Line #173 Main/GodIsDead


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4	[[quoteright:283:[[ComicBook/{{Ruins}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/god_is_dead_20.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:283:Let's hope we never find out [[AlwaysABiggerFish who or what did him in]].]]
6
7	->''"Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him."''
8	-->-- '''Creator/FriedrichNietzsche''', ''The [[HaveAGayOldTime Gay]] Science'', Aphorism 125 ("The Madman")
9
10	In the beginning, {{God}} created Heaven and Earth. Whether it took six days or six billion years for Him to complete the Creation, there's nobody to give the award plaque to. Why not, you ask? Because, somewhere along the way, God kicked the bucket. [[HurricaneOfEuphemisms Answered the last prayer]]. [[Film/{{Dogma}} Played the last game of skee-ball]]. [[OverlyLongGag Named the last prophet]]. [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus He is an]] ''[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Ex-Deity]]!!''
11
12	This is going a step beyond HaveYouSeenMyGod; they've called off the search and alerted the [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} next of kin]]. The CouncilOfAngels is now running around trying to figure out who's in charge.
13
14	Note that this trope does not directly refer to [[TropeCodifier Nietzsche's]] pronouncement, which, in [[SeriousBusiness one of the most serious debates in the academic world]], implies that God and all God represents didn't exist to begin with.[[note]]The "death of God" according to Nietzsche is [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions a crisis of faith caused by scientific progress]]: modern people began to increasingly rely on the scientific method and along the way realized that empirical science cannot prove the existence of what was assumed to be immutable truth: universal morals, a definite meaning in life and any sort of afterlife. In short, a more accurate summary of Nietzsche's argument would be "Philosophy is dead, morality never existed and science has denounced those as bullshit", but that wouldn't quite manage to convey the poetic severity of the message and [[RomanticismVersusEnlightenment his tragic view on the Enlightenment's]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation pursuit of scientific revelations]]. He put it more expansively this way: "Belief in the Christian god has become unbelievable."[[/note]]
15
16	Thankfully, [[MST3KMantra we don't need to dwell on grim philosophical intangibles to enjoy a story]] about the ''literal'' implications of the mortality of the divine. This trope can occur in either a monotheistic or a polytheistic setting; of course, the ramifications of a God dying vary in severity, depending on if there are many Gods or just one, whether gods are truly necessary for their respective domains of influence to keep functioning, and whether the position can be filled in some way or another.
17
18	Some people may be interested in trying to find the corpse or PiecesOfGod. Compare {{Gotterdammerung}} and DeathOfTheOldGods, which is the general end of the age of Gods, and KillTheGod, wherein a (usually mortal) character destroys a God. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Expect a certain amount of surprise should they succeed]]. Also compare EvilStoleMyFaith, which is about a character's belief that there was no God to begin with; they don't necessarily have to be correct. This is one of the criteria for a work to fall in Class 1 on the SlidingScaleOfDivineIntervention.
19
20	Not to be confused with {{Shinigami}} or TheGrimReaper, which are divine manifestations of the death principle (God Is Death), or DarthWiki/FallenCreator.
21
22	!!As this is a {{Death Trope\|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
23	----
24	!!Examples
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28	* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', there were eight "powerful warriors" eight hundred years ago, only one of which is widely worshiped by sensible people: The Grim Reaper. [[spoiler:In chapter 110, he dies, giving temporary control of his kingdom to Excalibur until his second son returns.]] Also, another one of these eight was Asura, who, being the BigBad, will probably also die. Those who worship him will probably also have this feeling.
29	* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
30	** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', the universe is ruled in a hierarchy; Kais each rule over a quarter of the living world, and the Supreme Kais each rule over a quarter of the entire universe (including the afterlife), with the Grand Supreme Kai ruling over them. Sounds impressive, until you realize that King Kai (the ruler of the north quadrant of the universe) is not even as strong as the first set of villains, and even the Shin the Supreme Kai is surpassed in strength by all three of the main heroes at the point where we first see him. As such, there are no fewer than six 'gods' killed in the course of the series; Kami, the God of Earth indirectly by Nappa, King Kai by Cell's self-destruction, and the Supreme Kais of North, South, West and Grand Supreme Kai by Majin Buu. Although given that the Kais live in the afterlife to begin with, for some of them dying just means a halo appears over their head. On the other hand, being [[TheAssimilator absorbed into Buu]] results in them permanently being fused with his being.
31	** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' all of the gods of the entire [[TheMultiverse multiverse]] in Future Trunks's timeline are dead. Most of them were killed by Goku Black and Zamasu, but the Supreme Kai of Universe 7 (that is, the main universe of the setting) was shown in the [[Manga/DragonBallSuper manga]] to have been killed by Dabura when he and Trunks stopped Buu from being released.
32	* ''Manga/AngelSanctuary'': The very first sentence: God is dead. [[spoiler:He's not actually dead until the very end. [[HaveYouSeenMyGod He's just been absent from Heaven for so long that a lot of the angels think he's dead.]] [[GodIsEvil He turns out to be kind of an evil dick]], so it's not a big loss when he gets killed.]]
33	* ''Manga/SenseiNoSusume'' has God being dead as the reason for the plot. God died quite some time ago and now the higher layer of angels has decided to look for a suitable angel to promote to the position of God.
34	* Yukko in ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'' uses this exact phrase, in English, after Mai hits her on the head with a book. This is followed by a dramatic camera angle change to focus on the (possibly reincarnated) wooden Buddha statue on the desk in front of her, and the narrator exclaims "''[[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord Kami ga shinda]]''" accompanied by a lightning strike in the background.
35	* In ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'', [[spoiler:Kokabiel reveals to the protagonists during their fight that God died long ago along with the Four Great Satans, and Archangel Michael is the one running heaven in his place. But don't feel too disappointed; he [[DyingMomentOfAwesome went out like a total badass]] using the last of his strength to seal away a being of such power that it could destroy the entire universe if left unchecked]].
36	* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'': [[spoiler:Homura]]'s familiars cheerfully announce at one point that ''[[GratuitousGerman Gott ist Tot]]''. Interestingly, they hedge closer to what Nietzsche actually intended to say, in that there is [[AboveGoodAndEvil no such thing as moral absolutism]] and thus one should live as an {{Ubermensch}}. [[spoiler:While Homura doesn't kill the Goddess, she does usurp the Law of the Cycle out of necessity, and no, [[HeelRealization she doesn't feel good about it]].]]
37	* In ''Manga/FutureDiary'', this trope is played not only for the events leading up to it but its effects. God attempts to choose a successor through a survival game, resulting in the story's plot line.
38	* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': The first two characters introduced in the TV series are the heroine Utena and the prince who saved her when she was young. He is called Dios; a MeaningfulName indeed. In the present day of the story Dios is implied to be sealed away, but Utena seems to be able to call him as a sort of GuardianEntity. [[spoiler:In the end, all of this is cast into doubt. Dios is revealed to have stopped being the prince a long time ago, becoming the villainous Akio. Akio says that Dios figuratively died when he lost his claim on being the prince, although he also says that there never really was a prince at all. There is never any clarity about what Utena is summoning; it could simply be a manifestation of HeroicResolve. Symbolically, this revelation leads Utena to [[BrokenPedestal reject her "prince"]].]]
39	* ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': [[DragonsAreDivine True Dragon]] [[TheMaker Veldanava]] died over 2,000 years before the start of the story. Normally, this wouldn't be cause for alarm since True Dragons have ResurrectiveImmortality, but Veldanava for some reason has ''never'' revived since then. The consequences of this have been far-reaching, from [[spoiler:his [[CrystalDragonJesus daughter]] Milim Nava growing up without her parents and becoming a Demon Lord, his younger sibling True Dragons being alone and having to find their own ways, the [[FallenAngel fall]] of some of his finest angels, the rest of the angels taking their grudge out on the mortal races of the world for his death, and one of his [[PowersAsPrograms bequeathed Ultimate Skills]] [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming gaining sentience]] and deciding it's going to [[WellIntentionedExtremist bring him back to life no matter the cost]]...[[OmnicidalManiac even if that means killing everyone in the world]]. And it would actually ''prefer'' that to come to pass, since with Veldanava back they could just RestartTheWorld]].
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Comic Books]]
43	* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'': The Millennium story was about a creature who created the Earth and is explicitly described as the closest thing there is to God. This creature was the being that had physically collected the matter that the Earth is formed of and placed it into orbit around the sun, but its plan was to return someday and use the Earth as a home; the evolution of life was a completely unplanned event that stemmed from a freak asteroid collision billions of years ago. The creature, as large as the moon and of comparable power, planned to de-terraform the planet back to its original state before taking up residence, unconcerned with the extinction of humanity since we are less than microorganisms compared to it. It was killed by Jenny Sparks in a HeroicSacrifice (as the Spirit Of The 20th Century, her time was up anyway -- until she was resurrected as Jenny Quantum). The creature qualifies for this trope. Jenny does not.
44	* ''Black Metal'': This is a reveal in the Creator/OniPress comic. Bonus points as a major factor in the story is the protagonists (twin tween boys) killing and replacing Satan.
45	* ''ComicBook/GodIsDead'': In the aptly named comic, [[spoiler:the Abrahamic God is found dead with a hole in His head on His throne in Heaven]].
46	* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'': In ''Hellboy In Hell'', Hellboy's arrival in Hell sparks an upheaval in the demonic hierarchy, with many former slaves turning on and killing their masters. Eventually it is revealed that Satan himself is dead, [[spoiler: murdered by Hellboy during a gap in his memory, [[YouCantFightFate in apparent fulfillment of his destiny]]]].
47	* ''ComicBook/{{Lobo}}'': ''Lobo: A Contract on Gawd'' has him graphically murdering "Gawd" and his brother Dave (the Devil {{Expy}}).
48	* ''ComicBook/{{Ruins}}'': The graphic novel shows a newspaper headline with a photo of [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]]' corpse and the headline reading: [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/ca/19/b5ca19b2b3f99d39546e955d3db32723.jpg "God Found Dead In Space"]].
49	* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': Both exaggerated and downplayed in ''ComicBook/ThorGodOfThunder2012''. Gods aren't really the true creators of the universe, but they are cosmically powerful entities, devoted to good, evil, or their own interest. Gorr the Gods Butcher dedicates himself to tracking and torturing every one of them to death. [[spoiler: At the end of the first book, he has nearly achieved his goal: only an old, tired Thor is left alive. Because Gorr wants to keep him alive for the end.]]
50	* ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'': At the end of the comic, [[spoiler:God meets his end at the hands of the Saint of Killers]].
51	* ''ComicBook/SkyDoll'': Spoofed, where a character is ''named'' God [[OverlyPrePreparedGag just to be able to start the series by declaring that "God is a jerk" and then to say that "God is dead" once he gets murdered]].
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Films]]
55	* Only temporary, but ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' makes killing God [[spoiler:(or at least, Her current mortal guise, an old man on life support)]] crucial to the plot.
56	* When Bower confronts [[spoiler:Payton/Gallo]] in ''Film/{{Pandorum}}'', he asserts that God died along with the rest of humanity, and that there is nobody left to judge their actions as the concepts of right and wrong and good and evil have ceased to exist.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Literature]]
60	* In ''Literature/CraftSequence'', the world went through the God Wars...guess where most of the gods are.
61	** In ''Literature/ThreePartsDead'', the moon goddess and later her husband. [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead Neither of them are dead]], as it turns out.]].
62	** Let's see, in the [[Literature/TwoSerpentsRise second book]], one of the characters killed the moon goddess of the first book (who isn't even one of his gods), the sun god, the sea god, and whole bunch of smaller gods.
63	** In Literature/FullFathomFive: all the island gods are dead.[[spoiler: But as it turns out, one of them survived.]]
64	* In ''Literature/TowingJehovah'' by James Morrow, God's corpse is found in the Atlantic Ocean. The Vatican is ordered to bury it in an Arctic iceberg, while [[HollywoodAtheist pissed-off atheists]] want to destroy it, as even a dead God is proof that they were wrong all along. In the next book of the trilogy, God gets posthumously put on trial for crimes against humanity. Well, [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead Not Quite Posthumous]], as it turns out. At the end of the second, though, He gets KilledOffForReal]]. The third novel is about how a visible reminder of God's death -- a giant skull in geosynchronous orbit -- affects Western civilization.
65	* God (aka "The Authority") died in ''Literature/TheAmberSpyglass''. In the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' [[TheVerse verse]], God was simply the first and most powerful angel. By the time Lyra and Will show up, he is senile and tortured by [[WhoWantsToLiveForever his eternal life]]. They simply let him out of his protective enclosure and he is freed, [[spoiler: but he's too fragile to live in the world from sheer age, so he disintegrates from a slight breeze]]. Oh, the vicious irony.
66	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
67	** In ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', the Borogravian god Nuggan died some time ago. Since gods live or die based on their worshippers' belief. It is revealed that [[spoiler: Nuggan died because everyone came to believe in his numerous abominations more than Nuggan himself. Getting assaulted by an irate follower in ''Literature/TheLastHero'' certainly helped speed the process along]].
68	** Technically Nuggan still exists... [[spoiler: as a [[FateWorseThanDeath disembodied voice that keeps whispering further abominations.]]]]
69	** In ''Literature/SmallGods'', the Great God Om [[spoiler: narrowly avoids this fate]].
70	* ''Our Friends From Frolix 8'', by Phillip K. Dick:
71	-->"God is dead," Nick said. "They found his carcass in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2019]]. Floating out in space near Alpha."
72	-->"They found the remains of an organism advanced several thousand times over what we are," Charley said. "And it evidently could create habitable worlds and populate them with living organisms, derived from itself. [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien But that doesn't prove it was God]]."
73	* In ''Literature/GodsDebris'', God [[spoiler:killed Himself, resulting in the Big Bang]].
74	* Robert Rankin's ''Waiting for Godalming'': God is shot dead in an alleyway. [[spoiler:Later subverted, when it is revealed that God's death was faked as part of a massive insurance scam.]]
75	* In the book ''Literature/{{IT}}'', by Creator/StephenKing, the Turtle created the universe (because of a stomach ache). Later, [[spoiler:it's revealed that the Turtle died in the thirty-year time gap of the novel]].
76	* In a Creator/WoodyAllen short story, existential detective Kaiser Lupowitz is hired to find God; and becomes chief suspect when His body is found.
77	* In ''Clay'' by David Almond, upon going insane, [[spoiler:Stephen Rose]] claims that God is dead, and died sometime in the 60s.
78	* In ''Literature/TheEgyptian'', the Cretan God (really a kind of sea monster) is dead. The priest keeps killing the human sacrifices to keep people from noticing this.
79	* Creator/KarlEdwardWagner's ''Literature/KaneSeries'' is based on {{Cain\|AndAbel}} from Literature/TheBible. Kane was one of the first humans, created by a mad god. In the story ''At First Just Ghostly'', Kane claims to have later killed this god.
80	* In Creator/ArthurMiller's ''Theatre/TheCrucible'', Proctor invokes this trope when accused of witchcraft. "I say... I say... God is dead! A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud - God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!"
81	* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'':
82	** At the end of ''Literature/TheWayOfKings2010'', [[RankScalesWithAsskicking Dalinar]] receives a "prerecorded" vision from the Almighty, the setting's god, in which He reveals [[spoiler: that He is actually dead, having been killed by a GodOfEvil named Odium at some point prior to the beginning of the book]]. This also has some crossover with GodIsEvil, since [[spoiler: Odium is now the world's ''de facto'' God]].
83	** Except [[spoiler: Cultivation, the third of Roshar's shard gods, is still around (although we haven't met her yet)]], and since the setting is actually part of [[spoiler: the Cosmere, all the other shard gods are still running around on other worlds (apart from the ones Odium has Splintered, like Aona and Skai)]]. Plus, [[spoiler:it would be more accurate to say Tanavast, the man who became Honor, is dead, as Honor's power is still out there and it is possible another person may take up his shard]]. Got all that?
84	** As far as Vorinism, Roshar's dominant religion, is concerned, the trope is in full force, since Honor/The Almighty is/was their only recognized god. Of course, rather than dealing with the massive implications of all that, they insist that Dalinar is simply wrong. [[spoiler:They eventually declare him a heretic]].
85	* Similar to ''The Way of Kings'', in ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'', the benevolent god [[spoiler: Preservation]] is actually, by its own account, [[spoiler: already effectively dead at the start of the series. This happened as a result of his own decision to give up his mind to betray and trap the dark god Ruin after they created the world. He fully dies halfway through the third book in the series]]. The main goal of that series is to [[spoiler: [[KillTheGod finish off Ruin in turn]]]]. On the other hand, as of ''Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw'', [[spoiler: Harmony, once known as Sazed]], is alive and active.
86	* In Creator/CliveBarker's ''Literature/{{Imajica}}'', God [[spoiler:is [[HoistByHisOwnPetard killed by his own fire]] when the restoration of the eponymous circle causes it to boomerang through the dominions]].
87	* Literature/TheBalladOfTheWhiteHorse has the Norse king Guthrum sing:
88	-->"There comes no noise but weeping
89	-->Out of the ancient sky,
90	-->And a tear is in the tiniest flower
91	-->Because the gods must die."
92	* An unspoken premise in Joseph Conrad's ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'' (the novel on which ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' was based). Kurtz has convinced the Africans he has enslaved that he is a god, and by extension that the white race in general is divine. But when the protagonist finally finds him, Kurtz is already dying...
93	* Part of the plot of the Heaven's Gate Trilogy by Guy Adams is the killing of God so that Lucifer had to step in when he didn't want to do so.
94	* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' war god Fener is first pulled from godhood in ''Literature/DeadhouseGates'' and as such becomes effectively dead for his followers, but remains alive somewhere on the planet, in semi-human form. [[spoiler: Then his death comes true at the very end of the series, when Karsa Orlong kills Fener for good, which has repercussions for the series' end battle halfway across the world.]]
95	* In ''Literature/TheDivineCities'', the Continent's gods -- who created not only most of the Continent's infrastructure, but much of its parallel ''realities'' as well -- were killed in a rebellion 75 years prior to the first book, ''City Of Stairs'', and the Continent still hasn't recovered since. The fact that they're no longer even allowed to discuss or reference their old gods doesn't help with the discontent.
96	* {{Discussed\|Trope}} in volume 5 of ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades''. Ancient mages in alliance with demihumans killed the planet's god fifty thousand years ago to free intelligent life from its interference. However, this had the unintended consequence of making the world look like easy pickings for every ''other'' planet's god, forcing the creation of the Gnostic Hunters, an order of elite battlemages, to battle the resulting {{Alien Invasion}}s.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
100	* ''Series/{{Jeremiah}}'': Many people InUniverse believe this.
101	** "...And the Ground Sown with Salt" features a {{Cult}}/militia leader named Michael, who expresses belief that the billions of deaths in ThePlague prove that God is dead. That belief, combined with the amount of power he holds, makes him become [[GodhoodSeeker try to replace God]].
102	** "Red Kiss" features a settlement where (partially due to an old arcade game they found) the children believe that God has died and his angels have descended to Earth to fight evil. They think Jeremiah and Kurdy are two of those angels and that a local kidnapper is a vampire (really, he's a MadScientist).
103	* A ''Series/TheKidsInTheHall'' sketch centers around this. "God is dead... and here is the body to prove it." What was most surprising was how short He was.
104	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
105	** In season five, the ArchangelRaphael claims that the reason Castiel cannot find God is because He is dead. Later episodes suggest that He is alive, but uninterested in the Apocalypse. The season finale implies that [[spoiler: that not only God is alive, but Raphael was the one ''protecting'' Him all along, as he was in the form of a certain human called Chuck Shurley. Whether Raphael was ignorant or blatantly lying is up for debate]].
106	** In the same season, TheGrimReaper does reveal that God will eventually die at the end of time by his hand. [[spoiler: TheGrimReaper actually dies BEFORE God, and later in the series it's implied that if God dies, the universe will collapse and cease to exist. Unless his sister dies too. If both die, then a 'new balance' will assert itself, perhaps implying a new God will come about.]]
107	** In the climax of Season 15, [[spoiler: Jack the {{Nephilim}} transforms God into a mortal human, meaning he will eventually die like a human]].
108	* ''Possibly'' the case in ''Series/TheLostRoom''. Some say that the Event that created the Objects was the death of God.
109	* Stated by Anthony Jr. in season 2 of ''Series/TheSopranos'', as part of his briefly becoming a StrawNihilist.
110	* ''Series/TheSecondComing'' [[spoiler:ends up as this]].
111	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
112	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E11Homefront Homefront]]", Worf says that according to Klingon mythology, their gods were slain by ancient Klingon warriors. "They were more trouble than they were worth."
113	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E07YouAreCordiallyInvited You Are Cordially Invited]]", Sirella recites while administering the Klingon marriage rite to Worf and Jadzia that the Klingons' gods were killed by the sound of the beating hearts of the first Klingon couple in love.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Jokes]]
117	* As seen as graffiti:
118	-->''God is dead.'' --Nietzsche\
119	''Nietzsche is dead.'' --God\
120	''HesDeadJim.'' --Dr. [=McCoy=]
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Music]]
124	* Music/NineInchNails: "Heresy" and "Ruiner" from ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral''. In the former, the protagonist of the album rants against Christianity and religion as a whole, and in the latter, he kills God himself.
125	-->''Your god is dead, and no one cares!''\
126	''If there is a hell, I'll see you there!''
127	* Music/EltonJohn, "Levon":
128	-->When the New York Times said God is dead
129	-->And the war's begun
130	* One of the most famous songs by Italian band ''I Nomadi'' ("The Nomads") is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin titled just that.]] Except, in this case, "God is dead" is meant as a metaphor, with God standing for near damn every value and ideal. The last part of the song {{subvert\|edTrope}}s it though, because as long as there's "a newborn hope", as the song itself puts it, "if God dies, it's just for three days, [[EarnYourHappyEnding and then he's born again".]]
131	* Music/DeadKennedys directed the following TakeThat at MoralGuardians in "Moral Majority":
132	--> God must be dead if you're alive
133	* Music/HaveANiceLife have two songs centered around this theme. "Bloodhail" is a song from the perspective of mankind, as the entire human race comes together to build a ladder to heaven with their own bodies so that a figure called "The Great Hunter" can climb up it and kill God with his arrows. "Hunter" comes later on the album, and is sung from the perspective of God as he lays dying on the earth. With his last breaths, he forgives mankind for its violence and gives up his body as a feast for all the animals on earth.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Mythology, Religion and Folklore]]
137	* In Myth/NorseMythology, most of the important and well-known gods, such as Thor, Loki, Frey, and Odin end up dying permanently in the final battle of Ragnarok. Interestingly, when the Scandinavians began to accept Christianity, they actually [[CanonWelding merged Norse mythology with Christian ideas]], by stating that Ragnarok had actually taken place already, and that it was a "prequel" to Christianity -- that Adam and Eve were the only survivors of Ragnarok.
138	* In [[https://web.archive.org/web/20070218113807/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1997-06-05/news/myths-over-miami/ Miami homeless children's street culture]], it is sometimes believed that God is dead, the implications are usually worse though. ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' based an in-universe myth on this.
139	* Contrary to popular belief, Friedrich Nietzsche is not the {{Trope Namer\|s}}. Long before him Literature/TheBible had passages assuring its readers that God in fact, was not dead. Nietzsche's dialog had little to do with theology anyway. Rather, it was his view that when knowledge of the universe expanded, belief in God faded, with the faith people had for religious authority shifting to ideologies that were secular which he liked no better (such as German nationalism and antisemitism, precursors to the Nazi Party). His idea of the {{Ubermensch}} was meant to replace this, although Nietzsche went insane and [[DiedDuringProduction died]] before he could go into much detail on that.
140	* In Christianity, Jesus was dead for three days. He got better, though.
141	* Quite logically downplayed in Myth/EgyptianMythology. Osiris is a dead god – and god of the dead.
142	* According to Greek Historian Plutarch, Pan from [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]] died; his death was told to a traveling sailor.
143	* Certain theological theories deriving from UsefulNotes/{{Deism}}, UsefulNotes/{{Pantheism}}, and most prominently UsefulNotes/{{Pandeism}} hold our Universe to be the physical remains of an essentially "dead" deity.
144	* In Myth/MesopotamianMythology, the god Dumuzid, AKA Tammuz, dies every summer solstice, which is the reason for the decrease in daylight hours and the oppressive summer heat and drought (he gets better). Ritual mourning for Tammuz was widespread in the Ancient Near East and is even mentioned in the Literature/BookOfEzekiel.
145	* All gods in UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} die at some point including Mahabrahma who many Buddhists think is who other religions call Jehova/Allah, and (unless attaining Nirvana before) when a Deva dies he/she just reincarnates in another realm normally as a non-Deva, including animal, human or spirit.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:News Media]]
149	* The April 8, 1966 cover of ''[[Magazine/TimeMagazine Time]]'' magazine read "[[http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19660408,00.html Is God Dead?]]" The accompanying article described a movement known as "theothanatology" (in other words, the study of God's death) that arose in the 1960s.
150	** Deconstructed by [[https://web.archive.org/web/20090830013959/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_why_jesus_called_a_man_a_fool/ Martin Luther King Jr.]]: "Some are even saying that God is dead. The thing that bothers me about it is that they didn’t give me full information, because at least I would have wanted to attend God’s funeral. And today I want to ask, who was the coroner that pronounced him dead? I want to raise a question, how long had he been sick? I want to know whether he had a heart attack or died of chronic cancer."
151	** In ''Film/RosemarysBaby'', the title character peruses the issue in a doctor's waiting room.
152	** Three years later another ''Time'' cover asked, "[[http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19691226,00.html Is God Coming Back to Life?]]"
153	* "[[http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Protestant/2001/10/The-Theistic-God-Is-Dead-A-Casualty-Of-Terrorism.aspx The Theistic God is Dead - A Casualty of Terrorism.]]" An article by John Shelby Spong, a liberal theologian and a former Episcopalian bishop.
154	* "[[https://www.theonion.com/nasa-completes-52-year-mission-to-find-kill-god-1819572297 NASA Completes 52-Year Mission To Find, Kill God.]]" A fantastic article from the Onion detailing the sordid history NASA has with the Almighty, ending with NASA violently killing god on the moon.
155	[[/folder]]
156
157	[[folder:Poetry]]
158	* {{Averted\|Trope}} in Creator/HenryWadsworthLongfellow's "Christmas Bells":
159	-->''Then pealed the bells, more loud and deep,''\
160	''"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep...."''
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
164	* God from ''Series/WonderShowzen'' [[spoiler:kills himself after losing a RockPaperScissors competition over the fate of the Earth and then they eat him]].
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Radio]]
168	* ''Radio/TheManBornToBeKing'': Plutarch's tale of the cry announcing Pan's death is incorporated into Pilate's wife's [[DreamingOfThingsToCome premonitory dream]]:
169	-->And I said to the captain, “What do they cry?” And he answered, “Great Pan is dead.” And I asked him, “How can God die?” And he answered, “Don’t you remember? They crucified him. He suffered under Pontius Pilate” …
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
173	* In ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen'', [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] murders a monk for even ''suggesting'' that God, who has, to this point, been [[HaveYouSeenMyGod missing in action]], may have really died to save the earth: [[WorldSundering The Sundering]] was not God's punishment for [[OurAngelsAreDifferent rebel angels]] breaking His commandment of not revealing themselves to humanity, it was God sacrificing Himself by ''catching the world'' as it fell due to the violation of some cosmic law. The suggestion would haunt Lucifer until the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt End of Days]].
174	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'', dead gods are a part of the setting, their corpses floating in the Astral Plane. There's even a high-level adventure entitled "Dead Gods". Also, [[DungeonMaster the Lady of Pain]] killed the god Aoskar for daring to set up shop in Sigil; this is one of the greatest demonstrations of why you really don't mess with her.
175	* The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting has a tendency to kill off some gods and introduce new ones every time a new edition of the game rules is released.
176	* ''TabletopGame/GrimHollow'', a third-party ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting, has this as a core part of its backstory: most of the pantheon died fighting [[EldritchAbomination the Aether Kindred]], and the rest were driven insane and murdered each other in a war to see who should be the TopGod, leaving a literally-godless world behind. Their slots have been filled by various Arch Seraphs, who try to hold things together in their absence, and Arch Daemons, who exploit the power vacuum for their own gain.
177	** This also has the consequence that Divine Magic has been failing ever since; while Clerics and Paladins ''do'' still exist, they're increasingly rare, as the primary source of their powers is no longer there.
178	* In the ''TabletopGame/GURPSSteampunkSettingTheBrokenClockworkWorld'', if the gods of the “Broken World” aren’t actually dead, they are certainly terribly inaccessible.
179	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Kult}}'', [[spoiler: God is dead, and the Devil is the only one who wants him back. Also, god is dying retroactively, being dead further and further back in history]]. It's mostly a good thing (as far as anything can be good in this CrapsackWorld).
180	* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', all but three members of the [[SpaceElves Eldar]] pantheon were killed with the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh. The GodEmperor of Mankind is a far more complicated case - despite his power, he fiercely denied his divinity, but after being mortally wounded during the Literature/HorusHeresy books, he was placed on the Golden Throne and kept in a psychically-active vegetative state, leaving his followers to proclaim him a deity. If ten millennia of worship has elevated him to proper godhood, this trope will probably soon apply due to the recently-discovered irreparable malfunctions in the Golden Throne.[[note]]A more optimistic, and therefore heretical, theory is that if the Emperor's mortal shell ever truly dies, he will finally be free to become the all-powerful god he is worshiped as.[[/note]]
181	** The Necron Dynasties turned on their gods and shattered them after they won the War In Heaven against the [[{{Precursors}} Old Ones]]. And we mean that literally: the C'tan were exploded into innumerable "shards", that are contained within containment units that are [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien so advanced they're basically magic]], and used as power sources and, in a pinch, weapons. One C'tan, however, is confirmed as [[DeaderThanDead actually dead]]: Llandu'gor, the Flayer, whose [[DyingCurse last act]] was to unleash the Flayer Curse on the entire Necron race.
182	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', this can (depending on your ST's preference for where to take the story) happen in the Endgame chapter of ''Return of the Scarlet Emperor'' with [[spoiler:Infernal Exalted, possibly backed up by demons or even Abyssals, breaking into the Jade Pleasure Dome through a long-forgotten 'back door' and assassinating the Unconquered Sun, who lacked his usual invulnerability because he was addicted to the Games of Divinity. The Ebon Dragon never expected the [[OhCrap massive power boost every Solar Exalt in Creation got]] when their patron Incarnae was killed]].
183	* The very first sentence in the main ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' campaign setting book is "Just over a century ago, the god of humanity died."
184	* In contrast, in the ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' setting, the elves are the ones with the dead gods; specifically, six of their eight gods have died after the pantheon moved into the mortal world, and the remaining two aren't doing so well either. The really bad news is that the death of their gods would likely lead to the elves going extinct, and they've already started being born [[TheSoulless without souls]]. One of the factions in ''Warmachine'', the Retribution of Scyrah (Scyrah being one of the surviving gods) thinks human magic is killing their gods, and so has set out to kill all human mages.
185	* in ''TabletopGame/{{Godbound}}'', humanity waged war on God. He might not be dead, but He's definitely missing in action. And the world is crumbling in His absence.
186	[[/folder]]
187
188	[[folder:Theatre]]
189	* ''Theatre/{{Starship}}'' is set in a distant future where science long ago killed God. Didn't disprove His existence; actually killed Him. The only effect this has on the story is an OhMyGods running gag, e.g., "Thank dead God I caught you in time."
190	-->'''Tootsie:''' It's comforting to know that He was once alive, though. I like to think that when He died, He went to heaven.
191	* In ''Marisol'', God is in the process of dying, and his death throes threaten to bring about the destruction of the universe unless the Angels put him down first.
192	[[/folder]]
193
194	[[folder:Video Games]]
195	* The ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series is essentially the [[ThanatosGambit posthumous]] BatmanGambit of the GodOfEvil Bhaal, who foresaw his own death and arranged to be resurrected. Things usually don't work out quite perfectly for him. There's a side quest in the 2nd game in the temple of a different dead god who has since stopped being dead. [[DeathIsCheap Bhaal got better]] between the second [[VideoGame/BaldursGateIII and third]] games.
196	* ''VideoGame/BuckshotRoulette'': During the second time you take out your items in the second round, [[spoiler:you accidentally pull out a [[BloodStainedLetter bloody release of liability]] signed with the name "GOD", suggesting that God Himself decided to play the game with the demon and lost. Furthermore, the GameOver screen takes you to a bleak hellscape labeled in the game's files as "[[HellOfAHeaven Heaven]]"]].[[note]][[DevelopersForesight The game also prevents you from inputting that name at the start]].[[/note]]
197	* ''VideoGame/GrandiaII'' has the revelation that Granas, the God of Light, died fighting Valmar the Devil of Darkness long ago. Turns out they were both just {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s though. And despite the [[CorruptChurch Church of Granas]] referring to their conflict as the "War Between Good and Evil" (and claiming that Granas won, of course), it would be more accurately called the [[OrderVersusChaos War Between Order and Chaos]].
198	* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer'' features a dead god in an important role.
199	* The creation myth told by the cultists in ''Franchise/SilentHill'' ends with God dying.
200	** ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' implies that the cult has ignored all the other gods in Silent Hill who are mostly sleeping but still alive. Gods that James can commune with in a bad ending.
201	** ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' and ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'' are attempts to resurrect God. They fail. Even if you get a bad ending, the villains are too insane to properly resurrect a god.
202	* One of the possible final bosses in ''VideoGame/GuardianHeroes'' is "The Creator". [[spoiler:When you beat him, he admits that he was just toying with humanity all along, and now that he's dying, humans are free to choose their own destiny.]]
203	* The entire premise of the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series is about the protagonist going on a quest to essentially [[RageAgainstTheHeavens kill all of the Greek gods]], and he's already taken down Ares and Athena. At the end of ''3'', every God Kratos encountered is dead, with the exceptions of Artemis and Aphrodite. Afterwards he's ready to settle down and live in peace, [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 until the Norse gods decide to pick a fight with him]].
204	* Implied in ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara''. The CouncilOfAngels are the ones running the show and, without supervision, have gone a little [[KnightTemplar overboard]] on the whole Heaven on Earth thing. Watos (the supreme creator deity) [[HaveYouSeenMyGod hasn't been seen since existence started]]. Probably seen as less offensive than an actual evil God when we already have a [[SatanIsGood good Satan.]]
205	** Subverted in [[VideoGame/TearsToTiara2 the sequel]] when the goddess of war is given a mortal form and leads a rebellion against the empire. There's a pantheon and Tarte has a mother. It's implied that either Watos never existed or was an invader compared to the pantheon.
206	* In the Zul'drak region of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', the Drakkari trolls native to the region have been killing their gods and stealing their powers in a desperate bid to protect themselves from the Scourge. Your character can go through a quest chain in which you try to save the gods or, failing that, MercyKill them or help them avenge themselves on their killers.
207	** It turns out the [[spoiler:Titan Pantheon]] is dead too. [[spoiler:They fell in battle against [[FaceHeelTurn Sargeras]], where their physical bodies were destroyed. They tried to save their spirits by blasting them toward Azeroth, but by the time they arrived, they had little power. This power was transferred into their servants, the Titanic watchers. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Several of which have been killed by players by now]]. Oops.]] However, they aren't all gone. [[spoiler:A new Titan world-soul is gestating inside Azeroth itself.]]
208	* The whole ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series. You have gods. You get to fight gods. [[spoiler:YHVH is effectively immortal, however, even though he is temporarily killed in SMT II. As long as there is even one human who believes in a higher power, God will exist.]]
209	** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'': [[spoiler: In one of the game's endings, you get to finally kill YHVH, starting off by not only completely denouncing him, but then removing him from his position of godhood, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard much as YHVH did to many of the other gods in the backstory]]]].
210	** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'': By the end of the first area of Da'at, Lucifer spells out what this new world is about. [[spoiler:While the angels are opposed as usual, they choose to seek a middle ground where both God and free human will exist; the exception is Abdiel, who is a hardcore devout of YHVH, [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill all the way down]].]]
211	--->''"The God you cravenly revere is dead. Slain by my own hand, that humanity might finally live unbound from their chains."''
212	* In the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' campaign 'Dead Air', some of the graffiti on the walls says 'GOD IS DEAD'. Occasionally, Zoey can be heard saying, "Oh no, the zombies killed God!" when passing by this message.
213	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
214	** In the backstory, the creator god Lorkhan ([[IHaveManyNames aka Shor, Shezarr, Sep, Lorkhaj...]]). Though there are many different creation stories, his inclusion is one of the few consistent elements. He is generally better regarded by the races of men than by the Mer races, who view him as a [[TricksterGod trickster]]. (The Altmer have a particular dislike for him.) After he convinced the et'Ada who would become the Aedra to create Mundus (the mortal realm), sacrificing much of their divine power (including their CompleteImmortality) in the process, he was "killed" and his "divine center" (heart) removed. It was tied to an arrow and launched across Tamriel by Auri-El, one of those et'Ada, where it landed in modern day Morrowind and formed Red Mountain. The moons are said to be his rotting corpse and his spirit was forced to wander Mundus, occasionally taking form as a "Shezzarine," great champions of mankind.
215	** The majority of the Aedra invested so much of their essence into the Mundus that they became mortal and died. Earthbones, the laws of reality which bind mortals, are magical restraints created from their deaths. In all, only eight remain alive and they're halfway to dead themselves, leading to GodIsInept and HaveYouSeenMyGod type issues.
216	** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', much of the plot revolves around the three Dunmeri [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]] known as the Tribunal and their arch-enemy, [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]]. Each used blasphemous [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] tools to tap into the powers of the aforementioned Heart of Lorkhan, gaining godhood as a result. [[spoiler: By the end of the game's main quest and its first expansion, three of the four are dead, with the fourth reduced to a [[BroughtDownToBadass de-powered]] SemiDivine shell of his former power]]. [[note]]Though if you really want to get into the metaphysics, he claims in LooseCanon [[WordOfGod developer supplemental writings]] to have achieved "CHIM," essentially omnipotence with [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall breaking]] powers that puts him far beyond the power of anything else in the setting, save for the player and developers themselves.[[/note]]
217	** In the ''Shivering Isles'' DLC of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'',[[spoiler: Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness]] dies... and in his place comes [[spoiler:Jyggalag, the Daedric Prince of Order]]. In the end [[spoiler: Jyggalag is split from Sheogorath and the PlayerCharacter becomes Sheogorath]].
218	-->[[spoiler:'''Sheogorath/Jyggalag''']]: The realm is dead! [[spoiler:Sheogorath]] is dead! All shall crumble before...[[spoiler:Jyggalag]]!
219	** If you believe WordofGod, this is the ultimate goal of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyim]]''. By outlawing the worship of [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Talos]], the ascended form of the human Tiber Septim, they hope to deprive him of worship, [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly unmaking him completely]]. This would have very bad consequences for reality, as he is one of the very few things that remain to maintain Mundus.
220	* The Creator Deity-slash-EldritchAbomination Ormagoden from the CreationMyth in ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' chose [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled to self-terminate rather than have his fire extinguished by the First Ones' dirt]], destroying the ancient world and creating the Age of Metal [[PiecesOfGod from his own body]] in process.
221	* In ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'', [[spoiler:Tezkhra]] is. [[spoiler:(You have to bring him BackFromTheDead.)]] Subverted in that [[spoiler:he isn't actually a god, he's a [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien sufficiently advanced alien]], and just as killable as anyone else]].
222	* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'' Cerberus agents find the corpse of a Reaper who they estimate had been rendered non-operational 37 million years ago. As they investigate it, they discover that dead Reapers are still capable of indoctrination. The last one alive comes to the conclusion that a god, even a dead one, is not a conscious entity but a force that alters everything around it.
223	* In ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue'', it's revealed about halfway through the game that [[spoiler:the Goddess Althena, who you've been seeking out to save Lunar from the Dark God Zophar, has been dead for a thousand years. Althena's younger sister Lucia does not take this well]].
224	* The first two ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' games never mention any sort of God, but the third finally reveals that [[spoiler:back in the dawn of time, Anu, the [[GodOfGood god of Order and Good]], battled it out with his antithesis Tathamet, [[GodOfEvil the god of Evil and Chaos]], a battle that would claim both their lives. Anu's remains became the High Heavens and would give birth to the angels. Tathamet's remains would become the Burning Hells, which would spawn the demons, and the Seven Great Evils which would menace the ''Diablo'' universe rose from each of Tathamet's seven heads]].
225	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', [[spoiler:all four gods are killed in the end by the Returners. [[NamesTorunAwayFromReallyFast Fiend/Doom. Demon/Poltergeist.]] Goddess. [[BigBad Kefka.]] [[KilledOffForReal They are all dead.]] [[GodIsEvil Fortunately]]]].
226	* ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'': Etro, Goddess of Death, is dead, and now there is no one to take care of the souls of the deceased.
227	** One of the random battle quotes in the final battle with [[spoiler: Bhunivelze]]. Lightning pretty much ''screams'' this at him.
228	* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' has a case of HaveYouSeenMyGod that ends up becoming this. [[spoiler:The TopGod Zenus attempted to unmake the world because HumansAreBastards, but his daughter Celestia convinces him to stay his hand and is permitted to take his place, becoming the WorldTree. The FallenAngel BigBad Corvus then attacks Heaven, reducing Zenus to PiecesOfGod that are then fought by the PlayerCharacter [[{{Superboss}} in the postgame]].]]
229	* ''VideoGame/TheBannerSaga'' starts out with the phrase "The gods are dead." Throughout the campaign, you discover that [[spoiler:the gods didn't ''believe'' they could be killed, until one of them accidentally killed another while bickering about the fate of mortals, causing mass hysteria among the pantheon that lead to a chaotic all-consuming war of paranoia which ended them. It didn't help that the last survivor, instead of patching his wounds and accepting a weakened existence, spitefully decided to use the last of his power to create an egg that would hatch a god of destruction to mop up the surviving mortals]]. This final plan to restore the age of gods was utterly derailed when [[spoiler:a rogue weaver tried to use the egg to resurrect the dead]] and caused the apocalypse in the game; a wave of darkness spilling god-nourishing chaotic energy that mutates mortals into creatures of the warp.
230	* There are two back stories in ''VideoGame/SwordOfMana''. The first is that of the setting's creation myth, wherein the creator goddess' final act was to transform herself into the [[WorldTree Mana Tree]] that sustains all life. The legend goes that the tree will grant unsurpassed power over Mana to the first person who touches it - and upon doing so it will die. The second backstory is the historical account of the Vandole Empire, wherein the man who would become said emperor found the Mana Tree and proceeded to do just that. Gaining the tree's magic, he proceeded to go completely [[DrunkWithPower mad with power]], ushering in a dark age that was only ended when a group of heroes put him down and returned life to the tree. [[spoiler: Or at least so it seemed. The final twist of the game is that in fact the tree wasn't restored to life, it was ''replaced''. The Mana Goddess, if indeed there ever was one, is now dead, her role as Mana Tree taken by a succession of at least two human woman, the main Heroine's mother and at the end of the game, the Heroine herself.]]
231	* In ''VideoGame/KultHereticKingdoms'', the world's God was killed by a hero some time prior to the game. The player character belongs to an Inquisition which aims to stamp out any vestiges of worship.
232	* Happens all the [[{{Pun}} goddamn]] time in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', and more often than not you're the one doing the slaying.
233	** In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'', [[spoiler:after Gwyn's departure for linking the First Flame, Anor Londo began to see a shift in leadership, with nearly every deity leaving Lordran save for Gwyndolin. Gwyn is not met until the very end of the Kiln of the First Flame, where it turns out he has become a Hollow as a result of burning in the Kiln all this time.]]
234	** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'': [[spoiler:You not only kill basically all the remaining Gods, you also kill all the remaining demons and the deific incarnations of the very things the gods draw their power from that also act as near immutable laws of the universe]]!
235	* ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'': it's heavily implied that [[spoiler: the Nameless God killed every other god in the world by imprisoning them, then exploiting GodsNeedPrayerBadly by answering every prayer for them until they starved. When you find [[OptionalBoss The Three]], they are but clumsy undead, shadows of their former selves. No wonder the area they're found in is named The Crypt of Dead Gods]].
236	** [[spoiler:For good measure, you get to kill the Nameless God too.]]
237	* In ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'', The Divine, the god of the setting, is dead, and there needs to be a new god lest the void destroy all of creation. [[spoiler:The various player characters you can choose, as well as the big bad, are all godswoken, candidates for becoming the new divine.]]
238	** [[spoiler:Turns out he's not dead... [[KillTheGod yet]]. His actions cause the other Seven Gods to starve and incur a VillainousBreakdown, [[SoulEating revealing their hideous atrocities on their own believers]], [[RageAgainstTheHeavens and motivating the party to devour their own gods]].]] What happens next depends on the main character; [[spoiler:they can seize godhood, give it to someone else, spread its power to everyone, or negotiate a permanent peace treaty with the Void]].
239	* Invoked in ''VideoGame/WeHappyFew'': when playing as Sally Boyle, at one point, she gets into a debate with the leader of a suicide cult, during which she claims that the existence of [[CrapsaccharineWorld Wellington Wells]] is proof that God is long dead.
240	* A central theme in ''VideoGame/NierAutomata''. The characters are machines and androids created by humans and aliens as weapons of war. [[spoiler:It turns out both the aliens and humans are long dead. The game is actually about making a life after the death of god.]]
241	* The Greater Titans in ''VideoGame/{{Pyre}}'' are eldritch horrors of immense size and power that the Eight Scribes struck down almost nine hundred years prior to the game's events, and yet worship of them is not entirely unheard of; in the present, Witch Udmildhe is nigh-fanatical in her worship of [[EldritchAbomination Yslach Astral-Born]], allowed herself to be exiled to get near its body, and wants nothing more than to release it upon the world again. From the third cycle onward, Bertrude will join you in the Rites; [[spoiler:should you face Udmildhe in a non-Liberation Rite, she will offer the chance to cleanse Udmildhe's mind of Yslach's influence, in which this trope is involved. And]] should you prevail, she will carry out her work and leave Udmildhe begging empty air for an answer.
242	-->Udmildhe [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration suffered -5 Hope]]... [[VillainousBreakdown permanently]].\
243	''[[CryForTheDevil May the Scribes have mercy]]''
244	* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'': Several years before the story begins, the god of light and redemption, Eothas, suddenly took a mortal avatar and tried to invade the Dyrwood, starting a war that ended with him getting ''blown up'' by a FantasticNuke. Since then, Eothas answers no prayers and a terrible curse called the Hollowborn Plague that causes random children to be born [[EmptyShell soulless]] has afflicted the Dyrwood, leading most people to presume that he's dead for good and [[TakingYouWithMe cursed his enemies as he died]]. [[spoiler:They are [[SubvertedTrope wrong on both counts]]; Eothas [[NotQuiteDead did not die]], he just got temporarily disabled by the destruction of his avatar, and he was actually trying to ''prevent'' the Hollowborn Plague.]] However, it is [[spoiler:double-subverted in [[VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire the sequel]], as Eothas's last act winds up being a HeroicSacrifice where he expends all his power to destroy the Ukaizo Wheel and [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch free mortalkind from the control of the other gods]]. ''That'' does indeed kill him]].
245	* ''VideoGame/{{Anbennar}}'' has two variant of this, both with the qualifier that whether gods are real is ambiguous.
246	** The believers in the Regent Court (both the name for the pantheon and the faith), the dominant faith in Cannor (the closest Europe-analogue) has hailed Castellos as the ruler of the Regent Court since its inception. Then [[spoiler:the continent of Aelantir is (re-)discovered]], and uncomfortable parallels are found over its exploration, culminating in the widespread belief that Castellos is dead. The resulting period is aptly called the Age of Unraveling.
247	** Orcs believe in the god Dookan, with the Old Dookan branch sticking to the older myth that Dookan was imprisoned for trying to find a home for himself, and that the orcs were created to free Dookan and punish the dwarves for their treachery. In most games, this will remain pure myth, but if the orcish country of Shattered Crown is greatly successful it turns out that [[spoiler:the name Dookan almost certainly began as Ducaniel, who was a powerful elven mage during the war between the elven precursor empire and the old dwarven empire -- which means there's no Dookan to free, as he already ''was'' freed by the orcish hordes breaking the siege of the dwarven hold he'd been occupying, returned to the elven empire and ended up dying by causing the cataclysmic Ruin of Aelantir]].
248	* By the time ''VideoGame/EldritchLandsTheWitchQueensEternalWar'' begins, all of the gods with the sole exception of the elven Godtree are dead, the human gods, the Empire Souls, were slain long ago by [[TheProtagonist Sofia Nitshe]], while the Deep Ones, Gods of the seaside kingdom, died sometime after the Empire Souls, of a [[AmbiguousSituation totally unknown cause]].
249	* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'': In the quest "The World Wakes", [[spoiler:Guthix, the god who created Gilenor, is assassinated by Sliske at the end of the quest. With his death, the Edict of Guthix is broken]], bringing about the start of the Sixth Age, when other gods can physically enter Gilenor once more.
250	* The later chapters of ''VideoGame/{{Ultrakill}}'' reveal that Heaven is run by a CouncilOfAngels [[spoiler:because God died ages ago, and Heaven has done everything in its power to keep this a secret]]. With the extinction of humanity, and the subsequent KillerRobot invasion of Hell, the secret is getting harder and harder to keep...
251	[[/folder]]
252
253	[[folder:Webcomics]]
254	* ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' uses TWO versions of this: firstly, “The good man” a [[CrystalDragonJesus Jesus analogue]], is widely believed to have been attacked by jealous mortals and wounded, so his mother helps him to travel over the sea, swearing [[HaveYouSeenMyGod to one day come back]]. However, many refugee children living in the city at the centre of this cult believe that the world is so cruel that he MUST have died, murdered by his mother who went mad with envy when he said he was leaving, and she now roams the under-city as a vengeful goddess. Due to the universe’s ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, both of these stories are true. As mentioned above, this is based on a RealLife version of Catholicism that [[https://web.archive.org/web/20070218113807/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1997-06-05/news/myths-over-miami/ sprung up amongst Miami’s street children.]] The Digger universe also has [[spoiler: a dead god kept on life-support against his will, so that whilst he lives, so does the daemon possessing him]].
255	* ''Webcomic/BlueEyes'' This story hits you right off with a double whammy. In the prologue the goddess Renosana [[https://web.archive.org/web/20201227174045/https://www.smackjeeves.com/discover/detail?titleNo=160546&articleNo=4 dies to rebuild her dying world]] , shortly after several of her [[https://web.archive.org/web/20201227174045/https://www.smackjeeves.com/discover/detail?titleNo=160546&articleNo=10 demigod children kill their older sister to inherit her right to rule]].
256	* In ''Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper'', [[HaveYouSeenMyGod God has not interacted with their archangels]] for thousands of years, and stopped judging souls a few years back. [[spoiler:When the world starts to near its end, Archangel Bernadette violates the laws of heaven, steals Archangel Celeste's key, and breaks into God's sanctum by force to demand answers, only to find God's blood-spattered corpse.]]
257	* An entire pantheon of gods get killed in the backstory of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' (along with the whole world being destroyed, then remade by the surviving gods).
258	* Happened recursively in ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons''. The Holy Suicide of Yisun gave birth to the two gods of Existence and Non-Existence, who destroyed themselves to create the pantheon of 777 777 gods, each of whom created a universe through self-annihilation. That doesn't stop people from worshiping them, or from Yisun, gods, and mortals interacting in the lore. However, a fundamental tenet of the religion is to embrace paradox. Meanwhile, the city of Throne is where the gods died, and it's a bit weird; all their corpses are just sitting there, and people used them for housing.
259	* Creator/SeaSnailStudio works tend to use this trope:
260	** God is revealed to have been killed off in the setting of ''Salvatore'', along with much of the angel population.
261	** In the setting of ''Webcomic/MyBestFriendMarneao'', the job of God is taken by an angel chosen by a [[CouncilOfAngels council of judges]], with a powerful angel as its right hand. 500 years before the events of the series, God died and was replaced by another angel, [[AmbitionIsEvil who went mad with power]], creating portals to gain control of the universe with dark matter, with this substance turning anyone it touches into a zombie-like abomination. He enslaved the [[{{Hell}} Inferni]] citizens to work on these portals. This [[GodIsEvil God's]] [[TheDragon right hand]] is Baraquiel, a [[HairTriggerTemper constantly angry]] BadBoss with a severe LackOfEmpathy, and the main BigBad.
262	* In ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', the 43rd floor of the Tower is different from all the others because its near-omnipotent Administrator is dead. Coming to the floor on the Hell Train, the main characters see a hostile landscape that [[ThatsNoMoon turns out to be]] the Administrator's corpse.
263	[[/folder]]
264
265	[[folder:Web Original]]
266	* In ''WebVideo/MandelaCatalogue'', TheAntichrist already won and Satan overthrew God. [[spoiler:The setting takes place in an AlternateHistory where Satan [[DevilInDisguise masqueraded]] as ArchangelGabriel when he was sent to herald Jesus' birth, and replaced Him. He then managed to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly trick all of mankind into worshipping him instead]], [[AndIMustScream imprisoned Jesus]], and [[TheBadGuyWins took over the world]] while filling it with demonic {{Humanoid Abomination}}s to torment mankind further.]]
267	* In ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'' Satan's already dead [[spoiler:via anti-ship missile to the face, Jesus appears to have been nuked (in reality, he's fine and later becomes TheManBehindTheMan for Heaven itself after the War),]] and Yahweh's [[spoiler:been killed by [[TheStarscream Michael-Lan]]]].
268	* Played for laughs in the Creator/TeamStarKid production ''Theatre/{{Starship}}'', set in the distant future. Tootsie Noodles mentions early on that there is empirical proof that science killed God[[note]]He'd like to think that when [[TooDumbToLive He died, He went to heaven]].[[/note]]. Anytime the word God is used, dead precedes it.
269	-->'''Junior:''' Thank dead God I caught you!
270	* In the world of ''WebVideo/TalesFromMyDDCampaign'', the true gods are very nearly immortal, and will eventually recover from almost any force, even the power of their fellow gods. However, there exists a technique or spell known as "The Death Equation" which can truly and permanently destroy a god. This technique has been used only thrice in the histories of eternity. Luckily, each use raises the amount of power The Death Equation requires exponentially, rendering its use risky.
271	* While sitting through an especially awkward comedy bit on ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'', Mike Nelson of ''Podcast/RiffTrax'' bitterly offers this quip:
272	-->"Yep, Nietzsche was right; dead as a doornail."
273	[[/folder]]
274
275	[[folder:Western Animation]]
276	* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Astral Plane", Grob Gob Glob Grod sacrifices themself to stop a comet from destroying Mars. Finn witnesses this happen. [[spoiler:However, it's later revealed that they survived, but have lost their physical form as consequence.]]
277	-->'''Finn:''' Glob is dead.
278	* Played quite subtly and tragically in the 1986 anti-war film ''ComicBook/WhenTheWindBlows''. It's near the end of the film, [[AfterTheEnd and past the end of the world]]. The kindly old couple we've spent the film following are dying of radiation sickness and their condition has worsened past the point of denial, Hilda simply asks Jim to pray. Unable to think straight, Jim simply asks [[DespairEventHorizon "Who to?"]]
279	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' has the Titan -the closest thing that the denizens of the Boiling Isles have to a proper deity-, which is not only dead, [[GiantCorpseWorld but it's very corpse servers as the land they live on]]. That said, Emperor Belos claims that it's still alive and gave him the authority to rule in its stead. [[spoiler:While Belos is lying through his teeth, the Titan's spirit actually is still clinging to life while trapped in [[AfterlifeAntechamber the In Between Realm]] and has been using what little influence they have on the world of the living to try and stop his evil plans. It's not until the GrandFinale that they finally expire for good by giving all their remaining life force to Luz to both [[CameBackStrong revive her and give her the strenght to end Belos' threat once and for all]].]]
280	* The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/TrippingTheRift'' shows that after Chode takes a joyride on a spacejet, hitting something and resulting in the Big Bang. Afterwards, he and Gus end up in a world with same-sex relations and a severe lack of inhibitions. Chode replays the tape detailing the trip, then rewinds and slows it down, showing that during the joyride, Chode hit and killed God. Of course, he asks for some confirmation:
281	-->'''Chode:''' Hey Six, what's the deal with sex nowadays?\
282	'''Six:''' Deal? There's no "deal." You wanna have sex, you just have sex.\
283	'''Chode:''' Yep, He's dead.
284	** Interestingly, this is initially portrayed as a ''good'' thing, with everyone being happy and innocent, which Gus attributes to God dying before he could create the Devil, and thus, evil. The trouble starts when word gets around about this new "evil" craze going around; without God's various punishments, there's nothing to instill a sense of inhibition.
285	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GodIsDead