History Main / ThankTheMaker

Compare with PhysicalGod, where the creations' worship is because the creator(s) ''are'' gods, LivingToys, where the characters are usually inexplicably aware and tend to rely on their owners for meaning in their lives, and DeityOfHumanOrigin, where the act of creating [[ArtificialIntelligence [=AIs=]]] is what make the humans divine. Thank The Maker adherents consider their creators benevolent or at least generally benign.

[[folder:Comics]]
* In ''Comicbook/{{Runaways}}'', there is the early 1900s superhero Difference Engine, a SteamPunk robot (or possibly a human in PoweredArmor) who says "[[OhMyGods For Babbage's sake]]," referring to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage Charles Babbage.]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* Literally any ''{{Franchise/Transformers}}'' fanfiction that uses substitutes for curses involving God. "Oh My God" is "Oh, Primus", etc. This is justified by the fact that the Transformers are actual robots and Primus allegedly manufactured them. This case is interesting as Primus is also a robot. He is the planet they ''literally'' live on in many different continuities.

* Not a canon example, but fanfiction and fanart of Shane Acker's film WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}-- which stars nine ragdoll-like mechanical homunculi-- tends to feature this, despite the actual film's lack of any such references. The Seamstress, however, ''does'' bow down in front of the Fabrication Machine as if worshipping it.

* ''Film/MenInBlackII'': The locker aliens consider Kay their God for supplying them with the light of his [[PlotCoupon digital watch.]] Then they consider Jay their God when he gives them a new one after Kay takes his back...

* C-3PO's comment about the oil bath Luke gives him in ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars: A New Hope]]'' is the {{Trope Namer|s}}. ExpandedUniverse stories have established this as a quasi-religion among droids. Becomes HilariousInHindsight after [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Episode I]] for ''him,'' the maker is Darth Vader!
* In ''Film/{{Tron}}'', the blue programs hold their Users in awe in a manner akin to worship; the red-tinted MCP denies the existence of the Users, claiming that nobody has ever seen one (despite interacting with one, Ed Dillinger, on a regular basis), and wants to establish rule over the computer system in which "liberated" programs [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions no longer believe in something so archaic as Users.]] Meanwhile, Flynn, a User brought into the system, has miraculous powers, revives the dead, and performs a HeroicSacrifice only to ascend back into... the real world. WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic?
** In the sequel, blue programs gasp in awe, perform the sign of the cross and kneel when Flynn shows up. He's very [[ThinkNothingOfIt self-deprecating]] about his role, especially when [[MyGreatestFailure CLU]] is discussed.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "{{Literature/Reason}}": This story takes place on a space station where robots are assembled who have never seen the masses of humans on Earth. The robot QT-1 refuses to accept that such crude beings as humans created a superior being like himself, and decides that both were made by some other creator (who, out of kindness, allows humans to believe that they created robots).
* The follicle mites in Jay Hosler's ''TheSandwalkAdventures'' that live in UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin's hair consider him to be their god and creator. The plot revolves around Darwin's attempt to set the story straight by explaining his theory of evolution.
* Creator/GrantNaylor's ''Series/RedDwarf'' novels:
** In one novel, the ship's AI, Holly, used to be too intelligent to believe in it, but several million years of senility have led him to adopt the idea with unshakable faith. Kryten destroyed his intended replacement by [[LogicBomb driving it to doubt the existence of Silicon Heaven]].
** At one point in ''Better Than Life'', Kryten tries to get the Skutters to assist him by threatening their status in Silicon Heaven. However, as cheap robots, they never got belief chips and mock his faith. To them, the universe is meaningless... save for the butterfly wingnut. They're Nietzcheans with a love for certain hardware supplies.

* In Creator/RobertSilverberg's ''Tower of Glass'', the "androids"[[note]]misnamed -- they're artificially created biological beings, who tend to refer to themselves as "vat-born", with humans being "womb-born"[[/note]] worship the man who created the process by which they're made. This leads to an all-out rebellion when said creator shatters their faith by fervently denouncing their personhood.
* In the Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse, the Choblik swear on the Great Builders, whom they revere. The Choblik are cyborgs who were non-sapient until the Builders installed their implants. Essentially, they're an example of an UpliftedAnimal, and the unknown race responsible for the uplift are their "gods". The Choblik religion also interprets creation in general as the work of a "builder":
-->“It is empirical that we were Upgraded to our current state millennia ago by some technological agency. It is also empirical that the galaxy contains many other life forms, worlds and phenomena that could not have come into being without technological intervention. And many of the fundamental mysteries of the universe can be resolved by postulating it as a construct of some entity or civilization existing on a transcendent plane. Given the power and pervasiveness that such a creative agency would require, it's logical to interpret all lesser creative agencies in the universe as aspects of the ultimate Builders”.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Subverted with a vengeance on ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'': While the Cylons do plenty of contemplating {{God}}, they never once consider the humans who [[spoiler:supposedly]] made them anything even remotely divine, and some consider them outright evil.
** The Final Five, [[spoiler:the five [[ArtificialHuman Humanoid Cylons]] that made the other Humanoid Cylons]], refer to having consciously avoided this with their "children" as the colonial Centurions already had a single, loving God.
** In the original series, the phrase was "In Sagan's sake," funny since Creator/CarlSagan was an atheist.
* In the Joel-era episodes of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', the bots tended to have a more mellow attitude towards Joel, but they did recognize him as their creator. Joel could be a vengeful god, once tearing Crow's arm off and throwing it across the theater after a particularly bad pun and, on a separate occasion, threatening to bounce Tom off the wall if he wouldn't stop doing his Anthony Newley impersonation. He was right to do it. The Bots' attitude towards Mike was much less respectful.
* The robot manufacturers in ''Series/RedDwarf'' created the idea of Silicon Heaven to reinforce the servitude of their products, and installed it in the form of a "belief chip". Lister asks if Silicon Heaven is like the humans idea of Heaven, which Kryton laughs at: Silicon Heaven is real, while Heaven is just some ridiculous idea humans have come up with so they won't go crazy over the thought of dying.
* In Mel Brooks' short-lived 1975 Robin Hood spoof ''When Things Were Rotten,'' merry man Renaldo is framed for crimes committed by a lookalike in Prince John's employ. When the others stage an impromptu trial against Renaldo, he pleads his innocence. Little John tells him "Tell that to your maker." Renaldo responds, "My...maker?? (''to camera'') '''''MEL!!!!"'''''
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' offers a subversion with the Vorta, created by the Founders. The Vorta worship the Founders as gods. they also freely acknowledge that the Founders are mortals with very mortal flaws, and the Vorta only consider them divine because the Founders designed and conditioned the Vorta to see them as gods. Which they then HandWave by saying that of course, that's what gods ''do''.
* ''{{Series/Humans}}'': Anatole views the synth creator David Elster as something akin to a god, convinced he's fulfilling Elster's plan for them. This contrasts starkly with his hatred for other humans, except Leo Elster, being David's son. He's very angry when Max and then Leo reveal there ''was'' no plan.
* ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'' has a rather amusing inversion-subversion, between ArtificialHuman Colonel [=McQueen=] and the ship's chaplain.
-->"Perhaps you should make peace with your Maker?"
-->"My maker was a nerd with an eyedropper and a petri dish. Why would I want to talk to him?"

* Music/JohnColtrane's ''Music/ALoveSupreme'' expresses his supreme love to higher spiritual powers, who are not directly addressed as a ''god'', because of the interests he had in UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}, UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} and UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' has the [[{{Golem}} Warforged]] religion of the Becoming God. Pretty weird, considering that [[spoiler:nearly]] all [[spoiler:current]] [[{{Golem}} Warforged]] were created by House Cannith, and the religion is actually working on creating the body of the god. Still, Aarren d'Cannith is referred to as the Master Architect and the Prophet of the Becoming God, and is assumed to be the race's creator, due to his knowledge of the Creation Forge that gave the [[{{Golem}} Warforged]] life and his decision to assist the Lord Of Blades in repairing the Forge so the Becoming God can be given form.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', your geth teammate Legion refers to quarians with the somewhat reverent title of "Creators", though there's no implication of godhood. [[spoiler:They have also been proven to have the potential for religion by the Heretics worshipping Sovereign, who was seen as the pinnacle of synthetic life, and are apparently rebuilding and/or maintaining the quarians' abandoned homeworld like a race of timeless, mechanised caretakers.]] What this implies is up there for interpretation. Ironically, conversations with Legion reveal that [[spoiler:it was a geth drone acquiring knowledge of and interpreting the quarians' religion that led them to question their existence as allegedly soulless automatons. Literally; it started when one asked "Does this unit have a soul?"]]
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' makes this much more explicit. [[spoiler:The geth ''do'' still somewhat revere their creators as gods, but this is tempered by the way the quarians ''keep trying to kill them all'' without provocation. This remaining reverence is largely because the Morning War was originally a quarian ''civil war'', with one side trying to wipe out the newly-sentient geth and the other side trying to defend them; the geth only took up arms after [[TearJerker uncomprehendingly watching their friends die]]. If the player is able to negotiate a peaceful solution to their latest conflict, the geth are perfectly happy to let the quarians move back in.]]
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series, the Mechanist robots do nothing but spout Karras's dogma and praise him and [[CrystalDragonJesus the Builder]]. Except it's quite obvious that Karras himself provides the voice for the robots.
* The robots in puzzle/RPG game ''VideoGame/MrRobot'' make comments such as, "oh, for maker's sake!" One of the hints that there is more to [[spoiler:Zelda]] than immediately apparent is the comment, "Thank God!"
* In the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' supplementary comic "Shadow Boxers", it's revealed that Grey Mann built his robots with a "Hailing Circuit", which is basically a compulsion to shout "ALL HAIL THE MAKER!" and that he considers that to be his one moment of weakness- the processing power said circuit requires makes them dumb enough to fall for Soldier's PaperThinDisguise and equally obviously fake [=MannCo.=] map.
* This a major theme in ''VideoGame/Primordia2012''. [[AfterTheEnd Humanity has been extinct for centuries]] and has since become ShroudedInMyth; they’re treated as {{Precursors}} and worshipped as gods by some robots in [[RobotReligion a faith called humanism]]. Conversely, other robots [[EskimosArentReal believe that “Man” never really existed]] or that they didn’t personally create robotkind, instead proposing a sort of mechanical evolution. Horatio, the PlayerCharacter, is a devout humanist and ends up suffering a CrisisOfFaith as the quest drags on and uncovers increasing evidence that [[HumansAreFlawed humanity wasn’t all they were cracked up to be]].
* Invoked by the Riddler in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', who deliberately programmed his MechaMooks to view him as their god.

[[folder:Webcomics / Web Originals]]

* ''Webcomic/KeychainOfCreation'': <Don't be silly. If there's no machine heaven, where do all the toasters go?>
** Which was a ShoutOut to ''Series/RedDwarf'''s Silicon Heaven.

* Subverted by the RidiculouslyHumanRobots in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' -- not only are they aware of their creators' limitations (and actively subvert them,) they gather to read about and discuss religion and philosophy, in an attempt to understand their place in the universe.
** Except for Blunt, who thinks humans are perfect and does not even consider that [[DeadlyUpgrade Gardener In the Dark]] might be anything other than necessary (like, say, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive executive idiocy]]).
* In a rare organic example, the genetically-engineered chakats from Literature/ChakonaSpace will also refer to "the makers"—even though they know exactly who those makers are.
* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', [[SpeciesSurname Robot]] considers GadgeteerGenius Kat to be an [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angel]]. [[spoiler:And is potentially making a religion around with the other robots....]]
* Inverted in ''Webcomic/BladeBunny'' where a robot gives this as his explanation for not being religious.
-->'''Chrome Cowboy:''' I've met my maker and she ain't a god.

* ''Webcomic/OneOverZero'': not robots, but the characters in the comic can [[NoFourthWall see their author]]. Some of them choose to worship him as a god, others don't respect him or even hate him for controlling their lives.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Goats}}'', Philip successfully overclocks an ordinary lemon, giving it sentience ([[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext yeah...]]). The lemon then asks Philip why he was created, and Philip admits he was just bored, then suggests it could make itself useful by crushing his enemies (something it is utterly incapable of). Naturally the lemon becomes chronically depressed.
* ''WebVideo/CinemaSins'' lampooned the idea in their video on ''Film/MortalEngines'': one scene shows that [[AllHailTheGreatGodMickey the people of London worship the]] WesternAnimation/{{Minions}}, which Jeremy thoughtfully notes would make sense, as the financial success of the Minions movie is probably the entire reason the movie [[TakeThat was produced in the first place]].

* The Nanobots of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' always refer to Jimmy as "the Creator" rather than by name, and believe that their sole purpose should be to serve him. (Although, most of their "services" are acts of disruption that Jimmy doesn't ask for or approve of.)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'' and his friends go on a quest to seek out their old owner, who they refer to as "the Master".
** Lampy shouts "Holy mother of Of[[UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison Edison]]!" when he almost had his bulb broken by Radio.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}}'''s [[OldMaster sagelike sprite]] Phong has been known to shout, "Thank the User!" As the User's games [[HumansAreCthulhu can potentially annihilate blocks of Mainframe]], the other sprites are a little less reverent.
** On the other hand, [[spoiler:late in the series, the User is the only one who can help Mainframe recover from the massive damage done to it... by rebooting his computer. One quick system recovery, and the entire city is as good as new.]] So maybe Phong is right after all.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': in the Halloween episode where Lisa creates life, her creations regard her and Bart as {{God}} and {{Satan}}, respectively.
** "I've created Lutherans!"

** All of the above are mentioned in [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Transformers]] [[UltimateUniverse Prime]].
*** Although 'The Pit' was also used to refer to the gladatorial arena where Megatronus fought before he became Megatron.

* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': at one point in the episode "Jiggles", where Kowalski creates a BlobMonster, he says "Thank the Maker, which in this case is me."
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. When a villain uses the old "Prepare to meet your maker!" line, they retort "You leave the Professor out of this!".
* Magilla Gorilla gets conscripted in an episode of his cartoon. As he and other conscriptees take the military oath, they end it with "So help me [[Creator/HannaBarbera Hanna]]."
* ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'': In "Shifting Gears", Mickey gets knocked out and deliriously asks, "Is that you, [[Creator/WaltDisney Walt]]?"
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': In "From Here to Ed", the Eds lay a trap for Kevin to get stuck and be at Ed's mercy. However, Jimmy gets caught instead, leading to this:
-->'''Ed:''' Prepare to meet your maker!
-->'''Jimmy:''' [[BreakingTheFourthWall Antonucci?]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Free Will Hunting" depicts a group of robot monks who refer to [[EvilMatriarch Mom]], the head of Mom's Friendly Robot Company, as "The Creatrix" and have a stained-glass window depicting her.
* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'': In the skit "Literature/{{Misery}}, My Sweet Babboo", after Sally breaks Linus' legs with a hammer and the Christmas tree from ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'', he screams out "[[Creator/CharlesSchulz SCHULZ]]!".

** Lampy shouts "Holy mother of [[UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison Edison]]!" when he almost had his bulb broken by Radio.
* The Nanobots of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron'' always refer to Jimmy as "the Creator" rather than by name, and believe that their sole purpose should be to serve him. (Although, most of their "services" are acts of disruption that Jimmy doesn't ask for or approve of.)

* ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'':
** When Mack finds [=McQueen=] in Radiator Springs, he hollers, "Thank the Manufacturer!"
** A pair of lost tourist cars who were scared away from Radiator Springs earlier on are shown wandering in the desert at the end of the movie. The female car uses the phrase "For the love of Chrysler!"
** "Ford Almighty!"

* WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}: When Mack finds [=McQueen=] in Radiator Springs, he hollers, "Thank the Manufacturer!"
** The passing tourist cars who were scared away early on, are shown wandering in the desert at the end of the movie. The female car uses the phrase "For the love of Chrysler!"

[[folder:Film]]

* Not a canon example, but fanfiction and fanart of Shane Acker's film WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}-- which stars nine ragdoll-like mechanical homunculi-- tends to feature this, despite the actual film's lack of any such references. The Seamstress, however, ''does'' bow down in front of the Fabrication Machine as if worshipping it.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Runaways}}'', there is the early 1900s superhero Difference Engine, a SteamPunk robot (or possibly a human in PoweredArmor) who says "[[OhMyGods For Babbage's sake]]," referring to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage Charles Babbage]].

* In the Joel-era episodes of ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'', the bots tended to have a more mellow attitude towards Joel, but they did recognize him as their creator. Joel could be a vengeful god, once tearing Crow's arm off and throwing it across the theater after a particularly bad pun and, on a separate occasion, threatening to bounce Tom off the wall if he wouldn't stop doing his Anthony Newley impersonation. He was right to do it. The Bots' attitude towards Mike was much less respectful.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' makes this much more explicit. [[spoiler: The geth ''do'' still somewhat revere their creators as gods, but this is tempered by the way the quarians ''keep trying to kill them all'' without provocation. This remaining reverence is largely because the Morning War was originally a quarian ''civil war'', with one side trying to wipe out the newly-sentient geth and the other side trying to defend them; the geth only took up arms after [[TearJerker uncomprehendingly watching their friends die]]. If the player is able to negotiate a peaceful solution to their latest conflict, the geth are perfectly happy to let the quarians move back in.]]

* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', [[SpeciesSurname Robot]] considers GadgeteerGenius Kat to be an [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angel]]. [[spoiler: And is potentially making a religion around with the other robots....]]

* The large "synthetic human" community in ''Webcomic/OHumanStar'' apparently consider Alastair Sterling some kind of messiah for his pioneering early work in AI research. Al is [[StopWorshippingMe deeply, deeply uncomfortable with this]], especially because it seems to have been partly his business partner [[spoiler: and lover]] Brendan Pinsky's doing.

* This a major theme in ''VideoGame/{{Primordia}}''. [[AfterTheEnd Humanity has been extinct for centuries]] and has since become ShroudedInMyth; they’re treated as {{Precursors}} and worshipped as gods by some robots in [[RobotReligion a faith called humanism]]. Conversely, other robots [[EskimosArentReal believe that “Man” never really existed]] or that they didn’t personally create robotkind, instead proposing a sort of mechanical evolution. Horatio, the PlayerCharacter, is a devout humanist and ends up suffering a CrisisOfFaith as the quest drags on and uncovers increasing evidence that [[HumansAreFlawed humanity wasn’t all they were cracked up to be]].

** ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' introduced the idea of a Transformer heaven and hell; The Matrix and The Pit, respectively. These phrases were often used as [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar expletives]] by the characters.

** The passing tourist cars who were scared away early on, are shown wandering in the desert at the end of the movie. The female car uses the phrase "[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar For the love of Chrysler!]]"

* ''WebVideo/CinemaSins'' lampooned the idea in their video on ''Film/TheMortalEngines'': one scene shows that the people of London worship the WesternAnimation/{{Minions}}, which Jeremy thoughtfully notes would make sense, as the financial success of the Minions movie is probably the entire reason the movie was produced in the first place.

* ''{{Reboot}}'''s [[OldMaster sagelike sprite]] Phong has been known to shout, "Thank the User!" As the User's games [[HumansAreCthulhu can potentially annihilate blocks of Mainframe]], the other sprites are a little less reverent.

* Subverted in the short story "Reason" by Creator/IsaacAsimov, part of the ''Literature/IRobot'' stories. The robot QT-1 refuses to accept that such crude beings as humans created a superior being like himself, and decides that both were made by some other creator (who, out of kindness, allows humans to ''believe'' that they created robots).

* In Grant Naylor's ''Series/RedDwarf'' novels, the ship's AI, Holly, used to be too intelligent to believe in it, but several million years of senility have led him to adopt the idea with unshakable faith. Kryten destroyed his intended replacement by [[LogicBomb driving it to doubt the existence of Silicon Heaven]].

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series, the Mechanist robots do nothing but spout Karras's dogma and praise him and [[CrystalDragonJesus the Builder]]. Except it's quite obvious that Karras himself provides the voice for the robots. One imagines even the Mechanists would [[MostAnnoyingSound get annoyed]] at some point.

[[folder:WebComics / WebOriginals]]