Basic Trope: A character develops a literal god complex with delusions of grandeur.
- Straight: Having amassed power over all he sees, Emperor Evulz begins to believe that he is a god.
- Exaggerated:
- Having gained all the pieces of the Cosmic Artifacts That Must Not Be Obtained, Emperor Evulz goes One-Winged Angel and ascends as a Multiversal Conqueror, which places him (or so he believes) above and beyond the Powers That Be, which he tries to enslave in his quest to become the Top God. Evulz also constructs a new Crystal Dragon Jesus religion and universal order based on his massive ego, complete with Ominous Latin Chanting.
- Emperor Evulz claims he has become more powerful than the God and/or Gods of the setting, and he can back it up to boot.
- Emperor Evulz states unambiguously that he believes that God himself worships him as a creator deity.
- Downplayed:
- Evulz declares himself a messenger of God.
- Evulz claims to be a demigod.
- Evulz is a god, and always brags about it. The other gods however, consider Evulz to be gutter trash.
- Justified:
- After all, With Great Power Comes Great Insanity.
- Evulz's recently acquired superpowers have had a drastic effect on his psyche and have divorced him from regular human experience.
- Evulz has experienced being belittled before and hated it, thus he metaphorically compensates by developing delirium as a defence mechanism.
- Evulz has a mental illness that causes him to have delusions of grandeur.
- Evulz is an actual Physical God. Therefore, he has every right to boast about his godliness.
- Claiming to be a God is something that all the Emperors did; while it might have started as hubris, by the time Evulz takes the throne it is only tradition.
- It's political: claiming to be a god legitimizes the Emperor's rule and ensures everyone obeys him: after all, who would question a God?
- Inverted:
- A God I Am Not.
- Like a God to Me.
- One of Evulz's newfound powers grants him a new perspective, letting him know that even in his new state he's nothing but a cosmic speck.
- An already god-like being gets so caught up in the fun of the mortal world that he forgets about his divinity at a time when those powers would have been fairly helpful.
- "I am the Devil!"
- Devil Complex
- Evulz is a militant Nay-Theist who, despite all the power he has gained, refuses to acknowledge himself as the thing he hates. He sees his godlike power as nothing more than a means to an end.
- Evulz sees Bob as some sort of god, seeing people praise of him as worship.
- Evulz directly believes there is no god.
- Subverted:
- Evulz gains godlike powers, but maintains a grip on himself and does not succumb to a god complex.
- Other characters think this trope is in effect but since Evulz has acquired God's power(s), this is less of a delusion and more of an objective statement of fact.
- People believe that Evulz is a God, but only so long as he behaves like one. This gets tiring very quickly.
- Despite his Holy Halo and use of the Royal "We", Evulz denies being a god...
- Evulz undergoes a Heel–Face Turn once he gains power and calls himself a god. He feels a duty to all and immediately starts correcting the mistakes he made as a mortal.
- Doubly Subverted:
- Evulz's control gradually slips as he begins to use his powers more and more, until he eventually gives in to his god complex.
- ...The title of god is too weak a term to describe the manner of superior being Evulz believes he is.
- Parodied:
- Eddie has received a minor promotion at his office job and become Drunk with Power; in the middle of throwing his weight around he begins to muse about whether he's actually become a god, much to the bemusement of his co-workers. He ends up wearing a toga and insisting people call him 'Zeus'.
- Bob has declared himself a god, written out a text - The Boble - by hand, established the Church of Bobology, and started an inquisition to weed out the people who don't accept him as the One True Bob.
- Emperor Evulz has no power. In fact, he's not even an Emperor- he is an unemployed loser who lives in his mother's basement and has few, if any, achievements worth boasting about. He still claims himself to be a god, and may even believe it.
- Zig Zagged:
- Mad with power, Evulz calls himself a god, but after a defeat at the hands of the protagonists, he realizes he is not as all-powerful he thought. He escapes and amasses even more power, gets right back at it, only to be defeated and disillusioned once more.
- Evulz says that the differences between him and a god are purely academic at this point. He doesn't try to correct anybody who either calls him a god or denies that he is one as he can see valid reasons to call him both.
- Averted:
- Evulz is a power-mad dictator, but shows no signs of any kind of god complex.
- A good, humble guy is appointed to godhood, and remains a good, humble guy.
- Enforced: "We need an antagonist that is a god, but is mortal and killable, so let's have the antagonist claim he has become a god, where in reality he is not."
- Lampshaded: "Calling yourself a god now, Evulz? You know, that's got to be pretty high up on the list of signs of madness."
- Invoked:
- The Man Behind Evulz pretends to be a cultist and subtly pushes Evulz into believing himself a god, so that in his arrogance, he's easier to control... and dispose of, if need be.
- Emperor Evulz is a Manipulative Bastard armed with sufficiently advanced technology who passes himself off as a god to a primitive tribe to win their loyalty so that he can use them as Cannon Fodder against the heroes later down the line.
- Evulz's Evil Plan requires that he attain godhood (or fake it) as part of a grander scheme.
- Exploited: The Hero challenges Evulz to prove that he really is a god by shrugging off a powerful attack. In his delusion, Evulz falls for it and gets defeated.
- Defied:
- Evulz insists that he be subject to routine psychological profiles so as to detect and catch any impending signs of a god complex, and thus deal with it before it gets out of hand.
- You think you have become a god now, Evulz? News flash- you're still not quite bulletproof.
- Evulz's powers have made him a Reality Warper, but he emphatically denies that he is a god at every opportunity.
- Discussed: "All reports indicate that Evulz's mind is slipping daily... he's making his followers worship him, now."
- Conversed: "A god complex seems to be a required standard of entry into the supervillain club in these comic books."
- Deconstructed:
- Evulz's god complex is symbolic of nothing more than his complete insanity, and actually sees him lose power; as long as his underlings are careful to humour their boss, they can do as they please and he is none the wiser.
- In a situation very similar to real-life versions of The Caligula, Evulz's God-complex sees him begin to rule his empire in an increasingly erratic and hubristic fashion, causing suffering and pain to everyone around him, while his own god complex turns against him, with his delusional insanity preventing him from seeing events realistically and drawing him closer to his own downfall. Things get so bad that even Evulz's trusted underlings decide they have to do something about their leader's mania.
- Evulz turns out to have Hidden Depths. He's actually a Broken Ace who became so damn good at everything that his gifts caused people to worship him rather than befriend him; gradually resulting in his alienation from conventional society and self-proclaimed status as a God-Emperor. Now, gaining power for its own sake is his only purpose in life and he cannot form any kind of emotional bond with others.
- Reconstructed: Evulz gradually learns that his underlings haven't been taking him seriously and shows them what he really means when he claims to be a god. Cue the "divine" wrath.
- Evulz manages to turn his insanity back in on itself when, in a fit of lucidity, he realities that his pride, arrogance and grandstanding are not benefiting his "station" as a deity: a god must have dignity. He then becomes an immensely competent, dangerous No-Nonsense Nemesis filled with Dissonant Serenity due to his wholehearted belief that anything less would disrespect his nature as a (still self-appointed) god.
- Played for Laughs:
- The heroes hear that Evulz has started believing he's a god. They sneak into his lair only to find a massive party. As it turns out, Evulz DOES think he's a god. Bacchus, to be exact.
- Evulz stands atop his Evil Tower of Ominousness and screams at the four winds: "Tremble before me world, AS NOW I AM THE ONE AND TRULY GOD!"... And then a Bolt of Divine Retribution fries him to a crisp while a heavenly yet calm voice quips back at him: "No, you're not".
- Played for Drama:
- Evulz is aware that he's losing his sanity but can't do anything about it. While believing he's a god, he ends up harming the few people he actually cared about. After being brought down to normal, Evulz is forced to face the consequences of his actions.
- The heroes hear that Evulz has started believing he's a god. They sneak into his lair only to find a massive party. As it turns out, Evulz DOES think he's a god. Bacchus, to be exact. It's when the maenads start tearing animals and babies to bits in their drunken rampages that it dawns on people that this is not a good thing.
- Crisis of Faith-sufferer Evulz amasses a great deal of power so that he can spit it in the face of the Powers That Be. He gets a Bolt of Divine Retribution to the face for his troubles.
- Played For Horror: Evulz goes full Omnicidal Maniac to prove his godhood to the world.
A God Am I! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea of tropes!
