History Main / LowestCosmicDenominator

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1601460827024178500&page=1 under discussion]] in the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1601460827024178500&page=1 Trope Repair Shop]].]]]]]]

The basis for the series is that our heroes, representing the forces of Good, are engaged in a constant battle with the forces of Evil. But, since folks are touchy about religion, [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed all the names have been changed to protect propriety]].

This also gives us leeway to create cool, modern (or post-modern) sounding names for our Hero. "Slayer" is much easier to sell to the general public than "[[KnightTemplar Templar]]", and certainly better connotatively than "Inquisitor". "Whitelighters" might be "[[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]]" or "Saints", but might not. They are much more new-agey, and handy around the house, too. [[Series/{{Bewitched}} Samantha Stevens]] nose-twitched away most of the stigma against Witches, so we can go with that, but what say we call the ruler of the Netherworld, our biggest BigBad "[[WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters Prime Evil]]" so as not to offend any [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theistic_Satanism Theistic Satanists.]] And let's avoid any problems in the Bible Belt by just calling the ultimate good guys the "PowersThatBe" rather than naming any "real" gods or angels. This also helps if you want one (or two or three) of the Powers That Be to go Evil.

Of course, this also makes it easier for us to make sure that OurVampiresAreDifferent, maintain the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil, and come up with a fresh SortingAlgorithmOfEvil. Theology majors and occultists won't be able to complain that we didn't do our homework, because we eliminated all that dry scholarly crap in the interest of making our background accessible to the average viewer.

It's TheThemeParkVersion of religion, where everybody's not using the "G" word. Related is WitchSpecies. Compare to CrystalDragonJesus which refers to religious analogues or allegorical representations of real world religions in fictional (generally Science Fiction or Fantasy) settings. FauxSymbolism is the inverse, where something isn't about religion but is made to look like it is.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, especially the Kanto episodes, the original Japanese version had the the characters made several casual references to Heaven, Hell, and God. 4kids either censored them in the English dub or used euphemisms instead. For example in the third episode they changed Satoshi saying "My Pokemon's Heaven is also my Heaven!" with Kasumi, who hates bug-types, replying with "Your guys' Heaven is my Hell." into Ash saying "I love my new little Pokemon!" and Misty replying "It takes a worm to know a worm". Despite deleting most religious references, Brock mentioned the story of Noah in "Pokemon Shipwreck".
* In the process of dubbing ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Funimation would subtly change the dialogue to gloss over the more mystical Chinese themes. This included the relationship between Piccolo Daimao and Piccolo Jr. only being a father/son one, rather than a reincarnation, and Goku being traditionally heroic to fit a more Christian archetype, particularly since he dies and then comes back to save the day several times. This got better over time, with ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' having Gohan explicitly state that Piccolo was reborn and having Goku's dialogue written to have more personal motivations than altruistic ones.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* In Franchise/TheDCU, it's established that (most) pantheons are pretty much one and the same. Sentient entities play similar roles throughout in some cases. So the creators are free to go with some made up Religion or right into Catholicism. Both happen a lot. Similarly, Hell is full of classic mythology and made up characters. Power struggles happen constantly, with various demonic horrors fighting/displacing/killing mythological beings or made up characters. To cap it off, DC comics even had Hell overrunning Heaven. Heaven got better.
* And then there's [[Creator/VertigoComics Vertigo]]. Among other things, [[spoiler: God is replaced by a teenage girl]]. It's probably best to just [[ExiledFromContinuity not talk about that]] though.
* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' establishes that there does exist an all-powerful, omnipotent creator in the DC (or at least Vertigo) verse. He never appears or intervenes with the plot, except once when he apparently tells a pair of his angels to take charge of the abandoned Hell, but Lucifer brings him up a few times.
* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, direct mentions of Judeo-Christian entities such as Satan were not uncommon (The "Son of Satan" even had his own series) but in the 80's it was stated (in the Handbook of the Marvel Universe) that NO such character had ever appeared in a Marvel comic; even Son Of Satan's father was [[RetCon retconned]] into being another demon. This has loosened in recent years. The way it's generally handled is that several high-level demons collectively operate as "Satan" while also competing with each other for dominance in Hell. Recent stories have indicated that the "real" Satan is out there somewhere, but hasn't been seen in a very long time. But even after such a long absence, not even the strongest of the lesser demons dares to claim his empty throne. See the entry on SatanicArchetype for more specific information.
* ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' managed to have multiple members with faith-based powers, including one Catholic among pagan demigods, and still kept religion out of the comic's theme. Lampshaded once, when they all took religious sabbaticals at once leaving the team short-handed, Hawkeye complained "This is the Avengers, not the God Squad!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' features a subversion, as although it does use its own terms most of the time, like "The Authority" for God or the "Magisterium" for the Church, it also states clearly The Authority ''is'' God and the Magisterium is an organization belonging to the Church.
* PlayedWith in the ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'':
** Archangels are "Valar", demons are "Balrogs", and God is also called "Ilúvatar" (approximately similar to [[GeniusBonus "all-father"]] in Sanskrit, which is also the word for Jupiter in Latin.) But Tolkien avoided showing anyone practicing religion save for the Númenóreans, who were extremely ecumenical in their beliefs. According to Tolkien's Catholic theology, all of the characters were "virtuous pagans" and as such anyone they worshiped could potentially count as "actually being" angels or demons according to the tenets of Catholic syncretism.
** This is clarified in ''Literature/TheBookOfLostTales'', in which a pagan Englishman's own Germanic gods are identified with the Valar, and the Elves also call them 'the Gods' - but when the Englishman then asks if this Ilúvatar is of the Gods, an Elf replies 'Nay, for he made them'.
* In the ''Literature/OldKingdom'' trilogy, Creator/GarthNix uses 'Charter Magic' and 'The Charter' to refer to the orderly, set and harmonious schemata of magic that keeps the universe running, while 'Free Magic' refers to the corroding and chaotic magic that The Charter was created from and which is inimical to the natural order of the universe. Worship of the Charter, and the "Seven Bright Shiners" who created it, seems to be the religion in the Old Kingdom, though the most we see of this is in baptisms upon a child's birth.
* Meljean Brook's ''Literature/{{The Guardians|MeljeanBrook}}'' series - the Guardians are pretty much all angels that were born human, they just don't use the a-word.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** "Literature/TheLastTrump": God is referred as "The Chief" while Satan is called "The Adversary".
** "Literature/GimmicksThree": The demons refer to divine orders as "orders from above".
* Parodied in the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' books with the invention of the GSD Church - Global Standard Deity. Essentially a mishmash of all world religions, in which pretty much anybody can believe anything they want about it. Even further parodied as the books go on; Joffy's stories about his work make it clear that the Church of the GSD splits into thousands of bickering factions soon after it is created, essentially reverting religion back to the way it was before. In ''The Woman Who Died a Lot'', Joffy decides to put his foot down with God; unless He starts answering some questions, they will transfer their belief to another god, creating a CrystalDragonJesus. God answers with some smiting.
* In the ''Literature/YoungWizards'' series, God is called the One, His angels are called the PowersThatBe, and the devil is called the Lone Power (because it is separate from its fellow angels).
** The Powers correspond to the gods of ''every'' religion (although some are closer to the mark than others). For example, in ''Literature/TheBookOfNightWithMoon'' series, the main Egyptian gods are stated to be close cognates of the feline aspects of the Powers. (In the same book, a wizardly cat is bemused and disturbed at how badly an unnamed human religion - which is clearly some branch of Christianity - misinterprets the nature of the Powers, in particular the idea that the One requires affirmation of Its existence or the sort of extreme and self-effusive praise that would make a person who thinks anything like a sane mortal incredibly uncomfortable, and that insufficiently good people will be sent to {{Hell}} after their deaths.) They're not ''just'' Christian angels and the Christian God with the serial numbers rubbed off, although they would fit pretty well into some liberal, non-traditional interpretations of Christianity.
** A special introduction in the new edition of ''So You Want to be a Wizard'' states that, at the very least, the idea of the Book of Night with Moon itself, the definitive text of everything in existence, came from the author chancing upon a bit of Midrash. Everything else apparently flowed from that Book and from the title ''So You Want to be a Wizard'' as the author built a world to support her story idea.
* ''Goblin Moon'' and ''The Gnome's Engine'' have a very Protestant-like church for their Verse's FantasyCounterpartCulture, except that God's role is filled by the Nine Seasons embodying their forty-day months. Archangels' duties are carried out by the "planetary intelligences", whose portfolios match the Greek gods whom their respective planets were named for in RealLife (e.g. Mars is the warrior-angel). A devil-figure is also mentioned, served by upper-class cults and rural witch-covens, and scholars cite ancient "pagan" faiths that regarded the planetary intelligences as full-blown deities.
* ''Deep Secret'' by Creator/DianaWynneJones has the Upper Room, which has seventy-two members called Archons who seem to be immortal and who pass down instructions to Magids (wizards) of what is "Intended". They can also be petitioned by Magids for favours. However, they're not omniscient, their existence is supposed to be kept secret to mundane humans, and there's a suggestion that there are further levels of beings "Up There" above the Upper Room.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' started out like this stating that "every believe is true somewhere in the Nevernever" and what fuels the power of religious beings is the amount of worship and the legends build around them, further down the series it transforms in to "every religion is true but Christianity is truer" stating that the White God which had a son that died on a tree is the most powerful being and his angels (or more accurately archangel) are the most powerful beings we have seen to date.
** Though some beings with reason to know speak bitterly of The White God, like some young cosmic upstart. And even if this Verse's God ''isn't'' the literal Creator as per Judeo-Christian theology, the sheer number of worshipers who follow Him would likely ''make'' Him the most powerful Nevernever entity by far, to the point where [[spoiler: Odin himself has adopted ''Santa's'' role to mooch off Christian children's belief.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The show only mentions that Willow is Jewish in passing, and pretty much glosses over religion entirely after that. The bad guys are evil, many are in fact demons (or gods, in the case of Glory), but none of them cite references from the Bible or Qur'an on their resumes. (A few early examples do come from existing Christian tradition, though.) At one point, Buffy dies and goes to heaven; there are various points of view as to what the theological implications of this are for her and the series.
** UsefulNotes/{{Wicca}} is treated as a source of power rather than a religion. In fact, only one group treated Wicca like the real, modern day religion, and that was Willow's college coven, derisively referred to as "a bunch of wanna-blessed-bes" and [[UnfortunateImplications portrayed as naive fools.]] It had already been (rather arbitrarily) established that in the Buffyverse, humans developed witchcraft from copying the older demonic races. There the real Wiccan religion would be somewhat out of place and out of touch with its origins.
** Lampshaded in the episode "Conversations with Dead People", when Buffy meets the vampire version of a high-school classmate:
--->''" Oh, my God!... Oh, well, you know, not my God, because I defy Him and all of His works. Does He exist? Is there word on that, by the way?" \\
"Nothing solid."''
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' was very into the PowersThatBe terminology. It also used similar terminology for evil, with the ultimate BigBad of the whole show simply being "the Senior Partners".
* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' also creates a fictionalized mythology from whole cloth, with Witches being born to the power, Warlocks wanting to usurp the power, Demons led by the Source, Whitelighters following the orders of the Elders, etc. They do address [[ChristianityIsCatholic Christianity]] early on, with Piper worrying that she is "evil" because she's a witch. Her worries are relieved when she enters a church without bursting into flame.
* ''Series/TheFallen'' mini-series features angels, [[HalfHumanHybrid Nephilim]], Hell, and TheDevil, but God is always referred to as "the Creator".
* As late as the mid-1970s, prime-time situation comedies didn't have characters mention God, apparently because the nature of comedy is to be less than reverent. In the ''Series/HappyDays'' episode where Fonzie seeks out baptism, the ''priest'' never utters the word "God", instead pointing skyward and speaking piously of ''"Him"''.
* Subverted in ''Series/TheGoodPlace''. Referring to the different sections of the afterlife as [[{{Heaven}} the Good Place]] and [[{{Hell}} the Bad Place]] seems like it's this, but Michael clearly states in the first episode that no religion ever got anything about the afterlife more than five percent right. The person to get the closest was stoned out of his mind when that happened.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music]]
* Defied with Music/KanyeWest's song "Jesus Walks", which contains a section about how rappers are allowed to rap about many things (including murder) but mentioning religion is strictly forbidden. This refers to how the song was almost not allowed to recorded because it was too Christian-themed for mainstream radio.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' was originally to feature Satan, but due to ExecutiveMeddling it wound up with "Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light," who sometimes darns people to Heck. (The writer has admitted this is funnier than what he originally planned.) On the other hand, God and angels have occasionally been referred to in more proper terms. It isn't entirely clear if Phil is even supernatural. It was eventually revealed that he is the [[PointyHairedBoss boss]]'s brother.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Role Playing Games ]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
** The first edition of ''Advanced TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' used various polytheistic religions (some from the real world, some made up for the setting) so as not to stomp on any modern religious toes. This ended up [[UnpleasableFanbase backfiring on them]], as various groups of MoralGuardians claimed that lack of the Christian God was "[[LogicalFallacies proof]]" of the game's "satanic" nature. (Notably, the game still does use polytheistic religions, since they've become so incorporated into the flavor of the various settings. In particular, the [[Myth/NorseMythology Nordic]] god Tyr and the [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian]] god Horus appear in the pantheon of the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting.)
** Devils and Demons (different competing factions of fiends, [[LawfulEvil one tyrannical]], one...[[ChaoticEvil let us say]] [[OmnicidalManiac "free-spirited"]]) were turned into "Baatezu" and "Tanar'ri" for the 2nd edition to appease concerns that ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' was satanic (even though these were presented as opponents you killed). When 3E came around, the taboo lessened and the Tanar'ri and Baatezu were made into types of demon and devil (albeit the most prominent ones). Lore went on to state that non-Tanar'ri and Baatezu were mostly exterminated by the Tanar'ri and Baatezu.
** Interestingly it's completely possible to run a D&D game where the one true faith is Christianity. There are already rules for getting Divine spells from infernal masters, so it's just a matter of taste whether you want to have a pantheon or one true God (possibly including Jesus) and many demonic pretenders or even many good deities serving an Overdeity that is the true god. The latter option is the one taken in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', explicitly written to be compatible with Catholic dogma. It's worth noting that all of Jesus's miracles can be performed, and in fact outclassed, at high levels by a perfectly mortal cleric. Well, except the dying to cleanse the world of sin one. But you can totally die and come back, if you do the prep work.
** Early editions of the game included some ''very'' Biblical spells on the roster of divine magics, such as ''Sticks To Snakes'' or ''Part Water''. Most were dropped in later editions, partly because they were incongruous things for a cleric of Thor, Aphrodite, or Gruumsh to be packing, but mainly because they weren't used all that often.
* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' has, in its Mythologies sourcebook, Mithraism. While quite obscure, and obviously "restyled" for compatibility with vampires and/or to serve as a ReligionOfEvil, this is an actual religion from the Roman Empire that was just starting to become popular around the same time as Christianity.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''
** Although the setting contains several fantastical religion analogues, the closest thing to this trope is the nation of Araby, whose religion is never explicitly named and is all but stated to be Islam due to being monotheistic in nature and manifested by several chosen prophets.
** The Forces of Chaos take the role that Satan does in Judeo-Christian philosophy; demonic, corruptive beasts worshipped by shadowy heretical sects. There's no single analogue to Satan himself, though. The rarely-seen forces of Law are implied to be the corresponding Christian God analogue, even if nobody worships them in a non-abstract sense.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', God is referred to as "Guy in the Sky" when Lucky leaves club Titiboo, although, this being a ''[[NoFourthWall Mother]]'' game, it could very well be referring to the [[HumansAreCthulhu player]] instead. Either way, euphemism is used.
* Played with in the ''Videogame/{{Diablo}}'' franchise: There is Heaven, where the Angels and Archangels reside, and Hell, where the demon lords rule. However, the Angels were created from the remains of Anu, the first good being, and now they rule in heaven alone. The demon lords, called the Prime Evils here, were created from the remains of Tathamet, the first evil being. Thus, the origin myth is dualistic, while the status quo at the time of the games resembles Abrahamic mythology, with part of the nomenclature retained.
** The main Prime Evils are named Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal, and are considered brothers. "Diablo" is Spanish for [capital-D] "Devil", "Mephisto" is a Germanic folklore demon (popularized by Goethe in Faust), and Baal is a deity in several pre-Abrahamic Middle Eastern and Mediterranean polytheistic religions (and is also the source of the word "Beelzebub" when the name was mockingly rendered by early Jews so as to mean "Lord of Flies"; in Abrahamic tradition this version would be a demon, hence the modern negative connotation). Thus, the Big Bads' names have demonic associations while not explicitly using the Abrahamic Devil or demons.
** In the newest addition to the franchise, the Diablo III expansion set "Reaper of Souls", the former head of the Angiris Council (the ruling body of Heaven, made up of the Archangels), Malthael, returns after having suffered a fall to evil some time prior. While the name is by all indications made up, the parallel with Lucifer, once the foremost Archangel and later the original Evil, is clear. (Although the game's Malthael does not usurp the position of the "ultimate evil", and instead remains only a fallen angel.)
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has the Light whose religion, at least among humans, strongly resembles Christianity. It is a benevolent force that remains largely detached from mortal events. The Naaru act as angels, spiritually guiding mortals, fending off evil, and offering salvation. The Titans can also be considered angels but given more to directly battling evil and carrying out the work of the Light. Sargeras is the obvious Lucifer parallel, a fallen Titan who rebelled against his divine mandate and now leads the Burning Legion in a crusade to destroy all of the Light's works.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' there is a mysterious church-looking building in Hearthome but it is never referred to as such.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' did this with the Dimension of Pain, where hordes of demons are led by the "Demon King" instead of the Devil, and were opposed by the "Goddess of Goodness" (who the Demon King kept [[SealedGoodInACan locked in his freezer]]). Interestingly enough, Satan ''does'' exist in the ''Sluggy Freelance'' universe, as the father of 18 super-evil kittens. He is in charge of a different dimension, that does not feature as prominently as the Dimensions of Pain and Lame, so more of a case of 'the Devil is offscrene, but a analogue is'. God also made a brief [[TheFaceless Faceless]] appearance, just long enough to give Kiki a dire warning and pee on her head. ''Sluggy Freelance'' is [[WorldOfWeirdness that sort of series]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* Disney studios used to be so cautious about religion that they couldn't even use the word "Bible". In the ''Johnny Appleseed'' segment from WesternAnimation/MelodyTime, Johnny's cherished Bible was only referred to with the generic term "a holy book".
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' had a few episodes based on Bible stories, including a Passover special. However, God is never mentioned; a burning bush talks to Moses/Tommy for no explained reason, and the parting of the sea at the end is a [[DeusExMachina Deus-less Ex Machina]]. An episode about Noah's ark gives a vague comment about Noah being warned "from the Heavens."
** Interestingly subverted in their ChristmasEpisode, where the babies come across a life-sized Nativity scene and admire what they think is a real baby. "Jesus" is still never named, though.
* In WesternAnimation/AdventureTime, characters make numerous references to 'Glob' ([[OhMyGods as in, "Oh my Glob"]]). There's a terrible hell-like realm referred to as 'The Nightosphere', and its leader is called King of the Demons, not as the Devil or anything. There's also a great powerful being called the Cosmic Owl whose appearance in dreams indicates high significance. Its possible these differences could be justified due to the series being set AfterTheEnd.
** Glob, Gob, Grob, and Grod all actually appear in "Life on Mars". [[TwoBeingsOneBody They're a Martian with four different faces and one body.]]
* Despite its reputation for being much more mature than other Nicktoons, the characters in ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' were still not allowed to say "God" in any form.
** In several episodes, Carl and/or Hoodsey mention the "Big Guy" or "Big Guy Upstairs". A notable example is in "A Lesson Tightropes", where Lois sees Carl leaving a hospital prayer room.
-->Lois: Carl, I thought you were an atheist.
-->Carl: I needed to have a talk with the Big Guy.
** In "An 'Even Steven' Holiday Special", Ginger proclaims "Happy Birthday Baby J", which is probably the closest any Nickelodeon has been to saying Jesus' name.
* ''Completely averted'' by ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'', with Linus's unforgettable recitation of Luke 2:8-14. Interestingly, his recitation does ''not'' contain the actual name "Jesus", although "God" is named twice, "the Lord" (i.e. God) twice, and "Saviour" and "Christ the Lord" once.
[[/folder]]
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* In the process of dubbing ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Funimation would subtly change the dialogue to gloss over the more mystical Chinese themes. This included the relationship between Piccolo Daimao and Piccolo Jr. only being a father/son one, rather than a reincarnation, and Goku being traditionally heroic to fit a more Christian archetype, particularly since he dies and then comes back to save the day several times. This got better over time, with ''Anime/DragonBallKai'' having Gohan explicitly state that Piccolo was reborn and having Goku's dialogue written to have more personal motivations than altruistic ones.

This also gives us leeway to create cool, modern (or post-modern) sounding names for our Hero. "Slayer" is much easier to sell to the general public than "[[KnightTemplar Templar]]", and certainly better connotatively than "Inquisitor". "Whitelighters" might be "[[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]]" or "Saints", but might not. They are much more new-agey, and handy around the house, too. [[Series/{{Bewitched}} Samantha Stevens]] nose-twitched away most of the stigma against Witches, so we can go with that, but what say we call the ruler of the Netherworld, our biggest BigBad "[[WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters Prime Evil]]" so as not to offend any [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theistic_Satanism Theistic Satanists]]. And let's avoid any problems in the Bible Belt by just calling the ultimate good guys the "PowersThatBe" rather than naming any "real" gods or angels. This also helps if you want one (or two or three) of the Powers That Be to go Evil.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' establishes that there does exist an all-powerful, omnipotent creator in the DC (or at least Vertigo) verse. He never appears or intervenes with the plot, but Lucifer brings him up a few times.

* In ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'', one of the most famed examples: God is 'The Authority', the church is 'Magisterium', Inquisition-for-children is 'Gobblers', and so on.

* Disney studios used to be so cautious about religion that they couldn't even use the word "Bible". In the ''Johnny Appleseed'' segment from Disney/MelodyTime, Johnny's cherished Bible was only referred to with the generic term "a holy book".

** The Forces of Chaos take the role that Satan does in Judeo-Christian philosophy; demonic, corruptive beasts worshipped by shadowy heretical sects. There's not really a direct analogue to Satan himself, though. There would also be a Heavenly angelic counterpart in the forces of Law, if they ever showed up.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' contains several fantastical religion analogues in their setting, but the closest thing to this trope is the nation of Araby, whose religion is never explicitly named and is all but stated to be Islam due to being monotheistic in nature and manifested by several chosen prophets.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' was originally to feature Satan, but due to ExecutiveMeddling it wound up with "Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light," who sometimes darns people to Heck. (The writer has admitted this is funnier than what he originally planned.) On the other hand, God and angels have occasionally been referred to in more proper terms.
** It isn't entirely clear if Phil is even supernatural. It was eventually revealed that he is the [[PointyHairedBoss boss]]'s brother.

* In the process of dubbing ''Anime/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Funimation would subtly change the dialogue to gloss over the more mystical Chinese themes. This included the relationship between Piccolo Daimao and Piccolo Jr. only being a father/son one, rather than a reincarnation, and Goku being traditionally heroic to fit a more Christian archetype, particularly since he dies and then comes back to save the day several times. This got better over time, with ''Anime/DragonBallKai'' having Gohan explicitly state that Piccolo was reborn and having Goku's dialogue written to have more personal motivations than altruistic ones.

* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''The Last Trump'', God is referred as "The Chief" while Satan is called "The Adversary", and in Asimov's other short story called "Gimmicks Three", the demons refer to divine orders as "orders from above".

* ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' also creates a fictionalized mythology from whole cloth, with Witches being born to the power, Warlocks wanting to usurp the power, Demons led by the Source, Whitelighters following the orders of the Elders, etc. They do address [[ChristianityIsCatholic Christianity]] early on, with Piper worrying that she is "evil" because she's a witch. Her worries are relieved when she enters a church without bursting into flame.

** The first edition of ''Advanced TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' used various polytheistic religions (some from the real world, some made up for the setting) so as not to stomp on any modern religious toes. This ended up [[UnpleasableFanbase backfiring on them]], as various groups of MoralGuardians claimed that lack of the Christian God was "[[YouFailLogicForever proof]]" of the game's "satanic" nature. (Notably, the game still does use polytheistic religions, since they've become so incorporated into the flavor of the various settings. In particular, the [[Myth/NorseMythology Nordic]] god Tyr and the [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian]] god Horus appear in the pantheon of the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting.)

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, especially the Kanto episodes, the original Japanese version had the the characters made several casual references to Heaven, Hell, and God. 4kids either censored them in the English dub or used euphemisms instead. For example in the third episode they changed Satoshi saying "My Pokemon's Heaven is also my Heaven!" with Kasumi, who hates bug-types, replying with "You guys' Heaven is my Hell." into Ash saying "I love my new little Pokemon!" and Misty replying "It takes a worm to know a worm". Despite deleting most religious references, Brock mentioned the story of Noah in "Pokemon Shipwreck".

* In The Franchise/MarvelUniverse, direct mentions of Judeo-Christian entities such as Satan were not uncommon (The "Son of Satan" even had his own series) but in the 80's it was stated (in the Handbook of the Marvel Universe) that NO such character had ever appeared in a Marvel comic; even Son Of Satan's father was [[RetCon retconned]] into being another demon. This has loosened in recent years. The way it's generally handled is that several high-level demons collectively operate as "Satan" while also competing with each other for dominance in Hell. Recent stories have indicated that the "real" Satan is out there somewhere, but hasn't been seen in a very long time. But even after such a long absence, not even the strongest of the lesser demons dares to claim his empty throne. See the entry on SatanicArchetype for more specific information.
* Comicbook/TheAvengers managed to have multiple members with faith-based powers, including one Catholic among pagan demigods, and still kept religion out of the comic's theme. Lampshaded once, when they all took religious sabbaticals at once leaving the team short-handed, Hawkeye complained "This is the Avengers, not the God Squad!"

* PlayedWith in ''Literature/LordOfTheRings''. Archangels are "Valar", demons are "Balrogs", and God is also called "Ilúvatar" (approximately similar to [[GeniusBonus "all-father"]] in Sanskrit, which is also the word for Jupiter in Latin.) But Tolkien avoided showing anyone practicing religion save for the Númenóreans, who were extremely ecumenical in their beliefs. According to Tolkien's Catholic theology, all of the characters were "virtuous pagans" and as such anyone they worshiped could potentially count as "actually being" angels or demons according to the tenets of Catholic syncretism.

** The first edition of ''Advanced TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' used various polytheistic religions (some from the real world, some made up for the setting) so as not to stomp on any modern religious toes. This ended up [[UnpleasableFanbase backfiring on them]], as various groups of MoralGuardians claimed that lack of the Christian God was "[[YouFailLogicForever proof]]" of the game's "satanic" nature. (Notably, the game still does use polytheistic religions, since they've become so incorporated into the flavor of the various settings. In particular, the [[Myth/NorseMythology Nordic]] god Tyr and the [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian]] god Horus appear in the pantheon of the ForgottenRealms setting.)