History Main / DeathOfTheOldGods

** Speaking of ''Justice League'':

* In ''WebAnimation/{{ROYN}}'', it is revealed in ''ROYN 24'' that [[spoiler:the Gods are fading]].

* In ''WebAnimation/{{ROYN}}'', it is revealed in ''ROYN 24'' that [[spoiler:the Gods are fading]]

* In ''WebAnimation/{{ROYN}}'', [[spoiler:it is revealed in that the Gods are fading]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Ssaelism posits that Ssael killed the twin gods and transcended to godhood. Those being that have retained their sentience in the khert agree that the twin gods are dead, ''and'' that something has happened to Ssael. Senet Beasts and the Inak call all of the above "paper gods" and do not consider them worth worship, even though at least one Senet Beast once had a relationship with Ssael.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/ShadowsInTheMoonlight", the sometimes animated statues were caused by a PhysicalGod who appears gone now. (This is polytheist to polytheist situation.)

* Howard also wrote a little known story titled The Grey God Passes which retells the Battle of Contarf, which is considered to mark the end of the Viking Age. The battle is revealed to be Gotterdammerung and marks the literal death of both Norse and Celtic pantheons.

The fading gods and their worshipers are normally portrayed sympathetically, but there are normally underlying messages that their time is up and they should accept their fates. ModernizedGod is one way they can escape this fate.

-->-- '''The last Oracle of Delphi to a representative of the Emperor UsefulNotes/TheodosiusI'''[[note]]Or Julian the Apostate, DependingOnTheWriter[[/note]]

->''"Tell the king; the fair wrought house has fallen\\
No shelter has Apollo, nor sacred laurel leaves\\
The fountains are now silent; the voice is stilled.\\
It is finished."''
-->-- '''The last Oracle of Delphi to a representative of the Emperor UsefulNotes/TheodosiusI'''[[labelnote:*]]Or Julian the Apostate, DependingOnTheWriter[[/labelnote]]

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanomachy Titanomachy]], a war between the Titans (the first generation of gods, born from Ouranos and Gaia) and the first six Olympians -- Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades. Zeus eventually won the Titanomachy and displaced his father Kronos as King of Heaven. (This myth does not reflect any sort of anthropological reality; the Olympians are extremely old, and they were worshipped in some form in Mycenaean Greece.) Similar themes can be also found in Norse mythology, Semitic mythology and Hinduism.

* In ''VideoGame/StrayGods'', Calliope is the Last Muse when there were formerly nine of them, and the Greek Pantheon as a whole has gone into hiding and is slowly fading away.

-->-- '''The last Oracle of Delphi to a representative of the Emperor UsefulNotes/TheodosiusI'''

-->-- '''The last Oracle of Delphi to a representative of the Emperor Theodosius'''

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

* And I Was Present at the Death of A God, a story in Website/TheWanderersLibrary wherein the god of Tasmanian Tigers begins to die along with the species. [[spoiler:He Gets Better once his ThanatosGambit pans out... seventy years later]]

* ''Script/C0DA'' is the last work in a semi-official series of works by Creator/MichaelKirkbride. Several of the works in the series are UnInstallment {{Missing Episode}}s, including ''Dies irae'' which focuses on a catastrophe that ends with the deaths of the three "[[OurGodsAreDifferent Good Daedra]]" in the Dunmeri religion - Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala. The details of the story are not known, but SecondhandStorytelling in the published works gives a general idea of what occurred.
* Happens during season 3 of ''Podcast/DiceFunk'' after Theodora destroys the barrier holding the wheel of aspects from shifting, allowing a ''new'' aspect to take hold upon the universe, ''Death Itself.'' This means that immortality and resurrection are no longer possible; even the gods themselves can die and immediately begin doing so from old age. By season 4, all gods are now gone.

Normally their departure is a result of [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly people no longer believing in them]], although it's not unknown for them to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence simply lose interest in the affairs of mortals]], or to die out for other reasons. In other cases, the interloper takes their place after [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority beating]] or even [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt killing]] their predecessors in a fight.

* ''VideoGame/CultOfTheLamb'': It's mentioned that there used to be more gods than just the Bishops, but they've all disappeared, and [[PlayerCharacter the Lamb]] continues this by killing them as well. [[spoiler: By the end of the game the only deity left standing is [[DeityOfHumanOrigin the Lamb himself.]]]]

* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': Several deities from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' sacrificed themselves to create the New Chaos Gods so that the C'Tan can be defeated.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12489955/1/Hanks-Orthodoxy Hank's Orthodoxy]]'': The main reason why Hank is abandoning Methodist/Protestant faith for Eastern Orthodoxy is his worry that Christianity in the United States is slowly dying.

* ''Film/{{Dragonslayer}}'': This seems to be starting. Although a newly arrived Christian priest attempts to defeat the dragon using the power of God's word alone, King Casiodorus has still sent a team to fetch Ulrich, a well-known sorcerer, to defeat the dragon. With [[spoiler:the loss of Galen's amulet,]] it's implied that a lot of (but not all of!) the old-school magic that once permeated the land is gone, clearing the way for Christianity's rise.

* ''Literature/WindsOfTheForelands'': There is a monotheistic god, Ean, that's getting steadily increasing worship and the favor of most of the aristocracy, but the religion of the old gods isn't out of the fight yet.
* ''Literature/TheBrideiChronicles'' is set in Scotland and England during their conversion from paganism to Catholicism.

* Lawhead also does this in his ''Dragon King Trilogy'', although here it's a bit different. Quentin, as an initiate at a temple of the old gods, seems mainly to learn less about the gods themselves and more about how the priests manipulate the people into thinking these gods are real, and reaping the benefits of the people's worship of said gods. The implication seems to be that if these older gods actually do exist, they are remarkably silent on all human affairs. Later on in the first book, a ''very familiar'' Christian-type God reveals himself to Quentin.
* The original ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' trilogy actually subverts this. After the Cataclysm, a world-shattering disaster visited on the world by the gods as punishment for a variety of sins, humanity decides to find itself a new pantheon, and the dwarves and elves seem to be less interested in worship generally speaking. It's later revealed, however, that the old gods were around all along. It was people's loss of faith in them that made them believe the old gods had departed. And, interestingly, it winds up being the goddess of evil who becomes active again in the world first.
** Then they left ''again'', and some schmuck calling himself the One God showed up and started the War of Souls. [[spoiler: Turns out the old gods didn't really leave, the world was stolen from them by said goddess of evil, who had disguised herself as the One God.]]

* Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'' is about a war between the Old Gods, who embody traditional myths and are [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly running out of faith,]] and the New Gods, who embody things like television and the Internet and are rising in power but perhaps only as passing fads (like the railroad). The trope is played with in that the Current Gods are uninvolved and completely unchallenged by both groups, who are basically fighting over scraps.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Although supernatural beings lurk under every bridge in the Dresdenverse, actual gods [[spoiler:except Odin]] are conspicuous by their absence. It's implied in one side story that they're not dead, but have stepped aside voluntarily due to some kind of arrangement made roughly 2,000 years ago. Given the timing and the Christian God's obsession with human free will in this setting, there's plenty of room for fan theories there.
** ''Literature/{{Changes}}'' reveals some of the Old Gods, specifically {{Mayincatec}} ones, to have actually been very powerful, very old [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires of the Red Court]], called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Lords of Outer Night]]. However, from the same book there is indication - or at least speculation on Dresden's part - that the gods really did exist, and the Red Court leadership stole their names. Considering that Mayan mythology includes a god of blood, death, and sacrifice called Camazotz who greatly resembles a Red Court vampire, and is mentioned as having many children, this theory may have legs.
** ''Literature/ColdDays'' reveals even more. [[spoiler: Some entities can hold different mantles or masks as times changes. Odin may not worshipped much anymore, but he still gains much power from his role as Santa.]]
** There are a whole bunch of ancient deities so dangerous to the world that an AncientTradition of Venatori has been struggling for centuries to erase every trace of their presence, thus preventing mortals from believing in them and allowing them to exist. This invoked example is appropriately known as the "[[SecretWar Oblivion War]]". It is mentioned that the Gods do not actually die, however, they require mortal faith to connect to the mortal world-lack of it does not kill them, merely render them unable to touch the mortal plane. Although it does raise the question, if they can't interact with the world and its people unless people believe in them, then how could they inspire belief if they can't interact with people.

* Works of David Eddings:
** In the backstory of the ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'', the gods willingly underwent this, trading in their PhysicalGod forms for more incorporeal ones, so that they could leave room for the [[CrystalDragonJesus unifying god]] that was to come. Only Torak refused to accept the deal, remaining in the world and becoming the BigBad.
** The ''Literature/{{Elenium}}'', the Elder Gods of Stryicum were overthrown by the Younger Gods. The details aren't given save that one of the elders, Azash, was castrated and trapped in a clay idol.
** In ''The Dreamers'', the two generations of gods, elder and younger, take turns running things.

** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'' deals with this topic: GodIsDead, most of the other gods are making their own power plays to become the new TopGod, and it's inevitable that at least some of them will die trying. [[spoiler:The hidden "Create a World for Humanity Alone" ending has [[PlayerCharacter the Nahobino]] get straight to the point and KillEmAll.]]

* Most modern re-tellings of the [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian legends]] have this going on at least in the background.
* This is particularly notable in Myth/IrishMythology. The Mythology is largely based off of the pre-Christian religion, and was first written and documented by Irish monks (who stripped them of their religious connotations). Many of the tales were edited to foreshadow the coming of Christianity or include Christian characters specifically. For example in the tale of Clann Lir (*Children of Ler*) the children are freed from their curse after meeting a Christian monk who baptises them. They then die as Christians.
** Pre-Christian Irish mythology may have included this as well. The Book of Invasions details a series of tribes who attempted to settle or conquer Ireland one after another. Some of them, in particular the Fomorians and the Duatha de Danann, had godlike powers. The text was written by Christian monks who specifically denied their divine identities, but later scholars have suggested it might be a remnant of an ancient tradition about generations of gods fighting each other, possibly the pantheons of different ethnic groups.

* An apocryphal tale from the Roman Empire tells of a sudden outcry heard by some ship passengers: "Pan is dead! The great god Pan is dead!" The date? Just after Passover, AD 30 -- one of the possible dates of the crucifixion of Jesus.

* Even The Bible itself mentions this, in a sense. While the demonic host typically are not thought of as gods, in the bible it mentions them as being 'gods' with the lowercase "g". These go to a place [[AndIMustScream made for them]], which is practically a second death. The real "old" God still remains as God is considered a fabric for ''all'' existence.