Line #54 Main/HealerGod


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7	->''"Our gift to the traveler is a simple one -- we heal those who are in pain."''
8	-->-- '''The Temple of Stendarr''', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall''
9
10	A deity or demigod whose specialty is healing. Most gods can heal in a pinch, but they are not pure healers with a healing domain within a FantasyPantheon. In real-life mythologies, this god is the one who teaches medicine and is the patron for human healing arts. This trope is OlderThanDirt since it appears in stone age cultures, AncientEgypt, and Myth/MesopotamianMythology.
11
12	This trope is for deities and not mortal characters with a healing ability like HealingHands. This type of deity is often TheMedic for their FantasyPantheon and is a source of LifeEnergy or WhiteMagic for player characters needing healing. This type of deity tends to be on the good side of BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil or BlackAndWhiteMorality, or on the side of life in LifeDeathJuxtaposition against death.
13
14	Subtrope of StockGods.
15
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
21	* In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', the Nyan-Nyan are minor goddesses of healing in the FantasyPantheon of the series. They normally take the form of adorable little girls (who all appear to be clones of each other), though they do make an appearance as beautiful adult women towards the end, and one takes the form of a young teenager in the 2nd OVA. They can also be used as temporary containers for [[GhostlyGoals disembodied souls with unfinished business]].
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Apollo's position as an Olympian healer comes up when Zeus' power and mind begin to degrade, but even he can do nothing for a god whose power source has failed so utterly that it is affecting his mind within his own realm.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Literature]]
29	* ''Literature/DarkShores'': Hegeria, worshipped as the goddess of the body, who gives her marked the ability to heal wounds and diseases. This comes at a [[CastFromHitPoints price]], since trying to heal someone whose affliction or wound is really serious can age or even kill the healer.
30	* In ''Franchise/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'', there are a number of gods who specialize in making healing potions. One of Hestia's close friends in Orario, Miach, is a NiceGuy who enjoys handing out potions to newbies in need of them, even though it [[PerpetualPoverty constantly puts his already impoverished family in the red.]] His rival, Dian Cecht, is comparatively wealthy due to his high-quality potions but is a known {{Jerkass}} who constantly overcharges for his services.
31	* ''Literature/TheRavenTower'': Oissen is the PhysicalGod of healing and the inventor of MiracleFood, which give him a sizeable following in Ard Vusktia. It's very much a case of GoodPowersBadPeople since he hones his abilities by observing thousands of slaves as they die of preventable conditions.
32	* ''Literature/GuardiansOfTheFlame'': Doria becomes her character, who's a cleric of the Healing Hand. The entire order is dedicated to healing people in their deity's service.
33	* ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'': When Jiang Ziya names the new 365 gods, the God of Smallpox, Yu Hualong, is told that to compensate his role, his wife Lady Jin will become a healing Goddess of Hospital Wards, tasked with preserving life.
34	* ''Literature/TheHeroIsOverpoweredButOverlyCautious'': Ristarte is the Goddess of Healing, but because she is relatively young for a goddess, unless her full power is released with Order, her healing is about as strong as a medicinal herb. This causes her Hero Seiya to treat her like a LoserDeity at times.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
38	* Myth/AztecMythology:
39	** [[Characters/AztecMythology Patecatl]] was the god of medicine, surgery, and fertility.
40	** [[Characters/AztecMythology Toci]], goddess of healing, midwifery, and herbal medicines.
41	* Myth/CelticMythology
42	** Airmid was Mother of Herbal Healers.
43	** [[Characters/CelticMythology Brighid]] was a popular, major goddess presiding over healing, poetry, and smithwork.
44	** [[Characters/CelticMythology Dian Cecht]] was god of Medicine and father of Airmid.
45	* Literature/TheBible: Jesus, being the Son of God and given authority to heal the sick, goes on to heal the sick, notably blind people and lepers, exorcise demons, and resurrect the dead, even on Sabbath days, to which Jewish authorities find it a violation on their laws. UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} is of course famous for healing people in [[Literature/TheFourGospels the Gospels]]. Healings are probably the most frequent miracle that he's shown to perform.
46	* Myth/ChineseMythology:
47	** Most of [[Characters/ChineseMythology The Eight Immortals]] are associated with healing. They carry items, such as a lotus flower, gourd, or wine, which create medicine.
48	** In Shenism (Chinese folk religion), [[Characters/ChineseMythology Shennong]] was the venerated Father of Medicine, the mythical Yan Emperor who spread knowledge of herbs and medicine. Shennong supposedly died from too much herbal experimentation on his own body.
49	** Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian is a god with the power of healing, also known as "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)".
50	* Myth/ClassicalMythology -- UsefulNotes/AncientGreece:
51	** [[Characters/ClassicalMythologySecondGenerationOlympians Apollo]] had medicine as one of his domains, and was the father of the god of medicine Asclepius.
52	** Asclepius was the official Greek god of medicine.
53	** Epione was Asclepius's wife. Her name meant "soothing", and her role seemed to be a nursemaid.
54	** Hygieia was a goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation and daughter of Asclepius. Her name later became "hygiene".
55	** "Panacea" became a word meaning cure-all. But originally Panacea was the Greek goddess of universal remedies and the daughter of Asclepius.
56	* Myth/CanaaniteMythology: Shadrafa was a benevolent deity whose name translates to "Spirit of Healing". He was the patron deity of the ancient city Leptis Magna, near modern-day Tripoli in the country of Libya. He was worshiped in other ancient Semitic cultures such as Palmyra. He is depicted as young and beautiful (like Adonis) with helpful serpents, scorpions, and lions.
57	* Myth/ClassicalMythology -- AncientRome
58	** Bona Dea was a Roman goddess who cured diseases related to childbirth and infertility.
59	** Menrva was an Etruscan goddess of war, art, wisdom, and medicine. She later lost the medicine domain and became the Roman war goddess [[Characters/ClassicalMythologySecondGenerationOlympians Minerva]].
60	* Myth/EgyptianMythology:
61	** The goddess [[Characters/EgyptianMythology Isis]] was considered a great healer - she cured Osiris.
62	** [[Characters/EgyptianMythology Heqet]] was a goddess of health and wellness. She was worshiped by medical practitioners.
63	** [[Characters/EgyptianMythology Serket]] was the goddess of fertility, nature, animals, magic, and medicine. One of her specialties was healing venomous stings and bites, which might be why she is depicted wearing a scorpion on her head.
64	* Myth/InuitMythology: Pinga was the goddess of medicine, fertility, and hunting, as well as a {{Psychopomp}}.
65	* Myth/HinduMythology: Dhanvantari was physician of the gods and god of Ayurvedic medicine.
66	* Myth/JapaneseMythology:
67	** Okuninushi was the god of nation-building, farming, business, and medicine.
68	** Yakushi Nyorai was a [[{{UsefulNotes/Buddhism}} Buddha]] known for healing and medicine.
69	* Myth/MesopotamianMythology:
70	** Eshmun was a god of healing during the Iron Age in Phoenicia. Eshmun was worshipped in Carthage, Tyre, Beirut, Cyprus, Sardinia, and Sidon.
71	** Kamrusepa is a Hittite goddess of healing, medicine, and magic.
72	** Nintinugga/Gula/Bau was the Babylonian goddess of healing, and consort of Ninurta.
73	** [[Characters/MesopotamianMythology Ninurta]] was god of the South Wind and healing.
74	* Myth/NorseMythology: Eir was the goddess of medical skills.
75	* UsefulNotes/{{Voudoun}}:
76	** The Santerian Orisha named Aja was a powerful goddess of healing. (''Orisha'' is a human recognized as a god or goddess).
77	** The Santerian Orisha named Babalu Aye has the specialty of curing infectious diseases.
78	* Bhaisajyaguru is the medicine Buddha whose mantra is thought to be curative.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
82	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
83	** ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'': This book and games series has a gentle goddess of healing and compassion named Mishakal.
84	** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'':
85	*** Ilmater is a good god who takes on others' suffering, and healing others is a major duty for his worshipers.
86	*** Lathander is the god of birth, renewal, healing, and the sunrise/dawn. He's basically Pelor from the ''Greyhawk'' setting with a different name and a bit less of a solar focus.
87	*** Luthic is the only orc deity concerned with healing, and the most powerful orc goddess.
88	*** Naralis Analor is an elven god known as the Watcher of Souls or the Healer.
89	*** Healing is a domain for dwarven goddesses Sharindlar and Berronar Truesilver.
90	** ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'': Pelor was the popular sun god of light, strength, and healing.
91	* Creator/GamesWorkshop games:
92	** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': Shallya, the pacifistic White Dove of Mercy, is the Human goddess of healing who is loved by all good people. While she and her followers are mostly relegated to the lore when they do have rules (such as in the GaidenGame ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay''), Shallya grants a broad range of healing spells to her cultists, along with one potent offensive spell that only affects followers of Nurgle, the [[{{Plaguemaster}} Chaos God of Disease]].
93	** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Isha, the mother goddess of the [[SpaceElves Aeldari]], is also the goddess of healing and rejuvenation. After the Fall of the Aeldari, Isha was captured by [[AbhorrentAdmirer Nurgle]], the Chaos God of Plagues, who holds her prisoner within his mansion, testing his newest infections on her to see how long it takes her to heal herself. Isha continues to help her children, however, sending them the cures for Nurgle's diseases in their dreams whenever the Plague Father is distracted.
94	* The ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' "Dungeon Fantasy" sub-line features classic dungeon fantasy-style clerics and holy warriors, and allows for the possibility of them worshiping a range of deities. As in other games of dungeon-delving adventure, virtually all clerics -- at least, all "good" clerics -- tend to have healing as a primary function, but some focus on it especially hard. ''GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics'' offers different spell lists and special powers for different types of deity served, and "Gods of Healing" is an option there. The book even covers the possibility of "holy warriors of healing", while acknowledging that this seems a little paradoxical and may require some special explanation.
95	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'':
96	** While [[Characters/PathfinderDeities Sarenrae]] is primarily a solar goddess, she is also associated with healing through her focus on mercy and aiding the suffering.
97	** [[Characters/PathfinderDeities Irori]], while primarily a god of knowledge and enlightenment, also has associations with health and healing.
98	* ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'': In Glorantha, Chalana Arroy is an ActualPacifist goddess of healing. Even the lay members of her cult must pledge to heal and never harm.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Video Games]]
102	* In the VideoGame/CityBuildingSeries:
103	** ''VideoGame/{{Pharaoh}}'': When a city worships Bast as PatronGod and adds the right upgrades to her Temple Complex, her priestesses can remove plagued citizens, preventing them from spreading the infection further (they don't replace physicians though). On the flip side, [[GodIsDispleased anger Bast]] and ''she'll'' send a plague.
104	** ''VideoGame/ZeusMasterOfOlympus'': As a PatronGod, Apollo helps prevent plague in your city. However, if he's hostile, he'll send a plague and curse your infirmaries.
105	** ''VideoGame/EmperorRiseOfTheMiddleKingdom'': As the legendary founder of Chinese herbal medicine, when the Divine Farmer Shen Nong [[PhysicalReligion walks the streets of your city]], he provides herbalist services to all households he passes and halves the cost of new herbalist buildings.
106	* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'''s elven pantheon, Sylaise, the Hearthkeeper, governs all forms of magical and mundane healing, and is said to have taught the art to the elves in the first place.
107	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls:''
108	** While all of the Aedra do qualify to some degree, Stendarr, the God of Justice, and Kynareth, Goddess of the Heavens, are usually the deities that are most heavily associated with healing. Tellingly, this is likely due to their spheres of influence as gods of Compassion and Mercy (Stendarr, on top of being a God of Justice), and a [[NatureSpirit Nature Goddess]] (Kynareth).
109	** Mara, goddess of love, also qualifies in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', as her amulets make Restoration spells easier to cast.
110	* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' features Rodcet Nife as the God of Health and Healing. He and his followers are fundamentally opposed to Bertoxxulous, the evil God of Disease, and his disease-spreading worshippers. ''VideoGame/EverQuestII'' reveals that he took up the vacant domain after the previous Goddess of Health, Anashti'Sul, was banished to the Void because her idea of "curing" death was to create the existence of TheUndead. The domain had been abandoned, and by the time Anashti was able to escape the void back to Norrath, Rodcet had been the Prime Healer for a few millennia. She has since become the evil Goddess of Undeath instead.
111	* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, can be summoned as a Servant in his previously mortal form. As such, he cannot bring people back from the dead as in the myth but is still capable of prodigious feats of healing.
112	* ''Videogame/HonkaiStarRail'' has Yaoshi, the Aeon of Abundance who's known by the title of "Sanctus Medicus" or "Merciful Medicus". Aside from healing they're also fond of granting immortality and longevity, though [[BlessedWithSuck said longevity tends to come with some adverse side effects]] such as mutating into monsters after a certain period of time as well as being unable to fix inborn disabilities such as blindness despite existing tech that should make such problems easily correctable. This has led to the Xianzhou Alliance (whom they granted said form of immortality) to dedicate themselves to hunting down the followers of Yaoshi, who they now refer to as the "Plagues Author".
113	* ''VideoGame/KingOfDragonPass'': Chalana Arroy is the Orlanthi goddess of healing and the one you rely on for healing all forms of injury and illness. Her followers are forbidden from causing harm to another. According to Orlanthi myth, she was a BadassPacifist who subdued several angry gods through healing alone.
114	* Subverted in the interactive romance novel ''VideoGame/{{Moonrise}}''. [[spoiler: While other characters laud Ishara as a goddess with vast powers, she's actually just a wayward healer from another world. In her original world, her powers are perfectly ordinary]].
115	* ''VideoGame/SixAges'' has Erissa, a pacifistic healer goddess with marked similarities to ''VideoGame/KingOfDragonPass'''s Chalana Arroy. And Chalana herself cameos: invoke her name, and her worshippers ''must'' let a healer pass them to reach her patient, even if they were in the process of killing said patient a minute ago.
116	* ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'': Yakushi Nyorai, like in actual Buddhist mythology. He's the go-to doctor for the temple; if any other Buddha sustains any sort of injury or bodily harm, expect his name to pop up.
117	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HealerGod