This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Seven Seals: Took out these:
- Variant: In Firefly, Jayne is idolized as a hero by the citizens of a small town until the locals discover his generosity was the unintended by-product of a botched robbery, though this dosen't stop a local man taking a shotgun blast for him.
Being mistaken for a hero isn't remotely the same thing as being mistaken for a god. I see how the pattern is similar, but we really don't need to stretch the trope like that. Plus, the example in question is already in Broken Pedestal as a subversion.
- Megas XLR did this, if you replace "god" with "ace mecha pilot" and "Coop" with "Jamie". Naturally, the beautiful anime-inspired residents intended to put him up against a powerful monster without letting him get in a word of objection edgewise. Or briefing him on what would make the monster stronger.
The "innocent fool is pressed into being a hero/mistaken for a great hero" thing really should be a separate trope. It might even be, I haven't looked. You can't replace "god" with "ace mecha pilot"; this trope specifically is about being mistaken for (a) god, or at least a powerful figure from mythology.
Ununnilium: Hmmmmm. The Thermians from Galaxy Quest seem like a combination of this, Planet of Hats, and... that "mistaken for hero" trope I can't remember the name of. What do you think?
Morgan Wick: Well, the Firefly one sounds like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Seven Seals: No, since The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance involves someone trying something daring, failing, and mistakenly being credited for it anyway. Jayne never intended for any of the side effects. It's much closer to Broken Pedestal than anything else.
@Unun: we have a "mistaken for hero" trope? Now I've gotta look for real.
Still can't find it. We have plenty of "mistaken for..." tropes, but not that one. Then there's The Man Who Knew Too Little, but this is just a trope that often accompanies the "mistaken for hero" one (being mistaken for a hero and not minding because you think it's all make-believe).
Janitor: I'm with Seven Seals, that trope is not here yet. Howsabout Accidental Hero?
Ununnilium: Interesting. Sure.
We must add the classic The Man Who Would Be King here.
stm177: I added The Man Who Would Be King to film, although it could arguably be put under literature as well.
I'm taking out
- a Bushmen (who call thmselves the San, by the way) community
We: I'm taking out the text that I've copied below because the Catholic Church is nothing to do with 'a person (or people) from a more advanced culture being mistaken for a God.' Check the definition, even the American pilots example doesn't even qualify, as the islanders didn't mistake them for Gods. So how a church would qualify I can't even begin to imagine. Text removed:- "* Arguably the Catholic Church has some elements of the Cargo Cult; many of its positions and rituals are inspired by the Roman Empire's civic and military customs and traditions.
- Such as?
- Offhand, without research (I am not the above poster), I'd have to say Zues/Jupiter, Olympus, and Tartarus stand out in particular as parts of Roman religion that have Catholic components. The legend of Prometheus is similar in theme to the Garden of Eden and the Tower of Babel. Many creatures (of varying scale of divinity) are seen in later texts as well.
- I am not the above poster either, but two very obvious examples of Roman influence on Catholicism are: 1) much of Catholic canon law pretty much stems from Roman civil law, and 2) one of the titles of the Pope is "pontifex maximus", which was also the title of the chief priest of the Roman state religion. In fairness to the Church, one should also point out that 1) it's not at all surprising that Catholic canon law would stem from Roman law; after all, so does the secular law of pretty much all of Europe except for England/Scotland/Ireland, and 2) it's pretty clear that the Pope didn't assume the title pontifex maximus until at least three centuries into the common era, which is pretty far removed to make it a matter of direct influence.
- Parts of the Catholic hierarchy, especially in the top elements, comes from the Roman military hierarchy. For the longest time the Popes considered themselves as successors of the Emperors, gifted with Christian enlightenment. The original purpose for building St. Peter's Cathedral was to show how the Christian ruler of Rome could do something even more magnificent than the pagan ones.
- Most(if not all) of this was intentional, as noted above the catholic church tried to make itself the successor of the Roman Empire. A better example would be Christmas. Christmas was originally a pagan holiday(birthday of Sol Invictus) and the summer solstice. It's fairly likely that Jesus was not born on December 25th. Many other christian holidays are similiar (though not Easter, though it did bring in elements of pagan harvest festivals)
- Actually, Scotland uses some elements of Roman Law, but mixes it up with virtually every other legal system you can find. Very interesting but a right pain in the arse to study."
Eric DVH: Removed the following, since it's obviously a pretty typical Religion of Evil worshipping real gods with real (if ultimately nasty) supernatural rewards: Video Games
- In Warcraft lore, various people have made the mistake to take the demons of the Burning Legion as gods. Which is true for their leader, who is a fallen god, but that doesn't change the fact that they only want to kill and destroy anything in their path. Or ocassionally corrupt a strong race like the orcs to do the dirty work for them.
Ununnilium: I don't really see how Storm being worshiped as a goddess is any more unfortunate than other instances of this trope.
- Galaxy Quest: The Thermians based their entire society around the "historical documents!"
This is Aliens Steal Cable.
