History Main / PathOfInspiration

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' has the Sixth House Cult, a group that worships the BigBad PhysicalGod Dagoth Ur, who formerly led House Dagoth, the "sixth" [[TheClan Great House]] of the Dunmer (Dark Elves) in ancient times. Dagoth Ur communicates with members through their dreams, promising them great power through the [[TheCorruption Corprus Disease]]. The progression of Corprus is controlled for members, granting them immense power while tying their will to that of Dagoth Ur. (Infected non-members instead become {{Technically Living Zombie}}s with a nasty case of BodyHorror.) Naturally, they stand as an obstacle in the main quest.

** The Dark Brotherhood is an illegal [[MurderInc assassin's guild]] which doubles as a [[ReligionOfEvil cult of Sithis]] throughout the series. They tend to recruit individuals who have already shown a willingness to murder and adeptness in doing so, making them very much a PsychoForHire group overall. When members die, they hope to serve their "Dread Father" Sithis [[ThePowerOfTheVoid in the void]] for eternity.

** The Mythic Dawn in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' started off as an ApocalypseCult. They then reveal their true intentions and enter full-blown ReligionOfEvil territory, worshiping Mehrunes Dagon, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of [[DestroyerDeity Destruction]], and kick off the plot of the game by [[TheKingSlayer assassinating the Emperor of Tamriel]].

* ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': Four of the six warrior-caste angels we've seen have crippling anger issues due to their fervent belief in Gaia, the goddess of love and peace, [[WeComeInPeaceShootToKill and her 'edict' to wage genocidal war on demonkind]] to defeat her archnemesis Syndel, the GodOfEvil. It is unknown when exactly the CouncilOfAngels seized control of Heaven, but what is known is that [[HaveYouSeenMyGod Gaia and Syndel has been absent for the past 15 years]], and have enforced caste systems that turned Heaven into a fluffy police state. It is also later revealed that Hell is currently under the control of a fake Syndel, who looks like an angel of all things, but most of the demons are convinced he is the real thing because he is apparently immortal and can use all four kinds of elemental magic.

* Okay. Follow this closely. ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' has more {{Cult}}s than you can shake a {{jackalope}}'s foot at, and at least a few of them masquerade as legitimate religions. Then there's the most visible example and/or subversion, the Church of Lost Angels. Beginning as a standard Protestant sect, many people suspect the Lost Angels' leadership to at least be involved in power grabs centering on the scarcity of food near the eponymous City of Lost Angels. (It's amazing how much someone listens when you're giving them the only hot meal they'll have all week.) Then there's TheReveal: [[spoiler:the "hot meal" is [[ImAHumanitarian made of people]], and their ''raison d'etre'' is the corruption of the unsuspecting.]] Two centuries later, though, the Angels are most definitely [[SaintlyChurch on the side of, erm, angels]]. Subversion? Inversion? Double Subversion? You decide!

* The Brotherhood of Nod from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' They're usually depicted as a quasi-cult with their leader, Kane, determined to continue the spread of the ecology-destroying Tiberium substance with the belief it would advance the human race. It's even more so in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer3TiberiumWars'' on a massively successful scale, getting a large chunk of 80% human population who live in the deserted Yellow Zones to go against GDI and work on his goals even further. Then subverted in the final installment, as in some cases, they were [[TheExtremistWasRight actually right]].

A religion that appears benign but was carefully designed from the ground up long ago for a nefarious purpose, usually either to force the subjects of a state to behave as its founders would wish, frequently specifically to never attempt to rise in station or do anything but what they're told (popular with constructed state religions), or to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly empower]] an [[GodOfEvil evil god]] or force without anyone realizing that said god or force is in fact evil. The end result is a VillainWithGoodPublicity. This is a type of MysteryCult, hidden not through total secrecy but through its misleading image for the laity, who might be clearly {{brainwashed}} from an outside perspective, and are sometimes outright {{Mind Control}}led. This church is widespread in a large country or even the world, and accepted without question, and may conduct {{Witch Hunt}}s against unbelievers and heretics who have any doubts about its righteousness.

* The Holy Mauser faith in ''Literature/ScrappedPrincess'' [[spoiler:was actually designed by the aliens who conquered Earth and exiled brainwashed human survivors to a small portion of its surface. Its function was to a) prevent humanity from ever discovering their true history, b) allow semi-sentient weapons named Peacemakers to act without interference as "Lord Mauser's angels", c) rally the entire world population against the person carrying the genetic anomaly enabling her to "cancel" Peacemakers' presence and challenge the status quo, who just happens to be the protagonist of the show. It may be also notable that all this was apparently organized for humanity's own good, at least, from the alien point of view.]]
* Father Cornello's cult the Church of Leto in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' which was created so that Father Cornello could have his own army, Cornello is revealed to be a fraud and is killed, but Envy reappears as Cornello to complete the work using the weak-willed members of the church. There's also the fact that the deity Leto turns out to have been the BigBad Father in disguise, so the entire religion is an example of this.
* The ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession23BrainScratch Brain Scratch]]" has a cult that brainwashes people into giving up their physical forms for a supposed digital existence by recording their brain waves onto the internet.
* A most terrifying example is the Holy See in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', who do not even know that the four "angels" they worship and their MessianicArchetype are actually the five members of the demonic Godhand, {{Transhuman Abomination}}s who each crossed the MoralEventHorizon by sacrificing a whole load of people each (and who knows what else) and are subservient to a GodOfEvil. Oh, and they torture people. They are CRAZY obsessed with torturing people, often for no reason at all. It is implied that the four angels were originally inspired, not by the God Hand, but by the (actually benevolent) Four Elemental Kings revered by the pagan religion that the See supplanted, making it a combination between this trope and CorruptChurch.
* The Terraist Church in ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'' encouraged people to return back to their roots, i.e., the planet Earth, which by the time period of the series[[note]] during the late 36th century AD[[/note]] had become an [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet isolated backwater planet]]. As the series progresses, it became increasingly clear that the Terraist Church's real objectives were to regain the lost status and power that Earth enjoyed centuries ago and would resort to any means, from brainwashing its members to plotting assassinations of key figures in the galaxy, so as to achieve their objectives.
* The Wall Cult of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' seems like a fairly innocuous -- if fanatical -- religion that believes God gave humanity the three walls that protect their civilization from the monstrous [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] that roam the outside world. They are vehemently against the idea of touching the walls and because of their clout with the royal government have made it quite difficult for the military to add defensive armaments and adjustments to the walls. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that they are part of an AncientConspiracy and their admonitions to avoid disturbing the walls is to hide the mysterious imprisoned Titans that make up the structures.]]

[[folder:Card Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''
** On Ravnica the Black/White Orzhov guild are known as the "Church of Deals" and built a religion in order to exploit their faithful and provide a support structure for their inner circle. Ravnica exists within a planar bubble that causes departed souls to be unable to depart to any sort of afterlife, so the guild's core tenet, when stripped of all its pomp and circumstance, is simply to provide a framework through which one can purchase a comfortable and stable eternity as a spirit - for the chosen handful.
-->''[[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=97194 Orzhov faithful file past to have their minds purged of "impure" desires. There, the guiltwardens eliminate any thoughts of hope or self-sufficiency.]]''
** Another Ravnica example is the Selesnya Conclave, at least when the plane was first introduced. They preached of togetherness, community, and the greater good whilst seeking to [[WorldOfSilence exterminate all individuality to achieve that goal]], including using brainwashing to pacify its members and enforce loyalty to the guild. Zigzagged in that when this was revealed, the Conclave rebuilt itself from the subsequent wave of riots, lynching, and departures as a more sincerely benevolent organization.
** There is also the plane of Amonkhet, where its sole city of Naktamun has, in the wake of [[ZombieApocalypse the dead spontaneously rising everywhere upon death as ravening zombies]], become a theocratic MartyrdomCulture, where everyone trains from childhood to undertake five dangerous trials, with the fifth one, the Trial of Zeal, being a fight to the death in which the last survivor is personally executed by their [[PhysicalGods manifest God of Zeal]]. They believe those who die in this final trial will be transformed into exalted beings called Eternals, who will be revived in a new paradise when their God-Pharaoh returns; those who perish in earlier trials are made into mummified "Anointed" who serve as the laborers that keep Naktamun alive when its living population does nothing but train and battle. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Naktamun's entire culture is a corruption of a once-a-year sacred rite that revolved around a singular HumanSacrifice, done by the malevolent dragon planeswalker [[BigBad Nicol]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Bolas]], who has turned the plane's inhabitants into an industrialized generator for elite undead soldiers he intends to use to invade other worlds. When he finally deems the army large enough, he comes to Amonkhet to claim his army -- [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and to annihilate the surviving residents of Naktamun]].]]
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* ''ComicBook/Warlock1967'': The Universal Church of Truth in the 20th century is a galaxy-spanning empire that preaches the message "Convert or Die". It was founded by a time-traveling super-villain for his own evil ends. But in the 30th century on many worlds, it has become a somewhat more benevolent and spiritual organization.
* According to the ''Comicbook/ChickTracts'', Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and above all Roman Catholicism (in addition to numerous other Christian congregations that do not focus on the "True Message of God") are examples of this. Chick is completely serious about this idea. He's not trying to be funny, or [[CrossesTheLineTwice Cross the Line Twice]].

* In the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' Eighth Doctor comics, the Master sets up a fake religion that turns the whole human race into {{Suicide Attack}}ing {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s.
* ''The New ComicBook/TeenTitans'' had The Church of Brother Blood. Despite its name and being in control of nation known as a haven for the worst criminals, it had great worldwide publicity. This was due to having brainwashed a number of big media and political figures.
* ''ComicBook/RatQueens'' has a really bizarre inverted example. [[spoiler:The cult of N'Rygoth started out as apparently a ReligionOfEvil worshipping an EldritchAbomination and drawing dark power from it. In reality, however, the rituals were actually designed to slowly '''kill''' the chained Abomination by draining its energy, with only the High Priest knowing the truth. The problem is that over the years the cult has become much less evil and more of a standard religion who just happen to have a weird god... which means that the Abomination isn't getting drained anymore.]]
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'' reveals that all of Cybertron's religions [[spoiler: were engineered by Shockwave after he was accidentally sent millions of years into Cybertron's ancient past as part of an incredibly complex act of societal manipulation- complex enough that creating a StableTimeLoop was merely a side effect of it]].

* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanBlackAndGold'': "Loved Failed" has Wonder Woman villain, Hypnota, using their hypnotic powers to run a cult going by the name of The Guiding Light.

* In ''Film/LogansRun'', everyone lives a hedonistic lifestyle, but are told that when they hit the age of thirty, they must undergo the ritual known as "Carrousel," where they are vaporized with the promise of being "Renewed." This was later discovered to be [[spoiler:a lie designed by [[TheComputerIsYourFriend the computer]] running things in order to control the population and prevent it from becoming too large]]. After the film, there was also a TV series. While ''Literature/LogansRun'' was a book before becoming a movie, the book did not have Carrousel.
* ''Film/TheMist'' had a version of this, in that it was one woman's interpretation of religion that inspired the people in the store to form a cult and [[spoiler:attempt human sacrifice]].
* The Film/{{Apocalypse}} film series Antichrist Franco Maccalusso has his ReligionOfEvil masquerade as this, with a SecretCircleOfSecrets working in the shadows.
* The Film/JamesBond film ''Film/LicenceToKill'' had TV evangelist Professor Joe Butcher and his Olimpatec Meditation Institute serving as a front for Franz Sanchez's drug empire, with their donations going toward Sanchez's operations and "targets" being drug dealer lingo for agreeing on new market prices for their product.

* In the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' books, The Sharing is a Path of Inspiration that is disguised as a secular fraternal organization. It provides fun, social occasions, and volunteer work for the community, but its real purpose is to seduce people into voluntarily allowing themselves to be taken over by [[PuppeteerParasite alien invaders called the Yeerks]], and to serve as a front organization that keeps up the {{Masquerade}}.

* According to some interpretations of ''Literature/TheBible'', TheAntichrist will create one of these religions.
* ''Literature/CatsCradle'': Inverted here. Everyone knows Bokonism is a lie. The sacred text itself proclaims it. The idea was the give people hope, even false hope, in a dire situation. It is wildly popular anyway, and does indeed give people about as much comfort as they're going to get while encouraging good behavior.
* The Chapter from ''Literature/BookOfTheLongSun'' probably qualifies, because although individual members may be kindly or even saintly, the gods that they worship are in fact [[spoiler:the uploaded personalities of a dictator, his family and some of his closest advisers, almost all of whose idea of a commandment is ''Your government isn't sacrificing to me enough; overthrow them right now and let me know when you've done it; if you sacrifice enough children to me you'll probably get my attention.'']] [[spoiler:[[OurVampiresAreDifferent Who's in charge.]]]]
* ''Literature/ChristCloneTrilogy'': [[spoiler: Christopher Goodman]] sets up a false religion with the intent to mislead people. Among the things instituted are euthanasia for anyone who wants it, and public orgies. Its beliefs include the idea that [[AncientAstronauts ancient aliens]] seeded all life on Earth, a progressive reincarnation to get higher spiritual enlightenment, spirit guides, astrology, etc. All stuff that fundamentalist Christians hate, naturally.

* The Clave from the ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'' commits mass human sacrifices "for a good cause". Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work like that...

* ''Franchise/DoctorWho'' [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]: The Lazarus Intent in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoMissingAdventures'' novel ''The Crystal Bucephalus'' was set up by a criminal who ripped off Christianity wholesale to create a religion which, rather than teaching the Messiah was resurrected and would return, taught that it was up to believers to invent time travel, and rescue their saviour from the moment of his death. The Doctor notes that while the church may be a fraud set up by an egomaniac (Lazarus isn't even a DarkMessiah, just a conman who thinks big), devout Lazarites tend to be good people.

* The Bene Gesserit of the Franchise/{{Dune}}-iverse. Specifically the Missionaria Protectiva, the subgroup which spreads the set of beliefs called the Panoplia Prophetica on several planets. These prophecies are all pretty vague and seem to be designed simply so Bene Gesserit sisters have the option of creating a religious cult around themselves if they ever get into trouble. Although not explicitly stated as a goal, it is also shown to give Bene Gesserit sisters a hint about conditions on the planet (Jessica recognises the specific parts of the Panoplia used on Dune as reserved for the worst planets where the most help would be needed).
** Subverted when the major prophecy spread by the Missionaria on Arrakis ends up being fulfilled by Paul-Muad'Dib, much to the surprise of the Bene Gesserit.
** Subverted again by Leto II, this time intentionally. After merging with a sandworm, he sets himself up as GodEmperor of his own theocratic state, with the state religion specifically designed to be as restrictive and frustrating as possible for humanity. That in turn is part of his {{plan}} [[spoiler:(ThanatosGambit, actually)]] to get humanity to save itself through expansion and innovation, making him a NecessarilyEvil form of this.
* Originally, the ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' series portrayed the Kargish religion this way, its religious beliefs (particularly [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything their prejudice against magic-users]]) being imposed by evil gods. This was later retconned into being a good/neutral religion that got corrupted.

* The eponymous Electric Church of Jeff Somers's cyberpunk novel ''Literature/TheElectricChurch''. Adherents of the faith have their brains mounted in artificial bodies to give them "time enough" to discover the truth of salvation. They tell others that "Time is your enemy" and ask them to "Let us show you an endless trail of sunsets," offering free immortality to anyone and everyone. [[spoiler:Systems in the artificial body suppress your higher brain functions to keep you an obedient servant. The whole thing is a monstrous world-conquering scheme to rule by religion, facilitated by the fact that converts keep their legal status as citizens in the world government because the brain is still alive, despite all free will and volition being suppressed by the technology involved.]]

* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' novels, the religion of the red Martians, which encourages the old and infirm to make a pilgrimage to the South Pole in search of heaven, was created and is controlled by a society of cannibals who use the pilgrims as their primary food source. ''Their'' religion is in turn the product of another sect of cannibals who feed on ''them''. When John Carter discovers these facts and relates them to the world at large, he's nearly executed for heresy before he manages to prove it.
** There's actually a ''third'' level of Path of Inspiration among said second sect of cannibals, whose leader presents herself as (and is considered to be by her followers) a living goddess, when in fact [[GodGuise she's nothing of the sort]]. When Carter exposes ''her'', it brings the whole system crashing down, and while [[WouldntHitAGirl he won't take her life himself]], her cheated worshipers [[CruelAndUnusualDeath aren't so merciful]].
* ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' by Charles Stross:
** In ''The Apocalypse Codex'', Bob Schiller's Golden Promise Ministry appears to be another American fundamentalist Christian sect, with maybe a few odd doctrines. This being a Laundry book, Schiller and his inner circle actually serve a powerful EldritchAbomination, not entirely willingly. Once Schiller completes a human sacrifice of nearly unprecedented scale the entity will escape its prison under alien stars, and humanity will end. It's clear that Schiller actively believes that what he's doing is in Christ's name, even if the whole thing is clearly a front for Nyarlathotep and comes with all the attendant crimes against humanity you'd imagine it would. That makes it ''even more frightening''.

* The syncretic mishmash of world religions called Enigma Babylon One World Faith that becomes the official one-world religion during the first half of the Tribulation period in the Literature/LeftBehind books, believing that all religions are true and have valid paths leading to God, yet denouncing biblical Christianity (as defined by the books' authors and the Tribulation Force characters) and its message of Jesus Christ being the only true way to God as heretical. In following with the interpretation of Mystery Babylon in Revelation chapter 17, this "anti-church" was merely set up to serve the Antichrist for a time and then would be destroyed, only to be replaced by the single-deity worshipping religion of Carpathianism.

* Renewalist Church, official religion from ''Literature/MidnightWorld''. Basically, it's Christianity, but {{bowdlerize}}d so hard that it's not dangerous for the world-ruling vampires.

* Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' books feature the Church of God Awaiting. It was designed by megalomaniac Luddites gone mad with power to prevent the last colony of humans from ever redeveloping advanced tech, in an attempt to avoid the attentions of the xenophobic alien Gbaba. And, of course, to feed the egos of the megalomaniacs in question by making them into "Archangels". The original idea for the colony was that they would abandon advanced tech for a few centuries to hide from the Gbaba, but preserve records of tech and the existence of the Gbaba so that the colony would know what to avoid doing until they had tech advanced enough to destroy the Gbaba. In the eight centuries between then and the present day, the members of the Church of God Awaiting, ignorant of this, also make it into a CorruptChurch.
* ''Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind'' by Yuval Noah Harari contains a section about "humanist religions," where religion is defined as a system in which human society is governed by a superhuman order. (Note the difference between "superhuman" and "supernatural"). One of these is much closer to this trope than the others, but we present all three for completeness.

* In Neal Stephenson's ''Literature/SnowCrash'', L. Bob Rife's religion is in fact [[spoiler:an attempt to render people susceptible to brainwashing using the ancient Sumerian language, which is in fact a programming language for the human brain]]. The title refers to [[spoiler:the drug that does this, and the computer virus that can do this to people in the virtual world]].
* The Church of the Summer Kingdom in Jonathan Barnes' {{steampunk}} novel ''Literature/TheSomnambulist'' engage in murder and kidnapping, with darker plans against all of London. Their corporation [[PeaceAndLoveIncorporated Love, Love, Love and Love]] takes away their employees' names and replaces them with "Love" [[YouAreNumberSix followed by a number]].
* ''Literature/SoulsInAVacuum:'' Inverted. The Paragons' Path was an artificial religion created by memetic algorithms. It's completely open about that fact, and is designed for maximum benefits of its followers and the world at large.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' has the Potentium Heresy. It says that dividing the Force into good and evil is too simplistic and that as long as you listen to the Force, everything will work out for the best. It was a Sith lie. It actually catches Han and Leia's son, though he doesn't teach Luke's son about it.

* ''Series/{{Runaways|2017}}'': The Church of Gibborum is a ChurchOfHappyology that appears to be a friendly charity organization that worships a cosmic "Spectrum" of color and light. The current leader, Leslie, is using it to sacrifice runaways to [[spoiler:revitalize the immortal Jonah.]] Leslie's daughter, Karolina, is a main character and portrays the religion positively despite the dangers of the church itself. It's repeatedly implied that Leslie's father founded the entire church to worship Jonah in the first place, though he's normally spoken of in metaphor, so most people don't know the real purpose.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'': "Hallowed are the Ori". Interestingly, after [[spoiler:the Ori are killed, in ''Film/StargateTheArkOfTruth'', their former subjects take up Origin as a legitimate religion, albeit with some changes. "Can you take out the parts about burning people alive?"]]
** The series implies in the final season that Origin is a largely benign religion, possibly one followed by some Ancients before their Ascension. The Ori are corrupting it and using it as a tool to control their followers, some of whom realize this and are extremely angry, but are largely powerless against the Ori and their Priors.
*** Daniel Jackson, having read the Book of Origin, from time to time quoted passages that seem to contradict the Ori forces' actions. This never worked. Likewise, Ori worshipper Tomin calls a Prior out on his twisting of Origin, signalling the start of his MookFaceTurn.
** We also see snippets of the Goa'uld religions that suggest they're trying for the vibe, but due to the LargeHam [[LawfulStupidChaoticStupid Chaotic Stupid]] nature of the Goa'uld, they mostly come across as straight-out ReligionOfEvil (a large portion of the Jaffa population was loyal more out of fear of getting their brains melted rather than any genuine spiritual devotion).
* There were a few episodes ("[[Recap/StarTrekS1E21TheReturnOfTheArchons Return of the Archons]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E5TheApple The Apple]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E8ForTheWorldIsHollowAndIHaveTouchedTheSky For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky]]") of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' where the primitive inhabitants of a planet displayed a cult-like zeal to a divine father figure, often manifesting strange practices. In all cases, their "god" turned out to be a [[AIIsACrapshoot computer tasked with governing the society]].
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine,'' Bajorans who worship the [[GodOfEvil Pah-wraiths]] believe that they're not evil, merely that they and the Prophets had some falling-out long ago; after the Cardassian Occupation devastated Bajor for fifty years, many turn to the Pah-wraith cult as an alternate spiritual path. The thing is, as the series goes on it's apparent that the Pah-wraiths are both real and ''very'' unfriendly. There's also a throwaway line about cult members having to get permission before they're allowed to have children.

* A PlayedForLaughs version of the "force the subjects to never attempt to rise in station or do anything but what they're told" version is the RobotReligion in ''Series/RedDwarf'', which was very obviously invented by Divadroid International to convince AIs that if they did as they were programmed, they would be rewarded in Silicon Heaven.
-->'''Kryten''': It's common sense, sir. If there were no afterlife to look forward to, why on Earth would machines spend the whole of their lives serving mankind? Now that would be ''really'' dumb!

* In the ''Something Wicked Saga'' by Music/IcedEarth, '''all''' religions are this: they were created by the reptilian Setians, who were indigenous to Earth, to destroy the humans who had [[TransplantedHumans invaded the planet]] [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters and nearly wiped them out]].

* After being destroyed by [[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva]] for causing mayhem in various worlds, the monster Tripurasura seemingly retained his memory after going through however many reincarnations that took to become the masquerading demon Mahamada and tried to start a religion based around members of the Trimurti becoming his servants. When people caught on to the fact it was a lie, Mahamada departed to a foreign land and set out to start a demonic religion, based around corrupting the very idea of religion.

* Okay. Follow this closely. ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' has more {{Cult}}s than you can shake a {{jackalope}}'s foot at, and at least a few of them masquerade as legitimate religions. Then there's the most visible example and/or subversion, the Church of Lost Angels. Beginning as a standard Protestant sect, many people suspect the Lost Angels' leadership to at least be involved in power grabs centering on the scarcity of food near the eponymous City of Lost Angels. (It's amazing how much someone listens when you're giving them the only hot meal they'll have all week.) Then there's TheReveal: [[spoiler:the "hot meal" is [[ImAHumanitarian made of people]], and their ''raison d'etre'' is the corruption of the unsuspecting.]] Two centuries later, though, the Angels are most definitely [[SaintlyChurch on the side of, erm, angels]]. Subversion? Inversion? Double Subversion? You decide!
* Most chaos cults in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' appear to be legitimate on the surface, not even as a religion, and both settings have a lot of people who are worshiping or aiding the Ruinous Powers without being aware of it. Recently joined an academic circle specializing in recovering lost knowledge? There a reasonable chance you're now working for a cult dedicated to Tzeentch. Are you an aristocrat who regularly attends the [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy "social functions"]] of a new upper-class club? Chances are that you're now part of a pleasure cult. Joined an abnormally secretive and bloodthirsty iteration of the official church? You might now be in a Khornate blood cult. For those in the inner circles, however, it's plain ReligionOfEvil.
** Straight up averted with the [[TheTheocracy state church]] in both settings. Some denominations are more moderate, in that they emphasize things such as humility, hard work, and the like as being more foundational in their understanding of righteousness. But these denominations are rarer in that the mainstream of the churches in both [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} the Empire]] and [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} the Imperium]] are a naked ChurchMilitant with a xenophobic and puritanical bent, and martyrdom and eliminating the physical, political, and especially spiritual enemies of the state and of Humanity are some of the most important tenets.
** The [[TheFederation Tau Empire]]'s guiding principle of "the Greater Good" [[ShrugOfGod may or may not]] fall into this. The Greater Good is a secular philosophy, on its surface perceivable as either not-quite-Confucianism or a form of [[TheNeedsOfTheMany philosophical utilitarianism]]. The Ethereals, the spiritual and highest-ranking political leaders of the Tau Empire, guide them to make sure that deviate as little as possible and make sure that the Empire is always on the right side of history. Of course, [[DependingOnTheWriter some sources]] interpret the Ethereals and the Greater Good in a not-so-kind-light (with [[BroadStrokes the blessing of the IP originator to do so]]). Ethereals may just be a bunch of hypocrites who gladly use indoctrination, reeducation, genocide, a surveillance state, and pheromonal influence to cover up the cracks in the Greater Good or where action departs from ideology, and that they may be in some ways be just as bad as the "barbarians" they need to defend themselves against or bring enlightenment to. While Tau generally prefer to use diplomacy and propaganda to bring new worlds and species into the fold without firing a shot, they have occasionally used military conquest or extermination not as a mean of last resort, and have employed commanders who would go to war with enthusiasm.
* The Universal Brotherhood from the ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' game did this. The nice benevolent facade hid a collection of bizarre alien insect-beings whose main purpose was to infuse insect spirits into its members. [[DeathFromAbove An orbital nuclear strike]] was avoided ''only'' because said nuke was delivered at ground level, unleashing horrible horrors into Chicago. And that was the ''good'' ending of this saga. Strangely enough, it's implied the Universal Brotherhood was an attempt at a ''benevolent'' Path of Inspiration before the bug spirits found it - an attempt to boil down religion to the root memes in an effort to provide a structure for humanitarian action and universal acceptance.
** On an ever-so-''slightly'' less evil note, the {{Mayincatec}} religion of Aztlan is a 'revival' of ancient religion by Aztlan intended a) as a tool of social control by replacing the Catholic Church in Latin America and removing a foreign power from their shores and b) a means of justifying and codifying the use of BloodMagic among the nation's elite.

* In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', the [[AncientConspiracy Seers of the Throne]] Ministry of Paternoster is devoted to making every religious faith as dogmatic and closed-minded (especially in regards to magic) as possible, in accordance with the commandments of the [[TheArchmage Exarchs]]. Notably, they don't want [[{{Muggles}} sleepers]] to directly ''worship'' the Exarchs, since they believe that for anyone other than a mage to do so profanes them.
** They also believe their own hype. ''[[CrystalDragonJesus All of it]]''. They even have their own priests and ceremonies!
** And if you belong to certain Orders, you can actually run your own benevolent version. The Guardians of the Veil maintain Labyrinths, fake conspiracies and occult practices meant to groom worthy individuals into Awakening and shunt those not up to the responsibility into a tiny pocket of lesser occult knowledge. The Silver Ladder, meanwhile, runs Cryptopolies, mixtures between civic organizations and mystery cults (think Freemasonry) that are meant to teach Sleepers the lesser principles of Awakened wisdom before they come into the greater ones.
* Every new cult or religious sect that gets a mention in ''TabletopGame/CthulhuTech'' is actually just a front to indoctrinate the vulnerable into cults worshipping evil horrors from beyond. But the game has "Cthulhu" in the title, so what did you expect?
* The Immaculate Order in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' qualifies as this. Instructing the masses never to attempt rising above their station impedes the development of exemplariness necessary for Celestial Exaltation. Furthermore, if any of them do reach those lofty heights, the faith has spent centuries spreading the false belief that they are Anathema, normal humans overwhelmingly and irrevocably possessed by demonic intelligences. Considering that when they were in charge the Solar Exalted went nuts thanks to the Great Curse and unknowingly threatened to bring the world to ruin, keeping more of them from showing up doesn't seem like an ''entirely'' bad idea...
** This, combined with the fact that it actually ''does'' tend to lead to a nice, happy community if followed correctly makes it actually a bit closer to the version in Plato's Republic -- a religion deliberately founded for the good of the people. Whether or not they actually ''succeeded'' is, as with many [[GreyAndGrayMorality Exalted morality]] issues, a matter of debate.
** To provide a bit of {{black|AndGrayMorality}} to the debate, we have the state religion of Skullstone, [[spoiler:which was created entirely to produce a regular supply of soulsteel for the Silver Prince's ersatz First Age fleet.]]
* [=ComStar=] in ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'', who maintain humanity's SubspaceAnsible network, act as neutral mediators, and maintain a quasi-religious presentation. [=ComStar=] also spent some 200 odd years actively sabotaging efforts to recover LostTechnology, assassinated scientists, blew up factories, engaged in countless {{False Flag Operation}}s, and hoarded every piece of tech they could find to fulfill some prophecy. When [=ComStar=] became secular - following a coup after the ruler tried to take over all of known space - the more radical elements broke off and formed the Word of Blake, which didn't try to hide its intentions at all.
* In ''TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'', with memetics as a mature technology, many new religions have been designed to promote certain behaviours, not always the ones they claim. One of the most targeted is the United Way, a religion of civil disobedience and potentially violent martyrdom that was designed in the TSA as a ''weapon'' against China.
* The Brothers of the Morning Star in ''TabletopGame/GURPSTechnomancer'' are a superficially hippyish group who claim to grant followers magery through spiritual teachings learned from Ozymandius, the last survivor of an ancient Venusian civilisation, hence the "Morning Star" in the name. However, Ozymandius is not at all what he claims to be, and the name secretly refers to a different "[[{{Satan}} Morningstar]]" entirely.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Arcanum}}'', [[spoiler: the Panarii were created as part of an extremely long game by K'an Hua and the Dark Elves. It's actually a SaintlyChurch, but its true purpose is to obscure historical events by turning them into religious mythology and recasting Arronax as evil so that people in the modern age wouldn't know that he was actually a powerful mage and anti-tech zealot whose wards needed to be maintained. That would cause the wards to weaken over time and eventually allow them to free Arronax]].

* The Church of St. Eva in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII''. [[spoiler:'Saint Eva' is actually Evandeath the demon overlord.]]
** The religion of the Urkan from ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'' also somewhat qualifies. [[spoiler:Though their god isn't exactly malevolent (just so overprotective of the world that she decided to commit genocide on a race that COULD destroy it, even though they were a very peaceful race), she IS the final boss.]]
* The Records of Fate (the {{Save Point}}s in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'') were set up as a way for the residents of the El Nido archipelago to not only record what they did but also get any information they need. [[spoiler:Naturally, this is all a part of the supercomputer FATE's plan to keep the people of El Nido (and YOU) in that area and never wander into the rest of the world that ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' took place in.]]
* The Church of Optimology from the VideoGame/ChzoMythos, which [[WordOfGod by Yahtzee's own admission]] is Scientology in sheep's clothing.

* Arguably, the "New Terran Myth" wonder in ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth''.
** Not even the people who created it can decide if it's a cynical power grab or actual divine revelation.
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'': Brotherhood of Nod! They're usually depicted as a quasi-cult with their leader, Kane, determined to continue the spread of the ecology-destroying Tiberium substance with the belief it would advance the human race. It's even more so in the third installment of the Tiberium series on a massively successful scale, getting a large chunk of 80% human population who live in the deserted Yellow Zones to go against GDI and work on his goals even further.
** Then subverted in the final installment as in some cases, they were [[TheExtremistWasRight actually right]].
* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' features the [[ChurchOfHappyology Unitologists]]...and their [[MacGuffin Marker]], which unleashed a horde of zombies when the Unitologists began not only studying it but worshiping it (and the guy who found it). More generally, they're aiming for an AssimilationPlot they call "convergance" -- but interestingly, they don't keep that part a secret. They just don't tell people that the assimilation involves getting murdered by bloodthirsty zombies and bonded to an undead necromantic HiveMind. [[spoiler:''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' reveals that the markers were in fact created by a species of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s for the purpose of reproduction, and that "convergance" is when the zombie population reaches critical mass and begins to form one.]]

* The Cult of the Watchers seems to be the state religion of TheEmpire in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'', though actually they don't even bother making pretenses of good intentions. They just straight-up MindControl all their subjects and anyone they capture. It's the quicker, easier way really. It's not a ReligionOfEvil because the "Watchers" they serve and worship are the same beings as the gods worshiped by the CrystalDragonJesus religion.

* The Path of Inspiration of TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} is seen, by name, in several high-level adventures in the ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' game. Player characters with the True Seeing ability will see the not-so-diminutive Quori creatures, which animate and control the faithful, latched on the head of the Inspired. They preach out in the streets about their happy ol' church, with none (but the player characters) ever the wiser.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': The series provides a number of examples. Much like real-world cults, each attracts members from the fringes of society with promises of purpose and paradise. To note a few specific examples:

* The Children of the Cathedral from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'' have to count. [[spoiler:They're led by an insane mutant made up of several people who wants to turn all humans into Supermutants]], after all.
* The Glabados Church from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' qualifies, though one must both play through the whole game and read the Germonik Scriptures to get this whole picture.
** It also seems that even among the highest officials of the Church, few know of its true origin and purpose. [[spoiler:Simon, for example, rose to become one of Church's most powerful priests, before accidentally discovering the Germonik Scriptures and learning the truth. Their entire church is based on a lie. Their "god" is actually one of the most powerful of demons, Ultima.]] Though many of those who aren't aware are rather evil anyway. Thus, Glabados could be seen as both a Path Of Inspiration ''and'' a CorruptChurch.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII The Prequel]] reveals that the false god's masters were demiurges, creating entire races for their research and manipulating them via religion and prophetic visions into waging war.[[note]]Eventually, one of them realized they went too far and joined the humans to destroy the connection between the mortal world and her realm.[[/note]]
* The Church of Yevon from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was [[spoiler:created to make people accept the periodic resurgence of [[EldritchAbomination Sin]], formalize the [[SenselessSacrifice stopgap method]] used to keep him at bay, and kneecap anything that could challenge the Yevon government (most notably the development of weaponized machina)]].
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'': Most of Valisthea's religions are centered around the Mothercrystals, living crystal mines that provide magical resources and protection from the Blight. Sounds like an obvious assumption, until Cid points out that crystals use up aether, and an aether shortage is what is found in the Blight, so logically the Mothercrystals are actually ''causing the current apocalypse''. In truth, the churches have suppressed any thought processes about how the Mothercrystals work, while pushing everyone to mindlessly obey the kings controlling these crystals.
** The church in Waloed in particular has one ruthless purpose: [[spoiler:convince everyone on the continent of Ash to lay down and die slowly to Akashic mutation so that their aether will be absorbed by the BigBad and they can be used as attack zombies.]]
* ''VideoGame/GrandiaII'': You know that war that happened 10,000 years ago between Granas, the benevolent creator, and Valmar, the destroyer? And how Granas won? [[spoiler: That was a bit of a lie. The truth is... when they both defeated each other, Granas was the one who died and Valmar was split into multiple pieces. And the highest members of church knew this and kept it from the general populace, to keep order.]] Furthermore, Granas and Valmar [[spoiler:were never truly divine in the first place. They were merely scientists who unlocked the power to [[RealityWarper warp reality]] and used it to set themselves up as gods.]]
** [[spoiler: The pope lied to Elena about the reasons for gathering the remaining pieces of Valmar. It wasn't to kill him in one strike. The pope just wants to be [[GodhoodSeeker the new reincarnation of Valmar.]]]][[spoiler:He succeeds. Kinda.]]
* The White Mantle in VideoGame/GuildWars straddles this and CorruptChurch. The founder of the White Mantle was a decent guy who wasn't aware the Mursaat were evil; by time that became apparent, the Mursaat had saved his people and taken him away never to be seen again. On top of this, once the Mursaat are beaten, it turns out they had been holding back an even worse evil.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series, the Covenant is both a religion and a caste-based interstellar empire incorporating multiple species. They worship the [[{{Precursors}} Forerunners]], who they think AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence by means of the Halos, and seek to recreate this "Great Journey." Unfortunately for them, what actually happened was that the Forerunners lost their war against [[TheVirus the Flood]] and decided to go out by ''[[TakingYouWithMe annihilating all non-indexed sentient life in the galaxy with the Halos in order to starve out the Flood]]''. In fact, the short story ''[[Literature/HaloEvolutions Wages of Sin]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:many in the Covenant leadership always knew that "the Great Journey" part of their religion was a sham]].
** The Covenant also veers into straight CorruptChurch territory regarding its genocidal campaign against humanity; [[spoiler:its High Prophets discovered humanity's connection to the Forerunners, and quickly sought to cover it up by all means possible]].

* Morninglight from ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' is part ChurchOfHappyology, part [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson Mansonesque]] hippie {{cult}}. And they [[spoiler:secretly worship an EldritchAbomination (although most members are blissfully unaware of that fact)]].

* The CrystalDragonJesus faith of Trinitism in ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' is an odd example. All evidence from the game itself is that people genuinely believe it, even its practitioners, and that it's seen as a force for good even by its clergy. However, playing through Double's storyline reveals the sinister truth behind it: [[spoiler:the three goddesses that Trinitism worships are ''evil'', having created the [[ArtifactOfDoom Skullheart]] in hopes of one day producing a Skullgirl strong enough to ''[[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]]''. Exactly why this is the case, isn't made clear, although playing Eliza's storyline implies it may be some kind of revenge gig, as apparently the Trinity used to be mortals themselves.]]

* The Church of Martel from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' is a worldwide scam that normalizes the unnatural ebb and flow of the world's fortunes as a natural cycle solved by the Journey of Regeneration. [[spoiler:It's also a complicated scheme by the BigBad Yggdrassil to produce genetic copies of his deceased sister across millennia of careful breeding, then have these "Chosen Ones" give up their bodies so his sister can be resurrected]]. That said, the spoiler-tastic portions of this trope are restricted to the innermost circle of the Church: the rest of its members are either faithful believers who don't know any better, or corrupt in a more mundane, power-hungry sense.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheTempest'' looks like it'll be this, but [[spoiler:the church is actually good, and the pope was being manipulated.]]

* Depending on who you ask, the Scarlet Crusade In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', is either this or a CorruptChurch. The ''depends'' part, hinges on whether you believe the founder of the sect-Alexandros Mograine-was a good guy or not: and whether you think the internment of the orcs following their defeat in the Second War was justified or not.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Downplayed. The soldiers fighting the ForeverWar wouldn't really understand the concept of religion if someone tried to explain it to them, but the core of the war ends up looking like a religion, albeit a rather simple one. Both nations have a Queen who, in a TeenageWasteland, serve as both god and mother; the Queens are said to be the source of all life, and all life returns to them in the end. The only duty of the soldiers is to kill the enemy to honor their Queen, and their highest honor is surviving their full ten-year lifespan, [[DisappearsIntoLight dissipating into ether motes]] in a ceremony witnessed by the Queen. Of course, the heroes discover early on that the war is utterly meaningless and perpetuated by the Moebius consuls for their own purposes, and soon after that they discover that the Queens [[spoiler:are nothing but robots spouting Moebius propaganda]]. However, there ''is'' some truth in the religion. [[spoiler:The true Queens who the fakes were modeled after, Queen Nia of Agnus and Queen Melia of Keves, were the leaders of two separate worlds on a collision course. They worked together to create Origin, a massive supercomputer that would save both worlds. Origin was hijacked by Moebius, locking the world into a perpetual stalemate, and Melia was captured while Nia went into hiding. Because of all this, when the true Queens reveal themselves, it takes minimal effort for them to rally both nations to fight Moebius]].

* {{Averted|Trope}} and {{lampshade|Hanging}}d at the same time by ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'' In [[http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/20020809.html this strip]], a character mentions a church, which instantly worries [[GenreSavvy Karn]], until she specifically assures him that it's ''not'' a front for an evil mind-controlling organization.

* The basic shtick of the Luminositan Church in ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'', founded on a DeityOfHumanOrigin which its priests use to keep the country of Veracia under their thumbs. (In fairness, it was the magical energy pumped into Luminosita that had much to do with Veracia becoming a world power to begin with, and we're not sure yet that Luminosita is of ''human'' origin, but he certainly isn't one of the "real" gods of the Errant World.)
* ''Webcomic/HellgasmSlaughter'': The world is so crapsack that God was the ''original'' path of inspiration. [[spoiler:To get into Heaven, you have to ''fear'' God; love and sin are irrelevant. God's angels then torture you for ages to siphon off your soul's fear-based energy, and turn what's left of you into a drug-addicted battery.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Gamzee's cult worship of the "Mirthful Messiahs" is seen as a harmless highblood affectation. However, at least one of the Messiahs is actually [[BigBad Lord English]]. Due to Weird Time Shit, it is ambiguous how many of the followers actually knew about this, but it's likely that it was used to fuel the highblood Subjugglators' campaign of, well, subjugation of lowbloods.
* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': the Seven Demiurges are usurpers of Heaven, each forming their own cult to control the masses:
** Mottom claims that she requires young ladies as handmaidens. [[spoiler:They're ritually sacrificed to a Tree of Life so she can indulge on the fruit of immortality]].
** Inverted with Mammon's cult: [[spoiler:they're an army of thieves and whores whose initiation is to survive the gauntlet of deathtraps guarding Mammon's treasure vault. Except once they reach Mammon (usually through defeat and capture), they quickly learn that the FogOfAges has whittled his mind away to a senile cheery calculator, and they swear to protect the god and the humble-highborn families who grow dirt farms on top of mountains of gold coins]]. Subverted when Mottom ''crashes her flying palace straight into Mammon's treasure vault'', driving them all into crazed vengeance with spear chainsaws.
** Solomon 'tries' to maintain his humanity, but his kingdom is run on {{Nepotism}}, he changes laws to his preference, and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he's planning to leave his kingdom behind to follow Zoss on the path to enlightenment]].
** Gog-Agog offers her subjects eternal beauty if they link to her HiveMind. Then she eats them.
** Incubus offers people Determination so they can fix their own problems. Trouble is, the loaned DT eats them from the inside until they are left bitter, rotting shells.
* ''Webcomic/{{Phantomarine}}'': The church of Cheline is the only surviving religion in the post-apocalypse, and civilization prays to their goddess to save the world from a literal sea of undead. Anyone who actually meets Cheline in person, however, quickly discovers that she is a pathological narcissist who demonically possesses her priestesses and discards anyone who stops being useful to her. Sadly, as most of the world's population would sooner slit their throats than worship her 'evil' brother, [[MyMasterRightOrWrong she has a significant inner circle who will shut up and follow orders no matter what she does to them and their families]].

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The Hymn of One in ''WebVideo/{{lonelygirl15}}'' and ''WebVideo/KateModern'', a front for the sinister Order of Denderah.
* The Fifthist Church in ''Website/SCPFoundation'' materials is a textbook example. On the outside, it's a harmless celebrity cult with a ''Secret-''esque self-help book as its centerpiece. When given free rein, they very nearly destroyed the world.

** Evolutionary humanism: Humanity is unique and special, and the greatest good is to allow it to evolve to a higher state, by promoting the Right Sorts and culling the Wrong Sorts. Has been under something of a cloud since the defeat of the Nazis.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'':
** The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the Path of Inspiration, the state religion of Riedra, created by the quori forces of the Dreaming Dark to both oppress the masses ''and'' help empower a great evil. The Path emphasizes peace, diligence, and doing what you are told. The people are separated into racial castes (with the Chosen, the bred vessels of the quori, at the top), and told that if they serve well in this life they will reincarnate as a better race in their next life; coincidentally, this encourages people to keep their heads down and do their duty without complaint. The books go out of their way to stress that life under the Path of Inspiration is not bad at all: [[HappinessInSlavery its followers lead a life of relative peace and sanctity]]. The only ''major'' points of contention from the point-of-view of an informed outsider are the whole "tricking followers into helping empower a great evil" bit and the part where followers have no personal freedom or even concept of entertainment (and those who do try to resist tend to disappear).
** The Blood of Vol from the same setting is a lesser example. To the common man, it is a slightly creepy but otherwise okay religion that views blood as a gateway to immortality and venerates undeath as a great martyrdom for the sake of teaching others (as in Eberron, undead creatures are not AlwaysChaoticEvil). Considering that the afterlife of Eberron consists of a drab wasteland that slowly erases your memories until you're a mindless wandering shade, you can see where they're coming from. The truth is a little harsher: [[spoiler:the Blood of Vol is actually being manipulated by BigBad Erandis Vol in order to advance her agenda in Khorvaire, with the actual dogma being an altered form of House Vol's beliefs preserved by elves fleeing Aerenal. Even then, [[WordOfGod Keith Baker]] emphasizes that Vol didn't actually ''create'' the religion and is barely in control of it; it was a natural evolution of the Vol beliefs]].
* The gods of Athas in ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' are dead and gone, but that hasn't kept the [[SorcerousOverlord sorcerer kings]] from spinning tales about their supposed "divinity" to keep their thralls docile and subservient.
* This is the general state of religion in the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting when it isn't a straight ReligionOfEvil. Many Darklords will make up a religion to help control their subjects, such as Azalin Rex and the undead-worshipping Eternal Order, and some will just use a permutation of an existing faith for the purpose. The Nidalan church of Belenus is a real god but doesn't actually resemble the deity of Nidala (since the faith was founded by an ex-paladin of his, Elena Faith-hold). Although unconfirmed, religion of Yutow the Peacebringer also is very likely to have been made up by Valachan's Darklord, considering that it teaches extreme AntiIntellectualism, acceptance of one's station in life, and reverence of panthers, which is useful for keeping the population ignorant, unmotivated to rebel, and not suspicious of the werepanthers the Darklord uses as his secret police.

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine,'' Bajorans who worship the [[GodOfEvil Pah Wraiths]] believe that they're not evil, merely that they and the Prophets had some falling-out long ago; after the Cardassian Occupation devastated Bajor for fifty years, many turn to the Pah Wraith cult as an alternate spiritual path. The thing is, as the series goes on it's apparent that the Pah Wraiths are both real and ''very'' unfriendly. There's also a throwaway line about cult members having to get permission before they're allowed to have children.

* The eponymous Electric Church of Jeff Somers's cyberpunk novel ''The Electric Church''. Adherents of the faith have their brains mounted in artificial bodies to give them "time enough" to discover the truth of salvation. They tell others that "Time is your enemy" and ask them to "Let us show you an endless trail of sunsets," offering free immortality to anyone and everyone. [[spoiler:Systems in the artificial body suppress your higher brain functions to keep you an obedient servant. The whole thing is a monstrous world-conquering scheme to rule by religion, facilitated by the fact that converts keep their legal status as citizens in the world government because the brain is still alive, despite all free will and volition being suppressed by the technology involved.]]

* In the ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' movie, Thulsa Doom's snake-worshipping cult (inspired by [[UsefulNotes/JimJones The Peoples Temple/Jonestown]]). Unlike most cults, Thulsa Doom holds a magical influence over his followers, to the point that one cultist happily leaps to her death simply because Doom beckoned her forward from the cliff's edge she was standing on. [[spoiler:The spell is only broken when Conan confronts Doom and beheads their "god" in front of them]].