History Main / DevilButNoGod

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'', the indirect provider for the trope image on this page. The series has several bad guys mention "Hellgates", and one of them drops the name of Vulpuz, some sort of evil deity. The original book, ''Redwall'', features a giant adder named Asmodeus; in-universe, one character identifies this as "the name of the devil himself", and in real world mythology it is the name for some kind of demon king -- varying depending on which version one reads, but certainly a very high-ranking lord of Hell. The same book also has chief villain Cluny the Scourge casually killing someone and saying "Tell the Devil Cluny sent you". Satan or the Devil is also mentioned a few other times, while God never is. The good guys have an afterlife called the Dark Forest, and in earlier books at least the appearance of having actual religion, although it is never discussed -- pretty odd for a series whose title location is an ''abbey,'' populated by what was clearly, in the beginning, a monastic order. As part of the series' general EarthDrift, the not-quite-religion fades as time goes on.

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'', the indirect picture provider, has several bad guys mention "Hellgates", and one of them drops the name of Vulpuz, some sort of evil deity. The good guys have an afterlife called Dark Forest, and earlier in the series at least the appearance of having actual religion, although it is never discussed. This is pretty odd for a series whose title location is an ''abbey,'' populated by what was clearly, in the beginning, a monastic order. The not-quite-religion fades as the series continues. There is also the fact that in the original "Redwall" book, the giant adder is named Asmodeus, which one in-universe character identifies as "the name of the devil himself". In real world mythology, Asmodeus is depicted as various kinds of demon king, depending on which version one reads, but is certainly a very high-ranking lord of Hell. The same book also has Cluny casually killing someone and saying "Tell the Devil Cluny sent you". Satan or the Devil is also mentioned a few other times, while God never is.

* In Creator/HPLovecraft's works and the resulting Franchise/CthulhuMythos, there is neither a God or the Devil (although Nyarlatothep does fulfill the Devil's role in some ways), just [[CosmicHorrorStory ancient godlike beings who don't give a damn about humanity and will kill us all when they return]]. The closest thing to good deities (the Elder Gods), have no more love for humans than the others; they just want to keep the Great Old Ones imprisoned (and since that is a good thing for humanity, they can be considered "good" from our perspective).
** Notably, the Elder Gods were an addition by Creator/AugustDerleth, who was an avid admirer of Lovecraft, as well as a devout Christian, and couldn't or didn't want to understand Lovecraft's intentions to depict the universe as a hostile and uncaring place where humanity has absolutely no special position, and instead made Earth the central battleground for cosmic incarnations of good and evil. Latter contributors to the Mythos often kept the Elder Gods, but made them less "good" than "uncaring but opposed to more dangerous things".

*** That's something of a case of {{Flanderization}} by later writers. In Lovecraft's own stories he has two appearances in human form, and one in near-human. In first of those he isn't yet really a deity, but simply a human scientist who has become essentially an AnthropomorphicPersonification of the immutable cosmic laws (it's a MindScrew), and is simply driven rather than malevolent or cruel, as far as the reader can tell. He receives human sacrifices in person as the Black Man, but he never speaks in that story and gives no impression of sadism for its own sake - it's just a function that he is performing. His depiction as a creatively cruel monster trickster is mostly based on his appearance in ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'', where he once again is performing a role as the protector of the Great Ones - though while clearly holding them in contempt. But even as he torments Carter with false hope, he seems to deem him a WorthyOpponent, facing him directly instead of just letting his masters squash him like a bug, as had happened to everyone else who tried to see Earth's gods.

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'' creates a world where Heaven and Hell are not the final arbiters of the supernatural; while the Forces of Evil appear to get a lot more face-time in the book, Heaven is represented only by the distant Metatron - explicity not God himself but "the voice of God, like a Presidential spokesman".[[note]] A GeniusBonus applies: according to Christian mysticism and esoteric doctrine, the Metatron represents that part of the Second Person of God which did not incarnate on Earth as Jesus Christ, but remained in Heaven to keep the throne warm. Therefore the cold, chilly, aspect with no empathy for human beings is completely in character, and Gaiman/Pratchett got to insert an aspect of Jesus without mentioning him, directly, once.[[/note]]. As the book develops, it is revealed that the '''ultimate''' truth is that a third force exists, the Ineffable, who stands behind Good and Evil and is very probably manipulating both agencies.
* Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': This work is an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion, due to the presence of BigGood deity Aslan, while every villain until the end of the last book is mortal. Tash is another supernatural creature, but is not directly depicted as Aslan's opposite. However, Aslan's "father", the Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea, never physically appears, but this fits with New Testament depictions of Jesus appearing physically while God the Father works behind the scenes.
* Lewis also discussed (and, obviously, [[DefiedTrope Defies]]) this trope in ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'': The titular demon Screwtape advises his nephew Wormwood that the reason they no longer do ''overt'' things — for instance, offering a DealWithTheDevil — is because if people start believing that the Devil is real again, FridgeLogic will kick in and they'll reason that God must exist too, and then their whole plan falls apart. As such, they're better served by silently and invisibly manipulating people into not believing in anything at all; an atheist will wind up in Hell as surely as any sinner, after all.
* The ''Paradis'' books justify this--God lost to Satan, who turned everything into a CrapsackWorld and sends all the dead to Hell. Yes, this is a rather dark series, why did you ask?

* Averted in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' (or possibly subverted). While [[{{Satan}} Morgoth]] (and later Sauron) are generally the most powerful forces directly affecting Middle-Earth at a given time, {{God}} does exist and ''will'' act directly if pushed far enough (see "The Downfall of Númenor"). Gandalf also implies that He is subtly influencing world events all the time.
-->'''Gandalf''': Bilbo was ''meant'' to find the Ring, and you also were ''meant'' to have it--and that is an encouraging thought.
** Gandalf also says in the book, as explanation for Bilbo's astonishing ContrivedCoincidence in happening to come across the ring in the way that he did: "There was more than one power at work. I can put it no more plainly than that Bilbo was ''meant'' to find that ring, and ''not'' by its maker."

* The status of God in the ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'' is very suspect. The series has "The Powers That Be", supposedly forces that fight for good, but the show is vague on what exactly they are. They also seem to do little to help {{the hero}}es, sending visions that let them know when people are in trouble and have been implied to have directly helped them a few times, but they're often nowhere to be seen when the shit really hits the fan, and the few beings said to work for them are often uninterested and unsympathetic to the heroes' plights. They are even referred to by the heroes as "The Powers that Screw You" and "The Powers that Sit on Their Be-Hinds." On the evil side, the series has the Senior Partners, ascended demons who work through the interdimensional law firm Wolfram & Hart, who are shown to be VERY active in spreading evil and contributing to humanity's eventual downfall. The show's background has the Earth previously ruled by demonic gods millenia ago and Buffy's last season saw the heroes fighting the personification of evil, neither of which seem to have a good equivalent. In addition, at one point in the series a vampire in the series asks Buffy if God exists, and she responds "Nothing solid".

** Also, for all the demons in the series, there's not one angel. [[spoiler: At least until they start showing up in the Series/{{Angel}} comics post-After The Fall, and most of them turn out to be LawfulStupid.]]
*** Though not all the demons are bad - several characters make references to the existence of peaceful demon races, and Whistler, Clem, Lorne and Doyle are all demons or half-demons who allied with the heroes at one time or another.

** Crosses are symbolic of crucifixion and holy water is holy because it has been blessed by a priest; neither are magic or supernatural in and of themselves, yet they are harmful to vampires. This doesn't prove the existence of God, but there has to be some kind of unquantifiable force that imbues these objects with their powers. WordOfGod says that Christians were simply the religion most dedicated to hunting vampires/demons and therefore used things harmful to demons as their holy symbols.

* Thoroughly averted in Literature/TheBible, where Satan gets far less screen time than God. This trope is actually inverted in most of the Old Testament. Satan appears only in the First Book of Chronicles, [[Literature/BookOfJob Job]], and Psalm 109. [[Literature/BookOfGenesis The serpent in the Garden of Eden]] is never stated to be Satan nor is Satan physically described until the Literature/BookOfRevelation, from the New Testament. Revelation and some of Paul's writings indicate the serpent is Satan, though it may not have been the view of Genesis' writers.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime,'' we met Unicron in a three-parter. Primus gets the odd name-drop, and "By the Allspark" remains a popular OhMyGods statement (no word on whether they mean a [[Film/{{Transformers}} big]] [[WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated box]] or [[TheLifestream where]] [[WesternAnimation/BeastMachines sparks]] [[Anime/TransformersCybertron end up]].) but both concepts stay far offscreen.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII''. The final battle between God and the Demon Lord ended with both MIA, but most of the world was still sealed away by evil, so that only a single island remains intact when the game begins. As you progress, the question of whether or not the Demon Lord ''won'' is repeatedly raised. Oh, sure, it looks like God [[CrazyPrepared planned for this]] by setting up a ritual to reawaken him... [[spoiler: But when the ritual's performed, the 'God' who's summoned [[GodIsEvil ain't the nicest]] [[FakeKing guy around]].]] Then post game [[spoiler: where you do find the real God who [[GodIsGood is considerably more benevolent,]] it also turns out he decided to let humanity sort out the Demon Lord and restore the sealed world themselves while he just watched, wanting to make sure humans could stand on their feet without his aid]].

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'': There ''was'' a God, but He was going to destroy the world due to its evil. His daughter intervened and turned herself into a tree until the humans showed enough benevolence to return her to her true form. Corvus, an angel who was betrayed by humans, went into RageAgainstTheHeavens mode when released by the hero and attacked Zenus, splitting Him into ten fragments that serve as {{Optional Boss}}es, some more self-aware than others.

* In Franchise/MarvelUniverse, Satan was a recurring character in the Son of Satan series. God, Jesus or the Angels never appeared or interfered. Later, it was {{retcon}}ned that Satan was being impersonated by demons such as ComicBook/{{Mephisto}}, and that the true Devil had NEVER appeared in a Marvel story.[[note]]It has since been revealed that there are several Netherrealms claiming to be Hell, and that its rulers ''inspired'' legends of the Devil rather than directly being him, and the only souls they lay claim to are those who made bargains with them.[[/note]] In ComicBook/GhostRider, angels and Heaven have shown up. Well, Blaze had a guy helping him against Satan who was at some points implied to be Jesus.

* In Creator/ChaosComics, both Heaven and Hell are real and while Lucifer has long since being ousted by ComicBook/LadyDeath and still plots to regain his throne, God has seemingly abandoned this universe to its fate and is nowhere to be seen, leaving the angels completely leaderless. With that said, the Norse Pantheon is also part of the setting but they play a periferal role before they get defeated and enslaved by ComicBook/{{Purgatori}}.

* After the death of Jack Chick, author of the infamous ''ComicBook/ChickTracts'' comic booklets, cartoonist George Pfromm posted [[https://media2.fdncms.com/stranger/imager/u/large/24649780/stranger_jack-chick-new_mag.jpg a cartoon]] where Jack Chick went to Hell for publishing his fundamentalist comics and is mocked by the Devil, who tells him that God doesn't exist and never did.

* ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'': The Ancient Ones are the only divine beings shown; [[spoiler:there is apparently no good force capable of preventing them from causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt if they choose to do so.]]

* In ''Film/TheWitch'', the teachings of the Bible and prayers performed by the protagonists prove ineffective to repel the evil of the Witch haunting them. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, Satan appears in various forms and successfully makes the FinalGirl join his cult of witches]].

* In ''Film/{{Krampus}}'', [[TheKrampus the titular demon]] freely terrorizes Max and his family, but FatherChristmas is nowhere to be seen. This may be because this version of Krampus targets those who have lost their faith in Christmas. Hence, if nobody has faith, then Santa will not come, but Krampus will. Basically, "Krampus, but No Santa".

* This is the leitmotif of ''Literature/SixOneSix'', which reveals there are good reasons for this to happen: [[spoiler:Satan actually won the War in Heaven and is only letting us to think otherwise for fun.]]

** As for God himself, he has only ever been seen by four archangels. In the season 4 finale, Zachariah claimed God had 'left the building', and that the angels were giving the orders. In season 5 however God has been implied to have intervened in the storyline, transporting Sam and Dean out of harms way and bringing the angel Castiel back to life. Subsequent attempts to find him reveal that he is completely apathetic about the war between Heaven and Hell. Either that or while he does want Sam and Dean to win, he needs to be subtle in his methods to allow free will to continue. Then in the season 5 finale it's very strongly implied that [[spoiler: Chuck is God. Admittedly, all he does is dress in an uncharacteristically smart white suit as opposed to his usual scruffy state, act in a much more calm and knowing manner, and then vanish into thin air, but since all angels and demons thus far had thought he was just a prophet and otherwise ordinary human, there aren't many alternatives. After all, angels and demons can detect each other. Plus, with his monologue/narration...he's God.]]

* In the ''Castlevania''-inspired ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'', [[spoiler:Dominique Baldwin explains why she became the BigBad of the game: the incident ten years ago unleashed demons upon the countryside and harmed the people, and God did nothing to stop it. Thus, she decided to stop devoting her life to such an irrelevant force and instead sought power from the supernatural beings that were actually around. Eventually subverted when Dominque affirms God's existence and her belief in Him, because she intends to try and dethrone Him.]]

* Played with in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII''. The final battle between God and the Demon Lord ended with both MIA, but most of the world was still sealed away by evil, so that only a single island remains intact when the game begins. As you progress, the question of whether or not the Demon Lord ''won'' is repeatedly raised. Oh, sure, it looks like God [[CrazyPrepared planned for this]] by setting up a ritual to reawaken him... [[spoiler: But when the ritual's performed, the 'God' who's summoned [[GodIsEvil ain't the nicest]] [[FakeKing guy around]].]] Then post game [[spoiler: where you do find the real God who [[GodIsGood is considerably more benevolent,]] it also turns out he decided to let humanity sort out the Demon Lord and restore the sealed world themselves while he just watched, wanting to make sure humans could stand on their feet without his aid.]]

** The [[OurElvesAreDifferent Dunmer (Dark Elves)]] have an interesting take on this. In general, they acknowledge that the Daedric Princes that they do revere - Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala - are actually ruthless, vicious and brutal entities; even Azura, the most benevolent of those Princes, still cursed the whole species for the actions of the Tribunal. At the same time, the Dunmer view everyone else, Aedra and Daedra alike, as either [[TricksterGod lying tricksters]], [[GodIsInept ineffectually weak]], or [[GodOfEvil uselessly malicious]]. (By comparison, Boethiah and Mephala are ''[[TrainingFromHell usefully]]'' malicious, as they [[HadToBeSharp taught the Dunmer how to survive in a harsh environment through their maliciousness]].) It's not really surprising that the only gods the Dunmer truly revered as benevolent were [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ALMSIVI]], or the Tribunal, a trio of {{Physical God}}s who were a major part of Dunmer culture from the mid-1st Era to end of the 3rd Era 4000 years later. [[spoiler:All of whom are depowered and two of whom die as a result of the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'']].

* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' plays with it a bit. Hell and demons do play a big part in the comic's early years, but there is no central devil in charge of it all with the closest being [[spoiler:Karnak taking over and deciding to serve as punishing the damned. The result is he stops being an antagonist and spends his days with hunting and tormenting, causing demons to have a greatly reduced role in the overall plot.]] Heaven does exist and there are several different religions each with their own take on a God, but no divine force of good moves to interfere even when there's a literal war going on in Hell. So it's a "no" on the Devil and a "maybe" on God.

** The original ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' games play this straight. It seems the only force of Good in the verse is our hero [[BadassNormal Doomguy]], the [[ComicBook/{{Doom}} Berserker Packin' man-and-a-half]] who takes on the hordes of Hell with his trusty shotgun (and {{chainsaw|Good}}). [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu That turns out]] [[MugglesDoItBetter to be enough]], but still. Interstingly enough, the novels' interpretation of the Doomguy is a devout Catholic regardless.
** ''VideoGame/Doom3'', also plays this straight, unless you count the Soul Cube used by the Martians as a holy weapon. Maybe even straighter than the original games, as it's stated multiple times in no uncertain terms that the demons are ''demons'', while the previous games left some reasonable doubt that they might just be weird-looking aliens from our dimension (which is what the novels went with). The ending of ''Resurrection of Evil'' at least implies that Heaven exists, but the whole thing is still vague.

*** While the trope is played straight in the eyes of many denizens of Tamriel, the [[PlayerCharacter protagonist]] of each game tends to have the support the Divines in order to accomplish what they seek to do. ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'''s ''Knights Of the Nine'' expansion and the main quest of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' best exemplify this. During the ''Knights Of The Nine'', when [[spoiler: the Prophet of the Nine gives you a new ability, which he says comes from the god Talos, and will allow you to kill the Big Bad of the game's arc [[DeaderThanDead in the dimension he goes to get a new body.]] After the battle, you die too, only to come back after a few days. The only explanation anyone can offer is that the divines brought you back]]. You are the only one to directly benefit from divine interventions in game, apart from a major intervention in a spoiler below. In ''Skyrim'', very early in the main quest, the PC is revealed to be a "Dragonborn", a rare mortal gifted with the soul of an immortal (Aedric) dragon by the draconic God of Time, Akatosh.
*** The [[OurElvesAreDifferent Dunmer (Dark Elves)]] have an interesting take on this. In general, they acknowledge that the Daedric Princes that they do revere - Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala - are actually ruthless, vicious and brutal entities; even Azura, the most benevolent of those Princes, still cursed the whole species for the actions of the Tribunal. At the same time, the Dunmer view everyone else, Aedra and Daedra alike, as either [[TricksterGod lying tricksters]], [[GodIsInept ineffectually weak]], or [[GodOfEvil uselessly malicious]]. (By comparison, Boethiah and Mephala are ''[[TrainingFromHell usefully]]'' malicious, as they [[HadToBeSharp taught the Dunmer how to survive in a harsh environment through their maliciousness]].) It's not really surprising that the only gods the Dunmer truly revered as benevolent were [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ALMSIVI]], or the Tribunal, a trio of {{Physical God}}s who were a major part of Dunmer culture from the mid-1st Era to end of the 3rd Era 4000 years later. [[spoiler:All of whom are depowered and two of whom die as a result of the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'']].
*** This is mentioned by the ''Oblivion'' NPC Else God Hater, a [[spoiler:Daedra Lord worshiper]]. "The gods don't do a damn thing. Do they even exist? How could anyone tell? Daedra Lords, sure. They exist. They do things. Bad things, mostly, but things you can see. The gods? They don't do a damn thing. So why do we build big chapels and sit around and mumble, and ask them to save us from this and that? It's stupid. And chapels and priests and folks groveling on their knees, they're stupid, too."
*** The court mage in ''Oblivion'''s Cheydinhal castle asks if you worship the Nine Divines, asking rhetorically if they've ever helped or harmed the PC. She states that were the hero to worship a daedra lord, they would get results. Bad ones, but measurable results. She then states that she considers worshiping gods a waste of time, though the daedra cult of Azura are a nice, reasonable bunch.

* While the ''book'' of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' averts this trope (see below), this is the impression of someone who only watched [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings the movies]] and never read any of the books or especially the backstory. It's possible to watch the movies without ever learning that Gandalf is a maia (or even what a [[OurAngelsAreDifferent maia]] is), or the existence of the [[CouncilOfAngels Valar]] or [[{{God}} Eru]], or know about the downfall or [[AndManGrewProud Númenor]]. ''Something'' [[InMysteriousWays subtly]] influences everyone's fate and sends [[DeusExMachina Gandalf back from the dead]], but it is sufficiently abstract and distant when compared to [[{{Satan}} Sauron]] as to qualify for this trope. [[note]] However, Sauron isn't the Devil either. He's just Morgoth's most trusted lieutenant. In other words,''a'' devil but not ''the'' devil (or you could say he's the ''de facto'' devil, since the genuine article's currently a SealedEvilInACan).[[/note]]

* Inverted in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series games and [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] where there is a counterpart for God called Arceus, but there is no counterpart for the Devil. Played straight in the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'' games however, where Arceus is nowhere to be seen, and that only one Pokémon, [[spoiler:Darkrai]] is the true evil one. There is one who carries a striking resemblance to good'ol Lucifer in its backstory. Giratina was one of the first Pokémon Arceus created, along with Dialga and Palkia. While Dialga was given domain over time and Palkia over space, Giratina control matter and antimatter. However, while Dialga and Palkia were nice enough, Giratina had some bad behaviour, which led Arceus to exiling it to the Distortion Realm, the world opposite of ours. Giratina is the only living thing there, and has complete control over that realm.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': The Shadows are almost a ShoutOut to the devil, but they don't really have a good counterpart. The Vorlons are the good equivalent as Kosh appears as the epitome of each race's archangel when he left his suit at that one time. The thing is Vorlons and Shadows try to play the Good/Evil axis, but are really templers of the Order/Chaos axis. In Season Four, it's revealed that [[spoiler:the Vorlons aren't the good guys, they're almost as bad as the Shadows, and they only appear to be angels because they genetically and telepathically manipulated the younger races. When their true form is finally revealed, they're clearly StarfishAliens]]. Even Lorien, the oldest and most powerful being in the galaxy, refers to the universe itself as the creator of life.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'': There ''was'' a God, but He was going to destroy the world due to its evil. His daughter intervened and turned herself into a tree until the humans showed enough benevolence to return her to her true form. Corvus, an angel who was betrayed by humans, went into RageAgainstTheHeavens mode when released by the hero and attacked Zenus, splitting Him into ten fragments that serve as {{Bonus Boss}}es, some more self-aware than others.

** A Franchise/{{J|usticeLeagueOfAmerica}}LA miniseries starring Zauriel the Angel climaxed with the rogue angel Asmodel storming the palace of God only to find it empty. Zauriel lectures Asmodel on the naivete of expecting God to be some mere corporeal form: God is ''everywhere'' and swiftly sends Asmodel to Hell.

** In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', we're introduced to Lucifer Morningstar and several other powerful demons preside over Hell. While there are also angels and we're offered a glimpse of Heaven, God is only briefly mentioned in passing. There are many deities and spirits from various mythologies represented in the series, but the Abrahamic God never makes an appearance.
** The climax of ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'', a spinoff of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' and therefore technically connected Franchise/TheDCU, ultimately did show God and what happened to him: [[spoiler: he ditched his creation millennia ago because he was unimpressed with how humanity was turning out. Lucifer ultimately has to convince God not to scrap the whole thing altogether.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', civilizations worship various gods, with temples being built in their honor and, very rarely, holy wars in their name. For all that, the gods mostly curse people who profane them[[note]]a Death God might also teach necromancers immortality[[/note]] - and then [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly only if they're widely worshiped]]. Demons are actively involved in the world, taking over human and goblin civilizations [[GodGuise by posing as the aforementioned gods]] and [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority beating their way to the top]], respectively. [[spoiler:More show up if you've DugTooDeep. ''[[ZergRush Lots]]'' more.]] A strong Dwarven fortress is quite capable of [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu demonstrating the mortality]] of these Demons. Gods they very clearly ain't.

* In ''Manga/BlackButler'' we have lawful evil devils, while shinigamis are either lawful neutral or chaotic evil, but there are no benevolent supernatural beings. In the anime version the BigBad is a fallen angel and a mention of God, which implies there is good angels, but they never show up and a devil saves the day.

** There's a Zeus like guy called Reggie who does seem god-like, but given that he had thousands of kids with a living planet, there's still room for skepticism there.

* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': A rare Inverted example. God's presence is made obvious and His church is benevolent 9 times out of 10, but the Devil is nowhere to be seen and is almost never mentioned. The closest we have is {{Dracula}}, a powerful vampire-turned-Demon-Lord who is frequently seen commanding TheLegionsOfHell.

** Nearly every good character is religious to some degree and many of their powers can be attributed as being holy. Even the Vampire Killer, whilst not directly divine in origin, is born from alchemy which is stated as being a gift from God.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/SolomonKane'' novels the protagonist is a Christian Puritan who comes across various kinds of supernatural phenomena in his travels, both benevolent and malevolent, but never anything that would confirm the existence of his God, and this causes him a great deal of internal turmoil. Solomon's CharacterDeveolpment centers around accepting that magic is not inherently evil, and he eventually becomes BloodBrothers with a shaman named N'Longa.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/SolomonKane'' novels the protagonist is a Christian Puritan who comes across various kinds of supernatural phenomena in his travels, both good and evil, but never anything that would confirm the existence of his God, and this causes him a great deal of internal turmoil. The recent movie adaptation however has its plot revolve entirely around a conflict between Heaven and Hell by earthly proxies.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'': [[BigBad Grigori Rapsutin]] makes a [[DealWithTheDevil pact]] with the [[GreaterScopeVillain dark forces of hell]], but there's never any appearance or mention of any light forces of heaven. For all anyone knows, a typical animated princess musical could be set in a [[CrapsackWorld really crappy]], even [[DarkFantasy darker fantasy world]] than it looks.

* A very odd example in ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheThreeCaballeros''. Donald Satan rules the Underworld, and while there are many benevolent or neutral deities around (such as the Roman gods, Xandra the goddess of adventure, Charon, the Sun and the Aztec incarnations of Life and Death) there is no judaeo-christian counterpart opposing him nor is there an alternate afterlife. Then again, the Underworld [[HellOfAtime is actually pretty livable]] (murderous {{youkai}} aside), so this "Satan" is ironically more like Hades, making it a reverse EverybodyHatesHades.

* A very odd example in ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheThreeCaballeros''. Donald Satan rules the Underworld, and while there are many benevolent or neutral deities around (such as the Roman gods, Xandra the goddess of adventure, Charon, the Sun and the Aztec incarnations of Life and Death) there is no judaeo-christian counterpart opposing him nor is there an alternate afterlife. Then again, the Underworld [[DarkIsNotEvil is actually pretty livable]] (murderous {{youkai}} aside), so this "Satan" is ironically more like Hades, making it a reverse EverybodyHatesHades.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': God exists and [[HolyBurnsEvil His power burns unholy being]]. He has no other presence as Dracula's [[HellOnEarth army of demons invade Wallachia]] because [[GodIsDispleased He doesn't believe the people deserve any better]]. Blue Fangs spells it out when he enters the cathedral of Gresit to kill the [[SinisterMinister corrupt Bishop]] who incited Dracula's wrath in the first place.

* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017''. In the fourth episode, Blue Fangs (one of {{Dracula}}'s demonic minions) references {{God}} when he enters the cathedral of Gresit to kill the [[SinisterMinister corrupt Bishop]] who is (indirectly) responsible for causing the literal HellOnEarth.
-->'''Blue Fangs:''' God is not here. This is an empty box.\\
''[...]''\\
'''Blue Fangs:''' [[GodIsDispleased Your life's work makes Him puke.]]\\
''[...]''\\
'''Blue Fangs:''' Your God's love is not unconditional. He does not love [[TheLegionsOfHell us]]. And He does not love [[NotSoDifferentRemark you]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': The Devil appears in one episode but God is never seen, and Rick C-137 (the smartest man in the multiverse) thinks he doesn't exist. It is certainly possible that God may indeed exist as well and Rick is aware of the fact, [[NayTheist but chooses to deny its existence or defy its authority for whatever reason.]] It is also possible that "The Devil" is not actually the biblical/literal devil, but rather yet another interdimensional being who is just a mere annoyance to Rick.