History Main / FantasyCounterpartReligion

* ''Literature/TheBookOfTheNewSun'': far future Urth follows a variety of religionsdeveloped from Catholicism that worship the Pantocrator (God the Father), the Conciliator (Jesus) and the Increate (the Holy Spirit). It is implied that the main character, Severian the Torturer, [[spoiler: ''is'' the Conciliator, thanks to a StableTimeLoop.]]

* There are two major religious and spiritual beliefs in the ''Franchise/DishonoredSeries'':

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', a [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2003-09-17 mention]] is made of the beliefs of a [[HumanoidAliens Uryuom]] religion which like many real major world religions has a significant impact on the laws that get passed where it is widely practiced.

** The Prequel trilogy adds Christian elements in the figure of Anakin Skywalker - a prophesied [[TheChosenOne savor figure]] [[MysticalPregnancy conceived without a human father.]]

** In ''Literature/Lord of Emperors'', an analogue to Zoroastrianism is depicted in the Bassanid homeland of Rustam, a physician. We don't know much about religious practice, but the theology involves a cosmic battle between good and evil, with a goddess called Anahita (literally the name of an actual divine figure in Zoroastrianism, associated with healing, wisdom, and fertility) and a god called Perun (possibly an allusion to Varun, the "deliverer from evil"). Worship involves fire ceremonies.

Some writers created fictional religions for their settings. Religious subjects in fiction are a sensitive issue. Targeting certain religious groups, and how it's done, may cause UnfortunateImplications or have the work BannedInChina, or induce an AudienceAlienatingPremise. The creator(s) often will wish to comment on real world religion without directly commenting upon on them.

They have various ways to get around this:

# In ScienceFiction stories set in far future, it is expected that religions have changed or have no followers and/or humanity has OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions as religious literalism. Or, on the opposite end, have adopted [[CargoCult new ones]]. Examples: ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' by Creator/FrankHerbert and ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''.
This trope is for in-universe ''mainstream'' religions. For religions that are considered cults in-universe there's already {{Cult}}. Settings AfterTheEnd where trivial things from our culture are misidentified as sacred fall under AllHailTheGreatGodMickey. For specific counterparts to the Church of Scientology, check ChurchOfHappyology.

* ''ComicBook/LadyDeath'': Maklu is a religious figure that vaguely resembles a demonic Buddha and he is worshiped across [[TheUnderworld the Labyrinth]] by both humans and demons. Though not much is known about him and his religion, its presumed he is a benevolent being despite his hellish visage, with some of his ardent followers such as [[LadyOfBlackMagic Satasha]] serving as companions to TheHeroine. The look of the demonic Buddha is very similar to that of RealLife Tantric Buddhist and Hindu deities.

** The structure of the Jedi Order resembles many monastic traditions, from those of Christianity to Buddhist and Taoist orders, including the requirement of celibacy (Jedi can't marry or have children, nor fall in love). The Force, in so far as it is a non-anthropomorphic godless cosmic force, likewise reflects Eastern beliefs (similar concept of the Chinese Chi and Hindu Prana). The ins and outs of "Forceism" can be found in detail [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Force here]]. It is notable that this did not start out this way, as the Jedi and their traditions were a relatively undeveloped backstory element to the plot of the original trilogy, but expanded over time into its present form as successive movies and materials expanded upon the nature of the Jedi, the Sith and the Force.

* Nearly all {{Animal Religion}}s of ''Literature/TheKaturranOdyssey'' are technically forms of CrystalDragonJesus since the only deity proven to exist thus far is the Fossah. Still, the individual belief systems differ significantly from each other and closely resemble real life religious practices:

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/BlindAlley": The Emperor believes in a philosophy created by Aurelion. The context of the statements imply that it is a religion (one of the characters describes it as a cult). Those that wish to help the aliens on "humanitarian" grounds are all believers in the religion.

** It should however be noticed that the Dune novels also establish that many modern religions survive into the time 25,000 years in the future in which the events of the novels happen, but in most cases they are mixed. For instance, you have faiths like Buddislam (Zensufis, Zenshiites, Zensunnis) and Mahayana Christianity. The aforementioned Fremen are Buddislamic, with belief in both a single god and reincarnation, since the religions merged. It's said a Second and Third Islamic movement preceded Buddislam that grew more mystical and unified the two faiths.

** The Faith of the Seven is [[CrystalDragonJesus Westeros' version]] of the organized Christian Church, being that it has institutions organizing a common doctrine, regulating practices of priests, complete with monasteries and nunneries (called Septries) with a High Septon being elected by high-ranking Septons. It's doctrine with one god in seven aspects is an elaboration of the Holy Trinity. However, the Faith lacks many other features familiar from the history of the Catholic Church or Christianity overall, namely a Christ figure and a PassionPlay on which the religion is built, as well as a veneration of saints. Likewise, in terms of how the Church is directly under control of the Crown, it is significantly weaker than the Church was in the Middle Ages. In this aspect it may be more akin to the relationship between some Orthodox churches and the Church of England with their respective states (probably the latter especially, since Westeros mirrors Britain).

** The Faceless Men worship Death itself, named the Many-Faced God. Similar to several death-worshiping cults of Asia like UsefulNotes/TheHashshashin and the Indian Thugs. However those were a part of Islam and Hinduism respectively. The Faceless Men are explicitly syncretic, seeing all gods as simply aspects of theirs, and this is reflected in their temple, which holds the statues of many major deities.

* The ''Literature/QuintaglioAscension'' trilogy features a species of intelligent Tyrannosaurs who worship a planet as "The Face of God", discovered by the Prophet Larsk (whose descendants are the imperial rulers of their people), which they make a ritual pilgrimage to view. In some ways it's more like a fantasy Islam: the prophet, the secular rulers staking their claims to power through relation with him, and pilgrimages. However, it has a clergy which seems more like Catholic Christianity, although they are portrayed as pretty corrupt (they are the only Quintaglios able to lie, for instance). However, they also have the bloodpriests who kill seven out of eight hatchlings to keep the population under control, which has no real counterpart in either religion (although many cultures have practiced infanticide, just usually not ritually). The discovery that the Face of God is ''merely'' a planet explicitly parallels Galileo. In addition, there's a religion which exists underground at first which was the dominant one before worshiping the "Five Original Hunters" with a prophesied savior known as "The One". Both religions worship a Goddess that created all things, sacrificed parts of herself to create the Quintaglios, and has Sacred Scrolls as their scripture.

** Crom for the Cimmerians, which has some Irish/Celtic influences. He is not the only Cimmerian god, as Conan also occasionally swears by other gods like Morrigan, Dadga and Macha.

** Being based on Ancient Egypt, Stygia also reveres similar gods like Set (who serves as GreaterScopeVillain for this setting) who shares the same name as the Egyptian god, but is closer to Apophis, TheAntiGod in Egyptian mythology and also represented by snakes.

** There is a Hyborian version of Hinduism that teaches about the system of karma and reincarnation, the difference is that its central god is known as Asura, and its practiced primarily by the Vendhyans (i.e. Hyborian Indians).
** The Shemites revere pagan deities reminiscent to the non-Hebrew Semitic deities from Canaan.

* ''Literature/TheColdMoons'' is a novel about badgers fleeing human extermination. It's based on actual badger cullings but is also heavy on Jewish imagery (especially to the story of Moses). The [[AnimalReligion badger version]] of {{Hell}} is even outright called "Sheol".

* In the DungeonPunk novel ''The Sleeping Dragon'' by Jonny Nexus, the main religion is the Church of the [=SkyFather=], which is a satire on modern Christianity, being more interested in PR than the existence or otherwise of the [=SkyFather=], and having a PedophilePriest scandal they're trying to downplay. The fact the main priest character actually ''believes'' means he's seen as an old-fashioned embarassment. The desert lands to the south have the Church of the Sacred Box, the two brief references to which [[UnfortunateImplications rather unfortunately]] define it entirely by misogyny and terrorism.

** Kindath are Jews, and worship the two moons (in the universe in which many of these books are set, there are two moons, one white and one blue) as sister goddesses. They're depicted as wanderers – though without a clear homeland or desire to return to it as in RealLife – and experience oppression at the hands of Asharites and Jaddites to varying degrees depending on place and time. A few times it seems they also venerate the stars, but don't seem to worship them in the same way the Asharites do.
** In ''Literature/Lord of Emperors'', an analogue to Zoroastrianism is depicted in the Bassanid homeland of Rustam, a physician. We don't know much about religious practice, but the theology involves a cosmic battle between good and evil, with a goddess called Anahita (literally the name of an actual divine figure in Zoroastrianism, associated with healing, wisdom and fertility) and a god called Perun (possibly an allusion to Varun, the "deliverer from evil"). Worship involves fire ceremonies.

** The [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Krill]] religion, which is heavily based on Judeo-Christianity and Islam. Their temples look very similar to chapels and they have a holy book, and the idea that only Krills have souls is very similar to the concept in Abrahamic religions that only humans have souls. The fact that Krill are warrior-like, follow a single god (monotheism) and make chants very much similar to Allah'u'akbar is not very subtle in the message that ReligionIsWrong.

* ''Series/CarnivalRow'': Burgish people follow a man called "the Martyr" who they frequently invoke (who's depicted as hanged) and seems pretty similar to Jesus. Faerie meanwhile have a "Saint Titania", who shares the name of a mythical fairy queen (plus the idea of saints may mean it's similar to Christianity as well). The place Ritter Longerbane is laid in state seems very much like a church, and there is organ music in the background too. Some of the Fauns also are part of a religious sect which engages in self-flagellation as the Medieval era saw. They have a holy book and provide charity for poorer members of their people in a manner akin to many churches too. In their case, it takes a darker turn as the sect turns out to be bent upon a violent anti-human revolt. Fauns also have their Haruspices, female clerics named for Roman ones who prophesied the future by examining animals' entrails, especially livers (which comes up in the series).

* In ''TabletopGame/SeventhSea'', most religions in Theah are monotheistic, worshipping a god named Theus and following the words of his Prophets. The dominant religion is the Vaticine Church, also known as the Church of the Prophets, which is Catholicism at its most crusadery (notably, they're based in the Spain-counterpart rather than Italy, with accompanying Inquisition). There are also the Objectionists, founded by Mattias Leiber, who likewise follow the three Prophets, but do not believe that the Vaticine Heriophant speaks for Theus, as the equivalent to Protestants. The Church of the Second Prophet in the Crescent Empire, which does not accept the third Prophet, is Islam. The Ussurran Orthodox Church of the Prophets is the Russian Orthodox Church. Non-Theus religions include druids in Avalon, an equivalent to the Norse pantheon in Vestenmannavnjar, and the Path of the Golden Soul in Cathay which believes in a cycle of rebirth in pursuit of inner peace, simular to Buddhism.

** The Andrastrian Chantry is a fantasy version of the Catholic Church, except with a GenderFlip on the power dynamics with women at the center with Andraste, the martyr who founded it, its priestesses being required to be celibate, and a female leader known as The Divine. It also underwent and internal fracturing, with Tevinter having its own version of the Chantry with a male leader, rather like the split between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'': The main religion in the game has some resemblance to Christianity, but has some other religions as well: Zenus (the Almighty) saw that humanity was turning to evil, and decided to destroy them. His daughter managed to persuade him otherwise by turning herself into a WorldTree: she would only return to her true form if humans did enough good deeds (releasing benevolessence, gathered by the angelic Celestrians and returned to the tree). However, Zenus ends up split into various aspects (which become the higher end grotto monsters).

* The main religion of the Britain of ''VideoGame/{{Guenevere}}'' is a kind of monotheistic goddess worship presided over by priestesses. It seems to be a mix of real world paganism with a monotheistic Christian aspect.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' world, some religions seem to worship Pokémon, typically powerful Legendaries. The [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries anime]] has a few Buddhist parallels early on, but the game religions don't really seem to be based off anything. However, there is a church type building in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', where the people talk in a rather preachy manner too.

* Nurity, the main religion featued in ''VideoGame/{{Suzerain}}'', is a monotheistic religion with traits inspired by both Christianity (the worship of Saints and Priests, the religion's founder being supported by a group of dedicated Disciples, the Eleven Pillars of Nurity being analogous to the Ten Commandments) and Islam (the religion's founder being a divine messenger with their encounter with God being similar to Muhammad's first revelation, the two major denominations being split on the topic of whether the teachings of the original founder's successor should also be considered of divine origin).

** Aang from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is an interesting case. The concept of an "Avatar" is one taken from Hinduism and Buddhism, meaning a god who has taken mortal form. However, there are many separate philosophies across the world which seem to hold elements from other Asian, Pagan and Native American belief systems. Specifically, the mythology of Aang as the Avatar is lifted directly from The Dalai Lama, down to reincarnation and being chosen at a young age by ancient toys and heirlooms from the previous Avatar's possessions. The creators even named him "Buddha Boy" as a working name before they came up with "Aang".
** In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', the ''Avatar''verse's cosmology is basically made into a blend of Shinto, Taoism and Zoroastrianism: as with the previous series, [[NatureSpirit nature spirits]] are abundant, but the two most powerful ones are embodiments of light and darkness that are constantly fighting for control of the world. [[spoiler:And the Avatar is the light spirit's fusion with a human soul.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2021'', the Church of Alvis is what happens when one takes Jesus, has him be born in the American frontier, gets him drunk, and gives him guns. Other religions are mentioned that are more or less parallels to real life religions (ex: "Alvis was himself a Kreb!" in a parallel of Jesus being Jewish). Reportedly, the writers of Sealab did want to use the real life religions in the ChristmasEpisode "Feast of Alvis", but Standards and Practices wouldn't let them, so they made all these religions up instead...which arguably makes the episode funnier, and makes Murphy (the most ardent Alvian) look even more like a nutjob.

* ''Series/TheMandalorian'': The series makes many parallels between Mandalorian culture and religion and UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, to wit they are a coalition of diverse tribes driven out of ThePromisedLand and who suffered horribly under a totalitarian regime. The fact they vary in their fidelity to the Way reflects the different degrees Jewish groups follow things like Kosher Law: for Bo-Katan Kryse removing her helmet in front of others is an everyday occurrence, for Din Djardin it's sacrilege.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' world, some religions seem to worship Pokemon, typically powerful Legendaries. The [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] has a few Buddhist parallels early on, but the game religions don't really seem to be based off anything. However, there is a church type building in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', where the people talk in a rather preachy manner too.

* Nurity, the main religion featued in ''VideoGame/{{Suzerain}}'', is a monotheistic religion with traits inspired by both Christianity (the worship of Saints and Priests, the religion's founder being supported by a group of dedicated Disciples) and Islam (the religion's founder being a divine messenger, the two major denominations being split on the topic of whether the teachings of the original founder's successor should also be considered of divine origin).

* Nurity, the main religion featued in ''VideoGame/{{Suzerain}}'', is a monotheistic religion with traits inspired by both Christianity (the worship of Saints and Priests, the religion's founder being supported by a group of dedicated Disciples) and Islam (the religion's founder being a divine messenger, the two major denominations being split on the topic of whether the teachings of the original founder's successor should be considered divine).

* Nurity, the main religion featued in ''VideoGame/{{Suzerain}}'', is a monotheistic religion with traits inspired by both Christianity (the worship of Saints and Priests) and Islam (the two major denominations are split over whether the teachings of the original founder's successor should be considered divine).

* Nurity, the main religion featued in ''VideoGame/{{Suzerain}}'', is a monotheistic religion with traits inspired by both Christianity (the worship of Saints) and Islam (the two major denominations are split over whether the teachings of the original founder's successor should be considered divine).

A SubTrope of FantasyCounterpartCulture and SisterTrope to FantasyCounterpartyMyth. May be involved in a FantasyConflictCounterpart. Compare with FictionalPoliticalParty for the political version. SuperTrope to CrystalDragonJesus (in which the religion is more or less a substitute for Christianity), FantasyPantheon (for a made-up polytheistic religion), InterfaithSmoothie (a fictional religion influenced by two or more from the real world).

A SubTrope of FantasyCounterpartCulture. May be involved in a FantasyConflictCounterpart. Compare with FictionalPoliticalParty for the political version. SuperTrope to CrystalDragonJesus (in which the religion is more or less a substitute for Christianity), FantasyPantheon (for a made-up polytheistic religion), InterfaithSmoothie (a fictional religion influenced by two or more from the real world).

** The Bajoran religion: spiritual worship of the Prophets who are not gods, but (at least for the Bajorans) enlightened beings, with a well-organized religious hierarchy and a common leader. Probably a counterpart of Buddhism with some Catholicism in the mix, plus a caste system in the past like Hinduism. Also, they have demonic beings called Pah-Wraiths who some worship as well, an idea very analogous to HollywoodSatanism.