focused on the growing worship of R'hllor) and want to convert the whole continent.
68	** A few regions had exclusive faiths that completely disappeared after the Andal invasion. These include the faiths of the Storm God (enemy of the Drowned God), the faiths of the Rhoynar (now worshipped only by a small group of Dornish called the Orphans of the Greenblood), and the gods of the Sisters Islands.
69	** Essos is immeasurably more diverse, although there are also many extinct religions. Vaes Dothrak has a huge collection of god statues and icons from various cities they've looted over the centuries, many of which have no current worshippers. The Valyrians had their own religion, which went extinct along with their entire nation after the Doom of Valyria. The only evidence of their existence was the names of the three dragons that Aegon I and his sisters rode to conquer Westeros: Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes. They were named after ancient Valyrian gods.
70	* Works of David Eddings:
71	** In the backstory of the ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'', the gods willingly underwent this, trading in their PhysicalGod forms for more incorporeal ones, so that they could leave room for the [[CrystalDragonJesus unifying god]] that was to come. Only Torak refused to accept the deal, remaining in the world and becoming the BigBad.
72	** The ''Literature/{{Elenium}}'', the Elder Gods of Stryicum were overthrown by the Younger Gods. The details aren't given save that one of the elders, Azash, was castrated and trapped in a clay idol.
73	** In ''The Dreamers'', the two generations of gods, elder and younger, take turns running things.
74	* ''Greek Gods and Heroes'', by Robert Graves, concludes with a chapter titled "The Death of the Olympian Gods", in which, upon the death of the Emperor Julian, the three Fates advise Zeus that the reign of the Olympians has ended. Zeus destroys the Olympian palace with a thunderbolt and the gods retreat into obscurity. The full text of the chapter [[http://majorolympians.com/demise.html can be found here]].
75	%%* ''Literature/TheBrideiChronicles'' is set in Scotland and England during their conversion from paganism to Catholicism.
76	* Stephen R. Lawhead does this in his Pendragon Cycle of Arthurian stories. In his version, the old Celtic gods (Lleu of the Long Hand being the only one consistently named) give way to the Christian God, albeit gently. It's implied by the titular Taliesin of the first book that the Christian God was always there above the Celtic deities, but was unknown and thus not truly worshiped directly. With the coming of Christianity into this post-Roman Britain, there is no further need for the older forms of religion. The druids and other followers of the older faith after the introduction of Christianity are portrayed rather negatively, with the implication that they're only in it for the power (real, mystical or perceived).
77	* Most of Creator/ThomasBurnettSwann's fantasy novels are about the fading of the old magic, mythology and gods, though it's implied that some have survived in hiding.
78	* Is part of the key reveal to Jean Ray's ''Malpertuis'': [[spoiler: the Greeks gods did exist, created out of the worship and belief of humans, but since their religion and civilisation ended they have been slowly dying and fading away. An old sorcerer managed to trap and enslave the last Greek gods still alive - by forcing them into human bodies and human identities. Or more accurately human-shaped balloons... ]]
79	* In the ''Literature/MerryGentry'' series, the many of the Sidhe were [[strike: worshiped as]] well-known pagan gods, but lost their worshipers to Christianity. This marked the beginning of their decline in power. It is explicitly stated that Sidhe draw power from such worship, and are therefore forbidden to set themselves up as gods as part of the treaty with Jefferson. Furthermore, the older Sidhe have referred to the Elder Gods and Firblogs, which implies that there may have been even ''Older'' Old Gods, that the Sidhe didn't just PutOnABus to AnotherDimension, but actually KilledOffForReal.
80	* In ''Literature/TheLongDarkTeatimeOfTheSoul'', the Norse gods aren't dead, but lack of worship and recognition has made them destitute and lethargic. They don't bother much with Earth anymore, except for Odin [[spoiler: who sells his power to shady advertising executives in exchange for a clean, quiet stay in a nursing home]] and Thor, who still occasionally shows up to do something heroic.
81	* In ''Literature/AndAnotherThing'', [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]] applies for the job as a new world's god but he can't close the deal because nobody is currently worshiping him, since he's technically dead. He's not the only one seeking the position, either, so in this universe, Christianity was less "Death of the Old Gods" and more "Mass Unemployment of the Old Gods".
82	* Creator/RogerZelazny:
83	** The end of ''Literature/LordOfLight'' has a Buddha analogue that replaces the Hindu gods, although the gods here are simply psychic posthumans with advanced technology (and the Buddha a rebel from their own number) rather than truly divine beings.
84	** Inverted in ''Literature/CreaturesOfLightAndDarkness'', where the Egyptian Gods hold sway over a futuristic StandardSciFiSetting, and a mad, powerful creature, strongly implied to be Yaweh, is held captive to protect the universe.
85	* Part of the backstory of ''Literature/ArciaChronicles'' includes the Seven [[LightIsNotGood Lightbringers]] physically destroying all the Old Gods of Tarra. This returns to bite Tarra mightily in the ass nine thousand years later when the Lightbringers leave and a bunch of monsters show up to devour the now completely defenseless world.
86	* In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/TheBrokenSword'', this has yet to happen to the Norse Gods, but the young hero met up with a satyr who recounts the fall of Olympus.
87	* In "Literature/IronShadowsInTheMoon", the sometimes-animated statues were caused by a PhysicalGod who appears gone now. (This is a polytheist-to-polytheist situation.)
88	-->''"What gods?" he muttered.\
89	"The nameless, forgotten ones. Who knows? They have gone back into the still waters of the lakes, the quiet hearts of the hills, the gulfs beyond the stars. Gods are no more stable than men."''
90	* Creator/RobertEHoward wrote a little-known story titled "The Grey God Passes" which retells the Battle of Contarf, which is considered to mark the end of the Viking Age. The battle is revealed to be Gotterdammerung and marks the literal death of both Norse and Celtic pantheons.
91	* ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'' has this going on for most of the book, and being fought against tooth and nail by several main characters. Not that it has much effect in the long run.
92	** It ends with [[spoiler: Morganna realizing how arrogant she was to think her Gods would need her to save them, when the new religion Christianity is just another face for the same Divine being, albeit one which is less tolerant of other paths to the Divine]]
93	* In the finale of Lawrence Watt-Evans' ''The Lords of Dûs'' series, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the prophesied end of Time was simply referring to the death of the god of Time and all that he had personally created. As his main creations were the fourteen greater gods, the world was largely unaffected. With their passing, the lesser gods step forward to begin a new age]].
94	* The basis of the plot of Creator/MargaretWeis and Creator/TracyHickman's ''Dragonships'' series involves the old gods (a pantheon obviously inspired by, though not identical to, that of the Norse) getting their territory muscled in on by ''two'' sets of interlopers (the Gods of Raj and the Lord of the New Dawn, Aelon), and how that conflict spills over into the mortal world.
95	* This is how the ''Literature/BookOfSwords'' end. As humanity ceases to dream of the gods, they lose their power and fade from existence. As the last of them, Vulcan, dies, he senses the presence of some new power, or perhaps a [[{{God}} returning old one]], come to claim or reclaim the earth.
96	* Creator/HPLovecraft:
97	** Comprehensively, horrifyingly subverted in the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. The [[EldritchAbomination Great Old Ones]] have died/vanished long ago, and nothing really stepped in the power vacuum left... [[WhenThePlanetsAlign But soon the stars shall be Right again]], and they shall rise once more [[CosmicHorrorStory and all of Man's works shall be torn tasunder as anthills under the tread of giants]]. And [[DevilButNoGod there's nobody else to really stop them from coming back]]. Or so [[UnreliableNarrator their worshippers]] would have you believe, anyway. In practice, just how many of the various [[GoMadFromTheRevelation sanity-blasting horrors]] of the Mythos even "vanished" in the first place is debatable, considering how easy it seems to be at times for people who puzzle out [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow the correct rituals]] from demented rantings in [[TomeOfEldritchLore old crumbling books]] to still get in touch with them... and yet, strangely enough, so far the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ''hasn't'' come. In the original works by Lovecraft they explicitly ''are not'' gods, but rather alien beings whose knowledge of the physical world [[ClarkesThirdLaw seem like magic to ignorant primitives like us.]]
98	** Played straight, however, in the story "The Other Gods", where the (supposed -- they're only ever mentioned collectively and not a single name gets dropped) former gods of Earth have retreated as far from humanity as they can and anyone trying to pursue them still is simply begging for a bad end; ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'' also gets touched off by those same gods, though it takes a while for the connection to become wholly clear and Randolph Carter ends up never actually getting to meet them in person.
99	* ''Literature/ApollosGrove'': A play dealing with the last Oracle of Delphi and the end of the old religion. The page quote serves as the emotional climax of the story.
100	* In ''Literature/TheSoldierSon'', the worship of the Good God replaced the worship of the old gods in Gernia (of whom only Orandula, god of death and balances, is named in the text), although some still worship the old gods in secret. Contrary to popular belief, this has not weakened the old gods.
101	* In ''Literature/SmallGods'', the god Om is on the verge of succumbing to this trope, and reminisces about past rival gods he'd driven into extinction long ago. With his own survival on the line, their fate doesn't seem so funny anymore...
102	* ''Literature/WhiteAsSnow'': Subverted. While Christianity is spreading, even the priests dance in the woods with the pagans at full moon.
103	* ''Literature/GarrettPI'': Two of the oldest pantheons in [=TunFaire=], the Godoroth and Shayir, compete for control of the grungiest temple in the Dream Quarter in ''Petty Pewter Gods'', without which their dwindling faiths will die off entirely.
104	* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'' has this in a weird way--mythological figures exist as {{Physical God}}s, but they're currently being threatened by [[EldritchAbomination Ka Anor]], an alien deity who eats other gods (and [[ScaryDogmaticAliens whose followers]] want to eventually kill everyone else). Both sides are also threatened by [[spoiler:[[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]]]], who has plans for godhood too. Furthermore, the pagan deities left our world right around the time Christianity was on the rise, so there's probably some kind of correlation.
105	* In ''Literature/KrampusTheYuleLord'', Ragnarok has swept Yggdrasil and now the [=Æ=]sir has now been killed off, the only surviving remnants include Odin's wolves and ravens, Baldr (who was destined to be freed from Hel and walk in the new world) and Krampus (who survived through some non-specified reason).
106	* Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Thessalonica'' is set in a Greece that has become Christian, but the beings the pagans believed in (satyrs, fauns, and nymphs, among others) can still be found in the back country. They were driven there by Christianity.
107	* The [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable theme]] of ''Literature/TheCrocodileGod,'' as it focuses on the Philippines. Haik is the sea-god of the Tagalog tribe, [[CharacterTitle whose most common epithet is the story's title.]] Once loved and deeply respected, [[TheMagicGoesAway Spain's colonization]] was not kind to him and it's implied he has PTSD from [[TheAloner growing steadily more isolated.]] Haik's ReincarnationRomance with the (currently) Filipino-American Mirasol has been stuck in a loop of trauma, ever since a Spaniard [[ImperiledInPregnancy shot the pregnant Mirasol]] and caused the [[TragicStillbirth stillbirth]] of their whale-goddess daughter. Chapter 8 reveals that Haik thought the other gods were dead--meaning he'd ALREADY lost a lot of family members]] before his daughter's death finally pushed him over the DespairEventHorizon. [[spoiler: Turns out he was wrong: The other gods are very much alive, have resurrected his daughter [[BornAsAnAdult as a young woman,]] and are [[BigDamnHeroes mobilizing in a gigantic ship]] to find HIM.]]
108	* ''Literature/JackelianSeries'': In ''The Court of the Air'', the modern inhabitants of Jackels have long adhered to a godless, benign philosophy called Circlism, scorning the ancient deities of their ancestors. This isn't because they stopped believing that gods ''exist'', but because those ancestral gods, the half-insect/half-{{Mayincatec}} Wildcaotyl, were complete and utter scumbags into enslavement, HumanSacrifice, and summoning up their ''own'' CosmicHorror deities to destroy all reality.
109	* ''Literature/TitansForest'': In the distant past, the setting was ruled over by the Old Gods, immense beasts with the intellect of people. Many centuries ago, however, the Thirteen Gods arose and rebelled against their predecessors, striking them down and stealing their powers, and took over rule of the world.
110	* ''Literature/TheWinternightTrilogy'' takes place in medieval Russia as the figures of [[Myth/RussianMythologyAndTales old Russian mythology]] are increasingly pushed aside by the Orthodox Church. Main character Vasilisa has the power to see both household and wild spirits, and grows up in the deep country, where those spirits are still given at least some belief. Later, as she travels elsewhere in Russia, she sees that the Church has almost wiped out belief in these figures, and as such they are rapidly fading from the world entirely.
111	* ''Literature/WindsOfTheForelands'': There is a monotheistic god, Ean, that's getting steadily increasing worship and the favor of most of the aristocracy, but the religion of the old gods isn't out of the fight yet.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
115	* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica\|2003}}'' is all about this. The Cylons seek to replace the Greco-Roman gods of the colonies with their own vaguely Mormon God. At the end of the series [[spoiler:it turns out that this God was the only real one and was secretly guiding all of the events, although He was never actually on the Cylons' side.]] A rare Sci-fi example.
116	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The Faith of the Seven, brought to Westeros by the Andals, has largely replaced the old gods worshiped by the First Men and the Children of the Forest except in the North and beyond the Wall. Additionally, the monotheistic religion of the Lord of Light has recently taken root through the work of Melisandre of Asshai and Thoros of Myr.
117	* An episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has two pagan gods eating humans around the Christmas season and one of them reflects on how Jesus is the big new thing.
118	** "Hammer of the Gods" has a bunch of the "old gods" telling Sam and Dean to deal with Lucifer because they don't want the world to end when it's no longer theirs. By the end of the episode, most of them are dead. Like the earlier pagan gods, they seem to subsist on human flesh where once they subsisted on faith. Despite the fact that [[Myth/HinduMythology Ganesh and Kali]] are among their numbers, so apparently, India must've converted to Christianity at some point in the Supernatural-verse.
119	*** Mind you, the same happens to the Christian archangels with [[spoiler: God leaving in the eleventh season]].
120	* The miniseries ''Series/Merlin1998'' has Merlin attempting to defeat the old gods (and put an end to magic itself) by spreading Christianity.
121	* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' plays fast and loose with this. Early on, [[spoiler:she runs into a monotheistic cult that seems to be analog of early Christians but later turns out to worship pure evil]]. Later, [[spoiler:she is sent forwards in time a couple decades and sent on a quest by the the prophet Eli to wipe out all the remaining pagan gods]].
122	** She also ran into a Greek {{Expy}} Abraham before any of that and discovered it was the Ishmael Expy tricking him into sacrificing the Isaac Expy (using BambooTechnology). While she's able to stop the ruse, she was busy fighting "Ishmael" and can't explain where the voice ordering "Abraham" to ''stop'' the sacrifice came from...
123	* The ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]]'' episode "Who Mourns For Adonais" has the Enterprise meeting Apollo, the last of the Greek gods (who were actually SufficientlyAdvancedAliens). Kirk pretty much tells him to stuff it, and then gets schizophrenic about if humanity has OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions as religion in general, or just moved on to Christianity.
124	* On ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Worf explained that Klingon faiths do not have any gods. According to him, Ancient Klingons killed their gods because "they were more trouble than they were worth".
125	* More or less the plot to ''Series/StargateSG1'' as over 10 seasons the Old Gods are all killed off. Aside from the fact that they weren't gods, just SufficientlyAdvancedAliens.
126	* The BBC version of the Arthurian legends, ''Series/{{Merlin\|2008}}'', can't seem to be able to make its mind up about the "Old Religion" (the pagan religion that existed before Christianity and, despite the show's claims, did not involve priestesses using a pygmy hydra to control peoples' minds): after three years of portraying these old ways as almost uniformly evil, Series 4 begins with the royal court of Camelot celebrating the feast of Samhain, briefly mentions Ostara and ends as they prepare to celebrate Beltane. All of which are fire festivals celebrated by the aforementioned "Old Religion". To confuse matters further, King Arthur (in this same series) "swears to God" at least twice. From what we got at the Samhain feast, the festivals aren't religious. While we live in a world where there's no proof of an afterlife, in their world the veil between the living world and the dead world growing thinner is a fact and if you sever it you can walk up to the veil and see it for yourself. It's less worshiping a god and more of an acknowledgement of a natural event, like a birthday or a harvest festival.
127	* Kara's handler invokes this trope in Season 2 of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', saying that the CIA was the vanguard of the Old Gods fighting in vain against the new gods who would eventually defeat them with cunning rather than strength.
128	* In ''Series/TheLastKingdom'', the differences between the pagan beliefs of the Danes and the Christian beliefs of the Saxons is often a plot point, in particular Uhtred who refuses to convert to Christianity.
129	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Ye Gods", Cupid tells Todd Ettinger that the gods and demigods of Myth/ClassicalMythology did not go away after the fall of UsefulNotes/AncientGreece and UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. They continue to exist but take little interest in the affairs of mortals, considering that they no longer believe in them. However, some such as Bacchus live on Earth. Under the name Ed Bacchus, he owns a wine label called Olympus Wines.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
133	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanomachy Titanomachy]], a war between the Titans (the first generation of gods, born from Ouranos and Gaia) and the first six Olympians -- Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades. Zeus eventually won the Titanomachy and displaced his father Kronos as King of Heaven. Similar themes can be also found in Norse mythology, Semitic mythology and Hinduism.
134	** Myth/NorseMythology states that at [[TwilightOfTheGods ''Ragnarök'']], most of the older generation of gods will somehow die, and most humans. Only a few are left to restart.
135	** Another belief in Myth/ClassicalMythology is that in the aftermath the Trojan War, the gods stopped interacting directly with mortals. The end result of this is that mortal generations would continue to be successively worse until the gods (as well as social structure) are completely discarded and their temples are left to rot...at which point the gods will destroy humanity and possibly start over.
136	* Most modern re-tellings of Myth/ArthurianLegend have this going on at least in the background.
137	* This is particularly notable in Myth/IrishMythology. The mythology is largely based off of the pre-Christian religion, and was first written and documented by Irish monks (who stripped them of their religious connotations). Many of the tales were edited to foreshadow the coming of Christianity or include Christian characters specifically. For example in the tale of Clann Lir (Children of Ler) the children are freed from their curse after meeting a Christian monk who baptises them. They then die as Christians. Pre-Christian Irish mythology may have included this as well. The Book of Invasions details a series of tribes who attempted to settle or conquer Ireland one after another. Some of them, in particular the Fomorians and the Duatha de Danann, had godlike powers. The text was written by Christian monks who specifically denied their divine identities, but later scholars have suggested it might be a remnant of an ancient tradition about generations of gods fighting each other, possibly the pantheons of different ethnic groups.
138	* Myth/JapaneseMythology has the progression of the ages, from the age of the unknowable divinities, to the age of the titans (Izanagi and Izanami), to the age of the gods (Amaterasu and her siblings), to the age of humans (the Japanese emperors). The gods aren't dead, they simply leave the runnings of things to their successors. However some clever writers have stated that Hoso-no-Kami, God of smallpox, is pretty much dead as there are only two known samples of smallpox left.
139	* An apocryphal tale from UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire tells of a sudden outcry heard by some ship passengers: "Pan is dead! The great god Pan is dead!" The date? Just after Passover, AD 30 -- one of the possible dates of the crucifixion of Jesus.
140	* The last ''canto'' of Literature/TheKalevala, ''Marjatan poika'' (Son of Mary), where Ukko, the Finnish supreme god, has Christ crowned as the king of Finland and Karelia. Väinämöinen, representing the elder gods, understands his time is up, and leaves his music and poetry as the heirloom of Finns.
141	* Even Literature/TheBible itself mentions this, in a sense. While the demonic host typically are not thought of as gods, in the bible it mentions them as being 'gods' with the lowercase "g". These go to a place [[AndIMustScream made for them]], which is practically a second death. The real "old" God still remains as God is considered a fabric for ''all'' existence.
142	* In Talamancan mythology, the universe used to be inhabitated by the Sórbulu, who were ruled by Sórkula, when his grandchild was born, he tried to kill Him because he was afraid of losing his authority, but He escaped with the help of His mother and Áksula (the king of termites). Then, he grew up among the ants and went back to kill Sórkula [[SelfFulfillingProphecy for trying to kill Him when he was a baby]].
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Podcasts]]
146	* Happens during season 3 of ''Podcast/DiceFunk'' after Theodora destroys the barrier holding the wheel of aspects from shifting, allowing a ''new'' aspect to take hold upon the universe, ''Death Itself.'' This means that immortality and resurrection are no longer possible; even the gods themselves can die and immediately begin doing so from old age. By season 4, all gods are now gone.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Poetry]]
150	* The main idea behind Creator/JohnMilton's poem "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity."
151	* In the canto "The Wraith of Odin", from Creator/HenryWadsworthLongfellow's ''The Saga of King Olaf'' (in ''Tales of a Wayside Inn'', 1863), King Olaf, who is about to convert UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} to UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}, is feasting when an grey-bearded and one-eyed old man in a cloak and hood appears at the gates "shivering" from the cold, and is invited by King Olaf to warm himself in the hall. The whole evening the stranger entertains the king with his extraordinary knowledge of old tales and poetry, but in the morning the man has mysteriously disappeared, even though he stayed in the same bedroom with the king, with the doors still locked from the inside. King Olaf immediately infers that the stranger was Odin, but instead of being frightened, he declares that Christianity is already victorious, because the stranger was the ''ghost'' (= wraith) of Odin:
152	-->''King Olaf crossed himself and said:\
153	"I know that Odin the Great is dead;\
154	Sure is the triumph of our Faith,\
155	The one-eyed stranger was his wraith."''
156	[[/folder]]
157
158	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
159	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pendragon}}'' the Christian religion is replacing the old nature gods of Britain.
160	* Partially averted in ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'', where AllMythsAreTrue and each newly risen pantheon gets the divine equivalent of a fruit basket from the old pantheons. The reality of the Abrahamic religions are left up to the Storyteller, but the ''Scion Companion'' mentions a certain "Sumerian storm God" becoming the One and only God of the Israeli pantheon, then Roman pantheon, and so on; recruiting various pagan Scions as angels and saints as Christianity and Islam spread across the globe. Most of the old gods don't really care about having worshipers, since Fate ''loves'' to screw with them via those links. [[spoiler:As does the Order of Divine Glory, missionaries of the One God who use fatebinding to place agents in foreign pantheons. They're responsible for co-opting pagan rituals to fit in with a monotheist agenda, such as altering Christmas to replace the Winter Solstice.]] Also, having too high of a Legend Rating ''forces someone out of the physical universe,'' which could explain [[HaveYouSeenMyGod how the One God seems absent]].
161	** Some fans go for YHWH as being driven insane by three different religions and countless splinter versions of them all fighting over what he really wants. Jesus and the Saints locked him away for his safety and that of others. They would help him heal and recover but TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt has put a damper on things.
162	** Other fans have made stats for YHWH and Jesus as leaders of just another pantheon, albeit an extremely successful one. Fitting with this trope is that the Abrahamic pantheon outperforms of all others, so instead of an actual family, they constantly recruit scions (as angels or saints) to handle their vast hordes of worshippers.
163	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
164	** Most of the old gods of the Eldar were eaten by Slaanesh, and only a few of them are left: Khaine escaped Slaanesh by shattering himself into hundreds of pieces and became part of the Infinity Circuits of the Craftworlds; Cegorach The Laughing God hid in the Webway; and Isha is now imprisoned by Nurgle, who uses her as a guinea pig to test his new plagues.
165	** The whole theme of the awesome Graham [=McNeill=] short story ''[[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Last_Church The Last Church]]''. It's about what is implied to be the last Christian church on Earth, run by an old and lonely priest. A mysterious stranger walks in and begins having a debate about religion and morality. (The figure believes that religion is evil and should be abolished by this "Emperor" guy, and the old priest argues that religion can do good and this "Emperor" guy really should stop forcing everybody to do what he says.) Here's the kicker: [[spoiler:the stranger is the Emperor, and he's come to burn the church down with a band of twisted prototype Space Marines, but he offers the old priest a chance to recant his beliefs. The priest refuses, giving the Emperor a scathing speech pointing out his hypocrisy and coming failures, and then calmly walks into his burning church and perishes with his faith. As the Emperor and the marines walk away, they do so unaware that a clock on the wall has begun to ring its bell, one that was prophesized to only begin ringing when the end of humanity came...]]
166	* In the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms, the gods of [[{{Precursors}} Netheril]], such as Amauntor and Moander, were replaced by the current human pantheon following [[AndManGrewProud Netheril's fall]].
167	** Not really, [[LiesToChildren but it is a convenient simplification]] (it's not an orderly process of old pantheon dies, new pantheon replaces them, more a gradual process where gods die and gods rise, and sometimes pantheons merge and the gods with the same portfolio have to fight it out for dominance. Also, Amaunator more gradually faded away than actually died, while Moander stuck around until fairly recently).
168	** Jergal, the Netherilian God of Death [[labelnote:note]] Which is honestly understating the case. At the time, he had under his dominion all of tyranny, murder, and judgment of the afterlife, which pretty much covers all the supply and demand of the mortal life cycle.[[/labelnote]] only grew more and more powerful as time went on even after Netheril's fall, with much of Faerun caught in a kind of gloomy ennui because of his influence. A trio of powerful adventurers worked up the gall to challenge him and were stunned when he volunteered to abdicate his godhood willingly. He even stepped in when said adventurers were near to falling upon themselves over which of them would be the new god, equitably dividing his dominions between them and keeping only for himself the role of ensuring the orderly transition into death, basically becoming the patron of morticians and foe of all undead (not for any moralistic reasons, but because they mess with his meticulously planned system). Since then, he has dwindled in status to a demigod and served as the seneschal to a series of successive death gods who, because of either skewed priorities, disinterest, or bad judgment, have not done the job nearly as well as he, and though he has sworn to serve and is content with his diminished role, he is not at all pleased to see his former realm in, as he sees it, a state of continued chaos.
169	* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' has a more historical version, due to its ambiguity over whether most of its gods even exist - the Sovereign Host has, in syncretic fashion, absorbed most of the "old gods" of other religions, save one goblinoid deity, who apparently had no place in the Sovereign Host's cosmology and who has been {{Unperson}}ed to the greatest degree possible. The [[CrystalDragonJesus Silver Flame]] religion believes this is ''going'' to happen, with the Flame's worship gradually taking over Khorvaire and supplanting the Sovereign Host, but Flame worship is only really dominant in Thrane and the other countries have been slow to convert, especially after some Thranic atrocities during the Last War.
170	* In the ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' setting, Athas has no actual gods. Pre-4e, the place never had deities period. In 4e, they all died fighting the [[EldritchAbomination primordials]] long ago, and most current residents that aren't even aware they ever existed.
171	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Birthright}}'', the Old Gods perished [[GreatOffscreenWar during the battle at Mount Deismaar]] several millennia ago. The mortals who witnessed this gained a small fraction of their divine power, passing it onto their descendants in the form of bloodlines, an important game mechanic of the setting.
172	* ''TabletopGame/{{Microscope}}'': This is an example metaplot item that can be part of the history that the player/storytellers create.
173	* ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest:'' Deep in the cosmogony of Glorantha (the game's main setting), the oldest gods are the primal Powers and Elements of the Celestial Court. In the Gods' War, these gods are displaced by more specialized ones, so (for example) the gods Light and Air are displaced by their descendants, Sun (Yelm) and Storm (Orlanth).
174	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'', one can occasionally find the corpses of gods floating in the Astral Sea. The Githyanki city of Tu'Narath is even built atop one. Most have forgotten who these gods were and what they were gods of. For a more concrete example, there was a god named Aoskar who claimed dominion over portals. When he started intruding on the Lady of Pain's domain, the [[PortalCrossroadsWorld city of Sigil]], she razed his temples, killed his worshippers, and his corpse was found in his domain later, impaled on blades reminiscent of those that symbolize the Lady.
175	[[/folder]]
176
177	[[folder:Video Games]]
178	* ''VideoGame/CultOfTheLamb'': It's mentioned that there used to be more gods than just the Bishops, but they've all disappeared, and [[PlayerCharacter the Lamb]] continues this by killing them as well. [[spoiler: By the end of the game the only deity left standing is [[DeityOfHumanOrigin the Lamb themself.]]]]
179	* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'' the Old Gods of the Tevinter Imperium (AKA [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]]) were struck down by the Maker. Most of the world now worships the Maker and his prophet Andraste, and the Old Gods slumber beneath the Earth until they're awoken, one at a time, to lead the corrupted darkspawn in a Blight. Then the Grey Wardens finish them off for good.
180	** This trope is played with in that worship of the Maker actually preceded the religion of the Old Gods. The Maker's prophet Andraste didn't introduce the concept of the Maker to Thedas so much as re-introduce it. At least that's what the Chantry claims.
181	** The elves' gods were tricked by a being known as Fen'Harel that trapped both them and their mysterious enemies beyond the reach of their followers, presumably keeping them from helping the Elves when their ancient empire was destroyed. [[spoiler: The third game explores this in depth; basically they were always false gods and the trap was the end to a devastating civil war which pretty much finished off their civilization. The real story overlaps with TheMagicGoesAway.]]
182	* The ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series shows why Greek Gods don't exist anymore: [[spoiler: [[MemeticBadass Kratos]] kills them all]].
183	** ''VideoGame/GodOfWarRagnarok'' is (miraculously) far less destructive, but the top three Norse gods get their asses kicked. [[spoiler:Kratos kills Heimdall, Thor is murdered ''by Odin'', and then Odin's soul is fused to a marble, which gets smashed to bits[[note]]by an irate dwarf whose brother was stabbed in the heart by Odin[[/note]], banishing his soul to a permanent limbo.]]
184	* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'', the old animist dragon gods are being forgotten in favor of a new [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Catholicism!]] monotheistic religion [[spoiler:which is really a PathOfInspiration serving an EvilGod]].
185	* In the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series, YHVH is the BigBad, who intentionally tries to destroy all other gods so only he will be worshipped. However, YHVH is (according to WordOfGod) not the real cause behind this (his evil is a symptom, not the disease).
186	** Though there are Gods that serve YHVH willingly and aid him. Thor and several [[Myth/HinduMythology Hindu gods]] have played for the Law team at one point or another. [[LesCollaborateurs Maybe they just went with the times]]?
187	** GodsNeedPrayerBadly in the Mega Ten Multiverse. YHVH's not the only cause of their woes.
188	** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'' deals with this topic: GodIsDead, most of the other gods are making their own power plays to become the new TopGod, and it's inevitable that at least some of them will die trying. [[spoiler:The hidden "Create a World for Humanity Alone" ending has [[PlayerCharacter the Nahobino]] get straight to the point and [[{{Gotterdammerung}} wipe them all out]].]]
189	* In ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'', the pantheons of the old gods have all been forgotten, except for a few like the Cult of Geshtianna (because they have annual orgies), and the pacifistic Order of Halcyon. The greater populace is being swept up by the Panarii religion; a deliberate Christianity likeness centered around the teachings of a Jesus-figure elf called Nasrudin. Ironically [[spoiler: the Christianity-like religion is secretly being run by the agents of its banished devil-figure, and [[StopWorshippingMe was never supposed to be a religion anyway]], whereas]] the Old Gods are still alive and able to give blessings (stat-boosts) to those who worship at their altars. There's even a side-quest involving a complex ritual of offerings that let the protagonist become a god themselves.
190	* Happens in ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', [[TheMagicGoesAway magic is giving way to rationalism]] and thus the old gods give way to a whole new godless world. Suwako was prepared to accept it, but Kanako decided to fight this fate. On the other end of spectrum, the oni also accept that they have no place in the modern world, and retreated underground. Except Suika.
191	* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'' mentions this, that all the old physical gods and mythical beasts are slowly disappearing from the world. [[spoiler:When Gabriel kills Pan in self defence during a test of his worthiness, the last of the gods has died. Ironically, Pan was an ''ally'' of capital-G {{God}}, so when Zobek's narration praises Gabriel for killing him, it foreshadows Zobek's true nature.]]
192	* In ''VideoGame/StrayGods'', Calliope is the Last Muse when there were formerly three of them (the other six being different names they took), and the Greek Pantheon as a whole has gone into hiding and is slowly fading away.
193	* In the distant past of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' the Titans came to Azeroth and defeated the [[GodOfEvil Old Gods]], binding those they could not kill (Yogg-Saron and 2 others) beneath the surface of the planet along with the remains of ones they did kill (Y'Shaarj and the NotQuiteDead C'Thun). After their defeat relatively weaker beings, such as Hakkar and Elune (and various demigods), came to power and have remained distant from mortal affairs. Despite being (supposedly) asleep and imprisoned, the Old Gods remain active and keep trying to escape. It is rumored (if "[[WordOfGod could not defeat]]" means "did not imprison") that N'Zoth is outright free.
194	* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': The Age of Fire is ending, and the ruling deities are about to go with it. Presumably, some other race of supreme beings will follow, just as the current gods followed the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] that came before them. [[spoiler: You get to choose to put the Age of Fire on magical life support by sacrificing yourself, or you can choose to let it end so that the Age of Dark can begin, which may or may not be better for humanity in the long run anyway.]]
195	** By the third game, you get to see the consequences of this in action. Gwyn, Nito and the Witch of Izalith are barely remembered as old gods and no one knows what happened to Gwynevere. Of Gwyn's pantheon, only three gods remain. Gwyndolin [[spoiler: is devoured by Aldrich and you're just too late to save him]], the Nameless King is heavily implied to be Gwyn's firstborn, and you can fight him in a clash for the ages, and in the DLC we meet Gwyn's last child, Filianore, [[spoiler:who doesn't even talk before a bright flash transports you forward in time until she's nothing but a dried husk.]] The final boss is [[spoiler:the living embodiment of everyone who has ever Linked the Fire, including Gwyn himself]], and when you defeat it, you get the sense that even if you Link the Fire yourself, there's very, ''very'' little time left. [[spoiler:If you take the right steps, you can allow the last embers to fade, letting the old world ''finally'' meet its long-delayed end and hopefully allowing a new one to someday spark into life.]]
196	* Unreformed pagans in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII'' are more easily converted by Abrahamic missionaries, have a harder time of winning converts of their own from those religions, and are very prone to splintering amongst themselves. If no single leader arises to reform a given pagan faith into an organized religion, it's quite likely that that faith will wither away under the pressure of holy wars and missionaries.
197	** The Zoroastrians are in a similar boat. While it is an organized religion and doesn't have as many problems converting conquered provinces, the few tiny Zoroastrian nations left are two tiny counts and one duchy, surrounded by conquest happy pagans and infidel hating Muslims.
198	** [[VideoGame/TheFourNationsAnAvatarTheLastAirbenderMod An Avatar mod]] have several religions that are significant in the earlier bookmarks (Shamanism, Fortune-Telling, Great Swamp, Eternal Flame, Followers of Kyoshi, etc) are greatly reduced or entirely eliminated in later ones and in ''The Hundred War'' bookmark is seeing Fire Spiritualism is quickly replacing by Fire Imperialism.
199	* The backstory of the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} explains this is how the Age of Gods ended. Early in humanity's history, there were many gods born from the beliefs of humanity that certain natural phenomena were the acts or incarnations of gods. As humanity evolved and began to understand and master the world their belief in the gods weakened. By the time of the modern era, the Age of Gods has long since ended and the dominant supernatural authority is Gaia/Alaya. The gods still technically exist, but in a realm called the "Reverse Side of the World", almost completely cut off from modern humanity. It has been stated there are three key periods responsible for their decline and eventual vanishing from Earth.
200	** ''VideoGame/FateExtella'' covers the first one. [[spoiler:Around 12,000 BC, Sefar, the White Titan invaded Earth, killing numerous gods and cowing other pantheons until she is defeated by the wielder of "the holy sword forged from the core of the planet".]]
201	** [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Gilgamesh]] was created by the ancient gods of Mesopotamia who foresaw this possible end. He was intended to act as a keystone binding the fates of God and man together. When he rebelled against that role and chose to rule humanity for his own reasons in 2200 BC, it marked the second key end as the "separation".
202	** The final end of the gods where they had absolutely no way to make a comeback has been mentioned in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' to be around 700 BC, but it has yet to be revealed what it actually entailed beyond it being called the "opportunity".
203	* In ''VideoGame/TotalWarAttila'', every campaign is about the rise of Christianity and the decline of pagan faiths:
204	** In the main campaign, Greco-Roman Paganism has been usurped by Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire, and it is very slowly but surely losing its following. Likewise, most of the Germanic tribes almost always abandon Germanic Paganism and adopt Christianity sooner or later. Celtic Paganism is likewise under threat in Britain, though with the Celtic kingdoms' corner position and Roman Britain on the verge of collapse, it has a much better chance of survival. Though this can be averted (The Romans can convert cities to Greco-Roman Paganism with Theaters, while the Germanic and Celtic tribes can conquer lands and build temples).
205	** In ''The Last Roman'', Greco-Roman Paganism is almost finished off and Germanic Paganism is not even present (all the Germanic tribes present had converted to Christianity by this point). And you can't even convert as Theaters no longer convert people to Greco-Roman Paganism.
206	** In ''Age of Charlemagne'', Greco-Roman Paganism and Celtic Paganism have both been completely eradicated. Germanic Paganism (now just called "paganism") is on the decline as the Frankish Kingdom invades Saxony and forces them to accept Christianity.
207	* ''VideoGame/KingArthurTheRolePlayingWargame'' allows players to decide whether this is played straight, subverted, or even inverted. The game's morality axis falls between [[TheParagon Rightful]] vs [[AntiHero Tyrant]] and Christianity vs The Old Faith. You can choose to follow either faith, deciding which reigns supreme. Alternate DLC campaigns further let you support the specifically pagan Welsh and the Saxons of Christendom, optionally having total conversion as a win condition.
208	* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]] are deliberately trying to starve Talos of worship to unmake him. Talos (also known as Ysmir among the Nords) is a reasonably ancient and important god in the Nordic pantheon, but also is Tiber Septim, a member of the Nine Divines and effectively the embodiment of the Empire[[note]]the Nine Divines themselves being a CompositeCharacter pantheon of Mer and Nordic gods who were deemed the least controversial members of their respective pantheons to be considered acceptable to the founders of the Alessian Empire in the 1st Era[[/note]]. However, Talos is also comprised of Zurin Arctus (a heroic Imperial battlemage from the 2nd Era) and Wulfharth, the legendary Nord king who restored the old Nord pantheon and also acted as mortal champion of [[WarGod Shor]] in life. In addition, Tiber Septim is considered the second reincarnation of Shor himself. The Stormcloaks, who war with the Empire and the Thalmor for the freedom to worship Talos, emphasize the Shor and Wulfharth aspects of him, and this could be argued to be upholding the tenets of the old Nord pantheon and worshipping the most important deity in it.
209	* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'': The Old Gods are killed by [[spoiler:the Exile. After The Beast is slain, they awaken from the Beast's curse to find that humanity 'slightly' worships them less or differently. In response they declare war on humanity and wreak havoc on Wraeclast and especially Oriath, which is eaten alive. One of the gods helps the Exile kill most of them by absorbing their Divinity after their physical forms are beaten into submission, the remainder ScrewThisImOuttaHere]]. And then they're replaced by the New Gods, [[spoiler:former inter-dimensional adventurers who went DrunkWithPower and absorbed enough power to become PhysicalGod]]. Who are also killed.
210	* ''VideoGame/CurseOfTheDeadGods'' is a RogueLike based on the premise of exploring the single [[MayIncaTec Aztec]] temple where their gods still have power since Cortez destroyed their faith. They have just enough power left to 1) sustain TheHorde of TheUndead guading their treasure, and 2) curse any explorer searching for it. Of course, curses are subjective...
211	* ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'': Devara's Light is the oldest still-practiced religion in the world, but the game states that it has been slowly dying out over past few centuries, mostly due to being supplanted by the relatively new religion of The Three. [[spoiler: The Death of the Old Gods is actively facilitated by the game's main antagonist, The Nameless God, who hijacked their worship. Even the The Three have devolved into zombified husks as a result of The Nameless God [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly diverting their prayers]] to himself.]]
212	* ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'': In ancient times all but one of the Gods-From-Stone, the primordial [[EldritchAbomination Hours]] that predate mankind, were slain by the [[AbstractApotheosis Gods-From-Blood]] and [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Gods-From-Flesh]]. The Flint was shattered by [[UltimateBlacksmith The Forge of Days]], [[MadGod The Moth]] usurped The Wheel from within and stole its skin, [[LoveGoddess The Grail]] drank The Tide, and two mortals arose to become [[PoisonIsEvil The Mother of Ants]] and [[SufferingBuildsCharacter The Colonel]] after slaying [[SnakesAreSinister The Seven Coils]]. The Egg Unhatching's exact fate is unclear, but it seems to have also died. The only one that survived was [[BarrierMaiden The Horned Axe]], who was convinced not to pursue revenge, but only after a great deal of argument and compromise with the other Hours.
213	[[/folder]]
214
215	[[folder:Webcomics]]
216	* ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheGalli'': Main plot relates to the beginnings of a power struggle within the Roman Empire between the pagan followers of the old Roman gods, and the Christians who desire to replace those those with their god and savior.
217	* ''Webcomic/TheGodsOfArrKelaan'' has a very unusual example. The old gods are gradually forced away from earth by the expansion of the universe but [[spoiler: Hephaestus designed the Abrahamic faiths around a non-existent god so all the worship could be redirected to a big battery.]] They didn't so much remove the old gods as outlast them, most of the angels were originally one of the old gods. The planet of Arr-Kelaan qualifies too, but just barely. The Traveller gods do kick out the old gods, but the old gods are immigrants from Earth's universe who've barely held established religions longer than the Travellers.
218	* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' (in "Holidays Wars"), there's a brief mention of the ancient Greek pantheon having existed in the past but apparently having somehow fallen, at least out of power. Zeus is said to have foreseen a time when he would no longer have the power to interfere and for that reason having created the Deus Ex Ovum to act as a magic ResetButton for certain matters. There are no signs of the pantheon being active in the present.
219	** The Mohkadun arc introduced an entire pantheon of ancient gods opposed to [[spoiler: the demon [[BigBad K'z'k]], who is itself a destroyer god who destroys the universe in cycles, only for it to be created again. In modern Sluggy the gods of Mohkadun are all dead, transformed or amnesiac, and K'z'k has been splintered into tiny fragments of itself.]]
220	* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Ssaelism posits that Ssael killed the twin gods and transcended to godhood. Those beings that have retained their sentience in the khert agree that the twin gods are dead, ''and'' that something has happened to Ssael. Senet Beasts and the Inak call all of the above "paper gods" and do not consider them worth worship, even though at least one Senet Beast once had a relationship with Ssael.
221	* ''Webcomic/YetAnotherFantasyGamerComic'' [[spoiler:the final act ends with the death/banishment of Ranna, who devoured most of the other gods - [[TheMagicGoesAway enough to drain the world of magic]]]].
222	[[/folder]]
223
224	[[folder:Web Original]]
225	* "And I Was Present at the Death of a God", a story in Website/TheWanderersLibrary wherein the god of Tasmanian Tigers begins to die along with the species. [[spoiler:He Gets Better once his ThanatosGambit pans out... seventy years later.]]
226	* In [[http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15682692/ Changelings]] the majority of Immortals are dependent on ambient magic to maintain their immortality, and [[TheMagicComesBack magic comes and goes]] in multi-millennial cycles. The only "gods" left after the last cycle ended (around the fall of the Roman Empire) are a few who hibernated underground in areas of high tectonic activity, i.e. Thor was in Iceland, or shapeshifters with telomeres long enough to wait until the next cycle.
227	* ''Script/C0DA'' is the last work in a semi-official series of works by Creator/MichaelKirkbride. Several of the works in the series are UnInstallment {{Missing Episode}}s, including ''Dies irae'' which focuses on a catastrophe that ends with the deaths of the three "[[OurGodsAreDifferent Good Daedra]]" in the Dunmeri religion -- Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala. The details of the story are not known, but SecondhandStorytelling in the published works gives a general idea of what occurred.
228	* It is revealed in ''WebAnimation/{{ROYN}} 24'' that [[spoiler:the Gods are fading]].
229	[[/folder]]
230
231	[[folder:Web Videos]]
232	* ''WebVideo/{{Broceliande}}'': The main source of conflict between Brocéliande and Kaamelott is Myth/KingArthur introducing the One God religion to Britain, which the druids and witches oppose.
233	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DeathOfTheOldGods