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[[quoteright:285:[[UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8977a2e9f8ec83d47e143a735dc58ea3.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:285:[[Myth/JapaneseMythology Amaterasu, origin of all that is good and mother to us all.]][[note]][[VideoGame/{{Okami}} Wolf form optional.]][[/note]]]]

->''"Our vision is one of peace. Our path, of mercy. We see--as you must also--how those who do not follow Us have been deceived or corrupted by the forces of wickedness. Thus, in their weakness, have they been lured into an existence of treachery and debasement. We weep for them, knowing there is no greater sin against oneself than the failure to believe in one's own worth."''
-->-- '''The Book of Persephone''', ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}''

In many works, there is a GodOfEvil. An ultimate embodiment of evil that seeks to either spread unhappiness or kill as much as he/she wants.

This is the {{inver|tedTrope}}se of that, a deity that seeks to defeat evil and/or seeks to spread goodness. In most works with a God of Good, he/she will often (but not always) be the BigGood, guiding TheHero but not getting directly involved in his/her quest to defeat the BigBad. In some cases, the god of good's role can be spreading good will or actively repairing that which has been tainted by evil or simply maintaining the world from plain old decay. It might seek to convert all to the setting's standard of goodness, warping hate into love, despair into hope, obsession into indifference where appropriate.

There is a tendency for Gods of Good to be female rather than male. Also, BeautyEqualsGoodness (and by proxy HotGod) tends to come into play with this trope. There is common overlap with GoldAndWhiteAreDivine and LightIsGood. These deities are also commonly a GodOfLight.

In many works, there is a [[DivineConflict conflict]] between the God of Good and the GodOfEvil. Often, [[SatanicArchetype as a take-off]] of {{Satan}}, the GodOfEvil is a rebellious underling of the God of Good.

Not in any way to be confused with GodIsGood, which is when there is a ''single'' god who is good (though in most monotheistic faiths, {{God}} ''is'' given this title, and many others like it, so He actually still counts).

'''To avoid FlameBait and Administrivia/{{Edit War}}s, note that this trope isn't about gods who simply ''are'' good, it's about gods ''of'' goodness.''' Gods who are nice but mostly defined by other qualities do not qualify. If the god can, by the setting's definition, do evil without contradicting their very being, they don't count.

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!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/SpiderRiders'' has the Spirit Oracle, who is believed to be a goddess by the natives of the Inner World. The Oracle is a very powerful yet kind individual who wishes to protect all life within the Inner World.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/NewGods'':
** Highfather Izaya, the [[TopGod leader]] of the New Gods on New Genesis, and opposed to the GodOfEvil Darkseid.
** The Source is the more literal version of this.
* The ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'' has the [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Vishanti, a triad whose names are Hoggoth, Oshtur, and Agamotto]], traditionally be the highest "good" deities available for regular consultation. A few polytheistic gods are also this. Balder from ComicBook/TheMightyThor is the god of light more for his goodness and nobility instead of light powers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* The ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'' has Celestia and Luna's parents, Fauna Luster and the unnamed Father of Alicorns, both of whom appear to be {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of ''existence''. In addition, the Father appears to be the DimensionLord of, and may very well ''be'', Pony Heaven (at the very least, it's contained in His body).
** Fillimon, the personification of the collective light of the [[HumansAreCthulhu Shadows Who Make]], also qualifies, as she exists to foster light, hope, and goodness in the multiverse and is a firm believer in RousseauWasRight. She is also the opposing force to her sibling [[GodOfEvil Nyarlathotrot]].
* ''Fanfic/TheBridgeMLP'' has BigGood [[spoiler:Harmony]], who is responsible for the creation of Celestia, Luna, and the Elements of Harmony, brought King Caesar to Equestria long ago to fight Tirek [[spoiler:and safeguard the newborn Cadence]], and has been working to bring about {{Heel Face Turn}}s in the less evil {{kaiju}}. She's also the only one powerful enough to be capable of fighting the BigBad [[spoiler:[[GodOfEvil Bagan]]]] on even terms, [[spoiler:though only just barely]].
* Arguably the Pyar gods in ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World''. as everything they intended to do when they came to C'hou was the epitome of goodness for someone. They gave the G'heddi'onians a new paradisaical home, the skahs endless monsters to fight, and the tirin and Ketafans a place to live without any monsters to bother them. When they accidentally introduced a great evil into C'hou and were badly weakened by it, they strove to fight that evil by importing outworlders to fight it. However, the ActualPacifist four are not at all convinced the Pyars are good, given that they turned the world into a giant hunting preserve and imported a lot of truly evil outworlders along with the good ones. [[spoiler: But it's all moot since they're actually in a giant telepathic {{MMORPG}} and everything is fake.]]
* The protagonist of the ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' quest ''Fanfic/AChampionInEarthBet'' is the Avatar, the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification divine avatar]] of Adeltom, God of Heroism, who became a superhero in the 1920s of his alternate Earth to usher in an age of peace. Mentioned once is one of his evil contemporaries, [[GodOfEvil Astor, God of Hatred]].
* ''Fanfic/GloriousShotgunPrincess'': Subverted. Autochthon is extremely helpful to the protagonists, as well as the source of the Exaltations and technically sapient life in general. He takes the time to explain to Jane that he is ''not'' good, or moral, and barely even manages "not cruel." He is the God of Creation, and creating is the only thing he cares about; he works to preserve life because life creates things. The distinction might seem academic, but it's important to understand how he and those like him think. The actual God of Good is the Unconquered Sun, but he doesn't have a real presence in the story since he's not even on the local plane of reality. He only appears briefly to speak to new Solars as they Exalt.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gamebooks]]
* ''Literature/LoneWolf'' has Kai, God of the Sun, and Ishir, Goddess of the Moon, who are also the source of all goodness in the universe. They are at constant war with Naar, [[GodOfEvil God of Darkness]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/CityOfLight'': Nimrod, god of healing, light, and knowledge, comes off as this, in start contrast with [[GodOfEvil Vraxor]]. Mirren notes in reading his holy book how much nicer it is, speaking of people having rights and dignity. She's still left unsure that he exists though due to his long absence from Palidia.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The White Guardian on ''Series/DoctorWho''. A GodOfEvil called [[TheAntiGod the Black Guardian]] opposes him, but neither can act in the universe directly, so they work through agents and emissaries.
* ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'': The Creator, who has made all life and light. Unlike in the books, this deity is portrayed as female.
* According to Ibis in the ''Series/AmericanGods2017'' episode "[[Recap/AmericanGodsS2E7TreasureOfTheSun Treasure of the Sun]]", Mad Sweeney was originally [[spoiler:Lugh, Irish God of the [[ThePoweroftheSun Sun]], Luck, Art and "everything valuable to civilization"]] before Catholicism and cultural osmosis turned him into a cowardly pagan king and eventually into a Leprechaun.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Religion and Mythology]]
* In Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and others, {{God}} is often referred to as God of Mercy, God of Love, God of Justice, etc. And yes, sometimes God of Good or Goodness. Of course, He's the God of pretty much ''everything'', but these are perhaps His most frequently invoked titles.
** In Islam, the invocation of God (a short phrase used at the start of just about anything--every single prayer, journeys, work, meals), ''bismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm'', means "In the name of God, most Merciful and Kind", and is quite possibly the single most common phrase any Muslim will utter, regardless of language or nationality.
** In the Bible, the exact nature and origin of evil itself aren't entirely clear, which is a ''huge'' source of debate and speculation. Regardless, the Bible tends to describe evil as that which violates God's desires and commands (Judges 2:11, 2 Samuel 12:9, Psalm 5:4-6; 51:4). Although the Bible describes God as a God of good, it does not rule out [[GoodIsNotSoft Him bringing punishment and calamity on the wicked]]. However, this punishment does often come through people who ''are'' wicked, and God is repeatedly shown to be able to "work" various evil actions and events into His plans (being omnipotent and omniscient helps).
** One of the more common Christian ideas is that "Evil" technically isn't a thing, but rather an ''absence'' of a thing: [[LackOfEmpathy the absence of good]]. God, then, did not create evil because it's not an actual thing, but more of a state. The Genesis account ''does'' call God's creation "very good" before the first human sin. Naturally, explanations for the origin of evil tend to involve ideas of [[SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate free will.]]
* The Devas of UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}; especially Vishnu, the Protector of humanity, who incarnates as [[GodInHumanForm Avatars]] to fight evil when needed. Of Hinduism's deities, one of the most well-known is Krishna, who was the ninth Avatar of Vishnu.
* The Bodhisattvas of UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} (kind of like Christian saints) are enlightened men and women that [[RefusingParadise refuse Nirvana]] so that they can save suffering beings by guiding them to enlightenment themselves. The best example of this is Guan Yin, or Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and Mercy who is revered by nearly all Buddhists as the epitome of unconditional love. The reason why she's usually shown with 1,000 arms and multiple heads is to show that she's always willing to help anyone in need.
* Ra in Myth/EgyptianMythology. While his role was mostly as the [[ThePowerOfTheSun sun god]], he was pretty much considered the pinnacle of morality and "goodness", opposed to [[EldritchAbomination Apep/Apophis]]. Ma'at more so even: she was the personification of ''moral decency''.
* As one of the few Titans from Myth/GreekMythology without jerk tendencies (provoked or unprovoked), Prometheus definitely counts. The shit he went through to help us humans is truly amazing.
** Hestia is the goddess of family [[ThePowerOfLove and all it entails]]. There may not have been many myths starring her, but she was definitely the most trusted and beloved of all gods.
** Arete is another example. She's the goddess of virtue and her only real mythological appearance comes from Xenophon's ''Memorabilia'' where she offers Hercules a life of glory in exchange for hard work. He ultimately decides to follow her path.
** Too add on to that, Herakles was probably the closest to a GodOfGood of the more prominent gods in Greek Mythology, even though Hestia was undoubtedly the kindest. His cultic titles included custos (The guardian), kallnikos (triumphant), promachos (champion) and alexikakos (The averter of evil). As Herakles Kallnikos, he was envoked as a protector from evil spirits, bandits, tyranny and all sorts of dangers. Also, as a protector from war. When he married Hebe, she produced two sons. Anicetus (unconquerable) and Alexiares (he who wards off war).
* Amaterasu from Myth/JapaneseMythology and UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} is her pantheon's goddess of good, and similar to Ra in Myth/EgyptianMythology she is also a [[ThePowerOfTheSun sun goddess.]] She is described as warm and compassionate, and regularly opposes her TricksterGod brother Susano'o. At one point, she was so angry and distraught over Susano'o's destruction that she hid in a sacred cave, and all light left the world. She was tricked into leaving by Ama no Uzume, who danced naked in front of the cave; the raucous joyous laughter of all the other gods piqued her curiosity enough that she walked to the mouth of the cave. Ame no Uzume left a mirror facing inwards, and Amaterasu was stunned by the light and beauty of her own reflection long enough for the other gods to coax and beseech her to return to the celestial palace. In the process, Ame no Uzume became goddess of the dawn as well as dance.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bai-Ulgan Bai-Ulgan]] in Turkic mythology is the god of goodness, welfare, abundance, and plenty.
** Two of his sons might qualify as well: Karshyt Han and Bakhty Han, the gods of purity and blessing, respectively.
* UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} is an ancient religion that holds to a doctrine of an eternal war between the spirits of good and evil. Ahura Mazda is worshipped as the supreme, benevolent spirit, and is forever in conflict with Ahriman, the spirit of evil.
* After the Turks enter into contact with the more monotheistic faiths of the West, their originally polytheist shamanic religion which had plenty of gods become more dualistic like Zoroastrianism with a god of Good Tengri and a GodOfEvil Erlik (this being of course before most of them became Christians and Muslims).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has quite a few of these. Strictly speaking, a God of Good must have Good in his or her domain. (A domain is literal or metaphysical field the god has complete mastery of; a God of Fire would have a domain of Fire, etc.) And in 3rd edition, the norm is that every deity who is good in alignment is enough of a God of Good that he or she will grant access to the Good Domain; similarly with [[GodOfEvil all of the gods who are evil in alignment]].
** 4E's core pantheon has four of them - Bahamut, Pelor, Avandra, and Moradin.
** 3E's core pantheon had Heironeous, Moradin again, Yondalla, Pelor again, Garl Glittergold, Ehlonna, Corellon Larethian, and Kord.
** From ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'': Branchala, Habbakuk, Kiri-Jolith, Majere, Mishakal, Paladine, Solinari
** From the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' (and there's quite a list of them!): Chauntea, Lathander, the late Mystra, Selune, Sune, Torm, the late Tyr, Bahamut again, Mielikki, Tymora, Deneir, Eldath, Lliir, Lurue, Milil, and a host of others in other lands of Toril.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}''[='=]s Golarion, similarly to ''D&D'', has multiple major deities of the Good domain: Cayden Cailean (god of {{Lovable Rogue}}s), Desna (goddess of explorers), Erastil (god of farmers and hunters), Iomedae (goddess of [[{{Paladin}} just warfare]]), Sarenrae (goddess of the Sun and healing), Shelyn (goddess of beauty and {{love|Goddess}}), and Torag (god of smiths and craftsmen).
* ''TabletopGame/{{Starfinder}}'', set in the same world Pathfinder thousands of years in the future, has shuffled the deities around. Desna, Iomedae, and Sarenrae are still major deities, and several new Good Gods have risen to prominence. Hylax (insectoid goddess of friendship and peace), Yaraesa (goddess of knowledge and science), and Weydan (god of exploration and freedom) have joined the pantheon.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has Avacyn, the goddess who gives hope and protection to the humans of Innistrad against the demons, vampires, and other assorted horrors that inhabit it. [[spoiler:She was, in fact, specifically created by [[DarkIsNotEvil the vampire Planeswalker Sorin Markov]] to serve as the Good in the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil of the plane since the humans were being driven to extinction by everything else, which is a bad thing in the long run since that will lead to the self-destruction of Innistrad]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has the Unconquered Sun, who is God of Good because he's defined by four different kinds of Good: being brave, being loving, being determined, and being prudent. His chosen champions are people who possess an abundance of at least one of these Good traits. In fact, the UCS came to be because a titan wanted to be known as Evil Incarnate, and found that no one in Creation was Good enough to contrast him and make that title meaningful.
* Surprisingly, ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' has a small number of genuinely good deities. Isha, the Elven mother-goddess of agriculture and life, is constantly described as offering aid to anyone who needs it, which is a lot for being part of a pantheon that is aloof at best. It also helps that one of her avatars is one of the High Elves' co-monarchs, the Everqueen, whose own power can purify daemons, along with being a truly kind and noble individual. For humans, there's Shallya who is the Empire's goddess of healing and mercy that requires pacifism for her priestesses who serve as healers and nurses kind of like the Red Cross, especially when they mostly work in keeping Nurgle's diseases at bay, or even cure them miraculously.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': ''Un''surprisingly, there's a distinct lack of them in 40K. While the Eldar goddess Isha still exists, she's been imprisoned by Nurgle (the jolliest and ''kindest'' of the Chaos gods) so as to have a regenerating test subject for his horrible plagues. And yet still she continues to fight him off by whispering the cures to her faithful when she can.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' Mata Nui is the Great Spirit and creator of the Matoran Universe, he created the Matoran, the Rahi, and even the Makuta.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Palutena in ''VideoGame/KidIcarus''. She is the Goddess of Light who swears to protect the humans of the surface world. She is opposed to Medusa, the Goddess of Darkness.
* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', there's the Goddess Hylia, whom the gods of the Triforce charged with guarding the Triforce from [[GodOfEvil Demon King Demise]]. [[spoiler:Zelda turns out to be her mortal incarnation.]] Hylia also plays a large role in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', where it's revealed that she's basically become Hyrule's patron goddess.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** From ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', Cosmos, the goddess of harmony and the leader of the heroes. This is even more notable for the fact that the series is well known for its portrayal of evil gods. [[spoiler:It does later come to light in the in-game documentation of ''012: Duodecim'' that she and Chaos aren't really gods, but [[ArtificialHuman Manikins]], empowered by [[GreaterScopeVillain Shinryu]]; Cosmos herself was a facsimile of the former of the wife of Cid of the Lufaine.]] In any event, she certainly plays well the role of BigGood for her chosen warriors in the cycles of conflict.
** Etro of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': The player character, as a canine incarnation of [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Amaterasu]].
* In the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' series, Raiden is officially the [[ShockAndAwe God of Thunder]], but doubles as the official Protector of Earth and shown as the leader of the forces of good, until he makes a HeroicSacrifice in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Deadly Alliance]]'' and CameBackWrong in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Deception]].''
** {{Subverted}} in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. It introduces Cetrion, and Elder goddess of life and virtue who is supposed to balance her [[GodOfEvil evil brother Shinnok]]. Yet she did nothing to stop his evil or any other evil in the previous games even when they threatened all of the realms. When she finally appears to has degenerated [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis to being from Shinnok.]]
* DoubleSubverted in ''{{Videogame/Fable}}''. The first game has Avo, whose temple the player can make donations to for beneficial gifts. [[spoiler:The updated rerelease reveals that "Avo", however, is just a huge mass of Will energy set up by a merchant to scam people]]. That's the subversion. The "double" part kicks in during game two, in which [[spoiler:the Temple of the Light in Oakvale seems to be more or less the same... except the being they worship turns out to be more than just Will energy: it's ''sentient'' and can even speak to you depending on your choice of quests. This seems to imply the existence of a higher, benevolent power; even if it isn't Avo]].
* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/{{Langrisser}} Der Langrisser]]''. Lushiris is the Goddess of Light and more or less presented as this, but [[LightIsNotGood ethically-speaking, she's all too human]].
* Blizzard in ''VideoGame/PrimalRage'' is literally the God of Good and leads the Virtuous Beasts. He is, however, an AntiHero who has no problem with devouring his own followers for strength and is only "good" [[BlackAndGrayMorality because he's fighting against even worse monsters]].
* In the entirety of the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' franchise, Philemon is the closest being to a positive divine entity Humanity has. He's the creator of the Velvet Room in which the protagonists of all games go to get help from [[CreepyGood Igor]] and he grants Personas and spiritual support to several of the protagonists. He himself is born of the [[EmbodimentOfVirtue positive side of humanity]] and in the bonus fight against him in ''Eternal Punishment'' he's shown to be just as powerful, if not more, than his EvilCounterpart [[GodOfEvil Nyarlathotep]].
* Several deities mentioned in the Religion/Mythology above are included to fight in ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}'', most notably Amaterasu and Vishnu in two of his mortal forms: Vamana and Rama, and all three were portrayed as virtuous. On the other hand, while Ra is included, he ends up playing a subversion: While still the God Of Good, he was pissed off about that one time Isis poisoned him and make him tell her his real name to gain access of his magic ([[WellIntentionedExtremist to defeat Set and free Egypt]]), so he came off as a {{Jerkass}} who seems quite eager to roast his enemies with sun ray.
* The Angels in ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' are ruled by a trio of Gods of Good: [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity Namm]], personification of Justice, [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Baraas]], personification of Cooperation, and [[MotherNature Alonai]], personification of Love. Since this is a setting where even Gods of Good are [[GodIsFlawed flawed]], the worlds they shape still fall apart ''eventually'', forcing another cycle of the EternalRecurrence that drives the series.
* Persephone from ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'', self-proclaimed life-goddess and protector of good, ArchEnemy and opposite number of Charnel, the setting's GodOfEvil. While ''extremely'' RightlySelfRighteous, she also is extremely genuine in wanting the best for most even though she is also a case of GoodIsNotSoft.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* There was a Goddess of Good in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' who ruled over the not originally evil Dimension Of Pain. She got beaten and [[SealedGoodInACan bagged]] by the resident GodOfEvil before Torg freed her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG''
--> 64. My paladin's battle cry is not "[[Characters/Warhammer40000ChaosGods Good for the Good God!]]"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': Gaia, the BigGood, is the spirit of the Earth and the protector of the planet.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The Avatar line is the [[GodInHumanForm human form]] of a divine spirit charged with maintaining the peace between the four nations.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': Raava, the spirit of light, is also responsible for peace and balance, though her personality can be abrasive and [[FantasticRacism discriminatory]]. [[spoiler:She fuses with Wan to create the first Avatar, meaning that the Avatar is ''her'' incarnation on Earth to maintain said balance and peace]].
* ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'': Primus, Lord of Light and Creator-God of the Transformers, is usually in this role whenever he decides to make an appearance in person. Most of his time is spent in altmode (the planet Cybertron itself).
[[/folder]]
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