History Main / DivineRanks

* In {{Farscape}} there were several Gods, or at least "Sufficiently Advanced" aliens to qualify as God-like beings, revealed during the course of the show - the lowest ranked being Maldis (but he may have been more accurately described as either a wizard or an evil spirit - or perhaps a hate-vampire demi-god at the furthest stretch.) Next higher-up were the ancients, beings from another "Realm"/space-time continuum/plane of existence, whose control over space, time, and wormholes gave them relatively God-like abilities; and at the highest end were the Builders - as exemplified by Kahaynu - the actual Gods of the Leviathans (like Moya) who were responsible for giving souls to the living starship, making them perhaps the most genuine example of Gods in the entire series. Lastly, there was Chrichton himself, who, while certainly no God, demonstrated God-like powers when he finally unleashed the Wormhole Weapon, which was so powerful it destroyed an entire planet, and would have continued expanding until it destroyed the entire galaxy, and perhaps even the entire universe, if what Chrichton said was true. At one point Chrichton even said "God-like aliens - man, do I hate god-like aliens. I’ll trade a critter for a god-like alien any day."

** A third-party supplement called [[http://immortalshandbook.com Immortal's Handbook]] is presented as an alternative to D&D's divine rank system (both 3.5 and 4e), starting at low-level mortals with a touch of the divine such as prophets, to demigods, then the standard lesser/intermediate/greater deities, and then Ao-level overgods, which keeps on going to represent living embodiments of planar layers, the planes themselves, and even the entire universe. Yes, it contains rules and plot hooks that allow you to [[BeyondTheImpossible PLAY as Ao's boss's boss]].

* In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', the mythology of the [[AncientConspiracy Seers of the Throne]] holds that the Exarchs (the [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascended]] [[AGodAmI god-kings]] of reality) to be organised into a hierarchy with the lowest levels occupied by millions of servitor gods and Seers who have Ascended, and the highest ranks occupied by the 11 Exarchs whose names are represented by Iron Seals, who are themselves organised with the four Archigenitors higher than the other seven. At least one Seer faction, the [[PathOfInspiration Paternoster]], believe the Iron Seals to be emanations of God.

* Each ''Pokémon'' game up to ''Videogame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' has introduced higher and higher legendary Mons which control various aspects of nature and reality. This led to Arceus, who ''has created the whole goddamn Pokemon world''...so next game they will probably have to go Multiversal (Which, given that this is a Nintendo series, will probably called [[ShigeruMiyamoto Miyamato]]).
** Either that or go full bore into [[EldritchAbomination Azazoth and pals]].
** Given that they've just recently announced [[spoiler: Pokemon White and Pokemon Black Versions [[http://www.serebii.net/index2.shtml]], they may have either averted this problem, or they did the above.]]

** Special mention goes to Shinki, a goddess who managed to create her own world as well as just about the entirety of devil kind, which is a major feat for deities in this setting. She probably goes somewhere between Kanako/Suwako and the Dragon God.

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** Marvel did put in the One Above All, who surpasses all the other (rather numerous) infinite beings in the Multiverse, who might either be a ShoutOut to the Judeo-Christian {{God}} or... JackKirby.

* Each ''{{Pokemon}}'' game up to ''Diamond/Pearl'' has introduced higher and higher legendary Mons which control various aspects of nature and reality. This led to Arceus, who ''has created the whole goddamn Pokemon world''.... so next game they will probably have to go Multiversal (Which, given that this is a Nintendo series, will probably called [[ShigeruMiyamoto Miyamato]]).

* JRRTolkien's Middle-earth world has a largely non-interfering creator deity (Eru Ilúvatar), the fifteen Valar and an unknown amount of less-powerful Maiar, who can both be compared to lesser gods or angels. The Vala Morgoth introduced evil and started corrupting the world, with a following of Maiar (among them Sauron). Eru does, however, claim that everything done is [[XanatosRoulette all part of the plan]].

** Many religions in Sub-Saharan Africa has an omnipotent creator god, similar to the Abrahamic God, and other lesser deities that are more like the gods in Greek myth. The former is always distinct from and explicitly superior to the latter. Vodou (or Voodoo), a combination of Catholicism with West African religion, has a similar pattern, with the lesser gods being merged with Catholic saints.
** The CelestialBureaucracy in Chinese mythology works this way. The highest of them is the Celestial Emperor, followed by major gods and many celestial functionaries, followed by other gods and powerful ancestral spirits. However, some sufficiently powerful beings are both divine and are outside this system.

Compare PhysicalGod, DivineDelegation, PowersThatBe, and AnthropomorphicPersonification. See also OurGodsAreGreater, OurAngelsAreDifferent, CouncilOfAngels, DemonLordsAndArchdevils.

* [[Pantheon/TropePantheons We have these now]]. Although most tropers (including [[SabreJustice this one]]) aren't entirely up on the specifics.

* In FantasyKitchenSink settings like the [[VertigoComics Vertigo universe]] that use the Judeo-Christian {{God}} as a character, the standard portrayal seems to be that he's not the One True God, but is a step above the other gods in terms of power. He rarely stoops to appearing on stage and [[CouncilOfAngels acts through archangels]], who are the peers of other pantheons' gods.

** Not so strange given that, in Norse mythology, "gods" include several types of beings, none of which are immortal (at least some even age if they don't eat magic apples), let alone all-powerful. If anything, Marvel increased their power in some cases.
*** Marvel did put in the One Above All, who surpasses all the other (rather numerous) infinite beings in the Multiverse, who might either be a ShoutOut to the Judeo-Christian {{God}} or... JackKirby.
*** It IS supposed to be God ([[CrystalDragonJesus by another name]]); it only took Kirby's form (who actually exists within the MarvelUniverse) because it was a form familiar to the people it spoke to (the FantasticFour.)

* In ''{{Adventurers}}!'' there are Eternals, Lesser Eternals, humans promoted into Eternals with Flowgem masks who are weaker than the real ones, and humans using small pieces of Flowgem to upgrade themselves.

* {{Touhou}}. As it's basically Shintoism meets {{Moe}} (the main character is a ShrineMaiden), it's full of ''kami'' (which may or may not be translated as "gods"). The least of them are barely sentient, inhabiting every objects-- these are the fuzzy balls that follow you in episode ''10''. Above them are gods of concepts, such as Harvest (the Aki Sisters) and Misfortune [[GothicLolita (Hina)]]. Higher than them are powerful individual gods, such as Kanako and [[GodEmperor Suwako]]. And waaaaay above everyone else is the Dragon of Gensokyo.

* The god-like creatures from ''DoctorWho'' range from regular aliens with nifty technology (like the Cailleach), to [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien sufficiently advanced aliens]] (like Sutekh), to advanced beings (like the Eternals) to [[AnthropomorphicPersonification anthropomorphic personifications]] (like the Guardians of Time).

* In ''MageTheAwakening'', the mythology of the [[AncientConspiracy Seers of the Throne]] holds that the Exarchs (the [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascended]] [[AGodAmI god-kings]] of reality) to be organised into a hierarchy with the lowest levels occupied by millions of servitor gods and Seers who have Ascended, and the highest ranks occupied by the 11 Exarchs whose names are represented by Iron Seals, who are themselves organised with the four Archigenitors higher than the other seven. At least one Seer faction, the [[PathOfInspiration Paternoster]], believe the Iron Seals to be emanations of God.

** Divine ranks do feature in 4e, they just aren't as prominent. In the core, there are two main divine ranks: Gods and Exarchs, or demigods. In the ForgottenRealms setting, there the top gods are Greater Gods, then there are intermediate god, lesser gods, and then exarchs. Ao the Overgod is still mentioned; he appears in one of the novel series as being less of a god to the other gods and more as their boss. Moreover, even he has a higher ranked boss who he reports to, suggested to be the Abrahamic God or the [[NoFourthWall Dungeon Master]].

** Divine ranks do feature in 4e, they just aren't as prominent. In the core, there are two main divine ranks: Gods and Exarchs, or demigods. In the ForgottenRealms setting, there the top gods are Greater Gods, then there are regular gods, then exarchs. Ao the Overgod is still mentioned; he appears in one of the novel series as being less of a god to the other gods and more as their boss. Moreover, even he has a higher ranked boss who he reports to, suggested to be the Abrahamic God or the [[NoFourthWall Dungeon Master]].

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', a rough estimation of a god's power can be determined from their Essence stat. The gods of small things usually reside in Creation and have a low Essence score (1-3), while gods of large cities and concepts usually have Essence in the 4-7 region. The highest-ranking gods, the Celestial Incarnae, have an Essence of 8 or 9. However, given the nature of the CelestialBureaucracy, their political connections are more important in terms of getting things done.
** There are other characters of comparable power level, of course. The most notable example would be the Solar Exalted, created as the leaders in the war against the Primordials; they can easily surpass a minor god. Oh, and they're the standard [=PCs=].

Few long-running SpeculativeFiction franchises go without a writer tying to include some sort of god or at least SufficientlyAdvancedAlien in the plot. Then another writer does it, and another, until you've got a whole cast of such beings populating your universe. Frequently, though, they aren't all on the same level: some are noticeably more powerful than others. This may be especially noticable if the writers decide to take all their creations and [[FantasyKitchenSink put them alongside each other]]. The result is an implicit, if not explicit, pecking order among the gods.

** There are other characters of comparable power level, of course. The most notable example would be the Solar Exalted, created as the leaders in the war against the Primordials; they can easily surpass a minor god. Oh, and they're the standard PCs.

** Divine ranks do feature in 4e, they just aren't as prominent. In the core, there are two main divine ranks: Gods and Exarchs, or demigods. In the ForgottenRealms setting, there the top gods are Greater Gods, then there are regular gods, then exarchs. Ao the Overgod is still mentioned; he appears in one of the novel series as being less of a god to the other gods and more as their boss. Moreover, even he has a higher ranked boss who he reports to, suggested to be the Abrahamic God.

Compare PhysicalGod, DivineDelegation, PowersThatBe, and AnthropomorphicPersonification. See also OurGodsAreGreater, Our Angels Are Different, CouncilOfAngels, DemonLordsAndArchdevils.

Compare PhysicalGod, DivineDelegation, PowersThatBe, and AnthropomorphicPersonification. See also OurGodsAreGreater.