History YMMV / SmallGods

** Ephebe is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of Greece. The name of the country derives from the Greek word for an adolescent boy, making it a sly reference to the Greek practice of pederasty.

* NightmareFuel: The Iron Turtle torture device that Vorbis invents is very simple in its nastiness. It's simply a massive iron turtle sculpture with the victim [[CrucifiedHeroShot manacled on its back]] that is heated by a fire from underneath, very gradually working up to the temperature where the prisoner will be roasted alive.

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: Pratchett got letters from Christians who found Brutha to be a positive depiction of a person of faith.

* NightmareFuel: The Iron Turtle torture device is very simple in its nastiness. It's simply a massive iron turtle sculpture with the victim [[CrucifiedHeroShot manacled on its back]] that is heated by a fire from underneath, very gradually working up to the temperature where the prisoner will be roasted alive.

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: Pratchett got letters from Christians who found Brutha to be a position depiction of a person of faith.

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: Pratchett got letters from Christians who found Brudda to be a position depiction of a person of faith.

** Simony. Also a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, at least until [[WhatTheHellHero he gets called out on it]], but given what Omnia is like to its own citizens a person from a conquered nation would have [[{{Understatement}} a very hard life]]. [[HarmfulToMinors And he was only a kid at the time.]]

* MagnificentBastard:
** Vorbis. He launched his counter-attack before he launched his attack. He sent a man to Ephebe to die to justify the attack, and had to kill him when all they did was mock him.
** Lu Tze, who changed the history of Omnia with a compost heap, not sweeping a pile of sand, and a bucket of water.
* MoralEventHorizon: Vorbis, being head of the Quisition, seems to have crossed this point well before the start of the book. [[spoiler: The death of Brother Murduck happened quite a while ago, and his plan to get through the desert, clearly costing a lot of lives, was even before that.]]

* GeniusBonus: When Om re-ascends to full godhood, it's described as "theophany", Ancient Greek for "the appearance of a God". Which it certainly is.

* TheWoobie: Brutha, [[AbusiveParents very]] [[CorruptChurch much]] [[ColdBloodedTorture so]]. Also an IronWoobie, since he goes through all of that without losing his good nature or morality.

* MagnumOpus: This is often cited as Pratchett's best book.

** Om, sometimes. He's a [[JerkassGods selfish prick]], but it's hard not to feel occasional sympathy for him given [[LossOfIdentity what he faces]] if he loses his last believer, and he does [[TookALevelInKindness become a significantly better person]] through CharacterDevelopment.

* MagnificentBastard: Vorbis. He launched his counter-attack before he launched his attack. He sent a man to Ephebe to die to justify the attack, and had to kill him when all they did was mock him.
** Also, Lu Tze, who changed the history of Omnia with a compost heap, not sweeping a pile of sand, and a bucket of water.

** JerkassWoobie: Om, sometimes. He's a [[JerkassGods selfish prick]], but it's hard not to feel occasional sympathy for him given [[LossOfIdentity what he faces]] if he loses his last believer, and he does [[TookALevelInKindness become a significantly better person]] through CharacterDevelopment.
*** Simony. Also a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, at least until [[WhatTheHellHero he gets called out on it]], but given what Omnia is like to its own citizens a person from a conquered nation would have [[{{Understatement}} a very hard life]]. [[HarmfulToMinors And he was only a kid at the time.]]

* CompleteMonster: Vorbis. As Death describes him: [[AC: He was a murderer, and a creator of murderers. A torturer. Without passion. Cruel. Callous. Compassionless.]] However [[spoiler: at the end, Brutha takes pity on him]].
** However, the Discworld Companion makes it clear that Vorbis is a KnightTemplar who did all those horrible things because he genuinely thought they were the right thing to do. In the book it's ambiguous whether he ''knows'' he's acting alone and is only in it for power or not.
*** Note that believing in a cause (instead of just doing it for power) doesn't mean one necessarily ''isn't'' pure evil.

** Brutha's grandmother, who raised him, is described as having been a female version of Vorbis. Now Brutha's past is NightmareFuel.

** And don't forget that Brutha's grandmother, who raised him, is described as having been a female version of Vorbis. Now Brutha's entire past is NightmareFuel.