[[FinalFantasyVI http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kefka-ff6-sprite-is-happy-to-see-you.gif]]
[[caption-width:250: [[strike:God help us All]] [[OhCrap We can't run, we can't hide.]]]]
->''"From the beginning, no one has ever stood at the top. Not you, nor me, nor the Gods. But soon, that unattainable vacancy at the top will be filled. From now on...I alone will stand at the top."''
-->--'''[[spoiler:Sosuke Aizen]]''', ''{{Bleach}}''

->''"Something wrong, Colonel? You come here prepared to fight a madman, and instead you found... [[HamAndCheese A GOD?]]"''
-->--'''General M. Bison''', ''[[StreetFighter Street Fighter the Movie, 1994]]''

->''"If knowledge is power, then a God... am... '''[[LargeHam I]]'''!"''
-->--'''The Riddler''', ''BatmanForever''

When a character gains superhuman abilities thanks to GreenRocks, [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear power,]] or being TouchedByVorlons, he often gains delusions (or, in some cases, [[StoryBreakerPower perfectly accurate assessments]]) of godhood at the same time. It then becomes almost inevitable that he will give an overblown speech emphasizing just how far beyond ordinary humanity [[EvolutionaryLevels he has evolved]], and how [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper lowly they are compared to him.]] If their transformations leaves them [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity less than sane]], cue the villain becoming DrunkOnTheDarkSide on tearing up the stage. This usually happens about ninety seconds before the heroes figure out how to kill him/[[SealedEvilInACan seal him away]]/drain his powers/[[SuperPowerMeltdown short circuit his powers]]. Any non-evil EnergyBeings will usually use this as an excuse to avoid helping the heroes and be NeglectfulPrecursors.

There is an alternate form of this trope, in which the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien protogod character]] gives a speech that is insightful, [[CrypticConversation cryptic]], or both, expressing his discovery of his benevolent and ''[[PutOnABus distant]]'' new place in the order of things. He then [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence vanishes entirely from human ken]], never to be seen again.

Sometimes the character in question ''doesn't'' have hyper-advanced superpowers and abilities (or, if they do, they're usually quite minor), and doesn't AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence; s/he's just so evil and / or hubristic, and most of the time so utterly mad, that they genuinely believe themselves to be a {{God}}. This character usually collects together a harem of easily-deluded followers to act as worshipers, and takes great pleasure in forcing people to acknowledge their divinity by any means necessary. This often serves as the villain's KickTheDog moment, and often serves to indicate the moment when it becomes clear that they're ''really'' a major adversary (and have also flipped out ''waaay'' beyond the point of no return). If the character is a hero, however, this kind more often played for humour, to show that they've become a bit too DrunkWithPower and, upon this declaration being heard, are all but announcing that their inevitable downfall is imminent.

The character may declare that he has transcended morality as well, and is AboveGoodAndEvil, but the tropes do not have to coincide.

Another alternate version is the EndOfTheWorldSpecial. See PhysicalGod for those who don't have to try so hard. May, but [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu does not always]] result in a GodModeSue. Also, see ItsAllAboutMe for a similar trope, minus the declaration of godhood.

See also OneWingedAngel. What's the difference? [[DoWeHaveThisOne Beats the hell]] [[BigYes out of me.]]

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* One of the many themes, and arguably the point of, ''{{AKIRA}}''
* ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' features an interesting twist on this: Haruhi doesn't know about her godlike RealityWarper powers at all, even though she unconsciously exercises them on a semi-regular basis. Since she's a sociopathic GenkiGirl, it's really all for the best that she remain firmly LockedOutOfTheLoop. She nearly remakes the universe enough as it is--if she gained ''conscious'' control over powers[[OhCrap ...]]
* Done by ''multiple characters'' in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion.'': Shinji (doesn't want to), Gendo (fails), Rei (doesn't want to), and Kaoru (chooses not to).
* In ''TransformersHeadmasters'', Galvatron hatches a scheme to use the Earth as raw material to become a being akin to his creator, Unicron. When Punch, the Autobot spy learned of this plot, he uttered the word, "He's gone mad!" As if ALL of Galvatron's actions since the third season of the Generation 1 cartoon didn't clue us in already.
* A noticeable aversion: The main character of the anime ''{{Kamichu}}'' actually ''does'' become a god, for no particular reason, just before the series begins. She continues, however, to act like a confused, shy, somewhat overwhelmed middle-school girl, and her deific status is treated more or less like a part-time job. This is not so much a usual instance of AGodAmI but more of an expression of the {{Shinto}} belief that all things and beings are tied to their gods.
* ''ScrappedPrincess'' also twists this trope in at the end.
* Largo, of ''BubblegumCrisis,'' not only considered himself a god, but developed a messiah complex for his Boomer "brethren" to boot.
* Sasami of ''[[TenchiMuyo Tenchi Muyo!]]'' [[spoiler: knows for most of her life before revealing to the main characters (and the audience) that she actually died and is only alive by having fused with Tsunami, one of the three Goddesses that created the universe. Later on, it is revealed that the main character Tenchi, whose powers were beyond explanation, is actually the avatar for a being much greater than the Goddesses.]]
* In ''GundamSEED'', Rau Le Creuset, [[spoiler: blurts out some pretty confused things about him being the one to judge humanity which has done horribl deeds (especially in the last days and also to him. The whole concept is emphazised by his Gundam Providence as in divine providence. Though, it's not based on any god-like powers of his or the like.]]
** His friend Durandal in the sequel ''GundamSEEDDestiny'' [[spoiler:thinks of himself more than a High Priest (stated in series by Mu if I recall correctly) of his new world order than a god.]]
* In ''DeathNote'', Yagami Light believes himself a god who brings justice to the world by killing criminals (any thoughts concerning this are usually accompanied by GlowingEyesOfDoom). Eventually, people also start worshipping him as one too.
** It's worthy of noting that he proclaimed this ''in the first episode''. It's like an ActionPrologue.
** Katsura-sensei of ''HayateTheCombatButler'' [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_hayate_the_combat_butler_23_Katsura_a_god_am_i.jpg makes a shout out]] to Light's trademark glowing eyes and "I will be god of a new world" line during her scheme to shame a rival teacher into leaving.
*** [[OlderThanTheyThink Techincally, credit for that line should go back to Largo from the 80s anime ''Bubblegum Crisis''.]]
* Lelouch Lamperouge in ''CodeGeass'', otherwise quite similar to Light, explicitly ''doesn't'' associate himself with God. Instead, in the final episodes of the first season, he describes himself as [[NecessarilyEvil someone rather more akin to the Devil]].
** One of the trailers for the series release(in English, at least) even makes reference to this, using the line: "If you could change the world, would you be a god or a demon?"
** [[spoiler:Lelouch's brother Schneizel develops a sudden {{God}} complex himself in episode 23 of R2, and ends up nearly killing Cornelia because of it. He intends to use Damocles' arsenal of FLEIJA nukes to rule the world by forced peace. Lelouch foils his plan and Geasses him to serve Zero.]]
* In ''{{Digimon Adventure 02}}'', Ichijouji Ken (aka the Digimon Kaiser) has quite the streak of MoreThanMindControl-induced sociopathy. Considering himself superior to everyone else because of his genius, he goes so far as to declare himself the only individual worthy of entering the Digital World. Oh, and controlling it along with the actual Digimon, using Dark Rings. Of course, he pays for this. [[BreakTheHaughty Big time]].
* In ''{{Bleach}}'', [[spoiler:Aizen]] appears to have somewhat of a God complex after he is revealed as the {{Big Bad}}. He rises up to the skies as he states "I will stand in Heaven," a feat which he claims no one, not even God, has ever achieved.
** [[spoiler: 2nd Espada Barragan]] proclaims himself the "God of Hueco Mundo"
***[[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard Right before he gets disintegrated by his own attack.]] So much for that idea.]]
* Father, the main villan of the manga ''FullmetalAlchemist'' believes that humans are mere insects that are to be used as [[MagnificentBastard pawns in his plan]]. Of course [[spoiler:he's not human himself, being the original homunculus that all other homunculi comes from.]] His contempt shows when Ed goes to Xerxes, and discovers a transmutation circle that shows the name of {{God}} upside down.
* Cars, the villain of the second part of ''JojosBizarreAdventure'', becomes "the perfect lifeform" just before the final battle. When you have absolutely no weaknesses and can feed on any living thing, claiming godhood is not that much of a stretch.
* ''[[GaoGaiGar GaoGaiGar]]'', in its [[PostScriptSeason OVA]], introduced Palparepa, a villain who believed that the "law of the material world" was that the victor was God and the loser was the devil. He always saw himself as the god and [=GaoGaiGar=] as the demon, and the color schemes ([=GaoGaiGar=] was always black, Palparepa is a medical white) didn't help, giving him a distinct AGodAmI variety of confidence in battle as well. After he's finally defeated, he goes out muttering "so this ''is'' the law of the material world...", seemingly acknowledging Guy as a god, albeit one of destruction (and subsequently, as the OVA strives to remind us, rebirth).
* Shapiro Keats from ''Dancougar'' is always under the ambition that he will be a God. Which leads him to dump his lover Sara, and join the Muge Empire, rising up the ranks as a top-class strategist. But then, his plans eventually come crashing down, but he still held his delusions that he will be a God.
**Which doesn't stop him from [[spoiler:saving the Cyber Beast Force in "Blazing Epilogue" with his anger against the aliens who betrayed him. Dancougar is a machine fed by fury, and he had lots of it.]] All that frustration had to go somewhere.
***That's if you don't assign the ''Blazing Epilogue'' OAV to CanonDiscontinuity for ignoring most of the established characterizations and relationships from the original series. And the fact that [[spoiler: Shapiro is supposed to be dead]]....
* Masami Eiri from ''SerialExperimentsLain'': [[spoiler:he commits suicide so he can enter the Wired and become its God, but he states that he's only able to be a god because he has followers, the hacker group known as the Knights of the Eastern Calculus.]] Eiri's ultimate goal is to [[spoiler:connect all of humankind subconsciously through the Wired. That's what he created Lain to accomplish.]]
** [[spoiler:He’s proven wrong quite dramatically at the end, where he actually does declare himself an Omnipotent God before being interrupted by Lain. In a single HannibalLecture she hints at the existence of a real God, mocks Eiri for thinking himself anything more than a puny human and destroys him effortlessly when he tries to attack her in a rage. A God I'm Not...]]
*** [[spoiler:He's declaring this to a girl who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. And probably immortal. Oh the irony...]]
* Played straight and slightly subverted in ''{{One Piece}}''. The villain of the Skypeia arc, Eneru, declares himself God. This is subverted in that, according to Gan Fall, the prior God of Skypeia, "God" is merely the title for the Skypeian leader. However, Eneru believes himself a true god by virtue of his lightning-based Devil Fruit abilities and power to read others' conscious thoughts.
** And the fact that the word for ''God'' (Kami) is similar to the word for ''Thunder'' (Kaminari) in Japanese. A fact he puns on by introducing himself with "I am Kami!"
* Subverted gloriously in ''MagicKnightRayearth'': The Pillar of Cephiro literally ''has'' limitless power, as it is her will which [[FisherKing gives shape to the entire world]]. When [[spoiler: Hikaru achieves this state, in both anime and manga, she relinquishes it ''immediately'' and gives it willingly to the inhabitants of Cephiro, so ''they'', rather than a single person, are responsible for their own world.]]
* In ''[[SuperDimensionFortressMacross Macross]]'' [[spoiler:''[[MacrossFrontier Frontier]]'', the ultimate goal of the BigBad is to unite the entire galaxy in a galaxy-spanning [[HiveMind collective consciousness]] (whether it wants to or not) with the BigBad personally at the very top]].
* [[spoiler:Miyo Takano]], the BigBad of ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi''. Their goal is stated at the end of ''Minagoroshi-hen'' to be "to become a God"; exactly what they mean is explored through their backstory in the beginning of ''Matsuribayashi-hen''.
--> '''BigBad''': "Without a curse, there is no God. Because of the curse, there is fear. Because of fear, there is ''worship''. Now is the time when God advents! I have become Oyashiro-sama!"
** [[spoiler:Keiichi too. In one arc,the arc where he tries to save Satoko from Teppei,he survives and thinks he has godly powers,because every person he said who died,died. The village,a reporter,and Takano. However,it was a concidence,and Takano never died.]]
* Zanaffar in episode 13 of ''[[{{Slayers}} Slayers Revolution]]'': "Everything, from gods to demons, I was created to surpass them all! ... And if my numbers keep growing, ... I will be able to consume even the gods!"
* In ''{{Naruto}}'', [[spoiler:Pain, the leader of Akatsuki]] thinks that his suffering has made him enlightened and his power made him God. [[spoiler:[[PersonOfMassDestruction It's not entirely unjustified]].]] Though, [[ValuesDissonance it's worth noting]] he means more in a Shinto/Buddhist sense of a god rather than the omnipotent Christian one (in short he doesn't have any illusion that he's invincible).
* Happens (arguably) to two characters in ''RahXephon''. The first (and arguable) one is after [[spoiler: Ayato]] fully awakens. The second is when Bahbem watches the [[spoiler:[[EndOfTheWorldSpecial tuning of the world]].]] In [[spoiler: Ayato's case, as he just merged with the RahXephon and RETUNED THE WORLD, this isn't an unjustifiable assumption.]]
* ''{{Rahxephon}}'' [[spoiler: fuses this with DeusEstMachina, in a sense. Ayato fuses with his Rahxephon (there are ''two'' Rahxephon's; Quon does the same with her's). The Rahxephons have the ability to "Re-tune" the world...which effectively translates into "remake the world to the pilot's choosing." The pilots, Ayato and Quon, suffer none of the insanity or hubris usually associated.]]
* Creed from ''BlackCat'' does this after he [[spoiler: uses nanomachines to become immortal]]. He tells Sephiria that her death will be the result of her opposing God (in other words, him). In a rather comedic moment, Creed explains to Train that he can recover from any life-threatening wound in a few seconds except for damage to the brain. Train promptly supplies that that makes him more like a zombie, to which Creed angrily replies that it makes him a God.
* OsamuTezuka's ''Phoenix'': volume Future, has main character Masato Yamanobe fill the role of God. Masato must begin the evolution of Earth anew when the current world is devastated by nuclear war (and it is hinted that this isn't the first time life on Earth has been obliterated). Masato doesn't want to be god and in fact tries to discourage the people he helps create from thinking of him in that way. The real god of the story is the eternal Phoenix, who gave Masato his power and immortality in the first place.
* Claire Stanfield from ''{{Baccano}}!'' doesn't need superpowers to convince him that he's God - he's just a BadassNormal [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsist solipsist]].
* ''MiraiNikki'' has 12 already mentally unstable individuals empowered with precognitive diaries and [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne made to battle each other]]; the winner will become God once the other 11 are dead. As a result, it's probably easier to state which one of the diary holders ''do not'' suffer from this to one degree or another.
* The exact opposite also occurs: ''{{Dragonball}}'' features our green Namekian friend Kami. As you all know by now, that's Japanese for God. Though he may be called a God, he has higher-ups in heaven and is infinitely weaker than all bad guys in Dragonball Z.
* In ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' this can be used to descrbe the power of those who have access to the higher levels of Spiral power. Lord Genome acts a lot in the fashion of a god-like king and the [[spoiler: The Anti-Spiral have taken such a position conerning the whole universe dedicating themself to protecting it.]]
*Rex Godwin in ''[[{{Yu-Gi-Oh5Ds}} Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]''. Explaining this is too ridiculous and painful, so I'm not going to.
* ''FushigiYuugi'': [[spoiler:Nakago.]]
* ''AyashiNoCeres'': [[spoiler:Shiso.]] Sort of.
* Director Kakuzawa in ElfenLied wants to be the father of the future generations of the Diclonius race so that when it replaces humanity he'll be worshiped as their god. [[spoiler: This doesn't work out well for him in the end, as it involved the cooperation of Lucy, who decided to kill him instead.]]
*In the first Broly movie of the ''Dragonball Z'' series. Broly is able to single-handedly beat down EVERYONE. This includes (All of which are SSJ) Goku, Gohan, Trunks, and Vegeta. After Vegeta gets beat a second time, Piccolo appears to (at least try to) save the day. He looks at the damage, and then at Broly.
-->Piccolo: "What are you, some kind of monster?"
-->Broly: "Monster? No...I'm the Devil." (In the edited version this is replaced with "I AM A GOD!")
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Explored in ''SolarManOfTheAtom''.
* This is common in SuperHero comics, as WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity. Perhaps the single best-known example is Jean Grey of the ''{{X-Men}}'', who, as Dark Phoenix, goes to star-eating levels before committing suicide. (Though later [[{{Retcon}} retcons]] serve to [[ContinuitySnarl confuse the issue]].) Dr. Doom is also a frequent offender.
** In one particularly literal case, Dr. Doom tried to claim Thor's hammer to gain his power.
** Doom is the unsurpassed master and monarch of this trope. "I want that power. By right, it is mine. For ultimate power is the ultimate destiny of Doom!" And, in fact, Victor von Doom has come within a fraction of a hair's width of securing Real Ultimate Power (tm) several times in the past - to the extent of successfully stealing not only the Power Cosmic of Galactus but also the Beyonder's apparently omnipotent abilities in the course of the ''Secret Wars'' story arc. Naturally, [[StatusQuoIsGod he is beaten in the end once again]], but still...
*** After MarkMillar's run he gained god-like powers at level strong enough to kill an Watcher. Still, it's pretty much possible, that all writers will quickly forget about it.
*Another [[IncrediblyLamePun Xample]] with [[XMen Apocalypse]], who claims to have masqueraded as various gods during his millenia-long life. In the [[Series/XMen 90's cartoon]], he delivers a great line to Graydon Creed: "I am as far beyond mutants as they are beyond you!"
* Hopping up on Chaos energy tends to do this with Echidnas in ArchieComics' ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'' series; both Enerjak and his descendant Knuckles have attempted to warp reality to their own design after being supercharged by the Master Emerald.
* The ''Comicbook/{{Batman}}'' villain Max Zeus is one of the 'so mad he thinks he's God' versions; although he doesn't possess any superpowers himself, he's managed to delude himself into believing that he is Zeus, All-Powerful Lord of Olympus. His [[PropheticName last name doesn't help matters]]. Nor does his lightning cannon.
** Zeus makes an appearance in [[BatmanTheAnimatedSeries the animated series]] but has a happy ending, of sorts. After being defeated by Batman (who he insists is Hades, since no mere mortal could best a god), he gets sent to Arkham. When he sees his cellmates "Hermes" (the Joker), "Janus" (Two-Face), and "Demeter" (Poison Ivy), he happily concludes he's reached Olympus at last.
*In ''{{Powers}}'', 'The Sellouts' storyline revolves around a CaptainErsatz of Comicbook/{{Superman}} who has lost his mind and believes himself to be a God. The results aren't pretty.
*The 70s Marvel character Adam Warlock encounters a [[FutureMeScaresMe mad future version]] of himself called the Magus who not only believes he's a god, but has his own vastly powerful church of fanatical followers sweeping across the galaxy in a Crusade. It doesn't help clear up matters when Warlock [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic is crucified, dies and comes back to life]].
* Winnowill from ''{{ElfQuest}}'' has some very distinct ideas about The World How It Should Be - including her own unquestioned dominion over earth and space, and the non-existence of the main cast. Her LoveMartyr Rayek suffers from the same malady, to a somewhat lesser extent (not that much lesser, though).
* In ''The Books of Magic'', Timothy Hunter may become this in the future, and we catch glimpses of it. The first story arc of the series involves various magicians in TheDCU trying to decide what to do about this.
* [[spoiler:Element Lad]] in the ''LegionOfSuperHeroes'' storyline "Legion Lost." [[spoiler:After getting lost through a [[TimeyWimeyBall time/space rift]] he transmutes himself into living mineral to survive, becoming immortal, and starts altering life on developing worlds to pass time, eventually creating whole civilizations of ScaryDogmaticAliens. By the time his time-displaced friends find him again billions of years later, his powers have grown a thousandfold; he's lost all sense of morality and murders one of his former comrades on a whim.]]
*In the ''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Incredible Hulk]]'' "Planet Hulk" storyline, [[spoiler: The Red King claims to be God in the flesh while fighting the Hulk in a [[AMechByAnyOtherName mecha suit, yes it was a mecha]]...then the Hulk got [[UnstoppableRage really mad and strongly begged to differ.]]]]
*During the end of Peter David's run on Marvel's CaptainMarvel, Genis, the then-Captain, became Cosmically Aware ''and'' empowered. He was driven mad by being suddenly conscious of every event and being that existed throughout the universe at once, then subsequently went about erasing ''all of reality'' within a meager few pages. Reality gets better later, though. He later goes on to harass preachers and Asgard in an attempt to force his self-declared godhood on the rest of the world.
* Ironically subverted during "The Korvac Saga" in ''Comicbook/TheAvengers''. Korvac, a supervillain, accidentally gains cosmic powers and knowledge... and, realizing humanity is at the mercy of [[CosmicHorrorStory uncaring cosmic beings]], decides to help free the universe from them. Unfortunately, he is tracked down by The Avengers (who had no idea what had happened to him) and is exposed, ruining his plans. In the end, he commits suicide out of despair.
** It should be noted that this story has been retconned later to make it seem that Korvac was still villainous and that the Avengers were right in opposing him, but anybody who reads the original version can clearly tell that wasn't the case.
* Even though the New Gods aren't really gods per se, rather being highly advanced aliens, the New God Darkseid proclaims to be a dark God in the flesh. He is the unquestioned ruler of his planet, has highly advanced powers and the only opponent who can stop him even temporarily is Superman. In [[SupermanTheAnimatedSeries the animated series]], when Supes manages to beat Darkseid in battle, his followers pick him up and help him.
---> "I am many things, Kal-El. But here, I am God."
** [[FinalCrisis "I. AM. THE. NEW. GOD."]]
**Whether they are or aren't actual gods varies from version to version. The comics maintain that they are gods on the level of the greek pantheon, who they do match in power.
* Every other appearance by Thanos has him stealing an artifact or power source that gives them godlike power. This was most obvious when he acquired the Infinity Gems.
* ''{{Watchmen}}'''s Dr. Manhattan fits this to a tee. "In my opinion [the existence of life] is a highly overrated phenomenon" and "I am disappointed, Veidt...this world's smartest man means no more to me than does its smartest termite" jump to mind.
** The latter is a rather squicky comment when you consider that Dr. Manhattan has nevertheless had long-term sexual relationships with two of those supposed "termites."
** However, Dr. Manhattan rejects the idea that he's a god. He states that he doesn't know if there is a God, and if there is, he's nothing like Him. In the end, however, [[spoiler:he leaves Earth and contemplates creating new life.]]
** For one thing, God probably wears pants.
* ''Thunderbolts'' #120: Norman Osborn loses his shit, resulting in the following exchange;
--> Swordsman: "You can't treat me like this! I'm a [[RoyallyScrewedUp baron]]!"
--> Green Goblin: "I am God!"
* The Skull of ''EarthX'' has the power to control the minds (or at least bodies) of every human being on Earth. Not surprisingly, he declares himself to be God. Ironically, he's more of [[TouchedByVorlons a pawn]] of the "real" gods of the setting, the Celestial Host.
--> Skull: "You wouldn't even eat if I didn't remind you to. Fall down. You wouldn't bathe if I didn't get sick of your stink and make you. I'm God."
--> Captain America: "Then I'm Nietzche."
** Mar-Vell gains omniscience in the sequel. Yeah, there you go.
* Very stupid example was Snowflame from ''New Guardians''., villain whose power source was ''cocaine''. After taking a shot he screams, he's a god.
* Hiro-Kala, teenage son of Hulk gave us really badass example, telling whole army, that:
---> '''Hiro-Kala:''' ''I am the chosen, progeny of Hulk the Green Scar and Caiera, shadow mother of all Sakaar. I am he of shadow, the life-bringer and world-breaker. Upon my planet I was known as Hiro-Kala. You will come to know me as GOD.''
* Rughal in ''{{The 99}}'' attempted to become godlike by absorbing all the knowledge of the noor stones. It didn't end well.
* In ''{{Sonic the Comic}}'' this happens ''twice'' to Robotnik. The first time, in the "Robotnik Reigns Supreme" storyline, he manages to absorb the power of the [[GreenRocks Chaos Emeralds]] and has reality completely at his whim until he gets outwitted by Sonic and drained of his powers. Much laterhe is hooked up to an alien machine supposed to drain the life force out of the planet and into his body, which gives him a brief moment of god-like powers until he is defeated again.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]
* ''TheManWhoWouldBeKing'' is practically the TropeNamer.
* Neatly subverted in ''Film/{{Batman}} Forever'' as The Riddler makes a deep dark speech involving the titular line, finished with a [[PowerEchoes deep, echoing invocation]] of "I", then asks, "[[LargeHam Was that a bit too over the top? I can never tell! Hah!]]"
* Jafar from ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'' does a textbook example of the rundown of this trope, wishing to become an all-powerful genie. In his following exultations, he mentions how the universe is now his to control, even going so far as to create a small solar system between his hands just for the hell of it. This is until Aladdin reminds him what the other half of "phenomenal cosmic power" is... "itty bitty living space".
* Skeletor has one of these speeches at the climax of the ''[[HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse Masters of the Universe]]'' live-action movie, right down to the line "I am a god!"
* ''TheLawnmowerMan'' (a sad instance of AdaptationDecay in that it has [[InNameOnly nothing but the title in common]] with the StephenKing short story, but the movie is more interesting anyway), where Jobe declares his intention to be the "Cyberchrist." His defining line (referring to {{Cyberspace}}): "[[ThisIsSparta I am God here!]]"
* Bill Murray's character in ''Film/GroundhogDay''. After reliving the same day over and over again, and attempting suicide in a vast number of different ways, eventually concludes that he's god, then hastily adds, "Not ''the'' God. Just ''a'' god."
* ''StreetFighter'' - see above. Raul Julia's fantastic ham ''makes'' the movie.
* Sutter Cane, the [[RewritingReality reality-rewriting author]] from ''Film/InTheMouthOfMadness'' claims to have become god sometime after completing his latest work, and proves it by turning the world blue.
**However, his true purpose was as a servant to all manners of [[CosmicHorrorStory Cosmic Horrors]] and [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]], assuming everything in the movie wasn't a figment of the main character's imagination, or part of a meta-gambit by John Carpenter. (Yeah, it's that kind of movie.)
* ''BruceAlmighty'' features a mortal (that's Bruce!) who is granted divine powers for [[strike:a week]] as long he wants. Mistakes are made.
** This movie actually subverts that trope, since Bruce does not use his powers for any greater jobs than teaching his dog to urinate into a human toilet and advance his reporter career by creating fake events to report. But by doing even such pathetic things he still manages to make big problems for himself and everyone, and manages to lose his girlfriend because she prefers normal Bruce. So God must take his place back and fix everything in a snap using same powers.
* Xerxes fits the bill in ''[[ThreeHundred 300]]''.
** You mean that WASN'T [[StreetFighter Dhalsim?!]]
* The Green Goblin/Norman Osborn in the first ''Film/{{Spiderman}}'' movie seems to fit this bill. "There are eight million people in this city. And those teeming masses exist for the sole purpose of lifting the few exceptional people onto their shoulders. You, me? We're exceptional."
* ''[[TheCaligula "I have existed from the morning of the world and I shall exist until the last star falls from the night. Although I have taken the form of Gaius Caligula, I am all men as I am no man and therefore I am a God."]]''
* This idea is poked fun at in ''{{Newsies}}'' - Joe Pulitzer is obviously full of himself, and even pontificates "When I created The World..." (repeated when this speech is interrupted and he asks his assistant where he was. The response? "Creating the world, sir.") But... ''The World'' was the name of his newspaper, so he's not quite as full of it as he sounds.
* ''Malice'' is about an egocentric surgeon who begins to believe he is God, even saying so in a deposition. The film's star Alec Baldwin [[ActorAllusion referenced it in character as Jack Donaghy]] on an episode of ''[=~30 Rock~=]''.
* MadScientist Henry Frankenstein's line "Now I know what it's like to be God!" in the classic Karloff ''Frankenstein."
* The villain Benedict declares this in ''LastActionHero'' once he's beginning to fully grasp his newfound ability to cross between dimensions and defy the real-world laws of physics at will...
-->'''Benedict''': "If God was evil... he'd be me!"
* In ''AlmostFamous'', rock star Russell Hammond drunkenly climbs on a roof at a house party and declares, "I am a golden god!" Later, when he has sobered up, he doesn't believe he said it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]
* Subverted in the [[TheBible New Testament]]: {{Jesus}} actually ''is'' {{God}}, and knows it.
** Let's just say [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation not everyone believes that]] and leave it as that.
*** Obviously not everyone believes it's true. And there are debates about how accurate the existing New Testament texts are (or aren't) to what Jesus actually said or did. But this site isn't about that - it's about the medium. And the book itself contains the subversion as described in the spoiler. Whether that subversion is fact or fiction is irrelevant to this trope.
* [[spoiler: Virlomi]], of {{Orson Scott Card}}'s [[EndersGame Ender's Game saga]], [[spoiler: believed that she could communicate with the gods, and that she was divinely ordained]] to save India. [[spoiler: All of India worshipped her as the Goddess of the Bridge.]]
* OrsonScottCard's ''Homecoming'' series: The Keeper of Earth is never outright stated to be God (or even Gaia), but with the stunts She (as The Keeper is usually called) pulls off (sending an image of Nafai's face to a Digger girl 1,000 years before he was born, chasing the bulk of humanity off with a spontaneous Ice Age), She might as well be.
* Simon R. Green's ''Deathstalker'' series, in many cases - though the most notable one is probably the combined WallBanger and {{Narm}} at the very end of the Owen-centric series. Suffice to say it involves a StableTimeLoop combined with a HUGE AssPull.
** If you want a webcomic approximation of this, check out ''BobAndGeorge.''
* FrankHerbert's ''{{Dune}}'', the protagonist, Paul Atreides becomes the [[MessianicArchetype Kwisatz Haderach]], the universe's [[{{Ubermensch}} super being]]. His consciousness can be in many places at once and can see things before they happen. He is worshipped as a messiah and god.
** An important point that TheFilmOfTheBook apparently missed: Paul is not literally a god (the limitations of his power are repeatedly shown), and doesn't consider himself so. He is a man playing on superstitions to appear as a god to his followers.
***Now, [[spoiler:his ''son'',]] on the other hand... well, there's a reason the fourth book is called ''God-Emperor of Dune''. [[spoiler:Paul could have become an actual godlike being (by merging with sandtrout to become a [[HalfHumanHybrid human-sandworm hybrid]])), but he could not bring himself to so fully sacrifice his humanity. But Leto II (who shares his father's abilities) sees that for mankind's future, he must.]]
*[[LordOfTheRings "In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen... All shall love me and despair!"]] Averted, since she refuses the [[ArtifactOfDoom Ring]].
**Played straight, however, with Sauron and his predecessor and former master, Morgoth. Both of them made themselves out as gods to their orcish and human followers such as the Haradrim. Tolkien himself referred to their reigns as "evil theocracies". Of course, Morgoth was somewhat justified, as he was one of the Valar, beings similar to the Greek Gods except they did not want to be worshipped, as that was Eru's right to be worshipped alone. Sauron tried to justify this to his followers by pretending he was Morgoth returned.
* One character's pursuit of this trope is the plot driver for the second {{Dragonlance}} trilogy. [[spoiler:Raistlin succeeds, with rather horrific results for all involved. [[PyrrhicVillainy Including him]]. But through a continuation of the somewhat involved time-travel storyline, Caramon warns him of this early enough on for Raistlin to upgrade his condition to [[RedemptionEqualsDeath sort-of-heroically sacrificed and dead]]. (Or tortured for all eternity in Hell.) Though this does not prevent him from making postmortem cameos.]]
** Don't forget the Kingpriest of Istar who went as far as demanding the gods serve him. What brought about the cataclysm was his demand that the gods make him a god himself.
** Or Fistandantilus, who came up with the whole "become a god" plan that [[spoiler: Raistlin]] hijacked. In fact, he was [[TheManBehindTheMan the man behind the Kingpriest]] as well. And from ''The Legend of Human'' there was Galan Dracos, whose plan to steal the Dark Queen's powers wasn't as well thought out as the others, though to be fair it took place chronologically first, so they might have been able to learn from his mistakes. Really, this one crops up a lot with [[EvilSorcerer Evil Sorcerers]] in Dragonlance, or any DnD world.
* In ''SecondApocalypse'' Conphas eventually convinces himself that he is a god.
** And in what has been revealed of the second trilogy, [[spoiler:Kellhus gets himself worshipped as one.]]
* In MichaelMoorcock's ''The Chronicles of Corum,'' the ambitious sorcerer Shool is convinced he has already become a god and is aiming for Supreme God, enlisting Corum for the purpose. In the end it turns out he was merely a puppet of the Chaos Lords, and is left a hollow, dying shell after he has Outlived His Usefulness.
* Inverted in PiersAnthony's ''{{Incarnations of Immortality}}'' series. [[spoiler:Since the original God is too caught up in this trope's attitude to bother with Earthly affairs, another more humble individual must be manipulated into becoming God]].
* "For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something."\\
- The Star Child in ''2001ASpaceOdyssey''
* In TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/{{Thief of Time}}'', [[spoiler:Lobsang/Jeremy becomes the new Time, with control over all aspects of it - although to be honest, it's more of a responsibility and a change of pace than anything having to do with powers. And despite his newfound status, he still submits to Lu-Tze in the dojo, in a brilliant denouement.]]
** Coin, from another of his novels, ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'', actually imprisoned all the known gods in a sphere of thought just to prove that he could.
* Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from ''JourneyToTheWest''. After taking the Ruyi-Jingu-Bang from the palace of the Dragon King of the West, he was given a position in the Jade Emperor's court to satiate his desire for acknowledgement. However, once Wukong realized that his position was literally a janitorial position, he set up a plot to, and SUCCEEDED in, taking over Heaven, declaring himself "The Sage Greater than Heaven." It wasn't until the Jade Emperor asked Buddha himself to do something that Wukong was ousted.
** Ironically, after he was freed and assisted Xuangzang in his journey, he DID become worshipped as a god, and in Buddhism is proclaimed the Buddha of Courage (not a godly position entirely, but as close as someone can get to godhood in a religion which itself has no real gods).
* PatriciaAMcKillip's ''Riddle of the Stars'' trilogy features the Earthmasters, arrogant and powerful once-human beings [[spoiler: and chronicles the transformation of a withdrawn young scholar into his world's god]].
*This is more or less the plot of Dave Duncan's ''Great Game'' series, in which [[spoiler: all gods derive their power from people worshipping them. The plot revolves around the attempt by the existing gods to stop a new god from accruing sufficient power to topple them all, and the main character's attempts to stop him by becoming a new god as well]]
* In Fiona Patton's ''Tales of the Branion Realm'' series, the royal family of a fantasy England is physically possessed by a fire god, making the sovereign something of a Christ-figure. Not only does she have divine right, she can prove it. She can set things on fire with a thought, and her entire family has literally blazing eyes. Most of the books center on the oddities of religion under such a system: What do you do when God is your mother (and is being abusive)? What do you do when God is a five-year-old child? What do you do when God converts to the worship of a different God? (The answer to the latter is that you seduce God and raise his kid up in the correct religion.)
* Both Ma'elKoth and Pallas Ril in ''The Acts of Caine''. A JustifiedTrope here, as they actually became gods.
* [[spoiler: Satan]] in ''Salvation Wars: Armageddon'' thinks of himself as a god. Considering who he is, not too surpising... [[spoiler: Thing is, this also applies to Yahweh!]]
* ''Dead Beat'' of ''TheDresdenFiles'' revolves around several necromancers competing to be the focus of the Darkhallow ritual to absorb enough powerful souls of the dead to attain godlike power.
* David Edding's ''TheMalloreon'' has the mad disciple Urvon declare himself a God, we then get a rather awesome scene of [[BigBad Child of the Dark]] Zandramas putting him down:
--> "And if you ARE a god, then I now call the Godslayer!"
* Vanjit from ''TheLongPriceQuartet'' after [[spoiler: binding her Andat, Clarity-of-Vision.]]
** Also in the ''Ender's Game'' saga, the "God Spoken" on the planet of Path are believed to be spoken to by the Gods. This is the reasoning behind their extreme intelligence and the reason they have to "purify" themselves through rituals such as tracing wood grains, counting steps, and being extremely sanitary. [[spoiler:In the end they discover that the "God Spoken" have merely been genetically engineered to be smarter, and were also engineered to have an extreme form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in order to prevent them from being a threat to the government.]]
* [[BigBad Saint Dane]] of the ''Pendragon'' series, certainly qualifies, [[spoiler: and he's probably right, to an extent]].
* Subverted in [[PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians the Percy Jackson series]], when [[spoiler: at the end of The Last Olympian, Percy is offered immortality in return for playing a part in killing Kronos, but refuses]].
* In ''ANightmareOnElmStreet: Protege'' Freddy tells Jerome that, while he may be limited in the real world, in the dream world he's essentially God. Cue Freddy briefly making himself gigantic and causing the sky to change into a swirling black vortex of thunder and lightning.
* BrandonSanderson loves this trope- all three of his major works feature mortals with godlike power who are worshipped as divine. [[spoiler: The real gods of his multiverse, though, are called Shards and are pretty much incarnate forces of nature (Preservation and Ruin being two named examples), far above anything else in the novels. Some Shards do have mortal intelligences attached to them, however.]]
* This may be a little unfair, but [[TheSwordOfTruth Richard Rahl]] does maintain and encourage the tradition of everyone regularly bowing down and chanting, "Master Rahl guide us... In your light we thrive...Our lives are yours," for four hours a day. Eventually there was a point to keeping this up, but not initially.
* Subverted when ''{{Conan}}'s'' girlfriend Muriela, who specialises in impersonating gods, emerges from behind an idol of a goddess glowing purple and giving a different A God Am I speech than the one they had rehearsed. When the worshippers are all off doing her bidding Conan sneaks over and suggests that they leave, at which point she tells him not to be so presumptuous and to clear off before she remembers that he intended to con people in her name. It is strongly implied that the girl lives happily ever after in exchange for periodically renting her physical form to the goddess, who thought the girl was far more fetching than her idol.
* Jacen and Jaina Solo in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse take on personas of two Yuuzhan Vong gods. Of course, Jacen also has GodMode later, but WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity.
* Obould Many-Arrows from ForgottenRealms acquires the moniker Obould-Who-Is-Gruumsh at the height of his power, Gruumsh being the chief god of the Orcs.
* Occurs in David Weber's ''{{Safehold}}'' series. The survivors of humanity are transported to a new world to escape the aliens that destroyed them and to avoid detection, must enter a MedievalStasis. Langhorne and Bédard, the two in charge of the project, brainwash the survivors into thinking they were the creations of God, with those leading the project being angels and Archangels of the CargoCult. They justify this as a necessity, claiming it will avoid the complications of enforcing MedievalStasis and prevent them from re-reaching space flight level to soon. The truth is Langhorne and Bédard are megalomaniacs who like being Archangels and may well believe their own schtick. Unsurprisingly, the woman who stands up to this and rebels is labelled the [[CrystalDragonJesus Crystal Dragon Satan]] in the religion.
* Akasha of ''TheVampireChronicles'' was worshiped as a goddess for centuries, and came to believe it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Gary Mitchell in ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
* ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' - in the episode "Hide and Q" Q gives such powers to Riker.
* Jason Ironheart in the ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' episode "Mind War". Unlike most of this trope, he conducts himself with responsibility, humility, and some amount of restraint (he kills someone while escaping, arguably to save more lives).
** Also from ''Babylon 5:'' Emperor Cartaggia, who was convinced (if he needed any convincing) by the Shadows that he was a god and Centauri Prime should be sacrificed to him.
* An episode of ''HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' (the TV series) sets up the alternate form, with the newly divine daughter setting out to ascend to a higher plane and become one with the universe. But in a last second subversion, because StatusQuoIsGod, Wayne applies ReversePolarity on the GreenRocks and pulls her back to Earth.
* [[spoiler: Cordelia's ascension]] in ''{{Angel}}''.
*The Goa'uld of ''StargateSG1'', fit this trope not only perfectly, but are also ''really'' extreme cases. Although they are just [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens highly advanced aliens]] they do not only ''pose'' as god in front of their primitive slaves, they also ''think'' they are gods, likely due to thousands of years playing that role and their natural megalomania. Even when confronted with even more advanced cultures or people who ''know'' they are not gods, they still babble about how they are immortal, all-knowing gods. Could border on a {{deconstruction}}, as this quite frequently leads to their doom.
**Which is precisely why Baal managed to outlive his fellow Goa'uld; he didn't believe his own propaganda.
**Anubis may be an exception too. He certainly acts out the melodramatic LargeHam speeches about his power, but he never directly adressed himself as a god, despite being more advanced, immortal ''and'' the most evil Goa'uld.
*** And as a partially ascended being he really has, of all the Goa'uld, the best case for calling himself one.
** The Ori also fit into this trope quite nicely, though with all the power and knowledge they possess they don't just claim to be gods, the pretty much ''are'' gods. Especially Adria.
*** The Ori take this far enough that it becomes somewhat of a Wallbanger when people insist that they're ''not'' gods, since, well, everything a god can do the Ori can do. (Including Immaculate Conception) If that's not a god, one has to wonder what people would accept as a god.
* An episode of ''TheOuterLimits'', "The Sixth Finger," combines both versions. An illiterate miner is put through a process that quickly [[EvolutionaryLevels evolves him]], resulting in increased intelligence and psychokinetic power, which he unleashes on the pathetic lesser beings around him; but then he evolves even further and rises above such petty emotions, realizing the true nobility of existence.
* A variant on this occurs in ''IClaudius'', [[TruthInTelevision (and in real life)]] when [[TheCaligula Caligula]] declares himself to be a god; however, in Caligula's case there were no GreenRocks or [[TouchedByVorlons Vorlons]] - his declaration is caused pretty much solely by the fact that he is, at that point, ''absolutely barking mad''. Some Roman emperors were deified ''after death'' - the last words of Vespasian were, "Alas, I am becoming a god" - so Caligula was jumping the gun a bit. (Deification even after death was in real life somewhat rare: among others, Tiberius and Nero were not deified after death - and neither was Caligula. His pre-death self-deification was also quietly shelved in Claudius's time.)
**"And his sister's become a Goddess. Any questions?"
* A number of characters on ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', most emphatically [[spoiler:Adam Monroe]]. Meanwhile Peter Petrelli, who has a heck of a claim to godlike powers since he absorbs the powers of everyone he encounters, has yet to fall victim to this.
** If we can assume that [[spoiler: Maury Parkman's illusion of Linderman]] accurately portrays the actual character's personality, then we can infer that [[spoiler: Linderman]] thought of himself as either a god or very close to one. In one season 3 episode, he implied that he spoke the word of God.
* On the new series of ''DoctorWho'', the Dalek Emperor had a pretty high opinion of itself. So much so that insulting it would trigger the now-famous line, "THOSE WORDS ARE BLASPHEMY!" and a chorus of "Do not blaspheme! Do not blaspheme!" from his subordinate Daleks.
** Also, in the same episode, Rose Tyler absorbs the heart of the TARDIS and is turned into a godlike hybrid called ''Bad Wolf'', who disproves the Dalek Emperor's "I am God" hypothesis by disintegrating him.
** Played with in the original series serial "The Armageddon Factor", when the Doctor, possessing the full power of the Key To Time, starts making an AGodAmI speech, much to Romana's alarm. [[spoiler:He's just making a point about how dangerous the power is, in anyone's hands.]]
** In "Genesis of the Daleks," OmnicidalManiac Davros is asked, if he had in his possession a virus that would wipe out all life, would he release it? His response:
--->"Yes... yes. To hold in my hand a capsule that contained such power... to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes - I ''would'' do it. That power would set me up above the ''gods''! ''[[LargeHam And through the Daleks, I shall have that power]]''!"
**The 1982 story 'Four to Doomsday' focuses an alien who not only believes himself to be a God but, in fact, destroyed his home planet in an attempt to travel back in time to the creation of the universe to see how he had created it.
** There's a curious heroic version of this trope in the final [[DoctorWhoMagazine Eighth Doctor comic strip]]; the Doctor merges with the space-time vortex in order to defeat the Cybermen, becoming a being of practically godlike omnipotence in the process. Although he remains benevolent, his omnipotence distracts him; he's so enthused about how he can see everything and feel everything that he doesn't notice that his companion remains on the Cybermen's rapidly decaying space ship and is about to fall to her death. Then, as the Doctor's about to say goodbye to her forever, he notices her about to fall to her death... and instantly gives up godhood without a second thought so that he can catch her before she falls.
** In 'The Waters of Mars', [[spoiler:the Doctor effectively snaps after being pushed to the limit and declares himself to command all of time. Not while under control or anything, he simply snaps. NightmareFuel indeed.]]
* A few years earlier, in ''The Second Coming'', Russel T Davies had Steven Baxter, an ordinary Manchester lad played by ChristopherEccleston suddenly realise that he was the son of God.
* In an episode of ''[[LawAndOrderSVU Law and Order: SVU]]'', a religious cult leader is on the run with one of the children from his cult, a 12-year-old girl who is pregnant with his baby. Olivia has her gun on him, and the girl has a gun on Olivia, when the leader starts telling the girl that the police want to destroy him because "They know that I am ''greater'' than man, I am ''greater'' than God!" [[spoiler:The girl promptly shoots ''him,'' and sobs to Olivia that she did it because "He said he was greater than God... but ''nobody'' is."]]
* Kilobyte the Freaky Tentacles Guy (yeah, {{Squick}} please) in ''AceLightning''... though since he’s a videogame character, he was kinda trippin’...
* Callisto in ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' consumes ambrosia, the food of the Gods, to literally become a God during a battle with a vengeful Amazon that had ''also'' consumed ambrosia solely [[DisproportionateRetribution so that she could kill Gabrielle]]. Uniquely, in later episodes she regrets her Godhood and tries to find ways of undoing it, culminating in her begging Xena to find a way to kill her. [[spoiler: She changes her mind after witnessing Gabrielle make a HeroicSacrifice - unfortunately for her, Xena had already found a way to kill her, and didn't particularly appreciate her gloating about this.]]
* In the Season 1 finale of ''{{Dollhouse}}'', Alpha proclaims that he has "ascended" [[spoiler: because he contains multiple personalities and gives this "gift" to Echo who rejects it.]]
* ''BattlestarGalactica'' ("Razor"). The old man hybrid states that his Centurian guardians believe him to be a god, and he doesn't dispute the claim. He certainly seems to be all-knowing, but as the protagonist proves, not immortal. Provided of course that all this doesn't happen again, and again, and again, and again...
* In one episode of the ''TwilightZone'', a pair of space-farers found themselves stranded on an apparently desolate planet. One of these men found a civilization of microscopic people, and quickly set himself up as their god. Though his fellow tried to talk him out of it, the newly deified pilot decided to stay as the god of these tiny people. Of course, this being the TwilightZone, [[ItGotWorse things went south quickly for him]].
** Craig's boast, "'''I'M THE GOD! I'M THE GOD!'''" became a catchphrase on MST3K.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

*In the {{Queen}} song "The Seven Seas of Rhye" [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1j-6vRykFs]], the lyrics are essentially Freddie Mercury stating this.
**"Princes of the Universe" too:
--->"I am immortal,
--->I have inside me blood of kings!
--->I have no rival
--->No man can be my equal!"
***"Princes of the Universe" was written specifically for the {{Highlander}} movie, so it's fitting.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Myth And Legend ]]

* Several mortal characters in {{Greek mythology}} became gods or otherwise immortal, including Apollo's son Asclepius, who became the god of healing and medicine; Ino, who raised Dionysius for Zeus and became a minor goddess of the sea, who helped Odysseus return home; the Diomedes who appeared in ''{{The Iliad}}'', raised to godhood by Athena; and most famously Hercules, AKA Herakles, who in return for saving the gods of Olympus from the Giants and for his many heroic deeds, became a god after his death.
** On the other hand, a mortal man fixed pots and pans to his chariot, [[TemptingFate claimed to be "Zeus the Thunderbearer"]], and got his fool self struck with lightning for the effort.
*** Yeah. Zeus has a temper.
* In a Low German folktale collected by TheBrothersGrimm, „''Von dem Fischer un syner Fru''“ (“Of the Fisherman and His Wife”), the eponymous lady, having been made successively King, Emperor, and Pope by a magic flounder, demands to be made equal to „''de lewe Gott''“. [[spoiler:The couple end up as they began, living „''in’n Pißputt''“]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]
* Parodied somewhat when John Bradshaw Layfield would occasionally taunt his opponents that he's a "Wrestling God" (even if he's a whiny cowardly Heel).
* Also played straight when Vince [=McMahon=] briefly declared himself a god in 2006.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* The accurate assessment version of the trope appears in ''{{Nobilis}}'', where everyone of significance is equivalent in power to what a human would call a god. A great deal of the game's drama comes from dealing with this fact.
* The Emperor for ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' may or may not have become a god.
** He was also heavily insinuated to be, well, every major magical / metaphysical person in the history of time. (Jesus, Merlin, etc.) They were intentionally using their mystical ([[PsychicPowers psychic]]) powers to reincarnate themselves into one big angry man -- The Emperor.
** In addition, the way the Warp (alternate dimension where psychic powers draw from) works, it's highly possible that having a few QUADRILLION people worship him as a god has made him into a ''literal'' god - the Eldar created the god(dess) of Lust, Slaanesh, by doing something similar.
***If so, he's a god with nearly no brain activity- his primary contribution to the running of the Imperium consisting of acting as a psychic lighthouse with a tube up it's arse. He might become a god if someone were ever to pull the plug, allowing him to re-incarnate, but given that would make the setting less Grimdark, that's unlikely to happen.
****Not Brain-dead, but--if Ian Watson's "Inquisitor" is to be trusted--very likely insane; as demonstrated by the Voice of the Emperor arguing with itself about what It knows or doesn't know, whether It is good or malevolent, and generally whether it actually put the plot that Jac has been chasing into play or not.[[spoiler: Disturbingly, in the end, the Voice doesn't know.]]
**** It is heavily implied that his psychically amplified mind is more or less stuck in the warp, tethered to him, unable to resurrect -- but that it's also the only thing keeping the Warp from overrunning the Universe and enslaving everyone -- and, true to the '''[[GrimDark GRIMDARK]]''' setting, it was recently discovered (in the latest rulebook/update to the storyline) that his life support system is breaking down.
* In certain ''{{Dungeons and Dragons}}'' settings, such as the {{Forgotten Realms}}, particularly powerful PCs can become gods if they perform sufficiently heroic deeds.
** In the fourth edition of the game, this is one of the possible epic destinies awaiting characters that reach 30th level.
** Cyric, from ForgottenRealms, goes this one step further. After becoming a deity, he creates a book, called the Cyrinishad, which will make anyone who reads it believe that Cyric is the most important being in the universe. He then [[WhatAnIdiot reads it himself]]. He now believes that he is the most important being in the universe, and (for example) that if someone thwarts his plans, he is simply letting them do so.
** Even back in the old days of the boxed sets, high-level characters had the option of going on a quest for and potentially achieving 'Immortality' -- godhood in all but name. Many (if perhaps not all) Immortals of the Known World (Mystara) were implied to have gained their status in precisely this fashion.
* ''{{Exalted}}'': the Great Curse is instant AGodAmI inspiration for most Celestials. Sidereals are the most prone to the pride overload, as their Curse is Hubris (others get possessed by their Virtues occasionally). Of course, this does mostly fall under "accurate self-assessment": most Exalts could take down a minor god fairly easily, and a major one if they team up or get their [[PowerLevel Essence]] up high enough.
* In ''{{Scion}}'' a player character ascends to godhood when they reach Legend 9
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Pope Zera in Grandia 2 believes that he has become a God and taunts you as such. He's still an easy boss battle, though.
* ''[[TheElderScrolls What a fool you are. I'm a god! How can you kill a god?! What a grand and intoxicating innocence!]]''
** Said entity was not ''entirely'' incorrect in his assessment of being a god, going by the other examples we have...
* ''FinalFantasyVII'''s Sephiroth, who wished to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the Planet]] and remake it in his own image as a new God.
** Kefka from ''FinalFantasyVI'' also fell prey to this line of thinking after absorbing the power of the Goddess Statues and bringing about the World of Ruin. Unlike Sephiroth however, Kefka, being a psychopathic NietzscheWannabe, wasn't interested in remaking anything, and wanted only to destroy ''everything'', creating "a monument to non-existence."
*** Considering that the Statues ''were'' (demi)gods of Magic, and that by absorbing their powers, Kefka became the [[TheMagicGoesAway source of all Magic]], his claims might not be so unfounded.
* Kane, from the ''[[CommandAndConquer Command & Conquer]]'' series, actually calls himself "The Messiah" ([[TheMessiah not the trope]]) and the Brotherhood of NOD [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic "the chosen people."]] Then, again, Kane has been alive and unaged for nearly a century now, and has successfully deflected shots from an orbital laser cannon with his face several times, so why not? Not even the SufficientlyAdvancedAliens know what he is.
**This is even lampshaded in the GDI ending to ''Tiberium Sun.''
--->'''[=McNeil=]:''' You aren't God, Kane!\\
'''Kane:''' No...but I am a close second.
**And stated way earlier by his right-hand man, Seth:
--->'''Seth:''' I'm Seth. Just Seth. From God, to Kane, to Seth. I am his right hand and I have a task for you.
** And then Kane shot him.
*** A full frontal assault to your face!
* Master Albert of ''MegaManZX Advent'' deludes himself into thinking that he's god and attempts a XanatosGambit spanning centuries in order to confirm it.
** And he even tries to re-enforce the idea right before the final boss battle.
--> '''Albert:''' I don't ''THINK'' I'm a god... I ''AM'' a God!
** But to be fair, as insane the man was, he was a MagnificentBastard with an obvious background in genetics, a mechanical genius, and when he gets Ouroboros up and running, very, very powerful. It's no surprise that he thinks of himself as a deity who will reset the world. And it took [[spoiler: his own great-great-great grand-daughter (Ashe) or his backup-body (Grey), either with ''Albert's own Biometal'',]] to take him down. Of anyone on this list, Albert may be one of the most deserving of such a title.
* Essentially Bowser's plan in ''[[SuperMarioBros Super Mario Galaxy]];'' after stealing all of the stars from Rosalina's ship, he attempts to use them to ''create his own galaxy to rule over''.
** Don't forget that he plans to make it into a base and proceed to conquer the entire universe.
* An example of the latter (benevolent) god transformation comes in the Nightfall campaign of the MMORPG ''GuildWars'' when [[spoiler:the leader of the Sunspears, Kormir, ascends to godhood.]]
* In ''StarCraft'', the Zerg Overmind seeks to invade the Protoss homeworld and assimilate the Protoss into the Zerg Swarm: "Thenceforth shall we be the greatest of creation's children. We shall be... perfect."
** There's also the fact that he wakes the player cerebrate with a magnificently biblical: "Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me." For being a HiveMind unable of god complexes, he does it pretty well.
***That's because the Overmind is NOT a hivemind. A hivemind is a decentralised intelligence, such as ants coordinating to find food. The Overmind, on the other hand, is a centralised intelligence (as the name obviously implies). Being a nigh-omnipotent intelligent entity that controls the Swarm, the Overmind IS virtually the God of the Zerg.
* Inuart proclaims this in ''{{Drakengard}}'' shortly before he explodes along with the rest of the sky-fortress. Either that, or [[EpilepticTrees he really did succeed.]]
* Kratos from ''GodOfWar'', who actually becomes a god at the end of the first game.
* In ''[[{{PerfectDark}} Perfect Dark Zero]]'', after defeating the {{Big Bad}}, he decides to escape by ascending into godhood. Why he didn't do that before you beat up on him, nobody knows.
* The Gravemind of ''{{Halo}}'' apparently actually believes it is a divine entity and the Flood are the pinnacle of all existence - going so far as to accuse anyone fighting against it as being a "sinner" for standing in its way.
** Before the High Prophet of Truth's death by the Arbiter (who, ironically, was picked by the former), one of his last sentences was "My feet tread the path; I shall become a god!", which Gravemind retorts, "You will be food - nothing more!".
** During the High Charity level near the end of ''{{Halo}} 3'', Gravemind's speech turns highly biblical.
-> "Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness, for father's sins cast to his son?"
-> "Do not be afraid. I am peace; I am salvation."
-> "I have beaten fleets of thousands! Consumed a galaxy of flesh and mind and bone!"
-> "Do I take life or give it? Who is victim, and who is foe?"
* Selin Fireheart, a minor boss in ''WorldOfWarcraft'''s current final 5-man dungeon, the Magister's Terrace, screams, "Yes! I am a GOD!", after draining one of the green crystals around his section of the area. (Needless to say, he is nothing close, and most advanced groups just kick his ass right through the resulting attacks.)
** In ''Wrath of The Lich King'', Malygos says " I AM THE SPELL WEAVER! MY power is INFINITE!" if he kicks your ass.
** That one's a bit more justified, since he's 1) a pillar of creation and 2) it takes 25 epic characters ''and'' another PhysicalGod to take him down.
* Spoofed in ''DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', wherein [[spoiler: Vulcanus]]'s plans to become God are met with bored remarks along the lines of, "That's it?" and [[GenreSavvy "See? I told you it'd be selfish and unoriginal."]]
* In ''TheWorldEndsWithYou'', [[spoiler:Joshua is Shibuya's Composer and not only runs The Game, but could erase the entire city if he so chose.]]
** He has been it for a long time though, and he doesn't act overly egoistic about it (no more than normal, really.). And he's not deluded about godhood- he is pretty much a god (of Shibuya's dead at least), and to reiterate, has been one for who knows how long but still probably pretty long.
* In ''TheLegendOfZelda: Twilight Princess'', [[spoiler:Ganon is not a god. However, he convinces Zant that he is by providing Zant with the power to usurp the throne of the Twilight realm, then invade Hyrule.]]
** In the series as a whole, Ganondorf/Ganon isn't quite a god, but seeing as he wields part of the Triforce, he comes as close to it as possible in the setting (while Link and Zelda hold the other two parts, they don't seem to have the same power over them), being effectively immortal.
*** Given that the setting includes three legitimate goddesses who created the Triforce to begin with, I don't think possessing a single piece really qualifies as "as close to it as possible"....
**** Considering that nobody can ''possess'' the full Triforce for very long, it's as close as a mortal can get without, say, wishing for godhood on the Triforce.
** The Triforce used to be in one piece. Back in ''Link to the Past'', Ganon had ''all'' of it, granting him absolute power over the Golden Realm (corrupted into the Dark World), but he was [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in his own domain]]. It took him a long time to gather enough strength to send a fraction of his power (the wizard Agahnim) out of the Dark World and begin his plan to conquer Hyrule.
* Occurs ''twice'' in the ''DevilMayCry'' universe- first with [[spoiler: Arkham]] in ''3'', whose megalomania was so great that even after being ''thoroughly'' trounced by Dante and [[spoiler: Vergil]] united against him and being crippled and unable to stand after falling at least forty feet onto a stone floor, he still denied that anyone could stop him in his quest for Godhood. Only the reality of his daughter's pistol about to blow his brains out destroyed his illusions of invincibility.
** The second candidate, [[spoiler: Sanctus of the Order of the Sword]] didn't necessarily consider ''himself'' God per se, but sought to create an artificial God and unify with it to reign over a new utopia purged of chaos.
* Gehn from the game ''{{Riven}}'' is a good example of the third variant of this trope. Though Gehn himself does not specifically say this, it is implied. Plus, the whole temple-on-the-first-island-in-the-game is a pretty big tipoff...
** There's also [[spoiler: Esher]] from ''Myst V: End of Ages.'' While he doesn't quite believe that he ''is'' a god, he does believe that he's the rightful owner of a certain gold tablet that controls another species of sentient beings. And in one bad ending, [[spoiler: he gains control of the {{MacGuffin}} and even states that he now has control over these beings and their power in a god-like manner.]] He also [[spoiler: rants that he's the Grower and that "D'ni needed him!"]] in the good ending, so the delusions of God-hood are definitely there.
* [[spoiler:Pul Wat Aa]] in the Tower Defense game ''Immortal Defense''.
* SHODAN of ''SystemShock'' fame referred to herself that way (see Quotes page). And has sort of recognition for her efforts:
--> '''Prefontaine:''' ...What's clear is that SHODAN shouldn't be allowed to play God. She's far too good at it.
* Durandal, the resident MagnificentBastard AI from ''{{Marathon}}'' frequently claims that "Escape will make me God," and has many a XanatosRoulette in place to escape from the humans, and later the ''entire physical universe,'' just in time to watch it collapse 15 billion years later, no doubt. [[spoiler:He (probably) failed. But he understood the entire universe before it ceased to exist.]] Oh, and he even comes back to life for seemingly no reason at least once in the series (though there are a couple other instances that would probably count as well). Hey, WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic? ... and yes, that would seem to make Tycho the devil.
** While we are at it, pick a media with a smart AI in it. Seems that [[AiIsACrapshoot Ai is such a Crapshoot ]] that making one automatically gives it a god complex.
* ''DeusEx'' plays with this trope and the aforementioned AI variant. Bob Page plans to become the [[spoiler: [[PhysicalGod Physical]]]] God of the entire world by [[spoiler:merging his own mind with the AI Helios (who coincidentally is the [[EverythingIsOnline Internet) and other assorted global communications networks]], a {{Nanomachine}} [[MookMaker Assembler]] and a [[TheVirus nanomachine plague]] present in large amounts of the world's population, so that he becomes omniscient and omnipresent]], with total control of the world. However, [[spoiler: Helios wants no part in this, and the player may choose to merge JC (not initials) with Helios]] to become the ''benevolent dictator'' of the world. There's a small distinction, but the ending's tagline notes that [[spoiler:JC]] has effectively become as a god anyways.
* [[spoiler:Amelissan]], in ''BaldursGate II: Throne Of Bhaal'', is described as "welding" the collected essence of [[spoiler:the dead Bhaalspawn]] to [[spoiler:her]] own soul, granting vast power. Even after you defeat [[spoiler:her, she]] refuses to believe it, and gets verbablly pwned for it.
-->'''[[spoiler:Amelissan]]:''' [[BigNo NOOO!]] [[ThisIsSparta I! AM! A!]] ''[[ThisIsSparta GOD!]]''
-->'''Solar:''' You wield great power, and play with energies that make you immortal. That does not make you a god.
**[[spoiler:The Player Character ]] also applies to this trope, depending on how you played through the game.
* Both ''Summoner'' and its sequel apply. In the first, [[spoiler: Joseph, the Summoner, must become Urath Reborn,]] and the second takes it a step further when Maya, named in the blurb as the Goddess Laharah, is [[spoiler: revealed as Aosi, creation itself, far beyond any mere god.]]
* It appears in ''ResidentEvil 5'', Albert Wesker is falling to this line of thinking, if a certain trailer is of any indication...
** ''The right to become a god? That right is now mine!''
** It gets better: ''Let me clarify something for you, Chris. I don't think of myself as a king. I am a GOD! And even kings bow to gods!''
***''A new Genesis is at hand, and I shall be its Creator!''
***'' '''[[LargeHam THE HUMAN RACE REQUIRES JUDGEMENT!!!]]''' ''
* In ''[[{{ptitlemv4qrxdx}} Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy]]'', the insane psychic agent Nicholas Wrightson styles himself as the "True God of the Ether." Even though his real and decidedly emaciated body is hooked up to a life support machine, his mind roams freely across the world, [[BodySurf taking over different bodies according to his needs.]] This, coupled with his ability to tame [[EldritchAbomination Creatures from Beyond]] was pretty much all the evidence he needed. Interestingly enough, after you defeat him, he appears to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.
**The formerly powerless BigBad of the story achieves something close to godhood in the final level, though he's more of a PhysicalGod than Wrightson- and just to prove his point, he spends the boss battle [[PlayingWithFire hurling fireballs at you]], [[MindOverMatter levitating car-sized chunks of debris in your direction]] and [[PowerFloats hovering far above you just to rub his apparent omnipotence in your face.]] Unlike Wrightson, though, he doesn't have the luxury of ascending once he's defeated.
* About halfway through ''PhantomDust'', [[spoiler:Edgar, the main character's best friend, finds out that he is actually the last person left on Earth and all other life he sees was actually created by him after he learned to control the mysterious dust that he linked with the disappearance of life. Edgar is unable to accecpt this truth and sets out to destroy his creations since he sees them as lies and visions.]] However, at the end of the game [[spoiler:He finds out that HE'S NOT EVEN THE ORIGINAL Edgar. Apparently, the original created this duplicate to continue the recreation of Earth just before his death. Sadly, the double's personality was twisted.]]
* In the climax of ''ViewtifulJoe'', [[spoiler:Captain Blue reveals himself to be "The Omnipotent" King Blue, creator of Movie Land. ('cause he's the director, of course)]]
* ''SkiesOfArcadia'' leads up to one of these with Galcian. By harnessing the Rains of Destruction and using the Moons as a continent-killing weapon, he actually ''does'' subjugate the "gods" of Arcadia - most of the in-game cultures worship the things.
* During the spirit journey in the latter half of ''{{Terranigma}}'', Ark encounters a number of characters that look like other important characters he's met in the game, some with slightly altered names (Royd becomes Roy, Mei becomes Meila, etc. etc.). You are asked to go into a ruin filled with monsters to check on someone who was left there a year earlier for a ritual that could cause them to become a god. When you get there, it turns out[[spoiler: it worked, and the equivalent of Elle has, in fact, attained nigh-godly powers, immediately giving the other warriors who came to check a HannibalLecture about ''why'' this ritual even exists. After utterly destroying them, she beckons the player to choose one of the cups of god water near her. The player does, and then the spirit journey ends.]]
* Gill from ''[[StreetFighter Street Fighter III]]'' is an SNKBoss whose repertoire of voice clips include "I am your god."
*[[TheKingOfFighters Rugal and Igniz]] are picture perfect examples of this trope (Igniz provided one of the above quotes). Rugal dares you to repeat to him that you won't attack a god again in 98, and Igniz has a gigantic god complex in 2001. When he gets beaten, Lovable Igniz go esnuts and decides to forgoe the god thing, [[ColonyDrop insead deciding to be a demon instead]]. Hell, his winquote says it all
**Is it a coincidence that in the Japanese edition of [[CapcomvsWhatever Capcom vs SNK 2]], Rugal's uber form is called GOD Rugal?
*Hector from [[DeptHeaven Dept. Heaven series]] is already a god-like being, sitting at the top of [[CelestialBureaucracy the celestial bureaucracy]] that is Asgard. However, unsatisfied with his power, he plans throughout the THREE games, [[TheChessmaster manipulating events in those games to become the true creator.]] To that end, he commits various atrocities, some of which paint him as a [[CompleteMonster complete monster.]]
* [[spoiler: Lezard]] in ''ValkyrieProfile'' series spends most of his time hatching up an elaborate XanatosGambit to set himself up for this in the first game and succeeds in the second, complete with his own world to govern over. He's pretty damned megalomanical and egoistic even before his grand scheme succeeds, and by the time he actually succeeds in the second game, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z50feD9SPi0 well]]...
* In ''NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams'', now that he actually has dialogue, Wizeman is revealed to have a case of the Evil/Hubris one. Given that he created an entire world and race of beings from nothing more than unpleasant thoughts and stolen dreams, [[PhysicalGod he may have a point, though.]]
* ''{{Touhou}}'' has plenty enough [[PhysicalGod virtual Gods, if not actual Gods]], already, but Utsuho (AKA [[FanNickname "Nuke-tan"]]), after having the powers of a God of the Sun implanted in her, decided to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt blow up and/or conquer the world with her newfound powers]]. Too bad for her half the cast also won the SuperpowerLottery, and those same [[PhysicalGod virtual Gods]] had other plans.
* In ''{{Fable}} 2'', it's strongly implied that this is the--probably successful--plan of [[spoiler:Theresa. She just needed you to get access to the Spire.]]
* In ''{{Overlord}} II'', this is revealed to be the goal of Emperor Solarius, ruler of [[TheEmpire The Glorious Empire]], AKA [[spoiler:Florian Greenheart, an Elf born without magic who caused the Cataclysm that wiped out the lands of the first game when he tried to steal [[ArtifactOfDoom The Tower Heart]]. He uses all the magic he's gathered at the end of the game to become an EldritchAbomination that only his [[TheDragon Dragon]] fanatically praises as a God, from that point it's your responsibility to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu take him down.]]]]
* Cyrus in ''Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum'' who wishes to use Dialga/Palkia/Giratina destroy the universe and rebuild it, with him as its ruler.
* In ''[[MarvelUltimateAlliance Marvel: Ultimate Alliance]]'', Doom's plan is to [[spoiler: overrun Asgard with an army of super-soldiers, then defeat and steal the power from Odin himself. And it initially ''works'']].
* Inverted with Dr. Weil from MegaManZero. Instead of proclaiming himself a God, he proclaims himself the ''Devil''. Omega plays this straight, claiming himself to be a Messiah.
* The BigBad from ArcTheLad: Then again, he is an immortal EldritchAbomination, so he has some credentials
* All permutations of Xehanort in KingdomHearts have this as his defining goal. From the original being's obsession with [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow forbidden knowledge]], to [[TheHeartless "Ansem"'s]] obession with darkness, to [[EmptyShell Xemnas's]] obsession with Kindom Hearts itself; every single problem in the series stems back to this guy's apparent disdain for being a mere mortal.
* The main antagonist of TheReconstruction, [[spoiler:Havan]], acts like this at the end. There's also [[spoiler:Tezkhra]], although he acts more like "[[ShroudedInMyth Wait, I'm a god]]? Uh...sure, I'll go with that."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Deconstructed with [[spoiler:Petey]] in ''SchlockMercenary''.
--->'''Reverend Theo''': Wow, you really ''do'' think you've become a god.
--->'''[[spoiler:Petey]]''': I'm just trying to do what I think a god would do if he were in my position.
* Damien, BigBad of ''ElGoonishShive's'' ''Painted Black'' arc, created in a lab but believing himself to be the fulfillment of a prophecy.
**When he realises [[spoiler:that he may in fact ''not'' be god [[HeelRealization it occurs to him]] that all the evil things he has done were, well...evil. Instead of a HeelFaceTurn he decides that life as a mortal is not worth living, and that he will [[TakingYouWithMe Take Grace with him]].]]
* ''UmlautHouse 2'': [[http://umlauthouse.comicgenesis.com/d/20060808.html]]
-->'''Saundra:''' Do you ever worry that we're playing God?\\
'''Dr Pegasus:''' Not really. At some point, we definitely stopped playing.
* Heat Man from ''InWilysDefense'', who gets so full of himself that Sphere, [[CrystalDragonJesus the ''actual'' God]], has him dragged to Paradise to have the Angel of Destruction, Magdelena, [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]] just to get him to shut up about it. It didn't work.
* Sarda of ''[=~8-Bit Theater~=]''.
** "[[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/01/27/episode-1087-exalted-feat/ Wizards do parlor tricks, I throttle the heavens.]]"
** "I am Sarda. My will be done."
** Black Mage's power seems to be unstoppable now [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/05/12/episode-1127-invincible-sword-technique/ killed]] [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/05/14/episode-1128-guns-blazing/ two]] of his teammates and [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/05/07/episode-1125-unexpected/ White]] [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/05/09/episode-1126-impasse/ Mage]]. Also, he long before considered himself destined to crush that petty world he lives on since he is a nexus of destrution... and stuff.
** After looking into the datasphere, Red Mage himself states that his goal is to use his new found infinite knowledge to dethrone the gods and to make the world in his own image.
* In ''ErrantStory'', this is the objective of one of the main characters, a half-elven mage named Meji. She seeks to become the single most powerful mage in existence by absorbing the energies of Anilis, one of the elven creator gods. [[spoiler: Another half-elf mage named Ian beats her to it, becoming a very powerful and [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity very insane]] PhysicalGod bent on genocide.]]
** She concluded that she needed the power of a demented god to graduate from high school. The rest just naturally followed.
* [[VGCats Aeris]] seems to [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=284 have this problem]].
* [[OrderOfTheStick Vaarsuvius]], [[spoiler:after his DealWithTheDevil]], has a borderline case of this. He ends up trying to [[spoiler:destroy [[BigBad Xykon]] singlehandedly and actually does a lot of damage to him, but mostly just pisses him off.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* This will happen in ''MitadakeHigh'' if Kira can create a cult of Kira-worshippers. Which is creepy.
** Can also happen with the Shinigami Eyes character, since the game lampshades that there is no reason whatsoever for the character to have them, players often have it be a power they were born with that instilled this trope in them. Or they'll (far less commonly) be [[{{Tsukihime}} Mystic Eyes.]] Which is REALLY fitting given the game in question.
* If she manages to live long enough, Carmilla in the WhateleyUniverse may find herself becoming a pretty much divine entity, EldritchAbomination style. She already has a cult worshiping her ''now'', courtesy of her father Gothmog. So far it doesn't seem to have gone to her head, though some of her actions of late could be considered suspicious if one were so inclined.
* Happens in an odd manner in ''DorfQuest'': [[spoiler: Beardbeard becomes the God of Strength, but is pretty mellow about it. The fans (who, incidentally, dictate and decide Beardbeard's actions via consensus,) are very power hungry and motion for various crazy stunts.]]
* The ''[[http://mspaintadventures.com/?viewpage=archive MSPaint Adventure]]'' Problem Sleuth has the final boss, [[spoiler: Mobster Kingpin,]] asc/descend to demonhood. Nobody actually talks, but you can be sure he would be giving speeches if he could. Earlier, Pickle Inspector [[spoiler: splits himself into eight, and one becomes Godhead Pickle Inspector.]]
* ''BrokenSaints'' features a send-up of this:
-->'''The Vagrant''': "The limitlessness of the great will is reflected in each speck of its being. Man is sentient. Man is a crystallized symbol born of the first. We contain the whole spectrum of original truth!"
-->'''Raimi''': "Great. [[AGodIsYou You're God.]] [[AGodAmI I'm God.]] I can't wait to turn water into wine..."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In the ''JusticeLeague'' episode ''Tabula Rasa'', after beating all the members of the League and gaining their powers, the antagonist android AMAZO decides there's no challenge left for him on Earth and simply leaves to travel the universe. He eventually returns to Earth in ''Justice League Unlimited'' and helps the League on several occasions.
** Amazo's godlike nature was also directly referenced by the other characters. Lex Luthor is openly dismissive of the idea, but Superman notes that if Amazo comes back, Luthor will be "doing a lot of praying".
* An episode of ''JimmyNeutron'' had his {{Cloudcuckoolander}} friend Sheen get zapped with an [[EvolutionaryLevels evolved brain]], giving him PsychicPowers and, of course, [[SuperPoweredEvilSide power madness]]. Naturally, it [[StatusQuoIsGod was only temporary]].
* Megatron clearly considered himself to be god-''like'' in ''BeastMachines''. In the last couple of episodes, he started raving about actually becoming one - and he nearly did, too.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Other ]]

* In ''{{Bionicle}}'', the Barraki's goal when they dwelled on land was to conquer all the universe and overthrow the Great Spirit Mata Nui. While they failed, Makuta Teridax was inspired by it and began formulating a XanatosRoulette to do it himself on an even grander scale. [[spoiler:''And he succeeds,'' committing GrandTheftMe against a PhysicalGod and banishing Mata Nui's spirit into space in a SoulJar.]]
** On a smaller scale, [[TheStarscream Hakann and Thok]] pull off the "get superpowers and subsequently have delusions of godhood" deal after they steal Brutaka's power via improvised MegaManning. Despite razing half of Voya Nui and [[CurbStompBattle effortlessly flattening the rest of the]] [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Piraka]] [[CurbStompBattle and the Toa Inika]] ''[[CurbStompBattle twice]]'', it doesn't last.
* A SoBadItsHorrible ChickTract had one of these - an approximately 8-year old boy deciding he was a god after his mother explained to him the point of atheism - thus, he thought that if there is no god, he could become one. StrawAtheist? What else do you expect from JackChick?
* ''FanFic/ThousandShinji'' ends with [[spoiler: Shinji, Asuka, Rei and Misato ascending to becoming the new Chaos gods]], leading after a TimeSkip into ''FanFic/TheOpenDoor''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]
* The Egyptian Pharoah was believed to ''literally'' be God (Ra).
* Kings were also said to rule by "divine right".
* As mentioned above, the Roman Emperor Caligula is a notable example of this trope occurring in real life.
** Also Diocletian.
** The big problem that the Romans had with this was Caligula's self-deification. The Roman idea of godhood was completely different than ours: they believed that people could become gods, but only if others freely chose to worship them. This would normally happen after death but in some cases a person could be a god even in life. Claudius, for instance, was worshipped in Britain long before he died (hence the title of Robert Graves's second book, ''Claudius the God''). Caligula crossed the line by proclaiming ''himself'' a god and forcing others to worship him.
* It was much more common to deify previous emperors posthumously, although this was often done for ulterior motives. Octavian, later known as Augustus, deified his adoptive father Julius Caesar so he could claim to be the son of a god. (It's worth noting that Julius Caesar, the most cynical and worldly of men, honestly believed he was a descendant of the goddess Venus.) Tiberius in turn deified Augustus to introduce the charge of treason to Rome. Claudius deified Livia because he had promised to do so. Nero deified Claudius as a joke. And so on. Trajan, on the other hand, is said to have deified Nerva because he honestly thought his adoptive father deserved deification; since Nerva was the first of the Good Emperors, perhaps that was the case.
** The deification (or to use the Greek term, ''Apotheosis'') of Claudius was mocked by the Roman philosopher Seneca in his playlet, ''Apolocyntosis Claudii'' — the “Pumpkinification of Claudius.” Sadly, the title (which wasn’t even Seneca’s own) is the funniest thing about it.
* The story of ancient British King Canute the Great futilely ordering the tide to turn back is sometimes told as an example of this trope, but most scholars agree that if it did occur, then it was most likely an inversion, with Canute expressly doing such a futile thing in order to demonstrate to his over-flattering courtiers that he explicitly ''wasn't'' a God, and that no mortal king was.
*And then there was Empedocles, who, literally and without a doubt, thought he was God. An active volcano disagreed. Strongly.
**There's also the legend that Empedocles knew he wasn't really a god, but wanted to fool people into thinking he was one by claiming to ascend to Olympus but actually jumping in the volcano (so his body would not be found). Supposedly, the volcano thwarted his scheme by sending one of his sandals back up in a minor eruption, so people knew he jumped in.
* The Imperial Regalia of Japan were considered by tradition the descendants of Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, and thus divinity in human form. This served a major part in the prelude to WorldWarII, when Japan invaded China and Korea, when Emperor Showa/Hirohito decided to expand his empire. Even kamikaze attacks were slightly inspired by this notion. This view occured until 1946, a year after Japan lost the war, Hirohito was forced to reject the claim that he was an arahitogami. However, a historians argue he didn't ''actually'' reject his claim by using a different title to appease the Americans.
* Declaring themselves as gods has been very common to the rulers in ancient history. It handily brought religious and secular power together, and gave the ruler an absolute power, which was always welcome. The Egyptian pharaohs are probably the most famous example of the trend.
* More realistically, every world-building writer ever.
* Robespierre would like to have a word with you, and then will most likely [[OffWithHisHead introduce you to his barber.]]
** To be fair, that wasn't so much A God Am I as "My Beliefs Are God, So You Better Listen." Still, that's plenty crazy enough to make people nervous, and functionally, there's no difference. (Though he did get very upset at atheists defacing cemeteries.)
** Robespierre's hatchet man Joseph Fouché, the "Butcher of Lyons", went around France desecrating churches, killing priests, and generally enforcing Robespierre's views.
*** The irony of an atheist being on this page should be... ''apparent''.
* French King Louis XIV, or as he preferred 'The Sun King'.
* Thousands of years ago, Egyptians worshipped what would become our ordinary housecat. The cats have never forgotten this.
* This trope is basically one of the tenets of LaVeyan Satanism.
* WolframAlpha [[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=are+you+God%3F thinks this]].
* Linus Torvalds, introducing himself at the 1998 Linux Expo, Durham, NC: ''"My name is Linus Torvalds, and I am your God."''
[[/folder]]

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