YMMV / Egyptian Mythology

• Adaptation Displacement: Many of the gods are known today by their Greek names. If you mention Wesir, Djehuti, or Anpu nobody except Egyptologists will know what you're talking about. Most people have heard of Osiris, Thoth, and Anubis though. The only real exception is Sobek, whose Greek name Suchus is far more obscure^note At least in common use; the greek name has lent its meaning in the Greek language for Crocodile and thus appear in many scientific names.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Happened a lot in Egypt; each city and area seemed to have their own take on the religion, so as a result there are several sun gods and many other gods whose jobs and areas of expertise overlap.
  • Also, over time as Egypt changed capitals, its local cult would become influential and various gods would be honored or vilified.
  • Set in particular is a rather contentious god, thanks to the complicated history in regards to how Egyptians perceived him. Was he a callous tyrant, or a defender of Ra? Did he kill Osiris out of jealousy, because he slept with Nephthys, or because he usurped Ra?
  • The fact that Nephthys is both Set's wife and Osiris' helper invites this. Early on she and Set were worshiped together, implying that they were seen as partners; as Set became more vilified, however, the story shifted to Nephthys being unhappy or afraid of him and then siding with Osiris and Isis after the murder.
  • Isis's coup of Ra to put Horus on the throne has room for different motivations when one considers that Ra was far from a saint himself, being the one who ordered Sekhmet to commit genocide on humanity because he thought they didn't respect him enough, and Isis was considered a protector of the people.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The Egyptians themselves largely had this reaction to Akhenaten's experiment with Atenist monotheism and its associated artistic innovations. Research suggests Akhenaten had good reason for his decisions (beyond personal piety) rooted in the social and political conditions of his empire, that the Eighteenth Dynasty had started to raise Aten's profile before Akhenaten took the throne (his father, Amenhotep III, had made a few dedications to the previously-minor god) and that his reforms had some lasting impact (mostly to do with art, but the experiment also left some nasty political/dynastic consequences that led to the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty). However, at the time Egyptians appear to have felt that this new religion came from nowhere, was weird, and then left without leaving a significant trace.
• Common Knowledge: No, Anubis is not the equivalent of Satan. He was merely the embalmer for the dead, and his role in the myths was rather minor. Neither is Set, for that matter; he was demonized much more over time as the cult of Horus gained power and further spread the story of how Set killed Osiris and fought Horus, cementing him as the perennial Evil Uncle, but originally he was portrayed positively as the protector of Ra and enemy of Apep. Apep would probably be closest to the Satanic Archetype, if it weren't for the fact that he only existed as an embodiment of chaos and had no role outside of that (so no active corrupting or deals with the devil here).
• Complete Monster: Apep, more widely known in the West by his Greek name, Apophis, was the Egyptian god of darkness, chaos, and destruction. Residing in the Underworld, Apophis took the form of a colossal snake, and every night, would attempt to devour the sun god Ra, as he made his way through the land of the dead, hoping to leave the world without light or life. During the day, while Ra was in the sky, Apophis would feed on those dead souls who were not properly protected against him, leading to their complete obliteration. His motives for doing so were that, as a primordial being associated with the dark, he hated the fact that there was a sun, or life on Earth, and aimed to go back to the way things used to be. He was also the leader of armies of demons, and sought to subvert mortal confederates into aiding his nihilistic agenda. Reviled by all the other deities, even Set, and universally loathed in Egypt, Apophis was the only god to have the distinction of never being prayed to. Instead, temples and ceremonies were set up to pray against him.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Anubis, in more modern times. For the common layman he may be the only Egyptian god they can name. Even though, while he was always among the major gods in ancient Egypt, he was by no means the most widely worshiped. Additionally, Anubis is the Greek name - his Egyptian name is Anapa or Anpu.
  • Bastet was a relatively minor goddess back in the day, but she's very popular today thanks to the Furry Fandom and the internet's love for cats.
  • For a lot of nerds/geeks with a passing interest in Egyptian mythology, Thoth is popular mostly because he's a Badass Bookworm.
  • Obscure deity Medjed, mentioned in passing in the Book of the Dead, has achieved massive popularity in Japan, entirely because of his odd appearance (he's a Bedsheet Ghost with legs) and the fact that it's implied he had laser eyes. Like Kek below, he also gained wider fame on the Internet from 2021 onwards due his very... suspicious appearance. Funny (or unsettling) thing is, it remains completely unknown if the popular illustration of Medjed actually is intended to represent him in the first place, and what it would be if it isn't supposed to be him.
  • Kek was one of the more obscure deities... then in 2016 he became a 4chan meme.
  • Isis is this for the Westerners. Being the only Egyptian deity to escape Hellenization mostly unharmed, rarely being identified or combined with a Hellenic Goddess, she had her own Greco-Roman temples both in and outside of Egypt, Greek names in her honor (Isidoros and Isidora), AND inspiring the veneration of the Virgin Mary^note  Egyptologist have theorized that early Christianity incorporated customs from local cults to make the budding religion more palatable and attractive, and that may have included iconicizing central mother figures. are a testament of that. While not by any means a minor character, her role in the overall mythology is rather less than that of Osiris, Horus, and Set.
• Evil Is Cool: This is probably the reason why Set is one of the most popular gods in pop-culture today. Having successfully tricked Osiris to his death, removing his body parts, and ultimately usurping him until his battle with Horus, as well as being based on an unknown animal have certainly made him stand out.
• Fanon: Despite the animal headed gods looking simply like humans with animal heads, much of the modern day Fan Art (especially from the Furry Fandom) inaccurately portrays them as full-on Beast Men complete with a full body of fur, a tail, and animalistic foot paws.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
  • As mentioned above, Westerners love Isis. Probably because she is one of the few major fertility goddess that is significantly more likable than Hera/Juno and Aphrodite/Venus.
  • On the other side of the Pacific, Japan loves Medjed, mostly due to how goofy his appearance is, to the point of making him a meme on social media.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Isis, the goddess of fertility, would later share a name with the Islamic terrorist group, ISIS. It got to the point where an Oakland spa had to remove Isis from the name out of safety concerns.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The word Thoth resembles a modern slang term with a completely different meaning. Additionally, the Greek spelling of Thoth (Θώθ) resembles the emoticon OwO, used to represent a Cat Smile (with the two O's depicting eyes and the W depicting the mouth).
  • A popular translation of the only known mention of Medjed, a mysterious god from the Book of the Dead, is that he lives "among them in the House of Osiris". A couple of thousand years later and we got an entire video game of similarly-designed characters with a very similar phrasing to the first two words. This itself wouldn't amount to much, had it not been for the game's biggest contribution to Internet culture being a meme where people pick out references to being "among" something or freak out over similarly-shaped Armless Bipeds, both of which also made Medjed exemplary of the meme.
• Magnificent Bastard: The goddess Isis, in one story, desires the true name of Ra to gain power over him and enhance her authority. Knowing only Ra's essence can harm him, she slowly collects his sweat and mixes it with a snake she creates, arranging for it to bite Ra and nearly kill him. Isis then tries to heal Ra, tricking him into giving his true name so she may heal him entirely, allowing her to hold ultimate authority over the other gods.
• Nightmare Retardant: Some Egyptian demons are rather hard to take seriously nowadays. Among these there is a woman with a turtle for a head (not the head of a turtle, the entire body), a sun with a knife, and a Bedsheet Ghost (Medjed).
• Popular with Furries:
  • Because most of the gods are depicted with animal heads, Egyptian Mythology became very popular with the Furry Fandom.
  • Anubis became particularly popular among the twentieth century furry fandom, with plenty of Rule 34. The Malaysian furry artist Lim Guo Liang lampooned this by showing Anubis lamenting his modern sex symbol status.
    Anubis: I was once a great God of Death... now, I'm a bloody symbol of sodomy and lust. WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?!
  • Bastet. Thanks to being the cat goddess, complete with her head being depicted as a cat, has also become popular among furries.
• Squick:
  • In some creation myths, Atum brought Shu and Tefnut into existence by masturbating. Sometimes he ejaculated into his own mouth and then spit out his man-juice to create them.
  • The sheer amount of Divine Incest and other sexual oddities in the mythos has resulted in massive amounts Bowlderization of Egyptian mythology; for instance, the part of Osiris that was never recovered after Set murdered him was his wedding tackle.
• Ugly Cute: Bes, who appears like a grotesque dwarf and yet looks endearing. He was also a protector and family deity. Medjed could also qualify, due to looking like a Bedsheet Ghost.
• Viewer Species Confusion: It is hotly debated what animal Set is supposed to be. Common guesses include, but are not limited to, jackal (but heavily stylized to avoid confusion with Anubis), dog (specifically a Saluki, a breed of sighthound), donkey, aardvark, or a completely made-up creature; the overall archaeological consensus is tilted towards the latter as he was associated with many animals so chimaerism explains this weirdness. To keep things simple, Set is said to simply be the "Set animal", sha, or Typhonic Beast (due to his association with the Greek Typhon).

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