History Characters / SmiteHinduPantheon

One of the main deities in Hinduism, Shiva is (alongside being Ganesha's father and Parvati/Kali's husband) one of the Trimurti, which consists of Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva himself (the destroyer), all three gods representing the endless cycle of creation and destruction. He is the first god to be released for Smite's ninth season.\\\

* BadassAbnormal: Though he's a GodInHumanForm, he's still more or less human (since only a mortal can kill Ravana) and before the introduction of Cu Chulainn, Merlin and Arthur he used to be the only mortal in Smite's roster (this would have been a span of nearly six year of the game's lifespan). Regardless, he still possesses enough raw skill and talent to pose a threat to immortal deities.

[[caption-width-right:250:"Don't fear that I will bring suffering, for in truth I will bring an end to it!"[[labelnote:Click here for her Classic look]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px_t_kali_default_card_old.png]][[/labelnote]]

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: {{Downplayed}}; the streak of blue in Shiva's hair represents the sacred River Ganges. In one Hindu story he offered to help break the Ganges' descent from heaven by catching her in his locks, and she has formed a part of his iconography since.

[[caption-width-right:250:"Don't expect me to wish you health and long life, you'll have neither."]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/smite.gamepedia.com/7/71/VamanaV2_Intro_2.ogg "It's time to fight!"]][softreturn][[labelnote:Click here for his Classic look]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/t_vamana_default_card.png]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/smite.gamepedia.com/f/f7/Agni_Intro.ogg "Time to burn!"]][softreturn][[labelnote:Click here for his Classic look]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/t_agni_default_card_old2.png]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/smite.gamepedia.com/e/ef/Bakasura_Intro_2.ogg "Time to eat!" *munch munch*]] [[labelnote:Click here for his Classic look]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2e10b88033060cb81be3f848886c7d8e_monsters_mythology.jpg]][[/labelnote]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/smite.gamepedia.com/a/af/Kali_Intro_2b.ogg "None shall stand before us this day!"]][[labelnote:Click here for her Classic look]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px_t_kali_default_card_old.png]][[/labelnote]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/smite.gamepedia.com/5/5b/Ravana_Intro_2.ogg "No god nor demon can defeat me!"]]]]

The deities and mythological characters of India which are playable in ''Smite''. The Myth/HinduMythology page deals with and can provide beneficent information about their real world counterparts, also see {{UsefulNotes/Hinduism}}.

* {{Curse}}: Flavor text of ''Turn of Fate'' indicates that Ganesha curses his enemies with his willpower, making them take extra damage from Ganesha's

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Very [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] with his ''Turn of Fate'' ability that was obviously inspired by this trope by causing himself and allied gods gain 2% more damage per enemy hit up to a maximum of 5 stacks, which is a useful improvement but not a crazy one at its maximum.

* SupportPartyMember: While still quite capable of pulling out some lethal {{Combos}}, Ganesha is clearly intended to hand the glory over to his allies while shutting down vital enemy abilities.

The deities and mythological characters of India which are playable in ''Smite''. The Myth/HinduMythology page deals with and can provide beneficent information about their real world counterparts.

* SimSimSalabim: Like real life India, the depictions of the Hindu characters in the game are a mixture of both ancient times and modern-day Hinduism.

As a Warrior, Shiva descends onto the battlefield to bring destruction and recreation in his wake, alternating between supporting his allies and obliterating his foes. His passive is ''Samsara'', which has him switch between ''Bliss'' and ''Destruction'' states by dealing damage to enemies, with his abilities gaining additional effects depending on the state he is in. ''Bliss'' abilities buff his allies while ''Destruction'' abilities debuff enemies. In addition, Shiva passively buffs ally HP and MP regen while in ''Bliss'' and debuffs enemy regen while in ''Destruction'', while also reducing the cooldown of his basic abilities when he switches states. His first ability is the ''Emblazoned Sweep'' where he empowers his trident with flame and spins around it, damaging and pulling in enemies while leaving a burning wall at the edge that increases ally movement speed while in ''Bliss'' or reduces enemy protections while in ''Destruction''. His second ability, ''Damaru's Tempo'', has him send out a cone of energy that damages enemies it passes through as well as knocks up enemies in a target area. ''Bliss'' gives an attack speed boost to allies hit by the energy wave while ''Destruction'' reduces the attack speed of enemies hit. ''Pillar of Dawn'', his third ability, has him dash into a pillar of fire, meditate in it for a few seconds, then dash again. While meditating, he takes reduced damage, negates enemy CC, and radiates an aura that will allow allies inside it to negate a single basic attack (3 attacks for Shiva) while in ''Bliss'' or damage enemies while in ''Destruction''. Finally, his ultimate has him perform the ''Shiva Tandava'', a dance that grants him CC immunity and damage reduction that consists of 4 steps with 3 selectable effects: A step that damages enemies and removes a fixed percentage of enemy shields, a step that restores the health and mana of allies, and a step that damages and heals (at half the effectiveness of the previous steps) as well as increasing the radius and power of the next step used.

Vamana is a versatile Warrior god that can be difficult to take down, provided he can first be caught. His passive, ''Sleeping Giant'', grants him bonus physical power based on his physical protection. Additionally, being attacked by enemy gods while under the effect of his ultimate extends its duration by up to ten seconds. Vamana's first ability, ''Clear the Path'', makes him charge forward umbrella-first, damaging and knocking up any enemies he encounters. His second ability, ''Armored Umbrella'', makes him attack a cone area in front of him with his umbrella, dealing damage. His third ability, ''Umbrellarang'', keeps up the theme of attacking with his umbrella, this time throwing it forward and having it return, damaging and slowing enemies it encounters. Enemies can be hit twice by the move. Vamana's ultimate, ''Colossal Fury'', makes him grow to immense size, gaining crowd control immunity, protections, power, and rapid health regeneration. His basic attacks also all hit in an AOE while large.

Ganesha is a Guardian god capable of selflessly benefiting his team through his own aggressive playstyle. His passive, ''Good Fortune'', allows him to grant the credit and rewards for any kill he secures to the closest ally god within assist range, giving him an assist instead. To compensate for this, his assist range is slightly larger than normal and he has slightly more time after hitting a target to get the assist credit. His first ability, ''Turn of Fate'', is a projectile that damages any enemy it hits. For each enemy hit, up to a maximum of five, he grants all ally gods nearby a brief damage buff. His second ability, ''Ohm'', has him chant, increasing physical protections of all ally gods near him. The chant is also bellowed outward in a cone that silences enemies in front of him. His third ability, ''Remove Obstacles'', is a quick charge capable of running through player-made obstacles. When he hits an enemy he locks him in place, damaging him before knocking him up into the air. His ultimate, ''Dharmic Pillars'', summons four pillars in a square formation with a magic field between them. Any enemy god that passes through this field is damaged, slowed, and has reduced protections.

Kumbhakarna is a Guardian god who uses multiple types of crowd control to lock his enemies down. His passive, ''Sleepy'', makes him fall asleep instead of being slain when reduced to zero HP. Unless hit with six to ten (depending on his level) basic attacks within eight seconds, he will wake up with 25% health and mana. The passive, however, has a lengthy cooldown. Kumbhakarna's first ability, ''Throw Back'', makes him run forward and smash belly-first into the first enemy he encounters, dealing damage. If the target is a minion, they become a projectile, dealing further damage to all enemies they pass through. Using his second ability, ''Groggy Strike'', Kumbhakarna lifts his staff overhead and, after a painfully-long delay, brings it down on a cone area in front of himself, dealing damage and rooting all enemies hit. Kumbhakarna's third ability, ''Mighty Yawn'', releases a yawn that puts any enemies nearby to sleep for a considerable duration. If damaged, they awake, but are slowed briefly. He can use this ability even if asleep from ''Sleepy''. Kumbhakarna's ultimate, ''Epic Uppercut'', has him dash forward and deliver a powerful blow to the first enemy encountered, sending them into the sky for two seconds before crashing back down, dealing damage and knocking up all enemies nearby.

Agni is a Mage god with a good mixture of damage, crowd control, and mobility, but is somewhat short-ranged. His passive, ''Combustion'', grants him a stack with every successful basic attack. Upon reaching four stacks, his next ''Flame Wave'' or ''Rain of Fire'' will also set their targets on fire, dealing damage over time for a few seconds. His first ability, ''Noxious Fumes'', summons a cloud of combustible gas at a nearby area for a few seconds, damaging all enemies inside. Additionally, if any of his other abilities hit the gas cloud they will make it explode, stunning all enemies inside. His second ability, ''Flame Wave'', launches a wave of fire that damages all opponents in a line in front of Agni. With his third ability, ''Path of Flames'', Agni dashes a short distance forward, also leaving behind for a few seconds a burning trail of flames that set all enemies that pass through them on fire, damaging them over time. His ultimate ability, ''Rain of Fire'', allows Agni to store up to three flaming halos over time that can be consumed to call down a meteor at a nearby area, damaging all opponents inside.\\\

Bakasura is an Assassin god that can wipe out minions instantly and use them to overwhelm his opponents. His passive, ''Insatiable Hunger'', temporarily increases Bakasura's movement and attack speed whenever he kills an enemy unit, stacking up to three times. His first ability, ''Take Down'', makes Bakasura leap to a nearby area, damaging and reducing the physical protections of all enemies around his landing point. With his second ability, ''Eat Minion'', Bakasura grabs a nearby enemy or non-buff neutral minion and consumes it, healing himself and gaining a bonus to his physical and magical protections for a brief duration. Additionally, he can store up to six minions for use with his ultimate ability. His third ability, ''Butcher Blades'', passively increases Bakasura's physical power, and can be activated to temporarily make his basic attacks deal bonus unblockable true damage. With his ultimate ability, ''Regurgitate'', Bakasura spews forth a shadowy mass, slowing and crippling all enemies in a targeted area. For every minion stored with ''Eat Minion'', Bakasura will also spawn a goo-covered soldier to fight for him for a few seconds. Bakasura attacks using ghostly jaws for several seconds, hitting all enemies in a cone-shaped area. Additionally, he is immune to crowd control for a short duration.

Kali is an Assassin goddess who excels in tracking down a single target, not stopping until that target is slain. Her passive, ''Marked for Death'', allows her to select an enemy god. Kali's attacks gain extra penetration against that god, and she heals for most of her health on killing that god and for a portion of her health on an assist. Additionally, she receives extra gold when killing or assisting the target's death. When a mark dies, the god closest to her becomes her new target, but if Kali herself is killed, she chooses a new mark upon respawn. Kali's first ability, ''Nimble Strike'', has her leap to a target location, dealing damage to all enemies there. In addition, she is healed for 20% of the missing health of the most injured enemy hit. Her second ability, ''Lash'', throws out three blades, one forward and two on arcing paths. The blades converge at a distance of Kali's choosing. Each blade deals damage to enemies it passes through and applies a three second bleed. The bleed does not stack, but Kali gains extra lifesteal against bleeding targets. Kali's third ability, ''Incense'', has her smash the censer she carries against the ground, stunning all nearby enemies and increasing her power for a moderate duration. Using her ultimate ability, ''Destruction'', Kali becomes a whirling dervish of death, dealing damage to all nearby enemies. She cannot die while using ''Destruction'', and will be healed to 15% of her health if she is below that level at its end. She is also immune to knockbacks and roots, but not stuns.

Ravana is a former Warrior (now an Assassin) due to that he becomes tougher to kill the longer he persists in a fight. His passive, ''Chain of Blows'', gives Ravana a shield for 5% of his max health for every eight hits on an enemy, stacking up to three times. Ravana's first ability, ''Prana Onslaught'', hits all enemies in a cone in front of Ravana, slowing them by 25% for 2.5 seconds. His second ability, ''Overhead Kick'', has Ravana send a shockwave forward to damage all enemies in a line. He cannot be damaged during the action, but he is not immune to crowd control effects. His third ability, ''10-Hand Shadow Fist'', damages all enemies, passing through minions and rooting the first god hit. Damaging enemies heals Ravana based on damage dealt, up to 20%. His ultimate, ''Mystical Rush'', causes Ravana to rush to an area, knocking aside all enemies in his path. The closest enemy to the center of his landing point takes heavy damage and is linked to Ravana, doing full damage to him while all other enemies do reduced damage.

Rama is a Hunter god whose abilities all empower his basic attacks in some way. His passive, ''Astral Quiver'', generates and stores up to five Astral Arrows, which are consumed by some of his other abilities. One arrow is generated every twelve seconds, but every successful attack Rama lands will reduce that by two seconds. His first ability, ''Astral Strike'', costs no mana and has no cooldown, but instead consumes one Astral Arrow per shot. Activating ''Astral Strike'' makes Rama's arrows pierce through all enemies, slowing and dealing extra damage to all targets hit. His second ability, ''Pick Me Up'', passively gives a chance (up to 50%) that a target hit with an Astral Arrow will spawn a pickup which Rama may collect to restore one Astral Arrow to himself. Rama can also activate this power to increase his attack speed for a brief duration. His third ability, ''Rolling Assault'', makes Rama perform a rapid dodge roll in the direction he is currently moving in. Additionally, the next attack will consume an Astral Arrow if available, making the next shot deal increased damage and cripple the target hit. Using his ultimate ability, ''Astral Barrage'', Rama leaps into the sky, protecting him from harm, giving him a commanding view of the battlefield, and letting him release three arrows at any spot within the ability's immense range. Each arrow deals more damage in a smaller area than the one before it. These shots do not consume Astral Arrows.

[[caption-width-right:250:"My arrival signals the end of the unjust. An end to this war and an end to everything! From the ashes will the universe be born anew!"]]

* AscendedExtra: Shiva previously made cameos in the lore backgrounds of Ganesha and Ravana. Now he is officially set to join the Battleground of the Gods as a playable character.

Ravana was an infamous Demon King from the region of Lanka. He was a peerless leader amongst fiends and monsters, in addition to being a master combatant and a genius scholar. But there was one thing he lacked: Immortality. Ravana sought such strength by devoting himself to the God of Destruction, Shiva. Despite Shiva's constant silence and rejection, Ravana continued his devotion and even went so far as to cut off his own head, which regenerated, but it didn't even move Shiva until Ravana decapitated himself for the tenth time. With that, Shiva granted him a boon that was quite equal with immortality: Invulnerability against anyone whom he saw as a threat, be it Gods or Demons.\\\

One of the main deities in Hinduism, Shiva is (alongside being Ganesha's father and Parvati's husband) one of the Trimurti, which consists of Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva himself (the destroyer), all three gods representing the endless cycle of creation and destruction. He is the first god to be released for Smite's ninth season.\\\

One of the main deities in Hinduism, Shiva is (alongside being Ganesha's father and Kali's husband) one of the Trimurti, which consists of Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva himself (the destroyer), all three gods representing the endless cycle of creation and destruction. He is the first god to be released for Smite's ninth season.\\\

[[folder:Vamana, Fifth Avatar of Vishnu]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smite_vamana_v2_default.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/smite.gamepedia.com/7/71/VamanaV2_Intro_2.ogg "It's time to fight!"]][softreturn][[labelnote:Click here for his Classic look]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/t_vamana_default_card.png]]
[[/labelnote]]

-> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/ToddHaberkorn (old), Creator/SeanChiplock (new)
-> '''Cangaceiro Skin Voiced by:''' Creator/KaijiTang
-> '''Infinite Avatar Skin Voiced by:''' Chachmoni Ben Yisrael
-> '''Lil' Mana Skin Voiced by:''' Creator/ToddHaberkorn
-> '''Rakshasa Skin Voiced by:''' Creator/ToddHaberkorn
-> '''Touchdown Skin Voiced by:''' Mario Mims

The Demon King Bali was a virtuous King, but he was also proud and ambitious. After taking over the Underworld and Earth, he planned to take Heaven and dispatched the ruler of Heaven, Indra, for a time. Indra sought aid from Vishnu, who then took form of a short-statured monk named Vamana.\\\

When Bali was giving gifts to the pious, Vamana requested as much land as he could cover in three steps. Bali gave him an island, but Vamana insisted, so the Demon King gave it against his advisors' wishes. Suddenly Vamana grew to cosmic proportions, reaching out to even Heaven. On his first step, both Earth and Underworld were engulfed, on his second step, Heaven was consumed. And for the third step, Vamana gave Bali a choice: Return everything in place or offer somewhere else for the third step. This humbled Bali so much that he offered his own head for the third step. Sated, Vamana sent Bali back to the underworld, but rewarded his benevolence and sacrifice when he ruled the realms by giving him sovereignty over the Underworld.\\\

After handing Heaven back to Indra, Vamana vanished as Vishnu considered his job done. But with the Gods battling around, Vamana is once again seen, he may be small, but these mighty and arrogant Gods need to be taught valuable lessons of humility by even the smallest of men.\\\

Vamana is a versatile Warrior god that can be difficult to take down, provided he can first be caught. His passive, ''Sleeping Giant'', grants him bonus physical power based on his physical protection. Additionally, being attacked by enemy gods while under the effect of his ultimate extends its duration by up to ten seconds. Vamana's first ability, ''Clear the Path'', makes him charge forward umbrella-first, damaging and knocking up any enemies he encounters. His second ability, ''Armored Umbrella'', makes him attack a cone area in front of him with his umbrella, dealing damage. His third ability, ''Umbrellarang'', keeps up the theme of attacking with his umbrella, this time throwing it forward and having it return, damaging and slowing enemies it encounters. Enemies can be hit twice by the move. Vamana's ultimate, ''Colossal Fury'', makes him grow to immense size, gaining crowd control immunity, protections, power, and rapid health regeneration. His basic attacks also all hit in an AOE while large.

* AchillesHeel: Curse prevents all healing while it's active, and Vamana is affected by it even in his ult, turning him from a giant god to a giant pincushion.
* ArtEvolution: Received a complete visual remodel ditching the creepy baby-man look he originally had and making him look more realistic.
* AwesomeButImpractical: His ultimate tends to be this early on in a game; while it makes him pretty much impossible to fight head-on, he can't use any of his abilities while it's active and it doesn't increase his movement speed, so people can just run away from him until it ends and there's not much he can do to catch up. However, this weakness can be mitigated by a number of items that either increase his speed or reduce that of his enemies, turning it into a case of awesome-but-practical by late game.
* BerserkButton: As described in one of his jokes:
--> "I have learned to control my anger. But if anybody calls me a baby again then I'm going to LOSE IT!!"
* {{Determinator}}: Big time during his ultimate, as it includes a protections buff and a huge healing factor. Attacking him while it's active simply makes it last longer, leading to more healing, making it largely pointless to do anything other than run away.
* LightningBruiser: He often builds with this in mind, buying items that increase both his defenses and movement speed, especially since his passive increases his power by a portion of his armor. UpToEleven if he uses Sprint during his ultimate.
* ParasolOfPain: His main weapon.
* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: His umbrella always returns in the path of least resistance, letting a savvy player trick it into hitting a strafing enemy twice.
* ShoutOut: Vamana says "Oh Yeah!" when activating his ultimate to probably reference the Kool-Aid Man. Regrettably, he cannot break through walls.
** Though with Cabrakan's destructible wall via his ultimate, Vamana can finally do the more complete impression. [[HilariousInHindsight Ironically, Ganesha does the 'go through wall' thing better than Vamana, in that Ganesha doesn't need to hit the obstacles and can even go through indestructible obstacles]], but only Vamana comes with the line "Oh Yeah!"
** Vamana also references Music/{{Rihanna}} and Film/SinginInTheRain in some his directed taunts and jokes.
* SuperMode: Vamana's ultimate, ''Colossal Fury'', increases his damage and protections, lets him heals faster, makes him immune to crowd control, and lets him hit all enemies around him with his basic attacks. And to top it all off, it makes him gigantic!

[[folder:Shiva, The Destroyer]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/270bfd1a_2be4_4670_93ae_0bdc3f5d456a.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"My arrival signals the end of the unjust. An end to this war and an end to everything! From the ashes will the universe be born anew!"]]
-> '''Voiced by:''' Harish Bhimani

One of the main deities in Hinduism, Shiva is (alongside being Ganesha's father and Kali's husband) one of the Trimurti, which consists of Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva himself (the destroyer), all three gods representing the endless cycle of creation and destruction. He is the first god to be released for Smite's ninth season.\\\

As a Warrior, Shiva descends onto the battlefield to bring destruction and recreation in his wake, alternating between supporting his allies and obliterating his foes. His passive is ''Samsara'', which has him switch between ''Bliss'' and ''Destruction'' states by dealing damage to enemies, with his abilities gaining additional effects depending on the state he is in. ''Bliss'' abilities buff his allies while ''Destruction'' abilities debuff enemies. In addition, Shiva passively buffs ally HP and MP regen while in ''Bliss'' and debuffs enemy regen while in ''Destruction'', while also reducing the cooldown of his basic abilities when he switches states. His first ability is the ''Emblazoned Sweep'' where he empowers his trident with flame and spins around it, damaging and pulling in enemies while leaving a burning wall at the edge that increases ally movement speed while in ''Bliss'' or reduces enemy protections while in ''Destruction''. His second ability, ''Damaru's Tempo'', has him send out a cone of energy that damages enemies it passes through as well as knocks up enemies in a target area. ''Bliss'' gives an attack speed boost to allies hit by the energy wave while ''Destruction'' reduces the attack speed of enemies hit. ''Pillar of Dawn'', his third ability, has him dash into a pillar of fire, meditate in it for a few seconds, then dash again. While meditating, he takes reduced damage, negates enemy CC, and radiates an aura that will allow allies inside it to negate a single basic attack (3 attacks for Shiva) while in ''Bliss'' or damage enemies while in ''Destruction''. Finally, his ultimate has him perform the ''Shiva Tandava'', a dance that grants him CC immunity and damage reduction that consists of 4 steps with 3 selectable effects: A step that damages enemies and removes a fixed percentage of enemy shields, a step that restores the health and mana of allies, and a step that damages and heals (at half the effectiveness of the previous steps) as well as increasing the radius and power of the next step used.
----
* ActionDad: He is Ganesha's father.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: of Destruction (and renewal).
* AscendedExtra: Shiva previously made cameos in the lore backgrounds of Ganesha and Ravana. Now he is officially set to join the Battleground of the Gods as a playable character.
* ApocalypseHow: True to his role in Hindu mythology, Shiva is apocalypse personified in the lore of ''Smite''. In the Dharmic Era event he descends to obliterate the world and create it anew, using the occasion to teach Tiamat a lesson in humility. In a meta sense, his act of destruction also brings an end to the canon ''Smite'' storyline that was based on the Pantheon Wars comics.
* BattleCouple: Can form one with Kali (who is a form of his main wife in Hindu lore, Parvati).
* BigDamnHeroes:
** In his teaser trailer, he arrives to stop Tiamat's energy blast from hitting Bellona, then he tries to end the gods' fighting in general.
** An interesting version in the in-game lore; he comes in to stop Tiamat from destroying and recreating the world, but then proceeds to destroy and bring it back himself with his dance. Given Tiamat’s [[ItsAllAboutMe motives]], it is probably a good thing Shiva did not give her the chance to recreate the world.
* BadassBaritone: Courtesy of Harish Bhimani.
* BrokenStreak: Shiva is the first god introduced since Achilles in 2018 to not have an ability that slows enemies. Up to that point, the tendency to add slows to new god kits was so prevalent that it became an in-joke among the developers and fans.
* TheBusCameBack: Shiva is the first god from the Hindu pantheon to be released since Ganesha in 2017, ending a four-year-long drought of characters not being added from it. To acknowledge this, his teaser trailer has him being awakened by Ganesha.
** Shiva himself even lampshades this fact with one of his quotes, saying how it has been a long time since Hindu presence was felt on the battleground.
* CastingGag: The developers have commented that their decision to cast Harish Bhimani to voice Shiva was at least inspired by his roles in various Indian productions which adapted Hindu mythology, chief among them ''Series/{{Mahabharata}}'', which he narrated.
* DanceBattler: In Hindu lore, Shiva is known as Nataraja or the "Lord of the Dance". In ''Smite'', this is reflected by his ultimate, ''Shiva Tandava'', wherein he performs his signature dance. It has three selectable dance steps, each of which has a different effect, and players can choose the order in which they are executed to provide powerful buffs or debuffs to the gods around him. [[spoiler: In the Dharmic Era event, he also uses his dancing to literally annihilate and remake the world.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: He's one of the more famous [[DestroyerDeity Destroyer Deities]], but he's a benevolent force who prevents Tiamat's further chaos.
* DestroyerDeity: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Of course.]] But the destruction he brings is a positive kind that makes way for the new, a crucial segment in the eternal cycle of existence. It is more accurate to say that Shiva is a [[ThePowerOfCreation creator deity]] as well as a destroyer deity.
* DontFearTheReaper: Despite being the literal destroyer of the universe (and thus a personification of death), Shiva comes off as a wise, serene being who tries to put an end to the war between gods.
--> ''This is not the end, for there is no end.''
* FeatherBoaConstrictor: A cobra can be seen coiled around his neck, and it disrupts his meditation in his defeat screen. It's actually Vasuki, the king of the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Nagas]] in Myth/HinduMythology.
* {{Foil}}: To Tiamat. While both deities can create and destroy universes, more emphasis is placed on [[ThePowerOfCreation Creation]] for her and [[DestroyerDeity Destruction]] for him. However, Shiva is not a straight DestroyerDeity; he signifies the ending of all things so that a new universe can be made. In his teaser trailer, he is also calm and wise in contrast to Tiamat's aggressiveness and pride, telling her that the world is not made in her image. Both deities are also [[StanceSystem stance switchers]] with each stance representing creation (Tiamat's flying stance and Shiva's Bliss state) or destruction (Tiamat's ground stance and Shiva's Destruction state). Additionally, their second abilties are [[ShockwaveStomp Shockwave Stomps]] that knock up enemies, while their third abilties are movement abilities that allow them to dash in both directions. Finally, their ultimates allow them to choose between three different effects to utilize.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: [[https://i.redd.it/m1yc634ks1g81.png As seen here]], he's the huge guy to Kali's tiny girl.
* MythologyGag: Literally every aspect of Shiva's appearance and kit in ''Smite'' is based on his attributes from Hindu religion. To take a few examples: his ultimate ''Shiva Tandava'' is named after the very dance he uses to destroy the universe at the end of each cosmic cycle, and his ''Pillar of Dawn'' ability references the story in which he manifested as an infinite pillar of fire to demonstrate his superior power to Brahma and Vishnu. His two stances reflect his nature as a deity who encompasses opposites, including creation and destruction. The pose he uses in his default card art is also directly based on [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/WLANL_-_Pachango_-_Tropenmuseum_-_Shiva_Nataraja.jpg traditional statues of him as the "Lord of the Dance".]]
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Like his wife Kali and his son Ganesha, Shiva has four arms.
* PlayingWithFire: He holds the flame of Agni in one of his four hands and uses it to empower his trishula for his ''Emblazoned Sweep'' ability. This lets him create a wall of fire that strengthens or weakens surrounding gods depending on which stance he is in. Additionally, he enters a pillar of fire to meditate in his ''Pillar of Dawn'' ability.
* ThePowerOfCreation: He is just as capable of creating the universe as he is in destroying it. In fact, destroying the universe and re-creating it anew is his principal role in Hindu mythology.
* PowerFloats: As a cosmic deity representing universal destruction, Shiva floats in the air during his introduction trailer. He also levitates briefly after activating his ''Pillar of Dawn'' ability.
* ProngsOfPoseidon: Shiva wields a trident (or trishula) as his trademark weapon. He [[PlayingWithFire imbues it with the flames of Agni]] while using it to attack in his first ability, ''Emblazoned Sweep''. In one of his voicelines, he even notes the similarity of his weapon with that of the Trope Codifier.
--> ''“The Greek ocean god also wields a trident? I had mine before his. I'm sure of it.”''
* RestartTheWorld: In the Dharmic Era event lore he does this after destroying the world, creating a new continuity and sending all gods back to their rightful places within it.
* ShockwaveStomp: His ''Damaru's Tempo'' ability has him send forth a shockwave by slamming the bottom end of his trishula on the ground. It uses a unique, segmented cone targeter that allows the player to choose where to apply the ability’s knockup.
* StanceSystem: Downplayed. The developers [[https://youtu.be/6LfsGsyk8a0?t=4734 have referred to Shiva as a "state switcher"]] instead, as his passive allows him to cycle through two states, ''Bliss'' and ''Destruction'', by dealing damage to enemies. Unlike the case with a true stance switcher, his abilities do not change regardless of his current state. Rather, his three non-ultimate abilities gain very different effects depending on which state he is in, with the ''Bliss'' state letting them buff allies and the ''Destruction'' state making them debuff enemies. When Shiva switches states, these abilities also have their cooldowns reduced by two seconds.
* TechnicolorFire: The flame he holds in his off-hand changes color to indicate what state he is in (blue for ''Bliss'', red for ''Destruction'').
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Aside from some tiger skin, most of his well-formed torso is exposed.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: {{Downplayed}}; the streak of blue in Shiva's hair represents the sacred River Ganges. In one Hindu story he offered to help break the Ganges' descent from heaven by catching her in his locks, and she has formed a part of his iconography since.
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One of the main deities in Hinduism, Shiva is, alongside being Ganesha's father and (in a sense, due to her being an alternate form of Parvati) Kali's husband, one of the Trimurti, with this consisting of Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva himself (the destroyer), all three gods representing the endless cycle of creation and destruction. He is the first god to be released for Smite's ninth season.\\\

* ApocalypseHow: True to his role in Hindu mythology, Shiva is apocalypse personified in the lore of ''Smite''. In the Dharmic Era event he is the final stage of the current world cycle, descending to obliterate the remnants of reality with his dance. Incidentally, he uses the occasion to teach Tiamat a lesson in humility and create a new world. In a meta sense, his act of destruction also brings an end to the canon ''Smite'' storyline that was based on the Pantheon Wars comics.

* DestroyerDeity: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Of course.]] But the destruction he brings is a positive kind that makes way for the new, a crucial segment in the eternal cycle of existence. [[spoiler: In the lore for the Dharmic Era event, he arrives to end the world with his signature dance.]]

--> ''“The Greek ocean god also wields a trident? I had mine before his. I’m sure of it.”''

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: [[https://i.redd.it/m1yc634ks1g81.png As seen here]], he's the huge guy to Kali’s tiny girl.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: [[https://i.redd.it/m1yc634ks1g81.png As seen here,]] he’s the huge guy to Kali’s tiny girl.

** An interesting version in the in-game lore; he comes in to stop Tiamat from destroying and recreating the world, but then proceeds to destroy and bring it back himself with his dance. Given Tiamat’s [[ItsAllAboutMe motives,]] it is probably a good thing Shiva did not give her the chance to recreate the world.

While washing herself after a celebration, the Goddess of Fertility and Love, Parvati, noticed the dirt and sweat on her body. She made a boy and son out of that, and told him to guard the door until she was done. The son did his job too well—he even refused the entrance of Shiva, Parvati's husband. As a result of this and fearing for Parvati's safety, Shiva beheaded the boy.\\\

* CastingGag: The developers have commented that their decision to cast Harish Bhimani to voice Shiva was at least inspired by his roles in various Indian productions which adapted Hindu mythology, chief among them ''Series/Mahabharata'', which he narrated.

[[caption-width-right:250:"My arrival signals the end of the unjust. An end to this war and an end to everything! From the ashes will the universe be born anew!"