History Main / DemiurgeArchetype

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Emperor Yhwach was worshipped as a god in his youth, even sharing a name with the Abrahamic God. He performed miracles for his worshippers, great acts of healing, and even today is surrounded by followers in a kingdom of his making. He's unstoppable in a fight, nearly immortal, and heavily associated with light. His followers resemble angels, with many of their higher forms being Angelic Abominations in appearance. Yhwach's plan to destroy the current world and remake it also mirrors the ideas of the Demiurge being the God of a new world, something he somewhat becomes in the end.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'': Zanza is a malevolent deity who is the true source of all life on the titanic [[TurtleIsland Bionis]], and serves as its soul. Once a human scientist named Klaus accidentally destroyed the previous universe in an experiment to create a new one, he became the new world's god along with his partner Meyneth, who instead became the soul of the Bionis's mechanical counterpart and rival. Zanza views his creations as nothing more than vessels and a food source to extend his own life with, and because he is unable to survive without them, he makes sure to wipe out all life on the Bionis and create it anew the moment it evolves enough to be capable of abandoning their world. The true god is Alvis, supposedly one of his disciples, whom he and Meyneth have been borrowing power from.

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has [[spoiler:the Architect, who is Klaus's good half. Unlike Zanza, the Architect is TheAtoner and is relatively benevolent. Also, it turns out that the divine power Alvis wields comes from the Conduit, a mystic artifact that just showed up in Africa one day, which Klaus used in a last-ditch effort to save humanity that went horribly wrong.]]
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': The ruler of Moebius, Z, is [[spoiler:an amalgam made from the collective unconscious. He consists of humanity's inherent desire for things to stay the same]]. He claims to have solely created the current world, but in truth he simply usurped the god-machine built to ''restore'' the previous one.
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has Deus, the GreaterScopeVillain and a powerful machine who killed everyone on the ship that was transporting it and promptly crashed on another planet. It then proceeded to create a race of humans on said planet. The [[TheTheocracy state religion]] of the [[TheEmpire Sacred Empire of Solaris]], known as Ethos, worships it as the god of the world, and it even has a false Messiah and false Eve in its human interface Miang Hawwa. However, the true God is the Wave of Existence, with who Deus came into contact, and in contrast to Deus, it is a benevolent deity who wants to save the humans from Deus. With all the Gnostic influence and themes that permeate the story, Deus serves as the perfect insert for the Demiurge, the god that created the material universe and seeks to solely use humanity to further its selfish goals. The abovementioned Zanza was inspired by Deus.

As for the role of {{Satan}} or the local SatanicArchetype, he or she could be a case of SatanIsGood, or it could be the case that [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks The Demiurge And Satan Are Both Jerks]], and it is not uncommon for them to be the same character. The MessianicArchetype or CrystalDragonJesus, on the other hand, is usually [[JesusWasWayCool still benevolent]] and a representative of the true God, as Gnostic thought holds.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia: Deconstructed in that Mithos Yggdrassil, a FallenHero of the past, turned his dead sister Martel into a goddess figure both worlds of Sylvarant and Teth'eala worships, sending TheChosenOne on a false quest to resurrect her, while enabling the racist fueled ForeverWar between humans and elves to continue. As a CatharsisFactor, when Martel is finally resurrected, the first thing she does is chew out her brother for how he spent the centuries.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': While there's [[Characters/KillSixBillionDemonsDemiurges far more than one Demiurge]] in the world, Zoss is the one who most closely resembles the gnostic definition of the word. Having once ruled over the universe and spread a harmful, toxic philosophy (MightMakesRight) that harms one's chances of enlightenment. In an interesting twist, Zoss himself [[TheAtoner has come to regret his tyrannical rule]], and now aids TheHero from the shadows in her quest to dethrone his former servants.

* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', YHVH is an arrogant, vain dictator who perpetuates a ForeverWar to keep the universe under his control forever, and contemplates replacing humanity with "more obedient servants" when the party confronts him. However, The Axiom, a SentientCosmicForce, is actively working against him by creating Messiahs (the protagonists) capable of doing so. It should be noted that The Axiom is ''not'' the Great Will from earlier games, and whether or not YHVH has this kind of relationship with the Great Will there is ambiguous.

* The DeadFic ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/7096527/1/Deliverance Deliverance]]'', very loosely based on Literature/TheBible, portrays the Abrahamic God as an egomaniacal but ultimately pitiful figure who created the universe solely so that he could be worshipped and praised every second of every minute of every hour of every day, and [[HellOfAHeaven prohibits any other activity in heaven and brainwashes the inhabitants to be incapable of independent thought]], while sending anyone who refuses to worship him to hell. It’s implied (though the story was cancelled before it could be confirmed) that {{The Fundamentalist}}s are doing his will on Earth by [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans actively making the world a worse place through human rights violations and bigotry]]. However, he [[NotQuiteTheAlmighty is not omnipotent or omniscient]], having been powerless to stop the rebel angels, and can’t create life directly or change the laws if physics, only manipulate them to make life emerge faster. Yet it’s more likely that he’s not evil, just [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds really really messed up]], since he either does not know or does not care that his critics have [[AHellOfATime made hell a truer paradise than heaven]], since he still sends unbelievers there thinking it a punishment, when in fact [[{{Unishment}} it’s what they want all along]].

-->'''Kirito''': You stole everything in this world. Everything! Including its people! You're nothing but a king of thieves, sitting alone on your stolen throne!

* The BigBad of the ''Fanfic/StarWarsParanormalitiesTrilogy'', Emperor Valkor, is a GodEmperor fanatically worshipped by the [[TheEmpire Valkoran Empire]] and [[EldritchAbomination Forceless Collective]] who wants to conquer the universe and force it to recognize him as the one and only god. [[spoiler:But he is actually just a symbiote posing as a god, specifically pretending to be one of Muriga's gods to get his followers to do what he and [[TheManBehindTheMan Hazral Vangeli]] want. To drive the point home, his true name- and the name of the god he is impersonating- is Yalbdalaoth, a SignificantAnagram of Yaldabaoth.]]

As for the role of {{Satan}} or the local SatanicArchetype, he or she could be a case of SatanIsGood, or it could be the case that [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks The Demiurge And Satan Are Both Jerks]], and they can even overlap/be the same character. The MessianicArchetype or CrystalDragonJesus, on the other hand, is usually [[JesusWasWayCool still benevolent]] and a representative of the true God, as Gnostic thought holds.

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': Akio Ohtori/End Of The World/Prince Dios. A former deity now fallen into despair and obscurity, Akio deceives and manipulates the students of Ohtori Academy with both his position as "[[InsistentTerminology Acting]]" Chairman of the Board and with various displays of magic. The final episodes reveal that much of this magic is actually [[MasterOfIllusion an elaborate special effects setup]] to compensate for the true power of Dios being sealed behind the [[GateOfTruth Rose Gate]]. Likewise, his domain of Ohtori Academy is itself implied to magically separated from the "real" world, possibly even being a PocketDimension. Meanwhile the closest thing to an ''actual'' deity is his sister Anthy, whom he's abused into subservice; her leaving him during the GrandFinale renders him helpless.

* While there's [[Characters/KillSixBillionDemonsDemiurges far more than one Demiurge]] in the world of ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons''''s Zoss is the one who most closely resembles the gnostic definition of the word. Having once ruled over the universe and spread a harmful, toxic philosophy (MightMakesRight) that harms one's chances of enlightenment. In an interesting twist, Zoss himself [[TheAtoner has come to regret his tyrannical rule]], and now aids TheHero from the shadows in her quest to dethrone his former servants.

The Demiurge Archetype is NotQuiteTheAlmighty as a key element, but another important element is that they actively deceive their creations and/or themself into believing that they are the true God in order to control their creations. They are also frequently an example of LightIsNotGood, appearing as a benevolent god of light to fool their followers. In reference to the Demiurge's inability to perceive or influence anything beyond the material plane, the Demiurge Archetype will often be portrayed as a glorified DomainHolder; they are unable to hold any power over their creations once the latter manages to escape their little bubble, so they do everything in their power to keep them imprisoned within.

* The BigBad of the ''Fanfic/StarWarsParanormalitiesTrilogy'', Emperor Valkor, is a GodEmperor fanatically worshipped by the [[TheEmpire Valkoran Empire]] and [[EldritchAbomination Forceless Collective]] who wants to conquer the universe and force it to recognize him as the one and only god. [[spoiler:But he is actually just a symbiote posing as a god, specifically pretending to be one of Muriga's gods to get his followers to do what he wants. To drive the point home, his true name- and the name of the god he is impersonating- is Yalbdalaoth, a SignificentAnagram of Yaldabaoth.]]

* The BigBad of ''Fanfic/StarWarsParanormalities'', Emperor Valkor, is a GodEmperor fanatically worshipped by the [[TheEmpire Valkoran Empire]] and [[EldritchAbomination Forceless Collective]] who wants to conquer the universe and force it to recognize him as the one and only god. [[spoiler:But he is actually just a symbiote posing as a god, specifically pretending to be one of Muriga's gods to get his followers to do what he wants. To drive the point home, his true name- and the name of the god he is impersonating- is Yalbdalaoth, a SignificentAnagram of Yaldabaoth.]]

* The Black Zetsu of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' would rather call himself the "Architect of the ninja world" rather than call himself a god, and he's a LivingShadow, rather than LightIsNotGood. That right goes to his mother, who he considers god, Lady Kaguya. He manipulated the world for centuries to resurrect her, causing countless deaths and wars. Hearing this infuriates Naruto, who derides him as a brat who can't even be without his mother.

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': The ruler of Moebius, Z, is [[spoiler:an amalgam made from the collective unconscious. It consists of humanity's inherent desire for things to stay the same]]. They claim to have solely created the current world, but in truth they simply usurped the god-machine built to ''restore'' the previous one.

* ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'': The Father, VEGA, serves as a rare benevolent variant. In ''The Ancient Gods'' expansion, it is revealed that Dark Lord of Hell Davoth, the then-unnamed and unseen GreaterScopeVillain of previous installments of the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' series and the BigBad of this DLC, was originally the "First Being" who shaped the universe from the realm of Jekkad, the first dimension. Davoth was distressed that his created subjects were doomed to die while he was immortal, and he took increasingly vicious steps to try to change this. The [[AngelicAliens Makyrs]] he created, led by the Father, [[SealedEvilInACan sealed Davoth away]] and rewrote history to claim that the Father created Davoth. Yet the demons of Jekkad, now called Hell, still continued to spread their dominion, while Davoth used his voice to influence the creation of the Doom Slayer and guide the latter on a path that would eventually lead to the destruction of the Makyrs. [[spoiler:Becomes a more classic version mixed with SatanicArchetype in the final battle with Davoth, where VEGA reveals that Davoth ''is'' the Father.]]

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': The ruler of Mobius, Z, is [[spoiler:an amalgam made from the collective unconscious. It consists of humanity's inherent desire for things to stay the same]]. They claim to have solely created the current world, but in truth they simply usurped the god-machine built to ''restore'' the previous one.

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has [[spoiler:the Architect, who is Klaus's good half. Unlike Zanza, the Architect is TheAtoner and is relatively benevolent. Also, it turns out that the Architect is Alvis' dad; the divine power Alvis wields comes from the Zohar, a mystic artifact that just showed up near Earth one day, which Klaus experimented on until it exploded.]]

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has [[spoiler:the Architect, who is Klaus's good half. Unlike Zanza, the Architect is TheAtoner and is relatively benevolent.]]

* ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'' begins with Yahweh announcing to the world that Judgement Day has arrived and everyone on Earth, regardless of virtue, is going to Hell to be tortured for eternity. During the ensuing [[RageAgainstTheHeavens war against the heavens]], the Vatican decides that Yahweh is not the God of the New Testament but rather an imposter using His trappings to manipulate humanity, and declares their intent to ''excommunicate him'' from the church. The fact that angels and demons in this setting are essentially extradimensional aliens rather than anything divine supports this view.