History Main / TheHeretic

* Roa from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' got excommunicated for becoming a vampire on his quest for immortality. He then got excommunicated [[UpToEleven by the vampires]] for [[NoodleIncident reasons unexplained]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Blasphemous}}'', the playable character, the Penitent One, is the sole surviving member of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow, a covenant of warriors who was excommunicated when their mission came to oppose Escribar, the head of the Cvstodian Church. Whatever the incident, it very likely involves his sword, the Mea Culpa.

* The reformation had just started at the start of ''Series/TheTudors'', but gained momentum as the series went on. Because of that the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters 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.

* [[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 spirits 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.

[[caption-width-right:225:[[UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition The Inquisition]] warns you. [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife Plots are made to be enjoyed]]. Do not analyze. Do not criticize. Eat your {{Filler}} and read your [[MST3KMantra mantras]] daily.]]

* ''Fanfic/AClashOfNEETS'': Claire Grejoy (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 ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings 2'', characters can adopt a variety of historical heresies. They tend to be loathed by anyone from the main religion, and imprisoned and forced to convert back. Unless a very powerful king adopts the heresy, [[NotSoDifferent in which case the same thing typically happens to the orthodox faithful]].

** 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 [[GodOfEvil gods who would gladly accept his worship]]...

*** Thus, the use of the term "Heresy", in Imperial lexicon, does not necessarily mean deviation from religious doctrine, in contrast to the original meaning of the term. Deviations are allowed as long as you have a clear God-Emperor Figure to focus worship upon, such as a MessianicArchetype. In the context of the Imperium, the term "Heresy" actually refers to what real-world political and legal language would call "High Treason"; betrayal of the State to outside enemies such as the Chaos Gods or rival Xenos empires. Shouting "HERESY!" is just a more medieval and [[RuleOfCool awesome]] way to call political dissidents or traitors to the State.

** 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 [[GodIsEvil gods who would gladly accept his worship]]...

** The {{Player Character}}s of ''TabletopGame/BlackCrusade'' are Chaos followers, and books always refer to them as "the Heretics".

* Byakuren Hijiri from ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is a heretic by the virtue of being compassionate to the {{Youkai}}. In this settings, the very presence of Celestial beings can harm Youkai regardless of either sides' morality.

->''"With regard to heretics two points must be observed: one, on their own side; the other, on the side of the Church. On their own side there is the sin, whereby they deserve not only to be separated from the Church by excommunication, but also to be severed from the world by death."''
-->-- '''Thomas Aquinas'''

[[quoteright:225:[[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imagesCA5KD61T_2953.jpg]]]]

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

[[folder: Fan Fiction]]
* ''FanFic/AClashOfNEETS'': Claire Grejoy (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.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''[='s=] [[ChurchMilitant theocratic]] [[TheEmpire Imperium of Man]] has a saying: "light your way in the darkness with [[BurnTheWitch the pyres of burning heretics]]." The civil war that almost destroyed it after its founding and put the GodEmperor on life-support is labeled the Literature/HorusHeresy, there's an entire Ordo of the [[StateSec Inquisition]] devoted to rooting out heresy, and being executed for heresy is [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou just one of the many ways to die in the 41st millennium]].

** At the time of ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the worship of the god Talos is considered heresy in the Empire due to the White-Gold Concordat, a peace treaty between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion, including banning Talos worship as one of its terms. However, the Empire does not enforce this very strictly and the Dominion has to send agents into the Empire's more rebellious provinces to ensure that Talos worship is suppressed, and the Stormcloak Rebellion began because Ulfric Stormcloak refused to abide by the terms and allowed Talos worship. The [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] can outright state that they follow Talos, or be noncommittal as to what gods they follow, which will provoke Dominion agents to try to kill them for heresy.

* The Heretic Leader from ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', an Elite who learned the truth about the "Great Journey" from 343 Guilty Spark and tried to warn the rest of the Covenant. The Arbiter is also branded a heretic at the beginning for his failure in [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved the previous game]], but that's really just an excuse to have him executed for his failure. [[spoiler:He abandons his own religious beliefs after discovering the truth about the Covenant and ends up leading a splinter faction which allies with the "heathen" humans.]]

* Byakuren Hijiri from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is a heretic by the virtue of being compassionate to the {{Youkai}}. In this settings, the very presence of Celestial beings can harm Youkai regardless of either sides' morality.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''FanFic/AClashOfNEETS'': Claire Grejoy (actually the reincarnated [[LightNovel/{{Konosuba}} Claire Shinfornea]], replacing Asha Greyhoy 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.

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 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.

* Nero rejects the teachings of his church to save his lover, Kyrie, in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4''. It helps that Nero has a better understanding of who Sparda was than the Order's elite, and that Sanctus, the head of the Order, was a power-mad bastard with no understanding of love at all.

* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', Karthus the Deathsinger joined the Order of the Tallymen of Kindred (a collection of gravediggers, pyre-builders, corpse collectors and carers for the dying who follow [[TheGrimReaper Kindred, the incarnation of death]]) and rose to become quite prominent in the order. Once he decided he could learn no more about death from mortals, he traveled to [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace the Shadow Isles]] and transformed himself into an immortal lich who trapped the souls of his victims in an undead state like himself, making him an abomination to Kindred, to whom unnatural prolonging of life beyond one's time is the greatest evil.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has Ishgard’s official religion deem any who turn against them as heretics, which naturally means that the heretics become more desperate and willing to go to extremes. The most prominent heretics are those that drink dragon blood (willingly or not), becoming infused with the rage of the Dravanian Horde and eager to fight against Ishgard, in some cases even becoming dragons themselves. ‘’Heavensward'' gives the full picture and complicated things immensely: [[spoiler: those that drink dragon’s blood retain their senses; they were already driven to rage by the horrible handling of the “unworthy” by the church. The church is also massively corrupt, labeling anyone they don’t like as heretics to get rid of them. And the truth is that drinking dragon’s blood does nothing to those that are not already descended from dragons, which includes ''the entire population of Ishgard'', as they once lived in harmony with dragons before they willfully betrayed and murder Ratatoskr out of a lust for power.]] the standard method of testing a suspected heretic involves throwing them off a cliff: if they’re a heretic, they’ll turn into a dragon and fly, at which point they’ll be killed. If they’re not a heretic, they’ll be taken into the God Halone’s grace (aka they’ll die horribly).

** Creator/AleisterCrowley was once one of the greatest sorcerers in the world, but then he decided to defect to the Science Side. Given that there is a secret MagicVersusScience war going on, he's become one of the most hated figures in the Magic Side.

* ''Film/AssassinsCreed2016'': The Spanish Inquisition (the 15th/16th century Templars) considers Aguilar and the other Assassins to be such, and burns them at the stake for it. The exact nature of it is vague because it's not really about heresy but the Templars getting rid of their enemies and using this as a public excuse (the real Templars actually had this happen to ''them'', although much earlier, and were disbanded by the Pope).

* The Damned One is history's greatest heretic in ''Literature/ArciaChronicles''. The twist in his case is that he is actually [[spoiler:St. Erasti, one of the most (if not ''the'' most) revered saints of TheChurch. This knowledge was so dangerous that the Church [[WrittenByTheWinners erased all connections]] between St. Erasti and the Damned One from history after his defeat]].

* Oelita, the Gentle Heretic, in ''Literature/CourtshipRite'', preaches against cannibalism and the belief that the moving light in the sky is a God. When our heroes are told of her by the clan leader, they assume they're going to be sent to kill her, and are shocked to learn that they're being ordered to marry her, and bring her congregation under Kaiel influence.

* Arachne from ''Manga/SoulEater'' is described as a "heretic Witch" because of the way she created the original magical Weapons features in the series, namely, by taking a normal human soul, a weapon, as well as the Soul of her fellow Witch (holding the power of transformation). Thus, she's hunted not just by the good guys but her fellow Witches.