| 1 | ->''"I shall become a God! No one here can stop me!"'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''Arkham''', ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' |
| 3 | |
| 4 | A Godhood Seeker is, quite plainly, a mortal or otherwise non-divine being who wants to be a god. The most obvious purpose for doing this is the ultimate quest for power -- gods tend to be the ultimate authorities and rulers in settings where they exist, making divinity the logical goal for someone driven by ambition and a desire to rule. Likewise, someone concerned with personal rather than political power (such as in the form of magical might, or control over one's environment) may see godhood as the ultimate pinnacle of mastery over reality. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Alternatively, someone may seek godhood in order to bring themselves on the same playing field as preexisting gods. For instance, a character may wish to confront a deity directly, or [[GodJob to unseat]] one and [[KlingonPromotion take their place]]. Relatedly, a character may feel that the current gods are not doing a good job of running things and believe they could manage the universe more efficiently or fairly than they are. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | For successful Godhood Seekers, see DeityOfHumanOrigin. Note that Deities of Human Origin may not necessarily seek godhood before they became divine beings. This may overlap with TranshumanTreachery if becoming a god makes the new divinity look down on their once fellow humans/what have you. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Compare ImmortalitySeeker, with which this may overlap. An immortality seeker "merely" wishes to live forever, without necessarily wanting other changes in their condition. A Godhood Seeker, by contrast, may only pursue eternal life as a secondary effect of their quest for divinity. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Compare with AGodAmI, where a powerful but otherwise normal individual has delusions of already being a god. A Godhood Seeker is generally fully aware of their currently non-divine status. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | [[RuleOfThree Also,]] compare with DemiurgeArchetype, in which a being falsely claims to be the TopGod of the setting or is inspired by the Gnostic Demiurge. Godhood Seekers can sometimes become this on the road to being the genuine article, if they get that far. There can be some overlap, but this trope does not necessarily have to specifically refer to the Christian God or an equivalent. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | !!Examples |
| 17 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 20 | * In ''Manga/SazanEyes'', the trope is downplayed with the BigBad Kaiyanwang: his plan to gather all the fragments of the Great Light present in mankind, then join it sounds like this trope, but the way he talks about it make it seems like it sees it only as a natural step forward, as the Light seemingly wants to unite again to travel the Cosmo in search for a new place to inhabit. [[spoiler:played straight when he finally kickstarts Sanhara to merge with the gathered Light and starts gloating about he will be the one and only God of the galaxy, though he soons become horrified when he witness the Great Darkness that is part of the Great Light and he never wanted to acknowledge. Implicitly, the Great Darkness is what is making Kaiyanwang acting evil and arrogant.]] |
| 21 | * ''Manga/AirGear'': Whatever altruistic intentions [[spoiler:Sora Takeuchi]] might have concerning the 99%, deep down, he only cares about one thing, and that's making himself powerful enough to rule the world through the Sky Regalia. When he gets there, he immediately styles himself as some benevolent deity to uplift and rule over all of humanity. |
| 22 | * ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler:[[BloodKnight Kenny Ackerman's]] goal in the series is to acquire the Founding Titan, which makes anyone who possesses it a god in all but name. A semi-benevolent example compared to others as Kenny's motivation for coveting the Founding Titan is because he believes it will give him empathy. Unfortunately for him, only a member of the royal family can use the Founding Titan to its fullest potential, something he is not happy to find out. [[ShaggyDogStory It becomes even more tragic on his part]] when it's later shown in the penultimate chapter that Ackermans are immune to Titanization, so even if Kenny had learned he could bypass the royal blood restriction as shown with Eren, he couldn't even become a regular Titan.]] |
| 23 | * ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': [[FallenHero Griffith]] was dying to be worshipped, and got what he wanted by becoming a god for real. |
| 24 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': |
| 25 | ** When [[spoiler:[[BrokenAce Sosuke Aizen]]]] reveals he's a villain, he states he will fill the "unbearable vacancy on the throne in the sky". Later on, he states that he won't simply rise to the level of a god: he will become something even gods will serve. All his experiments over the decades have been geared towards breaking the boundary between the mortal and the divine, and he loudly boasts when his spiritual pressure can no longer be sensed by his enemies because he has "transcended" them. [[spoiler:In his quest for godhood, Aizen impants the [[MacGuffin Hogyoku]] - an object that can [[YourHeartsDesire sense the inner desires of those around it]] and [[RealityWarper make them reality]] - into his chest. As the battle of Fake Karakura Town progresses, the Hogyoku causes Aizen to [[OneWingedAngel undergo several transformations]] until he finally becomes a Transcendent Being. The ''Recap/BleachTheThousandYearBloodWarArc'' arc and ''Literature/BleachCantFearYourOwnWorld'' light novels reveal that he was trying to become a being capable of usurping the Soul King.]] |
| 26 | ** [[ImmortalsFearDeath Fearing his own mortality]], [[GreaterScopeVillain the Quincy Emperor Yhwach]] wages a war against Soul Society and seeks to kill the Soul King -- TopGod of ''Bleach''[='=]s cosmology -- to [[MergedReality merge all the realms and return them to their primordial state: a singular world where death does not exist]]. [[spoiler:After forcing Ichigo to slay the Soul King, Yhwach decides to [[TheAssimilator assimilate his corpse to obtain his power]], apotheosizing into a Transcendent Being capable of freely reshaping the future with his powers. After he is [[KilledOffForReal killed by Ichigo]], [[FateWorseThanDeath his corpse is converted]] into [[CosmicKeystone a replacement Soul King]].]] |
| 27 | * ''Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness'': Chapter 151 finally reveals what "slay the gods" means, from the perspective of Vingulf. Director Takachiho wants to become a god himself, [[spoiler:and thinks there's an actual PhysicalGod in the way. So killing god is a necessary step in mankind's evolution]]. |
| 28 | * ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': |
| 29 | ** The ultimate goal of the Science side is to achieve SYSTEM (read "one who is not a god yet reaches the will of Heaven"), also known as [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale "Level 6"]], a state in which an [[PsychicPowers Esper]] achieves absolute comprehension of, and control over, the laws of physics. Accelerator is the [[WorldsStrongestMan world's strongest Esper]], with a SwissArmySuperpower and SuperIntelligence to [[RequiredSecondaryPowers match]], making him the closest to achieving SYSTEM. Being a ReluctantPsycho TykeBomb, he's talked into participating in a "Level 6 Shift" experiment by scientists who convince him that [[InsaneTrollLogic once he's omnipotent, people won't be afraid of him any more]]. After learning that the experiment was a sham and he's been killing people for no reason, he completely drops this goal in favour of "revenge on scientists who treat people like tools"... ironically getting much closer to it in the process. |
| 30 | ** Some characters on the Magic side also seek to reach this state, which they refer to as [[GratuitousEnglish "La Persona Superiore a Dio"]]. In a strange coincidence, this term can be translated into Japanese as "Kami-jou", a homonym for the protagonist's surname. Becoming an actual [[DeityOfHumanOrigin "Magic God"]] is also possible, but it has enough downsides relative to a Kami-jou that some characters see it as not worth the effort. |
| 31 | * ''Manga/Cyborg009'': Doctor Gaia can become a god with the energy stored in his reactor. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:he gets shot by a ''very'' angry Apollo]]. |
| 32 | * ''Manga/DeathNote'': When [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] obtains the titular ''Death Note'', it doesn't take him long until he seeks to become "the God of the New World" by killing criminals worldwide and turning himself into an object of worship with a cult of personality. When he hits his stride, [[AGodAmI he starts believing he is one]] despite -- as Ryuk mockingly points out -- him only being a normal human. |
| 33 | * ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'': In the past, {{Satan}}/[[spoiler:Ryo Asuka]] tried to usurp God, but was defeated and consequently banished for his actions. While he plans to fight God again in the present, he's largely dropped those ambitions. |
| 34 | * ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' has a variant in regards to Zamasu. While he is already a legitimate PhysicalGod, he desired to become the TopGod and then reenact his "Zero Mortals Plan" to achieve his envisioned utopia for the multiverse. He does so by using the Super Dragon Balls to steal the body of Goku and becoming Goku Black, before travelling to an AlternateTimeline where he teams up with his future self who they use the Super Dragon Balls to wish for immortality for this Zamasu. This EvilDuo then proceeds to lay waste to the universe. Later on, the two of them [[FusionDance fuse together]] to form an UltimateLifeform. |
| 35 | * ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Father doesn't just want to be ''a'' god, he wants to usurp the throne and merge with God himself. He's actually successful [[spoiler:until Hohenheim's reverse transmutation circle strips him of his powers]]. |
| 36 | * In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', Nakago wants Yui to use one of her wishes to make him a god, so he can take revenge on the world. |
| 37 | * ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Ragyō Kiryūin is introduced as the sadistic chairwoman of the Kiryūin Conglomerate and CEO of the REVOCS Corporation, abusive mother to Satsuki Kiryūin. It later transpires that she was once a human scientist whose family had worshipped the [[TheSymbiote Life Fibers]] as a god. Seeking to transcend humanity, Ragyō began experimenting with imbuing humans with Life Fibers, [[spoiler:succeeding with herself, her daughter Ryūko Matoi, and Nui Harime. By the end of the series, Ragyō creates an extremely powerful Kamui -- Shinra-Kōketsu -- and throws away whatever scraps remained of her humanity by assimilating the [[EldritchAbomination Primordial Life Fiber]]. After being defeated, stripped of her Kamui, and offered a chance at redemption by Ryūko, Ragyō scornfully refuses and commits suicide to ensure the Life Fibers comprising her body can escape into the universe]]. |
| 38 | * ''WebComic/MobPsycho100'': Dimple is an evil spirit whose primary goal is to be worshipped as a god. He is first encountered running a cult before being defeated by Mob and having a HeelFaceTurn. [[spoiler:Eventually, he has another chance of attaining godhood by assuming the guise of [[BotanicalAbomination Lord Psycho Helmet]] with the energy of the Divine Tree, forming a city-wide cult.]] |
| 39 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 40 | ** Over the course of the series, it unfolds that recurring antagonist [[MadScientist Orochimaru]]'s ultimate goal is to obtain the deific power of the Sage of Six Paths -- which is the impetus behind him attempting to take Sasuke Uchiha as a host, and his experiments with Wood Release and Cursed Seals. |
| 41 | ** His assistant Kabuto attempted to complete Orochimaru's plan to become the next Sage of Six Paths, successfully attaining Sage Mode and bartering with Tobi for a White Zetsu and Sasuke, whose Sharingan Kabuto believed would evolve into a Rinnegan upon the transfusion of Senju Cells from the White Zetsu. |
| 42 | ** [[PredecessorVillain Madara Uchiha]] sought to attain godhood by becoming the Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tailed Beast, and for a while he succeeded only to be [[spoiler:taken over by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and then perish once the Ten-Tails was extracted from him]]. |
| 43 | ** [[spoiler:Sasuke takes on this role after the final battle of the War. When Naruto asks Sasuke what will happen to his vision of Hokage when he dies, Sasuke states that he plans to become immortal and seals all nine Tailed Beasts into his Susanoo, declaring his intent to rule the world from the shadows and control every conflict that arose in it.]] |
| 44 | * ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': The goal of SEELE's Human Instrumentality Project -- as revealed in the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion 2'' game -- is for the council members to ascend to godhood by merging their souls inside of an Evangelion Unit. [[spoiler:However, they're foiled when Gendo Ikari attempts to hijack the plan for his own purposes,[[note]]Reuniting with his beloved wife, Yui Ikari, inside of Evangelion Unit-01.[[/note]] and then when Rei Ayanami goes rogue and gives control of the Third Impact to Shinji Ikari -- who is in the middle of a despair-induced mental breakdown]]. |
| 45 | * ''Literature/SoImASpiderSoWhat'': Upon learning of the existence of the Administrators of the System, Kumoko decides that she wants to surpass them in power and [[KillTheGod slay them]] -- especially [[JerkassGod D]]. [[spoiler:Upon achieving apotheosis and becoming the goddess Shiraori, however, she more-or-less drops this goal in favor of saving the collapsing world by killing untold numbers of people.]] |
| 46 | * ''Manga/SoulEater'': |
| 47 | ** Many characters, minor or otherwise, covet the power of a [[EvilGod Kishin]] to reach godhood. Some try by eating every soul they can, giving in or empowering themselves with Madness, or making their ''own'' Kishin or form of Madness. |
| 48 | ** Noah, the Idol of Greed, uniquely wants to become "God" by collecting everything in the world into the Book of Eibon. |
| 49 | * ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': |
| 50 | ** While Nobuyuki Sugou styled himself as a god in ALO and saw himself as such, being the one who created the game, he also seeks to become one IRL by perfecting his MindControl research. |
| 51 | ** Gabriel Miller's end goal is to steal Alice's lightcube to place her in a virtual world of his own design. Afterwards, he plans on kidnapping real world people, killing their physical bodies, and placing their souls in his virtual world too, all so he can manipulate their souls as he sees fit. [[spoiler:He even boasts himself as one during his fight with Kirito.]] |
| 52 | * ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': |
| 53 | ** Kagemaru wants to harness the power of the Sacred Beasts to "become the God of the world" and restore his youth. |
| 54 | ** Amon Garam wants to become the god of all alternate dimensions. |
| 55 | [[/folder]] |
| 56 | |
| 57 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 58 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': In Creator/IDWPublishing's comics, Shokaract believes that he can ascend to godhood by consuming enough Angolmois energy to awaken his [[ArtifactOfDoom Anti-Matrix]]. |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': Haazheel Thorne, the main villain, is an uber-powerful SorcerousOverlord who is already worshipped as a god by his personal ReligionOfEvil. However, in truth he's more SemiDivine as he's the son of Lucifer. His ultimate goal in creating the conditions for HellOnEarth is so his father will reward him by ascending him to full godhood. |
| 60 | * ''Franchise/TheDCU'': |
| 61 | ** ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': {{Subverted|Trope}} in an issue focusing on Augustus Caesar. One day, while disguised as a beggar and accompanied by a dwarf actor assisting him, Caesar discusses his legacy of making Rome the most powerful empire on Earth, and says his destiny is to become a god after his death. When the dwarf remarks that it's good to be a god, Augustus simply asks him "Is it?" After his death, the dwarf recounts how Augustus forbade expanding Rome further, eventually dooming it, and his ulterior motive for doing it may have been to undo his godhood. |
| 62 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanWarbringer'': While Jason is primarily [[ImmortalitySeeker seeking immortality]], his speechifying makes it clear he'd like to attain godhood in the ways of the "heroes" of old like Hercules who were raised to the pantheon for their slaughter after dying. |
| 63 | * ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'': |
| 64 | ** ''ComicBook/{{Carnage}}'': While he is usually a nihilistic serial killer whose only goal is to cause as much death as possible, Carnage has on three separate occasions sought to apotheosize into a god of chaos and death -- first by absorbing the Enigma Force in ''Minimum Carnage'', then by freeing Chthon in ''Carnage'' Vol. 2, and finally by empowering the Dark Carnage symbiote and freeing Knull in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage''. In ''Carnage'' Vol.3 he again pursues it by absorbing the powers of various metahumans and then trying to forge his own Necrosword. |
| 65 | ** ''ComicBook/DoctorDoom'': Victor von Doom has an ego worthy of a god, but is aware that -- while he is one of the most brilliant and powerful people on the planet -- he is still only human. However, he is more than happy to steal the power of cosmic entities for himself whenever the opportunity presents itself, which usually fails because he cannot control that kind of power with his merely human mind. |
| 66 | ** ''ComicBook/ImmortalXMen'': [[spoiler:All four of the Sinister clones]] attempt to become a Dominion (essentially TheSingularity above and beyond even gods that exists outside of time and space) through different means. |
| 67 | *** [[spoiler:Diamond Mr. Sinister attempts it by converting the entire a few quadrillion Mutants into copies of himself and riding their combined psychic essence to Dominionhood. He failed.]] |
| 68 | *** [[spoiler:Club Dr. Stasis blew up the sun with Orchis' space station and tried to use that to reach Dominionhood. He failed.]] |
| 69 | *** [[spoiler:Spade Orbis Stellaris used mysterium and the M'Kraan Crystal in his attempt to achieve Dominonhood. He failed.]] |
| 70 | *** [[spoiler:Heart Mother Righteous used her magic to reach the White Hot Room hoping to use the Phoenix Force to fuel her ascension to Dominonhood. She failed.]] |
| 71 | *** [[spoiler:Crown Nathaniel Essex aka Enigma is an artificial intelligence network fed data from the Sinister clones' own attempts from different timelines. It succeeds.]] |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 75 | * ''Fanfic/AntiClicheAndMarySueEliminationSociety'': Willowe's goal is to become a god in full. |
| 76 | * ''Fanfic/ApotheosisMHA'': After completing the Infinity Gauntlet and having his first taste of its power, Izuku decides he wants to be something greater than a hero -- he wants to be the most powerful person in the world, someone who shapes the world by design. The name of such a person- [[DarkMessiah God]]. |
| 77 | * ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': Part of Tigerstar's plan in the rewritten ''Omen of the Stars'' is to replace [=StarClan=] with the Dark Forest as the main afterlife, which he thinks will make him the god of the Clans as he is the leader of the Dark Forest, with his supporters also promised godly positions. |
| 78 | * ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has this as the goal of those seeking the ''Word of Kemmler'', and the Ascension Rite within. |
| 79 | * ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'': [[spoiler:Yui Ikari]] uses the Children's power stolen from the Angels to ascend to godhood and rewrite Earth into a paradise for humans according to her will. It ultimately fails, as the power of the [[EldritchAbomination Great Old Ones]] is inherently corrupting, turning her paradise into a FalseUtopia. And once the Children realizes what's going on, they confront [[spoiler:Yui]] and take back their stolen power, before wiping her out of existence. |
| 80 | * ''Fanfic/CitadelOfTheHeart'': Once [[spoiler:Roy]] realizes what his new FusionDance body can do, he proceeds to declare his original plans as boring and decides that killing all of the gods to have ever existed, and then declare himself the one ''true'' god out of sheer contempt for the prior ones, is much more satisfying to him. |
| 81 | * ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': [[spoiler:[[Characters/CodePrimeMegatron Megatron]] plan for Neo Ragnarök? First, he gains access to the Sword of Akasha. Second, he infuses Dark Energon into C's World. Finally, he would send that world to Cybertron via Spacebridge and assimilate everything in his path as it spreads from there and Earth. The result: Everything and everyone would become an extension of himself, turning him into nothing short of a god.]] |
| 82 | * ''Fanfic/CodexEquus'': |
| 83 | ** Don'yoku to do this with a ritual involving a celestial conjunction and ''actually succeeded''. [[MeaninglessVillainVictory Though he didn't survive long enough to enjoy it]]. |
| 84 | ** Lord Waking Nightmare's ultimate plan is to become the "Emperor of Nightmares" over a Meridia that he would [[InTheirOwnImage transform in his own image]] by merging it with Meridia's Dream Realm and kick-starting a "New Dreamtime" which he would usurp. He succeeded, becoming a Nightmare God, but was thankfully destroyed by the [[MagicalGirlWarrior Nightmare Breakers]] before he could finish remaking Meridia. |
| 85 | ** Invoked by the [[SaintlyChurch Church of the Stars]]. Unlike most examples, the Church sees godhood as a way for mortals to become the best they can possibly be, and has Ascension training available for anyone who wants to become a deity. The only requirement for all Ascendants-in-training is they have to be selfless in their desire for godhood and genuinely willing to help others better themselves. Anyone who seeks to Ascend for selfish reasons, like War Rock, are rejected. |
| 86 | * ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Zarekos, an already quite powerful vampire, is attempting to ascend to godhood when Ami encounters him. Later, when Ami asks one of her own minions whether Zarekos thought he ''was'' a god, she's answered that he wasn't ''that'' delusional -- he was planning to become one, yes, but he was fully aware of his current limitations. |
| 87 | * ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'': Red Eye's ultimate goal is [[spoiler:to do away with the Goddess and take up her office]]. |
| 88 | * ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'': Harry's ultimate goal is essentially to become a god. Or, as he words it, "To understand everything important there is to know about the universe, apply that knowledge to become omnipotent, and use that power to rewrite reality because I have some objections to the way it works now." This statement is ''slightly'' LessDisturbingInContext, in the sense that Harry's a WellIntentionedExtremist with a strong sense of right and wrong, but many readers are of the opinion that it would be better for the universe if he didn't pull this off. |
| 89 | * ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'': Circe's ultimate goal is to ascend and replace the Olympian pantheon. |
| 90 | * ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'': [=MissingNo=] tries (the key word being ''tries'') to achieve godhood by getting people to form a cult worshipping it. [[spoiler:It instead ends up with them worshipping Omanyte and Omastar.]] |
| 91 | * ''Fanfic/RobbReturns'': Chapter 158 expounds on the canonical agenda of Euron Greyjoy, which reveals that [[spoiler:Euron Greyjoy intends to kill the Drowned God and take its place by consuming its power. He has allied with the Others to achieve that goal since they also want to wipe out humanity... and then intends to kill the Others and take ''their'' power.]] |
| 92 | [[/folder]] |
| 93 | |
| 94 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 95 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': Heroic variant, as the titular Hercules, unlike his mythological inspiration, was born a god but was stripped of his divinity as part of an assassination attempt, becoming a mortal with nothing left of his godhood but his divine strength. He consequently spends most of the movie trying to become a true hero in order to restore his godhood and return home to Mount Olympus. |
| 96 | * ''Animation/JiangZiya'': |
| 97 | ** Jiang Ziya, the titular protagonist, was a Taoist warrior who trained under the [[TopGod Heavenly Master]] of Jingxu Hall -- realm of the gods -- in order to attain godhood, only to be stripped of his divinity and cast into exile when he balked at executing the [[AsianFoxSpirit Nine-Tailed Fox-Devil]], who informed him that doing so would end the life of an innocent girl. |
| 98 | ** Towards the end of the movie, [[spoiler:Nine-Tailed is revealed to have been promised divinity by the Heavenly Master in exchange for starting the Great War, only later realizing she had been tricked and used as a pawn after Jiang Ziya was sent to execute her]]. |
| 99 | [[/folder]] |
| 100 | |
| 101 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 102 | * ''Film/{{Dreamscape}}'': The Overlord of Evil wishes for nothing less than total control over reality. |
| 103 | * ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheDialOfDestiny'': At the beginning of the film, Voller claims that whoever wields the full Antikythera Mechanism wouldn’t be a king, an emperor, or the Führer; they would be God. [[spoiler:Near the end of the film, Voller reveals that his plan is to use the Antikythera to travel back in time and [[KillAndReplace replace Hitler]] in order to [[MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight make history turn out]] [[InTheirOwnImage the way he wants it to]].]] |
| 104 | * ''Film/TheOne'': Gabrial Yulaw believes that by killing all his {{Doppelganger}}s in other universes, he will absorb their unspent life force and become a god. The reason the MVA is after him is because they aren't entirely sure that this will be the outcome. They think that the final murder will cause that universe to cease to exist. For most of the movie, there are only two versions of that person remaining in TheMultiverse: Gabriel Yulaw and Gabriel "Gabe" Law. Both are equal in strength and speed, and both have extensive martial arts training (they're played by Creator/JetLi, after all). A memorable scene has Yulaw pick up two police motorcycles and use them as clubs against a cop, and he's been clocked at running at 50 mph without breaking a sweat. |
| 105 | * ''Film/ScoobyDoo'': Emile Mondavarious -- [[spoiler:aka Scrappy-Doo piloting a MobileSuitHuman]] -- intends to become a god by [[spoiler:absorbing the souls of a bunch of vacationing college students using the Daemon Ritus to take revenge on Mystery Inc. for unceremoniously kicking him to the curb due to his annoying arrogance]]. |
| 106 | [[/folder]] |
| 107 | |
| 108 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 109 | * ''Literature/{{Angelmaker}}'': Shem Shem Tsien, the Opium Khan, was a historical supervillain who wanted to find out if God existed. His plan to do so was to emulate God and become His equal so he could meet Him face-to-face. This was worrying because Shem Shem Tsien believed GodIsEvil, and therefore that emulating Him required God-like levels of cruelty and atrocity, and also because he was Cambridge-educated, globally renowned, and the autocrat of a small but wealthy kingdom neighboring the British Raj, and had the resources and political/criminal connections that all implied. He's several decades dead by the present day, but [[spoiler:he "survived" by brainwashing the serial killer Vaughn Parry [[CloneByConversion into a perfect mental copy of himself]], and his final plan to achieve apotheosis is to do the same to everyone on Earth using a ClockPunk reality-warping engine.]] |
| 110 | * ''Literature/ArcOfFire'': Kyrian's plan is to kill Vraxor and ascend to godhood in his place. |
| 111 | * ''Literature/TheCosmere'': |
| 112 | ** In the backstory, sixteen people came together to [[KillTheGod shatter Adonalsium]], succeeding in splitting them into [[ArcNumber sixteen]] [[PiecesOfGod Shards]], each representing an Intent (such as [[GodOfOrder Preservation]], [[DestroyerDeity Ruin]], [[LoveGoddess Devotion]], [[AmbitionIsEvil Ambition]], [[ThePowerOfHate Odium]], etc.) which they then took up, becoming gods themselves. The conspirators had different motivations, some believing that it was the only option left, but some participated due a naked lust for power. |
| 113 | ** ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'': |
| 114 | *** In ''Literature/MistbornSecretHistory'', [[spoiler:Kelsier]] comes across a group called the Ire who are planning to use a device to creation a Connection allowing one of their number to Ascend as the Vessel of [[spoiler:Preservation after he [[ThanatosGambit dies as a result of his gambit]] to destroy Ruin. He is able to steal the device and Ascend himself.]] Downplayed, given that the Ire are a step above regular humans, being immortal, powerful magic using [[spoiler:Elantrians]] making them effectively demigods already. |
| 115 | *** In ''Literature/TheLostMetal'', [[spoiler:Telsin Ladrian's desire for power increases when the opportunity to impress Autonomy enough so that Autonomy will make Telsin an avatar of theirs. Telsin's willing to destroy Elendel and murder millions if that's what it takes for her to succeed.]] |
| 116 | ** ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': It is implied [[spoiler:Gavilar Kholin]] is one of these. As leader of the [[spoiler:Sons of Honor]], he was intending to restart the Desolations so he could perform a KillAndReplace on the Vessel of Odium (who was himself one of the sixteen who participated from lust for power). |
| 117 | * ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'': Raistlin Majere in ''Literature/DragonlanceLegends'', already a powerful wizard, wants to kill Takhisis the goddess if evil and become the new god of evil instead. [[spoiler:He very nearly suceeds, too, but stops as he notices that his ascension would kill all the other gods and all life on earth, making him the ruler of nothing but ashes.]] |
| 118 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': The [[TheArchmage arch]]-{{Necromancer}} Kemmler devised the Darkhallow {{Ritual|Magic}}, which transforms the caster into a minor god by consuming all {{life|Drain}}, [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent spirits]], and magical energy within a mile. Fortunately for the world, he was killed mid-attempt. In ''Literature/DeadBeat'', Cowl attempts to perform the Darkhallow in Chicago, [[spoiler:but Harry and the White Council interrupt the ritual and run him off.]] |
| 119 | * ''Literature/TheFlyingBoy'': Dr. Andy Paigne wants to collect enough superpowers to become a god. |
| 120 | * ''Film/GodzillaVsKong[==]: The Official Movie Novelization'': The novel's expansion reveals that Ren Serizawa, the [[Characters/MonsterVerseApexCybernetics Apex Cybernetics]] pilot [[spoiler:of Mechagodzilla]] who's expected to use the machine to kill and usurp Godzilla as the [[TopGod King of the Monsters]], very much enjoys the sheer high that wielding the physical power of the {{Kaiju}} gives him when he's [[spoiler:piloting the Mecha]], and he experiences a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedown_(drugs) crash]] when the Mecha powers down during a test run. This makes Ren all the more motivated to get his creation a lasting power source so he can pilot it indefinitely, and he thinks that "[o]nly then could ''he'' be what he was meant to be". It's furthermore revealed that as soon as [[spoiler:Mechagodzilla]] is fully charged, Ren intends to betray his boss and pursue his own agenda after murdering Godzilla. |
| 121 | * ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'': Sun Wukong the Monkey King was a supernatural monkey born from a divine stone, and acquired immortality and godlike powers through mastering Taoism. After the Jade Emperor offers to deify him hoping he would settle down, Sun Wukong was outraged that his position in Heaven was effectively a stableboy, stole multiple forms of immortality, and went on a rampage defeating every warrior in Heaven and attempting to usurp the Jade Emperor's throne. The Buddha stepped in and [[SealedBadassInACan sealed him under a mountain]] for five-hundred years, after which he was tricked into becoming a bodyguard for a Buddhist monk on a pilgrimage to retrieve the sutras. After doing so and learning the tenants of Buddhism, Sun Wukong ultimately attains enlightenment and becomes the "Victorious Fighting Buddha". |
| 122 | * ''Literature/{{Middlegame}}'': [[BigBad Reed]]'s century-long bid for divinity is to embody the Doctrine of Ethos, a universal force that can control reality through mathematics and language, in ArtificialHuman twins, then subjugate them to his will before their powers fully manifest. |
| 123 | * ''Literature/NoGodsForDrowning'': [[spoiler:Cecil Gillion]] is jealous of the fact that, though he is descended from a god, he only has minor abilities, so sets about a plan to achieve true immortality and godhood. He convinces his [[spoiler:grandfather Lyvien, god of instinct]], to convince the other gods to run away because something could kill them. This has the effect of causing rising waters and hungry sea demons called Glories to start moving in, but also clears out the only thing keeping the goddess Aeda trapped. With Aeda freed, she will return her father Exhalis to the world, which will create a Psychopomp tree which is responsible for controlling the flow of souls across the world. [[spoiler:Cecil]] plans to hijack control of the Psychopomp tree from Aeda and allow Cecil eternal life and godhood. |
| 124 | * ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'': Masego, the Hierophant, wants to ascend to godhood - not for the power, but for the knowledge and understanding that would bring. |
| 125 | * ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Euron's goal, which he explains to [[spoiler:Aeron]] while torturing him, is revealed to be to become a god. Euron commands his brother to worship him and become his priest, but he refuses to do so. |
| 126 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': |
| 127 | ** ''Literature/NewJediOrder'': Onimi believes that if he kills [[OmnicidalManiac everyone in the galaxy]] he'll get the power he needs to become a god. Somewhat unusually, he also believes that Jacen and Jaina (and several other Jedi) are incarnate gods, and in his mind the whole series is a conflict between the established pantheon and himself trying to usurp them, played out through the Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong. |
| 128 | ** The same idea of "kill everybody to become a true god" is played out nearly to the letter by Sith Emperor Tenebrae Vitiate in the events of the Second Great Galactic War. |
| 129 | ** ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi'': It's hinted that the main goal of Abeloth, the EldritchAbomination BigBad, is to become a god. |
| 130 | [[/folder]] |
| 131 | |
| 132 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 133 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': Emperor Cartagia of the Centauri is convinced that the [[BigBad Shadows]] will make him a god even if it means that his home planet will be destroyed. When he's [[spoiler:assassinated by Vir]], his last words are "I was to be a god." |
| 134 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': Part of the Dalek creator [[Characters/DoctorWhoDavros Davros]]' motivations is the idea of putting himself "above the gods" by creating a lifeform that he beieves can dominate the universe and wipe out all other living threats so completely. |
| 135 | * ''Series/TheFlash2014'': |
| 136 | ** Zoom wishes to be the only metahuman with super speed so that everyone will fear him. [[spoiler:He goes even further in the Season 2 finale, preparing to wipe out the entire multiverse just to keep a single world as his own personal domain.]] |
| 137 | ** Although in the present day Savitar already calls himself the "God of Speed", [[spoiler:when his identity is revealed he explains in [[Recap/TheFlash2014S3E21CauseAndEffect "Cause and Effect"]] that he realized becoming a god would solve his problems and that he still needs two more things before he reaches godhood.]] |
| 138 | ** Another speedster, Godspeed, also calls himself the "God of Speed". [[spoiler:His speed is artificial thanks to the Velocity 9 serum, but he wants "organic" speed of the kind granted by the Speed Force in order to realize his dreams of godhood.]] |
| 139 | ** Dr. Orloff seeks immortality by draining the life force of those around him. However, he only gets a few years younger for the decades he takes from others. Thus, his plan is to [[spoiler:accelerate the aging of everyone in Central City until they crumble to dust]] in order to become immortal. |
| 140 | * ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': In season 2, all of the characters are looking for an artifact called the Mask of Anubis. While Sibuna needs it to break a curse that had been placed on them and Victor just wants {{immortality|Seeker}}, the villains Rufus and Senkhara are after it because it can take the wearer to the Egyptian afterlife, where they'd rule as if they were Gods. [[spoiler:This doesn't work out for either of them; Senkhara is banished before she can possess Nina and use her body in the afterlife, and Rufus is DraggedOffToHell for his impure heart.]] |
| 141 | * ''Series/IClaudius'': EvilMatriarch [[MagnificentBastard Livia]] is a relatively mundane version of this trope. She believes that the only way to avoid damnnation for a lifetime of atrocities and treachery is to be [[LoopholeAbuse deified by the Roman Emperor]]. When [[TheCaligula Caligula]] visits her at her deathbed and [[EvilGloating gloats]] that he'll never make her a goddess and she's going to burn in hell for eternity, it's portrayed as a major KickTheDog moment. |
| 142 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': In Season 9, it's revealed that [[spoiler:[[OurAngelsAreDifferent Metatron]]'s plan is to set himself up as the new God, having had this goal in mind since he manipulated Castiel into casting all the other angels out of Heaven, so that he could reveal the way to return them home and be accepted by them as the new ruler of Heaven. By the end of Season 9, he also starts performing miracles on Earth so humans will worship him as God too.]] |
| 143 | * ''Franchise/SuperSentai'': Quite a few different villains have this goal in mind. Empress Meadow [[spoiler:or, in actuality, Vulgyre]] in ''Series/ChikyuuSentaiFiveman''. Meadow, Zone's ruler, is out to destroy 1000 planets to gain eternal life, with Earth being the last. [[spoiler:Meadow's actually an illusion created by the GeniusLoci serving as Zone's SupervillainLair, Vulgyre. It sought the life energy of 1000 planets to become a god and assume its' [[OneWingedAngel Galactic Super Beast]] form. It achieves this in the final arc and goes on the rampage, before the Fiveman use their Sidon flowers, Vulgyre's only weakness, to plunge inside Vulgyre's body (uncovering the true Meadow in the process; she was a woman who'd rather kill herself than become Vulgyre's empress, and Vulgyre was too obsessed with her to let her go); this weakens Vulgyre enough to finish it off with the Super Five Robo, ending the threat of Zone forever.]] |
| 144 | [[/folder]] |
| 145 | |
| 146 | [[folder:Manhwa]] |
| 147 | * ''Manhwa/AflameInferno'': Pandemonium's ultimate goal is to find the Tedlar's predecessors and "become a complete being above life and death." |
| 148 | [[/folder]] |
| 149 | |
| 150 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 151 | * Music/{{Kamelot}}: In ''Karma'''s three-part "Elizabeth", UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory comes to believe she can attain {{immortality|Seeker}} and divinity by [[BloodBath bathing]] in [[VirginSacrifice virgin blood]]. By Part 2, she's deluded herself into imagining that her victims became immortal with her. By Part 3, she [[spoiler:realizes she's damned herself [[AllForNothing for nothing]].]] |
| 152 | * Music/AliceCooper has the song "I Just Want to Be God" - unsprisingly, the singer is implied to be {{Satan}} himself. |
| 153 | [[/folder]] |
| 154 | |
| 155 | [[folder:Religion and Mythology]] |
| 156 | * ''Literature/TheBible'': This is what caused the downfall of humanity and the Original Sin. Adam and Eve enjoyed their lives in Eden, but they were looking for a way to be like God and know both good and evil. Satan, disguised as a serpent, told them it would happen, and he was right... at least partially, as eating the ForbiddenFruit stole their innocence and separated them -- and by extension the entire human race -- from God as well. |
| 157 | * The goal of some Left Hand Path esoteric organizations is self-deification. The interpretation on how to attain this varies and might imply from Jungian deep psychology to rehash concepts from Eastern, Gnostic and other ancient Esoteric sources but mostly look for individualization and self-realization. |
| 158 | * The wife's ultimate wish in "The Fisherman and his Wife'' is to become God so she can control the sun and moon. It doesn't end well for her. |
| 159 | * Depending on your interpretation, UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, Jainism, and UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} promote this, as their goal is your full enlightenment which would make you god-like. Also there are some Buddhist techniques that allow you to program yourself to be reborn a Deva, but this is often discouraged. |
| 160 | [[/folder]] |
| 161 | |
| 162 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 163 | * ''Website/AwfulHospitalRoleplayForum'': Mauve Silverworth seeks to become a new primordial God. |
| 164 | * ''Roleplay/CradleOfGods'': ''Everyone''. Albeit understandably -- [[{{Gotterdammerung}} the gods are all dead]], and the world will be destroyed if a new pantheon doesn't take their place. |
| 165 | * ''Roleplay/EclipseOfTheGods'': While this is common goal for Chaos Lords, [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Ahriman]] takes it a step farther than most. He wants to become a fifth God of Chaos, rather than just another Daemon Prince. |
| 166 | [[/folder]] |
| 167 | |
| 168 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 169 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Crimestrikers}}'': The ultimate goal is of BigBad Vance Coffin and his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Walter Mastron is to turn themselves and their trusted allies into nearly immortal pseudo-gods by using a KillSat to harvest the LifeEnergy from most of the population of [[WorldOfFunnyAnimals Creaturia]]. |
| 170 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 171 | ** In the BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia version of ''Classic D&D'', characters of at least 30th CharacterLevel can undergo a quest to become an Immortal (the BECMI D&D equivalent of a god). There are four paths to Immortality, each of which requires performing heroic deeds such as retrieving a powerful artifact, completing major tasks and creating a lasting testimonial to the candidate's greatness. |
| 172 | ** Socially, Vlaakith CLVII is already pretty much the goddess of the githyanki, but that's not enough for her; she wants to become a full-fledged deity. This aspect became particularly prominent in 3rd Edition, when an entire adventure -- ''The Lich-Queen's Beloved'' -- is devoted to her attempt to complete a divine ascension, which the players have to stop. |
| 173 | ** The Elder Evil Kyuss longs for godhood more than anything else. He has wanted it ever since he was a mortal, and even in his current state as an immortal EldritchAbomination he is determined to achieve the glory of true divinity. |
| 174 | ** Yuan-ti rarely worship deities out of any true sense of reverence -- their extremely dispassionate and emotionless natures aren't very conducive to this -- but rather seeks to emulate their deity, learn the secrets of their ascension or divine nature, and use this knowledge to become deities themselves and supplant their former patron. |
| 175 | ** Would-be deities have an enemy in the varakhuts, a subtype of inevitable, {{clockwork creature}}s that enforce specific principles of law. The varakhuts' purpose is to combat mortals with a credible shot at undergoing a divine apotheosis, thus upsetting the natural order. Some godhood seekers actually try to antagonize the varakhuts as a way of legitimizing thier efforts, but funnily enough, should one survive the inevitables' attacks and succeed in becoming a deity, they no longer have anything to fear from the inevitables -- the varakhuts are tasked with opposing those ''seeking'' godhood, not those who have attained it, and will regard the new demigod as part of the natural order. |
| 176 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': Underneath all the dour trappings, this is what the Blood of Vol religion ultimately is. They believe that, since there's no decent afterlife (it's a proven fact that souls go to one specific place and fade; other religions have faith that there are alternatives, but no actual proof), then mortals should seek to become divine themselves. They believe that blood contains the spark of the divine, and that with enough time that spark can ascend them to true divinity. In fact, many sects believe that mortality is a curse placed on the world by jealous gods who didn't want anyone to have the time to rise up and challenge them. The religion's supposed obsession with undead is simply pragmatic; a corpse is worthless without the soul inside it, so you may as well make it get up and do chores. Intelligent undead who work with the cult are considered martyrs who gave up their own chance at divinity to guide the living, while intelligent undead who ''don't'' work with the cult are hunted down just as ruthlessly as any other major religion would do so. |
| 177 | ** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': |
| 178 | *** The red dragon Tchazzar sought to apotheosize into a deity and for a while actually managed to become a dragon ascendant demigod, but whether he retains his divinity as of 5th Edition is unknown. |
| 179 | *** Karsus, an ancient Netherese archmage, was a particularily devastating example. He originally tried to temporarily "borrow" the power of a god in order to save his homeland from a war, using the extremely advanced spell Karsus' Avatar to do so. Unfortunately, he picked the deity Mystryl, goddess of magic, as he reasoned she would be the most powerful and the best suited. What he didn't know was that Mystryl was always preoccupied maintaining the Weave of Magic, and, without her power, all magic in the world went haywire for a little while. Netheril was an empire built on magically floating islands, so you can guess the result. |
| 180 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'': The Believers of the Source, also called the Godsmen, believe that life is a series of tests and challenges that must be overcome; successfully doing this allows one to move further up the ladder of being and eventually achieve godhood. Their ultimate goal is to do just that, although most of them don't seriously hope to achieve it in this life but hope that, by perfecting themselves as much as possible, they bring their next reincarnation closer to the goal of divinity. Their previous factol, Curran, managed it, although some would argue this was [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve because of the beliefs of his followers in the Godsmen]] and not a natural law of the universe. |
| 181 | * Creator/GamesWorkshop: |
| 182 | ** The end goal for most, if not all, servants of Chaos in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' is to become a Daemon Prince, a quasi-PhysicalGod with immense physical and magical power after being ascended by one or all of the Chaos gods to wreak havoc on the galaxy for all eternity. Fortunately, the vast majority die (or worse) long before they can even get close to that goal. |
| 183 | ** Nagash the Undying had aspirations for godhood, but did not pursue Chaos to achieve this. Instead he invented necromancy and became a powerful liche, his EvilPlan being to slaughter the entire world and raise the dead as his loyal puppets, thus starving Chaos of worship and leaving him as the only supreme being around. During the End Times, he successfuly usurped control of the dead from Morr, the god of the dead, taking over the afterlife. This bound the magical Wind of Death to him, making him an Incarnate of that specific set of magic and gave him control of the afterlife. His victory was short lived however as his own lieutenant, Mannfred, betrayed him and the rest of the Incarnates, allowing the four Chaos Gods to undo reality and destroy the world that was. He ultimately got his wish in ''Age of Sigmar'' when he schemed his way into being the only Death God around, but his plan to become TopGod by killing all his competition is still on the agenda. |
| 184 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' features a few characters of this type. Notably, several of them ''succeed''. But in the world of ''Magic'', being a god makes you hard''er'' to kill, not immortal: |
| 185 | ** Yawgmoth is one of the most famous ''Magic'' villains. He became a god by binding himself to the core of the world of Phyrexia. He planned to use his godhood and army of Phyrexians to make everyone and every other world 'perfect'. He was eventually killed by the [[WaveMotionGun Legacy Weapon]]: a complicated magical device that took an entire story arc to complete. |
| 186 | ** Xenagos was the main antagonist in Theros, a world based off Ancient Greece and Myth/ClassicalMythology. On Theros, ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve is in full effect, so he became a god after getting enough followers. He was eventually killed when he was stabbed with the Godsend, a magic spear forged by the gods. |
| 187 | ** Nicol Bolas ''was'' a godlike being as a pre-Mending planeswalker. But when the Mending occurred, he along with all other planeswalkers lost all of the powers that came with the Planeswalker Spark barring the ability to travel to other planes. His desire to regain that godhood drove an entire story arc. He eventually succeeded by harvesting the Sparks of many other planeswalkers...only to immediately lose all of the absorbed sparks ''and his own'', reducing him to a regular plane-bound dragon. |
| 188 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': |
| 189 | ** In general, the ''Starstone'' -- a magical meteorite held within the city of Absalom -- has the power to allow mortals to ascend to godhood, if they can pass the traps and tests surrounding it. Absalom is thus home to a constantly-replenishing series of hopefuls seeking to take the Test of the Starstone and become divinities, although the vast majority fail and perish -- only three people[[note]]A top servant of the god who put it there, an adventurer who was ''[[WhatDidIDoLastNight rip-roaring drunk]]'' when he did it, and the god of assassins and secrets (i.e.: his followers explicitly kill anyone who [[HeKnowsTooMuch gets too close to learning whom he was as a mortal]])[[/note]] have successfully passed the Test in the five millennia or so it's been around. |
| 190 | ** Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant, is a lich obsessed with both power and personal survival. He views his current status as an ageless undead and the most powerful necromancer to ever live as a stopgap measure meant to give himself time to work towards his real goal -- conquering Absalom, draining every drop of divine power from the ''Starstone'' and becoming a god. |
| 191 | ** Erum-Hel, the Lord of Mohrgs, is an undead servant of Tar-Baphon's who has spent the last several centuries obsessing over his defeat by the crusader hero Iomedae. As Iomedae eventually became a goddess, she is now far beyond any retribution, and Erum-Hel has thus been forced to strike at her church in her stead. He still obsesses over the taste of blood he had during their clash, though, and desperately hungers for more. He has thus been giving serious thought to taking the Test of the Starstone himself, becoming a god and confronting his old enemy on an even field once more. |
| 192 | ** One of the villains of the ''Wrath of the Righteous'' adventure path, the worm that walks wizard Xanthir Vang, believes that gods are simply powerful creatures that have evolved beyond the constraints of the previous forms. To him, the gulf between mortal and deity is perfectly bridgeable through sufficient refinement of one's magical power, and he aims to do just that in order to become a demigod of vermin and portals. |
| 193 | ** The BigBad of the ''Iron Gods'' adventure path, [[spoiler:the [[AIIsACrapshoot A.I. known as Unity]]]], is one of these, seeking to ascend to divinity and brainwash the entire planet into worshipping them. Naturally, it's up to the player characters to stop this from happening. |
| 194 | ** Nocticula, while already a demon lord and thus a lesser divinity herself, has long been rumored to be seeking to become the second demon lord to ascend to full godhood -- something that makes the first such demon god, Lamashtu, more than a bit wary, as Nocticula's rise to her already considerable power has been paved with the a number of slain rivals impressive even among demons. At the end of first edition Nocticula indeed ascends to godhood, although to considerable InUniverse surprise she does so as a ChaoticNeutral, rather than ChaoticEvil, deity -- her desire for godhood was in large part driven by a desire to grow past the bonds of demonhood and the limited nature of most outsiders' wills. |
| 195 | * ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'': One possible character goal is to join the Invisible Clergy, [[spoiler:the 333 individuals who represent key archetypes among humanity; once there are 333, the universe comes to an end and the Clergy shape the next one]]. This is ''far'' easier said than done. [[spoiler:Option one is to become an Avatar, a follower of an existing Clergy member, and then get so powerful that you can symbolically overthrow them. Option two is to find an archetype no one represents yet and perform a massive ritual that lets you ascend as that archetype.]] |
| 196 | * ''TabletopGame/WorldOfDarkness'': |
| 197 | ** This is a standard pursuit of mages in both ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' and ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'': Attaining perfect understanding in order to transcend the lies of existence and ascend to a higher plane as an Oracle. In ''Awakening'', it's said that the Exarchs, the first people to try and brute force this process, promptly proceeded to kick most gods out of the heavens while sealing the door behind them so no one could follow. They weren't entirely successful. |
| 198 | ** Pops up every now and then in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', particularly among vampires of a certain age and level of depravity. Perhaps the strongest example might be Cappadocius/Ashur, the Antediluvian for Clan Cappadocian. A scholar of necromancy, he believed he could transcend the vampiric curse by [[YourSoulIsMine diablerizing]] the person who originated it. No, not Caine; ''God''. |
| 199 | [[/folder]] |
| 200 | |
| 201 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 202 | * ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'': [[BigBad Gargarensis]] wish to become a full-fledged god, as he is a descendant of Poseidon through (nonconsensually) his great-grandmother Amymone. Rather than despising the god, he believes that Poseidon "owes" him something, like godhood. |
| 203 | * ''VideoGame/AraFell'': Baramon seeks the Sunstone to become a godlike being, but his failed experiments caused him to become the first vampire instead. According to the [[WordOfGod developer]], this was because the goddess who originally raised Ara Fell disappeared, so he believed the continent needed a new god to lead them. |
| 204 | * ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'': You may become this at the end of the patched game if [[spoiler:you side with Kerghan until the very last moment and then declare godhood when he demands to know the reason for the betrayal]]. |
| 205 | * ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'': Melite's personal goal is to utilize his research to somehow find a method to achieve godhood. |
| 206 | * ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt'': When Copen asks the Oracle if she intends to become a god with [[spoiler:the power of the Muse]], she states that she's "strongly considering it". |
| 207 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': Two of the series' {{Big Bad}}s attempt to become gods by absorbing the essence of the dead [[GodofEvil god of murder]] while another antagonist has this as part of his backstory. [[spoiler:The PlayerCharacter is the only one who can actually [[DeityOfHumanOrigin succeed in becoming a god]] if they so choose at the end of the series.]] |
| 208 | * ''Videogame/BaldursGateDarkAlliance II'': After the heroes ruin the plans of MadScientist Luvia Bloodmire, she undergoes a brief VillainousBreakdown in which she rants that they are "heretics and non-believers" who "stand in her path to god-dom." |
| 209 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': Several of the game's factions seek to transcend mortality and join the ranks of the gods, [[spoiler:and the Player Character can do so if they meet the right conditions]]. |
| 210 | * ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'': In the final hours, it's revealed that [[spoiler:[[ChurchMilitant Dominique]] has actually decided to RageAgainstTheHeavens and has renounced her faith in God, and plans to use the demons in order to make herself into a being higher than God and then kill Him]]. |
| 211 | * ''VideoGame/ChoiceOfGames'': The protagonist of ''Avatar of the Wolf'' can seek to [[spoiler:usurp the power of the Wolf God, their patron deity]]. |
| 212 | * ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'': [[spoiler:This is ultimately the plan of Doctor Nefarious Tropy. After Neo Cortex is defeated by Crash and calls it quit, Nefarious reveals himself and ends his alliance with him. He explains that while Cortex is content with ''just'' ruling space and time, he would rather start from scratch. Tropy plans to attain godhood by using the Rift Generator to "wipe the slate clean" (read: rebooting the entire timeline) following by [[InTheirOwnImage rebuilding it to his liking]] where he will rule unopposed as the sole god.]] |
| 213 | * ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'': This is the goal of every human villain in the series: |
| 214 | ** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'': Arius is the BigBad of this game and the first human villain in the series who has godhood as a goal. He sought to perform a ritual that would grant him the power of a great demon named Argosax. Fortunately, Dante was able to prevent Arius's ascent by switching out one of the items for the ritual for his signature coin. |
| 215 | ** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'': Arkham's entire plan is to obtain Sparda's power in order to become a god. Previously, he had [[spoiler:sacrificed his own wife in a ritual to that end]]. |
| 216 | ** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'': Sanctus, the [[BitchInSheepsClothing seemingly benevolent]] head of the Order of the Sword, is a SinisterMinister who seeks to claim the power of Sparda. |
| 217 | * ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'': Akemi Suedou's final plan is to hijack Mother Eater and use its power to remake the world. Interestingly, he doesn't want power for the sake of it -- he just wants to be the one to do it in accordance with his own vision. |
| 218 | * ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': The PlayerCharacter and their companions seek out divinity at their own patron gods' urging, both to defeat the [[OmnicidalManiac Voidwoken]] and to fulfill their own visions for the future of the world. Trouble is, ThereCanBeOnlyOne new Divine, and [[spoiler:the companions will turn against the PC if they can't be accepted to endorse the PC's bid for divinity. In the finale, the PC can choose whether to [[DeityOfHumanOrigin become Divine]].]] |
| 219 | * ''VideoGame/{{Dominions}}'': Some of the Pretenders who can become your civilization's patron are powerful humans seeking to ascend to godhood by becoming [[TopGod the Pantokrator]]. |
| 220 | * ''VideoGame/Doom2016'': This turns out to be Olivia Pierce's endgame, as she made her deal with Hell in a bid to become a god. [[spoiler:She gets her wish, sort of, in the form of her transformation into the Aranea Imperatrix, a.k.a. the Spider Mastermind, who promptly gets killed by the Doom Slayer and his {{BFG}}]]. |
| 221 | * ''VideoGame/Dota2'': Deconstructed by Enigma, in one of its gambit in attracting power-hungry alchemists into becoming its UnwittingPawn. Attaining godhood is not as simple as '[[RitualMagic singing nursery rhymes and making chalk drawings on a floor]]'. |
| 222 | * ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': The Elder One, the game's main villain, aims to be a god, and plans to fuse the material world and the [[EldritchLocation Fade]] to accomplish this. |
| 223 | * ''VideoGame/DragonMarkedForDeath'': Duchis Medius, the elderly and terminally-ill Divine King, seeks to transcend the shackles of mortality and become a god imbued with the Celestial Primatus' power. For this reason, he instigates a genocide against the Dragonblood Clan and has their Oracle, Amica, abducted. [[spoiler:While he succeeds in sacrificing Amica, Primatus scornfully smites him instead, and further strips the Divine Knights of their holy powers.]] |
| 224 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': Mannimarco, the first man to become a lich, did so as one step in his plan to eventually reach CompleteImmortality, with him desiring to truly [[AGodAmI become a god]]. He eventually did... [[LiteralSplitPersonalities sort of]]. |
| 225 | * ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': The endgame of Beast III/R, a.k.a. [[spoiler:Kiara Sessyoin]], is being worshipped as a god, taking in the love, pleasure, and eventually lives of everyone else for her own sake. |
| 226 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'': |
| 227 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': Kefka Palazzo has the distinction of being the first ([[FranchiseCodifier though hardly the last]]) ''Final Fantasy'' villain to seek out godhood, and one of the few to achieve it when he [[spoiler:absorbs the power of the Warring Triad]]. |
| 228 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': |
| 229 | *** Sephiroth seeks to become a god by merging with [[EldritchAbomination Jenova]] and draining the Planet of TheLifestream, and nearly succeeds before being slain by Cloud. His soul endures within the Lifestream out of pure hatred, and he formulates a new plan that he puts into motion in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' before once again being foiled by Cloud. |
| 230 | *** ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' retcons Professor Hojo into having [[spoiler:injected Jenova cells into himself in ''VII'' to try and make his body strong enough to be a vessel for Omega, and his plan in ''Dirge of Cerberus'' is to use Weiss' body for the same purpose]]. His goal is to become a cosmic being who will drain the planet completely of the Lifestream, thus ending all life, leaving the planet a literal shattered husk afterwards and to travel the stars in search of another planet to continue the process. |
| 231 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'': Galdes' goal is to harness the power of the corrupted crystals to become the Moongod. |
| 232 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Thordan VII seeks to become a God-King by becoming a primal of Thordan I. |
| 233 | *** As of the stinger for ''Shadowbringers'', [[spoiler:Zenos yae Galvus]] becomes one, but not for the usual reasons; rather, [[spoiler:upon learning that [[BigGood Hydaelyn]] and [[GreaterScopeVillain Zodiark]] are [[{{Tulpa}} Primals]], he decides he'll use his Resonant abilities to absorb the power of one of them, as he did with Shinryu. Then, he'll force the [[WorthyOpponent Warrior of Light]] to absorb the power of the other, so that together [[BloodKnight they may have the most legendary clash the cosmos has ever seen]].]] |
| 234 | *** The ArcVillain of the Pandæmonium raid series is a MadScientist performing horrible experiments on magical creatures, innocent people, and even the souls of the dead to unlock the secrets needed to become a god as they define it; the power to create life with a genuine soul from nothing. |
| 235 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': Verstael's goal in transforming into Immortalis is to become an existence "beyond divinity". |
| 236 | * ''VideoGame/{{Galerians}}'': Dorothy, the AI in charge of a major city, [[AIIsACrapshoot went insane]], but was brought back under control by being given religion: man serves God as His creations, thus she must serve man as theirs. Unfortunately, she took it a step further: anything ''she'' created would have to serve ''her''. Thus she created the Galerians, humans with psychic powers, to replace humanity and rule over them as a goddess. |
| 237 | * ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': This appears to be Alex's goal, though he doesn't phrase it as such (the only mentions of religion in the game are either summons, bosses or generic "pray to the spirits"). Rather, he seeks to light the elemental beacons not to save the world from slowly decaying into nothingness but absorb their combined power (once activated as the titular Golden Sun), giving him immortality and complete control over all the elements. He succeeds at this, [[spoiler:or would have, if the Wise One hadn't sabotaged it by shunting one of the [[PlotCoupon Elemental Stars]]'s power into Isaac instead. He's still around for the third game, though how he intends to pursue this goal is unclear.]] |
| 238 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': [[BigBad The Prophet of Truth]] initially believes that the function of the Halo rings is to enable the worthy (in which category he naturally includes himself) to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence become gods]]. When he learns they're actually superweapons designed to obliterate all life in the galaxy, [[OmnicidalManiac he plans to fire them anyway]] (having taken refuge outside the firing range with his most loyal followers), believing that doing so will qualify him as a god. |
| 239 | * ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': The Godseeker and her followers from the Godmaster DLC used the Godtuner to integrate the minds of the strongest and fiercest creatures into Godhome where they are offered to become "gods" and prove their might in battle. The Godseeker herself seeks to attune to the resonance of Hallow Nest's highest, most supreme gods. Played with as the Godseeker herself, though insufferably arrogant, [[AGodIAmNot only wishes to serve the highest gods.]] |
| 240 | * ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis'': Nazis Hans Ubermann and Klaus Kerner are after a massive machine in the lost city of Atlantis designed to turn humans into gods. Although the machine horribly deformed scores of Atlanteans in the past, the Nazis assume it will work on them due to their superior Aryan qualities. They find out the hard way that they are wrong. |
| 241 | * ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001'': [[AGodAmI Igniz]] has this as his entire motivation and will do ''anything'' to obtain it, up to and including [[TheChessmaster manipulating everyone else in the NESTS organization]] (including the CEO, his own father) [[InheritanceMurder and then killing said father to formally usurp his position as leader]]. He's so obsessed with it that nearly every single line of dialogue he has mentions this in some form or another. |
| 242 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 243 | ** [[BigBad Ganondorf]]'s main goal in the franchise is to become a living god with the power to remake Hyrule in his own image. He usually seeks out the [[CosmicKeystone Triforce]], which can make wishes come true, and often succeeds in obtaining it. Of course, when he does obtain that power, it transforms him into a demonic boar-like beast known as [[OneWingedAngel Ganon]] and he doesn't enjoy his newfound godhood for long as [[HereditaryCurse Link and Zelda will always emerge to defeat him]]. |
| 244 | ** Vaati from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures'' was originally a Picori, but was corrupted by his desire for the limitless power of the Light Force. Draining a fraction of it from Princess Zelda transformed him into a one-eyed demonic entity. |
| 245 | ** Yuga from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' wishes to absorb Ganon's essence (which contains the Triforce of Power) so that he can obtain "true beauty" as an all-powerful being. At the climax of the game, he [[spoiler:double-crosses Princess Hilda so he can steal her Triforce of Wisdom, and tries to steal Link's Triforce of Courage in order to "take [his] rightful place among the gods"]]. |
| 246 | * ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' has Durandal, especially when he gets [[FusionDance fused with Thoth]] in a timeline. The very [[AIIsACrapshoot rampant]] and now mostly-stable intelligence realizes that it's already immortal, save for one thing: the inevitable closure of the universe. And so, all it needs is time, time to create and escape. |
| 247 | --> '''Durandal:''' Escape will make me God. |
| 248 | * ''Videogame/MegaManZX Advent:'' The BigBad Albert's main plan is to be "at the evolution's extreme"; he thinks that the "Mega Man" (people with the power of [[TransformationTrinket Biometal]]) is the next step of humanity's course of evolution, and with the power of the combined fragments of [[ArtifactOfDoom Biometal Model W]], he aims to be the "Ultimate Mega Man" and use its power to RestartTheWorld, creating a new one where only the "Mega Men" will live. After he has attained said power, when Grey/Ashe confronts him, he claims that he doesn't "think" he's a god - he ''is'' one. |
| 249 | * ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': Orochi seeks to become a god of the underworld through all the maidens he's been sacrificed. |
| 250 | * In ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'', Areelu Vorlesh's experiments concerning the soul and transformation were done for the goal of turning mortals into gods. She so far hasn't succeeded, though she ''has'' figured out how to grant Mythic power to subjects [[spoiler:including the player character]] -- it's not full-blown godhood but it's still power beyond mortals. [[spoiler:The secret Ascension ending is achieved by following up on her research and adding information to it that even she didn't know and ascending to demigodhood yourself. Different variations of the Ascension ending allow you to uplift Areelu and / or your companions to divinity as well.]] |
| 251 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 252 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', the BigBad Cyrus sought to usurp the power of the local OlympusMons in order to remake reality InTheirOwnImage and turn the planet into a WorldOfSilence. |
| 253 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', [[spoiler:IntrepidMerchant Volo is [[TheDogWasTheMastermind revealed to be]] a PsychoSupporter of the TopGod Arceus, and became an [[LightIsNotGood insane]] KnightTemplar who sought to usurp ''its'' power to remake reality InTheirOwnImage with the aid of SatanicArchetype Giratina]]. |
| 254 | * ''VideoGame/PoseidonMasterOfAtlantis'': The first campaign has king Atlas, a son of Poseidon and the player character's father, visit Olympus and eventually beg to live there. By the end of the campaign, he's ascended among the Olympians, and shows up in later campaigns as a worshipable god who helps out with monument building. |
| 255 | * ''VideoGame/SorcererKing'': The titular Sorcerer King, ruling over a world shattered by multiple magical apocalypses, figures that he might as well scrap it for parts. The player can take advantage of his surprisingly deep gullibility, out-maneuver him, and stop him -- or, in the expansion ''VideoGame/SorcererKingRivals'', destroy and consume the world himself. |
| 256 | * ''VideoGame/TheTiamatSacrament'': The BigBad, Ry'jin, wants to use dragon DNA to become a god surpassing the setting's actual deity, Tiamat. |
| 257 | * ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': This is stated to be the goal of Darth Vitiate, the Sith Emperor. Unfortunately for everyone, he's been building his power for centuries and is pretty much three quarters there already, including a "side project" Empire (other than the Sith-ruled one he's got already) who worship him as a GodEmperor. |
| 258 | * ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'': This is the end goal of BigBad Grandmaster Meio in ''Strider''. He desires to become the god of a New Earth and for that goal he first discovered the secrets to create life, and then plotted to kill all life on the planet so he could repopulate it with his created life, therefore becoming the Creator God of Earth. In ''[[VideoGame/StriderArcade Strider 2]]'' his goal has been met in his absence, with all life on Earth being his creation (and they worshipping him as God), but after seeing how decadent and self-destructive his humans turned out to be, he decides to destroy Earth and travel space in search of a new planet where he could start the whole process again to get better results. |
| 259 | * ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'': Strongly {{Implied}}. The instant Thorne hits {{Cyberspace}}, he takes on all the trappings of AGodAmI, including a cult of corrupted Programs (Z-lots), the title of "Master User," and unleashing ZombieApocalypse across the digital world. However, he's [[spoiler:an UnwittingPawn of the true villains, who are a little more subtle in expressing their greed but far more ambitious as they want to exploit "User" status to reign as deities over the Program world and use that to control the human one through control of information.]] Needless to say, the game's protagonist [[InvertedTrope inverts]] this by wanting absolutely nothing to do with "User" status after seeing the kind of damage left behind. |
| 260 | * ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'': A variant in the backstory. Professor Klaus wanted to use the [[PerpetualMotionMachine Conduit]] to elevate ''all of humanity'' to divinity, rather than himself. We don't get to see much of him before he initiates his experiment, but he seemed to believe that if people would just stop standing in his way, all would benefit. He gives what would be a standard AGodAmI speech, but focused entirely on how everyone can become greater, rather than just him. [[spoiler:Which makes it ironic that he accidentally made himself a god ''twice''. The selfish side of Klaus' personality [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 fell through a dimensional rift to a new world and became Zanza, a monster who created new life just to feed on it]]. [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 The rest of Klaus remained on Earth, where he rebuilt the biosphere and was worshiped by the new life that eventually grew]]]]. |
| 261 | |
| 262 | [[/folder]] |
| 263 | |
| 264 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 265 | * ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': The games' GreaterScopeVillain, the Avenger-class Servant known as Aŋra Mainiiu, was once an ordinary human who was ritualistically scapegoated and sacrificed as the incarnation of "All the World's Evils" -- inspiring the Zoroastrian GodOfEvil. Summoned as a Servant during the Third Holy Grail War, Avenger proved to be pathetically weak and was killed immediately... but the Holy Grail registered the wish of the ancient Zoroastrians for an incarnation of "All the World's Evils" and turned Avenger into an embryonic EldritchAbomination. Avenger, for his part, wants to be reborn as a god of destruction and destroy everything, and almost succeeds in the "Unlimited Blade Works" and "Heaven's Feel" routes. |
| 266 | * ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': [[spoiler:Miyo Takano]], the BigBad, wants to grant [[spoiler:her adoptive grandfather]] ''metaphorical'' godhood by [[spoiler:making his scientific research on brain parasites widely recognized]], in addition to [[spoiler:"becoming" Oyashiro-sama by carrying out a massacre of Hinamizawa and blaming it on the deity]]. |
| 267 | * ''VisualNovel/ShinzaBanshoSeries'': Despite being a series focused on powerful individuals attaining godhood, this trope is surprisingly rare in the series with godhood often just being a side effect of whatever the characters are trying to do. That said, it does show up in ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' with Rusalka who at the height of her madness made it clear that she seeks godhood simply for it's sake so that no one is above her. |
| 268 | * ''VisualNovel/SoulOfSovereignty'': After a brief charade posing as a helpless maiden, [[spoiler:Ysmé]] turns out to have this as her ultimate goal. Having set out in search of the titular Sovereignty -- a mythical power said to bestow godhood upon those who bear it -- she'll stop at nothing in order to [[RestartTheWorld carve out a version of the world that is worth existing in]]. |
| 269 | [[/folder]] |
| 270 | |
| 271 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 272 | * ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': Any Regular climbing the Tower to become a Ranker for the power or status is already a {{downplayed}} version, since Rankers are nicknamed "gods". Since there's a really long line of Regulars and then Rankers going up way up in terms of power, there isn't really any clear line for when someone becomes a real PhysicalGod in that sense -- [[TheAgeless immortality]], incidentally, is obtained by anyone who becomes a Ranker. The Slayers of FUG are considered the gods of FUG, so anyone trying for that position counts more seriously. Jahad and (some of?) his original companions were some of the most ambitious Godhood Seekers, and Jahad did succeed in becoming GodEmperor of the Tower. Now, he could well be counted as having succeeded at becoming a DeityOfHumanOrigin, but he continues to seek even more godlike power and absolute control. An ''actual'' god has decreed that it is his fate to be killed by Bam as punishment for his sins, and so he seeks to wrestle control of fate from that God in order to ScrewDestiny. |
| 273 | [[/folder]] |
| 274 | |
| 275 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 276 | * ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': This has already happened once in the setting's backstory. The Raven Queen was once a mortal mage who performed a spell powerful enough to unseat the current god of death (implied to be a Lawful Evil sort) and replace it as a god of both death and fate (Lawful Neutral). The replacement is so thorough that the [[UnPerson previous god's name and the Raven Queen's mortal history has been wiped from existence.]] |
| 277 | ** Another mage tried to do the same by replacing Asmodeus, the god of lies. [[EpicFail He failed so badly]] that he unleashed "The Calamity", a centuries-long war between the betrayer gods and the prime deities that reshaped the world. |
| 278 | ** In Campaign One, godhood was Vecna's ultimate goal. He succeeds in ''becoming'' a god (i.e. transcending his mortal body), but since GodsNeedPrayerBadly he lacks enough followers to manifest a divine domain. As Ioun puts it, the quickest way for him to accomplish this would be to create "a miracle of terror" horrifying and destructive enough to inspire worship out of sheer fear. He planned for this "miracle" to be [[spoiler:the destruction of Vasselheim -- the oldest city in Exandria, seat of power for most of the good-aligned religions, and a fortress that has stood strong for centuries against the forces of evil]]. |
| 279 | * In ''Literature/MagicMetahumansMartiansAndMushroomCloudsAnAlternateColdWar'', the Cambodian genocide is part of a massive HumanSacrifice ritual intended to turn Saloth Sar (Pol Pot, who never changed his name in this timeline) into a god. [[spoiler:He gets nuked out of existence, along with the rest of his government, before he can finish the process.]] |
| 280 | * The protagonist of "Literature/NothingLikeTheSun" [[TheOmnipotent already is a god]], and once she finds out that [[spoiler:her whole world was created by two ordinary humans as a work of fiction]], she comes to the conclusion that either the people involved envy gods like her and [[BeingHumanSucks resent their own pitiful human weakness]], or else just want to ''[[PerverseSexualLust fuck]]'' a god. Ironically, [[spoiler:the authors in question]] could be said to already have divine powers in a way, but can't enjoy them because they don't work in their home universe. |
| 281 | [[/folder]] |
| 282 | |
| 283 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 284 | * ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'': |
| 285 | ** Aggregor's aim during the show's first season is to use his absorption power to absorb [[spoiler:an infant of the Celestialsapien race (a.k.a. just about the single most cosmically powerful alien race in the universe)]] into himself, gaining the [[spoiler:Celestialsapien]]'s full power without the drawback of crippling multiple personalities. |
| 286 | ** In the series finale, [[Characters/Ben10Vilgax Vilgax's]] plan is to absorb the power of [[spoiler:the godlike EldritchAbomination he's been pretending to serve]]. He briefly succeeds, before being de-powered. |
| 287 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': In "The Final Battle" Aaravos offers to show [[Characters/TheDragonPrinceViren Viren]] how to drain Zym's power and make it his own to transcend humanity and become a being none would dare oppose. Viren later attempts to do so, but Rayla stops him before the process can be completed. |
| 288 | * ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': The [[Characters/FinalSpaceTheLordCommandersForces Lord Commander]]'s ultimate goal is to open the breach into Final Space, in the belief that the Titans will make him one of them and let him be god over all dimensions. Turns out, he's mistaken. |
| 289 | * ''WesternAnimation/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2015'': Thanos's ultimate goal is to gain the Cosmic Seed and bend the Universe to his will. |
| 290 | * ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021'': As Skeletor obtains more power and authority, he continues to reach higher and higher with aspirations of godhood. In season 2, he seeks [[ArtifactOfDoom the Sigil of Hssss]] which has the power to raise the dead as an undead army, liking its power to that of a god. [[spoiler:Season 3 reveals that the Sigil was only the first step. Using the undead as a work force to scour the globe, Skeletor's real prize was the tomb of King Grayskull. Using his remains in a ritual, Skeletor was able to resurrect himself with absolute power over [[TheDarkSide Havoc]]. Upon gaining the power of Grayskull as well as Havoc, Skeletor became the PhysicalGod [[OneWingedAngel Cosmic Terror Skeletor]] and set out to remake the universe InTheirOwnImage.]] |
| 291 | * ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': [[Characters/DCAULexLuthor Lex Luthor]] seeks to become a god after being [[YourDaysAreNumbered diagnosed with Kryptonite cancer]] and discovering the blueprints to Amazo's powers and immortality. He doesn't get the chance to upload his conscious into an Amazo android body but after learning that Brainiac has been living inside of him the whole time, he decides to make do with the alien AI's powers instead. After losing Brainiac in a battle with the Justice League, Luthor spends the last season trying to get him back because [[CutLexLuthorACheck the taste of godhood was apparently worth more than the billions he made as a criminal businessman]]. |
| 292 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': [[EvilUncle Unalaq]] believes the only way to bring humans and spirits together is to rule them over as the [[PhysicalGod Avatar]]. However, since that position is already taken by his niece Korra, and she's not willing to go along with his plans, Unalaq decides to unleash [[GodOfEvil Vaatu]] from his prison and merge with him to become the [[EvilCounterpart Dark Avatar]]. To solidify his status as the new Avatar, he also seeks to destroy [[GodOfGood Raava]], the Avatar Spirit, to deprive Korra of her powers and connections to her past lives. |
| 293 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': While the show doesn't directly state it, this is more or less what [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicLordTirek Lord Tirek's]] plan amounts to. In a world where ponies need magic to control the forces of nature, Tirek draining them would give him control over the rise and fall of the sun and moon and allow him to manipulate weather freely, and he'd be the only creature able to grow the crops the ponies need to feed themselves. |
| 294 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': The reason why the Empire has been investing heavily in the Lothal system is because the [[Characters/StarWarsEmperorPalpatine Emperor Palpatine]] had learned of a portal to the World Between Worlds, a place that would give access to all of space and time. Naturally, he wants to use it to dominate the entire universe from beginning to end. |
| 295 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'': The Siblings/Brotherhood of the Forgotten consist mainly of demigods who feel vindictive toward their divine parents and whom their leader Oropo intends to topple and replace the current ruling gods of the World of Twelve. Oropo himself intends to become a "supreme god". [[spoiler:Well, that's what he told almost all his followers. He really does intend to make them the new gods... by [[KillTheGod killing all the old ones]] with a FantasticNuke capable of blowing up the gods' homeworld. He himself is LivingOnBorrowedTime and wants the "supreme god" power to make sure no one can stop him from carrying out his deicide.]] |
| 296 | [[/folder]] |
| 297 | |
| 298 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 299 | * The Greek philosopher [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empedocles Empedocles]] was supposedly this. One version of his death holds that after the gods ''didn't'' invite him to join them, he committed suicide by jumping into mount Etna to make it seem as though he'd been raptured, but the volcano [[SmolderingShoes threw up his charred sandals]] to prove him wrong. |
| 300 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / GodhoodSeeker
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
