Using Gods/Goddesses in your story

[TheHerald]

So while working on my fantasy project, I had started to wonder how other creators use deities in their stories and reader's thoughts of them being used (whether as lore, passive, constantly active in the world, etc). What are your thoughts as a reader and/or writer of using deities in fiction?

[BurntSushi]

As a reader I think it's a really good way of stating a story is playing by its own rules. You get the Chaos Gods of Warhammer 40K, the Goddesses of The Legend of Zelda, the varied Lords of Samurai Jack, the big good/neutrals/bad of Душа возвращается на землю/The Soul Returns To The Earth(Russian/English), etcetera. Once a deity comes into play you can immediately renounce any feelings that a setting is unrealistic, because to have a deity is to cut it off from any other remotely similar setting.

[dan]

I think an important thought to make when building the world is whether the deities definitively exist and shape the world or not. Many worlds built by creators state flat out in prologues who the deities are, that they're real and do X, Y and Z, etc, opposed by Dark Forces 1, 2 and 3, etc.

I would personally find it more interesting to have some of that kept a mystery from the readers. Just like the adherents of the religions, belief in these deities on the part of characters and readers should be more natural, more requirement of faith, less "I know Goddess ABCD is real because look, I pray, she heals 10 HP!", if you know what I mean.

[TeAlb]

I'm currently making a sort of mythology+history inspired webcomic , then I tend to use gods like part of the day-to-day life, with rituals and stuff, but also dreams and omens and things that could be seen by the characters as the gods' influence, and at the other hand how they can use the gods to influence.
I think this decision really depends on what kind of story you want to tell, how much weight the gods have in your universe, the decisions you make can even be different for each character, there isn't a better or right option in my opinion.

[TheHerald]

Yeah I totally get what your saying. It is rather close to what I wish more fantasy writers do. For me, I wish you get the perspective of someone who believes in one deity while another doesn't, so you get to a point you begin to question whether it is the believer or non-believer have the correct point of view. Basically making you question what is real and what isn't.

[dan]

Yup, but it seems the majority of fantasy comics that include deities make it abundantly clear from the narrator saying it flat out that "these are the deities and they totally actually exist."

[TheHerald]

Totally agree. Also this is a bit off topic, but I gotta say, I really love that art style you got going on there....kinda jealous to be honest. Lol!

[TheHerald]

Agreed, I mean. At the very least, I think there should be a bit of an air of mystery if you plan on revealing that they exist and all. Because the deities and such are not to be predictable in my opinion. Which I think can sometimes make or break a story, which is if the deities are handled in an appropriate manner or not.

[Strontium]

I really enjoy writing stories about gods, most of my stories have them and so does my webcomic, which actually just explained that whole "gods are real" situation this week. I've got made up gods and real mythological gods in my stories, although most of the stories are about my own creations since I have the greatest artistic liscense with them.

I think my interest in writing stories about deities comes from being a religious minority in my country. Since I've started writing in the fifth grade, gods always factored into my stories. Somemes they had passive roles, but more often they had very active roles. Gods in my stories are very static, to a fault, which makes them good foils for characters who grow and change a lot.

[TeAlb]

Thank you, I guess XD And I think there's a bit of perspective involved too, if you want to use gods directly as main characters or if they'll be mixed with your mortal characters from start is a thing, other thing is if your story will be about mortals in a world of gods or a world that believes in them. A fantasy comic walking in these lines amazingly (and brutally lol) is Monstress, by Marjorie Liu.

[SiriusLeeLost]

One good aspect of thinking when dealing with gods is that you have to think of what they do and what they have done to your world. Take the gods we have now: for the Norse, they believe thunder storms in harsh winters were Thor battling with ice giants. The ancient Greeks believed the gods favored them in battles and bless them with powers (when in fact they mistook this for really being adrenaline kicking in)
Events or landscapes that mark the world can very well be the work of gods, if nothing can be explained scientifically, it is in the realm of the gods to influence the backstory of it all.

• A massive volcano erupts, but this time lightning is coming out of it? There must be an epic battle going on in here!
• I'm having reoccurring dreams? The gods must be telling me something!
• The moon has turned red! The gods have forsaken us!

Really, just take a look at how history portrayed a lot of events back then. It's only through the reasoning of the culture in the area to determine who or what is going on. (Or in this case you) It's only a matter of filling in the blanks of why a god would do such a thing in the first place.

On a side note now:
If you're up for a good challenge, try reading into J.R.R Tolkiens The Silmarillion (Or at least tidbits of it) There you can find diverse selections of gods and how they came to be and what functions they made for themselves.

I would also highly recommend looking into the gods of H.P Lovecraft as well; in which creatures like Cthulu aren't truly gods, but inter-dimensional beings that the human brain can't comprehend.

Try looking up summaries of these gods on youtube, they can be rather enlightening

[Lindsette]

I'm pagan so when I reference deities it's usually the ones I am most comfortable with. I make a lot of my stories as almost devotionals to my Gods/Goddesses I worship. Most of the time i write them as my characters religious figures sometimes the deities interact if it's very important.

[punkarsenic]

in There was a War, a few gods have been introduced and more mentioned. theyre a very important part of the story, as Balor's people are at war with Cath's gods. As the story goes on they take an increasing active, antagonistic role and ultimately control everything that's happening.

i really like deities in fiction. it gives you a lot to play with in terms of plot and characterisation, and philosophy. it forced you to consider your characters religious beliefs, which i think is a really important part of their characterisation, because religion influences so much more of our understanding of the world than we even realise. gods are also a great get out of jail free card, to be honest.

[KSlinger]

There are a few religions/gods in my story but they aren't elaborated upon or involved in the plot, just acknowledged here and there.

I feel Gods are a bit like magic systems in that they need to have boundaries in order to be believable. The source of their power, the limits of those powers, the god's own personal histories and origins, the religions themselves, the followers and tenets-- all those things needs to be considered when devising a god who is actively involved in the story, but by considering those things at all you begin adding layers upon layers of exposition to an already complicated world you might not be able to explain in the first place. What self-contained story really has the breadth and depth to explore those areas to the fullest degree? Unless you story is literally about humans and gods and the gods are characters in themselves do yourself a favour and settle for hints and suggestions rather than spending hours devising world histories that will never see the light of day. Or do construct them for your own personal enjoyment, but don't burden yourself with trying to explain them to readers who are be quite happy with the basics.

[neonmeres]

I think deities tend to symbolize certain ideas or things. For that reason I like using them when I'm looking for a character who can fully represent a certain subject i want to explore in my project.

[cleo_san]

I have implemented gods and godesses in my comic, however they are said to be dead, killed by their own creations who now rule in their place...
My deities represented the elements of the currently existing magic system of my world and are said to have gifted some chosen humans with their elemental power.

I'd have more difficulties implementing "real" gods in a story, though. Before I offend someone who is a strong believer I prefer to invent something completely different =P (Besides, I personally can't read stories anymore, where the Christian Church is evil or lookie, angels again - not because I have a conflict of belief but because there are SO. MANY. STORIES. already x_X)

Creating fantasy deities leaves you much more freedom and creaticity, imho =)
There are some good stories who prove otherwise though I guess it all depends on HOW you make it =)

[Chroma]

The fun thing about using deities is that there are many varieties! Everyone before my has covered them all well enough, but I'd also like to mention the various levels of "god-dom" per say.

• You've got the omnipotent, omniscient gods at the top, who are usually the only one of their kind and cannot be seen, harmed, or bargained with.
• You've got your elemental gods who all share dominion over the same world, but none of which are omniscient, nor are they omnipotent, meaning they can be tricked or even killed.
• And then you're got your self appointed "gods", with quotes being around there since they are technically just people with incredible power.

[Mari]

It annoys me when the gods are clearly western gods (omnipotent creators), but only in name only. With japanese/asian lore it's alright, as they have some shit like oooh the stove spirit etc, so having 'gods' that only have small powers makes sort of sense. But when you add a deity with close to unlimited powers, it's important you establish what is it that this deity can and cannot do. If you want to make it into a god just because it sounds cool, but end up not doing anything tangible with said godhood, then don't. Also it's important than if it's an interfering god (as oppposed to some thoughtless/genderless energy) to treat it as a character first. If the god is meant to interact with beings in it's realm, be they spacealiens or whatever, it's important to establish the tone. If the god has feelings etc, just writing it as -a god- rather than -a character- usually ends up with inconsistencies and 2-dimensional plotbunnies. For example, in the Old Testament the god is a spiteful asshole (sorry for getting biblical, but that was the best example I could come up with), and the tone is very clear.

All in all, to me it's very important that any sort of religions / omnipotent beings are written properly, even if half of their backstory/whatever never ends up in the story. Flimsy gods that can do whatever are very annoying to read about.

[garrenn]

They're going to be in a future comic faaaaaar down the line, but I do have a story with God's and my own strict rules for how they operate. I've worked on them for years now so I have a good grasp on how they function. Some of my gods are loosely based on God's from various real world mythologies while most are my own creation. It's important to let up limits and rules or else the story might become stale. for instance, in my future comic, I have three demigod characters inspired by the fates. they can grant wishes but each comes with their own rules and caveats. One can grant strictly positive wishes (ie not doing harm onto others) and without much of a price, but she's hard to find. One has to be summoned and will charge you greatly, but her wishes have more flexibility. The third can do harm to others but her wishes tend to come with a double edged effect so most stay away from her sadistic nature.

[ahhvecadoes]

My biggest thing is to make sure you have your mythology for whatever deities you're using written out and defined enough that you can reference it. I've created a mythology for Heart Hex, mostly surrounding demons, and it was one of the first things I did before writing out scripts. It bothers the hell out of me when writers don't stick to their rules for cosmic deities within their own fiction!

I personally like deities and spirits that are relatively passive unless called upon, especially if it's set in a more post-religious world. They exist and they watch, but intervene in mortals' lives rarely.