History Main / TheHeretic

** The Teepo Paladins of ''Literature/CoruscantNights'' were a sect of the Jedi Order who advocated for the use of blasters in addition to the [[LaserBlade lightsaber]], [[DoesntLikeGuns which resulted in them being censured by the Council]] and ostracized as potential [[TheDarkSide dark siders]]. In response to this, a more radical sect known as the Gray Paladins emerged who believed in minimal dependence on the Force, living as {{Badass Normal}}s [[SuperheroPackingHeat that just happen to be able to kill you with their mind]].

* St. ''Creator/ThomasAquinas'' writes in his ''Literature/SummaTheologiae'', Part II-II, Q. 11, that heretics not only should ''not'' be tolerated but also deserve to be excommunicated and handed over to a secular tribunal, where they may be put to death. This is because the heretic seeks to distort Christian doctrine, which will lead a Christian astray and subsequently damn him, which is a graver matter than, say, forging money.

* St. ''Creator/ThomasAquinas'' writes in his ''Literature/SummaTheologiae', Part II-II, Q. 11, that heretics not only should ''not'' be tolerated but also deserve to be excommunicated and handed over to a secular tribunal, where they may be put to death. This is because the heretic seeks to distort Christian doctrine, which will lead a Christian astray and subsequently damn him, which is a graver matter than, say, forging money.

* Muerte Cibernetica and Ozz were this in La Wrestling/{{AAA}} Secta started by Cibernetico, as they each attempted to shift the focus of the religion from worship against Antonio Pena to worship of themselves. Although Cibernetico was able to defeat both men in the ring, he ultimately lost his influence as a religious leader, for whatever that's worth.[[/folder]]

-->-- '''Creator/ThomasAquinas''', Literature/SummaTheologiae

To qualify as a heresy worthy of condemnation, the "heresy" should have an intrinsic connection to doctrines of the church in question. Someone who merely disagrees with the Church as an outsider is not a heretic - non-followers are more properly called "nonbelievers" (or "infidels", less politely). Heresy was distinguished from heathenism or paganism in that a heathen blasphemed simply because he or she was ignorant of God's light, whereas a heretic was a Christian, and knowingly contradicted the teachings of God and his Church. As long as heathens did not endanger the Christian faith (and usually as long as local Christians could not aspire to convert them), then it was generally okay to do trade with them. However, a heretic who modified the doctrines of Christianity while still claiming to be Christian was dangerous to the unity of the Faith. For instance, Hypatia of Alexandria, Wiccans and Buddhists are not considered "heretics" to the Catholic religion, but Padre Ned Reidy was put on trial for heresy.

* [[BigBad Darth Krayt]] in ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'' was seen as this by his Sith predecessors. He abandoned the RuleOfTwo in favor of his Rule of One, which taught blind obedience to him and the Sith as a whole in defiance of their SocialDarwinist tenets. In fact, one could argue that the whole point of the Sith Code is to [[{{Ubermensch}} not have to follow rules and be your own master]]. When he [[SpiritAdvisor communes with the]] {{Virtual Ghost}}s of past Sith Lords seeking guidance, they're all disgusted with him and brand him a heretic unworthy of being called Sith for preaching the antithesis of their entire ReligionOfEvil.

* [[BigBad Darth Krayt]] in ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'' was seen as this by his Sith predecessors. He abandoned the RuleOfTwo in favor of his Rule of One, which taught blind obedience to him and the Sith as a whole in defiance of their SocialDarwinist tenets. In fact, one could argue that the whole point of the Sith Code is to [[{{Ubermensch}} not have to follow rules and be your own master]]. When he [[SpiritAdvisor communes with the]] {{Virtual Ghost}}s of past Sith Lords seeking guidance, they're all disgusted with him and brand him a heretic unworthy of being called Sith for preaching the antithesis of their entire religion.

* Lenard and Elfetine's sect in ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess''. However, their "heresy" [[spoiler:was ''provoked'' by Lenard, who is an (overly ambitious) cleric himself, in the first place]].

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* ''Fanfic/AClashOfNEETS'': Claire Greyjoy (actually the reincarnated [[LightNovel/{{Konosuba}} Claire Shinfornea]], replacing Asha Greyjoy in this universe) is one of the few Ironborn who worships the Seven Goddesses of the mainlanders, and not the Drowned Goddess. Mostly because she's ''met'' the Drowned Goddess, aka [[spoiler: [[LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove Nyarko-San]]]], and would like nothing better than to file a restraining order against her.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' [[LightNovel/DisgaeaNovels novels]] we meet [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angel]] [[Characters/DisgaeaNovels Ozonne]] who propagates beliefs that go against [[FluffyCloudHeaven Celestia's]] official dogma and is considered to be a heretic, but she is not excommunicated for it because the [[BigGood big boss]] [[PhysicalGod Seraph Lamington]] want to let heretics run free.

* The reformation had just started at the start of ''Series/TheTudors'', but gained momentum as the series went on. Because of that the list grew ever longer. Here goes: [[FemmeFatale Anne Boleyn]], [[EnsembleDarkHorse Thomas Cromwell]], [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Archbishop Cranmer]], Thomas Boleyn, [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask Catherine Parr]], [[GirlInTheTower Anne Parr]], [[MagnificentBastard Edward Seymour]], [[MagnificentBastard Anne Stanhope]], [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Thomas Seymour]], [[PutOnABus The Duchess of Suffolk]], [[CoolTeacher Kate Ashley]] and [[OneSceneWonder Anne Askew]]. Some of them suffered for it, all the others at least lived in fear of discovery.

The Heretic is someone who has committed ThoughtCrime or outright Treason against TheChurch; a person who has corrupted, perverted and manipulated its philosophy and ideology. Most commonly, he was once a member of its congregation or even its [[GoodShepherd clergy]] but got officially excommunicated for propagating beliefs that go against TheChurch's official dogma. Often, the Church sends out [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]] to [[KillItWithFire Kill Them With Fire]] along with [[BurnTheWitch witches]]. Just being a heretic doesn't mark you evil by default: A heretic to a SaintlyChurch is often ChaoticEvil, but a heretic to a CorruptChurch or a PathOfInspiration may well be a DefectorFromDecadence. [[EvilVersusEvil Or just as bad as them.]]

To qualify as a heresy worthy of condemnation, the "heresy" should have an intrinsic connection to doctrines of the church in question. Someone who merely disagrees with the Church as an outsider is not a heretic - non-followers are more properly called "nonbelievers" (or "infidels", less politely). Heresy was distinguished from heathenism or paganism in that a heathen blasphemed simply because he or she was ignorant of God's light, whereas a heretic was a Christian and knowingly contradicted the teachings of God and his Church. As long as heathens did not endanger the Christian faith (and usually as long as local Christians could not aspire to convert them), then it was generally okay to do trade with them. However, a heretic who modified the doctrines of Christianity while still claiming to be Christian was dangerous to the unity of the Faith. For instance, Hypatia of Alexandria, Wiccans and Buddhists are not considered "heretics" to the Catholic religion, but Padre Ned Reidy was put on trial for heresy.

Compare ThoughtCrime and IllegalReligion. For deviations or treason against the Canon of Fictional Media and/or their Fandoms, see FandomHeresy.

* Lenard and Elfetine's sect in ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess''. However, their "heresy" [[spoiler:was ''provoked'' by Lenard, who is a (overly ambitious) cleric himself, in the first place]].

Much like YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters in the political realm, those whom the Church labels "heretics" often claim that they're actually "reformers" or "purifiers". Christian theologian Irenaeus popularized the word heresy in the Christian world in his anti-UsefulNotes/{{Gnostic|ism}} tracts. Multiple heretics often form a {{Cult}}. Heresies are often named for their leader, e.g. Arianism, propagated by Arius. If these groups persist and grow, they can become "denominations" of a religion, e.g. Lutheranism, founded by [[UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation Martin Luther]]. Even UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} has been occasionally called a heresy throughout history, which isn't, because [[UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad Muhammad]] didn't create it by converting Christians, but pagans (in fact, medieval folklore often accused Muslims themselves of being just another form of paganism).

Much like YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters in the political realm, those whom the Church labels "heretics" often claim that they're actually "reformers" or "purifiers". Christian theologian Irenaeus popularized the word heresy in the Christian world in his anti-UsefulNotes/{{Gnostic|ism}} tracts. Multiple heretics often form a {{Cult}}. Heresies are often named for their leader, e.g. Arianism, propagated by Arius. If these groups persist and grow, they can become "denominations" of a religion, e.g. Lutheranism, founded by [[UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation Martin Luther]]. Even UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} has been occasionally called a heresy throughout history, which isn't, because Muhammad didn't convert Christians, but pagans, and this remained the usual after his death (in fact, medieval folklore often accused Muslims themselves of being just another form of paganism).

Much like YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters in the political realm, those whom the Church labels "heretics" often claim that they're actually "reformers" or "purifiers". Christian theologian Irenaeus popularized the word heresy in the Christian world in his anti-UsefulNotes/{{Gnostic|ism}} tracts. Multiple heretics often form a {{Cult}}. Heresies are often named for their leader, e.g. Arianism, propagated by Arius. If these groups persist and grow, they can become "denominations" of a religion, e.g. Lutheranism, founded by [[UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation Martin Luther]]. Even UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} has been occasionally called a heresy throughout history, which isn't, because Muhammad didn't convert Christians but pagans (in fact, medieval folklore often accused Muslims themselves of being just another form of paganism).

To qualify as a heresy worthy of condemnation, the "heresy" should have an intrinsic connection to doctrines of the church in question. Someone who merely disagrees with the Church as an outsider is not a heretic - non-followers are more properly called "nonbelievers" (or "infidels", less politely). Heresy was distinguished from heathenism in that a heathen blasphemed simply because he or she was ignorant of God's light, whereas a heretic knowingly contradicted the teachings of God and the Church. As long as heathens did not endanger the Christian faith then it's ok to do trade with them; but a Heretic who modified the doctrines of Christianity while still claiming to be Christian was dangerous to the unity of the Faith. For instance, Hypatia of Alexandria, Wiccans and Buddhists are not considered "heretics" to the Catholic religion, but Padre Ned Reidy was put on trial for heresy.

Much like YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters in the political realm, those whom the Church labels "heretics" often claim that they're actually "reformers" or "purifiers". Christian theologian Irenaeus popularized the word heresy in the Christian world in his anti-UsefulNotes/{{Gnostic|ism}} tracts. Multiple heretics often form a {{Cult}}. Heresies are often named for their leader, e.g. Arianism, propagated by Arius. If these groups persist and grow, they can become "denominations" of a religion, e.g. Lutheranism, founded by [[UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation Martin Luther]]. Even UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} was typically considered a heresy by the medieval church, whereas nowadays most people would say it is a separate religion.

[[folder: Fan Works]]

* PosthumousCharacter Leor Hal in ''Franchise/StarWars: RoguePlanet'' was a Jedi Padawan who around 132 BBY came up with the theory of Potentium, a philosophy which believed that [[BadPowersGoodPeople you could use whatever Force powers you wanted and the Dark Side wouldn't affect you if you simply refused to let it]]. Yoda and the rest of the Jedi High Council branded him and his followers a {{cult}} and expelled them from TheOrder. Hal ended up becoming an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom, as his teachings directly led to the [[Literature/LegacyOfTheForce "Unifying Force" theory and the Second Galactic]] CivilWar with WordOfGod directly calling his ideas corrupt and misguided.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', it is revealed that the Geth the player had been fighting in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' were actually a fanatical splinter group called Heretics by the True Geth. Making up about five percent of the total Geth population, Legion emphasises that the Heretics ''chose'' to worship the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]], instead of upholding the rather non-religious notion of self-determination of the True Geth.

** Not so ironically, the Imperial Cult ''really is heresy'', because the Emperor himself preached an [[FlatEarthAtheist Imperial Truth of science, rationality, and enforced disbelief in the Warp]]... which in and of itself [[NiceJobBreakingItHero did about jack shit]] since the Chaos Gods [[AnthropomorphicPersonification only need people to feel emotions to gain power]], and all it did was leave some of the most powerful of his warriors either ignorant or underestimating their insidious ways until it was too late. Like Lorgar, who was suffering from a HeroicBSOD after the Emperor [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill brutally shattered his desire to worship him by destroying his crown jewel of a city and anyone who refused to leave and reprimanded him and his Legion in public]] when a few members of his Legion came to him about [[GodOfChaos gods who would gladly accept his worship]]...

* Seen every now and then in ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' concerning the [[CrystalDragonJesus Church of the Silver Flame]]. Occasional Dark Six cults might qualify as this within the Sovereign Host. The Sacred Spark is unusual in that they worship ''both'' one of the Sovereign Host and one of the Dark Six as two sides of the same coin, and so are seen as heretics by most devout of the Sovereign Host ''and'' the Dark Six[[note]]many devout Vassals ''do'' occasionally send prayers in the direction of one of the Dark Six -- it is suggested the two were originally one pantheon, at least insofar as people worshipped them -- but not on the order of actual worship.[[/note]]