History Main / SadlyMythtaken

** ''Dark Dawn'' does change the {{Horny Viking|s}} Thor's beard from blonde to red at least.

*** Even worse, in the original Japanese version, Frey and Freya's names were swapped. In either case Frey is female and doesn't really fit the character, but although Freya is an appropriate name for the chief goddess, it's not for a glorified gate guard.

** Unlike the others, the change in Hades isn't even {{Disneyfication}}. [[EverybodyHatesHades He wasn't an evil god]], (he was downright nice compared to some of [[DisproportionateRetribution the other]] [[JerkAssGods Greek Gods]], Zeus in particular) nor did he have any antagonistic relationship with Heracles. In fact, he was vital in helping Heracles finish his last labor. [[labelnote:More info]]Said labor was "bring me Cerberus." Heracles went to the Underworld and asked to borrow him, and Hades pretty much said "Bring him back when you're done" - which Heracles did.[[/labelnote]]

** Unlike the others, the change in Hades isn't even {{Disneyfication}}. [[EverybodyHatesHades He wasn't an evil god]], (he was downright nice compared to some of [[DisproportionateRetribution the other]] [[JerkAssGods Greek Gods]], Zeus in particular) nor did he have any antagonistic relationship with Heracles. In fact, he was vital in helping Heracles finish his last labor. [[hottip:(more info):Said labor was "bring me Cerberus." Heracles went to the Underworld and asked to borrow him, and Hades pretty much said "Bring him back when you're done" - which Heracles did.]]

* The plot-driver in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' is that the Ark of the Covenant is some sort of magical weapon. Which, suffice it to say, does not quite match the description found in the Bible.
*** In one instance in the Old Testament, the Ark bestowed blessings on the man who kept it in his house. The film turned this up to eleven and gave the Ark properties similar to the Spear of Destiny. The bit about the Ark killing those who disrespected it is Biblically accurate however.

* PiersAnthony had used "Alicorn" to refer to a Winged Unicorn - An Alicorn is actually the substance a unicorn horn is made out of. However, he wasn't [[FriendshipIsMagic the most popular one]] to use it (see below).

* ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' uses "Alicorn" to refer to the winged unicorn who act as royals. While far from the first to make this error (See "Literature" above), it became the most popular, causing no shortage of people familiar with mythology to tear their hair.

* PiersAnthony had used "Alicorn" to refer to a Winged Unicorn - An Alicorn is actually the substance a unicorn horn is made out of. However, he wasn't the most popular one to use it.

** For that matter, the apocalypse itself. It was supposed to be an allegory for the fall of the Roman Empire, rather than TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

* In ''Film/{{Stargate}},'' the symbol they keep referring to as "The Eye of Ra" is actually "The Eye of Horus" and is also known as the "Wedjet"

*** "Chapter 108: Ahab and the Carpenter: The Deck—First Night Watch" -> ''What's Prometheus about there? --the blacksmith, I mean --what's he about? He must be forging the buckle-screw, sir, now. Right. It's a partnership; he supplies the muscle part. He makes a fierce red flame there! Aye, sir; he must have the white heat for this kind of fine work. Um-m. So he must. I do deem it now a most meaning thing, that that old Greek, Prometheus, who made men, they say, should have been a blacksmith, and animated them with fire; for what's made in fire must properly belong to fire; and so hell's probable.''

*** Well, seeing that the sisters, who are never referred to as Norns, are really only named after the Norns.

* ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' uses "Alicorn" to refer to the winged pegasi who act as royals. While far from the first to make this error (See "Literature" above), it became the most popular, causing no shortage of people familiar with mythology to tear their hair.

* Pick any media where [[EgyptianMythology Anubis]] appears. The mistaken uses of Anubis as evil, tremendously powerful, or the chief god of death in the Egyptian pantheon are so rampant and constant that they qualify as perhaps one of the most egregious examples of CriticalResearchFailure in current culture. To be specific: Anubis was the ''guardian'' of the resting places of the dead, and the judge of dead souls. These were his only roles, making him a minor deity in the everyday life of the egyptians, but more important when it came to death, which the Egyptians were morbidly obsessed with - hence he appears all over their tombs and therefore has become very recognizable. The chief deity of the dead was Osiris, and ''nothing'' to do with death was inherently ''evil''. In actuality, given his role as guardian Anubis could be considered one of the more benevolent deities of the Egyptian pantheon, so long as you don't mess with his charges.

This frequently happens to any god, no matter how benign, who happens to have any dominion over death or the underworld, due to BadPowersBadPeople.

!!Examples (that don't fit into the subtropes)

* '#KidIcarus''. The queen of the underworld is Medusa, [[DemonicSpider Pluton]] is a common enemy that steals your weapons, Pandora is a giant soap bubble and goddess of calamity and deceit, and Tanatos is a snake that lives in Medusa's hair.

** {{It Makes Sense in Context}} - and also, a straight comparison of a blacksmith to Hephaestus was something of a {{Dead Horse Trope}} at the time he was writing the novel.

* One can forgive [[DantesInferno Dante's]] merging of Greek and Christian takes of the afterlife and mythology in his ''Divine Comedy'' as creative liberty, but one ''cannot'' forgive him for his use of the centaurs in the outer ring of the seventh circle of Hell, for one distinct reason: he put ''Chiron'', a DefectorFromDecadence and revered ''healer'' and ''sage'', as the ''leader'' of the centaurs driving the damned back into the boiling blood river, and put ''Nessus'', known for ''raping Hercules' second wife and tricking her into poisoning Hercules to death'', as the one the one who helps Dante and Virgil across the river. Apparently, all Dante ever knew about them was that they were both centaurs and Nessus carried someone across a river one time.

** In ''Twilight'', Meyer describes varacolaci as being "a powerful undead being who could appear as a beautiful, pale-skinned human", while they are more famously known as wolf demons that cause solar and lunar eclipses by swallowing the sun and moon respectively. They also appear as ''dry'' pale-skinned humans, not beautiful. In ''Breaking Dawn'' and ''Midnight Sun'', Meyer cites the incubus and succubus as vampires who are known in mythology as being promiscuous and impregnating human women. Both of them were demons who were believed to be the cause of nightmares and wet dreams. Also in ''Breaking Dawn'', the cleaning lady at Bella and Edward's honeymoon site believes that Edward is a "libishomen", described as "a blood-drinking demon who preys exclusively on beautiful women". In reality, lobishomen (the real name of the libishomen in mythology) were monkey-like werewolves.

* ''Leda: Fantastic Adventure of Yoko'' includes two characters named Lingam and Yoni, which are not only symbolic for Hindu deities, but refer to the male and female sex organs.

* ''SaintSeiya'' did so with Greek and Norse myth.

* Kinnikuman blundered badly with this. Supposedly, there are lots and lots of gods out there of various planets, yet there's still {{Satan}}, and he's still the mastermind of all the Akuma Choujin/Demon Supermen. But Choujin don't go to Hell, they go to an underworld led by Choujin Enma. Then there's Ashuraman, who at least is correct in his depiction as a three-faced, six-armed individual. Of course, then we find out about his teacher, [[Literature/TheBible Samson Teacher]] [[spoiler:who later becomes Satan Cross, one of the final BigBad's [[QuirkyMinibossSquad subordinates]],]] who displays similar similar anatomy but has no reference to biblical Samson [[spoiler:or Satan]] at all.

* Creator/JackChick does this with ''every'' religion he writes about, [[PoesLaw including the one he's supposed to be promoting]].
** This is a large part of why people thought his work was an example of StealthParody at first.

In Western media, due to the JesusTaboo and the like, pagan mythologies are more susceptible. The Japanese, on the other hand, have no qualms about bizarre portrayals of Christianity -- or Shinto.