History Main / BeingGodIsHard

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': In the episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS06E11AppointmentInSamarra "Appointment in Samarra"]] Death gives Dean his ring and has him walk a mile in his shoes. After Dean has to kill a LittlestCancerPatient, Death remarks to him that some days he wishes he didn't have the job.

* ''Film/BruceAlmighty'': The movie explores this trope in detail, with God [[GodForADay giving a mere mortal (Bruce) all his powers for a short time]], to teach him a few things. Bruce at first thinks he can do a better job than God, but has trouble even dealing with prayers from his own neighbourhood, let alone the world. His attempt to make everyone happy (and deal with his workload) by just giving a blanket "yes" to every request results in everyone winning the lottery (and getting a grand total of $17 apiece because of how many people the jackpot had to be split between) and rioting. And most importantly, he can't just ''[[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul make'' [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul people be happy]] because he has to abide by free will.

* ''Film/BruceAlmighty'': The movie explores this trope in detail, with God [[GodForADay giving a mere mortal (Bruce) all his powers for a short time]], to teach him a few things. Bruce at first thinks he can do a better job than God, but has trouble even dealing with prayers from his own neighbourhood, let alone the world. His attempt to make everyone happy (and deal with his workload) by just giving a blanket "yes" to every request results in everyone winning the lottery (and getting a grand total of $17 apiece because of how many people the jackpot had to be split between) and rioting. And most importantly, he can't just ''[[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul make'' [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul ]]people be happy]] because he has to abide by free will.

* ''Film/BruceAlmighty'': The movie explores this trope in detail, with God [[GodForADay giving a mere mortal (Bruce) all his powers for a short time]], to teach him a few things. Bruce at first thinks he can do a better job than God, but has trouble even dealing with prayers from his own neighbourhood, let alone the world. His attempt to make everyone happy (and deal with his workload) by just giving a blanket "yes" to every request results in everyone winning the lottery (and getting a grand total of $17 apiece because of how many people the jackpot had to be split between) and rioting. And most importantly, he can't just make people be happy because he has to abide by free will.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'' includes a [[EarWorm rather catchy]] song called "It's Tough to Be a God," sung by the ConMan protagonists about their GodGuise. Of course, [[SubvertedTrope it's mostly about the luxury that they plan to exploit from the situation]]. On the other hand, [[DoubleSubverted their plan naturally winds up having some bugs]] as time goes on.

* ''Film/BruceAlmighty'': The movie explores this trope in detail, with God [[GodForADay giving a mere mortal (Bruce) all his powers for a short time]], to teach him a few things. Bruce at first thinks he can do a better job than God, but has trouble even dealing with prayers from his own neighbourhood, let alone the world. His attempt to make everyone happy (and deal with his workload) by just giving a blanket "yes" to every request results in everyone winning the lottery and rioting. And most importantly, he can't just make people be happy because he has to abide by free will.

-> '''Bender:''' I was God once.
-> '''God Entity:''' I saw. You were doing very well, until everyone died.

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-->'''Bruce:''' How do you make someone love you without affecting free will?
-->'''God:''' Son... {{welcome to my world}}.

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Godhood ain't all it's cracked up to be. It's a huge responsibility being in charge of all creation; it's a 24/7 job with no holidays, you never get a break for all of eternity, then there's having to deal with the petty behavior of lesser mortals, some of whom outright refuse to acknowledge everything I do for them, while others commit horrible acts in your name and give you a bad reputation. And the prayers, oh my, the '''prayers'''! Will they ever stop?!? You want the job? [[GodJob Here, you can have it]]. But don't say we didn't warn you.

Godhood ain't all it's cracked up to be. It's a huge responsibility being in charge of all creation; 24/7 job, no holidays. You never get a break. All of eternity. Then there's having to deal with the petty behaviour of lesser mortals, some of whom outright refuse to acknowledge everything I do for them, while others commit horrible acts in your name and give you a bad reputation. And the prayers. Oh my, the '''prayers'''! Will they ever stop!?! You want the job? [[GodJob Here, you can have it]]. But don't say we didn't warn you.

-->--''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "Godfellas"

Godhood ain't all it's cracked up to be. It's a huge responsibility being in charge of all creation; 24/7 job, no holidays. You never get a break. All of eternity. Then there's having to deal with the petty behaviour of lesser mortals, some of whom outright refuse to acknowledge everything I do for them, while others commit horrible acts in your name and give you a bad reputation. And the prayers.. Oh my, the '''prayers'''! Will they ever stop!?! You want the job? [[GodJob Here, you can have it]]. But don't say we didn't warn you.

* [[spoiler: Deth, the High One,]] in "The Riddle Master Trilogy", who spends hundreds of years masquerading as a servant to the one who has tried to usurp his throne for his own nefarious purposes. He is also forced to [[spoiler: betray Morgon, whom he has come to love and care for, to pain and torture at the hands of Ghisteslwchlohm]] in order to eventually allow for the world to be saved.

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Compare TheChainsOfCommanding and ComesGreatResponsibility.

Godhood ain't all its cracked up to be. It's a huge responsibility being in charge of all creation; 24/7 job, no holidays. You never get a break. All of eternity. Then there's having to deal with the petty behaviour of lesser mortals, some of whom outright refuse to acknowledge everything I do for them, while others commit horrible acts in your name and give you a bad reputation. And the prayers.. Oh my, the '''prayers'''! Will they ever stop!?! You want the job? [[GodJob Here, you can have it]]. But don't say we didn't warn you.

Being [[TheOmnipotent omnipotent]] may be an appealing fantasy at first glance but a RequiredSecondaryPower of being a god is having the right kind of mindset. That is, you can't be bored or exhausted, you can't be sad (or at least sad enough to hamper your job), and you have to be omnibenevolent. That's partly why the gods' mind is often perceived as "alien" to mortals. Therefore a DeityOfHumanOrigin or someone who becomes a GodForADay is even more likely to experience this.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Bender becomes a god to a bunch of micro sized aliens that landed on him. His seemingly simple request for beer led to them having many hardships and famine for them. And then they waged religious war against the other micro alien colony on Bender that couldn't see him and didn't believe he existed. And then everyone died. Later in the episode Bender met an entity that may or may not be the real God, and shared notes. Conclusion reached: being god is hard.

Being [[TheOmnipotent omnipotent]] may be an appealing fantasy at first glance but a RequiredSecondaryPower of being a god is having the right kind of mindset. That is, you can't be bored or exhausted, you can't be sad (or at least sad enough to hamper your job), and you have to be omnibenevolent. That's partly why the gods' mind is often perceived as "alien" to mortals. Therefore even a DeityOfHumanOrigin or someone who becomes a GodForADay may experience this.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' had Bender become a god to a bunch of micro sized aliens that landed on him. His seemingly simple request for beer led to them having many hardships and famine for them. And then they waged religious war against the other micro alien colony on Bender that couldn't see him and didn't believe he existed. And then everyone died. Later in the episode Bender met an entity that may or may not be the real God, and shared notes. Conclusion reached: being god is hard.

* Not so much of a god as he is more of a deity, but Mr. Grimm from ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal: Head On'' might count. He accidentally devoured a soul he was supposed to deliver, and has been addicted to devouring souls since then. He then entered the tournament so that he can wish for someone else to take his job. Bottom line, he entered the tournament to quit being ''the'' grim reaper.

May be the reason why GodIsFlawed.

Compare TheChainsOfCommanding and ComesGreatResponsibility. Can lead to WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity.

Being omnipotent may be an appealing fantasy at first sight but, a RequiredSecondaryPower of being a god is having the right kind of mindset. That is, you can't be bored or exhausted, you can't be sad (or at least sad enough to hamper your job), and you have to be omnibenevolent. That's partly why the gods' mind is often perceived as "alien" to mortals. Therefore even a DeityOfHumanOrigin or someone who becomes a GodForADay may experience this.

Compare ComesGreatResponsibility. Can lead to WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity.

-->--''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' -- ''Godfellas''

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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' had Bender become a god to a bunch of micro sized aliens that landed on him. His seemingly simple request for beer led to them having many hardships and famine for them. And then they waged religious war against the other micro alien colony on Bender that couldn't see him and didn't believe he existed. And then everyone died. Later in the episode Bender met an entity that may or may not be the real God, and shared notes. Conclusion reached: being god is hard.