History Main / GodIsNeutral

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/DragonballSuper''

[[folder: Comic Book]]
* ''Creator/MarvelComics'': The Living Tribunal is the most powerful CosmicEntity short of [[TopGod The One Above All]], but he refuses to meddle with the constant cosmic wars and CrisisCrossover Earth's heroes have to deal with, only regarding threats to the entirety of TheMultiverse worth his attention. When the cosmic entities requested his help against Thanos in ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', the Living Tribunal stated he isn't concerned with helping due to it only being one universe, and it simply meant a change of their hierarchy to him.

* Creator/NKJemisin's ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'': The three Gods who sustain the universe act according to their divine affinities rather than human morality. Nahadoth, god of Chaos and Darkness, is a creature of passion, both [[ThePowerOfLove positive]] and [[ThePowerOfHate negative]]. Itempas, god of Order and Light, values stability, whether it's TheGoodKing or a brutal totalitarian theocracy. Enefa, goddess of Life and Death, loves her creations like a mother, but kills them when they've served their purpose all the same. "Good" and "Evil" don't factor into it, which is what makes them neutral.
* Creator/RichardAdams' book ''Literature/WatershipDown'' details lapine theology: that Frith the sun made the world and all the creatures in it. Only when rabbits developed explosive breeding did Frith "adjust" things so that predators came into being to decimate the rabbits. This is enforced when Hazel beseeches Frith's help in saving his warren, offering his life as payment, and Frith responds: "There can be no bargain, for what is is what must be." In effect, Frith tells Hazel to EarnYourHappyEnding.
* In Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series book "And Eternity," the Incarnation of God is neutral to the rest of Creation, not because he doesn't care, but because he is so enamored by the perfection of his image that he can't stop looking at himself. This becomes so bad, that when the other Incarnations select another (actually three individuals)(Fridge Brilliance), to become the Incarnation of Good, he doesn't even notice he's lost the title.

* The ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' has a lot of [[CharacterAlignment neutral-aligned]] deities, but two in particular are standouts.

-->'''Kotal Kahn''': Our lives are cloth, woven by choice and circumstance. Pull even one thread, and the cloth is torn asunder and made worthless. Now that I am tasked with keeping time, others beg me to have their histories rewritten. But as long as the Hourglass is mine, I will not shape destiny in any one being's favor. History will play out as determined by its players. Let the sands fall where they may.

[[folder:Web Comic]]
* Pickle Inspector of ''WebComic/ProblemSleuth'' uses his imagination in the Dream World to ascend as Godhead Pickle Inspector. He obtains limitless power, but it comes at the cost of only being able to "Fondly regard creation," a few minor JustForPun actions related to the latter and once taking action to ensure his creation is intact enough to regard it.
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-->-- '''[[{{God}} Chuck]]''', ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': God abandoned Heaven and the rest of creation shortly after building the universe, to the point that he didn't even intervene when the Angels released Lucifer and ignited the Apocalypse in his name; when he finally does return to deal with the fight against [[TheAntiGod his opposite Amara]], he explains that he thought being a "helicopter parent" was detrimental to his children. [[spoiler:However, it's revealed even later to be a bold-faced lie: God never stopped influencing reality, he's just become better at hiding it. Also, [[GodIsEvil he's evil]].]]

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'' is on the face of it about the Final Showdown between Good and Evil as foretold in ''Literature/TheBible'', but as re-envisioned by Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/NeilGaiman. Heaven and Hell are the major players. Heaven claims that they are serving God, and Hell claims that they are fighting against him, but no one has actually spoken to Him in a very long time and even the Metatron can only speculate about God's goals. It's implied that God secretly manipulates everyone, humans, angels and even demons included as part of basically a game of 'very complicated Solitaire' that He's playing - and that he's not intersted in Heaven's victory over earth, and more in [[HumansAreSpecial free will of humans]] and the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil.

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'' is on the face of it about the Final Showdown between Good and Evil as foretold in ''Literature/TheBible'', but as re-envisioned by Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/NeilGaiman. Heaven and Hell are the major players. Heaven claims that they are serving God, and Hell claims that they are fighting against him, but no one has actually spoken to Him in a very long time and even the Metatron can only speculate about God's goals. It's implied that God secretly manipulates everyone, humans, angels and even demons included as part of basically a game of 'very complicated Solitaire' that He's playing - and that he's not intersted in Heaven's victory over earth, and more in [[HumansAreSpecial free will of humans]] and TheBalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil.

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'' is on the face of it about the Final Showdown between Good and Evil as foretold in ''Literature/TheBible'', but as re-envisioned by Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/NeilGaiman. Heaven and Hell are the major players. But behind both is a mysterious higher entity referred to as The Ineffable, who neither the demon nor the angel have seen, but are absolutely certain is the one who kick-started it all at the moment of Creation.

Maybe God's duties are more important than overseeing the petty minutiae of humans being humans, such as preventing the destruction of the earth by [[CosmicHorrorStory outside forces beyond human comprehension]]. Perhaps He's {{above good and evil}}, and doesn't find morality that important, or has to be neutral in order to [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil maintain the balance]]. Perhaps He has [[BlueAndOrangeMorality a sense of morality so alien to us mortals]] that He can't be considered truly benevolent or malevolent by any reasonable stretch. Perhaps He has decided to just sit back and watch for entertainment and finds interfering to be "cheating". Or He may be ReformedButNotTamed.

** Zen'o is the child-like TopGod of the multiverse, and who the other gods report to. Outside of occasionally interfering in what the other gods are doing, his only real job is to serve as the TopGod. This, combined with nobody being able to relate to him [[TheDreaded out of fear of his power]] is why he feels LonelyAtTheTop and why he likes Goku [[WhatsUpKingDude since he treats him informally]]. The one time he did anything for the multiverse he's watching over was [[spoiler:[[CurbStompBattle clean house]] when Zamasu had become a reality-consuming EldritchAbomination and started spreading to other universes and timelines]].

* ''Creator/MarvelComics'': The Living Tribunal is the most powerful CosmicEntity short of [[TopGod The One Above All]], but he refuses to meddle with the constant cosmic wars and CrisisCrossover Earth's heroes cause, only regarding threats to the entirety of TheMultiverse worth his attention. When the cosmic entities requested his help against Thanos in ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', the Living Tribunal stated he isn't concerned with helping due to it only being one universe, and it simply meant a change of their hierarchy to him.

* ''Film/GodOnTrial'' presents a case for {{God}} being this in regards to UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. Specifically, the comparison between the situation of the Jews and the biblical Amalekites is used to put to question whether God really watched over humanity to begin with.

* Creator/NKJemisin's ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'': The three Gods who sustain the universe act according to their divine affinities rather than human morality. Nahadoth, god of Chaos and Darkness, is a creature of passion, both [[ThePowerOfLove positive]] and [[ThePowerOfHate negative]]. Itempas, god of Order and Light, values stability, whether it's TheGoodKing or a brutal totalitarian theocracy. Enefa, goddess of Life and Death, loves her creations like a mother, but kills them when they've served their purpose all the same.
* Creator/RichardAdams' book ''Literature/WatershipDown'' details lapine theology: that Frith the sun made the world and all the creatures in it. Only when rabbits developed explosive breeding did Frith "adjust" things so that predators came into being to decimate the rabbits. Enforced when Hazel beseeches Frith's help in saving his warren, offering his life as payment, and Frith responds: "There can be no bargain, for what is is what must be." In effect, Frith tells Hazel to EarnYourHappyEnding.

* Job of ''Literature/BookOfJob'' comes to believe this due to the sufferings Satan puts him through. He and his three friends extensively argue over whether a just and active God could stand by during such atrocities until the Man himself comes down to make his case.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'''s portrayal of Alexander Hamilton concludes that God had nothing to do with his deliverance from childhood destitution, he delivered it by his intelligence alone. On this logic, Alexander assumes that his writing is more than capable of protecting his legacy from his rivals and publicly defends himself from accusations his opponents have had no time to accuse him of. [[spoiler: Hamilton's pamphlet, written from a place of blasphemy and hubris, devastates his marriage and indirectly kills his firstborn son. This leads to Alexander doubting himself for the first time, going so far to attend Church and pray.]]
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* UsefulNotes/{{Deism}} believes that God created the universe, but is otherwise uninvolved in it.

Maybe God's duties are more important than overseeing the petty minutia of humans being humans, such as preventing the destruction of the earth by [[CosmicHorrorStory outside forces beyond human comprehension]]. Perhaps He's {{above good and evil}}, and doesn't find morality that important, or has to be neutral in order to [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil maintain the balance]]. Perhaps He has [[BlueAndOrangeMorality a sense of morality so alien to us mortals]] that He can't be considered truly benevolent or malevolent by any reasonable stretch. Perhaps He has decided to just sit back and watch for entertainment and finds interfering to be "cheating". Or He may be ReformedButNotTamed.

Compare AllPowerfulBystander, where a being with god-like powers(but not necessarily God or a god) doesn't bother using their powers to interfere, though they may have more pressing cosmic concerns than interfering in humanity. Compare TheGodsMustBeLazy, where the Gods don't oppose their evil counterpart actively; and GodsHandsAreTied, where the god(s) are actually unable to do anything. Contrast both GodIsGood and GodIsEvil, where God has a clear morality and intention for humanity.

Maybe God's duties are more important than overseeing the petty minutia of humans being humans, such as preventing the destruction of the earth by [[CosmicHorrorStory outside forces beyond human comprehension]]. Perhaps He's {{above good and evil}}, and doesn't find morality that important, or has to be neutral in order to [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil maintain the balance]]. Perhaps He has [[BlueAndOrangeMorality a sense of moraltiy so alien to us mortals]] that He can't be considered truly benevolent or malevolent by any reasonable stretch. Perhaps He has decided to just sit back and watch for entertainment and finds interfering to be "cheating". Or He may be ReformedButNotTamed.

* Alexander Hamilton (as portrayed in ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'') concludes that God had nothing to do with his deliverance from childhood destitution, he delivered it by his intelligence alone. On this logic, Alexander assumes that his writing is more than capable of protecting his legacy from his rivals and publicly defends himself from accusations his opponents have had no time to accuse him of. [[spoiler: Hamilton's pamphlet, written from a place of blasphemy and hubris, devastates his marriage and indirectly kills his firstborn son. This leads to Alexander doubting himself for the first time, going so far to attend Church and pray.]]

Maybe God's duties more important than overseeing the petty minutia of humans being humans, such as preventing the destruction of the earth by [[CosmicHorrorStory outside forces beyond human comprehension.]] Perhaps He's AboveGoodAndEvil, and doesn't find morality that important, or has to be neutral in order to maintain BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. Perhaps He has BlueAndOrangeMorality, so can't be considered benevolent or malevolent by any reasonable stretch. Perhaps he has decided to just sit back and watch for entertainment and finds interfering to be "cheating". Or He may be ReformedButNotTamed.

Compare AllPowerfulBystander, where a being with god-like powers(but not necessarily God or a god) doesn't bother using their powers to interfere, though the neutral god may have more pressing cosmic concerns than interfering in humanity. Compare TheGodsMustBeLazy (the Gods don't oppose their evil counterpart actively) and GodsHandsAreTied (actually unable to do anything). Contrast both GodIsGood and GodIsEvil, where God has a clear morality and intention for humanity.

God is usually thought of being [[GodIsGood good]]. Sometimes He's [[GodIsEvil evil]], [[GodIsFlawed flawed]] or [[JerkassGods just a jerk]]. Sometimes, however, the setting's representation of God is generally hands off, ''equally'' unconcerned with reigning fire on blasphemers or blessing the faithful, preferring to not show favoritism and just let the world do its thing. Not necessarily absent, but people probably ''think'' so, given how little God does... that they know of.

* In the ending of Mortal Kombat 11 where Kotal Kahn wins and becomes the new Lord of Time after gaining [[TimeMaster Kronika's power over time]], he becomes this. While in their endings most characters [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong attempt to use the power over time to create what they see as a better timeline]], (whether just for themselves and/or their loved ones, or their race, or their world, etc.) Kotal believes that attempting to change the past, even for what seems to be a better history, is wrong, and refuses to do so. Furthermore he says that many come to him pleading for him to act, but he turns them all down and sends them away.

Maybe God's duties more important than overseeing the petty minutia of humans being humans, such as preventing the destruction of the earth by [[CosmicHorrorStory outside forces beyond human comprehension.]] Perhaps He's AboveGoodAndEvil, and doesn't find morality that important, or has to be neutral in order to maintain BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. Perhaps He has BlueAndOrangeMorality, so can't be considered benevolent or malevolent by any reasonable stretch. Or He may be ReformedButNotTamed.

** Zen'o is the child-like TopGod of the multiverse, and who the other gods report to. Outside of occasionally interfering in what the other gods are doing, his only real job is to serve as the TopGod. This, combined with nobody being able to relate to him [[TheDreaded out of fear of his power]] is why he feels LonelyAtTheTop and why he likes Goku [[WhatsUpKingDude since he treats him informally]].