History Main / SentientCosmicForce

* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Darkness]][[labelnote:*]]Nightshroud in the English dub.[[/labelnote]] the final antagonist of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', turns out to be the mere avatar of negativity as a concept, an alternate dimension of darkness. Intending to absorb humanity into itself, it nonetheless claims it's not acting out of any more motivation than a natural force just doing what it does, "like water flowing from a high place to a low place". This is reflected by its namesake card; where all previous duel spirits in the show were monster cards, Darkness is a ''field spell''.

* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Darkness]][[labelnote:*]]Nightshroud in the English dub.[[/labelnote]] the final antagonist of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', turns out to be the mere avatar of negativity as a concept. Intending to absorb humanity into itself, it nonetheless claims it's not acting out of any more motivation than a natural force just doing what it does, "like water flowing from a high place to a low place". This is reflected by its namesake card; where all previous duel spirits in the show were monster cards, Darkness is a ''field spell''.

* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Darkness]][[labelnote:*]]Nightshroud in the English dub.[[/labelnote]] the final antagonist of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', turns out to be negativity as a concept itself. This is reflected by its namesake card; where all previous duel spirits in the show were monster cards, Darkness is a ''field spell''.

* The god of Mijak[[note]]Or rather, the thing the Mijaki ''mistake'' for God[[/note]] from the ''Literature/GodspeakerTrilogy'' is a particularly evil variant. It never speaks in words to its worshipers, but influences their thoughts and desires and acts through its priests, the godspeakers, and through specific chosen ones like Hekat and later the Hammer. It demands constant sacrifice to sustain itself and very much wants to conquer the world. A character from outside the Mijaki culture at one point describes it as "a well of dark power".

A sentient cosmic force is a form of BackgroundMagicField with a will of its own. Like a BackgroundMagicField, it is a pervasive form of AppliedPhlebotinum, existing on a planetary or universal scale, that acts as "fuel" for FunctionalMagic. It is generally not material, existing as an intangible energy or on a spiritual level, though it may have a physical manifestations in areas that act as a [[LeyLine nexus]] or [[PlaceOfPower wellspring]] for it. However, while BackgroundMagicField is simply an inanimate part of nature, a sentient cosmic force is capable of thinking and acting on its own.

** [[GodOfGods Anu]] and [[TheAntiGod Padomay]] are the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification anthropomorphized]] primordial forces of [[OrderVersusChaos "stasis/order/light" and "change/chaos/darkness"]], respectively. Their interplay in the great "Void" led to Nir, "creation". Nir loved Anu, [[DrivenByEnvy which Padomay hated]]. Padomay killed Nir and the 12 worlds to which she gave birth. Anu wounded Padomay, presuming him dead. Anu salvaged the pieces of the 12 world to create one world: Nirn. Padomay returned and wounded Anu, seeking to destroy Nirn. Anu then [[TakingYouWithMe pulled Padomay and himself outside of time]], ending Padomay's threat to creation "forever". Due to being pulled outside of time, neither can directly influence the affairs of the mortal world, but it is believed that their presence is still felt, largely InMysteriousWays and in PowersThatBe type ways.

** [[AllThatGlitters Orange spectrum]]: [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Ophidian the Tempter, a snake-like entity]] which represents/fuels/is fueled by the emotion of Greed and for that reason usually only [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne tends to only be able to empower one individual at a time]] ("[[IncrediblyLamePun Agent Orange]]" tends not to want to share). Tends to assert extreme influence over almost anybody who touches the Orange Lantern that contains it, [[KryptoniteFactor with the exception]] of those [[ThePowerOfLove wielding a Power Ring in the violet spectrum]].

* The Force from the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe. It's an energy field, it gives powers. It has a ChosenOne (and in-universe was believed to have [[MysticalPregnancy caused his virgin birth]], though it was revealed [[ExpandedUniverse out-of-universe]] that he might have been the product of Sith meddling with life). It has a will of its own, but nobody fully understands it (and it might be impossible to do so). The Jedi and their [[EvilCounterpart evil counterparts]] the Sith, along with a variety of lesser groups from the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' and ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'', each have their own belief systems about the true nature of the Force, but out-of-universe it's generally presumed that the Jedi are closest to the truth. The Sith believe that the Force is something that can, and should be, controlled and exploited for all its worth. Given the horrible fates that befall nearly every Sith, the Force apparently disapproves. According to WordOfGod, the Will of the Force is determined by a HiveMind of sentient microorganisms called the Whills that act on the universe through the midi-chlorians in an attempt to rid itself of the DarkSide's corrupting influence on others.

* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', Candace believes that it's something like this that prevents her from busting her brothers (and probably preventing their mom from noticing anything odd). Whether this is so is [[AmbiguousSituation ambiguous]].

%%* Many people from a variety of major religions (Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others) view {{God}} this way, once they grow old enough to realize that God is probably not a literal man on a cloud.
* Christianity in particular has the Holy Spirit, who is the third person within the Blessed Trinity and is best defined as being the power of God that carries out His will.

* ''VideoGame/Dota2'' Has Enigma, Io, Keeper of the Light and Chaos Knight as playable heroes. They are the AnthropomorphicPersonification of gravity, electromagnetism, weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force respectively, also known as the four fundamental forces of the universe. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration Their abilities even correspond thematically to what they represent.]] Ancient Apparition meanwhile is heavily implied to be the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe#:~:text=The%20heat%20death%20of%20the,sustain%20processes%20that%20increase%20entropy. heat death of the universe, given sapience and form.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'': In [[VideoGame/Destiny2 the sequel]]'s ''Shadowkeep'' expansion, the "Unveiling" lore book reveals this to be the case for the Light/Traveler and the Darkness/Pyramids. In the book, the Darkness relates an allegorical account of how the two of them used to exist in a garden before time began, tending to flowers in it. When the gardener (Light) got frustrated how the garden seemed to stagnate, similar patterns continually arising in it, they tried to introduce a new "rule" into the garden, much to the winnower's (Darkness) alarm. The two fought and fell into the garden, starting time, and becoming cosmic forces that exhibit [[RealityWarping paracausal power]].

** The "Ultimate Ones", each the "[[UltimateLifeform ultimate being]]" of an entire celestial body that embodies [[GeniusLoci said world's will]]. According to ''Literature/AngelNotes'', every planet (and the Moon) has an Ultimate One. These beings have [[EldritchAbomination utterly bizarre forms and minds]] to say the least, as one of them (Type-Mercury, a.k.a. ORT) even came to Earth responding to Gaia's dying message ''5000 years before Gaia died''. The reason Gaia can't create Type-Earth as her physical form is because Alaya is preventing her from doing so. She had to resort to striking a deal with Type-Moon, a.k.a. Crimson Moon Brunestud, to allow it residence on Earth in exchange for creating a substitute, the result being the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent True Ancestors]]; one particular True Ancestor, [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Arcueid Brunestud]], had been implanted by Crimson Moon with a copy of said Type's personality, and upon its eventual awakening (which will probably lead to [[SplitPersonalityTakeover her original personality being lost]]) she will attain her highest level of power and become a being known as "Archetype:Earth" (something that happens in one ending in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood''), making the closest thing to a true Ultimate One of Earth.

* Eywa in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' is a GeniusLoci physically comprising the neural network between the various flora and fauna on Pandora, and comprising the memories of various creatures, but is sentient and can cause GaiasVengeance when required.

* [=YouTube=] star Creator/BishopBarron thinks this trope is more interesting than denying everything supernatural, cautions that the easily manipulated cosmic forces ''Star Wars'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jewe-Mq0T0 Doctor Strange]]'' are not the {{God}} of Christianity, but that of UsefulNotes/{{Pantheism}}.

* In Creator/DavidGemmell's ''Literature/{{Drenai}}'' novels, priests are dedicated to [[NamesTheSame the Source]], which imparts mystical powers.

A {{subtrope}} of BackgroundMagicField and CosmicEntity. May overlap with TheLifestream when it's created by life itself or when things become one with it after death. Contrast PhysicalGod, where the cosmic force has a face and a body to act out its will directly.

A {{subtrope}} of BackgroundMagicField and CosmicEntity. May overlap with TheLifestream when it's created by life itself or when things become one with it after death.

[[folder: Real Life]]
* Many physicists have this view of reality, including the late John Archibald Wheeler and Carl Sagan. The thing about this is, however, ''humanity'' is part of the Sentient Cosmic Force. We're the universe's way of knowing itself.
** OlderThanYouThink -- this is the view of Georg Hegel, a thoroughly boring (if influential) eighteenth century German philosopher.
* The principle of cosmophysicism is the idea the universe has a mind divorced of theism.
[[/folder]]

* The Force from the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe. It's an energy field, it gives powers. It has a ChosenOne (and in-universe was believed to have [[MysticalPregnancy caused his virgin birth]], though it was revealed [[ExpandedUniverse out-of-universe]] that he might have been the product of Sith meddling with life). It has a will of its own, but nobody fully understands it (and it might be impossible to do so). The Jedi and their [[EvilCounterpart evil counterparts]] the Sith, along with a variety of lesser groups from the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' and ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'', each have their own belief systems about the true nature of the Force, but out-of-universe it's generally presumed that the Jedi are closest to the truth. The Sith believe that the Force is something that can, and should be, controlled and exploited for all its worth. Given the horrible fates that befall nearly every Sith, the Force apparently disapproves.

** And then again, the Jedi can be thrown a curveball sometimes. In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka bump into beings that are pretty much {{Physical God}}s, and apparently [[AnthropomorphicPersonification personify]] aspects of the Force. Jedi teachings don't include any specific gods, and none of the Jedi know what to make of them.