History Main / WorshippedForGreatDeeds

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''. When Rick tries to build a society for his children with the planet (ItMakesSenseInContext), he dismisses the unproductive ones. Jerry takes these Ricklets and is revered by them after he teaches them camping, leading to them developing a paleolithic society.

* ''Fanfic/AMothToAFlame'': Marcy looks up to her VillainousLineage, seeing her ancestors in the [[AncientConspiracy Wu Clan]] having taken down [[TheWarlord warlords]] like UsefulNotes/GaiusJuliusCaesar, formed entire [[TheEmpire empires]] (including Newtopia and ImperialChina), and shaped the course of human history for centuries all as magnificent things that [[VisionaryVillain she needs to emulate]].

-> ''"Paul called out, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ At that, the lame man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ Barnabas they called Zeus , and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them."''

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'': The Isu were a race of [[{{Precursors}} ancient humanoids]] that ruled Earth eons ago, and were the original creators of humanity, whom they created to be essentially slave labor. Their society ultimately collapsed and was destroyed during an event called the First Catastrophe, and any remnants quickly died out, paving the way for humanity's rise to domination. Despite this, they came to be worshipped as the gods from the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Norse pantheons, in part due to the recordings, weapons, Pieces of Eden, and other aspects of their ancient, yet incredibly advanced technology and civilization that actually managed to survive well into the modern-day.

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* In ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'', Kragnos is an ancient, centaur-like warrior who has grown infamous for his strength, savagery and bloodthirstiness. He has crushed countless armies and civilizations in his time and seems to have become immortal, putting him on the edge of DeityOfHumanOrigin, and as such has come to be worshipped as a god of war and earthquakes by the great hordes of orcish barbarians that follow him around in hopes of sharing in the slaughter and battle he brings with him. Sigmar also started out as this in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', but has since become an ''actual'' god, thus handily disqualifying him for this trope.
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-> ''"Paul called out, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ At that, the lame man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ Barnabas they called Hermes, and Paul they called Zeus because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them."''

-> ''"Paul called out, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ At that, the lame man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ Barnabas they called Hermes, and Paul they called Zeus because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them."'

* ''Manga/GirlsLastTour'' implies that this happened with [[spoiler:the "cats" and the series of AI that help maintain the city]]. There are statues of both of them all across areas, particularly around towns and in front of what's revealed to be a graveyard, and a temple celebrating them was constructed some unknown amount of time ago. [[spoiler:The "cats" act as a natural disposal service, eating anything with high energy (like weapons) or dead bodies; the [=AIs=] by contrast have existed for centuries and help maintain structures around their towers.]]

* ''Manga/LandOfTheLustrous'' has this happen to protagonist Phosphophyllite. After helping the Admirabilis leader Ventricosus return to the ocean, Phos becomes worshipped by the Admirabilis species, and generations of estrangement leads to their part in returning the ruler deifying them in Admirabilis mythology. The agate, which Phos' fake leg is made of, also carries "the scent of the ruler", so no matter how long it's been since Phos has been in contact with Admirabilis royalty normal members of the species will instantly submit to the Gem.

!Examples

{{FolkHero}}s are frequently subject to this due to the sheer amount of shenanigans they get up to over the course of their lives.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' seems to love this trope because it plays a vital part in the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' books. After Anakin Solo helped the yuuzhan vong Shamed One (dishonored outcast) Vua Rupaang prove his innocence, the word spread among the other shamed ones that a Jedi (or Jeedai as the word was corrupted into) had helped a shamed one regain his honor. Soon after, cults started popping up that revered the Jeedai as savior figures who could redeem shamed ones. This was further encouraged by the prophet Yu'shaa (really the spy Nom Anor in disguise), who united the various cults into an entire offshoot of the main Yuuzhan Vong religion that saw the Force as the last breath of the creator deity, and the Jeedai as emissaries or avatars of their gods. For a few specific examples:
** Luke Skywalker became syncrotized as an avatar of the Yuuzhan Vong WarGod Yun-Yammka after he slew the foul Shimrra.
** Jacen Solo, who converted the Yuuzhan Vong religion but returned to the Jeedai, became syncrotized with Yun-Shuno, the goddess of forgiveness.
** Jaina Solo, another great warrior, became syncrotized with Yun-Harla, the TricksterGod.
** Tahiri Veila, a Jeedai who went through Yuuzhan Vong bio-augmentation, became associated with Yun-Ne'Shel, the goddess of nature.
** Ganner Rhysode, after [[HoldTheLine fending off hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong to save his friends, and ultimately collapsing a building upon himself]], was venerated as the Ganner, an invincible giant who guards the Yuuzhan Vong afterlife.
** Shimrra Jamaane was already worshipped as a messiah by the Yuuzhan Vong, but the Jeedai adherents saw him as a DarkMessiah whose vile actions caused the gods to send forth the Jeedai.
* In addition to the Tusken example mentioned under Comics, the Noghri of ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'' worshipped Vader as a savior due to an orchestrated disaster on their homeward that Imperial forces started in secret and quelled in the open, and later allied with the Republic once their realized that Leia was Vader's daughter and started following her out of a sense of religious obligation.

* ''Anime/CardfightVanguardG'': Jaime Alcaraz mentions that Soryuu Leon is worshipped as a god by the users of the Aqua Force clan for reviving it (more literally than they think, considering its [[{{RetGone previous state]]).

* ''Literature/InCryptid'': [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter The Aeslin mice]] worship the Price-Healy family as their AnimalReligion, and rely on their gods to protect them from larger threats, like dangerous predators and the Covenant. The human (and not-so-human) members of the family [[GodGuise encourage this]], [[AGodIAmNot though they themselves don't believe they have any godly powers beyond their skills (and in some cases innate magic). ]]

{{FolkHero}}s are frequently subject to this due to the sheer amount of schenanigans they get up to over the course of their lives.

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* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''. When Rick tries to build a society for his children with the planet (ItMakesSenseInContext), he dismisses the unproductive ones. Jerry takes these Ricklets and is revered by them after he teaches them camping, leading to them developing a paleolithic society.