Line #61 Main/GodMode


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6	Ahhh, good ol' God Mode. Ever since a small company called Creator/IdSoftware started using the key word "GOD" as an invincibility cheat (beginning with ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen''), the term God Mode has migrated as a catch-all term for cheat-code based invincibility in video games.
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8	There are legitimate reasons for having the capability in a game, for playtesters who are trying a particular level and want to stress-test certain parts of a level without having to worry about being killed while testing, and similar such activities. Because they can be used in some very complicated games to allow someone to get past an intractable problem, people (customers) expect most games to have some sort of God Mode in order to allow them to play and finish a game they might otherwise consider {{unwinnable}}. A spinoff term used in many games is “Buddha mode,” which prevents the player from ever losing their last hit point while the mode is active.
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10	The term has also become popular as shorthand for NighInvulnerability in other contexts, usually in a cynical tone. For example, to say that somebody is using God Mode in a multiplayer game is to suggest that he/she is using a cheat program. This is also the origin of why apparently grossly-overpowered characters are known as GodModeSue. The term has also become popular within various role playing communities, where it's sometimes called the similar term "{{God Modd\|ers}}ing" (think "modifying" as opposed to "mode" for pronunciation). Saying that somebody "God Modes" in a tabletop game is to suggest that he/she basically refuses to allow anything that negatively impacts him. However, the term "godmoding" is viewed a bit more neutrally than "[=godmodding=]" and could just as easily refer to when the characters are given a free pass on potential death for whatever reason.
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12	The GodModeSue is a type of character named after this trope. Not to be confused with [[http://www.godmodeonline.com the webcomic of the same name]] or [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Mode_(video_game) the video game of the same name.]]
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14	!!Examples:
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16	[[folder:Video Game Examples]]
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18	* ''Batman and Robin'' on the Playstation has a hidden chamber that will give you this. It has a spray that gives you permanent invincibility to everything apart from BottomlessPits and drowning.
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20	* ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga'':
21	** ''VideoGame/DarkForces'' had two forms of God Mode: One that gave unlimited shields in the options menu and a full God Mode cheat code by typing LAIMLAME.
22	** ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'' and its ExpansionPack ''Mysteries Of The Sith'' had a code accessible by the console. It protected the player from everything but falling damage.
23	** ''VideoGame/JediKnightIIJediOutcast'' also has a God Mode accessible through the console. But, in the final boss fight, there is a beam of energy in the middle of the room. The game essentially enables God mode for about a minute for whoever walks into the beam, meaning once the effect's time is up, you'll be vulnerable whether or not you had God mode before you touched the beam.
24	* Using id's God Mode codes in ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' would reduce your shields and energy levels to 1. Using ''any'' cheat codes flashes [[NoFairCheating "Cheater!"]] on screen.
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26	* Both ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' have a God mode, though most of the time it's activated because of its infinite carrying capacity when looting.
27	** The developers apparently noticed this use, since both ''VideoGame/{{Fallout New Vegas}}'' and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' have a second cheat called "Demigod Mode", which removes your weight limit and give you infinite ammunition/action points (FNV) or infinite stamina/magicka (Skyrim), but ''doesn't'' make you immortal; you still take any damage you would normally take. These games also have a third cheat called "Immortal Mode", which is the inverse of Demigod Mode, in that you have infinite, instantly regenerating health, but every other aspect works normally, with the bonus effect of being able to acquire stats and skills that require health-reducing damage to achieve, which are prevented from working in God Mode.
28	* Completing ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' three times unlocks "Eternal Mode", which gives you infinite health, magick and ammo when you enable it in the game's resident ReplayMode. Sadly, it also grants infinite sanity, depriving you of one of the game's [[SanityMeter selling points]].
29	* In ''VideoGame/EverybodyEdits'', if the player has access to it, they can switch their character between regular mode and God Mode. God Mode acts mostly like noclip, letting the player fly and ignore any solid blocks placed in the world. It also causes immunity to death, infection, and {{teleportation}}.
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31	* The Sega Genesis game ''{{F-22 Super Raptor}}'' had an invincibility setting on the game's startup menu. It basically made the plane immune to any damage it took and prevented it from crashing.
32	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII:'' Clicking R3 on the [=PS4=] port will make your HP, MP and LimitBreak gauges fill up at insane speed. However, this has no effect on instant kill attacks and status effects.
33	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' gets this via the Pause menu in the [=PS4=] port:
34	** Clicking L1 enables "Battle assist": HP and MP refill, and all characters are put in Trance mode, which enables more powerful attacks.
35	** Clicking L2 enables "9999": all attacks do 9999 damage.
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37	* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'':
38	** ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' subverts the trope by having "God Mode" as an unlockable once you beat the game - it's merely the hardest difficulty level.
39	** ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'' ups the ante by having "God" difficulty available at the start with its hardest difficulty being unlockable under the moniker "Titan Mode."
40	** In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', it gets renamed once again, this time being called "Chaos Mode".
41	* Enabling 'All Guns', 'Invincibility', 'Infinite Ammo', and, if you want, 'Invisibility' on [[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye]] allows you to become almost like Jesus, Rambo and your character James Bond in one. You then have the chance to smite the wicked who dare try to stop you with any weapon you damn well feel like. Granted, these cheats do have to be unlocked by performing timed stunts so incredible that you've already proved you don't need them at all.
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43	* ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' has a God Mode. ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' adds in "Buddha Mode" just for good measure, which allows you to take damage but almost never lets your HP fall below 1, effectively making you immortal. It may eventually fail by taking damage too occasionally.
44	** Funnily enough, this applies to ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' as well--Buddha mode, at least. While the basic God Mode appears to be cut out, Buddha mode ''is'' available on servers with cheats enabled. You can stand in front sentry guns and jump on sticky bombs all day long and get several Scouts' worth of blood shot out of you to no ill effect. Note, however, that you will be struck dead and either [[LudicrousGibs reduced to flying scraps of outfit and body parts]] or [[BlownAcrossTheRoom sent flying]] the moment you get nailed by a CriticalHit.
45	** The conclusion of the ''Half-Life 2''-based webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}'' revealed that [[spoiler:Gordon Frohman had been under the influence of the Buddha cheat from the beginning, thus handwaving his ability to survive massive injuries [[RuleOfFunny for the sake of comedy]]. He dies when he accidentally turns it off]] if you don't count the unofficial sequel ''Concerned 2: A Concerned Ripoff''.
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47	* Creator/IdSoftware almost always include a God Mode out of tradition.
48	** In the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' engine, [=God Mode=] (which is also the function of the Invulnerability Sphere, except that it tints your screen in silver as well as giving you the [[GlowingEyesOfDoom glowing God Mode eyes]]) only protects against [[NighInvulnerability 10,000 damage per shot]]. Anything above that and, [[LudicrousGibs well]]...
49	** Without damage hacks, the only source of damage that can possibly do this is telefragging, and monsters usually cannot do this to a player. All bets are off on [[MookMaker the last level]] of ''Doom 2'', however. Additionally, one infamous puzzle near the end of ''[[ExpansionPack TNT: Evilution]]'' has the player navigating a maze of pillars; take a wrong turn and you'll end up telefragging ''yourself''.
50	** The [=ZDoom=] port for the ''Doom'' engine games actually has the "Buddha Mode" cheat from ''Half-Life 2'', mentioned below. Latest builds add in a "god2" and a corresponding "buddha2" cheat code that both prevents the player from dying no matter what, not even from telefrags.
51	** Confusingly, the classic games always referred to God Mode as "Degreelessness Mode", which [[WordOfGod according to John Romero himself]] was an inside joke with the team at id Software. The "DQD" input stood for Delta-Q-Delta, a nickname for a fraternity one of the devs belonged to that would quit college classes they were failing, therefore getting a Q instead of an F grade. The term "degreelessness" is a nod to this in-joke (the gratuitous "--ness" suffix was part of id's in-house slang).
52	* ''All'' of id's Quake engine games have a God Mode, including those which inherited it by licensing it, as Valve did with the first ''Half-Life''. All Unreal engine games have the same God mode. In earlier games, this was simply left available to anyone who knew how to drop down the console; later games' cheats had to be enabled in a configuration .ini file. This has pretty much become standard FPS games on other game engines as well.
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54	* The original ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit'' had a cheat that set the temporary invincibility parameter to maximum, meaning it would eventually fail. There was also a cheat to invert this, making your ''enemies'' practically invincible.
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56	* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIIIReMind'' has the EZ Codes, which make the game much easier. These include the ability to OneHitKill every enemy, {{regenerating health}}, mana, and focus, tripling strength and magic for allies and enemies, 0 AP for every ability, increasing the chances of getting team attacks, Attractions, and activating Rage Form, making Link Summons last longer, and automatically blocking.
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58	* Almost every ''VideoGame/LEGOAdaptationGame'' features Invincibility as a Red Brick powerup.
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60	* ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'' gives you the code to access God Mode (total invincibility) in a very odd way. After beating the game on the highest difficulty, holding the right button (all four shoulder buttons on [=PS2=], Y on Xbox, Space on PC) at the title screen causes a backwards voice clip to play. Reversing this clip gives you a strange rhyme, followed by a series of buttons (or letters on PC). Entering these buttons ''in reverse'' activates God Mode.
61	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': After enabling the console, there are a number of cheat codes that let you obtain just about everything in the game. Money, XP, guns, armor, new abilities beyond those in your Class. Two codes give you a [[TakeThat yellow]] set of armor with 8000 shields and 99% damage resists and a geth assault rife that has [[{{BFG}} 25,000 damage]] per shot.
62	* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has an in-game cheat that unlocks The One mode, where Neo is really in [[InvokedTrope God Mode]] and can't be killed.
63	* ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' is somewhat infamous for being able to use the second controller to God mode Mega Man in various ways. It seems this was used for playtesting and just never removed. Of course, when 3 gets added to collections, this trick is patched out.
64	* The creative mode on ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' is sometimes referred to as "God Mode". You can fly and have access to the complete inventory including things you can't get in survival, like eggs that spawn mobs. In addition, the only way you can die is by falling into the void and even then, you can survive if you enable flying quickly enough.
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66	* ''VideoGame/NetHack'' has Explore Mode where you have the option of coming back to life every time you die and wizard mode, where you name your character wizard. It's Explore Mode combined with a DebugRoom where you can wish for items, monsters, etc., teleport across floors, and even choose if you want to die or not.
67	* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' on single-player allows you to tell the DM to give you stuff. XP, items, gold, invincibility, etc. etc. etc. You can also open up the campaign modules in the toolset and insert hilariously broken items. Among the funniest abilities to abuse are ''spell name'' on hit for items and ''spell name'' on getting hit for armour, allowing you to have (among other things) a sword that summons a badger every time you hit someone with it.
68	** ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' has a similar system, but if you do so it points out that you cheated every time you load a game after having cheated in it.
69	* In ''VideoGame/NewSuperLuigiU'', [[PromotedToPlayable Nabbit]] is functionally this. While he can't use powerups, he is completely immune to all damage that doesn't [[OneHitKill immediately kill you]] (BottomlessPits, [[LavaIsBoilingKoolAid lava]], [[TheWallsAreClosingIn being crushed]], and running out of time), plus the odd InvincibleMinorMinion that knock him back. He can be played in single-player by holding down the ZL button (B on a classic Wii remote).
70	** In ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', dying five times on a level you haven't completed yet (or one you have in [=NSMB2's=] case) nets you an "Invincibility Leaf" which gives you the White Raccoon/Tanooki suit, or White Fox for Luigi. It's basically a cross between the regular Raccoon/Tanooki/Fox suit and a [[InvincibilityPowerup Starman]] with no time limit.
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72	* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' has an item you can obtain at the beginning of the {{New Game Plus}}, assuming you collected all 100 Stray Beads in the previous playthrough, that grants Amaterasu invincibility, infinite ink, and attack power that is increased tenfold when equipped. This can make the {{New Game Plus}} a literal [[{{Pun}} God]] [[DontExplainTheJoke Mode]].
73	** Rather appropriate, as Amaterasu ''is'' a goddess.
74	* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' takes the concept quite literally. The pickup called "God Mode" makes you slightly taller and allows you to smite enemies in one shot as well as making you invulnerable. You also make bellowing 'Godlike' yawns that get annoying very quickly ([[ThrowItIn based on the noises]] Creator/JohnRomero [[ThrowItIn would constantly make]] while fooling around with ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'''s God Mode). The game also contains a more traditional God Mode cheat code.
75	** ''ROTT'' also features a "Dog Mode" power up which makes you shorter, hairier and quadrupedal, with a chargeable bark attack that can disintegrate every enemy on screen. You are also invincible, once again. Effectively, it's even better than God Mode, as your small size grants access to secret areas in some maps.
76	* ''VideoGame/{{RuneScape}}'''s first ever grandmaster ranked quest allows the player to access a literal God Mode after touching the [[spoiler:Stone of Jas,]] an item which is said to have created and/or boosted the power of many of the games current deities.
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78	* In ''VideoGame/TheSims'' series, you can use money cheats to make yourself filthy rich. The first game had no aging, so you could pretty much do whatever you wanted, the second game had an aging off cheat, and the 3rd game even has it under options. Thus you could create a person who lives forever and has unlimited money.
79	* ''SlamScape'' has a ''very'' easy cheat that made you completely invincible to absolutely everything in the game from explosions to being ''squished'' in a pneumatic press. It actually made the game a lot funner because of the way you could bounce around and use mines to RocketJump, and was pretty much the only way you'd be able to play a level for more than [[GlassCannon 30]] [[FakeDifficulty seconds]] [[NintendoHard anyways]].
80	* ''VideoGame/SolsticeTheQuestForTheStaffOfDemnos'' had one, in that once your character finds all the pieces of the magic staff, his magic spells have unlimited uses, and the invincibility spell is permanently active.
81	* [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Super Sonic]], a plot-based EleventhHourSuperpower in later games, has always led to the true ending of any game it's in. But in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'', ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', once earned, it is a legitimate God Mode, with Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles, and Super Tails taking it further.
82	** You can still die from getting crushed, falling into bottomless pits, drowning, and sadistic pits that are too deep for you to jump out of.
83	** It's returned to being playable in levels in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4''.
84	** ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' lets you play as Super Sonic in levels too, and even gives you an automatic S-rank for that level if you do so. ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' also has unlockable Super forms for both Classic and Modern Sonic that are also usable in the levels.
85	* ''VideoGame/StarTrekEliteForce II'' had a neat side effect to including unlimited ammo when activated, and it's not unlimited on reserve ammo, it's unlimited on [[{{BottomlessMagazines}} magazines]] as well, this actually causes an odd animation bug with the phaser sniper rifle, which it was supposed to blend with a reload animation since it had one shot per magazine.
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87	* ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' and ''VideoGame/TronEvolution'' have "[[ThankTheMaker User]] Mode." The first is accessible via a GameMod, and grants unlimited energy and access to all upgrades and weapons. The second just grants immunity to all damage. The name is, of course, a reference to just how powerful [[DigitizedHacker digitized humans]] are in the setting.
88	* ''VideoGame/{{Tunic}}:'' In the accessibility menu, you will find "No Fail Mode." Setting this to On will stop your little fox from taking damage. It can still suffer from status effects like freezing.
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90	* The ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' games, as well as ''VideoGame/StarCraft'', all have this as a cheat code. The ''Warcraft'' games also let you deal overwhelming damage that will typically kill enemies in one shot with it activated. ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' and ''[=StarCraft=]'' disable this in multiplayer, for obvious reasons. In ''[=StarCraft=]'s'' case, it's not pure invulnerability. Instead, enemies' weapon damage is reduced to zero. There are still several ways in which your units can be killed, though.
91	** ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'' and ''[=StarCraft=]'' both have flaws in their god mode codes. In ''Warcraft II'', the code works by giving your units incredibly high armor values; however, magical damage bypasses armor, so units like Death Knights remain a threat. In ''[=StarCraft=]'', not only do instant-kill attacks still work on your units, but because units not under your control can't do damage, certain in-game cutscenes will essentially freeze (as the game is waiting for a unit to be sufficiently damaged before continuing) and any map where enemy units are fighting each other will wind up with a huge glut of enemy units uselessly fighting and almost nothing left to go your way.
92	** ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' lets you use cheat codes in single player, but doing so disables achievements.
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94	* Various games that use noclip. With noclipping, you can go through any object and person since they just go through you and any attack also goes through you. Because of this, you're pretty much invincible. Averted hard in games that use the Build Engine like ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'', where clipping anywhere outside of an active sector (i.e. beyond a level or room's boundary) would instantly kill you.
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96	[[/folder]]
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98	[[folder:Non-Video Game Examples]]
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100	* In ''Series/{{Caprica}}'', the [[BrainUploading AI copies]] of Zoe and Tamara get God Mode abilities in the {{MMORPG}} cum WideOpenSandbox game ''New Cap City'', because as genuine [=AIs=] with no physical bodies they don't get expelled from the game when they die but glitch and respawn. Eventually, they just become straight-up {{Reality Warper}}s.
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102	* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'' is a forum game based completely off of this trope, with the posters attempting to kill aforementioned Godmodder being the entirety of the game.
103	** Curiously enough, there is a Godmoder, a misspelling of the Godmodder that exists as a distinct character. He is actually invincible, unlike the Godmodder, but he leaves everyone alone for the most part, unless a player misspells their attack against the Godmodder and attacks the Godmoder instead.
104	* In ''Literature/DoraWilkSeries'', some blesses angels can Manifest, which results in their aura working like HolyHandGrenade and makes them {{Nigh Invulnerab\|ility}}le and perfectly aware of everything surrounding them, which usually results in angel in question [[CurbStompBattle moping floor with their enemies]]. Thankfully for said enemies, it doesn't happen often.
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106	* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''
107	** The card Worship works this way, provided you control both it and a creature card.
108	** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?printed=false&multiverseid=191313 This is a good example of god mode]], seeing that it effectively makes you immortal as long as you control it. [[CriticalExistenceFailure The moment it gets destroyed, however]]...
109	* In ''Marvel Comics'', there is the Enigma Force , which transforms whichever random schmuck it enters into the all-powerful Captain Universe until a certain crisis is averted. Captain Universe is a completely invulnerable RealityWarper and Flyingbrick, every bit the "no-one" in '' no-one can stop the Juggernaut''. When Spider-Man wielded these powers, he effortlessly defeated various foes that are normally a massive uphill fight for the Wall-Crawler, such as Magneto, the Hulk, and Doctor Doom.
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111	* In ''Literature/ThePeripheral'', [[TheChessmaster Detective Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer]], also known as "[[TheDreaded The Adjudicator]]", is the [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner sole remaining law-enforcement authority]] in a post-post-apocalyptic version of London which is ruled by a [[PrivatelyOwnedSociety bunch of perpetually scheming rich assholes]] known as "the klept". The klept recognised that without her to keep them in line [[PragmaticVillainy they'd all end up killing each other off]], and begrudgingly grant her a truly staggering amount of power via London's super-advanced technology. As a result Lowbeer is closer to a deity than any ordinary human being, being [[TheAgeless functionally immortal]], able to create or destroy anything using [[{{Nanomachines}} assemblers]], near-omniscient thanks to semi-sentient [[BigBrotherIsWatching surveillance programs]] known as the "Aunties", and able to call down microscopic, explosive AttackDrones á la a technological BoltOfDivineRetribution. Oddly enough, it's quite easy to argue that she, and ''not'' the klept, is the true ruler of London.
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113	* In ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', Team Machine refers to any individual that has one of the near-omniscient AIs whispering in their ear and guiding their actions as being in 'god mode'. (It also serves as the title of an episode.) Among other things, this confers ImprobableAimingSkills, with the AI in question triangulating targets and feeding firing instructions to the individual. Usually results in a CurbStompBattle.
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115	* Superusers like Anorak (James Halliday) and Og (Ogden Morrow) in ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'' are game avatars that possess god-like power within the [=OASIS=]. They are able to destroy any avatar in an instant, resurrect fallen avatars, enter chat rooms uninvited, are nigh invincible and possess many other impossible-to-achieve abilities. After Wade Watts/Parzival successfully clears the third gate, he gains both Halliday's vast fortune as well as Anorak’s superuser status, his avatar gaining Anorak's cloak and access to [[spoiler:a button that could permanently shut down the [=OASIS=] if he so chooses.]]
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117	* Wrestling/RomanReigns has a t-shirt that combines this trope with FunWithAcronyms, the "God" in "God Mode" standing for "'''G'''reatness '''O'''n a '''D'''ifferent Level".
118	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GodMode