History Main / EthnicGod

* The different pantheons of ''Literature/TheSagaOfBilly'' reflect each other, with different cultures having a different interpretations of each god. For instance, the goddess of Life as a whole in the verdant region of Erenner is assimilated to Water in the more desertic Stia; Vetherr, [[GodOfEvil the Betrayer]], is seen as more of a judge of your worthiness to survive in Stia than as a more outright malicious entity; Erenner's goddess of Peace and War is replaced by Stia's god of Forgiveness and Grudge, who strongly resembles her children.

*** The Orcs and Goblins worship Gork, the god of brutality, and Mork, the god of cunning. The Spider Goblins additionally worship their own native deity, the Spider God.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': It's routine in the franchise for specific nations or species to worship their own deity or set of deities, and for those deities to only be worshipped by that nation or species. The exceptions are the Chaos Gods, which are worshipped by every Chaos cultist in any given setting, in addition to being, in ''Warhammer Fantasy'', the cultural deities of the Norscans (HeavyMetal HornyVikings), [[HordesFromTheEast Kurgans, Hung]] and {{Beastm|an}}en, with Slaneesh also being worshipped by several Dark Elf cults.
** This is used very often in ''Warhammer Fantasy'':

*** The High Elves, Dark Elves and Wood Elves worship the same gods, but in different aspects: Khaine is a WarGod for the High Elves and a god of murder for the Dark Elves. Similarly, the Skaven worship the Horned Rat. The Orcs and Goblins worship Gork, the god of brutality, and Mork, the god of cunning. The Lizardmen revere their Old One progenitors, but the cult of the snake god Sotek has in recent centuries become their leading faith.
** In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', the Eldar retain their ethnic gods, with the change that the bulk of their pantheon was destroyed by Slaneesh with the exception of Khaine (who was literally shattered but survived), Isha (who most Eldar don't know is still alive) and Cegorach; the Craftworld Eldar still worship their gods, while the Harlequins worship Cegorach exclusively and the Dark Eldar forsook their deities altogether. The Orks still worship Gork and Mork, while humanity worships the God-Emperor of Mankind.
** In ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'', while most gods of Chaos and Order are followed by most people aligning to those factions, Teclis and Tyrion are the patron deities of [[OurElvesAreDifferent the Aelves]] and Alarielle is the goddess and queen of [[NatureSpirit the Sylvaneth]], while the Idoneth revere the long-dead sea god Mathlann. The Greenskins in general follow Gorkamorka, the two-headed fusion of Gork and Mork, while the Moonclan Grots instead worship a poorly-understood entity called the Bad Moon. The Great Horned Rat, while technically one of the four Chaos Gods now, is still only really worshipped by the Skaven.

** Among the {{demon lords| and archdevils}}, Baphomet is the patron of [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent minotaurs]], Gogunta of the boggard FrogMen, Jezelda of [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent lycanthropes]], Urxehl of [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]], and Xoveron of [[OurGargoylesRock gargoyles]]. In a twist, Urxehl loathes the trolls that worship him and himself for his resemblance to them -- he greatly prefers the fringe groups of druids that worship him as the demon lord of natural disasters instead.

** The ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting, particularly in 3rd Edition, is an {{exaggerated}} case, with several different racial and ethnic ''pantheons''. The largest is the Faerunian pantheon (most humans), and there's also the elven pantheon, the drow pantheon, the dwarven pantheon, the halfling pantheon, the gnomish pantheon, and the orcish pantheon. The human nations of Mulhorand and Unther also had their own pantheons, but the Untheric pantheon (an import of the Sumerian and Babylonian pantheons) was extinct by the end of the Time of Troubles and the Mulhorandi pantheon (a version of the Egyptian pantheon) was destroyed by the Spellplague in 4th Edition.

*** In an article in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #63 Roger Moore wrote up additional deities to fill out the pantheons of the kobolds, goblins and hobgoblins.
*** Bahamut and Tiamat were the deities of good and evil dragons, respectively.
*** The 2nd Edition supplement ''Monster Mythology'' had dozens of new deities for monsters.

** Among the {{demon lords| and archdevils}}, Baphomet is the patron of [[ALoadOfBull minotaurs]], Gogunta of the boggard FrogMen, Jezelda of [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent lycanthropes]], Urxehl of [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]], and Xoveron of [[OurGargoylesRock gargoyles]]. In a twist, Urxehl loathes the trolls that worship him and himself for his resemblance to them -- he greatly prefers the fringe groups of druids that worship him as the demon lord of natural disasters instead.

* In ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' each of the Seven Archons is primarily worshipped by a different nation. Mondestat, where the game begins, worships the Archon of Wind, Barbats, Liyue worships the Geo Archon Morax, etc.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'' the entire pantheon is composed of racial gods; it is stated that most of the individual gods created the individual races they represent, but they have no domains ''other'' than being patron gods for their races. This gets to the point that [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Oropo]]'s plan of replacing them with demigods from each race is a perfectly vald strategy. [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Other than the individuals he chose]].

* [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece Ancient Greek]] city-states tended to have their own patron god, part of the general Greek pantheon, who approximately exemplified whatever trait the city most valued. Probably the most famous of these are Ares and Athena, both war gods and patrons of Sparta and Athens respectively.

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* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The world was created as a joint effort by the Norse Gods, the Mesopotamian pantheon, and the Zodiac animals, who claimed dominion over the Northern, Western, and Southern continents and their peoples. Also, despite being one of the Western Gods, Tiamat is the patron goddess of draconic species and is revered by dragons and kobolds worldwide. Other racial and cultural pantheons also exist, such as the elves worshipping a pantheon of ascended elven mortals and the goblinoids worshipping the Dark One, a former goblin warlord who became a deity. Also, the idea is a slightly deconstructed when we discover that this world is not the first incarnation. In fact, [[spoiler: this world is just the latest in billions of attempts to make worlds to stay. These worlds had all sorts of races and worshippers, which makes the idea of ethnic/racial gods seem rather ridiculous in retrospect, at least in a world of eras and cycles. Durkon alludes to this when he [[spoiler: tells off Redcloak, noting that his plan is ridiculous given how the next world may not even have goblins or other humanoids and instead consist of talking fish or even sentient lamp posts]].

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* ''Webcomic/Aurora2019'': Gods often arise as protectors of specific places, and this leads many of them to serve as the patrons and protectors of nations, peoples and cultures. A specific example of this seen in the comic is Caliban, the god of the Ignan people.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' the world was created as a joint effort by the Norse Gods, the Mesopotamian pantheon, and the Zodiac animals, who claimed dominion over the Northern, Western, and Southern continents and their peoples. Also, despite being one of the Western Gods, Tiamat is the patron goddess of draconic species and is revered by dragons and kobolds worldwide. Other pantheons do exist such as the elves worship a pantheon of ascended elven mortals and Elan worshipping his puppet Banjo (which he ''does'' count since the belief is genuine; it just makes Banjo a very weak god.) The most notable one however is The Dark One. A [[PurpleIsPowerful purple goblinoid]], he united his peoples and warred against other races to try and get a better life. After being betrayed and killed (hoping to end morale), his army led a virtual ''crusade'' in his name which ascended him to godhood and thus become the god of goblinoids.
** This is a driving force of the plot. The pantheons are careful not to intervene too much with the other. The last time they did, it created The Snarl; an EldritchAbomination that can slay gods such as the entire ''Greek Pantheon'' aka the former gods of the east. It's revealed each God glows a certain color to correspond to their pantheon, their quiddity as it's called. Mortals are made of multiple quiddities while the gods one. The Snarl was born of four, hence why gods are easily torn asunder and mortals can somewhat seal it, but because it's made out of four quiddities, it's more "real" or "solid" than any other entity. [[spoiler: We learn that the Dark One has rejected the other gods so much he developed his own quiddity, meaning he could help the other gods seal the Snarl for good. However, his pride has led to him pursueing his own way of doing so, jeopardizing the whole thing.]]
** Also, the idea is a slightly deconstructed when we discover that this world is not the first incarnation. In fact, [[spoiler: this world is just the latest in ''billions'' of attempts to make worlds to stay. These worlds had ''all'' sorts of races and worshippers. Thor actually points out a few with a gritty {{Cyberpunk}} world, a world with TalkingAnimals, a [[[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs world of gritty cyberpunk talking animals]]]] and so on. He even notes a world of ''[[AnthropomorphicFood sentient movie theater snacks]]'' (a hilarious BrickJoke from 800 strips ago.)]] It makes the idea of ethnic/racial gods seem rather ridiculous in retrospect, at least in a world of eras and cycles. Durkon alludes to this when he [[spoiler: tells off Redcloak, noting that The Plan is ridiculous given how the next world may not even have goblins or other humanoids and instead consist of talking fish or even sentient lamp posts.]]

* In ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' each of the Seven Archons is primarily worshipped by a different nation. Mondestat, where the game begins, worships the Archon of Wind, Barbatos, [[{{Wutai}} Liyue]] worships the Geo Archon Morax, etc.

** Throughout the series and its lore, the implication of the many differing religious beliefs and {{Creation Myth}}s is that AllMythsAreTrue. While there are many shared elements, there are numerous contradictions as well. Despite this, they all seem to have elements of truth regardless of the contradictions. At the very least, it is implied that all myths are at least MetaphoricallyTrue. Also implied is that the [[FantasyPantheon many different]] [[OurGodsAreDifferent divine beings]] worshiped by the different races of Nirn are implied to be different aspects of the same handful of divine beings. For instance, Stendarr is known as the God of Mercy and Justice in the Imperial and Aldmeri pantheons, but his Old Nordic aspect Stuhn can be better understood as the God of ''Ransom''. Additionally, the religions of the [[OurElvesAreBetter races of Mer (Elves)]] typically despise Lorkhan, the [[GodIsDead "dead" creator god]] of Mundus (the mortal plane), for being a trickster who cost the divine ancestors of the Mer their CompleteImmortality. However, Lorkhan, known as Shor to the [[HornyVikings Nords]], is beloved by them (and the Imperials) as a bloodthirsty warrior god-king who defended their ancestors from Merrish oppression in ancient times.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' the world was created as a joint effort by the Norse Gods, the Mesopotamian pantheon, and the Zodiac animals, who claimed dominion over the Northern, Western, and Southern continents and their peoples. Also, despite being one of the Western Gods, Tiamat is the patron goddess of draconic species and is revered by dragons and kobolds worldwide. Other pantheons do exist such as the elves worship a pantheon of ascended elven mortals and Elan worshipping his puppet Banjo (which he ''does'' count since the belief is genuine; it just makes Banjo a very weak god.) The most notable one however is The Dark One. A [[PurpleIsPowerful purple goblinoid]], he united his peoples and warred against other races to try and get a better life. After being betrayed and killed (hoping to end morale), his army led a virtual ''crusade'' in his name which ascended him to godhood.
** This is a driving force of the plot. The pantheons are careful not to intervene too much with the other. The last time they did, it created The Snarl; an EldritchAbomination that can slay gods such as the entire ''Greek Pantheon'' aka the former gods of the east. It's revealed each God glows a certain color to correspond to their pantheon, their quiddity as it's called. Mortals are made of multiple while the gods one. The Snarl was born of four, hence why gods are easily torn asunder and mortals can somewhat seal it, but because it's made out of four quiddities, it's more "real" or "solid" than any other entity. [[spoiler: We learn that the Dark One has rejected the other gods so much he developed his own quiddity, meaning he could help the other gods seal the Snarl for good. However, his pride has led to him pursueing his own way of doing so, jeopardizing the whole thing.]]
** Also, the idea is a slightly deconstructed when we discover that this world is not the first incarnation. In fact, [[spoiler: this world is just the latest in ''billions'' of attempts to make worlds to stay. These worlds had ''all'' sorts of races and worshippers. Thor actually points out a few with a gritty {{Cyberpunk}} world, a world with TalkingAnimals, a [[[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs world of gritty cyberpunk talking animals]] and so on. He even notes a world of ''[[AnthropomorphicFood sentient movie theater snacks]]'' (a hilarious BrickJoke from 800 strips ago.)]] It makes the idea of ethnic and or radical gods seem rather ridiculous in retrospect and Durkon alludes to this when he [[spoiler: tells off Redcloak, noting that The Plan is ridiculous given how the next world may not even have goblins and instead talking fish or even sentient lamp posts.]]

** Also, the idea is a slightly deconstructed when we discover that this world is not the first incarnation. In fact, [[spoiler: this world is just the latest in ''billions'' of attempts to make worlds to stay. These worlds had ''all'' sorts of races and worshippers. Thor actually points out a few with a gritty {{Cyberpunk}} world, a world with TalkingAnimals, a [[[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs world of gritty cyberpunk talking animals]] and so on. He even notes a world of ''[[AnthropomorphicFood sentinent movie theater snacks]]'' (a hilarious BrickJoke from 800 strips ago.)]] It makes the idea of ethnic and or radical gods seem rather ridiculous in retrospect and Durkon alludes to this when he [[spoiler: tells off Redcloak, noting that The Plan is ridiculous given how the next world may not even have goblins and instead talking fish or even sentient lamp posts.]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' the world was created as a joint effort by the Norse Gods, the Mesopotamian pantheon, and the Zodiac animals, who claimed dominion over the Northern, Western, and Southern continents and their peoples. Also, despite being one of the Western Gods, Tiamat is the patron goddess of draconic species and is revered by dragons and kobolds worldwide. Other pantheons do exist such as the elves worship a pantheon of ascended mortals and Elan worshipping his puppet Banjo (which he ''does'' count since the belief is genuine; it just makes Banjo a very weak god.) The most notable one however is The Dark One. A [[PurpleIsPowerful purple goblinoid]], he united his peoples and warred against other races to try and get a better life. After being betrayed and killed (hoping to end morale), his army led a virtual ''crusade'' in his name to where he became a god.
** This is a driving force of the plot. The pantheons are careful not to intervene too much with the other. The last time they did, it created The Snarl; an EldritchAbomination that can slay gods such as the entire ''Greek Pantheon'' aka the former gods of the east. It's revealed each God glows a certain color to correspond to their pantheon, their quiddity. Mortals are made of multiple while the gods one. The Snarl was born of four, hence why gods are easily torn asunder and mortals can somewhat seal it. [[spoiler: We learn that the Dark One has rejected the other gods so much he developed his own quiddity, meaning he could help the other gods seal the Snarl for good. However, his pride has led to him pursueing his own way of doing so, jeopardizing the whole thing.]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' the world was created as a joint effort by the Norse Gods, the Mesopotamian pantheon, and the Zodiac animals, who claimed dominion over the Northern, Western, and Southern continents and their peoples. However, the elves worship a pantheon of ascended mortals and goblinoids worship the Dark One, who was a goblin warlord who managed to unite the assorted goblin races in life. Also, despite being one of the Western Gods, Tiamat is the patron goddess of draconic species and is revered by dragons and kobolds worldwide.

* These gods seem to have been quite common in the ancient Middle East, with many of the region's groups following a specific god, sometimes out of a pantheon, and sometimes sharing a name with them. However, the most significant in the modern age is the god of [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} the Jewish people]]; early parts of ''Literature/TheBible'' and contemporary texts mention other gods and their tribes, but while the early Jews believed in what is known as "ethical monotheism;" which holds that morality stems from God alone and that its laws are unchanging, they always believed that their god was the only real one and the rest were demonic beings or pure fantasy. While the early Israelites originated as a [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Mesopotamian culture]] and as slaves to the Egyptians, their belief in a singular all-powerful deity was revolutionary for its time, and the same god has gone on to be adopted by Christians and Muslims as the universal God, but is still firstly an ethnic god from a Jewish perspective.[[note]] The ancient Israelites were a Semitic people who settled in Canaan. In time, they established the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, where the modern nation of Israel is today. In 722 B.C, the Assyrians gained control of the kingdom of Israel. The Babylonians conquered Judah in 586 B.C, destroying the city of Jerusalem and removing its inhabitants to Babylon for some years. Eventually the people of Judah came to be known as Jews. Over the years the Jews produced sacred books, some of which form the Tanach, a set of documents known to Christians as the Old Testament of the Bible. These books include myths and legends about the history of the early Israelites as well as information about their religious beliefs. Traditional Jewish stories were influenced by ancient Semitic mythology. Connections are clearly seen in such stories as the fight between Cain and Abel and the great flood survived by Noah in his ark. In the same way, the story of creation in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament contains parallels to Mesopotamian myths about how Marduk organized the universe. One major difference between Jewish tradition and earlier Semitic mythology, however, is that Judaism was and is monotheistic. Instead of a pantheon of deities, it referred to a single, all-powerful God, sometimes called Yahweh.[[/note]]

* Creator/FeliksKoneczny classified religions into tribal (this trope), local (bound to a place, like Greek cults of e.g. Arthemis in Ephesus) and universal (anyone can join, right now on Earth these include: {{UsefulNotes/Buddhism}}, {{UsefulNotes/Christianity}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}).

*** Among the human nations, the Kislevites worship the bear god Ursun, as well as the fire god Dazh and the thunder god Tur; Sigmar is the god of the Empire's state religion, as well as its deified founder, although the Imperials also worship other gods such as Ulric, Morr, and Myrmidia that they share with other human cultures; the Bretonnians worship the Lady of the Lake (possibly a Wood Elf enchantress), etc.

** The elves worship a pantheon of deities known as the Creators ([[spoiler:revealed to have been ancient elven god-kings in the third game]]). ([[spoiler:who may be a massive slumbering Titan]]). Humans and the qunari/kossith lack such a deity, since the most common human faith is that in TheMaker, which proclaims universality, and the qunari follow the quasi-religious philosophy of the Qun, which is likewise not specific to their race. In ancient times, however, the human tribe of Tevinters worshiped a pantheon of seven Old Gods (giant magical dragons).
** ** "The Stone" is a deity worshipped within the Dwarven culture, and while the dwarves venerate their ancestors, the Stone is a more larger and more ambiguous concept, as it possibly represents the entirety of the earth. It's treated as both a deity and immanent force that controls both the fates of the Dwarves themselves as well as the subterranean world they live within. Every Dwarf is considered part of the Stone, which is used to justify [[SocialDarwinist culling the weak or degenerate]] from their ranks, since said "weaknesses" would also affect The Stone.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': The elves worship a pantheon of deities known as the Creators ([[spoiler:revealed to have been ancient elven god-kings in the third game]]), while the dwarves venerate their ancestors and a mysterious female being named "the Stone", which represents the entirety of the earth ([[spoiler:who may be a massive slumbering Titan]]). Humans and the qunari/kossith lack such a deity, since the most common human faith is that in TheMaker, which proclaims universality, and the qunari follow the quasi-religious philosophy of the Qun, which is likewise not specific to their race. In ancient times, however, the human tribe of Tevinters worshiped a pantheon of seven Old Gods (giant magical dragons).