History Main / DivineConflict

If the conflict escalates enough, it can lead to a {{Gotterdammerung}}. Compare CosmicChessGame, as well as RageAgainstTheHeavens when mortals fight the gods instead. See also TitanomachyRoundTwo for a specific form of DivineConflict in Myth/ClassicalMythology.

** When [[AlmightyIdiot Tuska]] makes her way to Gielinor in order to destroy it in her blind hunger, the forces of Saradomin, Zamorak, Armadyl and the [[NayTheist Godless]] [[EnemyMine form a truce to take her out]] before she can reach the planet. The trope is surprisingly {{subverted|Trope}} when [[DarkHorseVictory it's the Godless who kill Tuska]] through [[GaiasVengeance Vorago]] acting as their temporary agent.

* Myth/NorseMythology: The War between the Æsir and Vanir.

* ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}'': After Lucifer's mother tries to recruit him to [[RageAgainstTheHeavens storm Heaven and overthrow God]], Lucifer explains to his therapist that he plans to actually lock the Pearly Gates behind them and help neither side. His therapist, being a normal human, is not crazy about any of it.
-->'''Linda:''' ''God'' and his ex, having a fight to the death? Sounds kind of bad for, you know, ''humanity''.\\
'''Lucifer:''' ''[dismissively]'' Oh, you'll probably be fine.

** The FourElementEnsemble of deities representing fire, water, wind, and earth are each locked in battle with [[ElementalRivalry the one representing their opposite element]].

** When [[DestroyerGod Tuska]] makes her way to Gielinor in order to destroy it in her blind hunger, the forces of Saradomin, Zamorak, Armadyl and the [[NayTheist Godless]] [[EnemyMine form a truce to take her out]] before she can reach the planet. The trope is surprisingly {{suubverted|Trope}} when [[DarkHorseVictory it's the Godless who kill Tuska]] through [[GaiasVengeance Vorago]] acting as their temporary agent.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword''[='=]s intro shows that one day, demons rose from BeneathTheEarth, led by [[GodOfEvil their king, Demise]], slaughtering every living thing in search of the Triforce. The goddess [[GodOfGood Hylia]], protector of the surface, sent the last remaining human city into the sky while she battled and sealed away Demise. [[spoiler:Their conflict eventually becomes never-ending as for the rest of the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series, as Hylia's reincarnations ([[LegacyCharacter the princesses named Zelda]]) are forever cursed to be in conflict with the Demon King Demise's reincarnation (Ganondorf).]]

* Being based on Myth/ClassicalMythology, the games in the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series have several conflicts between immortals. There was the war between the Gods and the Titans, the conflict between the primordial beings, and the demigod Kratos' own battles between pretty much any divine being who dares stand in his way.
** As of [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 the 2018 game]], this also extends to Myth/NorseMythology.
* ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' starts out as a war with Medusa [[spoiler:then Hades]] and the forces of the Underworld, but partway through, Viridi, the Goddess of Nature, decides she's had enough of destructive humans and tries to eradicate them. Pit and Palutena then have to fight her off as well.
* In ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', the God of Discord, Chaos, and the Goddess of Harmony, Cosmos, continually war against each other in an endless fight. They do this by summoning characters from the FF series to fight for them.
* In the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series (which also includes the Devil Summoner series), the protagonists get involved in conflicts between either gods and demons or gods against the human race. This is usually due to HumansAreBastards or GaiasVengeance.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' comes to a showdown between [[OrderVsChaos Ashera, the Goddess of Order, and Yune, the Goddess of Chaos]], both of whom are aspects of the same being, Ashunera, who split herself into two halves.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' series:
** The CreationMyth is how the ultimate good Anu and the Prime Evil Tathamet battled each other for millennia, their remains eventually becoming the High Heavens and the Burning Hells respectively.
** In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', the archangels Tyrael and Imperius come to blows over Tyrael's involvement with the mortal realm, leading Tyrael to renounce his angelic position.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Dominions}}'' games have a variant of this. You're one of a number of ''pretender'' gods, all warring against one another to become the one true god.
* The backstory of ''VideoGame/FairyFencerF'' starts with a battle between the Goddess and the Vile God.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' series mostly focuses on the goddesses of Gamindustri, who fight one another almost as often as they do the enemies.

* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' takes place in the aftermath of the Saint's War, a crusade led by a man claiming to be the avatar of Eothas, god of renewal, that ended when priests of Magran, goddess of war, blew him up, which is believed to have possibly killed Eothas himself. [[spoiler:This turns out to have also wrecked the cycle of {{reincarnation}} in the game, causing children to be born soulless.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' revolves around the Prince of the Underworld, Zagreus, attempting to escape despite what his father Hades throws at him. [[spoiler:Attempting to avoid a war between the House of Hades and the Olympian Gods is a major part of why Hades is determined to stop him]].
* In ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'', AGodIsYou, and divine conflict is a major story element:
** The BigBad of the first game is a god who wants to be the only deity in the world. You face his agent in Land 2 and 3, save Land 4 from his influence, and defeat him for good in Land 5.
** The villain of the ''Battle of the Gods'' expansion to the sequel game is an [[UndeadAbomination undead god]] who wants to [[ZombieApocalypse wipe out all life on the planet]]. You take the fight back to his capital and destroy him.

* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'':
** A lighter and softer version in the Champa Saga. The entire conflict started because Champa wants to show up Beerus by challenging him to a tournament, the winner getting control of the Super Dragon Balls. However, since it is forbidden for the two gods to fight each other, otherwise they would destroy both of their universes, they have mortals do the fighting for them.
** The Future Trunks Saga, however, shows a much serious version of this when [[spoiler:Zamasu rebels against the gods because of their [[TheGodsMustBeLazy inaction]] against the evil known as [[AlwaysChaoticEvil mortals]]. To bring forward the 'gods' justice', he steals Goku's body to become Goku Black, teams up with his future counterpart, and murdered all the gods in the multiverse, leaving him alone as the supreme god. [[TopGod Or so he planned...]]]].
* One occurred in the backstory of ''Literature/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'' between Alda, the God of Light and Law and Vida the Goddess of Life and Love. The main reason was that Alda believed the new races birthed by Vida with Evil Gods (who had defected from the Demon King's army) were a threat to the balance of the world. Alda and his faction won, Vida was sealed and the gods in her faction were sealed or forced into hiding. Our protagonist discovers he was chosen as Vida's champion and decides to remedy the situation for Vida and her races, which greatly concerns Alda.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', it is explained that countless millenia ago, the universe was nearly destroyed in a war between the forces of [[GodOfGood Flare Dragon Cifeed]] and [[GodOfEvil Lord Shabranigdo]]. Cifeed just barely managed to defeat Shabranigdo and save what was left of the universe in the process.

* One occurred in the backstory of ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'' between Alda, the God of Light and Law and Vida the Goddess of Life and Love. The main reason was that Alda believed the new races birthed by Vida with Evil Gods (who had defected from the Demon King's army) were a threat to the balance of the world. Alda and his faction won, Vida was sealed and the gods in her faction were sealed or forced into hiding. Our protagonist discovers he was chosen as Vida's champion and decides to remedy the situation for Vida and her races, which greatly concerns Alda.

[[folder: Art]]

If the conflict escalates enough, it can lead to a {{Gotterdammerung}}. Compare CosmicChessGame, as well as RageAgainstTheHeavens when mortals fight the gods instead. See also TitanomachyRoundTwo for a specific form of DivineConflict in ClassicalMythology.

If the conflict escalates enough, it can lead to a {{Gotterdammerung}}. Compare CosmicChessGame, as well as RageAgainstTheHeavens when mortals fight the gods instead.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

In some cases, the conflict plays out long before the time of humans. In a CreationMyth, the winning faction is the one that rules over the world today, and often they are the one that is worshiped by the people. Depending on who wins, this could bring about or end TheDarkTimes.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/GodsOfEgypt'': Throughout much of it, Set is waging a war against the gods who oppose his reign, after he took over the kingdom.

** ''The Heroes of Olympus'' also has an interesting example when the Greek gods start fighting with the Roman gods in that ''[[SplitPersonality they're the same being]]'', their Greek half and their Roman half, and the greater the difference between them, the more conflict they find themselves in. Frank, for example, has Mars and Ares constantly yelling, trying to outshout each other in his head. The few that avoid this are the ones whose Greek and Roman aspects are virtually indistinguishable from each other.

* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' has an interesting example when the Greek gods start fighting with the Roman gods in that ''[[SplitPersonality they're the same being]]'', their Greek half and their Roman half, and the greater the difference between them, the more conflict they find themselves in. Frank, for example, has Mars and Ares constantly yelling, trying to outshout each other in his head. The few that avoid this are the ones whose Greek and Roman aspects are virtually indistinguishable from each other.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', [[Myth/ClassicalMythology naturally]]. As of [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 the 2018 game]], this also extends to Myth/NorseMythology.

** The Future Trunks Saga, however, shows a much serious version of this when [[spoiler:Zamasu rebels against the gods because of their [[TheGodsMustBeLazy inaction]] against the evil known as [[AlwaysChaoticEvil mortals]]. To bring forward the 'gods' justice', he steals Goku's body to become Goku Black, teams up with his future counterpart, and murdered all the gods in the multiverse, leaving him alone as the supreme god]].

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', [[Myth/ClassicalMythology naturally]. As of [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 the 2018 game]], this also extends to Myth/NorseMythology.