[[quoteright:350: [[Literature/BhagavadGita https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/krishnaarjuna_7.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Krishna take the wheel!"]]
->''“I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you as you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”''
-->-- '''Aslan''', ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy''

A specific type of TheReveal that deals with {{God}} or a similar powerful figure and shows them to have been accompanying the protagonist in disguise. May be especially jarring if it turns out to have been the NonHumanSidekick or something similar, though sometimes [[AngelUnaware enough hints are dropped]] that the savvy viewer can figure it out beforehand.

If the protagonists are upset by the fact that the God figure didn't use their powers to help them earlier, a HandWave of "YouDidntAsk" combined with having to maintain the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil is often used. Or perhaps GodsHandsAreTied so this was all He could do, or maybe He wanted to help the protagonist [[MysteriousProtector in some way]] without [[StoryBreakerPower completely spoiling things for him]]. If God doesn't seem to do any miracles, but somehow nudged events anyways, He's working InMysteriousWays. However, it's commonly [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane kept ambiguous]] whether He did anything miraculous -- or even whether he's God at all.

SubTrope of SecretIdentity. This trope's presence places a work or setting in Class 4 on the SlidingScaleOfDivineIntervention.

The opposite of this trope is the LouisCypher. Compare FairyGodmother, KingIncognito, and PalsWithJesus. See also AngelUnaware and HypercompetentSidekick.

'''This trope inherently involves a [[TheReveal reveal]], so spoilers ahead are unmarked.'''

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* TheUnintelligible Mokona at the end of the ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' manga was revealed to be the equivalent of God, or at least can channel him. Before you ask, the ones in ''Manga/XxxHolic'' and ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' are [[CloneJesus copies.]] Their full name, Mokona Modoki, translates to something like "Mokona Knock-Off."
* The ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' OVA series pulled this off no less than four times, with Sasami having merged with Tsunami, one of the three Chousin, her mother Misaki being Counteractor, one of the few beings capable of fighting the Chousin, Washu being another one of the three Chousin, and finally Tenchi himself being an avatar of a force even more powerful than the Chousin themselves.
* Saori in ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' in about the mid of the first season is revealed to be the earthly incarnation Athena.
* Vivio, Nanoha's adopted daughter in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', turned out to be [[CloneJesus a clone of Sankt Kaiser Olivie]], the [[CrystalDragonJesus Belkan Saint Church's figure of worship]]. One wonders if the Saint Church finds it weird that they have their equivalent of Jesus Christ enrolled in one of their schools. (It turns out they're honored.)
* ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'', it turns out that the landlady of Maison Izumo is [[spoiler: a Sekirei. Not just a Sekirei but [[TheDreaded Sekirei No. 01]] (it was No. 00 but immediately renumbered as No. 01). Miya Asama states that she is different from the other 107 Sekireis and even calls herself a [[PhysicalGod goddess]]. And she has powers [[DemonHead to]] [[MasterSwordsman back]] [[RazorWind it]] [[PersonsOfMassDestruction up.]]]]
* In ''Anime/MyOtome'', it turns out that Mikoto, the chubby black cat that hangs around Mashiro, is mentally connected to Mikoto, the petite but deceptively-strong goddess who lives in the Black Valley with Mai and uses astral projection to keep people away from the Harmonium Organ, and is possibly [[spoiler:connected to the [=HiME=] from the original series, which is hinted to be the distant past of this universe.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', second-season character Hanyuu has been present all along, but gone unnoticed by the main character due to being [[IntangibleMan intangible]]. She describes herself as "a powerless god" since she can't influence events positively: when the TrueCompanions start to go off the deep end, they become somewhat aware of Hanyuu's presence but it only registers as the sense that they are being watched by something they can't see, [[ParanoiaFuel which only makes them even more paranoid.]] Later on, she begins taking a more positive and active role.
* In ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', the comic-relief mystical tea-brewing Gonzy turns out to be a Coralian himself.
* in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', [[spoiler:Rei Ayanami]] turns out to be an incarnation of Lilith, the source of all life on Earth. And shortly after, [[ApocalypseHow some very, very bad things happen.]]
* In ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja'', in the middle of Mexico/South of Mexico, there is an inn run by an old man; he stops the villains chasing the heroines for a day or two so that they can have some CharacterDevelopment. This includes a TykeBomb and witch with magic powers, who he stops simply by looking at them. Apparently he is really the Hopi Fertility Deity Kokopelli and takes the form of a white author who died 3 years prior to the plot.
* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' has its own strange take on this idea. Maiza's co-pilot isn't God, but rather Nyarlathotep's {{Expy}}.
* ''Anime/SpaceDandy'': In an unusual example, it is revealed in the finale that [[spoiler:the show's ''narrator'']] is essentially God. Before this, the viewers are given very little reason to believe he is anything more than [[spoiler: an exposition device who's only there for the benefit of the audience and doesn't really exist in-universe, with the infrequent interaction with the characters being easily interpreted as mere RuleOfFunny]].
* In ''Manga/{{Bakuon}}'', during a roadtrip, Hane encounters a man in need of gas and offers to siphon some of hers to help him. At the gas station, it's revealed that he has an "I am Jesus" helmet and he proceeds to hand her the HolyGrail, a limited edition Suzuki cup. [[ChekhovsGun Said cup saves Rin's life]].
* ''Manga/MakenKi'': Though [[{{Deuteragonist}} Himegami]] has aided Tenbi's [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil student council]] on occasion, she isn't part of the council herself. However, they didn't learn of her divinity until after the conclusion of the Okino Island arc, which revealed she's the biological daughter of Yatsuno[[note]]who was the Eight Headed {{Orochi}} of legend, [[HotGod in human form]][[/note]] and Oousu no Mikoto, the first prince of the Yamato Court. Meaning, she's royalty ''and'' a demigoddess.
* ''Manga/DontMeddleWithMyDaughter'': [[ZigzaggingTrope Zigzagged]]. As far as the public are aware, Athena and Clara are a mother/daughter duo of superheroines, whom they believe to be goddesses from a fabled island. They're only ''half right''. In chapter 9, Athena is revealed to be the actual Greek goddess of legend [[PhysicalGod in physical form]], whereas Clara is a demigoddess. And instead of being from a remote island, they hail from another planet entirely.
* Near the end of ''Manga/MononokeSharing'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:[[{{NEET}} Momi]] was the creator of the entire mononoke race, as well as having assisted [[Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid Lucoa]], [[Manga/ICantUnderstandWhatMyHusbandIsSaying Miki]], and others in the creation of the entire planet.]]
-->'''Yata:''' You mean all this time I've been sharing a bathroom with a ''god''?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Crimson}}'' features God masquerading as a little black girl who never says anything (though she apparently communicates telepathically) and just goes around either selling flowers to the unaware protagonist or doing friendly miracles, such as reviving a café full of people killed by some overzealous archangels, and offering redemption to Lucifer himself. (He turns her down, since he likes his current gig.)
* In the first ''Comicbook/GhostRider'' series, Satan (who was indirectly responsible for the hero's creation) kept trying to claim his soul. At one point, he's thwarted by the intervention of a normal-looking man who just claimed to be "just a friend." It was heavily implied that he was actually Jesus[[note]]This was later retconned so that it was all just a part of Satan's plans, but the writer of the original story [[WordOfGod has confirmed that yeah, it was meant to be the real Jesus]][[/note]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Hound|2014}}'': Morrigan adopts the form of a Fomorian hag named Calatin to manipulate Queen Maeve while masquerading as her advisor and the chief priestess at the court of Connact.
* In one ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' story, [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Neron and the Demons Three]] attempt to pull the moon from the heavens. Superman uses a magnetic field trick to put the moon in its proper orbit, but mentions that he had "help": cut to an image of a giant fingerprint on the lunar surface.
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': One of the crew members ([[spoiler:Rung]]) is actually the mortal incarnation of [[spoiler:Primus himself, TopGod of the Transformers]]. Several other characters the crew encounter as friends or enemies turn out to be [[spoiler:the rest of his pantheon, the Guiding Hand; HangingJudge Tyrest is Solomus, god of wisdom, the {{psychopomp}}-like Necrobot is Mortilus, god of death, MadDoctor Pharma is being possessed by Adaptus, god of change and transformation, and the [[TheOmniscient all-knowing artifact]] called the Magnificence is all that remains of Epistemus, god of knowledge. However, there’s nothing actually divine about these gods — they’re just the five first and oldest members of the species, who were mythologized into godhood by subsequent generations as [[TheFogOfAges all memory of the first days faded]], including [[AmnesiacGod their own]].]]
* Not a god, but [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Watcher]] has occasionally used the guise of a bald man in a dark trenchcoat to speak with certain heroes (notably ComicBook/IronMan and [[ComicBook/XMen The Beast]]), generally right after [[NiceJobBreakingItHero they've really screwed the pooch]]. Inevitably, by the end of the story, he sheds the disguise and shows them who he really is and why his words have weight.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/TomTheDancingBug'' uses the InvertedTrope whenever [[GodModeSue God-Man]] teams up with [[NonPoweredCostumedHero Human-Man]], as in [[http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2008/02/02 February 2, 2008]]. In other works, God disguises himself but helps someone. Here, God-Man reveals himself at the beginning, but has done nothing to help Human-Man by the end.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* Played with in some ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fics involving Nations and their countrymen. One in particular involved America fighting alongside one of his soldiers in World War 2... and meeting him again decades later as a dying War Vet.
** Played with in the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' crossover fic ''A Case of Jerusalem'' wherein England is revealed to have been copilot to ''several'' British regiments just in the late 19th Century alone, including possibly that of Dr. Watson. He does get "reassigned" once his men grow suspicious of him, however.
* The ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers Galaxy Rangers]]'' fanfic "A Christmas for Goose" has a HeroicBystander named Chris Lamb step in to help the heroes fend off some crazy fundamentalists who consider the ArtificialHuman Goose a soulless abomination. The heroes hang out with him for a while, and he gives Goose a small charm of a lamb. It's only after Zachary remarks "behold, the lamb of God" that the Fridge Realization hits.
--> When I shook his hand, I noticed it had a nasty scar on it, it seemed to go all the way through, in fact it looked like both hands...
* In ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-11757-68/DonSample+Tales+from+the+Barman.htm Tales from the Barman]]'', [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Xander]] has (among others) God and Death stop in for a drink at his bar. Xander also learns that some of the women who watched him strip in Oxnard include God, Death, Glorificus, Washu Hakubi, Sailor Pluto, and the Muse of History.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfiction ''Lives Among The Dead'' has River Song realize (just before her death) that the Doctor, the man she murdered, married, seduced, humiliated, saved the world with, rescued, and was rescued by, is actually the [[EldritchAbomination being]] ''Nyarlothotep'' was based on.
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/8018614 He Will Cover You With His Feathers]]'', the pet hawk [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWright Taka]] is an angel who comforts Simon during his incarceration.
--> Maybe angels know what it is to suffer and be powerless, and that is why they have compassion. And even if they cannot part seas or heal wounds or turn iron shackles into dust, they can love, and sometimes, perhaps, that love is enough to let someone hold on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film — Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeVIITheStoneOfColdFire'', features two mysterious dinosaurs who periodically help the protagonists throughout the movie. The final scene implies rather strongly that ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation depending on your point of view]]) they were either Angels or Aliens who took on the form of dinosaurs.
* This was ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen meant]]'' to happen in ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado''; in the original script, it would have been revealed at the end that [[TeamPet Bibo]] was actually some sort of spirit or god aiding the protagonists. While TheReveal was cut out, all the hints to it (such as how the volcano stops erupting after a shot of Bibo looking at it) were left in, making an interesting MaybeMagicMaybeMundane situation.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheFamilyMan'': It's implied that Cash is some sort of GuardianAngel, though he never says so outright. He throws Jack into an AlternateUniverse so he can get a glimpse of the life he might have had if he had made different choices. It seems like he was initially going to offer a similar glimpse to the AsianStoreOwner he was arguing with, but he blew his shot before Jack intervened.
* ''Film/OhGod'': George Burns's character tells John Denver's character that he (Burns) is God, and he spends half the movie trying to convince him that he really did see God. The other half is spent in court, with God as a character witness.
** The second movie played out similarly, but with an eleven-year-old girl in the John Denver role.
* Happens in the 2000 remake of ''Film/{{Bedazzled 2000}}''. After having an oddly philosophical and completely on-point conversation with his cellmate, Creator/BrendanFraser's character starts to catch on.
-->'''Elliot:''' Who ''are'' you?\\
'''Cellmate:''' Just a friend, brother. Just a really good friend.
** The divine nature of Elliot's cellmate is further implied when he is seen playing chess with the devil at the end. She cheats when he isn't looking.
* In ''Film/FatherFigures'', two brothers who frequently reference "the Universe's plan" pick up a friendly hitchhiker who cryptically tells them "you already know my name". At the end, he turns out to be "the Universe".
* In ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', a homeless man on life support due to an attack by hockey players from hell in the opening sequence turns out to be God. And since killing Him just sends Him back to Heaven, putting Him in a coma while He was in human form is the only way to stop Him from stopping TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Not to mention ''she'' turned out to be Music/AlanisMorissette. Though this is just one of many forms - what are we mortals to say if God wants to look like a Canadian musician?
* An interesting case in ''Film/{{Tron}}'', in which human protagonist Flynn is sent InsideAComputerSystem full of living programs who regard their programmers as gods, and winds up allying with some of them to destroy a tyrannical administrative program. The audience knows that he's a "User" from the beginning, but the programs don't and are quite surprised when he spills the beans.
* ''Film/BruceAlmighty'' has a homeless guy appear repeatedly with somewhat-relevant cardboard signs, who it turns out is God. Meeting God first as a [[AlmightyJanitor janitor]] and electrician might also count.
* ''Film/WonderWoman2017'': In a twist combining this trope with EvilAllAlong, [[spoiler:Sir Patrick]] turns out to have actually been [[WarGod Ares]] the whole time, manipulating events to prolong World War I and turn Diana against humanity. It is also heavily hinted that [[spoiler:[[MagicalNativeAmerican Chief]] may really be Napi, the TricksterGod of Blackfoot mythology.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
%%* ''Literature/AmericanGods'' pulls off one of these combined with a ChekhovsGunman. It manages to veer into "Oh God, how did I not see ''that'', goddamnit!" territory and flies under the radar at first because it's so [[{{Pun}} low key]].
* In Creator/PeterDavid's ''Before Dishonor'' (yes, the one where the giant Borg Cube EATS PLUTO), the ''Enterprise'' helmsman is revealed to be the Lady Q.
* The Finnish tale of ''Literature/TheBirchAndTheStar'' has the two protagonists guided by two seemingly insignificant birds on their way home to Finland. When the same two birds show up time and again on the journey, the siblings begin to lampshade it, until they finally come home to their parents' farm and discover two graves under the birch tree... Their dead siblings were with them all along.
* At the very end of ''Shieldbreaker's Story'', the last volume in the ''Literature/BookOfSwords'' saga, it is revealed, albeit only to the reader and to Yambu, that the Emperor was really G-d, although it was strongly hinted almost from the beginning. The other characters, mind you, including Mark, the Emperor's son, never find out.
* Zelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' begins with a feud between a group of semi-divine siblings after their father Oberon disappears and the succession to the throne of Amber is in question. Oberon later turns out to have been the narrator's sidekick from a shadow earth.
** Doubled up: Corwin, at least, never suspected his grandfather was still around, let alone that he's known him (in disguise) for his entire life. Grandpa is an even better candidate for the God Was My Copilot trope, since he's the one who created the Pattern, more or less bringing the universe into existence out of the primal Chaos. There's also a semi-legendary creature that turns out to a) really exist and b) be Oberon's mother.
* Aslan in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' does this a few times, most notably in ''The Horse and his Boy'' where he tells Shasta of all the times he's watched over him and helped him throughout his life, sometimes disguised as a cat.
* In Creator/TerryPratchett's Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', it turns out that the squad really has been guided by the Duchess. All the miracles are more than a little creepy.
* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': In ''Literature/{{Orca}}'', Vlad's old friend Kiera the Thief is revealed to be an alter-ego of [[PhysicalGod Sethra Lavode]].
* ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}} Chronicles'':
** In the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}} Chronicles'', the [[ObfuscatingStupidity apparently-senile]] wizard Fizban turns out to be Paladine, the head of the good gods. He's pretty bad at hiding his true nature at points, occasionally dropping the "doddering old fool" act and giving everyone chills due to his seriousness. And most D&D players got suspicious when he started casting spells without any of the arcane rigmarole Raistlin has to use, and they had previously heard the legend of Paladine and had the lack of his constellation in the sky (along with that of BigBad Takhisis) specifically noted as meaning the two were on the mortal plane, and AllMythsAreTrue.
** Another god, Reorx, shows up in the short story "Wanna Bet?" that appears in one of the Tales books, having "hired" Caramon's three sons for a quest. It isn't revealed to be him until near the end of the story, but savvy readers (or those that remember Dragons of Dwarven Depths) can figure out it's him before the first part is over with.
* This is played with by Fizban's apparent {{Expy}} Zifnab in ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle''. He has the same mix of senile eccentricity with flashes of remarkable wisdom and power, and at one point even says that he's a god, but is really just a very crazy old man with a lot of plot-centric information locked up in that confused brain. The dragon that is his constant companion, however, ''is'' a semi-divine being.
* Happens in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book ''Literature/SmallFavor''. In a fight with people possessed by fallen angels, Harry throws around power in the shape of a giant hand from an unexpected, inexplicable source. Later, during TheStinger, Harry [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Rages Against the Heavens]] because God lets the fallen angels run loose on Earth without interfering, and Jake the [[SarcasmMode humble janitor]][[note]]Truly the Archangel Uriel. Killing the Firstborns of Egypt was him.[[/note]] points out to Harry that while Lucifer broke the Rules by giving his side a major boost, God might have chosen a smaller response but could have greater impact in the long run. He ends his conversation with Harry saying, maybe God "already gave you a hand". When Harry's hand tingles again, he turns to find the janitor gone, but his cart is still there, towels swinging on it as though it just stopped moving.
* Creator/DavidEddings:
** In ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', it eventually turns out that the foundling, Errand, that they've been dragging around since Book 2 of ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', is actually a proto-God, and already has a pretty good handle on Omniscience.
** Eddings does it again with Flute in ''The Elenium'', who turns out to be the Child Goddess Aphrael (and then Aphrael has another incarnation as Sparhawk and Elenia's daughter Danae). Flute and Danae eventually meet and hold a brief conversation in ''The Tamuli'', and a character later comments to Aphrael that several people were wondering if the room was going to implode - or some other similar paradoxical notion.
** He did it ''[[RuleOfThree again]]'' in ''Literature/TheRedemptionOfAlthalus'' -- though it is a bit downplayed, since new members of the heroic group are quickly filled in on the fact that an incarnation of Dweia, one of the three gods of the setting, is part of the group (with the exception of the ''first'' member, the protagonist Althalus. He gets to spend a long, ''long'' time studying under Dweia before he finds out that she's Dweia). [[spoiler:Before that there is a seemingly mad eremite who talks to God and points Althalus towards the Edge of the World. When the events from the beginning of the book are re-run at the end of the book (with alterations on Althalus' part), it turns out the eremite was talking to ''himself'' -- he was actually Deiwos, the creator god]].
** David also uses this trope in ''Literature/FallOfKnight'', with the minor character of Joshua Cook. (Carpenter would have been too obvious?)
* Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/ElementalMasters'': ''Literature/TheSerpentsShadow'' takes elements from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' and places them in VictorianLondon with ElementalPowers. Snow White is Maya, a half-Indian doctor, and the dwarfs are her Indian pets, who are all avatars of Hindu gods and goddesses. They manifest powers in the finale; most notably, Charam the monkey turns into Hanuman himself, complete with spear.
* In ''[[Literature/TheElminsterSeries Elminster: Making of a Mage]]'', Elminster is tutored in magic by a female wizard, Myrjala Darkeyes, with whom he eventually develops a romantic relationship. After she's seemingly incinerated in battle with the BigBad, he angrily swears he'll never work magic again because it only leads to sorrow. Cue Myrjala's body reforming from ashes and revealing herself as [[GodInHumanForm an avatar of Mystra, goddess of magic]], and acting all hurt because of what he just said.
* In the [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Forgotten Realms]] "Finder's Stone" trilogy, Finder Wyvernspur was formerly a mortal who has ascended to godhood within only the last few months. His only followers are a tiny community who follow him in gratitude for having killed the lesser god who had ruled their land. He had no true worshippers and only a very narrow portfolio concerning innovation in music and bardic arts, so he took on the alter ego of the elderly priest Jedidiah, a worshipper of Finder (i.e., himself) to find a true priest that fits his values. He soon met Joel, a disaffected bard, and joined him for adventures while teaching him of "Finder" and his priesthood. This leads to a much more give and take example than most, as Joel saw many of Jedidiah's feats and assumed that he was high in Finder's favor and that he himself was a second-rate follower, while Finder was a raw rookie at being a deity and just wanted to have a mortal companion and mortal adventures, even concealing and then losing a large chunk of his divine power after storing it in an artifact and having that artifact stolen rather than blow his cover as a mortal adventurer. After Joel finds out Finder's secret, they have a long period where they resettle their relationship; Joel has a hard time offering worship to a being he's adventured with for months as a mortal and who he knows to be entirely falliable, while Finder continues seeing Joel as a close friend and has trouble forming any kind of mortal/divine separation. The trilogy ends with Joel learning to embrace Finder's tenants and offer him prayers without self-conscious doubt, ready to spread and grow his new priesthood, with Finder himself learning lessons in his responsibilities to his followers.
* Not quite a God, but in Eric Nylund's ''Literature/AGameOfUniverse'', the AI Setebos turns out to be an Angel.
* ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'': In ''Voyage to the City of the Dead'', by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, it turns out that the friendly, mentally retarded, GentleGiant is in fact a Mutable- a shapeshifting, nigh-immortal creature present in some form or another in the mythologies and legends of every known advanced species.
* In ''Literature/TheIliad'', it's arguably a RunningGag that the gods ''try'' to do this, but the mortals always catch on too quickly. Athena seems to pull it off in the closing lines of ''Literature/TheOdyssey''.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'', ''Literature/AMagesPower'': [[TheTrickster Tasio, King of the Tricksters]], pretended to be Eric's mortal roommate, Aio.
* In ''Literature/MemoriesOfIce'', the third book of ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', K'rul takes on the identity of the merchant ''Keruli'' to involve himself more in the happenings of Darujhistan without putting himself in the line of fire of other ascendants who might recognize him.
* In ''Literature/MidnightAtTheWellOfSouls'', the main character himself is revealed to be god... or [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien something like god]], at the end.
* Happens twice in Creator/GarthNix's ''Literature/OldKingdom'' series where two of the Nine (Kibeth, aka the Disreputable Dog, and Yrael, aka Mogget) are there from the beginning and only show themselves in the final battle against Orannis.
* In James Morrow's ''Only Begotten Daughter'', the title female messiah despairs for not being about to contact her mother, God. At the end, it turns out God just might be Amanda, a sponge with whom she has had conversations with throughout the book. As Amanda puts it, "''Look'' at me. Faceless, shapeless, holey, undifferentiated, Jewish, inscrutable… and a hermaphrodite to boot. Years ago, I told you sponges cannot be fatally dismembered, for each part quickly becomes the whole. To wit, I am both immortal and infinite."
* Given that his most famous series revolve around ancient pantheons interacting with the modern world, Creator/RickRiordan does this a lot.
** In the ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' series' fourth book, ''The Battle of the Labyrinth'', Hera reveals at the end that she had been secretly helping Percy through the entire quest by doing things such as paying Geryon to let them through his ranch and guiding his arrow, even though Percy had prayed to Apollo and Artemis for help, and believed it was by their guidance he shot straight.
** About a third of the way through the first book in Literature/TheKaneChronicles, Sadie's pet cat Muffin turns out to be the goddess Bast. Or at least, her current avatar in the mortal world. Later, Bast herself is actually revealed as being a far more important goddess than originally thought, as she was the one who fought [[PrimordialChaos Apophis]] [[CosmicKeystone for millennia]].
** And then at the end of the first book of Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard, an Einherjar named X the Half-Troll turns out to have been Odin in disguise the whole time. This one was very heavily hinted at.
* ''Literature/RetiredWitchesMysteries'': The series features the Bone Man, an occasional aid to local witches who come to make deals with him, who's known to be a supernatural being, but not a witch himself. In book 2, the coven learns he's actually the Irish sea god Manannan [=MacLir=].
* In ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy'', much of the later plot was driven by trying to find the High One, who had disappeared. [[spoiler:Turns out that it was Deth.]]
* Joanne Harris's ''Literature/{{Runemarks}}'' does this ''more than once''. A large number of people, including the protagonist, turn out to be fallen gods.
* Creator/ManlyWadeWellman's Literature/SilverJohn short story "On the Hills and Everywhere" has an unnamed carpenter show up at a place where two old friends have quarreled. As a result of the quarrel, one has dug a deep ditch between their properties, and the other wants the carpenter to put up a fence along the ditch. At the end, the carpenter has built a bridge across the ditch instead, the men patch up their quarrel -- and the one man's little son isn't crippled anymore.
* The title character of ''Silverlock'' is befriended by a poet and singer who gives his name as "O. Widsith Amergin Demodocus... And let's see; there are others of course, but to cut it short I'll wind up with Boyan Taliesin Golias." It's only when Golias sings his way into Hell to rescue Silverlock that we learn that the "O." stands for "Orpheus" (he doesn't, by the way, botch the rescue as he did with Eurydice) and the other names that he supplies are a really big hint that he isn't simply a wandering singer. "Widsith" is the name of a ''scop'' (poet and bard) in Old English mythology; "Amergin" is a name associated with two different master bards in Irish Mythology; "Demodocus" was poet in the court of King Alcinous in ''Literature/TheOdyssey''; "Boyan" is the name of a royal court bard in the Rus epic ''The Lay of Igor's Campaign''; "Taliesin" was a famed and highly regarded Welsh poet. Golias is the only name that doesn't belong to a legendary poet or bard; he's a mythical "lord of vagabonds". The fact that Silverlock doesn't catch any of the references simply underlines what a philistine he is.
* Tad Williams' cat-fantasy ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' uses this trope when Tailchaser is in his darkest hour, trapped by evil demon-cats underground... and then the insane, filthy old tom that has been clinging to his traveling group for most of the novel reveals himself as the cat-god Tangaloor Firefoot.
* Sometimes in the ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': The Great Mother Goddess blesses Alanna in the second ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' and gifts her with a purple-eyed, magical cat. We find out in ''Literature/TheImmortals'' that he's some kind of PhysicalGod, and in ''Literature/BekaCooper'' his nature as a constellation is made clear.
* In ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series by Creator/DavidWeber much of this isn't a surprise, as the god of war wants to make Bahzell a Champion. But the way his sister, the Goddess of Music who comes to them in the disguise of a hungry traveler they share their meager food with does.
** And in a short story, it is revealed to the reader that Wencit of Rum is a god in disguise.
* ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' has a downed pilot who gets guided to rescue by a [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection voice on the radio]] calling herself "Mets fan" or just "Mets" for short. "Mets" is a pun on Metis, mother of the goddess Athena... and the pilot may or may not have imagined her and her guidance.
* The ''Literature/YoungWizards'' books adore this trope:
** Macchu Picchu "Peach" the Macaw turns out to be an incarnation of the archangel Michael and/or goddess Athena in ''High Wizardry''.
** Nita's Irish love interest in ''A Wizard Abroad'' is an incarnation of the One's Champion.
** Slightly more jarringly, Kit's doofus dog ''Ponch'' is revealed to be roughly the equivalent of [[{{God}} The One]] in ''Wizards At War''.
--->'''Kit''': You mean to tell me, my ''dog''-\\
'''The Transcendent Pig''': Yes, the old [[SdrawkcabAlias "spell it backwards"]] joke. One of The One's favourites.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Parodied in the final season of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' when Jack stars in [[ShowWithinAShow the new NBC series]] "God Cop". The show has a New York City detective team up with his new partner, God, to solve crimes, and creates confusion amongst characters and viewers alike as to why God doesn't just tell the police who the criminal is, or stop the crime from happening in the first place.
* The final episode of ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'' reveals that [[spoiler: Gene Hunt is a {{Psychopomp}}, Keats is (possibly) TheDevil and Nelson the barman is some kind of Saint Peter-esque figure]].
* In the final scenes of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', it's heavily implied that Starbuck is actually a being like Head Six or Head Baltar (who have claimed to be Angels in service of a God-like being who doesn't like to be called "God"). She was born to human parents and was largely unaware of her own nature/destiny for her whole life.
* ''Series/KingdomAdventure'': At one point, Pokum, simply believing [[{{UsefulNotes/Jesus}} the Prince's]] promise to be with them when there's trouble, bravely stood up to [[SorcerousOverlord Zordock]] and demanded in The Emperor's name that he leave Vibes alone. He did this completely unarmed, while Zordock was wielding very powerful and dangerous magic. Pokum had no idea the Prince was standing right behind him as he was saying this until after Zordock left and the other characters told him.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'': The Ancients, the builders of the Stargate network and now beings of energy, have a strict non-interference view with the less advanced species. In a later series episode, when Daniel is accessing an Ancient database with a holographic [=AI=] answering him, he notices some oddities in her responses, like an instant translation of a sentence from the Ancient language to modern day English. When it is confirmed this unit isn't actually drawing any energy, he realizes this isn't just the [=AI=] taking the form of the ancient Ganos Lal, but Ganos Lal herself who came here to help give them a bit more help than the computer would have. When she breaks the [=AI=] character to give a direct answer to a big question, the others remove her by force.
* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': [[spoiler:Sauron, under the disguise of Halbrand accompanied Galadriel in her mission to stop to Orcs, from Numenor to the Southlands and is proclaimed as the destined king. When she finally catches on, it's only just in time to stop him from taking the first of the rings of power.]]
* ''Series/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians2023'': Zeus first appears as a man at the desk in the Empire State Building lobby. Percy doesn't realize who he is until he arrives on Olympus and sees the same guy.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Implied in the season five finale. After the apocalypse is averted, one of the last shots we're treated to is "The Prophet Chuck", who had unwittingly used his powers to write a series of books about the Winchesters, ending his last book with a soliloquy about how hard it is to write a satisfying ending. He decides that sometimes it's better if things don't really end per se, then smiles and disappears into thin air. Near halfway through the same episode, he is seen calling a "Mistress Magda," a reference to Mary Magdalene who is believed by some to be a) an adulteress/prostitute and b) the wife/consort of Jesus.
** Also played with mere moments before it's played straight. After Lucifer is sealed, Castiel (who'd just been blown to bits) shows up out of nowhere with his powers restored and heals Dean.
--->'''Dean:'''...Cas, are you God?\\
'''Castiel:''' That's a nice compliment, but no.
** By season 11, this is confirmed. Chuck Shurley is the human guise of the one and only God, fooling literally everybody, including his own Angels. [[spoiler:This is because he wanted a front-row seat to his "favorite show", as all the events and potential world-ending disasters in the series are a result of his machinations and attempt to write a good story.]]
* In the finale of ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'', in Monica's final case, after failing to keep a [[ClearMyName wrongfully accused]] drifter from serving prison time and pledging to protect him for the rest of his life, the drifter turns out to be God in disguise, telling her the final case was her promotion test for Tess's job, and she passed with flying colors.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E32APassageForTrumpet A Passage for Trumpet]]", a depressed, down-on-his-luck trumpet player named Joey is persuaded by another trumpet player to keep on living and playing. Only at the episode's end does Joey think to ask for the helpful person's name. The reply? "It's Gabe, short for Gabriel" and as he says it, he steps under an overhanging light... that gives him a perfect halo.
* On ''Series/TwinPeaks'', an ancient bellhop at the Great Northern Hotel turns out to be [[spoiler: the host of the otherwordly, ambiguously-benevolent Giant spirit.]]
* A character memorably portrayed by Burt Reynolds appears to play this role in the "love it or hate it" ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode aptly titled "[[Recap/TheXFilesS09E13Improbable Improbable]]".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The Stan Ridgway song "Camouflage" is about an American marine in Vietnam who gets rescued by a mysterious badass called Camouflage. When he arrives back at camp, he learns that Camouflage was actually the ghost of a recently deceased marine whose dying wish was to help out a comrade.
* Similarly, David Ball's "Riding With Private Malone" is about a man "just out of the service" who buys and restores a used '66 Corvette previously owned by the eponymous private, who "fought for his country, and never made it home" and [[DeadManWriting left a note in the glovebox]]. The man says he got a feeling while driving that if he turned real quick he'd see Private Malone riding next to him. In the last verse, he survives a car crash on a rainy night, but doesn't remember much. A witness tells him they thought they saw a soldier pull him out but didn't get his name, but the driver knows it was Malone.
* ''Music/KidsPraise'': God appears in one Christmas album and explicitly tells Psalty that the apparently-magical music that accompanies his songs is actually God's own doing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
%%Examples from Christianity and Judaism involving angels and prophets have been removed to AngelUnaware where they belong. There is no need to replace them.
* In the Bhagavad Gita, the great hero Arjuna rides into battle with GodInHumanForm Krishna as his charioteer. Krishna then spends most of the story explaining the subtle philosophy by which his role in the battle is justified, as well as the nature of existence itself (at one point revealing his [[TheOmniscient All-Knowing]], [[TheOmnipresent Infinite]] and [[TheOmnipotent All-Powerful form]] to Arjuna), and most of it goes right over Arjuna's head. This makes this OlderThanFeudalism.
* The concept of ''xenia'' or hospitality to strangers also occurs bunches of places in ancient Greek history and mythology, making it Older Than Western Civilization. Zeus, in particular, was notorious for showing up to people's houses in disguise. Those who opened the doors and gave graciously got some eternal boon for their trouble; those who kicked him to the curb got turned into stone, hit with lightning, etc. "Baucis and Philemon" is one example: the pair, despite being dirt poor, sacrificed the one thing they DID have (a goat) for their unexpected guests. Not only did they (as per their wish) die at the exact same time, their bodies turned into a pair of trees that were forever hugging each other.
* In Hawai'i, there is a legend (notably similar to the BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts legend), where a woman appears by the side of the road. Sometimes she is an older woman dressed in white, sometimes a younger woman dressed in red. Either way, it's the fire-goddess, Pele, and it's a SecretTest. Pick her up, and you'll be rewarded. Drive (or walk) by, and misfortune will befall you and/or those you care about.
* Manannan Mac Lir, Irish god of the Ocean, is rather fond of this trope. In "His Three Calls to Cormac" he appears to King Cormac Mac Airt as a soldier bearing a silver branch, and tricks the king into giving him his family in exchange for the branch.
** "The Churl in the Grey Coat" has Manannan aiding the Fenians in a footrace against a foreign champion for control of Ireland, under the guise of a brutish oaf. The oaf starts the race two hours late, manages to catch up to the champion, stops to pick berries, catches up again, only to realize he forgot his coat (seriously) and goes back, and STILL beats the champion.
** Finally, the story "Manannan at Play" is basically a patchwork of short stories about how wandering Ireland as a scraggly clown is a hobby of his.
* Over and over again in Literature/TheBible, people run into a supposed stranger who is usually eventually identified either as God or "The Angel of the LORD" (the resurrected Jesus also made a few appearances in this manner). A couple of times, [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane it's not clear whether or not "the man" was an angel, or just a helpful human dude.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/BleakExpectations:'' The series four finale reveals Harry Biscuit is the Creator of Earth (because after all, who else but a BunglingInventor could make something like the Earth?). He pauses time to give Pip a WhatTheHellHero speech and send him back to fix his mistake of taking over the Earth. This being ''Bleak Expectations'', it never comes up again afterwards.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Set up in ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' [[{{Sourcebook}} World Book]] 4: Africa. Among the heroes gathered to fight the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse is a mysterious and powerful woman named Katrina Sun. Unknown to everyone, including Katrina herself, she's actually the Egyptian Goddess Isis.
* ''TabletopGame/AdeptusEvangelion'' has this as a suggestion for using [[HumanoidAbomination Tabris]]. For anyone familar with its [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion source material]], it comes out a little [[ParanoiaFuel less positive]] than most examples.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': A subversion in "The Last Church", a story in which a man calling himself Revelation visits the caretaker of the last church left on Earth to demolish it before revealing himself to be the Emperor (not yet GodEmperor). After a philosophical debate, the priests stays in the church rather than be part of the Emperor's world of enforced atheism when a clock within starts ringing (supposedly to announce the apocalypse). The irony, of course, is that more than 10,000 years later, belief in the GodEmperor of Mankind is one of the only things protecting humanity from Chaos.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Venus in Fur'' by Creator/DavidIves, Thomas is suspicious almost from the beginning as to the identity of Vanda, or Wanda, this strange actress (or so she claims) who has by turn amused, awed, abused, revolted, seduced, tormented, dominated, and been dominated by him. How does she know everything she knows, including many things that should be secret? How can she be such a brilliant, versatile actress, able to ad-lib, at the drop of a hat, an entirely new scene, and an entirely new character, perfectly, in a way that vastly improves the play, and yet be such an apparent dolt when she speaks out of character? At the end, of course, she demands that he tell her who she really is, and he answers that she is [[HotGoddess Venus]] herself. As to whether that's literally true, well, the play is [[RunningGag ambivalent]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/AsgardsWrath'', the god in question is the [[PlayerCharacter New God]], who assists the mortal's they encounter by possessing them to progress their respective quests.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', [[spoiler:it's very heavily implied that MysteriousProtector Withers is secretly the previous GodOfTheDead Jergal, seeking to punish the GreaterScopeVillains for misusing his powers by [[DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu helping the party on their quest]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' and ''VideoGame/BravelySecond'', [[BreakingTheFourthWall you, the player,]] play this role in relation to the protagonists. The [[BigBad Big Bads]] of both games don't hesitate to [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou voice their displeasure with you.]]
* ''VideoGame/FindingLight'': Gi, the BareFistedMonk of the party, [[spoiler:is actually a part of Zamas that split off from the original, and he rejoins the latter in order to provide intel about mortals. Despite this, he helps the party fight his original self, most likely because he knows they can't kill the immortal Zamas]].
* This happens with distressing regularity in ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''. The Senate Elders in ''II'' are the Four Archangels. Sister Gabby in ''IV'' is the ArchangelGabriel, with Lilith as the Black Samurai.
* In ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'', Luna is revealed to be Althena, the series' benevolent creator goddess, in about the middle of the game. This also turns out to be the case for Lucia Collins in ''VideoGame/LunarDragonSong''.
* In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', [[GuideDangit if you do several sidequests, find multiple items tucked away in obscure places]], and a lot of [[UnexpectedGameplayChange top-down aerial shooter minigames]], you travel to an odd heaven full of strange machines. If you complete the quest, you find out that Kang The Mad, a great inventor and the one who created the machine that got you to the heaven is, in fact, Lord Lao, an inventor god who was kicked out by the others for hubris. Also worth noting that Kang's party role is maintaining and flying the GlobalAirship, making this a quite literal example.
* The ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' mod ''VideoGame/TalesOfArterra'' has the revelation of Evanine's heritage. Given the base [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons ruleset]] having an angel rogue on your side would be much more useful than having an elf rogue. Justified in that she didn't know what she was either.
* TheStinger after the end credits of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' reveals that [[spoiler:Solas]] is actually Fen'Harel, TheTrickster Dread Wolf of the Elven Pantheon. The same game also reveals that [[spoiler:Flemeth is actually (or at least absorbed the essence of) Mythal, another member of the Elven Pantheon.]]
* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'', Peco is really an incarnation of Yggdrasil, an implied rival of the BigBad.
* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'', Ryu, the main character, is really an amnesiac newborn god.
** Ershin from the same game is revealed to be a suit of AnimatedArmor possessed by the goddess Deis.
* In the ending of ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', [[spoiler: Joshua turns out to be the Composer, essentially making him the local God. Also, Mr Hanekoma is revealed to be an angel who actually outranks the Composer as Angel live on a higher plane of existence (And he is bottom rung of those guys as he is the only guy who the Composer can even see much less talk to from a Higher Plane) than even the Composer and other participants of The Reaper's Game.]]
* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' There's much, much more to the mysterious stranger from "I know you" than first meets the eye. What nature of supernatural being he is is debatable.
* In ''VideoGame/ShiningForce 2'' the good gods seem to abandon mortals at one point, your army end up going on and seemingly taking out a dark god on their own (along with other borderline godlike beings). At the end it is revealed that the good gods were helping you all the time, and just pretended to rebel to avoid being countered by the other god.
* Lufia in ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom''... although subverted in that she is an ''evil'' god.
** This continues with Seena in the sequel, ''[[VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns The Legend Returns]]''.
* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' has a rather literal example. The cab driver who's been shepherding you around LA? Yeah. He's Caine. The first vampire. It's not made clear in game, but all his dialogue files are labeled "Caine," and if you play a [[MadOracle Malkavian]], your last conversation with him involves [[OhCrap realizing just who he is and screaming in unholy terror]].
** Then there's the fiction for the actual game line, dealing with TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. [[AdventurerArchaeologist Beckett]] finds a strange vampire in a cave he's investigating, and ends up dragging him along for the ride as they investigate the signs of Gehenna. At the end of the novel, Beckett idly asks what Caine might be doing, and the stranger says that Caine would probably want nothing to do with the affairs of his childer and just seal himself away in a cave until the end times. Beckett's reaction: "Yeah, you're probably -- oh, ''fuck''..."
** As in the novel, the story of the game is mentioned to also have taken place, the cab driver is either [[DistinctionWithoutADifference not Caine, or Caine using one of the 10 dot "plot device" discipline abilities]] to make it happen. To put it another way, if Caine wanted to be in two places at the same time, he easily ''could''.
*** Though most diehard Canonists of the Old World of Darkness would say the Taxi Driver was merely a Malkavian Impostor, in reference to a line in the Novel where it implies as such, along with others. Though if it's an impostor, that wouldn't explain why a potential Malkavian player character starts screaming and begging to be let out of the cab upon his MadOracle powers letting him know who the taxi driver is...
* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' there's a very ''literal'' version of this: chaos, who joins you early in the first game, is revealed to be Jesus (or more correctly, one godly-powered half of a two-person team: he provided the miracles, the human named Jesus provided the speeches). He acts as a literal copilot to not one but two other characters while using their mecha - first Canaan, in the opening to game 2, and then Jr., throughout games 2 and 3.
** Its SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'', follows this up with Alvis, whose apparent nature constantly changes throughout the game, from a mysterious enigma to just a normal "seer" to one of Zanza's disciples, until it's finally revealed that he's the true God of the universe, having formerly been the AI used by Zanza and Meyneth to create the universe while granting the two of them some of his power (which Meyneth could handle, but went to Zanza's head).
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** In the series' primary CreationMyth, Lorkhan, one of the [[OurGodsAreDifferent et'Ada ("original spirits")]], [[TricksterGod convinced/tricked]] some of the other et'Ada into sacrificing a large portion of their power to create Mundus, the mortal plane. For this perceived treachery, these other et'Ada (now known as the Aedra, "Our Ancestors" in [[ClassicalTongue Old Aldmeris]]), punished Lorkhan by [[GodIsDead "killing" him]], cutting his divine center ("heart") from his body, and casting it down into the world he helped to create where his spirit would be forced to wander. At several points in the series' backstory, his spirit has [[GodInHumanForm manifested in physical forms]] known as "Shezarrines", after Lorkhan's Imperial name of "Shezarr". These Shezarrines most often appear in times of great peril for mankind, [[HumansAreSpecial aiding mankind]] by, most often, killing lots and lots of [[OurElvesAreDifferent Mer (Elves)]]. Some of the most famous Shezarrines include: Hans the Fox, who aided [[FounderOfTheKingdom Ysgramor]] as one of his [[BadassArmy 500 Companions]] in order to conquer Skyrim from the Falmer (Snow Elves). Pelinal Whitestrake, who served as a champion to St. Alessia in her war to free mankind from the slavery of the Ayleids (Wild Elves). And Wulfharth Ash-King, an EternalHero and king of the [[HornyVikings Nords]] who battled many groups of Mer and would later come into the service of [[GodEmperor Tiber Septim]] (possibly [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascending]] with him in a MergerOfSouls scenario to become the deity [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Talos]]).
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', one may encounter an old man named Wulf in Imperial armor at Ghostgate on the way to the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. After a pleasant chat with him regarding the future of Tamriel, he'll give the PC his "lucky coin" and ask him to take it with him to defeat the BigBad. This old soldier happens to be an incarnation of Talos, aka Tiber Septim, and accepting the coin brings with it a special power that drastically increases your LuckStat for a short time.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', it's implied that the Prophet from the ''Knights of the Nine'' expansion is Talos himself. He also happens to have a strong family resemblance to Uriel VII and Martin Septim, further supporting the theory.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
*** One of the quests begins with you participating in a drinking contest with one [[LouisCypher Sam Guivenne]] that ends with you waking up in a desecrated temple in a completely different city. By retracing your steps, you find out that Sam is none other than Sanguine, [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of Debauchery who was just looking for someone to party with.
*** There is a theory that the unknown "Friend" who sends you anonymous letters revealing the locations of Word Walls is really Talos.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline Online]]'', the player is ushered into The Hollow City in Coldharbour by a seemingly normal but mysterious woman known only as [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Groundskeeper]]. In the final act of the story, [[spoiler:The Groundskeeper reveals herself as Meridia, the Daedric Prince of Light and Life, the BigGood against [[BigBad Molag Bal]].]]
* ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'': [[spoiler:The Janitor is implied to be some sort of supernatural force, possibly even God itself towards the end of the game, he even knows Mae's name. The God(?) Mae meets in her dream point out that the thing Mae calls God doesn't exist, or at least is working in such a subtle manner that is impossible for them to see, which would be fitting of a Janitor]]. There is though a plausible explanation to a lot that happens around him, and some are possibly just a coincidence, so it ends in a MaybeMagicMaybeMundane situation.
* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' has a rare protagonist example: Amaterasu is a sun goddess in the from of a white wolf. The player knows this from the beginning, however, most of the people she runs into don't and mistake her for a dog or normal wolf, as they can't see the flaming shield or the unusual red markings.
* PlayedStraight in ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa'', [[spoiler: the very minstrel who tells you stories and legends about Mardias is none other than Elore himself, also possibly the Lich who bestows death's protection during the Soulgutter quest may be Death given that he knows about the true function of the altar on the Steppes of Galessa and how monsters are reviving Soulgutter, Even Sylvan; Claudia's wolf companion is Eres herself.]]
* In ''VideoGame/UnlimitedSaga'', [[spoiler: Iskandar is the Unlimited who surpasses even the Creator (God of that world)]]
* Implied about [[spoiler: the FortuneTeller that shows up at times when the PlayerCharacter goes shopping]] in ''VisualNovel/TrueLoveJunaiMonogatari''. [[spoiler: If [[AngelicBeauty Anze]]'s ending is unlocked ([[GuideDangIt MUCH easier said than done]]), the Teller is the one who re-introduces her to the PC; then, Anze refers to her as "Powerful One" and she quickly cuts her off and says she shouldn't reveal her (the Teller's) actual identity. This hints that the Fortune Teller might actually be another angel, or even [[{{God}} a deity]] (Probably the one who transformed Anze into a CuteKitten as punishment for losing her wings, which the PC must purchase from the hidden shop to get the chance to meet Anze herself).]]
* In ''Videogame/WildArmsXF'' it's implied that [[spoiler:the dog Tony]] is actually Luceid, the Guardian of Desire.
* Raiden in ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' usually fights alongside the Earthrealm Forces, but plays this for [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Mileena]] in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX''. Unfortunately, she's [[InformedFlaw unable to fully understand his assistance.]]
* Throughout ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'', Bayonetta is followed around by Loki, a bratty and foul-mouthed KidSidekick that ''just'' happens to be the Creator of the Universe. Or rather half of it.
* Though it's more FridgeBrilliance as it's never out right discussed in canon, by the [[MagicAIsMagicA rules]] of ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' [[spoiler: Luke is another [[PureMagicBeing Lorelei]], making him a GodInHumanForm and arguably the only reason they succeed at saving Auldrant. This makes this a rare case where the god isn't so much co-pilot as much as straight up ''[[TheHero pilot]]'' if unknowingly so.]]
* In the Act 4 DLC of ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', it's revealed that the [[spoiler:Golden Spider, who helped Asura get out of Naraka (twice) and recover his memories is actually Chakravartim, the creator of the universe.]] Unfortunately, he also reveals himself to be TheManBehindTheMan and the FinalBoss.
* ''VideoGame/Wizard101'':
** In Wintertusk, it's revealed that the narrator of the game is none other than Grandmother Raven, one of the three Primordials who created The Spiral. When you meet her in person, she mentions that she has been watching over you since the beginning and that the narration itself was her attempt at helping you out.
** In a darker version of this trope, one of your allies in Khrysalis, [[spoiler:Old Cob]], turns out to be [[spoiler:Grandfather Spider, another of the three Primordials and [[TheAntiGod Raven's opposite]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/DoomEternal: The Ancient Gods - Part 1'', it's revealed that the Father and Samur Maykr, the setting's analogies for God and Saint Peter, have been accompanying the Doom Slayer throughout his adventures; [[spoiler:VEGA is the Father's amnesiac mind, while Samur reincarnated as Samuel Hayden]].
* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', the final chapter of the "Observer on Timeless Temple" arc reveals that the King Solomon who has been trying to destroy human history is Beast One, one of the [[BeastOfTheApocalypse Evils of Humanity]], that stole his identity and powers. Where's the real King Solomon, then? ''He's [[MissionControl Doctor]] [[{{Adorkable}} Roman]]'', having won the 2004 Holy Grail War and [[IJustWantToBeNormal wished to be a human unburdened by kingship and magic]].
** A second example in the same arc could be called LouisCypher Was My Copilot. That fuzzy animal mascot [[PokemonSpeak Fou]], who keeps [[CovertPervert hiding in]] [[VictoriasSecretCompartment Mash's shirt]] and whose power you've been using to [[RareCandy increase your Servants' stats]]? It's short for Four. As in, ''Beast Four'', another Evil of Humanity. He mentions [[{{VisualNovel/Tsukihime}} Primate Murder]] as another of his names.
** A June 2021 update gives [[spoiler: Cu Chulainn (Caster)]] voice lines [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial telling Norse Servants to pretend not to know him]], and [[BlatantLies pretending not to know any wolves and ravens despite having wolves in his art and ravens in narration]]. This, along with notably lacking [[spoiler: Cu Chulainn's]] signature weapon and passive skill, implies that he has been the Norse god Odin from the start of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/LoopHero'' it is revealed after the defeat of Omega that [[spoiler:the camp manager who assisted the Hero is actually Yota, the Goddess of Probability]] who had helped guide the Hero to this outcome
* in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'', Odin regularly shows up to protagonist Eivor to provide her with insight or to express his view on a particular matter, often being the last words of an Order of the Ancients member. In the last missions of the game, it is revealed to the player (but not to Eivor) that [[spoiler:Eivor is actually the reincarnation of Odin, who was trying to gain control on the body by making her give in to her desires of fame and power.]] In the end, she [[spoiler:manages to get rid of Odin's spirit, even if doing so meant she wouldn't be remembered by anyone in the future.]] [[spoiler:Sigurd and Basim]] are also subjected to the trope, respectively [[spoiler:as reincarnations of Tyr and Loki]]
* A bonus cutscene in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has the characters discussing whether the appearance of the time gates and the [[ContrivedCoincidence various events]] that set them on the path to saving the world were really just random chance or the guiding hand of some unknown Entity.
* The Trespasser DLC from VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition reveals that Solas, one of the three companions you meet at the beginning of the game, is actually Fen'Harel aka the Dread Wolf, a malevolent trickster deity in Dalish mythos. The truth is... [[OurGodsAreDifferent a fair bit more complicated]]. Long story short, none of the Dalish "gods" are gods and are in reality very powerful mages that enslaved the ancient elves and made them worship them. Solas was a powerful rebel that lead a revolution against the so-called gods and sealed them away before falling into a millennia long sleep himself. When he awoke it took him time to regain his powers, so he couldn't just smite [[BigBad Corpypheus]] thus explaining the need for the Inquisitor.
* In ''VideoGame/SnowbreakContainmentZone'', the widely accepted theory for the source of a Manifestation's power is that they have a "Deiwos" -- a polite way of saying mythological god -- inhabiting their Theotropic Nerves. While the god is usually dormant, exposure to [[TheCorruption Titagen]] puts a Manifestation at risk of "Flooding", or becoming overwhelmed by their divine persona, and it is very definitely dangerous to try and talk down a power-tripping god with actual superpowers. Some characters openly announce their Deiwos -- Lyfe and Fenny say they have Odin and Hera -- while others have yet to reveal theirs, though it can be obvious -- The blatantly Egyptian-themed Mauxir who has powers related to hearts and scales likely needs no guessing.
* ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'''s Chip [[spoiler:is really an amnesiac Light Gaia, who is the BigGood counterpart of Dark Gaia. He regains his memories of being Light Gaia in Shamar]].
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[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Professor Ozpin (and later Oscar Pine) in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' turns out to be more than he appears, as to be expected from a [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz Wizard of Oz]] reference. He's not quite a god, but he is TheChosenOne with ResurrectiveImmortality via BodySurf, SharingABody, and eventually SplitPersonalityMerge. He's also one of the few people in the modern world able to use true magic. At one point, he actually ''did'' try to take over the world as a physical god, but that was a '''long''' time ago. Still, he has enough power that he could easily wipe out an entire city if he so desired, and chooses not to engage in direct conflict until absolutely necessary.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Weaver, the author of ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'', manually simulated 4chan playing a graphical adventure game. Toward the very end, the protagonist was faced with a dilemma. One of the players asked for a hint. Weaver obliged with a simulation of a hint interface... which might have been in use the entire time!
* One [[Film/{{Downfall}} Hitler]] [[MemeticMutation Parody]] video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTarkAYd5As reveals Günsche to be God]], Hitler was not pleased.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Academia}}'', Pasha helps a LawyerFriendlyCameo by Yo-Yo Ma to find a specific philosophy book, unaware that Mr. Ma is actually an angel.
* Implied in ''[[Webcomic/FifteenMinds Blue Moon Blossom]]'' with the dino's final fate- it visits the rabbit statue in the forest, briefly assumes the spectral form of the rabbit apparently depicted by the statue, then fades into the statue, heavily implying that the statue, with its vaguely Buddhist aesthetic, is really depicting a prophet or deity of some kind.
* While traveling through Aeor, [[TricksterGod The Traveler]] in ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' reveals that he's been with the Might Nein for practically the entire time they've known each other. [[spoiler:As ''[[WeaselMascot Sprin]]''''[[IronButtMonkey kle]]'']]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', it [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was originally going to be revealed]] that Momo, Team Avatar's cute [[TeamPet flying lemur]] was actually Aang's mentor Gyatso reincarnated to guide them. It was never included, though some fans keep it as head-canon.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' had Owen Burnett as an avatar of Puck, something that apparently came as a surprise to the creators of the show themselves, who before that had not figured out the character's secret, though TheReveal is set up such that it seems like they always planned it that way.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'' short "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS2E8MumbaiMadness Mumbai Madness]]", has Mickey help an elephant go to a shrine on top of a steep mountain. The ending of the short strongly implies that the elephant is actually the Hindu god Ganesha, who ''does'' often ride a mouse or rodent in the myths.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In "Edge of the World", it's revealed that [[spoiler:King Clawthorne, Eda's adopted son and essentially Luz's foster brother, is actually an infant Titan, and in Season 3, revealed as the son of ''the'' Titan who's corpse is the setting]].
* In a ''[[WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle Tom Slick]]'' installment, Tom is blinded by some debris thrown at him by the race's villain, so Gertie Growler (Tom's mechanic) jumps aboard his car (the Thunderbolt Grease Slapper) and gives directions to Tom. The race announcer cracks that Tom is racing "with Gert as his co-pilot."
[[/folder]]
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